Hour 1: Everyone Is A Court Jester
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Every day except for Monday, Amin Elhassan and Charlotte Wilder, they put together Oddball. It is a quirky, fun, super informed look at things throughout basketball and beyond. I don't know because I have been away. I don't know how Amin has felt.

about USA team basketball and South Sudan's near victory over Team USA. I hypothesized last week that I thought that if South Sudan had won that game, that I would imagine it to be one of the great sporting achievements in the history of Sudan, but I don't know the history, so I may have that wrong. I want to talk to Amin about that and some other things, including, Amin,

Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas saying the following of the game before the South Sudan game. Paul Pierce said, man, they probably even got nobody over 6'3 over there. They got basketball teams out there. Do they even got basketball courts out there anywhere?

And then, uh, Gilbert arena said, um, among other things, come on, man, cool runnings. We're not supposed to lose to the cool runnings team. They don't even have shoes. They get their shoes from America. We got to ship them shoes. They don't even have basketball rims. We're losing to people who got baskets in the back. They shoot on bleep and peach baskets in dirt, no shoes. Now, Luol Deng, uh,

Always classy, Luau Dang gave a long response to this, and I will read only parts of it, and then I will go to Amin. But he says, I normally don't pay attention to these types of comments, but as an African, a leader in my community, and the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, I feel it is important to respond. This is for those who have asked about these comments, those who are offended by them, and everyone who has followed our stories. Growing up, I heard many similar comments, and those very remarks are some of the things that motivated me to change the narrative. Africa.

As for Gilbert's comments,

I will continue later in this conversation. But, I mean, your general thoughts as you saw all of this unspool. Well, Dan, first and foremost, you know, South Sudan. I'm going to do a little geography lesson. South Sudan is a different country from Sudan. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011.

it is the youngest country in the world and uh even though there are many south sudanese people who live in sudan and many sudanese people live in south sudan and

We might share some customs and some heritages. They are two different countries. Having said that, I always have love and joy for South Sudan. To me, it's still one big country. And I supported their independence. And watching them do anything is always something of joy and happiness to me. When it comes to Team USA basketball...

Many will be shocked because of my stance on U.S. men's national team soccer, but I am a huge fan of Team USA basketball. I want them to be good. I think USA basketball being great is great for the sport.

I helped the gold medal team in 2008. I was doing advanced scouting for that team. So I'm always rooting for Team USA. I'm always rooting for Team USA, except Saturday. I was rooting for South Sudan because this is something that cuts as close to home as possible. And it would have been the greatest upset, certainly in the sport, maybe in the history of all sports.

Because when you consider the lack of resources available, the relative newness of this program, what they've been able to accomplish, it's nothing short of remarkable. This is Miracle on Ice. This is Rudy. This is every single, you know, the Hoosiers. This is every single one of those programs.

hokey Disney style movies of a Goliath versus a David and David almost won on Saturday I just you know to me it was It was I got texts and calls from people during the game. Are you watching this people who don't watch basketball and

And so it went from, okay, they're up. All right. Pretty good. Okay. All right. Here comes a third quarter run. Well, it was nice while it lasted. Then realize, no, these guys aren't backing down. You actually got a chance to win this game.

And for it to come down to that last play, Wenyon Gabriel under the basket, what might have been had he got that win, had he got that dunk? Well, I do want to talk to you about what might have been, but just for the commentary between Dang and Arenas and Paul Pierce, I will continue to read from this because

luau did treat all of this as a teachable moment he says i'm not upset or angry at these ignorant remarks made by my former colleagues i was more disappointed to see them coming from two individuals i've always respected the comments made by paul pierce showed misinformation and a lack of research however he used it as a teachable moment to shed positivity once he was informed thank you to paul pierce for apologizing that i can respect what

was your take because we were talking before you came on here I mean about what's happening in sports media where the Luau Dang show will lose to whatever Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas are making I don't think the Luau Dang show loses I think it wins I think that what you just read right there is an example of Luau winning and you might as well get to look at me Louie sound already here but I'm gonna say every once in a while you come across people in your life

That are so good as human beings, not only at what they do professionally, but who they are as people. It makes you reevaluate yourself and think, damn, I'm a piece of shit. Grant Hill. I felt like that around Grant Hill. I feel like that around J Cole and Luol Deng is on that very short list of people. Luol makes me want to be better because I'm not doing enough. And,

And this is a guy who's always done it the classy way. And this isn't his first time with controversy specifically towards his nationality, towards his ethnicity. If you remember the Danny Ferry thing where Danny Ferry read a scouting report that he got from some source saying that Luala is the African guy who sells you fake goods on or whatever that.

ignorant, racist comment was. And Luol, if it was me, I would have lashed out. I would have called Danny Ferry every name in the book. The Atlanta Hawks organization is a staff record label and an NMFN crew.

But Luol didn't do that. He took the high road. And that's why he always reminds us that he that is how we should all aspire to be. And that's why I would think Luol is a winner. And you can see it in that program. That program doesn't get to where it is with someone filled with vile and vitriol. It's it's it's gets there with someone who's filled with positivity and class and shout out to Luol. Having said that, I am friends with Gilbert Arenas. I am friends with Paul Pierce.

And I understand what they were going for. They were going for the quote unquote funny, despite, like I said, this being an incredible sports story, they went for the funny. And the problem is in our society today, uh,

We have a big issue dividing or sparsing, parsing between this is information and these are guys that's making jokes. Regardless, you know, I'm always team comedy. Whether the joke is bad or good or in good taste or in bad taste, it's a joke. The problem is people look to Gilbert Arenas as an expert. People look to Paul Pierce as an expert. Now, maybe Paul more so because he's on a mainstream linear TV show versus Gilbert just mouthing off on his podcast.

But the reality is what Lewall said stands. And in that moment where there was an opportunity to support something that hasn't gotten support, that isn't getting love from left and right, you could have supported it. Instead, they chose to make a joke. And I know it's in them to do that because I hear how Gilbert Arenas goes so hard for Bronny James, as he should. I think Bronny gets a lot of unfair criticism. Gilbert defends him and sticks up for him.

It's the same thing, except South Sudan doesn't have a rich, famous dad who's the best to ever do it. South Sudan is the little engine that could. I saw a lot of criticisms that were saying that, like, not only were these comments very xenophobic, but they also were just ignorant of international basketball and sort of what the progress that's been made with the Basketball Africa League, I believe it's called. So I'm curious, like if.

The question of questions.

No, Jessica, it's a great question of questions, Jessica, because first and foremost, it starts in the production meeting. Is there a production meeting or is are they just showing up, getting makeup done, sitting down like what's the topic? OK, I got it from here. Right. It starts there. Do they want to be educated? Right. The South Sudanese team. Forget about basketball. Africa. They got NBA players. William Gabriel is an NBA player.

Right. JT Thor is an NBA player. Peter Jock is a was has been in the G League and on the fringes of the NBA. There's a bunch of guys on that team who are either NBA players or fringe NBA players to the G League, basketball, African League, etc. Right. So it's not like a bunch of wild unknowns that came from from from beyond the wall. Like, oh, who are these guys? We know who these people are. If you watch basketball, even on a cursory level.

The other part about this that's so important to recognize is that Luol, a lot of this program is out of Luol's pocket, right? There isn't this massive federation like we have in USA Basketball that fundraises year-round, brings in millions of dollars from sponsorships, and is able to pay for camps and stuff. Luol's done this out of his pocket. A lot of these players...

were kids that grew up going to Luol Deng camps. And by the way, yes, there are no indoor courts in South Sudan. A lot of these players grew up in either America or Australia or elsewhere in the world. You know why? Because they're all victims of one of the biggest refugee crises in the history of mankind. So not only is it, hey, we don't have a lot of resources in our country. Not only is it, hey, we don't have a lot of people living

rooting for us. These are people who are coming from the most dire of backgrounds.

who grew up away from their homeland, who had to experience xenophobia and racism from a very young age. Yes, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Yes, in Des Moines, Iowa. Yes, right here, Cedar Rapids, right here in our country. These guys have been victims of extreme racism after leaving a humanitarian crisis from their homeland. And yet they all come back, they answer the call, and they represent their country. They represent it like Luol, with class and dignity,

but also with a determination to be successful. There are guys on this team that are going to get NBA looks, I hope. And by the way, that includes head coach Royal Ivy, longtime assistant coach in the league, former NBA player. This is a guy, when we start talking about who should be a head coach, take a look at Royal Ivy because he does it without fancy courts and millions of dollars and all that. He does it with a bunch of determined young men.

Going back to the importance of what this close game kind of meant for that federation too, I read that part of the challenge has been getting players that do have dual citizenship to play for the South Sudanese team because they have grown up in other places. And so getting them invigorated to play for South Sudan has been part of the challenge. So going forward, how big of a deal was it that they're now playing on this huge stage with Team USA and showing that they're going toe-to-toe with some of the best players

American players. Well, Jessica, I'll give you a great example from elsewhere on the continent. Nigeria is going through this issue right now where they have, if you look at the players of Nigerian descent in the WNBA,

they've got a team that should compete for a medal. If you just went by, hey, who's Nigerian, right? The problem that many of them are going through is not only dual citizenship, but these arcane FIBA rules that say, well, if you played for Team USA as an under-15 or under-17, you can't play for – you can't switch, basically, to another national team.

And that makes it hard because, again, many of these kids, as you said, grew up not in their homeland. And they're taking advantage of the resources of where they grew up or where they were born here in the United States, in Australia, elsewhere around the world with more developed resources. But when it comes time to represent their senior national team, they're like, I kind of want to represent my homeland. But there's a lot of red tape and paperwork that's involved with that. So.

I think, you know, it's hard to tell a kid who's 15, 16 years old, hey, I know you might have an opportunity to play somewhere else, but just keep that door open for us down the line because they want to take advantage of those resources. They want to play at these youth levels and be competitive and be recognized and move up in the ranks.

But, you know, the reality is the FIBA rules make it hard for them to switch back. And by the way, when I was mentioning great talents on South Sudan team, I cannot stress. Come on, Malouat. He's going to Duke next year with Cooper Flagg. He was on the biggest, most sought out recruits. He's only 17 years old. We interviewed him on Oddball. So you can search his name, search Oddball All-Star Weekend. And just a great kid and another in a long line of talent.

very classy individuals who represent South Sudan. I mean, two final questions here. The first, take us next to you as you're watching the final moments of the game, the heartbreak of...

I was a point away or two points away from watching what would have been the, what you would have regarded as the biggest upset in the history of sports. Yes. Well, at least basketball for sure. I know someone's going to say, well, I'm cricket. Someone did this. I don't care, but I'm just saying it was a big deal. I was in my hotel room. I was about to do the live show for count the things that we had on Saturday, which is a great success. Shout out to Bomani Jones and Nick Wright and Pablo Torre and everybody else who came out. Naima Cochran. It was a great night, but,

it was that afternoon and they were cleaning my room and it wasn't on tv anywhere so i was watching on my laptop in the hotel lobby at this swanky new york hotel and everyone's having their little cocktails and checking in and having a great time and jt thor hits that three and i went berserk and everybody in the lobby turned out like what's going on i even had a woman ask me

are the soccer games still going? She thought I was rooting for Copa America or something like that. And instead, I was watching that game. And that last shot, Carly Jones goes up with a floater. Then I thought, oh, I don't know if that one's going in. And he missed it. And when I saw Wenny and Gabriel grab the rebound, I said, oh, my God, is this about to happen right now? And I was going to freak out if it did. You know, he got stripped. Did he get fouled by Anthony Edwards? Who knows?

But the reality is it was an exhibition game. It didn't really count. They're going to meet again in the group stage. Team USA will take this challenge a lot more seriously. But like Jessica implied, the symbolism of it is like, hey, we got something here. We're close. We're not as far. We're not Angola. We're not, you know,

The Vatican or whatever small country that gets demolished every year. The Vatican. That would be amazing. The squad they have there, Dan. That would be amazing. They've got a good squad. The Swiss Guard. Just the uniforms. The Vatican. The other thing that I think that you misunderstood, though, when I was saying that the Luau Dang show doesn't win here. Yes, it does.

In this back and forth, it's easy to see dignity rise above the two court jesters. But the two court jesters are the one who have media jobs that are lucrative. Luau Dang giving you classy information. I'm not sure that wins in 2024 as a show as Luau Dang is now talking to you every day about sports the way Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce are.

Look, there's never going to be a shortage of people who are here just for the jokes or just for divisiveness or just for something disrespectful to be said. And I'm not saying that day is going to end. But I think we all...

crave some of that positivity we all crave some of that class and it's not just in sports shows and it's not just in media overall it goes all the way to the highest levels of our country we crave a time where people had dignity in class and the loudmouth jokester was one guy we used to have one court jester and then a whole court of nobles and now it's like flip-flop we've got a a court of court gestures and

and a couple of noble people. But I think we all crave that return. And as long as we support it and it's good, then I think it always has a place. Thank you, Amin. Even though the Zoom was choppy, that was well put there. The dismount was excellent. It's no longer. That's a great appraisal for just the state of sports media. A couple of nobles and everyone else is a court jester.

Thank you, Amin. Appreciate it. Oddball every day except for Monday. You really should listen to it because him and Charlotte are doing it differently than almost anyone in the space. Hold on. Do we have time for Amin to do a top five list of people that make him feel like a piece of shit? Because he already gave us three. I think we just need a couple more. All right. Let's see if we can fill out this list. I was going to hit him the look at

me, Louie, on J. Cole, the way he snuck that in there. Oh, come on. What are you doing there? No, that he's just so close to J. Cole that J. Cole makes him feel like a piece of shit. It's a way of him telling us that he's close to J. Cole. Number five, Amin. People who make you feel like a piece of shit. Number five. Dan, it's a five-way tie at number one. I can't rank these people, but I'll give you five names. All right. Number five. J. Cole. J. Cole. Number four. Okay. Number five.

Grant Hill. You can elaborate at the end. Number three. Luol Deng. I've known him for 20 years. Fresh stuff now. Number two. Oh, you wanted me to elaborate. Number two. Mom. Number one. Computer buffer ad. Number one. Oh, and my sister.

My sister. I said my parents, right? Yeah, he meant to say dad and then the computer buffered. I'm glad we stayed with you there. See you later, Amin. Thank you for being on with us. I appreciate that my first goodbye was not the last goodbye. Thank you. I wish it had been.

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Don Levitard. Ron, I can't walk around my house naked because I fear that the cat would be traumatized. Stugatz. Like if your cat or dog suddenly saw you nude walking around your house, how would they react to that? Probably wondering why I don't have spines at the end of my penis. Yeah, like a cat. This is the Don Levitard Show with the Stugatz.

Greg Cody, can you explain to me a little more? That was a great ending. Yeah, just wonderful. Almost as good as the ending to yesterday's show. Does that neutralize my question of questions? It is. You have undermined the question of questions. I thought he was going to say, like, John Skipper. I don't know. I thought he was going to say me. I'm disappointed I didn't make a mean list. Yeah, stunning that you would make everything about the omission or the inclusion of you. Yeah. A big surprise there. What's that going to mean?

Why were you questioning Ron McGill's story? Ron McGill's claim that he almost died in Africa gored by a buffalo. I've heard that privately you're questioning this.

Apparently not privately, because now you're talking about it on your program. It, you know, I needed more details, right? Like, was anybody, the buffalo, a buffalo, right, supposedly ran roughshod over a tent? Why is video showing a warthog?

I think these are just Ron's photos. Again, that kind of thing. Yeah, exactly. All right, what questions do you have? What animal is that? That's an antelope. Okay, there's an elephant. We love elephants. Okay, what is it that you're questioning specifically? Because I did not witness this. I did witness the aftermath of it, and I did witness a counselor being flown into an airstrip specifically to speak to...

to Ron McGill because when this kind of thing happens, it is a trauma of, you know, a pretty high order. And so a counselor was flown in to a very remote place to talk to Ron McGill because of how close he was to death and how he fell into his wife's arms and

weeping because he knows if she had been there, she would have died because she would not have had the animal expertise that Ron does to not scream, not make the noise that will make the animal, bring the animal to you. Who flew in that counselor? The place that organized and helped organize the trip. Why is that your question? No, no, I was just curious. Did Ron's endowment pay for that?

Counsel to command? For the therapist to be flooded. I'm curious. So what you're trying to see is whether there's a financial scandal around Ron's lie of a story, buffalo tale, fish tale of a story that he came close to dying. What I saw, this is what I saw in the aftermath of it because it happened in the dark at 6 o'clock in the morning.

I saw the tent that had been destroyed and I saw that the panicked people in the tent that had been destroyed were mortified because of the number of things that broke inside of the room they were in because the animal was bucking and crazed and scared and very close to where Ron was hiding. Yeah. I mean, thank God Ron wasn't injured. Yeah.

That's all I can say. It's not all you can say, though, because you've been questioning how close he was to actual death. Okay, I haven't talked to Ron about this. I haven't heard the story firsthand.

And so I tend to be a little bit skeptical about the near-death experience until it's explained to me. But if Ron says that he was terrified, and in his long career working with animals and eyewitnessing animals in the wild, if he says this was the closest he's come to fearing for his own life, I believe him.

If I ever do this kind of trip, I'm not getting up in the dark and walking around. I'm just going to be like, I'll be here. You go out. I'll see you when you get back. I'm also not sleeping in a tent. Are you insane? You think it was a real tent? I mean, that's the trouble when you hear the word tent. You assume it's like a little pup tent or something. I'm sure it was a magnificent tent before.

quote-unquote tent is probably you know tantamount to a luxurious hotel room as a content but still god bless ron mcgill you know what i'm saying no i don't actually think you were questioning it it's a misnomer that i was questioning and and jessica's right that it's not like it's 10 times a tent it's a tent tent but it's a tent and it was it is it is like the the sides of

It, our fabric. But it has a foundation, right? Hold on a second. What makes it a tent? Because a tent, you know, back in my day what a tent would be? You'd put a stake in the ground and you would tie a rope to it and then tie another rope to another side. What is a tent over there? Ron was hiding behind one of those ropes.

So there was a rope involved. Yeah, but it's ten times the size of what you're probably imagining a tent is. It has a toilet. That's probably not something that you're imagining with a tent. It has a floor. So it's not dust and sand. So what is a tent? You guys tell me. That ain't it. Not a tent. Room service. A tent has room service. Blamping it.

Crazy. The tent had a pool? No, that did not know. The tent did not have a pool. Refrigeration? But you had your own pool. No refrigeration. No refrigeration. You had AC? I had to sleep with hot water bottles. And I had to sleep in a burrito of blankets. Like a burrito of blankets.

That's what got the buffalo's ire. That's what I call it. He's in his luxurious tent going, who are these show-offs living in a tent? The hot water bottle suggests that there's not heat. There's not, like, it was changing 50 and 60 degrees in temperature, and so hot water bottles are not the most luxurious and the best way to handle that situation. Are any of you, why would you question Ron McGill in any way about a story about almost dying? I wouldn't. You wouldn't?

You did. You're getting that secondhand. Who do you hear that from? You were skeptical. You were skeptical. Who do you hear that from? I trust my sources. Well, I've also gotten secondhand the information that four of your rim tires are bent because you're a terrible driver. Okay. You know, that's... Listen, I'm on record. The only thing I've ever made fun of Ron McGill for is being proud of being in a hot dog stands Hall of Fame. Other than that...

Ron McGill is like a god to me. He co-wrote the Pride of a Lion book with me. I mean, we're collaborators. We're friends. He's going to be at my yacht birthday party. I mean, he'll be the tallest guy there. The room is wondering about Amin. He was just on with us. We haven't really discussed him. Has he been invited to your 70th birthday party? Have not discussed that internally or externally. It's very likely he might be.

That's not an endorsement. Although he didn't put me on his top five. That is not a... Of people that make him feel like a piece of shit. Yeah. You'd want to be on that list. Yeah, I thought I might have been five. Speaking of terrified, I want to play the press conference sound of Deshaun Foster being introduced at UCLA. I wonder if most people had the same reaction I did, which is not to poke and laugh, but to simply feel bad because someone choked in a big moment. Here is your introductory press conference.

You are the face and voice for a team. We are going to introduce that face and voice to the enthusiasm of our customers, and it goes like this. Coach Foster, welcome to the Big Ten. We'll begin with your opening statement. How you guys doing? I'm happy to be here. Glad to be a part of this great conference. Finally putting two great emblems together, UCLA and the Big Ten.

We're a school that's won, what, 123 championships. So this fits us being right in this conference. Football-wise, we're just excited. You know, I'm sure you guys don't know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we're in LA. It's us and USC. Wow. And in closing. Jeez. I'm just basically excited. That's it.

Any questions? Oh, God, that was hard to watch. Yeah, so that was not his introductory press conference, but he's in his first year as coach, and that was Big Ten Media. It was...

It was the introduction of, hey, coaches, come out here and talk about our conference and your excitement to be in our conference. And that was not excitement. I can relate to that so much. The first two years I worked on this show, so many times I would just be mid-sentence. Like, what was I saying? Where am I? Oh, man, do I relate to that? You know what's going sideways when you start doing geography? You're like, we're in L.A. Yeah.

So... USC. With USC, you know. This is a really easy one to come back from. Say, I was too busy doing my job, doing football stuff, to write a speech. You want a speech writer? Get someone else. I'm doing football here, all right? I told Sullivan we should try to get him on the show. Be like, you get another crack at it.

Go ahead. We should try to get him on. I don't think he's in the mood to have fun with this. No? What if it was a gentle landing spot because you're providing him some understanding. I'm not sitting here laughing at it, but I believe we're all having the same reaction of, I went into it hoping I could laugh and now I feel really bad. Somebody's just sitting in the stew of I have nothing to say. Silence. Like eight seconds and then I'm happy to be here. Yes. That's what I mean by all of this. But

we're in LA. Yeah, that was great. Selling your school by just saying geographically where it is and then staring at us and daring us not to be silent.

Like, just staring at the media and being like, well, what do you guys got? Nothing? I'm up here all alone, huh? We're in L.A. Is all I got in my holster? You know who else is in L.A.? U.S.C. Hey, you could have just started naming things in L.A. Where's Lincoln, huh? Lincoln Riley, anybody? Cafe Marmont? No.

A lot has changed over the years, audience. As you've been so kind in pointing out, my shirt size has changed over the years. Look, I started this show as a 19-year-old boy, and now I'm a 38-year-old dad. But along the way, one staple of my life has been Miller Lite, and those of you that have been listening to us know this. I've been a Miller Lite guy since day one. I've been pretty honest about that. So let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

What is the best thing about the original Lightbeer Miller Lite? It sparked this debate way back in 1975 and we still haven't settled it. For me, it's the undebatable quality.

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Sorry, shit.

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stoogads. Double choc chocolate cookie in a chicken bag. Three booms. Boom. Boom. Boom. They love everything. They never give anything dooms. No, they give a couple things a doom. Give one doom. They made a pizza one time they didn't like, and he gave it a doom. Really? Yeah.

Big Justice did. Classic Big Justice. I hope you guys do more of that on Mystery Crate. I'd like to do my own show that doesn't involve those memes. Doom! Can you just put the Boom and Doom memes somewhere in Mystery Crate so that I can get on with the proceedings here? With Thursday Thunder, please. Can we get the Thursday Thunder music? You forgot? Yeah, of course you did. You've been yelling at me for two days. Remember Thursday Thunder.

Gotta stick in Thursday Thunder. That's right, Dano. It's Thursday Thunder, and it's brought to you by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you're going to hear all about what DraftKings has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Tony, what do we got? A jujugadi cooked up parlay here for Thursday Thunder. We're going to start USA versus Serbia Sunday at 11.15 a.m. We're going to go over on BAM at a bio of points. Only six and a half.

Only six and a half. Is he going to play? He scored two points in an All-Star game where his team scored 200 points. Have you been watching him with Team USA, Dan? Come on.

He's been their best pick. He's playing well. He's just not scoring. Okay. Second leg of the parlay. Tom Aspinall fighting for the interim heavyweight championship of the world in the UFC this Saturday. UFC 304. MMA Hang will be at Casa Tiki, by the way. We are taking Tom Aspinall money line against Curtis Blades in the rematch for the second leg of the parlay. Third leg.

And final leg, we are taking King Green. Bobby just changed his name. So it is Bobby Green versus Paddy Pimblitt. Paddy the baddie. We're taking Bobby Green, who's going to beat the brakes off of Paddy Pimblitt at UFC 304. So again, Bobby Green money line. Tommy Aspinall money line.

Bama to buy over six and a half points. That is your Thursday Thunder. Tell me more about what you're doing Saturday, Tony. Those have gotten to be fun and different and off the grid. What are you doing to celebrate all your love of the mixed martial arts on Saturday? So UFC 304, we've got a very nice card. Leon Edwards versus Bilal Muhammad in their rematch.

and Tom Aspinall versus Curtis Blades. The second fight there, we're going to Casa Tiki on Calle 8. Friends of the show, we're going to have a bunch of people hanging out there watching the fights. Very exciting, Dan. UFC, again, nobody sells the... The holy shit that Dana White sells on UFC is incredible when it's the biggest stakes across the globe. They're doing it in London, so it's going to be fun.

And you're doing it on Cayocho. And we're doing it on Cayocho, baby. Extra Latin style. You mentioned Bobby Green. I learned the other day. Did you guys know that Kid Rock's name is Bob? Bob Rock? Kid Bob.

Kid Bob. Kid Bob. I learned this just the other day. I was not aware. It doesn't really work the same when your name is Bob. Kid Bob. I'm going to call him Kid Bob from now on. Let's go to Bob Bob. Robert James Ritchie. Do you guys know Joe Biden's middle name? What is it? Tell me. It's R something, right? I can't remember.

It's Robinette. What? I did not know that. Put it on the poll, please, Juju, at Levitard Show. Did you know Joe Biden's middle name was Robinette?

Did you know Kid Rock's name was Bob? J-R-B. Put that on the poll as well, at Levitard Show. A couple of things that I wanted to clean up from earlier in the show. Jessica suggested to me while Dave Zirin was on, and I wasn't able to do it, I didn't have the window to do it, to get Tony or Chris to try and spell ennui.

And I'm two hours late to this, but I just want to see if you guys want to give it a crack between the two of you. I'll allow you to team up if you want to, if you want to combine your brainpower to spell the French word ennui. I don't think either one of you... H-E-N-R-Y. Their famous soccer player? Yeah, Henri. Henri?

because that one I got. Is it one word or two? It's one word. It's five. It's Henri. We should do it spelling bee style. Do we have imaging for this, Chris? I don't think that we can all of a sudden put together spelling bee imaging. Greg Cody is our resident wordsmith. Do you want to define Henri? Before anyone guesses, can we just get a first letter guess?

From Chris or Tony. Oh. Can I get a definition? I need to visualize what it is I'm talking about. Give us the definition. You want me to spell it? No, we don't want you to spell it. That's going to undo what we're trying. We need to spell it. What are you doing? We asked you for this. On we. I think I know what it means, but I'm not positive. I think it means subtlety or...

Doesn't it have boredom in it? Doesn't it have sort of boredom in it? I'm stunned, Greg. You were playing along as if you know, but you don't have any idea. E-N-N-U-I. Greg! Go sit in the penalty box. You're going to doubt him. Is that the definition? This is the thing. I'm not going to take a quiz until I know the answer.

I don't know that's right. Just get out of here. I was guessing. I am filled with a great sense of ennui that my game did not work out the way that I wanted. How do you spell it? I don't get it. This is going to be a major. It's not going to be a minor. Hold on. Do you still not know how it's spelled? We've got a penalty. Five minutes. Major asshole. Oh, I spelled it right.

I still don't think Tony knows how to spell it. Did he give us a definition? He said things, but I don't know what it was. I remember what it starts with. Oh, my God. The first letter is important. I do think they'll both get it wrong anyway. N-W-E? On-W-E. E-N. Jeremy, look at me. What do we got here? Mouth the words to me. I don't remember. O-N-W-E-I-N.

On Wii. I used to play video games on Wii. We need to celebrate. On Wii need to. The Paris games and the fact that Greg and Jessica and Jeremy still have not drafted. There are very few remaining sports. Great angle for my dad here. Yeah, not great work. I actually, I have some beef here because this all happened while I was working from home yesterday. And Chris.

Chris got to pick beach volleyball, which is, I've declared on this show before, is my favorite Olympic sport of the non-sports, outside of soccer, basketball. I'll make a deal. We can make a trade. Then never mind. Let's go.

Let's make a trade. Well, the beef, I need to explain to people first exactly what it is that I'm talking about in the event they were not listening to yesterday's show. Each of us was to take an Olympic sport or two Olympic sports. I took one break dancing that we are going to do the equivalent of Jessica's F1 minute, which I missed this week. I would have liked because the racing was pretty spectacular. I had a good one in the can, but we're

Holding it for next week. We'll be back with a sponsor. I won't say who it is, but pretty big deal. Okay, so we've got a sponsor, but I'd like to basically inform the audience. A lot of times what happens around here, it's one of the cooler things that happens with weird sports allegiances here, is all of a sudden the Panthers are making a championship run and all over America people are interested in the Panthers because our stupid show is showing some fandom.

If you guys can muster some passion, it's going to be a bit of a sales job. What we're going to be trying to do with these minutes in this sport where we each draft a sport and then show you some sort of expertise on why it is you should care about what it is that's happening in that sport. Mine is breakdancing. It's the only one that I took. I was soon informed by everyone that America is not the frontrunner in breakdancing, that America would be pulling off an upset. So I'm going to learn some of that stuff with you guys.

But Jeremy, do you have any beef now? Because Jessica, I don't know how this trade is going to work, but if Chris is just going to give you beach volleyball, which I imagine was something he just wanted to watch people bouncing around in bathing suits, is what I think that Chris was trying to do there. Whoa, are you painting me as this lecherous? I enjoy the sport. I used to play middle school volleyball.

Oh, man. What I wouldn't give to see video of that. We talk volleyball all the time, me and Danny B. He asked me to come out and give a clinic to his team. There's no longer a beef, Jessica, between you and Chris because he's going to trade you without even telling you what it is that he gets in return. He's just giving up beach volleyball like that. That's correct. Okay. Trade rescinded. All right. It's Dan's fault. Okay. I have some beef here, if I'm being honest, because I feel like...

I found it very interesting, the people that got to select first here. If you divide this into two groups, right, you get Dan, Chris, Tony, Billy, and Mike. There's a bit of a commonality. Well, the people that are consistently on this show like all the time, right? You get that group.

Then there's a very interesting dynamic here because you have Greg Cody, who's slightly on the older side of our cast, who hasn't picked yet. You have Stu Gatz and myself. You have Jessica and Lucy. And you have Roy and Juju. Now I have a very interesting question here. I think that this was not only ageist, not only anti-Semitic, not only racist, not only sexist, but a coordinated attack.

Against the rest of the minorities at this show as the straight white men here on our show got to select first I think it's ridiculous, and it's not what the Olympics is supposed to be about Dan. Zaslow's Jewish. Yeah, he's not on here consistently. It ruined my bit. I'm Cuban. I mean so am I, Dan. You're also white. So is every other guy on the show. We're all white.

We're all Cuban and white. Yeah. White passing. But I'm a minority. Right. But it's a different type. Come on. He's doing a thing. He's doing a thing. White Christians. Straight. The whole thing. The draft is anti-Semitic.

Yeah, me and Stu Gatston. Does that mean the schedule is also all of those things? Yeah, sure. I don't know. I just want teams picked. I just want sports picked. Chris, I'll give you badminton. Okay, just make sure to let me know. Greg, what does he have to do here? What is Greg going to do for us? Because Greg, I don't know what he's doing right now, but it's not listening to the show. No, I'm listening. I'm participating because I'm researching the sport I'd like to choose, if there's any left, because I feel like I'm the last person to do it.

Go ahead, pick one. Well, I'm still researching it here. Okay, well, let's recoup. Let's rebound from what it is that we've done already here because clearly no one's prepared for this. I'm prepared. All that's going to happen is... I'm prepared to give you badminton and canoeing. But you don't want beach volleyball anymore? Well, I only get one sport in return because I already have another sport and we only get two each. Oh, we get two each? Yes. How about that? Right now I have equestrian.

And beach volleyball. I heard there was major equestrian drama. Oh, so much. I read about it in the New York Times. I'm all over it. I'm all over it, and I'm going to deliver those facts on Monday. Three-on-three basketball. All right, you guys let me know who we got. I don't want to talk about this anymore. You guys let me know. Let's do the rest of this off-air. Did I ruin it with the racism and sexist accusations? I've chosen a sport. That sounds right. Again, I can't have my little...

beloved escape of sports without accusations and wokeness making an appearance. Greg, what have you suggested? I am picking trampoline. No, it's been picked already. I think Billy already has that. What? Yeah, you're going to have to take another one. It is ageist. You know what Greg Cody did? I don't know what the status is of your elderly abuse...

It's being litigation against Mike Ryan. Yeah, I can't comment because it's in the legal system right now. I wanted to get to a couple of things that we have not had a chance to get to with you today. You are pining and longing for the return of an Olympic sport. I sent you to the penalty box earlier before finding out what that sport is you're yearning for its return. Well, this is, it's going to sound like I'm making this up. Okay.

Okay, and you have to believe me that I'm not, and you can research it and find out that it's the truth. In Paris, which is hosting this year's Olympics, Paris hosted the Games in 1900, even before I was born. And they had a sport called... Let me look here. Talk into the mic, please. Let him find it. They had a sport called poodle clipping. Okay.

Okay, God's truth. 128 competitors performing in front of a crowd of 6,000 in Paris, and the competition was to clip the fur off as many poodles as you could in two hours. That was an Olympic sport. Now, if that was an Olympic sport right now,

That would be everyone's first choice, right? I would love that sport. Poodle clipping? Yes. Poodle sheer. I would call it poodle shearing if I were naming it. It's the official name. I would still go for beach volleyball. Would you? Over poodle clipping?

Tony, a couple of corrections from earlier, Tony, when you were longing for the Olympic Games from a thousand years ago. Some people have written in that they were always in Athens back at the start. They didn't. The torch didn't rotate. We told them that during the segment. And also the Olympics were nude at one point. I'm just informing you. Go back to that. You think that. So the torch is made. I told you, Beach Bob.

A lot has changed over the years, audience. As you've been so kind in pointing out, my shirt size has changed over the years. Look, I started this show as a 19-year-old boy. Now I'm a 38-year-old dad. But along the way, one staple of my life has been Miller Lite. And those of you that have been listening to us know this. I've been a Miller Lite guy since day one. I've been pretty honest about that. So let's get down to the nitty gritty.

What is the best thing about the original Lightbeer Miller Lite? It sparked this debate way back in 1975 and we still haven't settled it. For me, it's the undebatable quality.

It's great taste and it's less filling. Whether you're out with your friends, at a game, at a bar, in the shower, Miller Lite delivers Miller time every time. You don't have to choose what's best about Miller Lite. It has great taste and is less filling. Tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan. Or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories per 12 ounces. Fewer cows and carbs than premium regular beer.

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