You're listening to DraftKings Network. This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugats podcast. My book's unwritten, but still it's for sale because I close the deal. I am getting to it, but so are my friends. We all know how this ends. Staring at the laptop before you open up a browser window. Let your fingers hunt and pack for stugotsbook. Com. Only 20 9 bucks for the hardback. So close you can almost taste it. Presale for incomplete work. Watch the money roll in. No one else is going to profit. Only I will rake it in. No one else, No one else could get away with this shit. Click the link now to obtain it. Best of luck as you're explaining to your friends why you're purchasing. You're all in on the grip. Yes, it's my name on the That means I get full credit. No one knows, no one knows if this thing even comes out. Click the link now to obtain it. Best of luck as you're explaining to your friends why you're purchasing a book that's still unwritten. Somebody writes in, and it's more writing than Stugatz will do on that book. The show Promoting a Book That Might Never See the Light of Day Sounds Like a lawsuit waiting to Happen, L-O-L.

This is the greatest comedy bit ever written that Stugatz will not write, and it is not a bit. He is running a scam this week on vacation, and he's got all of us on deadline. He's on vacation. I have to have something done by Friday. Mina had to have it done during Super Bowl week. Greg Cody has to have it done on Friday. He doesn't have a back in my day because he has to do it by Friday. Andre Dawson has to have his in by Friday. Stugatz is on vacation. Wow, flaccid mic this morning. Is there any punishment if you don't write it?

Is he threatening you?

Absolutely not.

What if you just don't do it?

I'm not like him, and none of the people who he's asked to do this are like him, where we say we're going to do something and then don't do it. He's chosen the people he could best take advantage of. He is a seasoned hunting grifter. A book that's still unwritten. That is pretty smart. He tried to sell one to Lucy at the Super Bowl. Yeah, he came up to me after we were at Dominic & Mina's podcast and was like, Do you see the website?

Are you going to pre-order? No.

I'm your friend. A book that's still unwritten. Just give it to me for free.

There's no such thing as gratis books. You got to pay for those. They're free.

If he writes one, I'll buy it. If he actually writes it. There's no such thing as authors who don't write. Don't waste your money, Lucy. But he's got legitimate authors that he's not paying anything. I have legitimate questions about whether he will write a single word himself. Because I've told you before, and I'm not making this up, when he told me to write the forward, he spelled it F-O-R-W-A-R-D. And?

What an idiot. See, Dan, what you don't get is that he's talking about moving forward, and you're thinking about book terms forward, right? No, he's talking about moving forward. That's what you got to get on. His vision of forward for the book.

Are you guys offended on my behalf? Yes. Comedically that he would request that I ask Mike Wilbon, who will not speak to him, to write the forward. When Mike Wilbon said no, he then asked me to write the forward. Are you not offended on my behalf?

I don't know why he asked Wilbon to do it in the first place. That's always your forward.

Fame.

Because they had B for something.

It's Fame. It's Fame.

He's a bigger name than you. Is Wilbon a bigger- Wilbon is a bigger name than you.

Is Wilbon a bigger- Is he? Yes. Is he? Yes. I don't know what that means. No, of course he is.

Lucy concurs. Yeah, he's a bigger name than you. But I like you so much more, Dan.

I don't know him, though, so maybe that's a good thing for me to say. But I think it's unquestionable. He's had a daily television- How much is his company valued at? Good question. But that's not-How much is ours, by the way? That's a good question. That's not the measure of Fame. We weren't talking about a salaried worth, I don't think. We were talking about Fame. He's on daily television with one of the successful television programs of any kind for 20 straight years in the middle of the worldwide leader. He's one of the few people that they're paying substantively over there as one of their high-powered salaries. I don't think there's any question that Mike Will... And he's on all the NBA coverage. That's his side gig. The PTI gig is the thing that he's less interested in. He's always taken more pride in being a part of the NBA coverage.

Yeah, he's definitely more famous than you. Yeah, but Networth, that's all you Baby Fist me. Wow.

But if we're purely going off-fame, like Stugatz could have started a little higher up even than Mike Wilbon, no? Well, but I think he was going for the joke of this person hates me, and I want him to write a forward that rips me even more than Dan would rip me. I don't think anybody's going to rip him more than I'm going to rip him. Okay, that's true.

Is your first sentence going to be like, I hate this person?

I mean, I don't hate him.

Don't write it for him, Chris. I'm just trying to think of a funny first sentence. I'm not very creative.

I don't hate him. What's your lead going to be? L-e-a-d. Put it on the poll @LebitardShow, Juju. Forward of a book, F-O-R-E, or forward of a book, F-O-R- Are there more than one leads?

Yes. This is getting confusing.

You're the son of a journalist. I know. He doesn't know anything about journalism. But on this one, I'm guessing the audience also put this on the poll, Juju, @Lebitard Show, The Lead of a story, spell it like lead, or the lead, L-E-D-E, because I don't- There are two leads, by the way. Yes, there are two leads. Thank you, Roy. Look at Roy, joyous. And, Roy, I don't mean to temper your enthusiasm, but- You are. Well, I'm not. The listeners are writing in a lot. The Florida Panthers won last night against Ottawa in overtime. They're winning every which way. Are they the best team in the league by points now? Did they pass Boston last night? They're not the best team by points. That'll be Vancouver. But they are number one in the Eastern Conference. Okay. Somebody writes in, It's got to be so funny, or it's going to be so funny when the Panthers lose in the playoffs again. I cannot wait for the Panthers to flame out again. Are those Mapleree fans that are saying that?

Or Bruins fans.

Why would you root against this hockey team, which was the lovable underdog story that did what very few playoff teams have ever done? In fact, in the first round last year, did something that none of them have ever done. And this year look to be completely overwhelming better. I would prefer that they would be playing like this at the end of the season, but the only reason they weren't playing like this at the beginning of the season is because they were still hurt from how long that playoff run was. Well, for the first time in my life, I can honestly say that this team is the villain. People hate this team now, which, of course, now I'm believing, just like Tom Hanks in a League of Their Own when Gina Davis came back to catch it, the final game, We're going to win.

We're going We're going to win. They're annoying. What an old reference. They're annoying. Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old?

Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? Is that old? That's pretty old. 34 years old.

Wait a second. No, I get the reference. I get the reference. I'm just saying it.

It felt a little musky. Roy, a League of Their Own is older than Jessica, Tony, and Lucy. Yes, It was a fight. It was very young. By a decade, by a generation. We're going to win. We're going to win. The Panthers are annoying. Yes, they are.

They are absolutely annoying. The best part of last night was Katie Kchuck, Matthew Kchuck's brother, fighting Bobrowski. Well, Bobrowski No, it was the other way around. Well, Bobrowski going out of net. But I just always wonder, hockey is such a weird sport. After the game, is there any tension between Matthew Kchuck and Bobrowski after he almost decapitates his brother? No, absolutely not. I love it. It's just a weird sport where Kachuk is like, Yeah, dude. Get my brother. No, that is the sport.

They're probably going to go out and get drinks after the game. It's weird. Like, Katie's going to get drinks with his brother after the game. It's weird, though.

It is weird. I really do think we should all sports... That's how we should handle beefs in all sports. Fighting? Yeah. Just let them go. The refs stand until they go to the ground. It doesn't stop.

All right. That is where they changed all the rules in the NBA on fighting because it spilled in the stands. Then next thing you know, Steven Jackson was punching the customer.

If it stays on the court, of course, Dan. It's not going to get ridiculous.

Yeah, but you can't contain it to the court. Even in hockey, you see them go over the plexiglas every once in a while or go over- Every once in a while. Over the bench area, you see every once in a while, you see... Wasn't there a... There's a famous fight where a fan ended ended up in the bench or penalty box area. Yeah, it was Maple leaves Flyers. It was in Philadelphia. Ty Domi was in the penalty box.

That fan feeling. You knew that exact thing off the top? No. Dan's like, Wasn't there this one time? And we're always like, No, it was exactly this date, this year, and I didn't give a date, though.

Ty Domi ended up getting a water bottle and squirting him with water, and the guy went after him and fell right in. Amin Al-Hassan will be here momentarily when he's done with oddball. But hockey is unlike anything else anywhere in sports, where guys wouldn't speak for years in the other sports if they got into some of the fights they got into in hockey. We didn't talk the other day about what happened this weekend in the incarnate Ward game, and I'm surprised I'm talking about it. It's only because the video is so flammable, because I remember this video started with, I believe, one of the announcers saying, An incarnate ward. It's just words.

See what's wrong with This is how beefs are handled. A Catholic school.

I believe one of these teams, correct me if I'm wrong, Texas A&M, Community College. No, no, commerce. Thank you. I don't know these teams. Improved to 3-11 on the season. The thing that I know about these teams, and clearly, their names are not among them, the things I know about these teams are now just that this video exists.

I love these type of videos because I love to find where I would be in these videos.

You'd be number five there.

Yeah, I'm the guy that's like, Guys, come on. What are we doing here? He didn't mean it.

He didn't mean it. There were bloody faces involved in this fight.

That's an interesting haircut by number 9.

Can we go back to your pronunciation real quick? Yeah, what happened there, Dan? Of the team names? Well, I'll tell you what happened there in that I saw that incarnate word where my friend Ricky Williams- Still a little weird. Worked as a running backs coach. I saw that they had lost the game, and the video began with the announcement saying someone had improved to three and 11, and I got confused. I was reading the wrong side of the scoreboard. And so, yes. So I said Texas A&M Community College, when it's Texas A&M Commerce.

Yes, that's the name of the city. Yeah, Commerce.

How do you say incarnate word? I thought it was incarnate.

Incarnate word, yeah. You said ward like Charlie Ward. That's right.

Yes, that is true. But did I get both parts of it Both parts did sound incorrect to me, but I may also be incorrect, Dan. Incarnate is not the way that that's said. I've never pronounced the second syllable that way. But again, I don't know.

I'm from the Midwest, so I probably say it wrong. That's okay.

That's all right. All I know is that I've got great video of a fight that we're only talking about because there's great video of a fight. Chris Cody is advocating for more of that.

One-on-one. I think they do it in hockey. Until you go to the ground, if more people get involved, they break it up. But if it's like, I got beef with you, we drop the gloves, we go, and we can settle this. I do think in some sports, we'd have to really think this out. I don't want to just make a blanket rule in every sport.

You already made it.

I'm going out there, and then I'm walking it back. I'm really like, How can we actually do this here?

I do think it would work in MMA.

I'm a practical person. Actually, they love each other after the fight. You got hugging and kissing, and everybody's happy after the fight.

Well, that's a respect thing where fellow fighters look at others who fight for a living fight for their money. There's a respect that once you're done with that, both of the fighters know better than anybody how scary and vulnerable all of that is to be in there with just one other person, and you're fighting over who wins gets the money. It's so primal that you can't help at the end of the adrenaline of that to be relieved and be like, I'm glad all of this is over. A little bear hug. I'm glad we're not doing any of this anymore.

Let me paint a picture for you. Week 12, 4:00 PM games, Rams versus Niners, middle of the third quarter. Oh, bad blood. Trent Williams, Aaron Donald flip off their helmets. It's like, All right, they're going, guys. After a play, just something. Get out of the way. And it's just like, I am paying for that fight. Where are they going to go afterwards? Is there a penalty box? No, they just get kicked off the field. Sit out of play.

Are you too old to remember the hysteria in the media after the malice in the palace?

I just did it. Remember, Dan, this is not going into the crowd. This is one-on-one.

It starts not going into the crowd. It begins not going into the crowd. Are you not familiar with how rage works?

You can't turn that off on the field. All right, that's it, guys. We're good. It would be funny to watch Ed Hockley's son try to break up that fight. Stugatier, when you love someone, you protect them in the best as you can. That's why I recommend Simply Safe Home Security. It's an advanced system that protects every inch of your home and back by 24/7 with professional monitoring for fast emergency response for less than a dollar a day. Guys, I have had Simply Safe in my home for For many, many years now. I swear by them, the peace of mind it gives me when I am away, the fact that I could see everything happening in and around my house is amazing. Simply Safe offers everything you need for a whole home protection. Hd cameras for indoors and outdoors. The system is easy to set up yourself without any special tools or know-how required. Don't want to do it yourself? Not a problem. You can get one of their expert technicians to come out to your house and install it for you. Right now, you can get 20% off any new SimplySafe system when you sign up for the Fast Protect monitoring.

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Don Lebatard.

All the crew ships go out of 5:00 PM. It's like a parade of crew ships, and they're all blowing the horn. There's all these people outside because it's like a little fog horn.

It really does. It sounds like an old truck.

I thought it was more like Oh, my God. That was really good.

That was good. That was good. That was good. Do it again. Limited fake cruise ship horn. Stugatz. Really good.

I'm waving to you. I'm waving. Yes. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.

I did this on South Beach Sessions with Steven Jackson, and I urge you to check it out. It's got a lot of good information in it. But one of the things we did is broke down the video of he's following a mentally ill teammate who's doing what his therapist has suggested he do by laying on a scorer's table and getting away from triggering situations. And then a fan throws a beer from a distance and land squarely on his face. And Metta World peace flips out. And Steven Jackson is so crazy loyal that he just follows him into the stands. And the media... That story was fascinating for a number of different reasons. Chief among them, to me, is that immediately after the fight happened, all of the coverage I saw, mostly on ESPN, was pro-player. You cannot throw a beer at a player. Then the next day, someone had made a call overnight. I'm assuming whoever was the president before John Skipper, Mark Shapiro, somebody else made a call overnight, and then the coverage all changed the next day. Then Steven Jackson incurred $3 million worth of penalties that he wants a refund on because he is pleading his case on South Beach Sessions in a way that was pretty convincing to me.

I urge you to check it out if you want to be convinced on what can happen when these fights spill into the stands. I know on the postgame show, after the game, John Saund has lost his mind.

He was pissed at the fans and then flipped the switch the next day. If we're honest, Dan, it was a laser by the fan. It's don't throw stuff, but what a Bibi by that guy. That was a dart. What was he, 17 rows up right in the face?

If he had not been so accurate, that fight never escalates. Ronertest was trying to calm himself down with therapy-aided devices, tools he'd been given.

That's the South Beach session I want to see. Let's get that guy. I want to see yours, too, with Steven Jackson. I'm just saying, man.

I think you can get that on. It is what it is. I think he's on with Cameron and Mace. The boys? Yeah, they're climbing. Mace is now going back and forth with Shannon Sharp. Shannon Sharp is going back and forth with everybody. He is escalating his profile in a pretty substantive way while promising his sister he will not have any more public beef as a comedianians continue to make fun of him. Beef pay well. Beef do pay well. One of the things that I wanted to ask you guys as it related to beef and what's been happening here with JJ Redik and Austin Rivers, and JJ Redick went after Doc Rivers. Now Austin Rivers and Doc Rivers have a strained relationship. So I'm listening to JJ Reddick, and I hope he can bring this. I don't know if he can. I don't know if there's the space for it, but he is a transcendent basketball talker. Jj Reddick has a way of getting on first take, and his analysis and information are so thorough, researched and prepared, and his knowledge of the game is so substantive that he can wipe the floor with your points if you are not solid and speaking beyond clichés about your basketball analysis.

Now, he is joining Mike Breen and Doris Burke as part of their broadcast, and you don't hear this very often. This is JJ Redick going after Doc Rivers because Doc Rivers was making a whole bunch of excuses at the All-Star Game.

I've seen the trend for years. What's the trend?

The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking over a team in the middle of the season is hard. It's hard. We get it. Just like getting traded in the middle of the season is hard for a player. We get it. But it's always an excuse. It's always throwing your team under the bus.

They lose to Memphis.

Oh, it's his players But Memphis was playing G League guys and two-way guys.

You look at his quotes over the weekend, now he wants to take credit for the James Harden trade to the Clippers working out. He wants credit for that.

There's never accountability with that guy.

I mean, legitimately pissed. And you heard the pen thrown.

That was a spike. He snapped it. He was a Clipper while Doc was the coach there, right?

So maybe he got thrown under the bus by Doc when he was playing there, right?

It does feel personal. I think as we're about to hear from Austin Rivers, his best seasons were under Doc.

Well, but hold on a second. So Patrick Beverly comes back at JJ Redick by saying, This is wrong to retire and then do this on air when he saved your career. And JJ Redick's response to, Saved my career. First, he says, Pat, my guy.

My guy. You have to throw that in there. You have to throw that in there.

Pat, my guy. So there's not menace?

That's bringing him in close. You're my guy here. I want to I got to tell you something here. I got news for you. No one's listening, just me and you here.

Okay, you say Pat, my guy, as if it's not menacing.

It couldn't be more condescending.

I mean, because he says, Save my career, F-O-H. So it can't be, Pat, my guy, f out of here.

You know what it meant. We were just back here. Does Dan know what that means?

It cannot be F-O-H. And then JJ Reddick says as well, I had a four-year contract to be a starter with my option. He gave the contract details, same amount of money, four-year starter, four-year contract, I was going to be a starter. He's like, Doc Rivers did not save my career. But here, again, Austin Rivers, who doesn't have a great relationship with his dad, is now coming after JJ Reddick, too.

First off, I don't feel responsible to take for my dad.

He's a grown man.

He could do his own thing. But in this regard, I just simply don't agree with it. For someone who's not accountable, he seems to always be held responsible, considering he's the guy that's always fired when things don't go right.

He got fired in the bubble for a 3-1 lead versus the Denver Nuggets, which half his team didn't want to be there.

They had players saying that their mind wasn't there. They had guys leave. That happened. Then he gets fired for losing to a team that was favored over him, which was the Celtics last year. It seems like he's always responsible. It's just It's strange coming from JJ. I have some love for JJ.

You're my Dukey. You know that you're my bro.

I love you. It's just your best years were with the Clippers. I don't think he saved your career.

I appreciate you, Pat, but I don't think... I mean, this just seems a little bit weird.

They're three and seven. Dame has missed most of those games. Middleton has missed a lot of those games. They haven't even had their full team yet. We'll see what happens. The pressure is there.

They do have to perform. But in terms of accountability, what are we doing here?

Your best years in the NBA were when you played for him in the Clippers.

Let's not forget that. I don't know if there's frustration there or there's tension there between you. I know a lot of times we had to sit you towards the end of the game due to defensive reasons.

But you had your best years as a starter there, especially our whole system was drafted around you because you're a shooter.

You're not a guy who could put the ball on the floor. You were a strictly shoot guy.

You're not like Clay Thompson or Steph who could put the ball on the floor. You were a guy who could catch and shoot.

You did it at a high level. Hell of a career, by the way.

Big fan. But your best years were under him. It's just very ironic and weird that you have this energy towards him in terms of him never, ever being accountable, considering he's always been responsible. I mean, just textbook right there.

I mean, textbook in insulting him while complimenting him, insulting him while saying, I'm not insulting you while insulting him. I feel like the fact that he didn't have to throw a pen also.

You have to give him...

Now, I've seen the back and forth since this, and I truly don't know whose side to take.

I'm waiting for a mean to tell me later on. But I think the fact that he delivered it without throwing the pen really is a notch in his column. Dan, you got to look at where he did it. Jj Reddick was on first take. You know you have to elevate for first take. You got Shannon on one side, you got Steven on the other side. You got to be that energy. I don't even know where Austin Rivers did this. Was it on the NBA Today, their daily show. A bit of a more chill atmosphere that he can have more room to roam. But Steven A, Shannon, you got to bring the energy.

But there was great shade in there. Didn't play at the end of games. We had to sit you. Couldn't handle the ball. That's right. We, me and my father, me and my father had to sit you during games when you couldn't be trusted to protect a 3-1 lead.

Love you, though. You're a Duke guy.

Love you, but it doesn't sound like it. You couldn't dribble. It is tremendous. I side with JJ Reddit, and I do understand the point that Austin Rivers is making when he says, What do you mean accountable? He keeps getting fired. It's the maximum.

We do blame him for a lot.

Yes, but he is so good at charming his way through the excuses on why it's not his fault.

Especially this last week or so, he's been cranking out the excuse machine.

But he goes to the All-Star game and he's like, Oh, I started three and six. And what does he immediately say? I told him to start me after the All-Star game. It's a tough road trip. It's like, What? What are you doing? Has he, by chance, ever sold a book that he hasn't written yet? A book that's still unwritten.

It seems like we're making some comparisons here that are bringing me back to that first conversation we had. Austin Rivers works hard. In no way was his career saved by Doc Rivers.

Stugat, I'm told, Chris, where are we on this? Tyler. That was a crazy thing, Taylor. Taylor just told me he wants to do weekend observations from Colorado.

What? I haven't spoken to him all week. I don't know, man.

Don Levatard. I read his lips and it sounded like he was saying, What? You want to fight me now?

But I'm telling you, we can play a game right now. The lips look the same on fight you and failure. Watch my lips. I'm going to turn off my mic.

No, I just- You guys look in here.

I'm going to send one of these two. I like this one. I want you guys to tell me if I'm saying fight you or failure. Okay.

Yeah. Stugatz. Why are your ideas always so bad for the podcast? Why is this a character that you have now? Why is this a character that you have now? Why is this a character that you have now? Why is this a character?

Here we go. Do it again.

Fight you.

That was fight. That was fight, yeah. Maybe you can't tell. Oh, my God. We got to the bottom of it. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugatz. Every day, very early in the morning, 08:00 AM Eastern, David Samson, who has not slept, covers more terrain on nothing personal in 50 minutes than I believe any individual host doing sports radio or podcast at the moment by themselves.

More ground is covered by one person than anywhere I have heard in sports, and a lot of stuff off the beaten path. So I urge you to listen to nothing personal. It is award-winning for a reason. David Samson has been very public and loud about his hate for Scott Boris, the super agent, because of how fraudulent he was after the death of Jose Fernandez, milking the pieces of it that he can use for his own gain to look good and then abandoning the family thereafter. Scott Boris has made himself very wealthy, changing the entire finances of baseball in a way that enrages David Samson. Now, this year, I don't know what's happening with the free agents. There are four Boris free agents who are unsigned. Can you explain to me what's happening, David, and welcome with baseball's free agency?

Well, I can explain what I hope is happening Which is finally, after all these years, Boris and his clients are about to get royally screwed. That is the hope. That is what we hope every year until one owner breaks rank. I'm not talking collusion. I'm just saying one owner ends up being the one who bails out Boris. But now I think this could be the year that he's gone too far. We're here on February 21st. He's got Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman, and the fourth player whose name is escaping me right now.

That's all right. That's allowed. Oh, my God. It's okay. That's all right.

No sleep. I was going to text you this morning at 1:30 when I'm watching the left.

Snell was great, but you'd be really offended if he got one of those 250. He was great last year. I can't believe that San Diego wasted that season from Snell.

Well, he did win the Cy Young. That is true. But he's a five and dive guy. He's not someone you give 200 million to. Bellinger is the fourth. The way Boris works is he promises his players an amount of money. And then if it doesn't come, he says, Don't worry, it will. And it happened with Juan Soto. The Nationals offered him $440 million. He said, No, thanks. I'm going to wait and see. Now, Juan Soto will not get $440 million from anybody. He's now on the Yankees after a failed time with the Padres. And so what we're watching for now as the regular season starts a month from yesterday, am I going to South Korea as part of Metalark in March?

First, I'm hearing of this. This is the first request. I don't think we're sending you to South Korea. No.

So no, you are not. The Dodgers open the season against the Padres. It's Ohtani, in theory, ready to the DH for $700 million over 20 years. That's quite an expensive DH. And so the season starts in a month, and these players don't have a place to play. What Boris is doing to try to keep this scheme going is he actually has a spring training facility where his players do spring training those who are unsigned. So Jordan, Montgomery, and Blake Snell will throw bullpins and get their arms stretched out, and Bellinger and Chapman will get at bats. And the hope is that some team will come forward and give the long term deal. My hope is that all four of them get the Carlos Correa, Boris, pillow deal of a one plus one, where you get one guaranteed year and then an opt out and a team option for a second year. Then Boris will take the podium and he will say, This is exactly what we wanted. We wanted Blake Snell to make 40 million a year for two years. And he's totally lying because, of course, that's That's not what Snell wants. He wanted the 200 million.

So the question you're asking is great, is this finally the year where no one bails out Boris? And that is certainly the hope in the industry.

Explain what you're doing there when you say an owner breaks ranks, but it's not collusion? Because an owner breaking ranks would be only breaking ranks if there is collusion.

So what you need for collusion is an actual act. You need there to be a meeting or some communication. Do not sign Scott Boris clients. And if you do, you will get in trouble. That is not what actually happens. And we can go back to when collusion did happen in Major League Base, where there was a settlement. There wasn't necessarily an admission, and that was before my time. The meaning of a breaking rank is that all of the side talks that happen from ownership down to President, down to GMs, down to people in scouting and player development, Where you talk about the value of players and you say, hey, are you looking for a Bellinger type player? Because we've got someone. Do you want to talk about a trade? Or are you going to look to sign other types of players? But there's nothing officially that comes down from the mountain. So there is no collusion. What breaking ranks means is that all the owners are very aware that Boris has four clients out there, and they are individually deciding not to be the one to sign him. It happened with Barry Bonds. Everyone decided they were not going to have him inside an organization until Jeffrey Lauria broke ranks and made him the hitting coach of the Marlins.

And it wasn't that we were told by Bud Selig, you may not hire Barry Bonds. We don't want him in the sport. It was just one of those things that was understood.

Dave, when you're talking about those caliber players, and obviously we're getting close to the season starting, and they go unsigned, what happens? Do they just be free agents and nobody signs them and they're excellent players just sitting on the bench?

They're free agents. They can come on the show. They're not busy at 7:05 every night. It's not going to happen. Those four players will find a home. The class of players that are really struggling right now are the middle class, which has been squozen in a way that reflects society, where they're not finding the deals. And so players like a Lucas Gialito found a middle class deal or a Lance Lynn. But many of the players, you just stop talking about. They disappear from the league. One of the things that we used to do with the Marlins is we keep a list of all the players who disappeared, and we would say, hey, do we want that guy? Because we could probably get them close to the minimum. And then you've got some of them who say they would do a spreewell. I wish Amin were there, because when I say that, that totally falls flat, doesn't it?

Amin will be here in 25 minutes.

Okay. So there was a player in the NBA who said, I don't get off my couch for blank money. It was a player named Latrell Sprewell, and it was an absurd amount of money. Then he followed it up by saying, I've got to feed my family. It didn't land exactly well. This was post-P. J. Carlistimo So another reference that probably is not landing right now.

He choked his coach.

He actually choked his coach. Why that doesn't get more attention is beyond me.

It got plenty of attention, David. It got plenty.

But it's forgotten about. Your whole room doesn't know about it.

We all knew about it.

David, we just didn't want to interrupt you.

If I'm doing word association with the audience and I say Littrel-Sprewell, multi-time All-Star or choked his coach, everyone is saying Choked as Coach.

I think spinning wheels.

That's a great poll question, except it's leading. If you just did word association, Littrel-Sprewell blank, what would win the poll for filling in the blank? Choked as Coach. No, I don't think that wins.

David, are you crazy? David, you can't be this forgetful?

I don't know what younger people. I don't forget.

An NBA player choked his coach, and I think that's what the name Littrell-Spriwell is associated with, even though he was a very good basketball player.

I believe it would be not above 50% of respondents would come up with that on their own. If you presented it as an option, I think more than 50 would choose it. But if you left it, Blake, I'm not sure they actually would.

Juju, put it on the poll, please. Littrel-sprewell, and just put either They're a multi-time All-Star or choked his coach.

No, you can't do it that way.

Rims in there, too. Rims also. Put in rims as well. How do you want to do it?

It's just word association. When I say Littrell-Sprewell, you say blank.

All right. That's different.

Comment below.

All right. So fill in the blank. Good engagement. Yes, it's fine. Lots of replies. He's changing the way that we do this. I've got a number of different questions, so we'll bring you back for another segment. But Tell me if I have the legacy of Rob Manfred correct, because it's a bit convoluted for me. And this is how I would describe Rob Manfred's legacy. Was bad for baseball, but made baseball a lot of money, and therefore, is good for baseball, and then fixed baseball.

Well, you just dropped an and fixed baseball as though that's a small thing. The rule changes from last year are likely going to be his greatest legacy, though he has five years left. And I've got a little nugget for you all today. That announcement that he was retiring in 2029, that's five years from now. There can be a lot that can happen in the next five years where he doesn't leave after five years. The owners may ask him to stay for longer. He may want to stay for shorter. That was just a strange thing. Normally, you don't announce, Hey, I'm gone in five years. So I would say that it's not time to write his legacy yet, but I I know that you've got a thing with Rob because of Miami, and I get that. And from an ownership standpoint, he's done a lot right for them, though the Orials sale is not among them. But the most important thing that he has to deal with is the upcoming uniform issue. No, it's not. The most important thing is collective bargaining. Owners don't care about the uniforms. They don't care about Boris. They just care about collective bargaining.

I'm not going to be deposed. He was so pissed.

Do people know about that interview in your room?

I don't know how many of them know that me and Rob Manfred got into it. Tony, Lucy, Jessica?

I love that Bimble is calling me right now. I love it, Dan.

What'd you say, Dave?

What'd you do? Did you do something wrong? Ceo Bimel is coming after you?

I'm live on Dan's show, so I'm not going to take your call right now, Bimel. Is that okay?

That sounds like- He said that's fine.

Okay.

He heard about South Korea is what happened. That's actually not true.

Dan, that was the most hated... You became persona non-grada in baseball after that interview. People colluded to make sure that you would not get guests.

First, the Hall of Fame stuff, and now Manfred doing that to him. I'm not going to be deposed. That's the way he says déposed. Like, how pissed- Déposed. That's as pissed as you've ever heard a commissioner. Déposed. Silver wanted to do some of that Sunday and muzzled himself. Déposed.

He approached me after that interview, Dan, because he knows that I had been appeared on your show so many times. That's actually not true. He had a very simple question, which is, why do you talk to that Mfer? Wow.

I'm not going to be deposed.

What did you say?

I said because it's great content and I love it, and him.

Deposed. Do you understand how hard it is with a single word to show how condescending and arrogant you are about not wanting to be questioned? Deposed.

And I try a lot.

It's so good. I'm not going to be deposed. Do you realize it's just Greg Cody in a lawyer saying, I'm not going to take a quiz. I'm not going to be deposed.

I'm not going to be deposed.