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The Topics We Saved For Dan | Hour 3 (feat. Amin Elhassan)

40m 38s

The Topics We Saved For Dan | Hour 3 (feat. Amin Elhassan)

The Dan Levitar Show blends heartfelt football nostalgia with sharp, satirical commentary on current sports events. It highlights the ritual of weekend football gatherings, centered on Miller Lite as a symbol of relaxation and camaraderie during hot summer days. The episode features a lively mix of player updates—like Aaron Donald’s viral social media presence, Tarek Skubal’s return to Detroit, and Pete Crow Armstrong’s breakout home run streak—alongside deeper cultural reflections. A major focus is the controversy surrounding Packers running back Josh Jacobs, where surveillance video confirms allegations of assault, prompting discussion about accountability, media ethics, and the dehumanizing nature of fantasy sports. The show also critiques how sports culture often prioritizes statistics over humanity, and how abuse allegations are minimized until exposed by video. Additional segments explore absurd headlines, sports trivia, and the entertainment value of athletes, while questioning whether fans truly understand the human cost behind the numbers. The narrative underscores a need for greater transparency, empathy, and responsibility in how sports and their athletes are portrayed and judged. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the show calls attention to both the joy and moral complexities of modern sports fandom.

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It's one of my favorite times. There's that point in every summer where I start convincing myself I'm going to be normal about football this year. Not as emotional. Not lose myself completely in it. And then the games start. The sprinklers. The smell of grass. The roar of the crowd. The toasting of Miller Lite. Ah, that right there, my friends. That's my favorite part about all of this. Because making football time is great. Making football time a Miller time. That's special. Some of my favorite weekends are built around football. Getting everybody together. Putting the college games on on Saturday. Come back for the NFL on Sunday. Order way too much food. And crack open Miller Lites for me and my friends. That's a perfect weekend for me. And Miller Lite is a beer I reach for every time because it's crisp, refreshing, and easy to drink. Especially when football starts. When it's still somehow down here, 90 degrees in Miami. It's a true American Pilsner that cools the body down. The original light beer since 1975. And just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. Legendary game days. Start with a Miller Lite. Make game day legendary. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web. Like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses, setup required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Now you can watch ESPN College Game Day and select live college football games on Disney+. All day every Saturday at no extra cost for Disney Plus subscribers. Now there's something for every kind of fan. Select live college football games. Are now on Disney+. It's going to be wild! A limited sampling of content from ESPN is now available to all Disney Plus subscribers. Upgrade to a plan that includes ESPN to access the full ESPN on Disney Plus experience. Terms apply. You are listening to the Dan Levitar Show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports app. Now live in all 50 states. Guys, highlight season is back, Jack. And we want to unveil our schedule just like the NFL teams. Let's go down on the streets and see if people know who the Cyclones are playing this season. Uh, a lightning banana. A fire ping pong. The Purple Tigers. Spotted. Look like an evil spirit right there. Look like the demon. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Tornadoes. Tornadoes. Tornadoes. Tornado? Yeah, it's a hockey team, Tornadoes. Cyclones? Huh, that's actually right. Oh, Jack, I can feel the excitement. Oh! Couple weeks from now, September 15th is our first game. We are very excited about our season. They haven't stripped you of your team yet. You continue to have a long run as the owner of this team that has won a championship and come close a couple of other times. Now, the Highline League was sold, I believe, while you were away. Wow. So, someone did buy the league. We are good for this season, I think, going after that, a little TBD. Mike did have a good conversation with the new owner, so there's a chance we're still around, but TBD. Okay, very good. Meenal Hassan is with us now. We've got some weekend observations to get to. And I don't know whether he's been crying or whether or not he has a cold, but there is something in his eyes that I see that is either sadness or sickness. Which? Which is it, Amin? It's sickness. I don't get sick often. When I do, it kicks my ass. And so, here I am. I think I have an ear infection, to be honest with you. All right. Well, he's playing hurt, and he looks like he's playing hurt. So, let's get him in and out as quickly as possible so that he can get on with his life and go to sea. He looks good. Well, no, but he looks like he's hurting. He looks like he's in a great deal of pain, and he also looks like Zazzlo inexplicably. Yeah, he looks good. Which I would not have had before I left on this trip. I would not have had him being infected with the Zazz. But he's clearly, like everyone else around here, been infected with the Zazz. Let's go ahead and do Amin's weekend observations. He's playing hurt. It is time for Amin to share his game notes. No one in the media will tell you what happened better than my voice. Amin. Weekend observations is brought to you by Miller Lite. Legendary moments start with the Lite. Dan. Welcome back. Thank you. I've got a gift for you. Dan. Oh, do you? I mean, yeah. Lionel Messi's retiring from the national team. That's not a gift. That's a footnote. Emphasis on foot, because he's short. Dan. This weekend I saw something I never thought I'd see. A guy cannot report to camp, never be around the team, trade on his own, and basically prove his worth by virtue of what he does. by virtue of IG videos of his training sessions. Many of which look, quite frankly, ridiculous. And still say, I'm an NFL player. I'm talking, of course, about Aaron Donald. What kind of bulls**t is this? It's like getting married but not showing up until the honeymoon. Just clock in when it's time to f**k. Way to put the work in. Show of hands. How many of you guys knew Bobby Petrino is the offensive coordinator for North Carolina? Anyone know? Anyone know that? Oh, you knew? Wow. I thought that was ass. I just learned it when I was writing this. Somewhere, Taylor Vipulis better have a custom Carolina blue neck brace that he breaks out every game day. Tarek Skubal returned to Detroit this weekend. And judging by the crowd reaction, the city of Detroit gave slightly less. And I did. Also, do we ever get to the bottom of why a white guy born in Hayward, California and raised in Kingman, Arizona is named Tarek? Were his parents really big fans of power or something? WNBA couldn't have planned the World Cup break any better. You got eight really good teams solidified for the playoff picture. And the rest of the league is about 10 games under 500. Why have it come back if you're Connecticut? Your team is shutting down and headed to Houston anyway. Let's get a head start on the moving process. I was on Instagram and I saw this reel about this wide receiver that we hadn't heard from. Where in the world did this guy come from? I'm talking, of course, of OBJ. Once a giant, always a giant. He made it. He made the team. He made the Giants. He looks so different now. I mean, he's going to be their fifth receiver. Ryan Priest won the Coke Zero Sugar 400. I have two questions. One, do they call him Mr. Freeze? Two, how did the Cigar Man do in his debut? You know about the Cigar Man? Dan? You did a good Mr. Freeze there. You did a good Arnold. You always do a good Arnold. Yeah. A little behind the eight ball today. I'm struggling over here. Move over 50 cent. We have a new clubhouse leader for worst first pitch ever. Greg Maddux. Not only was it horrible, but your whole is about mastering the strike zone, Greg. He pitched it like Greg Cody trying to rattle off his top catchphrases. I spent largely too much time negging Chad GPT. And I'm sad to say it's pretty entertaining. I just keep taking it in my mind. Oh, what do you think is the biggest news story? And I was like, it says something. I'm like, that's not a big news story. He's like, you're right. I got excited. I shouldn't have done that. I'm like, no, what are you talking about? This is the biggest news story. You're right again. And then I just went back and forth with it like that for like 20 minutes. It just agrees with you. That's lonely. That's a lonely way for you to spend 20 minutes. It was fun, though. U.S. Open returns. I thought about hitting it up. Then I saw the prices. Decided taking out a third mortgage was the right move for me right now. Today marks the one year anniversary of Here's the Science. A bar. Rescue podcast hosted by Chelsea Reynolds, a real life bar and restaurant consultant. Colin Kassert, a real veteran of the commercial kitchen and food truck scene in Portland. And two guys who would love to grab a drink with me and Zach Harper. To commemorate this momentous event. There's Cynthia. You know how to say it without a pronunciation guy. To commemorate this momentous event, we are reviewing the episode that goes to the Fogline Bar in Oakland. Spoiler alert. This is the one that ends in a. Fog smuggling scandal. Here's the science. Wherever you get podcasts. Tottenham. Wolf. Buffalo Bills. Announced they're going to be replacing the turf in their brand new stadium. Because as one player told The Athletic, it is, quote, ass. Let me get this straight. For two point two billion dollars, I got obstructed view seats. A canopy that doesn't cover shit. And turf that is, quote, ass, unquote. That same two. $1.2 billion, I could have bought a couple of Louis Armstrong reserve game day tickets. I'm still upset at the picture of the Cabo Verde fans they used last week on Weekend Observations. Just embarrassing. We still haven't named living celebrities who are universally loved like Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Michael Wright were. So I've taken upon myself top five universally beloved celebrities. Nice. O-L-I. Patrick Stewart. Everyone loves him. O-L-I. Morgan Freeman. O-L-I. Conan O'Brien. Doesn't Morgan Freeman have some sort of. Yes, Dan, yes. Not everyone loves Morgan Freeman. We love him. You watching that, Linus? Everyone loves him. What a show. Number five, Keanu Reeves. That's a good one. Number four, Anne Hathaway. Number three, Halle Berry. She's in my eye go. Number two, Tom Hanks. And the number one universally beloved celebrity, Denzel Washington. Wilson does not love Tom Hanks. Like, if that was without consent. Also me. Why you guys got to make it filthy? It was consensual. It was Damoshek. Damoshek. It was not consensual. Also, Ed O'Neill should be on that list. Yes. You'll make your own list. You make your own list. Yeah. Henry Winkler. If you want to reminisce about Dolly, fire up Cinephobe episode 118, Rhinestone, starring Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone. You have to make New York cabbie Stallone be passable as a country music performer, or else you have to sleep with the club owner. Settle down, Jeremy. It was a different time. 20 CB. If you're pining for some Tim Curry memories, go to Cinephobe episode 190, Congo. Sorry, Tim Curry. Tim Curry, Delroy Lindo, and Bruce Campbell. Tim Curry plays a character of dubious morals and a penchant for sesame cake on the pursuit for King Solomon's Mines. All right. Also, shocker. He has a fun accent. You got a jonesing for Michael Wright. Head over to Cinephobe episode 121, The Five Heartbeats. Starring Michael with Robert Townsend, Leon, and Harry Lennox. There they are. Michael plays a substance abuse riddled member of a Motown Arrow R&B group just because he has one, two, maybe two drinks that make him an alcoholic. Cinephobe, wherever you get podcasts. What? What's happening? I'm dying. Dajon Love. I made you guys wait long enough. What can I say about Dajon Love that hasn't already been said? I called him Day Juan. I don't think anyone said that. I made him Hispanic. Yeah. Day Juan Amour. If you missed it, this is the guy who pretended to be a Niners player to scam 26 women out of roughly $1.5 million. $1.5 million. That's a good route. Like my sister, Jamel Hill, said, this is a story about media illiteracy as much as everything. Because somehow, some way, people are still believing whatever Google Gemini tells them when they Google something. And Google Gemini confirmed that Buddy was a player. Apparently, he also has hit on underage girls in the process. Saying, in effect, her 18th birthday is right around the corner. Gross. There's a special place in hell for you, Day Juan, Day John. Speaking of hell. Argentina. Those are the weekend observations. Your nose looks to be sniffling and running. Do I have it right when I tell you guys that Amin looks like someone who is in his second day at rehab after quitting cold turkey, a 12-year heroin addiction? He is sweating. He is just. I feel like that. All right. I got to let you go. Thank you for toughing it out on behalf of the show. Please feel better. Go see an ear doctor. Take care of yourselves. Okay? Thanks, guys. That was tough. A couple of doozies in there, Dan. He comes here, man. Yeah. He was struggling, though. That Greg Maddux first pitch has to be him fooling around. AI, right? It's real. That's what I thought. No, I believe it's real, but I believe Greg Maddux did that on purpose. Greg Maddux, notoriously foul prankster in the clubhouse. It's something that's not that well known about him. He was somebody who had a mischievous. I'm not going to put him on the side, but this is one of the most accurate pitchers there has ever been. You're right. It can't be real. You're right. There's no way that he's not doing that just to be funny. I'm with you. Because he's one of the most accurate pitchers who have ever lived. That guy survived on 91 and 92 mile an hour fastballs. Yeah. Look, it's possible to get the yips after not throwing for a while, but this was to celebrate the 150th anniversary team for the Cubs, and he threw out the first pitch. But then, afterward, after everyone was losing it. You're right. You're right. They were losing their minds over this. He went up to the booth and talked with Boog, and he said that there were a couple of reasons why this happened. One, he said Sutcliffe was going to give me a hundred bucks if I hit one of the camera guys. Oh! He said, "Then I decided the way the game's going today, I was going for spin rate as opposed to location." So seems like it was a gag, but ultimately, it was so alarming to see this guy throw that pitch, and he didn't hit one of the camera guys. I mean, it wasn't worth it. A hundred bucks that bad? Yeah. Why not get a hundred bucks? Pay for a couple beers. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know what's interesting? We spend a lot of time reading reviews before we'll, you know, buy a new TV, pick a restaurant. But when it comes to taking care of ourselves, eh, we don't always do the same thing. That's one of the reasons why people like what BetterHelp is doing. Instead of just telling you people like it, they're showing you. You can visit BetterHelp.com/reviews/BetterHelp.com/reviews. And see real customer feedback that's updated every day. BetterHelp has an average live therapy session rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on more than 1.7 million client session reviews. More than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally. And if you decide to get started, they match you with a therapist based on your needs. If it isn't the right fit, you can switch therapists at any time. See the reviews. See what stands out. And see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit BetterHelp.com/dlb. That's BetterH-E-L-P.com/dlb. Dan Levitar. Jessica thinks you're pathetic. I saw the look on her face. It can never be the lane to victory, Matt. I know. I think Jeremy's pathetic. Jeremy just delivered the most absurd theater kid basketball analysis line that I've ever heard from him. You should hear him back here. It's so sad. Jeremy Tatche. My dad was talking about the adjustments that he had made. He was like, "You know what? You know what? I'm going to do it." And I was like, "You know what? I'm going to do it." That's the most absurd theater kid basketball analysis line that I've ever heard from him. Jeremy Tatche. My dad was talking about the adjustments that Spoh made and criticizing him last night. And Jeremy, just back here, his adjustments were spectacular. It's just like they lost. They're down 0-2. This is the Dan Levitar Show. Put on behind me, please, just a montage of notoriously bad first pitches, because there's no way that that happened any way other than he did that exactly on purpose. But I wanted to ask you guys, because nobody pitches quite that way anymore, I saw yesterday the over-under on Jansen Junk's strikeouts in the game was 2.5, was the over-under. And he went under on 2.5. And I'm curious, Jeremy, before you update me on a number of things I need updating, I'm curious, Jeremy, before you update me on a number of things I need updating on in baseball that I didn't get to talk about over the last couple of weeks, if you had to take a guess, how many pitchers are there in baseball pitching to contact that way anymore, given that all of the pitchers are trying to go for strikeouts? I don't know how common or rare it is to see an over-under on strikeouts for a starter at 2.5, but it struck me as rare that he pitches that way. Well, and hit the under. Yeah. He had two strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. Those over-unders are going to shift more when you have teams like the Marlins where they're yanking guys after a couple times through the order. Ironically, one of the guys who does it is Sandy Alcantara. He doesn't strike out nearly as many guys as you would expect for that level of velocity. But Dan, did you not hear about Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson? Oh, yeah. Oh, the big hefty lefty that's like 260 pounds that got called up by the Giants, and he only throws 89 miles an hour? He's going to be your new favorite player. You need to see this guy pitch. His debut, he threw two innings. He allowed one hit. No runs. No strikeouts. He's my hero. I miss the fat Major League Baseball player. @LevitardShow, put it on the poll, do you miss the fat Major League Baseball player? Can you give me an update, a top five list that updates me on the last two weeks of baseball on things that I missed? Absolutely. OLI. So, Jordan Alvarez is just going to win the Triple Crown? He's so good. Unless your boy gets the Triple Crown. Unless. Unless your boy, Chandler Simpson, ends up surpassing him for batting average, which would just be perfect because he's hit zero home runs. Chandler Simpson has just hit the ball into the ground and run, and he could be the one that prevents Jordan Alvarez from winning the Triple Crown. Do I have this right on Simpson? The only home run he's ever hit was in a spring training game that he's hit no other home runs at any point. And I'm not even sure that that was over the fence. It might have been inside the park. It's amazing. Tony just said he doesn't know what team he plays for. If you know I'm referring to him as Dan's guy, it's the Rays. It's the Rays. And Jordan Alvarez, I described last week on the pitch clock as a combination of David Ortiz and Juan Soto. Like David Ortiz's menacing power and Juan Soto's plate discipline. And Adnan Virk said, yep, you're right. That's how good this guy is. He's crazy good. He hits everything hard. Number five. Oh, wait. Let's show Matt Wilkinson. Tugboat. He's available for us. That's Matt Tugboat Wilkinson, Dan. You can see him right here. This is the big, hefty lefty. He earned the nickname Tugboat while he was pitching for Canada in the Little League World Series. And he has remained a hefty lefty. I love him very much. Speaking of hefty, number five. Vlad Guerrero Jr. almost killed Rams. Randy Orozarena. Because he hit a 116 mile an hour line drive. Look at Randy Orozarena. He fell down from how hard the line drive was hit. For the audio audience, it's like a line drive that doesn't go above the head level. It's one of the wildest line drives I've ever seen. From the batter's back, from the batter's box, to almost deep left field, never going higher than the shortstop's head. I'm not making this up. Jose Canseco once hit a home run that the shortstop. The shortstop jumped on. No way. Not making it up. I don't believe you. Not making it up. I don't believe you. Well, Vlad Guerrero Jr., speaking of, statistically, the best part about all of this is at home this year, Alejandro Kirk has more stolen bases than Vladdy Jr. has home runs. One to zero. He has yet to hit a home run at home all season long. Number four. Max Scherzer went in the way back machine, Dan. 42 years and 34 days old. He's the oldest pitcher with 10 plus strikeouts and one or zero hits allowed. in a game since Nolan Ryan's no-hitter at 44 years old in 1991. Those two guys are the only pitchers with such an outing at 42 years or older. Of course, Nolan Ryan did it six times. Nolan Ryan was good. That guy was real good. Number three. Your Rays, again, hit a home run against the San Diego Padres. That's one of the most amazing home runs I've ever seen. Look at this moment where it's in left field. This ball hits the glove of the left fielder and should be caught. It's in his glove until he hits the wall and the ball falls over the fence because of this short porch in left field. You could see the image right here. The ball just dribbles over. Ultimately, the Rays come back and win this game. The Padres are the final wildcard team. They're now a half game out. This is going to be that play, that moment. Shouldn't that be a ground rule double? If you catch the ball at the warning track and then never hit the ground. I've been making that case, dog. That was a tough one. That was like NFL rule. That was like two steps he took after catching the ground. That's a pop-up. That's 315 feet he hit that ball. It said, of the 43 balls in the StatCast era with a 90-mile-an-hour exit velo and a 40-degree launch angle, not a single one had fallen for a hit. Instead, it's a game-tying home run and they win it in extras. Number two was going to be Greg Maddux, so number one will stick with the Cubs. Pete Crow Armstrong, Dan. Five homers in his last two games. The guy's going to win the NLMVP over Shohei Otani. He said Sammy Sosa told him he'd hit three home runs in a game and then he hit three home runs in a game. And how about this? His 14 homers in August are the most by a player 24 years or younger in a calendar month since Ken Griffey Jr. Big ol' player. Back in 1994. We talk about good names in sports like Usain Bolt. Pete Crow Armstrong as a center fielder. Great name. Tremendous. So good that people call him PCA. It's not that good of a name. If people call you by the acronym, it's not that good of a name. But if you think about it, it's not that good of a name. I got it. Crow. Crow Hop. Armstrong. He's throwing the ball. Pete Crow Armstrong. The guy steals bases. He hits home runs. And in fact, in MLB history, the only guys to have 12 homers, 6 stolen bases, and 16 walks in a single calendar month are Pete Crow Armstrong, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth. I'm surprised that there was no Joshua Baez on there for you. Three home runs in his debut. He then went 0 for his next 19. I'm surprised that Jacob Wilson, the age shortstop. Are you amazed, Zaslow? Is that streak still ongoing? Because he broke the record at shortstop for errorless games with 111. I'm assuming that streak is still going. So Greg Cody was obsessed with this, unsurprisingly, the idea that a shortstop would break the record for the most errorless games in a row. And then we figured out that his defensive run save was like eighth among shortstops in baseball because it's essentially he'll make all of the routine plays. Right. And he won't even get near the plays that would be the spectacular plays. So he can't make the error. Right. Which is actually like really smart. It's basically the way I see it. Let's have Miguel Rojas play shortstop. Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks. I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy. Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it. But it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. I walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people. It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it Cuervo. Keep it Cuervo, baby. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Select live college football games are now on Disney+. Terms apply. Dan Levitar. I've never stepped foot on that campus. If you told me right now your life depends on it, go to Santa Fe University and just take a picture. Jonathan Sassolo. I would die. I don't know where it is. I'm assuming that you guys didn't talk at all over the last couple of weeks about the Padres minor league catching coordinator being detained by ICE, right? No. It might have been on the topics we saved for Dan. I didn't get to it. I don't think that's on there, but we did have some topics that were like, I will save these for Dan. Oh, here they are. Okay. Topics we saved for Dan. Enos Cantor. Yep. Enos Cantor actually reminds me of the professional wrestler who's like, looks at the crowd and the ref. What did I do? I didn't do anything. I'm here to just support women. What do I watch? You know, he has the key to the city in Milford, Connecticut. Enos Cantor? Enos Cantor was, was given the key to the city. The key to the city in August of 2019. Things have changed. You made it sound like it was this week. Well, things have changed. I mean, I've gotten surprised. I'm an idiot. Okay. Because Enos Cantor and Russell Brand at the beginning, they both fooled me. Both of them. Landmark study finds that one in four NFL players developed brain trauma. You guys didn't get to that? We did. Yeah, but we're really saving it. Saved it for you. Wait a minute. You did get to it? We did a little bit on that. You did get to it? Yeah, a little bit. Did anyone talk about OJ Brigadier? Gant's dying. 19 years with ALS. No football questions asked. No? Okay. Good. Packers running back Josh Jacobs placed on the NFL commissioner's exempt list after misdemeanor, battery, and criminal damage charges. That one's brand new. All you, Dano. That happened yesterday, Dan, the exempt list. So you have first did. You saved it for me? Yeah. Yeah, we were going to do a show yesterday, but we decided to wait until today. Do you have any opinions on Josh Jacobs here? I do have opinions on Josh Jacobs there. I mean, apparently, you know, there is video, which I'm surprised we've not seen yet. Because if there is video, like. We're going to see that, right? Because there is video. There is surveillance video. Are you sure you aren't seeing, like, because I saw the Ray Rice video going viral. No, I did not get fooled by that. I'm just saying, there were people out there sending in group checks. Look what happened. It's like, that's the Ray Rice video. Well, but hold on just a second with the Ray Rice video, because that happened. I remember that breaking while we were on the air, and it sort of changed almost everything about how some of this stuff is viewed in sports. Because you're always reading about domestic abuse charges, but never forced to see them. And so as soon as that happened, I remember the show having the reaction of, oh, this is going to be one of the biggest scandals you've ever seen in sports, where we have the video to how grotesque this can sometimes be. You're saying, because right now, the Packers are faced with, and this is less important than the actual news here, but they're going to be without Jacobs for a while, and they're going to be without Micah Parsons for the first four games of the season. You're saying that there is video here that runs the risk of making this a lot worse than it presently is, because people hear misdemeanor, and they're like, what's the big deal on misdemeanor? You hear misdemeanor, and those things get minimized. What are you hearing is going to be available in terms of video? Because this is less about the crime than it is about the optics of the crime, the way that the league can handle this. I've got to give credit incidentally to Roger Goodell on this, because I don't know if a lot of people even remember the problem that this league had with Chris Henry and Pac-Man Jones and the feeling that the NFL was getting totally out of control with the amount of times that the violence was spilling over the sidelines. And Roger Goodell decided, and when you say Adam Silver is a nothing, Zaslow, Roger Goodell decided, no, I'm going to be tougher on this than the American justice system. The American justice system handles this stuff in a really shitty way, and we're going to be better than others on this. The NFL is also going to have more information than the rest of us on this as well. Yeah, apparently there is surveillance video, and I'm surprised that this has not gotten out yet. I would assume that it will get out. Now, maybe the surveillance video isn't as terrible as the Ray Rice video out there, because- Because the charges have been dropped down to a couple of misdemeanors. But nonetheless, I would expect this video to come out. But just, the place where I go on this is, you know, you remember it was a couple months ago, right, where you had the whole thing with the New York Giants and Jackson Dart, and it was Abdul Carter, right, who spoke up, and it's like, you know, right's right and wrong's wrong, and I got to stand up sometimes, you know, and Abdul Carter said what he believed in, because he believed that what he was saying was right and didn't like the support of, you know, that man, that man being the president. And I always- I always go back to stuff like this, like, if right's right and wrong's wrong, no one wants to step up and say, yo, you beat up women? Like, everyone's just cool with it. Nobody says anything. And that part, to me, like, I just, I don't know, it always rubs me the wrong way. There is video here that confirmed the woman's account. She told police that Jacobs grabbed her as she tried to leave, threw her to the ground, she struck her head. The video specifically shows her on the garage floor. Jacobs taking her phone and then returning about 40 seconds later and appearing- to damage it. And if convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison. And the video, Diddy, all the allegations around Diddy became something that America turned on him after seeing the surveillance video. And everything that Diddy was evaporated as soon as that video was seen. And what I'm telling you as it relates to your question, when you say, is everyone okay with it? No one's ever okay with it once they see the video. When it's just in print as an accusation sometimes, you don't understand the severity of what it is that you're looking at, even as I describe it, right? In the Ray Rice video, his fiancee was unconscious. Like, you saw her just hit the ground and he just dragged her out of the elevator by her feet. And so the horror of that was something that left a feeling in your stomach that no one's okay with it once they see it. But before. Until you've seen it, you don't totally understand how brutal some of this stuff can be. I just. Matt LaFleur, you know, he gets up in front of the microphones and the camera's like, fully expecting to be on the teams. All right, man. Like, does anybody want to say if what's alleged is true? I've got a big problem with it and I don't want him here. Don't you think, though, that the first place that people go, and I was just guilty of it seconds ago, is when's he available? What's it do to the Packers' chances? Like, what. When should I take Marshawn Lloyd in my fantasy league? Well, that's the other thing. That's the other thing. The fantasy dehumanization of everything that has a whole series of kids following sports where they're just following numbers like Wall Street brokers. Like, they're treating. There are so many. You tell me if your kids are doing this, Aslo, because you have teenagers. Because fantasy is such a monster moneymaker and, I'm going to say, addiction for. for so many people. I just told you that the people talking about sports earlier in the show, you've got the fairly ridiculous numerical thing of Jonathan Taylor is making two years, $44 million for being the best player the Colts have, an MVP candidate, and the Colts' former punter for talking about Jonathan Taylor, Pat McAfee, is being paid $60 million a year. Because the talking about sports is more valuable than the playing of sports. Tom Brady talking about sports makes more money than he does playing about. playing sports. When the fantasy stuff makes an appearance, I think a whole generation of kids, never mind just treating players as numbers and laundry, like uniform numbers and laundry, it's stats. A human being exists to just be stats. And so they become less. and less human, and their behavior, foul like this against another human being, only matters in the context of how are you affecting my numbers, how are you affecting my money, how are you affecting my team, and of course, in that transaction, women and others are going to be trampled. Well, yeah, but this is the transaction. Like, so, like, are you proposing that people who play fantasy football are fans, like, should, you know, not draft Josh Jacobs? Like, this is the transaction. Yeah, like, they're there. they are literally there for my entertainment. That is what football players are there for. They are there. that is the. their entire career is for my entertainment. Their. their job, their livelihood, and they get paid handsomely for it, and I know sometimes they get upset about everything that you say, but, like, no, you're literally here for my entertainment. This. this is the gig. And I. like, I don't feel bad about that. Yeah, but there are places, though, where I've, in my career, run across a number of different things. There are places that end up being, I'm going to say, morally inconsistent there. When I say, for example, I'm totally good with the idea that athletes would try to use human growth hormone, or whatever they're using, even if it might, with its dangers, shorten their lifespans, people tend to not be quite okay with that, even though they're all just there for your entertainment, and no one objects to Sylvester Stallone being in Australia and throwing all his steroids out the window of a hotel room where somebody washed their underwear in the coffee maker because he's an actor and he's there for your entertainment, and nobody cares that Sylvester Stallone or all of these people in Hollywood who are doing God knows how many pharmaceutical things to get in shape for their movies, nobody cares about that in entertainment, even though it's just. Even though it's just entertainment, but they do all sorts of moralizing here, even though it's just entertainment. Right. So why? Why are we doing that? Why is that the case? Is it because it's an uneven playing field? That's why, right? Yeah, we like to pick and choose about everything and everywhere. People do terrible, horrible things in Hollywood, but I like the movies, so I don't really care, and vice versa. I'm certainly not going to get offended when WWE wrestlers are using performance hands and drugs. They're literally there for my entertainment. I don't get upset about that kind of stuff. Let's go to some sound here. This is the first bad public moment off a football field that Cam Ward has had. Last year had to be brutal for Cam Ward. I don't know how many of you guys were watching Titans football. We told you earlier in the show that Will Levis has been waived by the Titans, wasn't good enough there, and the future was given over to Cam Ward, but if you were watching Cam Ward, there were a number of plays that he made last year, but God almighty was that offensive line bad. Position players were super limited. I just heard you, the way you set it up, like this is a negative, I actually thought that this was a contentious question by the reporter. You can see Cam in this clip start to get a little annoyed, but then I think he like kind of catches himself and gives like a classic quarterback answer. Oh, he did, he did, but look, when I say bad public moment, it's benign, it's testy, but it is a second year quarterback who went in front of microphones the entire time he's been in front of microphones. He has never done anything quite like this after being questioned about his preseason. Cam Ward has played so far this preseason. How would you assess it? Not well. You don't think so? I don't think so. I'm glad you don't think so. That's good. You know, I assess it as, you know, do we win the game or do we lose the game? I assess it as what I can get better at, I don't assess it as someone who can get up and, you know, operate when everything's on. It's a different process level, so it's more of, you know, slowing down the game to everybody, and I believe we made a huge jump from week one to week two because we're getting more condensed in the playbook. We're not really opening everything up, and, you know, when we come to week one, I think it will be a different story. I thought he saved himself there, but I do wonder what the context was right before that question. I don't understand why he's turning the question back on the reporter there. Like, I did not think it was a good look at the start. He ended up saving it. He catches himself. And there's no reason for him to put the question back on the reporter there. And by the way, there's no reason the reporter should be answering that question either, all right? So it was a weird exchange there. I think he saved himself in the end. You don't think the reporter should be answering the question on how do you think that you played? The reporter's not there to answer questions. How do you think I played? He's like, poorly. Like, the reporter's opinion doesn't matter in this case. Like, they're asking him the questions. The reporter should not. think the reporter should have answered so how would you have handled that if i was a reporter yeah because you're not expecting if you're the reporter in that instance it requires you to be thinking on your feet you're not expecting cam ward who has never done anything like this to turn the question back on you but you're going to answer that question how once he turns the light back on you i would have said my opinion is not important here like i'm interested in how you feel that was a good way that would have been a good a better way for the reporter to handle that however it wouldn't have produced that soundbite you would have produced while behaving more professionally and more objectively and while being better in an impromptu moment you would have produced a less good soundbite so is the reporter's question uh meant to get a good soundbite or is the reporter's question meant to be uh neutral i guess you're right in that spot like that like if we look at it that way which we're all in the content game now right then the being a professional journalist i i don't think i agree with you incidentally i agree with you that your way of handling it is the more professional way of handling i like at the start of it you hear that they have their little back and forth and then another reporter tries to get in and then their other reporter gets back like no no i'm still this is still my time i'm gonna get in here with poorly i think you play poorly that's well see that show them well but that i mean that reporter is going to have a problem with cam ward the rest of the season speaking of having problems with people dan did you say that this name this way on purpose pat magafee yeah of course i did you're supposed to just let it sit there so i can't get aggregated like what are you doing the diary of a person you lack subtlety coming on friday tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college that's why she shops at bj's wholesale club saving up to 25 off grocery store prices beef jerky microwave meals laundry pods even they can't screw up have you met my kids and with bj's she gets there for less they call me the road warrior this is your home road warrior mom home of the save join for just twenty dollars at bjs.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months open soon limited time offer new members only bj's home of the save

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The show celebrates football season with nostalgic, communal experiences, especially centered around Miller Lite, which is highlighted as a crisp, refreshing, and iconic choice for game days.
  2. A mix of sports commentary, fan culture, and social observations are shared, including updates on player performances, team news, and controversies like the Packers’ Josh Jacobs case, where surveillance video confirms alleged misconduct.
  3. The episode touches on broader issues in sports culture, such as fantasy football’s dehumanizing impact, the ethics of athlete performance, and the importance of transparency in handling abuse allegations.

Summary:

The Dan Levitar Show blends heartfelt football nostalgia with sharp, satirical commentary on current sports events. It highlights the ritual of weekend football gatherings, centered on Miller Lite as a symbol of relaxation and camaraderie during hot summer days. The episode features a lively mix of player updates—like Aaron Donald’s viral social media presence, Tarek Skubal’s return to Detroit, and Pete Crow Armstrong’s breakout home run streak—alongside deeper cultural reflections.

A major focus is the controversy surrounding Packers running back Josh Jacobs, where surveillance video confirms allegations of assault, prompting discussion about accountability, media ethics, and the dehumanizing nature of fantasy sports. The show also critiques how sports culture often prioritizes statistics over humanity, and how abuse allegations are minimized until exposed by video. Additional segments explore absurd headlines, sports trivia, and the entertainment value of athletes, while questioning whether fans truly understand the human cost behind the numbers.

The narrative underscores a need for greater transparency, empathy, and responsibility in how sports and their athletes are portrayed and judged. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the show calls attention to both the joy and moral complexities of modern sports fandom.

FAQs

Miller Lite is crisp, refreshing, and easy to drink, making it a popular choice during hot summer game days. It's described as a true American Pilsner that cools the body down and is especially popular for celebrating football weekends.

Miller Lite is central to game day rituals, such as gatherings with friends, watching college games on Saturday, and NFL games on Sunday. It's associated with classic traditions like toasting and sharing a perfect weekend with loved ones.

Miller Lite is available almost anywhere beer is sold. For convenience, fans can also find delivery options through MillerLite.com/dan.

The show covers topics like Aaron Donald’s social media presence, Pete Crow Armstrong’s record-breaking home runs, and the controversy involving Packers running back Josh Jacobs and allegations of misconduct.

Greg Maddux’s first pitch is noted for being unusually poor and deliberately silly, believed to be a prank by the pitcher to entertain teammates. It became a viral moment in the show’s coverage.

The 'Cuervo effect' refers to the way the arrival of Cuervo at gatherings instantly creates a lively, celebratory atmosphere, causing people to react with excitement and enthusiasm.

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