The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Local Hour: Are The Florida Panthers The Biggest Thing In Town?
Wed, 18 Dec 2024
Today's Cast: Dan, Stugotz, Greg, Chris, Billy, Mike. Roy is out at Vivo! at the Dolphin Mall for the second day of our 'Roy Drive' collecting unwrapped gifts for children this holiday season. We check in with our Stoic Santa to see how things are going, and Dan announces that he will match all of the toys we collect during the drive. Then, we get into a discussion about how the Florida Panthers are capturing the hearts of fans in South Florida and doing something Dan never thought possible: making people care about regular season hockey. With basketball's ratings dipping and the Miami Heat continuing to fall short of expectations, have the Panthers overtaken them as the second team in Miami? Thankfully, we have Greg Cote here to put this into the proper perspective as one of the most important columnists in South Florida sports history right alongside Dave Hyde. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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70,000 people are here, and Bob Dylan is the reason for it. Inspired by the true story.
If anyone is going to hold your attention on a stage, you have to kind of be a freak.
Are you a freak?
Hope so. And starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan. He defied everyone.
Turn it down!
They lied. To change everything.
Make some noise, BD.
Timothee Chalamet. Edward Norton. El Fanny. Monica Barbaro. A complete unknown. Only in theaters Christmas Day. Rated R. Under $17.99 without parent.
Shadow Show. Shadow Show. Shadow Show.
Shadow Show. Shadow Show.
Shadow Show.
Shadow Show. Shadow in it. Shadow. Eventually, I want to get to the point where we start one of these and Greg Cody already has his headset on and is ready to go. And we then start sharing and spilling secrets to the audience in the shadow show. That's where I want to get eventually. But the reason I am excited today right now is because I've got. Original show right here.
I got Mike and Billy and I got Chris and we've got Roy. We sent him out on remote. We got Greg Cody and we got Stugatz. Like this is the crew that people love the best from the beginning. And over the last few years, we've brought on a lot of voices that has made this a very crowded holiday party in a new space that we've already outgrown.
So outside the doors, we've got Lucy and Amin and Jeremy because everyone's here for the holiday.
party and I want to know with honest answers from our crew in here how do you guys just feel about the office holiday party as a construct as a thought I'm asking the audiences and I'm asking you this like in your workplaces out there do you enjoy going and then being with the co-workers do you have a company where that is something you want to be doing in your free time or does it become a responsibility and an obligation everyone rather be home with their families and not have to go to a holiday party
What's the honest answer here?
I wish it were closer.
You're asking this the day of the holiday party. I love holiday parties. I like celebrating a year that was, even if some places it's difficult. It's kind of like, hey, we made it through. It's a time for optimism. I like... gathering with folks. I typically don't. We spend a lot of time with one another here and we don't spend a lot of time away from the office together.
So to be able to have a drink and lighten the mood and listen to some music, exchange some gifts, it's a great time.
That sounds lovely. Does everyone experience it that way? Do the people listening to this, because the reason I asked the question is because I would love to be building a company where people get together at the holiday party and it is a rip-roaring affair. where everyone's got their arms around each other because they love working together so much. That would be wonderful.
Yeah, dream on. No, I'm just kidding. It's just a joke. It's not a joke, though. You're not joking.
You're not joking. I could dream on and that dream will never come true for me.
I think the holiday party has a bad rap. I think at a lot of companies, big companies especially, the holiday party is sort of an obligatory thing that's dreaded. In this case, you know, it's a fairly small crowd. The only weird thing about today is that right after the show, we have like a white elephant gift exchange, and then hours later, we reconvene for the party.
So the logistics of that make it a little difficult, but I'm looking forward to it.
It's really, it ends up being two holiday obligations on a work day. That's right. Right.
I feel like it's really just a chance for the employees to assess. How well are you taking care of us? Oh, this is where the holiday party is. Oh, there's an open bar. Oh, the food is included. Like at my wife's one last night. That's what employees are doing. They're assessing. They're looking around.
Do we know what ours is? I'd like to know whether ours is going to be an open bar. I don't know as we sit here.
So you're judging. It's like a state of the company, basically, right?
But I do love the location. It would be a location that I'd probably be at tonight regardless because there's a huge Panther game on, and this is my favorite bar to watch hockey. The Wilds? Kaprizov. Kirill the Thrill Kaprizov. Take the over. One and a half points every game. This guy should be the Hart Trophy winner.
An unbelievable player that we're not going to get to see in the Four Nations Cup because he's Russian.
I'm going to be serious when I say this. War crimes. Stugatz came in here today and with Cody they commiserated and Stugatz arrived at the conclusion that the holiday party should be closer to him at Landlubbers. He wants it. He's mad that we're
Something in Broward. Plantation. Landlubbers.
Lefties. Billies. Anywhere.
You had your run with Primetime Media Group. We had plenty of Broward days.
It's the holidays. A time for peace. For love. For presence. And do I have one for you. It's Poppy's Fifty Shades of Christmas. You're welcome.
At the touch of the leather, I quiver and gasp. He walks around me again, trailing the crop around the middle of my body. He has a small groove or carvings. I'm going to put this to you. His fingers trail between my buttocks. Spreading oil. Instantly, the plug starts to vibrate down there. It feels alien, fool, forbidden, but oh, so good. As my body explodes, I'm nothing but sensation everywhere.
This way, he murmurs. And abruptly, he leans over, releases my hands, and pulls me upright so I'm practically sitting on him.
Thank you, Poppy. See, Greg? That's how it's done.
Deliciously, slowly, again and again.
Es suficiente, papi. All right, time to start the show.
This is the Don Levitar Show with the Stugats.
Do me the favor, please, video of putting a camera, training it on the other room there so I can see who is gathering here for the holiday party because I just saw a whole lot of people out there. We've got Lucy out there. We've got Jeremy out there. Izzy is out there. So we've got a lot of people we can use today at our disposal. Roy is at Dolphin Mall. He is Santa Roy. It is a Roy drive. Yeah.
He is. I don't know how he would feel about me. Put him up on the screen to video. I can see here in the preview that Roy is there. Yes, he there he is. And so I'm excited to see. I want to call him stoic Santa. But Roy doesn't want me to make him mirthless. So help me help Roy as he gathers at Dolphin Mall. I am promising right now as we escalate this toy drive.
I am promising everyone that I will match the number of toys given by all of our audience here. Wow. I will match.
So you're going to buy the exact same toys?
No, I'm just going to make a quick estimate, and then I'm going to get the amount of money that I need to make that quick estimate double the amount of toys that we're giving.
When's the last time you were in a toy aisle? I'd love to go toy shopping with you. Yeah. That'd be fun.
You know what? We could do that. We could do that and make content out of it. You and me doubling the output of the audience at toy shopping. Let's do that.
We'll have Billy get roped in. Yeah, it's my last day this year, so get that done today. What was your idea?
It was your idea. No, no, no.
I said I'd love for you to do it.
No, you said you'd love to go shopping with me.
Yeah, I would, in theory.
No, you should do it, Dan. Instead of writing a check, anybody can write a check. You need to be hands-on in the toy store, picking out every gift.
Find some Bogos. Yes, for every Taka toy that is brought to the toy drive, you need to go find the Taka toy. Ooh, I like that. A scavenger hunt.
Where you match toy for toy the exact same toy, and your charity watch is not done until you've found the exact same toys.
I see the delight in Stugatz stirring to life and giving me work and expenses. I love charity, Dan. Yes, I know. I see just a general enthusiasm of getting me to do more work to get more money spent. I see it on you. It delights you.
It's really just you at a toy store. Right.
Right. Yeah, that's not what's happening here. What is going to happen is I'm telling the audience. I can't false promise this. There are rules to this. I'm telling the audience that if the audience stuns us with coming to Corner Coffee Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
here at the Elser through tomorrow, or if they go out to Vivo at the Dolphin Mall, a mall where you can buy toys, I'm saying that whatever your generosity is, you have... the ability to hurt me here with what I'm offering.
You have the ability to make me have to buy thousands and thousands of dollars in toys if the audience, and I fear our audience's support, if our audiences do the labyrinth degree of difficulty of having to at 10 a.m. to noon on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday show up at Dolphin Mall or at the parking lot of a Flanagan's that is closed
And bombard us at the last minute with toys because I've hastily organized a toy drive that the company is not equipped to handle at the moment. And the company would have preferred not to have this the week before the holidays when everyone is mailing it in. Everyone is done this week. No one is trying this week. You've got your foot on the gas. And I'm like, toy drive.
We've got to make kids happy. It's urgent. Greg Cody is here in one of the best holiday sweaters I have ever seen. Amazing.
My book's in the way here.
Yeah.
Back in my day. Well done. My new book is getting in the way of my sweater. It's a Miller Lite sweater. We love Miller Lite a little too much.
That's not true. We like it responsibly.
I got to learn the art of that.
I actually like that. Look, for all the beer commercials that there are, Greg Cody is a Miller Lite spokesman saying, I like Miller Lite a little too much. Is it great? No, it's not.
Please stop. Responsibly. Thank you, Mike.
You can have both. You can love a sponsor so much that you over love a sponsor.
Not with this sponsor. Figuratively.
Please stop. Yes. Greg Cody is trying to bring back the phrase maniac. We think that the phrase maniac has just all but expired.
It has. It's a phrase from my ute. And I credit, I don't know if anybody out there old like me remembers Mad Magazine and Alfred E. Newman. That was one of their catch words, catch phrases was maniac. It was very popular in the 60s. If someone was acting crazy and you wanted to like criticize them, but in a funny way, you are a maniac. You're acting like a maniac. People don't say that anymore.
I want to bring it back. It's like groovy. Jack.
Okay, Billy, why are you laughing? Are you laughing because Greg Cody Tuesday has gotten off to a limp or an uproarious start?
You know, he's kind of taking a little bit to get into his groove, but we'll get there.
I'm mailing it in, like you said before.
Oh, come on, Greg.
You're mailing it. Somebody give me a stamp. It's almost Christmas. What am I doing working here? I'm in a Christmas sweater. I should be Christmas partying right now.
You're doing two obligatory Christmas parties today, two obligations that everyone has gathered around for. Put it on the poll, please, Juju, at Levitard Show. Do you like the company office party, yes or no? And then also put on the poll at Levitard Show, company office party, time of great enthusiasm and dreams or horrible obligation? Because I don't know.
Look, God bless football has taken a beating this football season. They have carried us. They have worked hard. They're flying coast to coast. They are trying to make money.
My body hurts.
Yeah, Stugatz is claiming that his body feels like an NFL player's does at the end of the season. Worse. They're killing themselves for you to make more and more content. We're the biggest content machine that there is, just belching out content every day. And Billy and Stugatz do God bless football, and they're tired. They're exhausted.
I don't want to speak for them, but I don't know that they want the general mirth of two office parties today.
Well, I'll also say this for the people who like God bless football and for those that hate it, too. It doesn't matter. It's going to be dark the next couple weeks on this show. God bless football will not because it's playoff time for college sports and for the NFL. So you're still going to be getting your Mondays and Fridays episodes for God bless football. We're not going to abandon you here.
And also you can vote for us at sportspodcastgroup.com if you'd like. Best football podcast. We're up against the Kelseys. And we're up against Mina. And we're up against a number of people, so please vote for us because we have stiff competition last year. And last year, we love you guys, but you failed us. We didn't even medal last year.
So I don't want to blame you, like Dan's blaming you guys if the kids don't get toys this year. But if you want us to win, you're going to have to vote for us. And if you want those kids to have a nice Christmas, you have to donate toys because Dan's not donating a damn thing unless you donate. That's how it works. Match or nothing.
I am going to double whatever it is that the audience produces here, and we're going to be doing it for the next couple of days. Today and tomorrow, it's at Dolphin Mall. It's 11401 Northwest 12th Street, and it's from 10 a.m. to noon, although he's already out there. Chris, can I go to Roy at Dolphin Mall? And is he okay if you asked him if I make him a stoic clause?
Let's ask him, Dan. I have not asked him that. All right, thank you.
Roy, how are you doing out there? You look like you're filled with mirth. It is nice to see. The backdrop is very professional. You're giving off Christmas spirit in your eyes. How is everything out there?
Ho, ho, ho, mofos. Everything is all right right now. Just waiting for everybody to show up with their new and unwrapped toys here at Vivo at Dolphin Mall. I've already gotten started with this bluey plush doll and this football for the kids.
All right. Thank you. We're looking for athletic balls and equipment, dolls and Barbies, remote-controlled cars, Nerf toys, board games, play food, tea sets, jewelry, craft kits, cologne, perfume, building toys, Legos. The mall is right there.
That cologne just falls. It really does. It really does.
Every time it stops me as well. It does.
It is.
The perfume and cologne is strange. I don't understand why that's in there, but it's in there. High schoolers. Gift cards. Right. They're not just little kids. They're not just toddlers. They're often forgotten. Christmas comes for all, right, because we forget. That's the real stink of the holidays, that you often forget the teenager because you're busy buying toys for the kid.
It's heartbreaking. Everyone wants a cute little one, and they have the 13-year-old.
Let me say this, though. The 13-year-old, the teenagers, they forget about you. They stop caring about the holidays and family. They go through a phase, I'm telling you. They'll come back in their 20s, their mid-20s perhaps, but they don't care. Well. They don't want to be at the holiday thing with the family. They don't care about you. They just want cash. That's what they want.
He rolled through that, Mike. He rolled through the fact that you were talking about kids who don't have parents, and he waited.
Teens are teens. It doesn't matter, Dan. Parents are not parents.
What age group do you buy gifts for, Stugat, since there's obviously a void in the middle that you don't need to buy for?
Usually before the age of 12, and then I start buying them again after the age of 21.
So 13 to 20.
They don't care about me. I don't care about them.
Got it. Okay, so we are buying perfume in Cologne.
Happy holidays, everyone. We have, by the way, two established authors here. Maybe we could donate some books to the cause. What do we think? Gift of literature. It's worse than perfume.
You know what? Let's do that. I'll get my publisher right on that. I have a box of books, but I ain't giving any away. I'll tell you that.
Yeah, so Billy, for the holidays, he's not going to lift a finger for you or anybody else. He's going to keep his book sales. I have found, Chris, this is a good question to ask your mom. I'm going to guess that your father is one, that we could document that your father is one of the least charitable people in the history of finances. Oh, wow. No, because he's all about taking for the holidays.
It's not about giving. Like, it's not. Have you bought any Christmas gifts?
Yes. I have not, you know. Five years ago. Yes or no? Greg, Greg. Hold on, five years ago. No, no, no. Long story.
Greg, Greg, how late are you on your Christmas shopping? And what kind of spree is this going to be that's just going to grab some perfume at the end?
I'm always late on my Christmas shopping. Let's put it this way. I'm haunting Amazon right now. And the first thing I look at is not the product or the price. I'm like, is it going to be delivered before Christmas? If it says you'll deliver it, prime delivery, whatever it's called, if I can get it tomorrow, I'll buy anything. You know, I'll buy anything. It just depends on the delivery date.
I'm a little behind on my shopping, but I'm feeling good. I'm buying gifts. They're showing up on my doorstep.
You came in here saying it's a Christmas sprint. I'm behind. You came in here saying that.
I'm a little behind.
No, but because you've been boxed in on being a taker for the holidays. You're not a giver. You're a taker. If you could do it, you'd just get gifts and not give a single one.
No, that's not true. I enjoy gift giving. I really do. And I'm a champion rapper. The gift, I make a gift look better than it is by my wrapping acumen. That part is true. He's a great rapper. That is a stunner. So you enhance a bad gift by wrapping it well?
Example, in the White Elephant sale, in the White Elephant party we're about to have later today, my gift will stand out because of the wrapping. That's all I'm going to say.
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Don Levitard. I heard that as a woman faking pain. I didn't think that sounded real. I really didn't. You know, it was not fake. It was in no way fake.
You can spot a woman faking it.
Stugatz. Yes, I can. Yes. Expert. I've been married 40 years. This is the Don Levitas show with the Stugatz.
I find it rare to be friends with somebody for 40 years and delightful, delightfully discover something.
something about him i did not know i'm just learning what a gift i'm getting right now yet to learn that it has been confirmed by his son greg cody is an expert rapper i would have never had you being that i would have never guessed that if the key is the cut and the crease the scissor work has to be pristine and and perfectly aligned the creases have to be sharp
Use as little tape, scotch tape, as possible. Put an appropriate bow on just about every gift except a stocking stuffer. You bow? I don't bow. I bow.
Bows are a waste.
I'm a big bower, and it has to fit. It has to fit. The colors have to coordinate, the bow and the wrapping. And there's an art to it. I love wrapping more than I love giving or getting gifts. I love the wrapping process.
Greg, when it comes to the cut, are you one that does multiple cuts? Are you the type that cuts once and then does the slide across the paper?
That's a tough art to master. Because if it snags. If it snags and it rips, it just ruins everything. The scissor has to be, and why is it always plural? I'm only holding one pair of scissors.
It's weird, yeah, I ask myself that all the time.
But if it's not a particularly sharp scissor, you're screwed.
I disagree. I think it's more on the paper. The quality of paper is the easier slide. If you get that good wrapping paper, that good thick wrapping paper, that'll slide much better than that crap.
Yeah, that's true. That's fair. That's a fair comment. I could give a seminar on gift wrapping. I really could.
Go for it. How do you feel about gift bags?
I'm against them. Really? Yeah. It's the easy way out. You know? You're cutting corners.
Honestly. You're cutting corners. I admit it. My gift for the white elephant today is in a gift bag.
I kind of want to go out there and see if I can identify Greg's gift just based on the wrapping.
Well, if I may with you guys, I think I've got an idea here that you guys can maybe help me with. Because... I like Greg's idea of giving a seminar on gift wrapping. I would love to put him in another room with Jeremy and have him give that seminar while actually watching him wrap a gift.
I have in my car, my wife sent a toy in today, a lovely unicorn, that we can have him wrap so that we can see what it is that looks like, even though we're looking for unwrapped toys.
You've got to match that one, right?
Yes, I've got to match that one as well.
The exact same unicorn.
I'm not doing it that way. I'm going to just make a joke. This is what I'm telling you so that I'm not false advertising. I will generally estimate what the toys are worth and then buy that amount of toys in a shopping spree with Billy, and we will give all of those toys over to branches, fl.org, if you want to give for yourself.
The thing that I want to do with Cody is have him wrap a gift here and show us. Get him the scissors he needs. Get him the gift wrapping he needs. Like a master class, yes. I'm surprised and delighted by this, so we will get to it over the course of the show. There are a number of other things that I want to get to, and Roy is one of those things at Dolphin Mall.
While I will not continue to bombard you with information on the toy drive for the next three days, I do want to get your attention here by dressing up our employees as Santa Claus, whether they like it or not. Roy, are you okay with this being called a Roy drive? Today is not a toy drive. It's a Roy drive.
It makes a lot of sense, Dan, and I appreciate you using my name in that. Okay. That's very smart.
All right, so thank you. You write so well. It's just one letter off. Thank you. Are you okay also, Roy? Are you okay, Roy, also with me calling you Stoic Santa? Is Stoic Santa okay by you? Sure. Okay.
Excellent. I sound enthused by that. All right.
No, that's good. So you can see Roy at Dolphin Mall and all of that holiday enthusiasm can pour over you and the mall's right there. You can go buy a gift and then you're going to hurt me if South Florida does what I think it's capable of, which is somebody with great wealth just shows up and buys a bunch of toys.
And now you're going to hurt me because if several people do that, then I'm going to be in tens of thousands of dollars and I'm in over my head and I'm drowning. Hmm. What do you think this is, McAfee? You think I could throw $100,000 at people for kicking field goals? I don't pay the guests a million dollars here to ask me about my back status.
You should make the kids kick a 30-yard field goal to get a toy. Save money. Right, get all the toys.
Dan, if you were to guess, where would you think you would acquire that giant bluey that's next to Roy? Where would you go to match that one?
You know, Billy, I do appreciate how meticulous you are on this one. I'm telling you right now, I'm not matching it toy for toy. You have to.
Imagine you play a game of memory, right? And you're just like, well, that's a card that matches with another card. Like, no, you need to match the things on the card.
Okay, then what I will add.
Match the fours to the fours.
Okay, but this is what I'm telling you. As you and Stugatz try to box me into more money and more work, this is what I'm going to tell you. It's a write-off. You know what? You're right, though. You're right. You're absolutely right. I have been swayed.
And so now your assignment as our employee is to list in detail all of those toys, what they are, and then help me find someone to go out and buy those toys with my money.
Well, we have a Bluey and a football so far, so I'm on it. I'm all caught up.
And a unicorn. You keep a running tab in the back room. You keep a running tab of all the stuff we have.
Football looks suspiciously familiar to what Tony had yesterday, too.
Roy, we'll come back to you in a second. I appreciate your Panther jersey. I appreciate that you're wearing it. We're going to talk about Panthers and some local stuff here because some of the sports stuff going on is interesting.
One, you've got and let me go through this for a second, because Greg Cody's all excited because if the Dolphins beat the Niners, their playoff chances skyrocket to 12 percent. So so Cody's excited about that. Mike Ryan has come in here and said, Dan, I'm not going to let you off the hook on the heat. Dan, you cannot let the heat off the hook for what is presently happening with the Miami Heat.
And in the middle of that. The Panthers continue to be just awesome. Just awesome fun. And did something that I don't believe, I don't believe has happened in South Florida's sports lifetime. You've got us caring deeply about regular season hockey games.
You've got us caring when they go play in Winnipeg or when they're playing in Edmonton because now you're developing some allegiances to the storylines. You've watched a previous playoff run, and now you know the players from the other team. South Florida's getting caught up in something the exact way that a sports fan base has to be built around winnings.
Well, it's the perfect time for the Panthers to be good in this market because the rest of the professional teams are dreadful. They're getting all of our attention, and they deserve it. They won the Stanley Cup. They're the best team in hockey. They've been good for four years now.
But the fact that the Dolphins are mediocre, the Marlins are lousy, this is a great time for that organization and the right time for that organization.
You said care deeply, and certainly in pockets, people care deeply, but I'm not one of those Panther fans that gets super defensive. We're building. There are plenty of reasons why this was a struggling hockey market, mostly on ownership after they moved into the new building. This is the first sustained run of excellence from this franchise. ever.
They've had outliers, a little flash in the pans, won a cup appearance in 1996, didn't do much with that momentum, moved to a new place. They had one year where they win the Atlantic and then they kind of disappear and fall off. So this team with its young core.
25 years with no playoff success, like not even winning, like 25, you got that 96 run and then you got a quarter century of not, you'll get to the playoffs with Pavel Burry, whatever, but you're never winning a game. You're never winning a series.
I think, look, This franchise, had it built on the momentum of 96, we'd probably see something a little bit closer to Tampa, which is just one of the best hockey towns in the country. But that's not our story. And people want to make fun of the parade while it's raining. I look at that and it warms my heart because of where this franchise was.
We are so far beyond where we were, and we're still building. And I think another Cup run will just keep building on that success. And Roy, I'm curious your opinion, not just because you're wearing a Panthers jersey and you love hockey and you have the hockey show, but you've been there through the lean years. And this team...
with its stars because it's been a pretty transient franchise it's not often that you have guys stick through several years guys like barkov who've been here who've grown into men who's he's still a young man but he's been here over a decade a guy that wants the sardom that wants a platform wants to grow the game like matthew kachuk these guys are building a connection with this town in ways that hockey teams only did in 1996 for a fleeting moment
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And the one thing that you pointed out is they never really signed players to long term extensions. And that's what they're doing now. They have built a core. And I said maybe three or four years ago that this team will actually win a cup in the next five years. I got laughed out of the studio and they managed to make two cup runs.
So to see this team be this successful right now. Yeah, I think that this community can actually build around this team and become bigger fans than obviously the Marlins and right now maybe even the Dolphins.
It's a weird way to judge this. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Maybe even the Dolphins? No, that's never going to happen. Look, it's still difficult to walk into a sports bar in at least Miami-Dade County and find the TV on a Panther game. It's becoming more commonplace. You don't have to ask for it as much. I occasionally go into sports bars and they have the sound on for huge games.
I think it's building and a little bit of self-awareness. There's no way hockey ever matches the NFL in this town. But it did in Tampa, and they built on success over there. So it's not impossible in this state, but just as a market demographically, Tampa is much different than the Tri-County area down here.
That's a bit of a pipe dream, but it certainly challenged the Miami Heat in terms of local interest.
Mike, you got here before I did by a year, I would say. I would say that in your... reduced fan with that the Panthers last year in just your consumption was the first time in your lifetime maybe, maybe 96, where the Panthers had run the heat out of your purview. Yeah, other than the two years before that.
because i'd argue that right now okay so three years you've got yeah like three years like the the the barkov huberto uh team that that really started oh these guys have been around for a while you're gonna you're going to tell me now that those panther teams to you were something you were watching with more interest passion than and and so the derrick white shot at the buzzer with the celtics and the heat you're going to tell me that panthers feelings overrode those heat feelings well when
that was happening the panthers had been eliminated from their bubble but i would say that yeah like dating back to three years ago the panthers if they were on at the same time the panthers would would get the sound we're going on an olympiad now where the panthers have usurped the the miami heat in in my opinion and the miami heat have had two two well two real deep runs uh two finals appearances uh in that time but the panthers have also had two finals appearances i
I just love the team. I love the connection with it. I love the sport. I think if you compare them in direct comparison with one another, they're going in opposite directions, the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers.
Okay, but can I – when I talk about – look, Greg Cody – is the most historic sports columnist now that we have going in town. Living, yes. Only in terms of stature locally, as a journalism legend, Greg Cody finishes, I think, second to only Edwin Pope in this town. Maybe he's running neck and neck with Dave Hyde on columnist greatness. I don't know where he put himself on this list.
But when it comes to what's happening in this town right now, two columnists are calling for the firing of Chris Greer with the Dolphins. I don't know. You can correct me. That still means something to me when newspapers do that.
And I don't recall a time in South Florida history when two columnists were willing to do that at the same time since going back to Jimmy Johnson and Don Shula at the very end when Dave Hyde and I were doing it. But I think I have it right when I say it's unusual for our market to call for the firing of a leader. So that's happening with the Dolphins.
Apparently I've only been around for a year, dude. I'm really confused. I started running this bid in 2017.
I'm not saying that you don't.
I'm not. You know what?
You know what? All right, listen to me. I'm not going to have you sit here with a straight face and tell me that you cared about the Panthers more when Bam Adebayo was blocking Jason Tatum out at the rim. You have had some of your heat allegiances beaten out of you by the Celtics the last year.
No doubt. When he blocked Jason Tatum at the rim, that was Miami versus Boston. And Florida was out of the NHL playoffs in their bubble. No doubt. I was more of a Heat guy then, I guess. But in the years that followed, keep in mind, that was a while ago. I've become a Panther guy.
The only reason I'm bringing all of this up, Mike, is because this is exactly the only thing a team can do in this market, like a hockey team, to wrestle the city away from the incumbent in sports. We don't support four and five things at the same time down here. So if you want to wrestle the town away, do it with regular season games that matter. I'm watching basketball games.
I don't care when the Heat are losing to the Pistons by a point.
Yeah, I don't think they've wrestled the 10 away. I still think hockey down here, in Miami-Dade County especially, it still has a way to go to even catch this fledgling Miami Heat incarnation across the street. It's still got a way to go, but I'm super fine with that.
I'm super cool with this really exciting time down here locally where you get to build on something and you bring more and more people to the tent. More and more people get introduced to the sport. There is nothing like
playoff hockey and i think optically too you see the ratings for the nba they're down the nba has a problem my chief problem with the nba i'll wear it is that i don't like this miami heat team i don't they're not interesting to me i'm sick of it i don't want to watch them anymore
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Don Libetard. You don't remember the idea for a home run call?
I was probably like, that kind of thing. Something. Okay, no. The home run call was that kind of swing, that kind of thing. Stugatz. Oh. That's a good call. Thank you. And plus, it doesn't matter who's hitting it. Like, you're not tailoring it to a particular name. You know, all that jazz. You know, you don't got to do that. Oh, that would be a great call.
That kind of swing, that kind of thing. This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stugats.
In Mike's defense, he has been telling me this for years. Like,
years. So, Dan, if you look at the Panther run, you can go back to 21-22. That's the year they had the most points in the league. They lost in the playoffs. That's really when it started. So this is now, we're on the fourth season of a great hockey run, and I would say if the Panthers win another Stanley Cup, let's say this year.
Oh, no, just make another run. Just make another run. No, you gotta win some cups. Exactly right.
You gotta stack the cups. I'm still winning it again, though. You gotta stack cups. Get the Biden Cup. That amount did nothing.
If they win another cup, finish your thought. I'm sorry I interrupted you. You were cookin'.
I do think there's an opportunity for the Panthers to kind of take over this town. They're never going to be as popular as the Dolphins, but I can envision a day, if they stack Cubs, where they're more popular. People care more about them than the Heat.
All right, and so you saying that to me, my purview, lifelong South Floridian, is crazy. It's crazy. I understand. So before we get to the excellence of all of this, because they're the thing.
That's a fine. He has a checklist.
He forgot to check. I love how he's holding it below the table as if we didn't all hear it and it didn't stop the show.
Sorry. I apologize. I can't be perfect. Who was it?
You're right.
It was my doctor. I got an appointment tomorrow. I get a robocall reminding me about an appointment. Like it's not on my calendar. Like I'm going to forget. Continue. Because you've never canceled a doctor's appointment before, huh? Well, I canceled this one. It was Tuesday, and they snuck me in Friday. Oh, got it.
Well, that's not tomorrow. Today's Wednesday, everybody. We keep seeming to forget that. Mm-hmm.
You were cooking, Dan. I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
Continue. Go back to the stove. Flip those jacks.
Flip those jacks. I like that as the new take. The new way that I enter the room to have a take. I flipped those jacks. Can you guys put on the screen for me in the corner, please? Mike mentioned a parade, and it just made me think of the single best parade that I believe Metal Ark Media has ever had. It was Greg Cody's Miami-Dade Panthers win the championship, Connor McDavid's overrated parade.
that he did here with us. And, yeah, it just makes me happy. Look at Greg, how happy he is.
You don't see the crowd because they're just off camera. People were lined up for miles.
That was right after the Panthers won the Cup. That was our parade in the streets of downtown Miami. So when I say to you guys that it's unusual because this has been Broward's team, okay, like it's hard to get all the ethnicities. I mean, I don't know. Tony and Billy still don't care about the Panthers, right? I shouldn't speak about Billy as if he's not here.
I mean, there is a cultural disconnect between, you know, Hispanic Miami Dade and hockey. It's just not, you know, they're more geared to baseball and football and even basketball down here. Hockey, they've never had a reason to care, and thankfully this franchise is giving them a reason to care. It's just, you know, they are most certainly Broward's team, and they lean into that footprint.
Hopefully one day they can revitalize an area because their stadium's kind of out there near the Everglades a little bit, but it's not impossible. Look, Look, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been a really successful franchise. They have two Super Bowls in the last 25 years. They're often in the playoffs. If you go to Tampa, the flags hanging outside people's homes are blue and white.
That is a hockey town.
Mike, this is what I'm telling you. What I can't believe I've witnessed over the last five years is a management leadership that turns from the best offensive team in the sport during the regular season to realizing immediately, oh, that don't work in the playoffs. Got to do that. Rip it up.
I would have gone with that for a couple more years and I would have died at the feet of the lightning and given them the state. Because I would not have been bold enough to make the move that brings Kachuk and stability to town. I would not have had the foresight to know that Paul Maurice would become the winningest coach in Panther history already. Already. Think about that for a second.
Low bar. I know, but still. But still. To see this team be this kind of excellent and to have it be in the middle where the other things that need to happen in your town around sports have to happen so that you can grab a town the way Tampa does, the opportunity is right here. And I just didn't think in my sports lifetime I would ever see.
a time where hockey could be that thing in both of these markets, even as Dade County yawns largely about the Panthers, but they're making us, I think, care about regular season games in a way I haven't felt before because I've got, I live around bars and stuff. I hear what's happening around me. Hockey is doing something in Dade County I've not seen before.
Well, one of the things that I think will be huge for their growth, because I'm sure they have all sorts of meetings and they bust open the books and they realize we have so much room for growth in Miami-Dade County. How do we get there? The reports are accurate. There is a winter classic coming to South Florida, coming to Lone Depot Park. next season. That potentially might pit.
A lot of the fans out there might suggest it's going to be Florida against one of its main rivals. It'd be great if it were the Tampa Bay Lightning because you get to draw from that market too. That is a huge moment in time if this Panther organization can keep that momentum going and it crescendos with this huge event down the street over there at Marlins Park.
That'd be really cool because that's the first time hockey has come to Miami-Dade County since they left.
I feel like we're overcomplicating this. People like the Panthers and watch the Panthers because they've been good the past years and they just won the championship.
If you're good, people care.
Yeah, exactly right. You're good and you don't blow up your team. People care and they're going to watch because they want you to keep winning. None of the other teams have actually really been super close. The heat went to the finals, but no one actually thought they were going to win the finals that year.
Billy, thank you for being a voice of reason because you're absolutely right. But you understand how to my tinny sports ear... I would totally be surprised by local sports excellence. Barely local, honestly.
It's so far away.
I'll go anywhere to find it. It's been so long since. It's barely local. The Dolphins have been bad for a really long time.
But people still watch the sport. They're not checking out on the Dolphins. You listen to local sports talk radio. People are irate because they care. Why? Because the product is really good. So I do think that there is a small faction of hockey fans out here that will support the team through thick and thin, like I have, like Chris has, like Roy has. Like I have. Like you have.
But people need to be clued into the fact that this sport is just terrific to watch. They need to be brought into the tent. They need to go into a bar where the sound is on and people are locked in and you're living and dying as a puck crosses a blue line every half second it feels like and your season is hanging on the edge of a blade. It's incredible. There's nothing like it. It's infectious.
You guys are proving the point for football, though. You guys just said it. Every other team around here, if they were bad the previous season, the ratings might not be great the next year. The Dolphins rating, people are watching the Dolphins, even if they were 1-15 the year before.
It's always going to be a football town, and I said that 10 years ago when the Big 3 Heat were a thing. It's always going to be a football town. I do think the Panthers have the chance to be the second biggest pro team in the market. with the Panthers just being great.
That's stunning. My daughter loves the Panthers.
My daughter's the only team she talks about down here. But also, you have season tickets. You control what your children like.
That's how you build fandom, though.
This is a stunning commentary from longtime veteran columnist Greg Cody in a town where columnists are calling for firings. Greg Cody has proclaimed the Panthers have a chance right now to be the second best team in the market.
Second biggest. Best already.
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