transcript
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
[01:00] This is The Dan Lebatard Show with Stugotz Podcast.
Speaker 5:
[01:08] This episode of The Dan Lebatard Show is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours.
Speaker 6:
[01:15] So we're having fun. It's a big day. It's a busy day. And there's a lot going on because this thing that we're doing, DraftSpecial tonight, a race for Super Zagaktos, is going to be the best draft coverage you will find anywhere if you don't care about the draft in ways that are too serious. Because we will have good information for you. It will be in there, people more informed than us. I'm not going to speak for Trista and Mike, but more or zazz on this matter, because I think you three really know college football. And so you will be excited tonight and you will help us fill this out. But I cannot tell you about the Offensive Guard at Georgia. And I'm not going to pretend like I can. David Samson is pissed off though. We're about to have fun all day today. And David Samson's mad because we can't get his audio right or he can't get his audio right. And he's blaming us cuz he's always on time and he's ready and he's particular and he can be a perfectionist. And so what is happening right now with his audio cuz I want to talk to him about this Vrabel story.
Speaker 5:
[02:19] We can hear him, he can't hear us, so we keep doing the thing of like maybe come out, come back in or you got the right headphone selected and he thinks it's on our end and we're pretty convinced it's on his.
Speaker 7:
[02:29] That's always the go-to, right? It's not working. Hey, wait, wait, wait, come on, come back in.
Speaker 5:
[02:32] And then check your headphones, make sure the right headphones.
Speaker 6:
[02:34] All right, so just keep him up there and he'll get in on the conversation when he can. I wanted to start in the place because we were talking during the break about just iconic Marlins home runs and I know that we're out of the Local Hour now and I do want to and we'll get to this Vrabel story but I did want to finish the conversation that we were having because I'm sitting here celebrating Chandler Simpson of My Beloved Rays and the way that he just hits the ball on the ground and runs all over the place as the entire sport has gone to exit Velada City and Lift and we started talking about Marlins home runs and people least likely to hit a Marlins home run and somebody here nominated D Gordon for the most iconic home run in Marlins history, that's a thing that happened, that's a thing that will make David Samson that robot emotional because he suffered, hurt with the death of Jose Fernandez for ways that extended beyond baseball. The D Gordon home run, was it the first pitch after he died? A non-home run hitter? It was the first at bat though.
Speaker 7:
[03:34] Yeah, the first at bat, the first pitch, D Gordon stood up there righty to honor Jose Fernandez and was taking the pitch no matter what because he's a lefty and then he came around and on the left side, I mean he jacked it to the upper deck.
Speaker 6:
[03:47] Yeah, a guy who never hits home runs after their beloved teammate had just died, the ace of the staff, just as shocking a death as a sports team will ever see for an individual. The next guy up is not a home run hitter. Who nominated that though because that was a home run that what you're talking about there is all emotion, no stakes, no stakes on that home run.
Speaker 7:
[04:12] The entire dugout was hysterical crying as he rounded the bases. It was really something, man.
Speaker 6:
[04:18] But so that's the most emotional home run. Does that then make it the most iconic home run?
Speaker 7:
[04:23] No, no, not at all.
Speaker 8:
[04:24] Well, we have a list and it should settle the debate. With the former Marlins team president here, really interested in his feedback to this list, the greatest home runs in Miami Marlins franchise history. Oh, well, lie, Andres Calaraga goes upper deck.
Speaker 5:
[04:42] Are this home run in pro player stadium history?
Speaker 8:
[04:43] Got you on your heels.
Speaker 6:
[04:45] Yes, that's an opponent. He did not play for the Marlins. By the way, just two nights ago, I saw Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run over the Fenway wall. I've never seen a human being hit the ball as far as he did. It just went, I'm saying, I know this is routine now and I know Otani hits the ball out of stadiums, but what he did hitting a park out, hitting a ball out of Fenway Park, I've never seen someone hit a ball like that.
Speaker 8:
[05:07] When it went out of view, it was still ascending.
Speaker 7:
[05:09] Yeah, was it still on the way up when it went over the wall?
Speaker 6:
[05:11] It didn't land on the street behind the stadium, it landed like several blocks away.
Speaker 7:
[05:16] It's awesome.
Speaker 8:
[05:16] Also, OLI. Stanton sets a franchise record. Also OLI. Jose Fernandez starts a bench clearing brawl with a home run.
Speaker 6:
[05:30] I spit on third base!
Speaker 8:
[05:32] And final OLI. Ken Griffey Jr.'s 600th home run.
Speaker 6:
[05:38] That's a good baseball horror movie sort of franchise. I spit on third base. That's what Jose Fernandez did.
Speaker 8:
[05:45] Number five, Jeremy Hermidas first at bat.
Speaker 7:
[05:48] Oh, a grand slam.
Speaker 6:
[05:51] That can't be number five.
Speaker 7:
[05:52] It can't be. We were so excited. It was the prospect.
Speaker 6:
[05:56] I was there for that.
Speaker 8:
[05:58] I waited through a rain delay for that.
Speaker 6:
[06:00] That cannot be in your top five. You don't have a legitimate franchise. You're a, no, no.
Speaker 8:
[06:06] Number four, Paul LaDuca hits a home run in the middle of a game that he just joined in progress after being acquired, a pinch hit home run in his first ABA.
Speaker 7:
[06:16] Yes, he got off the plane, Dan. The game already started. He came right to the clubhouse and he hit a home run.
Speaker 9:
[06:24] I sat next to Paul LaDuca at Barstool for two years. I didn't know he even played for the Marlins.
Speaker 8:
[06:30] Really? You thought he was just a horse racing expert?
Speaker 9:
[06:32] Well, I knew he played baseball. I just didn't really care where I didn't look into it.
Speaker 8:
[06:38] Oh, I'm just saying right here, I miss an OLI, Stanton Breaks a Video Board. Number three, Miguel Cabrera goes your off Roger Clemens. That's got to be number one.
Speaker 7:
[06:50] No, no, it's not.
Speaker 6:
[06:51] Cabrera opposite field as a rookie?
Speaker 7:
[06:54] No, it's not number one.
Speaker 8:
[06:55] Number two, Alex Gonzalez.
Speaker 7:
[06:57] No, that's number one.
Speaker 5:
[06:59] No, I was responsible for that.
Speaker 7:
[07:02] They don't win the World Series if he doesn't hit that home run.
Speaker 10:
[07:05] Chris was responsible.
Speaker 8:
[07:06] Potentially, they win the World Series if he doesn't hit that home run. Potentially.
Speaker 7:
[07:10] They would have two games to one.
Speaker 8:
[07:11] It was a big one, yes, which is why it's number two. I can't believe you're getting an argument. I'm getting arguments here. I'm acknowledging it's one of the biggest home runs in franchise history.
Speaker 6:
[07:20] On a list that had Jeremy Hermida on it.
Speaker 8:
[07:22] I mean, it was a walk off.
Speaker 6:
[07:23] Oh, relax.
Speaker 8:
[07:24] So it was Grand Slam and his first set back. You never see those. All right, and number one, it is the D Gordon one. You got to be on Instagram for this, but that thing comes up all the time on IG. The emotion attached to it, it was just a beautiful moment and possibly served up by Bartolo Colon.
Speaker 10:
[07:41] Two OLIs we forgot, Emilio Bonifacio's opening day inside The Parker and Peaceop Choi's opening day home run in 2005.
Speaker 5:
[07:51] I'm not giving that one the noise.
Speaker 6:
[07:52] Dave, how is that list? David, the name of the podcast is nothing personal. We will get to this variable story in a second. Tell me what you have here on the list that they just put together.
Speaker 11:
[08:04] I don't like the Stanton Video Board one because that was costly.
Speaker 6:
[08:07] How much did it cost you? How much did it cost you?
Speaker 11:
[08:10] Five figures, more than the Vrabel Russini photographs. The Alex Gonzalez walk off, Zazz, I have no idea how people don't understand this. Without that home run, we cannot win the World Series.
Speaker 7:
[08:23] Of course, that's why it's obviously number one.
Speaker 8:
[08:26] You can't win the World Series without Josh Beckett.
Speaker 5:
[08:28] If I don't go back to my seat there, they don't get that home run.
Speaker 6:
[08:32] But here's the thing, this is why your guys are underestimating what Cabrera did going opposite field off Clemens, standing ovation Clemens in the opposing ballpark, standing ovation Clemens.
Speaker 5:
[08:42] That's the coolest home run.
Speaker 7:
[08:43] He fooled us though. He fooled us Clemens.
Speaker 6:
[08:45] No, but the thing about that home run is I remember the pitches before it because he was throwing under his chin. I don't remember the pitches before Alex Gonzalez home run.
Speaker 8:
[08:54] Most badass home run, it's Miguel Cabrera. And that includes a dude that broke a video board. And his legacy is there's like this little netting in front of the video board now to make sure no one else has to pay five grand.
Speaker 5:
[09:07] Can't believe Don Trell didn't make the list.
Speaker 11:
[09:09] One of my worst moments in baseball was going to Jeremy Hermida after his first game. Mike, you had the memory right in that it was a grand slam, pinch hit first to bat. It was unheard of. And we were in the clubhouse at Pro Player right after the game. And I said to him, the rest of your career is downhill from here. And he and I still talk about it because it turns out he didn't end up having a good career. And it was way downhill and he never became what we thought he would become. He's an amazing man, an amazing father and husband and just a great guy.
Speaker 5:
[09:41] He probably doesn't smile at the memory like you do. Of like how his career did not pan out the way.
Speaker 11:
[09:46] Oh, that's, listen, he's come to terms with it. There's a ton of talented players who don't get careers in sports, who have talent beyond belief. Jeremy Hermida, we thought was Ken Griffey. That's the swing. We just, we were all in on Hermida. He hits the grand slam. We think everything's great. GM manager, everyone's jumping for joy. And I'm saying, hey kid, that's as good as it's gonna get.
Speaker 7:
[10:10] David, was he the top prospect you ever had?
Speaker 11:
[10:13] No, no, but he was certainly, I would say Yelich was a better prospect in terms of what we thought and what we were told he would become and he's become it. Stanton we knew would be a behemoth. So Hermida though, we expected for sure. There's some guys who draft in the first round, like we drafted that catcher who stinks and I forgot his name right now. A first round pick, top 10 pick, he never made it. Oh God, anyway, just another wasted draft pick. And we sort of thought when we took him like, that one may not work out very well. And it didn't.
Speaker 6:
[10:47] When it comes to opponent home runs, does Galarraga rank higher for you than Bonds, McGuire, some of those home runs from an opponent?
Speaker 11:
[10:55] No, Galarraga does not rank higher.
Speaker 7:
[10:57] But wasn't Galarraga before David?
Speaker 11:
[10:59] Bonds, we gave strict instructions that we should not pitch to Barry Bonds when we faced him.
Speaker 6:
[11:04] That's what I remember. I remember Bonds hitting home run when the instruction from everyone in the organization was do not give him anything to hit, nothing. He is to walk every time.
Speaker 11:
[11:19] If I had known them what I know now, we would have just put up the four every time. It really would have made sense. Space is loaded, doesn't matter. When he was at the height of hitting and steroids and everything like that, it just made no sense to ever pitch to him, ever. And yet, we have the instruction, do not pitch to him. And I believe, Dan, there's so many games to look back. I think it was extra innings when he hit that one.
Speaker 6:
[11:44] Well, I think it was a broken bat too. I think the bat broke.
Speaker 10:
[11:47] Yeah, wasn't there a broken bat home run from Bonds to right field? I vividly remember sitting down the first baseline and seeing Barry Bonds at a broken bat home run.
Speaker 6:
[11:56] Are we just now telling old stories? Are we now just telling?
Speaker 11:
[12:00] Sorry. Sorry. How are you, Trista? Hey, Juju. How are we doing?
Speaker 9:
[12:04] Well, David, I DMed you back and I've been left on red, and so I've got a little bit of a bone to pick. Yeah, check the Twitter. Yeah, it's real.
Speaker 11:
[12:15] Trista, we have a major issue right now.
Speaker 9:
[12:19] Did you?
Speaker 11:
[12:19] Major.
Speaker 9:
[12:19] Have you been sending out the DMs that you were hosting a podcast? Did you text me?
Speaker 7:
[12:25] Oh, look at that.
Speaker 9:
[12:28] When was that? Was that today?
Speaker 11:
[12:30] That is Monday at 1106. Hi, this is David Samson. Have a great week. See you soon.
Speaker 9:
[12:37] You have the wrong number.
Speaker 11:
[12:39] Do I really?
Speaker 9:
[12:40] You have to have the wrong number.
Speaker 11:
[12:42] It says Red Monday. I don't have read it, by the way. Who the hell has read receipts?
Speaker 9:
[12:47] Not me.
Speaker 5:
[12:49] Minor penalty. Two minutes. Delay a show.
Speaker 9:
[12:52] Sorry. I deserve it. Wow.
Speaker 8:
[12:58] Watching a broken bat home run from the Barry Bonds against the Marlins. And it's not even like, let me check the bat, see if it's broken. This bat is shattered.
Speaker 10:
[13:05] It's shattered. And the ball went into the first row.
Speaker 5:
[13:09] David, let me close the loop for you.
Speaker 6:
[13:10] The organization was saying, don't pitch to him.
Speaker 4:
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Speaker 8:
[15:16] Sports fans, all the sports are coming together. It's a great time to just sit on your couch, text your friend, hey, come over, let's watch the games. And when I do that to my friends, guess what they text me back? I got the Miller Lights. That's right. They pick up Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer, and they come over to my place. We take that first sip and we realize, man, we just made a regular old-fashioned night into a special night. Thank you, Miller Light. And shortly thereafter, we got multiple screens on. Everybody's dialed in to something different. And the whole night just keeps building and building and building. That's why I reach for Miller Light. It can take an ordinary night and take it to an extraordinary place. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink. Brewed for taste with simple ingredients. Just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. The original Light beer since 1975 and still hittin different. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Light. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com/dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
Speaker 2:
[16:22] Dan Lebatard.
Speaker 8:
[16:24] I went in the margins. I'm like, I'm like your money ball of sex. I'm basically Scott Hattaberg. A lot of Stugotz.
Speaker 5:
[16:31] A lot of walks, but I'm on base when it comes to sex.
Speaker 8:
[16:34] A lot of foul tips. Other other dudes. They can be Giambi.
Speaker 7:
[16:39] You know your role. You play.
Speaker 8:
[16:40] I know my role.
Speaker 2:
[16:41] This is the Dan Lebatard Show with Stugotz.
Speaker 5:
[16:53] David, it was the sixth pick in 2008, Kyle Skipworth.
Speaker 11:
[16:56] Oh, yeah!
Speaker 6:
[16:58] What a great name for a draft pick you missed on, Skipworth.
Speaker 11:
[17:02] Ha ha ha! I never thought of it that way. We were told he was going to be good.
Speaker 12:
[17:10] Yeah, man, that's how that works!
Speaker 8:
[17:11] That's how all buzz goes.
Speaker 11:
[17:12] It's amazing. Tonight, you're going to do it. You're going to have a draft party, and everyone's going to be like, oh, we're getting the best guy ever. I hope he falls to me. It'd be the coolest thing if he does, and then he's going to suck.
Speaker 5:
[17:23] Do you fire a scout right there when he busts?
Speaker 11:
[17:25] No, because it's hard to ever pin down. We would keep track of who was scouting which player, because I was to evaluate and give bonuses, but no, you get more than one shot. It's hard to hit it. You want to hit it right, but our guy, Jim Fleming and Stan Meek were the best in the business. We had more great draft picks than most other teams, so overall we were happy, but man, Skipporce sucked.
Speaker 6:
[17:46] Did he just say, you guys didn't give him an AO for, you gotta hit it hard, you gotta hit it right? I want to go to this Vrabel story in a second, but before I do that, I want to bring up something that happened with Juju here earlier in the show. He said something that I have not heard before. I don't know whether he was referring to Ty Simpson or someone else. Oh no, it was Jalen Hurts. He was saying, he's a Crimson Tide. That sounds weird to me. I don't ever call a player a Crimson Tide, do you? Like, it's not something I had even considered.
Speaker 8:
[18:17] The Heat is the most difficult one of all of these.
Speaker 6:
[18:20] No, but Heat, Jazz, Mammoth, whatever. I understand that it's not plural, but I've never referred to an Alabama player as a Crimson Tide. Have you? Has anyone here?
Speaker 7:
[18:30] Right, I see him put on the elephant suit, so I don't even... Who knows?
Speaker 6:
[18:35] Is that just plural and singular or am I saying something like... Juju said that as if it's a common thing. It's not a common thing, correct? You refer to Jalen Hurts, no one refers to him as a Crimson Tide, correct?
Speaker 7:
[18:46] No, not at all.
Speaker 8:
[18:46] Another reason to go sooner here.
Speaker 7:
[18:48] Jack, mate.
Speaker 6:
[18:49] I should have gone sooner to Vrabel. So David Samson, nothing personal is the name of the podcast and he attacks a bunch of different things that no one else is attacking. And there's a lot here that I do actually want to talk about, even though I'm compromised here emotionally, at least in part because at the center of one of these terrible scandals that nobody wants, that them, their family, their kids, I've got somebody whom I care about, who must be feeling pretty terrible right now and I don't want to make any of this worse, okay? But this went from not being news at all, being gossip at the start because in my history, paid for photos are not news, okay? So just by itself, yeah, Page Six and the New York Post and new journalism and everything else, but paid for photos are not news and you may have noticed, Zaslow, that the mainstream news did not at the beginning cover any of this anywhere. So it became something that gathered all manner of fire in the place that it does these days, the Internet, where anybody who exists is easy to dunk on. And when the entire Internet is dunking on somebody, then everyone's talking about a story. And it's a story that's not in the mainstream press somehow that no one is covering. Until the participants start talking, because once you have their voice attached to this, then it becomes news and then it becomes fair game, okay? Everyone's been demanding that Vrabel come out and answer some questions. And so all he did yesterday was come out and just sort of sit there because we were demanding that he come out because of all of the hypocrisies here. Like how is it possible that the standards are higher for the New York Times, they are for an NFL organization? How is it possible that somebody being good at his job over here is not answering any questions about this and someone else over here is resigning from a career that they have built because of everything that's happening around here? Vrabel comes out yesterday and he answers questions because we demanded it, but not really. He was out there with God knows what the PR crisis stuff was, what the crisis teams were telling him, how scary a moment this was for him because of whatever the shame there is in his private life. He goes from saying this was laughable, laughable, to now the man in front of us yesterday has lied about something that was laughable that is clearly kind of so now. What did you make of everything that happened yesterday, including him volunteering to us that he's going to emergency counseling this weekend that will make him miss 8 of the 11 picks that the Patriots have on the third day?
Speaker 11:
[21:27] I just want to make sure that we separate the two issues. When he first met the media a couple of days ago, that's when he moved from laughable to, I take this very seriously, my job as a leader, I take accountability, I had very difficult conversations, and that's what I'm going to say. That was already throwing Dianna Russini under the bus. It was horrific. He looked mealy-mouthed and whatever advice he was given was poor and his execution of the poor advice was spot on. But that was that. But then last night, at 1230 a.m., it came out like a Friday news dump of yesteryear that would make Cody proud. Like knowing the deadline of a newspaper and doing it post-deadline as an ode to days gone by. It came out and said, hey, I'm going to counseling because accountability starts with me and I need to do this to be a better husband, a better father, a better coach. Hold on, you need to go on Saturday? I don't need to be a better coach or husband today because it's round one of the draft, but I can be a better husband starting Saturday. I'll miss round three, day three. He couldn't have started Monday. I just don't understand who advised him of the schedule.
Speaker 6:
[22:44] Well, let's go through this. Okay, let's go through the latest parts of this because I want to go through the entirety of the timeline and how, look, nobody wants to be at the center of these shamings publicly. And what has happened here puts Vrabel in a position where they wave Stefan Diggs because he was too much of a distraction. Stefan Diggs was their leading receiver. He had 85 catches. He had 1,000 yards. He's a serviceable number one. Their receivers weren't very good, but now they have to trade DraftKings for AJ. Brown because he was such a distraction. Vrabel had to go and explain that to his team that he had done that to Stefan Diggs, and that's part of what he was saying were the difficult conversations of the weekend. But the news last night and the move last night, when the Patriots are surrounded by crisis management advice, at a time, David, that when I've seen this happen any time in the world, this is when people are at their weakest and they come and take bad advice from just people who are there to profit off of the misery. Like you are at your weakest in having to address whatever it is that's happened here. You're very weakest. You're getting a lot of advice from a lot of people. Whatever the Patriots did yesterday, explain to me the maneuvering that has them at 1230 at night saying our coach is gonna miss the day that we have all the draft picks. It's supposed to be football first. It always is football first. And then on Saturday, he can't be seen in public because he knows that they're gonna be talking about this on the televisions, because they're not gonna have other things to talk about.
Speaker 11:
[24:16] But you miss something, he's gonna be in contact with the Patriots. So it's not the type of help that he's getting where they take away your phone. It's not that. It's not like sex rehab or drug rehab where you go in and you're out of touch. This is counseling. Maybe it's immersive counseling. Maybe it's just day counseling. Maybe it's overnight, we don't know, but he'll be in touch with the team. The whole thing is so preposterous that I laughed. And it's not fun to laugh about this because I feel for Dianna who's just gotten railroaded by Vrabel, by him changing the story either with her permission or without. He obviously chose his family over her. We see that in this, cause these are the exact steps that you do when you get caught and then you face it and then decide to go back or go forward. When you go back, you have to eliminate the distraction. But it just seems that the way he's disseminated the news has been clumsy.
Speaker 9:
[25:11] How does this work though, from a franchise to coach perspective, David? It doesn't seem like it was all Vrabel's idea alone. Is it like a drowning man pulls down whoever's near him, every man for himself sort of a thing?
Speaker 11:
[25:26] We will make an executive talk the way we want them to talk in public. You cannot make a player, you can ask a player to say a certain thing, but you can't make a player. And if you think the player is not gonna say what you want, you just don't make that player available to the media. When it comes to your manager, your coach, your GM, you can absolutely instruct them what to say. They work for you. And I really think that the Patriots did get involved here. And somehow, I mean, we're talking about Kraft and his strip mall massage. I guess they've got a crisis PR firm that views line and then doubling down on the lie as smart, but they can certainly make Vrabel do it now, could Vrabel then say, I won't say that, Trista? He can, but then he's risking being terminated for cost.
Speaker 6:
[26:19] All right, so walk me through some of the humanity of this, David, because it's one thing to have the very public shaming of everyone is clucking and laughing at you. And then the very private one of whatever's happening in your personal life. But at the New York Times and the Athletic, there were a whole lot of journalists, peers, that were in an uprising over that, how those institutions handled the beginning of this. Giant institutions that are also interested in optics and the truth. And from everything that happened afterward, it is not unreasonable to assume anywhere in the resignation of Dianna Russini that she just got out from under whatever the questions were going to be about this investigation. Vrabel has also got a feel at his weakest right now. And it's at least in part because he's surrounded by a bunch of peers closer than, not just the internet clucking, it's all the people you deal with every day. You went from laughable, this is all laughable, to now you're a liar. Like you're somebody that we're seeing from everything that you're handling here. You're the coach of the Patriots and you're a liar. Him and his weakest, no matter what you think he is, is a strong man, is a champion, okay? This has got to be so human at the core of it. He's doing whatever they tell him to. Like he's just scared. I mean, what's the truth in the report of Robert Kraft trying to get these photos blocked for him, and what's the truth of, who's the reporting on the us, on the Patriots were trying to block for the paid photographs?
Speaker 8:
[27:47] So one thing that we do know, according to multiple sources, is that The Post had this story, and the two central parties here knew about it, because there was that news item that Dianna Russini was approached at her home, and In Touch has reported, with this extended timetable that the Patriots and Dianna had, again, this is In Touch, so take it with a grain of salt, that Robert Kraft tried to kill the story. Now you may ask how. According to this source that spoke to In Touch, he had a crisis strategist get involved, and those efforts, well, we all saw what happened.
Speaker 11:
[28:23] Yeah, you can get involved and try to kill a story. That's a Tuesday when it comes to famous people in journalism, and when they're, listen, you know, Dan, if a story's gonna come out about me or about the Marlins, I'm gonna try to kill it. And sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't, and sometimes whatever it takes isn't enough. And in this case, the real question that I've been asking is what else is left? Because Vrabel, continuing to double down on this change of position, he knows what could be out there. Hey, if there's a hidden camera at this place at this time, I was there and I may have been naked. I mean, whatever the case may be. And if you're the New York Post, you have no duty to disclose everything you have. You can keep calling the Patriots and Vrabel and saying, all right, I've got two more photos. I've got four more sightings. I've got two more witnesses. Now do you have a comment? So this could be going on. And if Vrabel, that's the concern. If I'm the Patriots is, oy, this counseling is not going to stop the story if there's more and there may be more.
Speaker 8:
[29:27] Yeah. I mean, people could be digging into his past now. This is basically a green light for anybody to do that. I actually thought his statement was effective earlier this week in putting the story behind him. It was also effective in burying Dianna and left her holding the bag a little bit. But then the news item came out yesterday of he's going to seek counseling, which allows you to be a little bit of a skeptic here and be like, well, all right, what's going on here? Is there more to this story? Are they worried that more stuff is going to come out? That would be the counseling? Or are they just trying to avoid the optics of him sitting around on day three of the draft, staring blankly into the abyss in a war room while they have to vamp because it's day three of the draft?
Speaker 6:
[30:09] That seems, David, give me your best theory there on the Saturday emergency counseling, that day particularly.
Speaker 11:
[30:16] You can't say that, that's an oxymoron. It's not emergency counseling in three days. Emergency counseling is when you drive yourself to rehab from 11, like you've had the bender right to rehab, or you're caught in bed, hey, look at me, I'm naked. All right, I'm going to sex addiction counseling right now. That's emergency. When you make an appointment, hey, I'll be there like in 72 hours. I just don't view it that way. So my theory here is that the Patriots actually thought that this 1230 a.m. announcement would be an end to it. Hey, look, all right, it's counseling. Of course he did it. He lied. He spoke to the team. It's all good. We need him for the first two days of the draft. It's so silly. But day three, we'll let him go. To me, I would have announced nothing. Let the draft happen and then quietly go to counseling. And then even if you go, when you're done, you can then meet the media again at training camp and say, yeah, I had off season issues. I took care of them with professional help. My family, I'm trying to put it back together and put this behind me.
Speaker 7:
[31:19] I just think he's really brave for being able to put aside the counseling days one and two of the draft and being able to wait till Saturday. It's admirable.
Speaker 8:
[31:27] Hey, Roy, buddy, you know that energy shift when the game gets good and everybody altogether in unison knows to stand up on their feet? Oh, absolutely. Mike. Yeah, you've been at many big time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo delicious. It's the signal that says we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Cuervo man, it's that high five a random stranger effect. That's right. The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Cuervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Cuervo effect. Keep it Cuervo.
Speaker 12:
[32:10] Sometimes I feel like we're all really good at handling everything around us and just ignoring what's going on in our own head. Like your phone breaks, you fix it immediately. Your car makes a weird noise. You're like, all right, let's figure this one out. But then your brain's off. Stress, burnout, not sleeping right. We just kind of go, yeah, I'll deal with it later. And later just keeps moving and moving and moving. And that's why therapy matters. Not because something's wrong, because it gives you a way to sort things out before it all stacks up. The problem is that actually getting started has always felt like a process. Finding someone figuring out insurance, waiting weeks just to talk to somebody. And that's usually where people tap out. And that's where RULA comes in. RULA is a healthcare provider group that makes therapy easier to actually access. They connect you with licensed therapists who take your insurance. And sessions can be as low as 15 bucks. You're answer a few questions, find someone who fits what you need. And you can be talking to someone as soon as the next day. Thousands of guys have already used RULA to finally get the care that they need. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.com/dan and get started today. That's RULA R U L a.com/dan. Take the first step, get connected and take control of your mental health.
Speaker 5:
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Speaker 2:
[33:39] Dan Lebatard. Stugotz. This is The Dan Lebatard Show with Stugotz.
Speaker 8:
[33:53] I also think that we should meet his statement with scrutiny because that statement didn't necessarily just read about this Dianna situation. You could also parse through it and say, he's trying to get out in front of other things, which then turns your attention back to Dianna's side of the story, which is not convenient in a narrative if there is more to it.
Speaker 9:
[34:10] David.
Speaker 11:
[34:11] It's all so dirty.
Speaker 9:
[34:12] It is. Like, is this the worst crisis counselor ever? Like, it feels like everything that they've been advised to do just makes it all the more worse.
Speaker 11:
[34:23] Yeah, my entire show, well, 50% of my show is based on people who just get bad crisis PR advice and how funny it is to look back on when I had it and gave it and how people just actually convinced themselves that the rest of us are just stupid. And they, because you go through in crisis PR, you rehearse it, you have written Q&A, you have a written statement, you know how long it will take to read, you literally practice. And that means that there are people who went through it and said, yeah, this sounds great.
Speaker 6:
[34:53] Yeah, but this is perfect. But David, if I can just stop you for a second, okay, because this is a nightmare for the parties involved, everybody involved. This is a real public nightmare. There are kids involved like and everybody clucking about this at work and everywhere else. I understand how it is that anyone is going to criticize crisis management because it's weird in the middle of the night to throw us counseling. But let's check the timeline here for a second. Because it does feel like they're warning us that more is coming just the same way that Melania comes out and does that press conference on the Epstein's out of nowhere. She just comes on Epstein files and everyone's like, well, what's she trying to get out ahead of? Here's the timeline. Vrabel gives that mealy mouth press conference that answers no questions. He's just in front of us for the flogging and then answers nothing. Like you demand answers, accountability, you got none. Hours later, the New York Post reveals new photos. Now, he announces he's going to counseling. What's going on with this photo leaker? This photo taker? What's happening here that might make for more here? That might make all the crisis management stuff that is happening here moot because there's more here that everyone's fearing. And I don't get sitting out the third day of the draft. There has to be a strategy behind that.
Speaker 11:
[36:09] It's possible that Murdoch told Kraft there's more. 100% that's possible. It's possible that the reporters said to Vrabel and his representatives, hey, just so you know, there's more. We're not going to tell you what or tell you when. So trying to get out ahead of a story that you don't have control of is really hard when you've started it with a lie. The only play that Vrabel had was to meet the media and say, obviously, I was there. It was inappropriate. I was involved in a relationship outside of my marriage. I'm dealing with it privately. I don't know if it's going to work. If I'm going to stay married, if I'm going to stay the coach, I can only tell you that the gig is up and I'm incredibly embarrassed and sorry. I'm not taking questions. I'm not going to talk about it further, but that's what happened. That's how you end a story.
Speaker 6:
[36:59] I want to reiterate here because I want to talk about the journalism of this for a second, David, because I'm compromised here. I'm just simply compromised. I do not want to make this any worse for someone else that I care about who probably must feel that she is under a great deal of duress and I haven't been able to connect with her in a way that I do not want to make this any worse for her by one syllable in any way for whatever it is that she's enduring right now. So I just I want to make that part clear because I want to talk about the journalism of this, the paying for photos, what is and isn't news, the ability to kill stories and not kill stories. Bob Kraft made something go away there with moving the levers of law in a way that rich people do. What happened here? Like what's happening here with long range photos and intrigue? What's happening here that is making this the story that's eating up the Internet?
Speaker 11:
[38:03] Well, we have an incredibly salaciously built society. We love this stuff, which is funny to me because of the glass house syndrome. But for whatever reason, we think that extramarital affairs are really the most important soup you can ever have. I should say tea. And I've just never viewed it that way because I've just been around it in sports and on Wall Street so much that to me, it was never even a factor in hiring or firing or thinking about anything. It was just be smart. And if you're not smart, then you can't do your job. If you can't do your job, we have a problem. And for me, Dianna Russini, that's her job is to give me inside information. And if she wants to get it however she gets it, I have no opinion. I don't know how she gets it, but I read it and I use it to help me do my job.
Speaker 6:
[38:50] It can be seen though, from the outside it can be seen as a gender story. Why is the woman getting punished here instead of the man? Why is it always worse for the woman than it is for the man? So if I were to reverse this, I make somehow the coach a woman, Dawn Staley, whatever the equivalent is to Vrabel, and I make the reporter a man. Do people understand listening to this, that the man would also have resigned a second ago because this is about the journalism and the ethics of the New York Times, and it's an ethical standard that no other insider has to live by because ESPN doesn't do it this way on the journalism standards of what this is. This might not be a fireball offense at ESPN or some other remaining places. It's a fireball offense at the New York Times because all of these standards are diminishing and you cannot have a story where you pay for photos. You pay for photos, they're shopped around and you pay for them. They're photos that were supposed to be reportedly of just Vrabel. They didn't even know that Russini was in this story. They didn't know the woman involved reportedly. I don't know what's true there. I'm having more and more trouble figuring out what's true everywhere. The paying for photos and turning it into the crisis that it presently is. Can you walk me through what you believe is happening there journalistically that makes the standard for the journalist higher than the standard for the football coach?
Speaker 11:
[40:14] Well, you have to look at the source. The Athletic has a code of conduct. And you're right, the code of conduct is different at the Athletic than it is at Fox, let's say. And the reason why it's different is every company has its own thoughts Chick-fil-A closes on Sunday for crying out loud. So, you have to look at where you work. Dianna knew where she was working, she knew what her code of conduct was. There are some places, some people she competes with who can do a whole lot worse to get inside information and they do it and no one cares. Is it about sex? Well, sex is sexy. If Adam Schefter were having an affair that got caught on photos with that clipboard holding owner of the Titans whose name escapes me, I can't believe it. I'm old. Mike Ryan, what's the name of the woman who's on the sideline as the owner of the team?
Speaker 8:
[41:02] The Coats. Yeah, I don't know her first name.
Speaker 11:
[41:05] Oh, Erse, the Coats. Thank you, Juju.
Speaker 8:
[41:07] Eyebrows.
Speaker 11:
[41:08] So imagine if Schefter were having an affair with her or some sort of photos of canoodling came out, Schefter would have a problem, which is why I have not leaned into the gender side of it. It just happens to be a woman journalist with a man coach, but I believe the other way society would have treated it the same, and it's incredibly unfortunate that the journalist who works for a place with rules broke those rules, maybe, forced to resign, maybe, violated them, maybe. But if your competitors do something, gentlemen, I leave you with this, and Trista, please, there are baseball players who did not take steroids, who would come up to me and say, why am I not doing steroids? Everybody else is doing steroids, and you're paying them. You bastard, you're paying this guy because he takes steroids and I don't. Why don't I? And my answer always was, it's your decision.
Speaker 6:
[42:00] Why did you tell Trista about the steroids? Why specifically?
Speaker 11:
[42:04] No, I said gentlemen, and I didn't mean to.
Speaker 6:
[42:06] Oh, OK.
Speaker 5:
[42:07] The real question is, why did you say, I'll leave you with this?
Speaker 11:
[42:09] Because I wanted to say that people have a choice. And all you have to do is own up to your choices. And sometimes they're ugly, and sometimes they're wrong. But when you lie about what you've done, it creates this ripple effect that lasts and lasts, and it can cost you your job. It can cost you your career. It can cost you whatever it is that you may think is too high a cost. And enough people just, I guess, don't think about that at the time.
Speaker 9:
[42:36] I think, too, just really quickly, because we're running out of time. The larger concept, too, is like, why are you in a position where you have to make that choice? And as a woman, is there a way to really compete with men? And I'm not putting up for anybody, is there a way to truly compete with male news breakers given the dynamics of how it normally goes?
Speaker 6:
[42:58] Is she the only female insider? Is that, I guess so, right? Like just, when you think of insiders, just the insiders, the information.
Speaker 9:
[43:06] Kimberly Martin?
Speaker 8:
[43:07] Yeah, that was Josina.
Speaker 7:
[43:08] Yeah, Courtney Cronin's also an insider. Yeah, she's not the only one.
Speaker 6:
[43:12] But I'm talking about the Woj type, the Shams type, the one that's so credible. I am talking about degrees of credibility. I'm talking about this, in the modern age where truth gets distorted and we're talking about a story that seems to involve lying, right? That's part of the intrigue of it. Where she has gotten as a credible newsmaker, none of the top of the information chain. I think of her as the only woman who has climbed into the group of the Schefters and the Wojys. Do I have it wrong? Because my information may be bad. I might be following the wrong insiders because others are as big as she is.
Speaker 9:
[43:52] You're right. You're 100% right. There's nobody operating at that level, at that scale. Kimberly Martin, but she also operates as an opinionist. Not the same thing.
Speaker 6:
[44:02] David, thank you. I appreciate the time, sir. Nothing personal is the name of the podcast. Apologies on the tech issues on the start. That was quite the tantrum. Get my number right.
Speaker 8:
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