The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz is a sports talk radio show hosted by Dan Le Batard and Jon "Stugotz" Weiner and broadcast on WQAM "560 The Joe" in South Florida and ESPN Radio affiliates nationwide, and is simulcast nationally on ESPNews daily from 10am–1pm. The show features commentary on the day's sports news, perspective on other news stories, interviews with sports analysts and sports figures, as well as a generous blend of pop culture and listener interaction. The hosts are known for their self-deprecating humor, which carries over onto the show through running jokes.
History
The first airing of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz aired on September 1, 2004. After running for nine years on local radio, The Dan Le Batard Show debuted on ESPN Radio on September 30, 2013.In early 2015, it was announced that the show would be televised on Fusion starting May 19, 2015. After the departure of Colin Cowherd from ESPN, the network moved the time slot of the show into the 10 AM to 1 PM slot formerly occupied by The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and moved the live simulcast to ESPNU, with the Fusion broadcast shifting to tape delay from 1 to 4 PM. On May 18, 2016, Fusion aired the show for the last time as the year-long contract with ABC/Disney was expired and was not renewed. The TV portion of the show then remained solely on ESPNU afterwards with the show airing live from 10 AM to 1 PM with no outlet for a tape-delay. On January 10, 2017, the final hour of the show began simulcasting on ESPN2, but in July 2017, the show's final hour returned to airing on ESPNU. On April 2, 2018, the show's simulcast moved to ESPNews. The show was heard locally Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 1 PM ET on WAXY AM 790 "The Ticket" until August 5th, 2019. It is now heard locally and nationally on ESPN Radio and ESPNews from 10 AM to 1 PM.
In July 2020, it was announced that The Dan Le Batard Show would be reduced from 3 hours on ESPN Radio, down to 2 hours starting August 17, 2020. As part of the new schedule, the show would have 2 hours of their Local Hour released via podcast only and the national portion would air from 10am–12pm on ESPN Radio.
Cast
Le Batard and Stugotz interact throughout the show with executive producer Mike "Corporate Shill" Ryan, and fellow producers Roy Bellamy, Billy "Guillermo" Gil, Chris Cote "Fat Chris", and Anthony "Tony" Calatayud, collectively nicknamed "The Shipping Container Filled with Frightened Refugees". The show commonly refers to themselves as a "marching band to nowhereCurrently, Le Batard and Stugotz are joined on-air by Greg "Scoops" Cote of the Miami Herald'' on Tuesdays, and additional ESPN personalities make regular guest hosting appearances.
The show used to also include show booker Allyson Turner and former executive producer Marc Hochman. The show used to also include Charlie Hulme "Old Money Charlie".
Segments
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz features many recurring segments and bits that are popular to its fans including:- Stugotz's Weekend Observations
- Funniest Thing from the Sports Weekend
- Greg Cote's Back in My Day
- Ron Magill from Zoo Miami
- Magic Crate of Content
- Roy's Realm
- Looks Like
- The Club
- Dirty Demon of Debate and Cowardly Angel of Nuance
- Stump the Meech
- Pipo
Controversies
Tim Hardaway's homophobic comments
On February 14, 2007, the week of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, former Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway appeared on the show. When asked if he would be accepting of a gay teammate, such as retired NBA center John Amaechi, Hardaway replied: "First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team."Hardaway continued, "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
NBA commissioner David Stern, upon learning of the remarks Wednesday, banished Hardaway from All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.
Following the comments, Hardaway apologized and attended counseling. He has also made public appearances supporting gay rights, including one in El Paso, Texas in response to an attempted recall.
David Samson's criticism of Ichiro Suzuki's contract
On July 11, 2007, Florida Marlins team president David Samson was featured on the show as he often is. When told by Dan about the report of Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki signing a 5-year, $100 million contract, Samson was in a state of disbelief. He went on to say that no player in baseball was worthy of that amount and that this deal would surely return the league to the days of ridiculous contracts, surely ruining the sport.The next day, Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe appeared on the show to share opinion on the matter. He began by asking if Samson had just entered baseball yesterday. He then went on to criticize both Samson and the Florida Marlins franchise, while calling the deal as one of a well-managed franchise.
Jay Bilas racial questions
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas was on the show on April 7, 2008 to discuss NBA draft prospects. When Le Batard asked if race was a factor in drafting, specifically if Michael Beasley would be drafted as highly if he had the same numbers but were white. Bilas responded "this is stupid," and proceeded to end the interview.Michael Phelps incident
appeared on the show shortly after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After not liking Le Batard's line of questioning, Phelps abruptly ended the interview however did not properly hang up the phone. Phelps could then be heard in the background calling Dan a "joke".Magic Johnson controversy
In February 2017, Magic Johnson was named as the president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers. Le Batard then questioned his qualifications and cited less than successful ventures into both NBA coaching, and NBA broadcasting as well as his television show The Magic Hour as evidence that giving Magic Johnson a position in which he apparently lacked experience was a questionable decision. Of particular note, Le Batard stated that Magic Johnson's main qualification for this job was his ability to be charming and charismatic as well as his fame. Le Batard made the following comment:"What you've got here though, is a testament to the power of fame. And a testament to the power of a modicum of charm. Because Magic Johnson is charming. But, Magic Johnson was given a late night television show, because he's famous and charming. Failed in 11 shows. Magic Johnson was given a head coaching job of the Lakers, because he's famous and charming, failed in 16 games. Magic Johnson, not interesting as a broadcaster, given broadcasting opportunity after broadcasting opportunity, because he's famous and charming. And now, he gets to run the entire Lakers organization because he's famous and charming. That's amazing. That's amazing. He's a very kind man, to be in his presence is to be awash in all the things people like about celebrity, he will make you feel special, but he wasn't good at any of those jobs I just mentioned, and he got all of those jobs, bypassing a whole lot of people who are more qualified, because he's famous and charming."
Other ESPN commentators took offense to Le Batard's accusations that Johnson was unqualified and also suggested that race played a part in the former's accusations. Keyshawn Johnson, was asked by Jorge Sedano "If you are insinuating that Dan is, like, being prejudiced here..." and he responded "That's what I'm insinuating". Sedano defended Le Batard, saying "Well then you are 100% wrong."
LZ Granderson also hinted that race played a role in Le Batard's comments, stating that the latter implied through his comments about Johnson's charisma that Johnson had gotten the job through "shucking and jiving". Michael Wilbon also criticized Le Batard's comments on Twitter, though Wilbon's criticism abstained from any discussion of race.
Twitter beef with Michael Rapaport
Stemming from the Magic Johnson controversy, actor Michael Rapaport, took to Twitter to call out Le Batard for his comments on Johnson, insinuating a Twitter beef between him and the show's crew. On February 24, 2017, Rapaport tweeted out, "Dan Lebatard askin why Magic is runnin the Lakers & the rest of the world is asking why his Father is on TV show everyday. Who's qualified!?" Le Batard, responded to Rapaport by tweeting, "The idea of my father feuding with Michael Rapaport is delightful and why I got into journalism."The situation escalated over the weekend as executive producer, Mike Ryan, then jumped in to defend Le Batard where he buried Rapaport, pointing out the actor's many forgettable roles in his movies. After a lengthy back and forth, Rapaport still insisted on attacking Ryan, and eventually, another of the show's producers, Roy Bellamy, jumped into the discussion. The Twitter beef reached its climax with Rapaport posting a racist photo of Bellamy and resulting in Ryan and Bellamy finishing their war with Rapaport. Following the weekend, Le Batard briefly discussed the events that had occurred over the weekend on his show, and proclaimed the end of Rapaport's guest appearances at ESPN. Le Batard stated, "These things are all about value. How much value do you have to the company? Not enough to be putting up racist stuff on Twitter. He doesn't work for the company. He's on The Jump every once in awhile. So I'm guessing this is gonna cause him a problem. He doesn't have enough value to the company, I don't think, to withstand something like this."
On February 28, 2017, Rapaport released an edition of his podcast, I Am Rapaport, in which he fired back at the show once again, repeatedly insulting Le Batard and co-host Stugotz. Rapaport also threatened them with a defamation lawsuit for accusations that had been made about him having herpes stating, "You're claiming that I'm not going work at ESPN? Let me tell you something. If I'm going down, the whole s— is burning down. If I'm going down, we're talking about defamation."
On the May 5, 2017 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, hosted by Bill Simmons, a long time friend of Le Batard, Rapaport once again brought up the beef between him and the show. He repeatedly insulted Le Batard, Stugotz, and the show's producers saying they were only there to get his coffee. Simmons was uncomfortable for the entirety of Rapaport's rant against the show saying, "I still feel awkward because I like all those guys. I wish this would work out."