Welcome back to the Dan Time podcast. I am your
host, Dan McArdle. If you've been here all along,
I say it every week, but sincerely, thank you.
To plug this into your rotation and not miss
an episode with everything that's out there that
you could possibly be listening to, that means
something to me. So thanks for being a listener.
I hope this is fun. If it's your first time listening,
I mostly talk to... I would say mostly, but commonly
talk to people named Dan or something like it.
That's the joke of the show, but it extends out.
So the makeup of the guest is going to be songwriters
named Dan, athletes named Dan or Danielle or
what have you. And then some of the guests are
directly from my network. Folks today, my guest,
I have been trying for sounds like months, but
this has also been kind of a back pocket guest.
and I am so pleased today. This is somebody,
a friend of mine, a longtime friend, regularly
a part of text communications. I'm so happy that
we've lined up our schedules today as we say
in the South. Lowell Shapura is here today. Construction
professional. He's a UAB graduate with a master's
in engineering in construction management. Also
a Believe it or not, in a fantasy football league
that has spanned two decades, he's a seven time
champion of this invitation only fantasy football
league. Lowell, thank you so much for being here
today. You're you're also a brother, a son and
kind of a shadowy figure, which is good. He's
a man of mystery. Who doesn't want to be a man
of mystery in today's age? It's so easy to just
plaster yourself all over the. place, but sometimes
it's okay to hang back and create some mystique.
Lowell, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to
be talking to you today. Thank you, Dan. Yeah.
And wow, what a, what an intro, you know, just,
just for starters, I don't think you could find
a more opposite name than Dan and what a perfect
way to branch out. And if I had my own podcast
for the whole time, it would be a very short
list of people, I can assure you. So I'm happy
to do this. Thank you for inviting me. And I
do remain in the shadows. I'm one of the people
who like to just to watch, listen, learn, not
in a creepy way. But I talk when I'm comfortable.
So here I am, seven time champion. That's correct.
I'm glad we got that right. I don't like to toot
my horn. Maybe I'm the Belichick of the league.
You know, I mean, maybe the saving. I'll just
leave it at that. Jim is my arch nemesis in the
league, the Jim Hammers or not a living Todd,
depending on who he's in. And just give a shout
out to him. Well, Lowell, first question, actually,
I had this kind of in the mix here, number three
and number four of my notes, but I gotta ask
right out the gate. We've talked about this or
messaged about it. The name Lowell is you don't
hear about it every day. Have you in your childhood
or your adult life, by chance, just run into
another Lowell, shaking hands with somebody,
say, hey, I'm Lowell. And the other person said,
me too. Has that ever happened? It has not no
one of our one of our friends from school I knew
his dad was named lol But obviously he you know,
he was I would see him at the distance directly
a basketball he was a coach and that was that
was about the extent of it and You know look
looking back. It's the most famous person I'm
associated with his lolmather from wings and
you know, it's a good show So I don't I don't
mind that How about the it's a very unique name.
It was given to me I want to say it was a friend
of my father's way, way, way back. And that's
where it came from. It's it's one of a kind,
especially when you pair it with my last name.
It's I always tell, you know, the stories when
it's you're at a bar and you're trying to close
the tab out and it's late at night and it's loud.
And, you know, what's your name? Lowell. You're
trying to yell Lowell. And, you know, they can't
understand you. And they're like, OK, well, give
me your last name. And I'm like, oh, well, that's
probably not even that's not much better. That's
not going to help you there either. How often
have people tried to, speaking of your surname,
try to pronounce it Shapiro, like say Robert
Shapiro. Shapiro, Shapiro, shepherd. It's butchered.
It's Shapiro. It's butchered. And it's just to
be expected at this point. The most awkward times
are obviously if you're waiting on food or. Starbucks,
wherever they call your name at. I don't even
bother listing my full name anymore. It's just
something as simple as like a John. Maybe I'll
start using Dan as an alias. That's actually
a good idea. Also some prominent namesakes. Governor
Lowell Weicker of Connecticut. I'm pulling this
off of nameberry .com where people go to find
some interesting names for their new arrivals.
There's always our own Lowell Baron, right out
of five County. That's right. He was the famous
Alabama Senator who got in a fisticuffs on the
Senate floor with another gentleman. I cannot
remember who it was against, but that's, uh,
that was part of his claim to fame. The name
Lowell, and we won't spend a lot of time on this,
but I always feel like I should, when I have
Dan guests on and Danielle and so forth, when
the episode is complete and it's out there, I
always think, man, I should have asked more questions
about the name. I always seem to just get into
the meat of the episode without discussing this
stuff, but I gotta, I always love looking at
these names, and Lull peaked as a name for baby
boys in the 1930s. Reached number 148, and all
these names have graphs to kind of gauge. where
the name's headed, where it was, where it's going,
and there is this sharp plummet around 1938 -1940
and literally just kind of falls off a cliff.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to look that up to see what
scandal there was associated to just wipe it
off the map. What other names, just let's just
put into perspective, what other names are around
it on this list? Okay, uh, where it ranks next
to... 20 names similar to Lowell on again nameberry
.com selected by our users that we're looking
for other names like Lowell, Lloyd, Crane, Kennelly,
I never heard Kennelly, Lionel, Halcyon, I don't
draw the connection there, Barrett, Griffith,
oh there's a Lowey, L -O -E -W -Y. Lawrence?
Yeah. Lawrence's a good one. Man, yeah. I would
assume those are comparable to it, but based
off of the same amount of people maybe being
named that, which wouldn't surprise me because
I don't really hear that many other names like
that, except Lully might've been the most common
off what you just listed. You know, I gotta say,
Lull, and my oldest son, we named him Warren,
and that's not a name that anybody's really grabbing
in 2024. I love it. And I didn't really have
a whole lot of influence in any of the names
of my children it was what Natalie was in favor
of and the only thing I could I had a little
bit of veto power I'd say if she would float
a name and and she knew I was absolutely against
it I'd strike it off and just try to at least
keep it to something that I could live with she's
got to live with these children yeah the the
uniqueness is is good and I and I do appreciate
appreciate that especially with your both your
son's names yeah i think it's really cool to
have a name like yours that not everybody wears
that name and it's not impossible to pronounce
or spell which people will surprise you they've
missed they have a hard time with my last name
on the phone quite often or you know a local
camera crew interviewing say your brother they
have trouble spelling it But anyway, and then
there's Lowell, Massachusetts, of course. I think
there's a sports team there. I can tell you that
was a very prominent industrial town in the 1800s.
So yeah, why it fell off, I don't know enough
about, but it absolutely was a prominent town.
And I would just imagine that's probably where
most people around the 30s, 20s, 30s were named
after that. Maybe even from people that lived
in that area. And this is me just as an amateur
anthropologist. I don't know what you even call
it. You know, studying names and history of it.
Well, this show, you know, we have a lot of fun
with the name Dan, but I actually, I enjoy your
name. I like just the, the pairing, Lowell Shapura.
It's just, you, you're never going to hear that
again. Do you think there's another person with
your same first and last name spelled exactly
the same on the planet? I have thought that before
and no, I absolutely think it's it is your head
one of a kind unique and That's why i'm kind
of vigilant in terms of uh Staying anonymous
because it's pretty easy to search for me This
is uh folks I gotta tell you again just because
someone is in the network here and you know,
they might still be a tough get Lowell is not
easily had certainly for something like this.
But anyway, moving along, our friendship runs,
it dates back to your connection with my brother
Travis, and then we kind of picked up and got
to know each other at least, I mean, I remember
you from 25 years ago in the house that I grew
up in, and then prior to the turn of the 21st
century, and then by about 2000, It seems like
eight or nine you and I would split off sometimes
if we were at the same party or a couple times
we'd go get an afternoon beer or something together
and And then here we are years and years. I don't
know how long this text chain has been going
on but it yeah, it's absolutely incredible when
you yeah, you put when you say it like that you
put in perspective and you look at the calendar
and you know, 2024, and it's like, my God, yeah,
I've known these guys for 25, 30 years. You know,
Travis actually, and I'm forever grateful to
your brother, Travis, he kind of took me under
his wing at the high school, our senior year,
and this is kind of, I was somewhat new, kind
of in and out, had some other issues going on,
health -related, at least. And, you know, that
was kind of, your brother didn't have to do that.
And you know how clicky our high school was and
how hard it is to meet people in this town, at
least Birmingham specific. So, you know, Travis,
I think, invited me to sit at the lunch table
with him and that was it. And here we are 30,
you know, 25, 30 years later, sitting on a podcast
with Travis's brother. You know, I knew that
you guys go back that far, but I didn't even
know that story. Yeah, in fact, there's a really
funny funny photo of me and him in the senior
yearbook And it's just it's almost quite cringy
and embarrassing when you look at it Just you
know, we could have almost been holding hands
Wow, if I can unearth this photo from somebody
this is going on the Dan time Well, definitely
don't use that for the for the screenshot of
this episode But, but, you know, I kind of going
back to, you know, I vividly remember a kind
of more recent, but it was a while ago. You know,
I mean, it was still probably a decade ago. Uh,
you know, I think we had just loved the Birmingham
bowl. And, you know, we stopped by Dave's downtown
Southside to watch, uh, is Joe Flacco in the
playoffs. And I, you know, I thought that was
a great kind of example of what you're talking
about where we. Split off from the crowd or find
ourselves together and just go and have a good
time. That's right Yeah, that was that was a
fun night. I think Warren was two months old
I remember because this was 20 the end of 2017
or maybe he was a month old so Speaking of flacco
Anytime I can interject flacco I Wish I could
take a picture of my notes because I actually
have him I put a star next to his name star flacco
comeback player of the year And that's just my
reminder to ask you to get some your thoughts
on Joe flacco I think it's just so easy. It's
too easy to say He was signed off the couch.
I think that's colloquially easy for people to
to say I mean otherwise what's you got to talk
about. You don't just jump off your sofa and
go play in the NFL. You're doing some level of
training which I think it really amounted to
him just going out to a local facility or field
and throwing the ball around with his brother.
I mean there was a I think that was a lot of
what was going on besides just conditioning.
Yes, I absolutely agree that that's like the,
you know, the cliche saying off the couch, but
you know, then you see him on the field and,
you know, he's not sitting there like some fat
pot belly retired guy, you know, clearly he looks
almost the same, maybe a few more gray hairs,
but I saw it. There was a guy in exit that characterized
Dan Strayley signing with the Cubs and now pitching
in Iowa as being signed off the couch. I'm like,
okay, this guy clearly has not been keeping up
with everything. Strayley's been doing to get
back into the game. Yeah, to me, it's it's kind
of it's lazy. Of course, that's you know, that's
the state of the media we're in today. I don't
know if you want to hear my my opinion of the
media that that might take this podcast into
a dangerous. Oh, I'm ready. But you know, no.
And but yes, sports journalism, especially it's
driven by. Well, it's really not what we used
to think of it as and it's kind of a shame but
change is Inevitable and it's just part of it
I guess and large and I'm largely speaking of
ESPN, which was all a prominent You know part
of our childhoods growing up and it's it's now
just almost unwatchable to the point where it
feels Like sports is secondary to the content
Which is a shame? Yeah, remember back around
2000 and I don't know one two up until maybe
2005 or six when locally You I mean you had what
was on like you said Sports Center, but locally
you've got people at the Diplomat deli or Augustus
hot dogs or something picking up Kevin Skarbinski
and getting angry about something that Skarbinski
wrote to get a rise out of them out of a newspaper.
Yeah Yeah, yeah You know, I would always you
know, I'd love looking at the box scores in the
paper and Even even those games will have little
little blurred write -ups just just a summary
of the game and I love those and like now it's
just If you have anything remotely like that
in print, it's almost certainly gonna be done
by AI It's very disappointing. Yeah And speaking
of, and I know this is your old stomping ground,
at least for a little bit, I don't know if you
saw the news recently, the Birmingham News building
downtown has been acquired by, who's that lawyer?
Oh, the law firm of Alexander Shinora. Alexander
Shinora. Right. Maybe I shouldn't have said his
name, but yeah, I just like that. That's kind
of a microcosm of where we are in society in
terms of print and media and information. Yeah,
it really saddens me more than anything. I mean,
there's some writers at The Athletic that I think
are doing a great job. I think some people still
value good sports writing and sports coverage.
Yeah, I do too. To me, and it's still the, I
guess just the shocking, not shocking, but the
put -off about The good writing it is behind
a paywall and you're just not used to doing it
Like I'm not opposed to paying that money, but
it's just kind of like I just you know I'm sitting
on the sofa. I'm waiting for something. I just
want to read this quick article and now it's
asking me to log in to finish it It's kind of
like I think that's a good point. I seems like
I consume my sports information in quick bursts
when I only have about three and a half minutes
and I really don't have those three minutes,
but I'm trying to keep up and so you run into
that paywall and you're thinking I just I don't
have an extra minute to sort through this. I
don't have time. I don't want to agree to the
seven -day trial and then I now I got to remember
to cancel it if I don't like it and I got to
go I got to just let me just go to espn .com
and yeah let me go to espn .com and see what
Stephen A Smith has to say about it. Well Lola,
how about, let's talk about some of the teams
that you have been a fan of for many years. The
Atlanta Braves, as we're talking today, two games
back of the Phillies. Looks like the NL East,
kind of early here, but might end up being a
two team race. Yeah, it's, you know, being where
we are obviously so close at land. So it's always
been a team I followed. As a child, my honestly
my true. Kind of number one team like I, you
know, I start following all burned elder again.
I can go to college here and then you know you
follow other teams, but Atlanta has always been
kind of that true. Close to your heart team and
falling through the 90s. Was fun, get one World
Series out of 14 pennants or whatever. I still
consider that a disappointing tenure and I think
that's people probably look at Braves fans. like
me is delusional because of that mentality. But
I think, you know, we expect more. And I kind
of feel that way about this current team. You
know, the last year, especially it was, you know,
you had this prolific offense and they don't
do anything with it. You get bumped out by the
Phillies. And this is the second year in a row
where it's happened. So fast forward to the offseason.
What what did you know what the Braves do to
to maybe counter the Phillies? Nothing. They
had an arm Chris Sale. OK, great. He's doing
great. You know, but I love something to look,
they needed a little more, in my opinion. And
honestly. It's almost a wash now when you look
at it, because Strider's out, so sale really
just kind of slides into that role that Strider
had. So really, you're kind of back to where
you were last year. You know, I felt one of the
biggest moments that playoffs, if you remember,
it was was that Harper was running the bases
after the home run and he's just, you know, talking
to talking. I don't know if we can say that on
this or not, but, you know. He's fired up. He's
yelling. He's talking. Every Braves fan is just
kind of sitting there with their hands in their
pockets, like kicking a rock in the dirt. And
I'm just like, there is absolutely zero fire.
These guys are all too nice. And, you know, that's
what they lack, you know, versus the 90s, where
you had guys like Tripper Jones or small surmatics
where they would probably try to fight you. And
that's what the Braves needed to add. And they
didn't do it. And, you know, I guess there's
still the, you know, it'll be interesting to
see what they do in the trade deadline. It's,
you know. They got the World Series a couple
years ago. That was phenomenal. One of the most
amazing runs I've ever seen, and I absolutely
loved it. And I will always remember that Jorge
Soler home run in the final game. It was just
absolutely amazing. Gives me goosebumps thinking
about it. What are your thoughts going back a
ways to somebody like Dale Murphy not being in
the Hall of Fame? I don't know that there's a,
some people say there's a case to be made. I
don't really know about that. What are your thoughts
on Dale? That's that's a really good argument.
A good I think that is one of the true like it
could be. Yes, it could be no to me. I think
is obviously as big as. Detriment is just not
playing long enough, but the same time too. You
know, back to back MVP is if I'm not mistaken,
which I just I feel like it's very rare. I mean,
it's rare to win more. It's rare to win one rare
to win two very rare when I'm back to back. So
he he literally was. the best player for two,
three years season. And, you know, is that enough
to put you in? Maybe some guys get in simply
because they accrue stats over 20 years. I mean,
is that right? I don't know. I think they're
just stat accumulators. But I do love the Hall
of Fame and baseball more than any other because
they are so much more restrictive. Like, I feel
like the NBA lets anybody in now. If you average
10 points a game, you're a Hall of Fam. I have
strong opinions about sports. Now the crime dog,
Fred McGriff, finally got enshrined in Cooperstown.
Yeah, and I love that guy. I'm happy for him.
I was probably one or two years too young to
really appreciate him. But where was he before
that? He had a career in Tampa. Toronto? Toronto,
yeah. So, cause I want to say he was in the Braves
for, you know, maybe five or six years, but he
had a lot of seasons somewhere else and put up
comparable numbers. So it's well -deserved. He's
a five time gold Glover and one of the best hitters
of say the 1980s at least, but then on those
90s Braves teams, I mean, if they were ever going
to win, he was part of that 99 team. I think
uh Was he there that long? I feel like that that's
a little the 99 99 no No, he wouldn't have been
on that was over 96. Yeah, cuz I I would have
to go back and look I mean he maybe he did play
well and do his 30s to he might even play until
his 40s What about you know, his distinctive
swing is very, you know, that's always a memorable
thing and he he actually I remember There used
to be these hitting instructional Classes or
camps that he would do and he was in a commercial
at least sponsoring and it was just this just
classic 90s commercial you'd see you know that
that sticks out my mind to About Freddy the crime
dog not Freddy, but the crime dog Fred He was
drafted by the Blue Jays play with them through
the the end of the 80s and then the Padres before
Coming over to Atlanta. I don't even know that
the Padres. Yeah, just a few years. I just remember
the baseball cards How about kind of a wasted
two -year stint in San Diego back then yeah what
about do you have a whether it's a brave or an
NBA player NFL player how about somebody that
you you didn't like maybe even loathed for a
period of time and then you came around and you're
like you know what either I like this guy or
wow he's actually cracking the top tier I've
I wasn't necessarily wrong on him, but I like
him now. Yeah, I definitely could come up with
some people. That would be something I'd have
to think about for a minute. And he's not by
any stretch one of my favorites. And I feel like
I'm going in the opposite direction of the general
feeling. I originally did not like Aaron Rodgers
and then I've kind of warmed up to him when everybody
has kind of gone sour on him. And, you know,
I mainly have warmed up to him just because he's
not politically correct. And that's okay with
me. You know, too many people are afraid of saying
what they feel or believe and he does not. Whether
or not you agree with it, that's not the point
I'm making. I just like the fact that he's not
afraid to say it. But in terms of on the field,
no, he's always been good. I just I kind of never
liked him on the field, especially when he was
with the Packers. Yeah, I think I had Rogers
on my fantasy team for the first time. I don't
think it was it wasn't last year because he was
hurt all year, but the year before never been
personally a fan of Rogers. But then again, there's
when you're a Joe Flacco fan, it's just not a
lot of bandwidth left for another quarterback.
Yeah. I mean, you're all in. This is not about
me, but going back to Flacco, it is fun, whoever
your favorite player is, or someone that you
closely follow, and they're kind of on a, they're
in limbo maybe, or perceived to be toast, or
their value has plummeted, and then they make
a resurgence. It's a lot of fun watching sports.
And I mean that could be a team also that you
get behind and I mean well You've been an Auburn
fan for many many years You've been through a
lot of a lot of turmoil with this team a lot
of Saturday Afternoons and evenings that I'm
sure you would like to to have seen played out
differently, but also been a part of some some
great experiences on the planes, maybe at the
games and What's what's it? Because I know that
recent history, it's been been difficult, but
a favorite Auburn memory. Whether it's at a game
or just a team that you liked a lot. Yeah, well,
it might be the the easy button, but. Obviously,
the the Cam Newton season was incredible. I mean,
it was memorable and I almost remember I never
I didn't go to a game live that season, but.
we all were we're gathering at various people's
houses throughout and it was just You would see
things kind of each week that you're just kind
of amazed you and you know I think what was even
more amazing about him is nobody Knew who the
guy was he just kind of came out of nowhere He
was this kind of transfer from Florida and he
transferred because he got in trouble for some
laptop and I don't even know the story about
the laptop and then you know But then some of
the things you see and one of the most memorable
plays was him you know 6070 yard run against
LSU and you know he's out running Patrick Peterson
who's probably I'm not gonna maybe not a Hall
of Famer but perennial pro bowler and NFL and
just like this this is unbelievable and I you
know I at the time it was the single greatest
season for college football of course now you
see some of the numbers like burrow put up his
one year and I think that probably surpassed
it hell even Mac Jones I think broke records
his one year. But I will say my favorite player
without Dow from Auburn was Cadillac. And that
2004 was also incredible. And I think we absolutely
got hosed, should have been in the final against
USC. But, you know, that was kind of the BCS
era and showed how useless it was. Wow. Yeah.
But Cadillac, I mean, how good of a name is that
for a football player? And then the way he ran
was just absolutely amazing. And I hated his
NFL career got cut short. He was drafted by Gruden
and the Bucks and he had a, you know, he had
some highlights, but he, his knees just, he had,
he had spaghetti knees. Who was that player?
There was a tight end noodle knees that we, somebody
read. Yeah. Uh, Pettigrew. It was you, you, uh,
somehow one season in fantasy, you kept. I feel
like you kept or maybe it's two or three seasons.
You kept ended up with this guy and he just always
kept getting hurt. Yep, that's seems to happen.
More often than not, speaking of fantasy football
20 years in. What a run? I mean, it's just. I
have not won a championship. And my involvement
in the league dates back to the end of 2005.
very embarrassing admission there but you've
racked up seven championships we are just over
three months away from the John Hannah Invitational
Fantasy Football League draft we've got some
secret not so secret recordings of last year's
draft that Jim has been pleading with me to release
and gotta be honest I haven't even listened to
them yet I'm not sure that I want to but for
those of you listening Might hang on to this
and stick that behind some sort of paywall. This
is Supposed to be a unfiltered. Yeah, Dan time
is is I'm going to great lengths to protect some
of the shows I listen to and I won't name them
but Everybody's tired of the ads you skip through
them. You hit the 32nd button. You hit it again
You hit it six times. Nobody wants to hear that.
So you're not gonna hear that on Dan time as
long as I can prevent that from happening, and
you won't pay for anything, and you'll get bonus
episodes, and you won't have to pay for those,
or subscribe, just tell me a five -star review
every once in a while, would you? But anyway,
what was I getting at? Yeah, so there's some
draft recordings from last year, we'll see, if
I can clean them up, I may stick them out there.
But just over three months away from draft day,
when do you start? preparing a researching are
you doing it right now I know that you have some
proprietary spreadsheets we've seen some of them
many that we have not seen this this is I mean
I love fantasy sports particularly football and
you obviously do too and you're very very good
at it how soon do you start really locking in
yeah The older we get, obviously, it's been harder.
But 10 years ago, it was almost 24 -7, just you're
trying to keep up with names and new teams, moves,
and whatnot, and kind of stuff I do with my job.
always in spreadsheets. And so that, to me, that's
kind of fun as well, just even kind of coming
up with new ways to graph something or chart
something. But I will, let me clear up the, you
know, I didn't use a spreadsheet in last year's
draft. I felt like there were whispers behind
my back that maybe that was the reason why I
was winning. So I decided to forego it and, you
know, still ended up winning. Say what you will,
maybe, you know, maybe it was luck, who knows.
Jim will say it's because I picked up puka off
the waiver wire before he did. I mean, that's
okay. I Remember Jim being very upset that was
it Travis that scooped up Russell Wilson a Couple
picks before he he had his heart set on him and
then we all saw what happened. Yeah that experiment
Kind of like you you hope everybody forgot about
that like oh wow Oh yeah, I always thought I
was going to do bad. Now it's kind of, and honestly
too, especially back in the 25, 26, 27 years,
and I'm not ashamed to admit it now, I used to
play Madden back then, and that was always a
great way to see actually a fairly accurate analysis
of a player. As much as I dislike EA right now,
their predatory practices in terms of monetizing
games. And I don't play games anymore, but I
know what's going on. And that's another conversation,
too. But say what you will about them as a company.
They definitely knew how to analyze players.
And I don't know. And that's what's amazing about
it. I don't know how they do it, how maybe they
have professional scouts. But that was always,
to me, kind of an advantage, I think, just. having
this intimate knowledge of each player almost
because you would play the game and that was
back before it really had the magazines and stuff.
So I guess the magazines almost take the place
of the game now. What do you think about the
physical media like the fantasy football circulars
and the magazines? When was the last time you
bought one before a draft? Oh, I love it. To
me, that's almost a, it's a guilty pleasure.
It's, you know, I'll go to CVS and the weekend
or the, you know, a couple nights before. And,
you know, I usually try to get to at least, you
know, just see differing opinions, but honestly
now, and this is the way it is with a lot of
things, you know, selection of just various things.
It's like shrunk down enormously. So like now
there's only, you might find two. different publications
and Honestly, if you probably dug into you probably
find out they're all owned by the same company
or something And I just I don't want to know
that information. Oh, yeah No, you're right You
know and then honestly And you know what to expect
when you read these magazines II. It's really
pretty pictures Once you dive into it. You're
like, yeah, it's not really a whole lot of substance
in here. It's just a bunch of numbers that some
guy probably has a program that throws it together
for him. And then, you know, they act like they're
experts. They're not. But there is that nostalgia
factor. And I'm with you, even if it's if I'm
spending the $8 .95 or $9 .95 for the magazine
and I'm just going to thumb through it and make
my markings in it that day, that evening. Hey,
it's worth it to me. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's fun
and that's part of the fun and that is the most
fun is the draft date. Like that's what makes
it all worthwhile. I mean, the camaraderie, the
getting together, I absolutely love that Terrence
calls in. I think it's, you know, the dedication
he showed one or two years where he actually
drove back was very commendable and awesome,
but it's just not, yeah, it doesn't make sense
for him to do it now the older we get. So I love
that he's able to call in and Still be part of
it. And that's you know, honestly one of the
highlights of my year And I hope it continues.
Oh, I'm right there with you. I think such a
big part of our league is The camaraderie like
you said we do the live draft 80 90 percent of
the league is there in a room together. How often
does that ever happen in your life? Yeah at our
our age now and our responsibilities and commitments
and and At least half the members, you know,
myself, your brothers and dad included, I mean,
for 20 plus years maybe, or I think I joined
in 06 maybe if that's 05 or 06. So a lot of the
same quote unquote founding members been doing
it for that long. That's really special to you
because, I mean, I read comments all the time
on Reddit and I read Reddit in my spare time.
Not all the time. Twitter, Reddit, whatever.
I think there's a big issue with just loneliness
these days and people not having friends. And
that's kind of the opposite of what we got going
on with this league. And that's what's awesome
about it. You're absolutely right. This day and
age, you can be very connected with people. And
I think it's perfectly fine to be exchanging
text messages most of the year. But if you're
listening to the show and you've got people that
you're messaging with about sports or whatever
your interests are, try to get, whether it's
a fantasy football league or something, plug
in one, could be just one event, one get together
a year. And it is so worth it. Like I said, you
don't have to get together that often, but just
looking forward to that event is a big part of
it as well. and we shake hands, we give the hugs,
and everyone's got whatever B -Y -O -B, they
got the stuff that they brought, and the food
that they brought, and the laughs, and before
you know it, the night's over. But some of it,
a lot of it is just being excited about that
draft date, because as we've seen, the older
you get, the pressures around you in your life,
other areas of your life start to mount, and
things aren't as... Loose as they used to be
and it's an opportunity to loosen up and you
know as we've seen I'm sure this has happened
to other groups of guys groups of girls things
happen and you lose friends and various reasons
illness or accidents or things like that and
You have to say goodbye to friends and I think
that especially is is important to have a bond
with a group of people who have, they've got
that thing in common. You know, we were all good
friends with that guy, you know, or that girl,
like we respect their memory. We want to preserve
their memory. And that, I think that helps getting
older and going through grief on any kind of
level where you kind of have someone who gets
it. They're like, yeah, yeah, I miss him too.
Yeah. Yeah, it's a good way to reminisce about
memories with those people and just kind of a
safe space in general. Just be yourself and you're
not worried about saying something wrong in front
of somebody. That's the beauty about it. Just
being around people you love and you're comfortable
around and. you get to circle the day on the
calendar. So it is almost like a second Christmas
and I, you know, we all joke about, you know,
the pre -draft nights, like, you know, everybody's,
you know, we're giddy and we're like, you know,
and then even the culmination of, you know, after
the draft, everybody's like waiting on the commission
to enter the player so we can all see our grades.
So it's just yeah, it's almost a weekend event,
really. And to me, kind of what makes it better,
especially with kind of just expansion talks
and everything like we there used to not ever
be games on at the same time. But now that we
have a game on every weekend now almost at least
that's what football the direction is going.
We always get that in the background too now.
And to me, that just adds to it. It's like the
first weekend of college maybe. And, you know,
so there's football everywhere. And it's just
guys. It is. That's one thing that I gotta say
I envy about a couple of the guests that I've
had on here previously, Dan Strayley, Dan Winkler.
You know, if you're a professional athlete, what
other job, what other profession are you basically
hanging out with a group of guys, a large group
of guys, every day? And of course, you gotta
deal with the personalities that you don't like,
but it's not every day that you get nine or 10...
men into a room together and the way that we
talk, and I don't think we're quite as nasty
with the language and the subject matters, maybe
we were when we were 24, but it's healthy. I
think it's very healthy for men to get together
and have a little fun and let it hang out a little
bit, and you're not in a work setting, you're
not trying to be careful not to say something.
Your mom's not there, you're... It's a good thing
your sister's not there, your wife's not there.
Yeah, you're not, you know, you're not around
work people. It's just, yeah, a good escape.
It's almost a vacation right down the street,
kind of. And, you know, if you love sports, that's
why you do it. So it's just a perfect day. Well,
I agree. It's Christmas for adults. I think Jim
said something to that effect. that's pretty
much spot on August 20 something. Yeah, you know,
there's always that there's a funny scene in
that movie knocked up where she thinks her husband's
having an affair and she tracks him down and
you know, kind of goes into this strange person's
house and all the lights are off. But you know,
there's one room where the lights are on and
the doors close and you can hear muffled voices.
And so she's, you know, going in there thinking
to expect the worst. And it's just a group of
guys having a baseball fantasy draft. And I just
thought that was hilarious. A few more questions
here, just maybe some Dan Time questions. And
I think it goes without saying that we'll do
a follow -up episode. Because with your seven
championships for keeping score on the Dan Time
podcast, I mean, Jim's appeared, I think, three
times. And we've got to get you up there neck
and neck. As far as appearance, yeah, we need
a we need to we need to do a gym and you know
Have Jim on and myself on and we can at the same
time debate the qualities of our championships,
you know, but my year was better than this year
and What was the best team And I say that jokingly,
but I would absolutely probably have a great
time doing that Well, it's it's gonna happen
now. It never occurred to me to have two guests
on at the same time, possibly hashing it out.
Great material for the podcast. Some kind of
random questions here. If I offered you one of
those Nestle Drumstick ice cream cones or an
ice cream sandwich, which one are you going for?
Oh, the cone, without doubt. You know which ones
I'm talking about? I do. In fact, I'll, you know,
sometimes buy them myself. And, you know, as
a 42 year old man, it's, I'm not, you know, at
the checkout line with, you know, maybe two boxes
of it, actually. But of course, now it's just,
you realize how bad they are for you, but man,
I would absolutely demolish those over an ice
cream sandwich, I think are highly overrated,
to be honest with you. They are. At least the
traditional ones. What about when you were now
they have you know cookies and you know, you
can do different flavored ice cream and yeah
What are your thoughts on Mentos? I think I tried
them once about 20 years ago and I was thinking
why did what is it with these things? They're
not there's so many better products better Treats.
Yeah, you could buy. What are your thoughts on
Mentos? And if I feel like they're It's almost
an accident. Like somebody was trying to come
up with a mint. It was chewy and it ended up
not being a mint. It just ended up being a big
skittle, kind of. To me, the only good thing
about those were their commercials back in the
90s. I don't know anybody that seeks a Mentos.
Like, man, I gotta go get a pack of these. It
feels like they're holding something back on
the flavor. It's like, man, what, just pack the
punch. I mean, it's, what are we doing here?
Yeah. It's kind of a mix of gum and, you know,
it's not, it's, yeah, it's, it's really just
a glob of lightly flavored sugar. How do you
feel when you're walking down a downtown street,
maybe you don't realize it, but you just walk
past a cigar bar and, and you, or anytime you
catch the cigar smoke hanging in the air. Maybe
you're at somebody's backyard by lit one up.
What are your thoughts on cigar smoke? Or do
you ever partake? Do you enjoy cigar? It's such
a rare occasion. It's an interesting question.
The smell of it does not bother me. I am always
intrigued by... Like, you know, there was a very,
very brief time you try to pick up like, hey,
I'm gonna, you know, become a connoisseur. I'm
gonna look into this and try to see what the
whole craze is about it. And then you start looking
at it and it's like, there's a million different
types. You don't even know where to begin. Like
what's good, what's not. And that's kind of the
level that I just stop and say, okay, I'll just,
you know, never gonna do this. If somebody gives
it to me, sure. No problem, I'll do it, but that's
as far as I'll take it. I've tried to enjoy a
cigar and it's just not for me. The smoke at
a reasonable distance doesn't really bother me.
I think a big part of the cigar hobby is the
statement of holding a cigar, smoking one. It's
a symbol of freedom and expression, and I respect
all of that. Just for me, I don't. I feel like
if you're if you're if you're smoking one, you
need to be wearing penny loafers without socks.
That's kind of what I consider a tire for smoking
a cigar in public. And maybe maybe that's just
what I see, but usually they go hand in hand
or or you own a business or you have owned a
business. Probably seen a female smoking a cigar,
but I've never seen just a say a woman our age
just relaxing and smoking a cigar for for 10
or 15 minutes Okay, we're getting way off track
here, but I'm taking us there all right Hopefully
you have a pretty good pest control service,
but in the event that you see an insect a non
-flying insect in your house. Lowell, are you
the type of person who's gonna get that little
rascal in a dust pan and help him out the door?
Or are you going in for the kill? Yeah, you know.
Yeah, I feel like that. That's probably like
some psych question to judge if you're a serial
killer or not, but I, I, you know, I, I typically
just, just for, you know, to. Set the example
just so others see. This is what happens when
you come in here. I typically go in for the kill.
I mean, if it's one of these like little gene
bugs, okay, I might take it out, but a roach,
a spider, you're done. If I get to you, you're
done. Just a bad place to be for that little
guy. Yeah. Yeah, and you know, there is a part
of me that, you know, man, I wish that didn't
have to do this and just this roach, you know,
woke up today just, you know, looking for food.
But again, I don't think these have brains and
I don't think their level of thought is that
extensive. So I don't feel that bad about it.
I remember you might remember this apartment
that I had in Birmingham off Idlewild Circle.
I do 2000, maybe time period. So I was working
nights and I would come home and routinely flip
on the lights in the kitchen, and see a number
of roaches scatter. And at that age, whatever
your priorities are in your social life and stuff,
you just don't take the time to call the landlord
and say, hey, could you get someone out here
to spray? I don't think I ever once made that
call, which is bizarre. Probably because I didn't
see them. And I don't think they would have come
out to do it either. But there were quite a number
of them. not dozens and anything like that, but
always about five or six or seven. And I would
have to go through this routine of washing them
down the drain, like I would send many of them
to a watery grave and kind of feel a little bad
about it. That's almost like toying with them
or torturing them. Of course, for all you know,
they were just getting dumped right back out
through some hole in the pipe. right outside
your back door and those you just kept flushing
down the same five roaches every time okay one
final question here if you could put on a cape
and fly uh much like a superhero or jump on a
magic carpet and fly on you know like uh a gypsy
or a yeah genie a genie yeah if you could take
flight with a superhero cape or on a magic carpet?
What would you go for? Oh, wow. That's, you know,
I think just the coolness factor with a cape.
But, you know, there's something to be said about
just being able to sit down while you're traveling
and, you know, you can have a cup of tea next
to you or whatever. I say cup of tea because
I feel like that's what a genie would drink.
But, you know, a scotch probably. There's the
presumption with the carpet. That you're not
going to fall off, but you're not really tethered
to anything. You're just sitting. Yeah. But with
the Cape, you know, it's kind of like, well,
I'm, I'm flying with this. This is how I can
fly. And this thing's not just going to like
rip off. Yeah. But I mean, if we're going to
really dig into this, you know, I mean, you could
say the, you know, the carpets, like actually
a vehicle though, and it's doing the flying.
I mean, how on earth would the Cape, you know,
be Be performing that same task. It's really
just an accessory, but I would definitely choose
that over You know some silly little carpet out
of a cartoon Well, I think that's about it for
today I think maybe well would definitely have
to commit to another episode and and the debate
between you and Jim Absolutely, and I will be
up for that. I I would like to also schedule
something and I want to explain how soccer works
to all of my friends as well and try to get them
on board. Well, I on my list here and my gosh,
we if I didn't have to ask about cigars and roaches
and. Flying carpets, I had Premier League on
here. And it's kind of like when a band gets
up there and they play like four songs from.
the album that nobody cares about. And they're
like, well, why didn't you play? Well, hey, that's
just another opportunity to talk about later.
But, you know, just a quick blurb about it. It's
the bet to me. It's it's one of the best leagues
in the world in terms of just entertainment value.
And absolutely. It's must see TV for me. And
I don't miss it. And Tottenham is the team I
pull for. And they suck. And they never win trophies.
But that's OK. Yeah, I. I appreciate your appreciation
of the Premier League. Can't say that I'll become
a fan, but can't say that I won't ever. Yeah.
Well, is there anything else that you'd like
to plug before we check the box here on the first
LOL Shapiro episode? No, not really. Just get
out and vote. There you go. We are six months
away Absolutely. There is I say that I just saw
the turnout for the London election and I want
to say that it was a paltry 20 something percent
turnout and it's just get out there and vote
people just It's a privilege if you travel the
world. I think you get a better appreciation
for it. Well, you heard the man and Get yourself
registered tune in don't don't say that well
my vote doesn't count it does and hey listen
and this show I don't get political on here I
don't endorse anything but sometimes people people
forget that right there in your county you go
out and just go vote in that primary and vote
in that race for school board or tax assessor
And you never know, some of those races come
down to like eight votes. You get in and you
can also people very close to me have said, well,
you know, it's not going to change anything or
I don't like those candidates. Well, remember
when you go to vote, you can leave certain races
blank. You can do that. You can you can vote
for one thing and nothing else. You can vote
for it. for all of it except one and do that.
But anyway, good advice here from Lowell. And
I appreciate you making time in your day. This
is a big deal for me for us to connect. We covered
some of the stuff that I had always dreamed of
covering for you being a guest on the show and
something still on the table. That's okay. All
right, folks, well. Thanks for having me, Dan.
Thank you all and you guys had a great time.
Yeah, and we'll do it again soon. We'll get you
back in short order All right. We'd love it.
Have a great week folks, and we'll see you next
Sunday on the Dan time podcast Thanks, lol. Thanks
Dan