Review: Dan Le Batard...Is Highly Questionable

This will serve as the first in a series of reviews of what I would probably refer to as "Afternoon ESPN filler." Because the network has already re-run the previous night's episode of SportsCenter for about eight hours straight, but their next episode isn't quite ready yet, they need something timely that will fill in the gaps on their various channels: flagship, ESPN2, U, etc. Thus, enter the back-to-back blocks of opinionated, sportsy talking heads. Dan Le Batard fitting nicely into that mold.

With these reviews in mind, I set my DVR to record an afternoon's worth of the Worldwide Leader's programming. "Dan Le Batard...Is Highly Questionable" presented itself as the first.

The broadcast on Friday, January 27 was my introduction to Le Batard.

Running a background search, I gathered the rundown that he's Miami-centric, writing for the Miami Herald and hosting an afternoon radio program with a dude nicknamed "Stugotz." Right there, that sends up a red flag for me. I like my radio hosts down-to-earth and personable. I'm not into sports radio dudes that call themselves "The Brick," or "Money," "The Dragon," or especially some New York-sounding joker in Miami by the name of "Stugotz." Those are all real sports radio broadcaster names, by the way.

So what I've got on DLB prior to hitting play on my DVR is the following: from Miami, Cuban background, radio show with Stugotz, and a Wikipedia page that claims he's both, quote, "self-deprecating" and refers to Lou Holtz as "Lou Sir." OK. Here we go.

They say that no one gets elected without at least appearing likable. Whether or not it's actually true is another story, but the public has to at least believe you're a good guy. And I can see the appeal here with Le Batard. He's full of smiles and has a laugh which fills the sound stage. But that's pretty much where it ends for me with him.

His show ran 30 minutes, half of which was your usual palette of daytime commercials. The other 15 minutes broke down into a middle section of athlete/celebrity interviews sandwiched between two segments with his dad, Gonzalo. More on Gonzalo in a bit, but the show itself was more run-of-the-mill than questionable. Aside from the Pat Sajak interview gold he stumbled upon this week, the highlight reel of athlete/celebrity interviews were entirely forgettable. I found myself growing tired of them and hit fast-forward. Whizzing-by in there, Cuba Gooding, Jr. That seems both timely and sports-related.

In comparison, I did make it through the opening and closing segments, almost entirely due to DLB's interaction with his father. Gonzalo plays the sidekick roll and successfully steals the spotlight. He's your always-happy Cuban grandfather. He loves everybody! He's the Cuban Roberto Benigni!

The show opens with a "News of the Day" segment where DLB offers up his brand of op-ed as the topics roll by, while Gonzalo replies with what you'd probably overhear him sharing with his buddies at the local barbershop. I preferred the latter. The show closes with them in the segment "Si o No?," which measures how much another series of "News of the Day" pieces move their individual sports meters. But I think it's more entertaining for them than the viewer.

Overall, outside of, what, maybe JuCo college kids and people at home with the flu who don't have Netflix, I'm not sure who is watching "Dan Le Batard...Is Highly Questionable" on even a semi-regular basis. I don't see myself revisiting the set of their Miami kitchen. I'll have a book handy the next time I'm out-of- commission and occupying the couch on DayQuil.

And even though DLB doesn't register anywhere near either Colin Cowherd or Jim Rome on the unlikability scale for me, he doesn't give me much reason to listen to what he has to say either. If I gave a damn about Miami, probably. But I don't.