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This is a very, very special episode of My Favorite Mistake. Today, I get to share five stories from some of the personalities who are part of the highly popular Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. Dan likes to say “embrace your mistakes,” so I thought they'd be a perfect fit here…
My guests are:
- Greg Cote (columnist for the Miami Herald and weekly guest)
- Amin Elhassan (former NBA executive and frequent guest)
- Chris Cote (Producer)
- Roy Bellamy (Producer)
- Billy “Guillermo” Gil (Producer)
Each of them share a story (or stories) about their “favorite mistake(s)” from their careers. I was able to get video via the app Cameo, so I paid a nominal fee for each of them and also offered to make donations to a non-profit.
This charity was started by a weekly guest of the show, Ron Magill, a zoologist from Zoo Miami — the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment. If you enjoy this episode and if you “get the show,” please consider donating to Ron's organization and its worthy cause.
Ron's later episode and story:
I first started listening to the show when they were on ESPN Radio, although I normally listened to them via their wildly popular podcast (it's often the #1 sports podcast in the U.S.). Dan recently left ESPN, walking away in the middle of a contract due to a number of conflicts, including being upset that Chris was laid off by “the mothership.”
Le Batard and friends have been operating as an independent podcast, but recently announced a major sponsorship deal that is reportedly (if you can trust Greg Cote's reporting) bringing in $50 million over three years, as they build a new media company called Meadowlark Media. Congratulations to Dan and “the shipping container” and everybody associated with the show and their related podcasts and projects.
If you're not a listener or you “don't get the show,” some of the stories contain show references that you might not understand. That's OK. Unlike Dan, I won't interrupt the episode to explain the jokes. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.
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- Full transcript
You can listen to or watch the episode below. A transcript also follows lower on this page. Please subscribe, rate, and review via Apple Podcasts or Podchaser! You can now sign up to get new episodes via email, to make sure you don't miss an episode. This podcast is part of the Lean Communicators network.
Greg Cote:
Amin Elhassan:
Chris Cote:
Roy Bellamy:
Billy Gil:
Watch the Full Episode:
Quotes:
“That mistake taught me a lesson — you can take nothing at face value. Always double-check everything.” — Greg Cote
“The mistake I made was thinking I was hot shit. The learning experience? You never know who you’re talking to.” — Amin Elhassan
“One of my favorite mistakes? I locked myself out of the studio… in the middle of producing a Miami Heat game.” — Roy Bellamy
“My mistake was eating the onion for the Grid of Death. It landed me in the hospital with kidney stones — and a $1,500 bill.” — Billy Gill
“Even when I was bad, I was good. That’s the beauty of our show.” — Chris Cote
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Automated Transcript (Likely Contains Mistakes)
Mark Graban:
This is a very, very special episode of My Favorite Mistake. Today, I get to share five stories from some of the personalities who are part of the highly popular Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. Dan likes to say “embrace your mistakes,” so I thought they'd be a perfect fit here.
My guests are Greg Cote, columnist for the Miami Herald and weekly guest on the show; Amin Elhassan, former NBA executive and frequent guest; Chris Cote, a producer; Roy Bellamy, another producer; and Billy “Guillermo” Gil, also a producer.
Each of them share a story—or stories—about their “favorite mistakes” from their careers. I was able to get video via the app Cameo, so I paid a nominal fee for each of them and also offered to make donations to a nonprofit. That charity was started by a weekly guest of the show, Ron Magill, a zoologist from Zoo Miami. It’s called the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment. If you enjoy this episode and if you “get the show,” please consider donating to Ron's organization and its worthy cause.
I first started listening to the show when they were on ESPN Radio, although I normally listened via their wildly popular podcast—it’s often the #1 sports podcast in the U.S. Dan recently left ESPN, walking away in the middle of a contract due to conflicts, including being upset that Chris was laid off by “the mothership.”
Le Batard and friends have since been operating independently, but they recently announced a major sponsorship deal—reportedly bringing in $50 million over three years—as they build a new media company called Meadowlark Media. Congratulations to Dan and “the shipping container” and everyone associated with the show and their related podcasts and projects.
If you're not a listener or you “don't get the show,” some of the stories contain show references you might not understand. That’s okay. Unlike Dan, I won't interrupt the episode to explain the jokes. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.
Greg Cote:
Hey Mark. My favorite mistake—what an odd phrase, right? It's an oxymoron. Why would I consider a mistake to be something cherished? But I guess every time I miss a hard network out on the Le Batard Show, it might qualify as a favorite mistake because people seem to like it.
In my journalism career at the Miami Herald, over time, you’re going to make mistakes. I remember back in the late ’70s when I was covering the Fort Lauderdale Strikers soccer team. I wrote a story during the Falklands War about one of the players, Ken Fogarty. He told me his sister was in the British Navy headed to the Falklands. I thought it was a pretty neat human-interest story.
Turns out he made the whole thing up. Ken was like a court jester, just making stuff up. The next day, the competing paper wrote a story about how I’d been duped. Embarrassing at the time, but it taught me a valuable lesson: you can take nothing at face value. Always double-check everything. That’s why it’s my favorite mistake.
Amin Elhassan:
My favorite mistake happened when I was at ESPN. They told me, “Hey, this reporter is writing a story about the Le Batard Show. Can you talk to him?” I said sure. So I get on the phone, and I think I’m talking to some college kid trying to get experience. We had a long conversation, about an hour, and I gave him all kinds of advice.
Fast forward a month later—I’m with Pablo Torre and he asks, “Hey, did you talk to Mike Schur?” I said, “Who’s Mike Schur?” And he says, “You know, the guy who created Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and was a producer on The Office.”
I was shocked. I thought he was a college kid. Instead, he’s one of the most successful producers in the history of American television. The mistake I made was thinking I was hot stuff. The lesson? You don’t know who you’re talking to—so don’t act like you do.
Chris Cote:
Mark, you asked about my favorite mistake. I think it was one of my earliest mistakes. Back then, I was nervous about speaking on air. During a segment called “Funniest Thing from the Sports Weekend,” I tried to make a simple point about Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith. I wanted to say how big he looked holding a football—that it looked tiny in his hands.
But I fumbled the name. I called him “Tyrod Smith” or “Tyrod Taylor.” I completely lost confidence, stumbled over my words, and it was embarrassing.
But here’s the thing: our show turns mistakes into wins. That moment kept getting replayed as a rejoin, and it helped me realize how far I’ve come. I don’t really get scared to talk on air anymore. Even when I was bad, I was good—that’s the beauty of the show.
Roy Bellamy:
Some of my favorite mistakes? Well, food was usually involved. I was producing Marlins games once, and I left the booth to grab food. When I came back, 30 seconds of dead air had gone by before the break. Luckily the announcers didn’t say anything, but I had missed it.
Another time, I was producing for the Miami Heat and managed to lock myself out of the studio during a game. Thankfully the cleaning crew was nearby to let me back in. Those are mistakes I can laugh at now.
Billy “Guillermo” Gil:
Hey Mark, it’s Billy. I came up with three mistakes to share—well, four if you count the bonus mistake of me always recording these videos while neighbors are cutting their grass.
One big mistake: the “Bald Eagles” story. The question was supposed to be “Describe America in one word.” Chris said “Freedom.” I said “Bald Eagles.” I didn’t even realize until much later that I’d messed it up. But it worked out—there were T-shirts, I wore a bald eagle costume on Halloween, and even showed up at the Super Bowl in that costume. So one mistake led to a lot of fun moments.
Another mistake: Diamond Dallas Page once came on the show and started cursing. I should’ve hung up on him after the first curse. Luckily Roy caught the rest, but it was a lesson learned.
And then the onion. I lost a Grid of Death bet and had to eat an onion. I actually went through with it. I vomited so much I became dehydrated, forced out a kidney stone, and ended up in the hospital for two days. Cost me $1,500. Later I realized—apparently you don’t actually have to pay off those punishments. So yeah, my mistake was following through on that one.
Mark Graban:
A huge thanks to Greg Cote, Amin Elhassan, Chris Cote, Roy Bellamy, and Billy Gil. If you enjoyed this, please consider making a donation to the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment.
At the end of the day, the serious message here is about learning from our mistakes. Sometimes a mistake turns into a lesson, sometimes it opens a door to something unexpected. That’s what this podcast is all about.