Earlier on Friday, it was reported that Dan Le Batard would not be on the week-ending edition of Highly Questionable, but not because of a punishment from ESPN. No, Le Batard would miss the show because of issues with his flight from New York (where he was meeting with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro) back to Miami.
That ended up not being accurate. Le Batard wasn’t in studio on Friday, but he did still pop into Highly Questionable at times during the show…via videos he recorded from his phone at LaGuardia Airport and on his plane back to Miami.
Le Batard called the show “the single most highly questionable Highly Questionable we have ever done,” while also mentioning that he didn’t want to talk about why he was in New York.
His take on Andrew Luck’s health was prefaced with Le Batard noting how much louder his voice sounds on television (duh, and/or hello, Dan).
Here’s Le Batard giving his thoughts on Eli Manning vs Odell Beckham Jr, while covering himself with a blanket and leaning against the plane window. Shoutout to the pilot or flight attendant making a vocal cameo appearance as well.
Here are Le Batard’s thoughts on Steve Ballmer, and the Clippers, complete with Papi asking why he doesn’t look into the camera.
(unrelated: imagine sitting next to Le Batard on this flight)
The show closed with Le Batard calling his behavior “erratic” and claiming it was attracting suspicion from security.
The HQ production staff, Le Batard, Papi, and Stugotz clearly made the most of this, but I still feel like they missed an opportunity for an airport-centric “do you question” or “si or no”.
(yes, there was a crack about flying economy leading into “si or no,” but c’mon)
Sure, they wouldn’t have been sportsy, but it’s the end of July. There’s only so much you can talk about without repeating yourself, and a brief chat about window vs aisle, how much of a scam basic economy is, or checking vs carrying on would at least be a change of pace from talking about NFL training camp and the litany of storylines that are already getting beaten to death.
