The Dan Patrick Show

Not to be confused with Dan Patrick & Friends.

The Dan Patrick Show
Genre	Sports talk
Created by	Dan Patrick
Starring	Dan Patrick Todd Fritz Patrick O'Connor Paul Pabst Andrew Perloff
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Paul Pabst Todd Fritz
Production locations	Bristol, Connecticut (1999–2007) Milford, Connecticut (2007–present)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	180 minutes
Production companies	DirecTV Sports Group (2009–) Content Factory (2007–2009) ESPN Radio (1999–2007)
Original release
Network	Terrestrial radio: Syndication (2007–) Fox Sports Radio (2009–) ESPN Radio (1999–2007) Internet radio: Sirius: 214 (2015–) XM: 203 (2015–) SXM Online: 967 (2015–) SiriusXM Sports Zone 92 (2014–2015) Television: Audience Network (2009–) Root Sports (2010–) NBCSN (2012–) Fox Sports Net (2010–2012)
Release	September 13, 1999 (1999-09-13) – present

The Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by DirecTV Sports Networks and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks.

The three-hour program debuted on October 1, 2007. It is broadcast weekdays live beginning at 9 am Eastern.

The show is currently televised on three networks: on DirecTV's Audience Network (formerly the 101 Network) since August 3, 2009; on three Root Sports affiliates since October 25, 2010; and on NBCSN as of November 5, 2012. It can also be heard on Sirius channel 214 and XM channel 203.

The current show is a successor to the original Dan Patrick Show, which aired from 1999 to 2007 on ESPN Radio weekdays at 1 pm Eastern/10 am Pacific.

Guests

"The DP Show", as it's commonly called, showcases guests as varied from professional surfers to National Football League (NFL) megastars, league commissioners to Hollywood comedians. The overwhelming majority of guests, however, are involved with sports, whether current or former athletes, coaches, commissioners or agents. Less often, guests who are not affiliated with sports will come on the show, although it is common for Patrick to ask at least one sports related question. Guests typically appear when the sport they are involved with is in-season, but may also come on before the release of a movie or music album or when the guest's name is mentioned in much recent news, such as an off-season trade or violation of the law. Few guests appear year-round and some may only appear once a year. Patrick has consistently stated he welcomes anyone to come on the show who feels Patrick has misrepresented or misquoted them.

The show has attracted high-profile guests to his show after heated or controversial events. Patrick takes pride in that he does not allow guests to come on the show if it is agreed off-air he can only ask certain questions on-air. Patrick has stated doing this would only cheat his audience. There have been guests who have cancelled appearances due to Patrick's desire for candor. If he disagrees with a guests comments or actions, he does not shy away from letting the guest and audience know he has a different opinion. The show seeks to attract guests who are in the news at the moment. Non-sports celebrities often appear on the show, including musicians, actors, politicians and comedians. One of the more popular such guests, known only as biggiecurls, is a frequent contributor to the DP Show.

Current regular guests include reporters, broadcasters, and former professional coaches and athletes (most whom are current broadcasters) working for a variety of media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports, network and cable stations and reporters from local media sources covering the beat involving a team, player or league in the news at the time.

Some guests could also be described as colleagues or friends of Patrick. These often make for some of the show's funniest or most revealing moments. Patrick has stated a close professional relationship or friendship with several in the sports and media world, including: Charles Barkley, who has talked about range of issues with Patrick on air, including gambling addiction and racial issues, as well as funnier stories when the two have golfed together, and whom may be inquire when the two are getting together next; Adam Sandler, whom Patrick will invite on the show to talk about sports or movies, in addition to offering Patrick movie roles in films Sandler helps produce; Bob Costas, whom Patrick considers a mentor and has credited him with "being the best in the business" and sometimes jokingly becomes irritated when talking about Sports Emmy Award Costas has won, even with Patrick nominated in the same category for; and Reggie Miller, whom Patrick will try to arrange a dinner or visit to one of Miller's homes in Southern California when Patrick may be on a West Coast tour.

Patrick is known for his wry, irreverent interviews, often asking humorous hypothetical questions and occasionally making bets with his guests. For example, in January 2006, Patrick made a bet with Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, where if Warner got the Cardinals to the Super Bowl by 2008, then Patrick would personally campaign for Warner to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Warner took Arizona to the Super Bowl in the 2008 NFL season). Another bet Patrick made was with the rap star Nelly, where Nelly said the St. Louis Rams would win the Super Bowl in 2007, while Patrick had the field. If Patrick won, he would get to name a song on Nelly's next album, and, if Nelly won, Patrick would have to appear in one of Nelly's music videos. St. Louis did not make the playoffs in 2007.

ESPN Radio

The show was broadcast on ESPN Radio from 1999 to 2007; broadcasts originated in Bristol, Connecticut during most of the year and from New York City during the NBA season. The show debuted on September 13, 1999 and was heard weekdays from 1 pm ET to 4 pm ET. It was often viewed as the signature program on ESPN Radio at the time, primarily because of Patrick's high profile at ESPN/ABC and his ability to attract well-known and popular guests.

The show often broadcast live at the Super Bowl site during the week before the big game and during ESPN The Weekend at Orlando, Florida.

Supporting cast

The ESPN Radio SportsCenter anchor was long-time ESPN Radio personality Dan Davis. From 1999 to 2004 the show was co-hosted by former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble. During this time, ESPN NFL analyst Sean Salisbury was a regular third-man-in on the show, though he was never given the title of co-host. Dibble left the show and went on to co-host The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports Net) (FSN) and weekends on Fox Sports Radio.

The show's producers were Ray Necci and Phil "The Showkiller" Ceppaglia. The latter earned the nickname while working for ESPN Radio's Tony Kornheiser Show. After inadvertently giving Kornheiser the wrong name of a caller, Kornheiser was prompted to say that he was killing his show and the nickname stuck. Ceppaglia was also often made fun of by Patrick about the time he inadvertently hung up on former U.S. president Bill Clinton while working on Patrick's show.

During the 2 pm ET hour, Patrick was reunited with long-time SportsCenter co-anchor Keith Olbermann, marking the latter's return to ESPN since his abrupt departure from the company in 1997. Olbermann appeared in 2004 and 2005 every Friday, then appeared daily starting in late 2005. Patrick would also preview what was coming up on the 6 pm ET edition of SportsCenter, while Olbermann previewed what was coming up on his MSNBC show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann. This hour was dubbed "The Big Show," the nickname previously given by the duo for their SportsCenter broadcasts.

Departure

On July 9, 2007, Patrick announced that he was leaving ESPN and its radio properties on amicable terms. The last live edition of the Dan Patrick Show aired on August 17 of that year. However, earlier on July 12, the Chicago Sun-Times had reported that Patrick would continue in radio and launch a new nationally syndicated program via Chicago-based Content Factory. From the date of that announcement, Patrick did not appear as host of that timeslot, which was referred to by guest hosts as simply "ESPN Radio." ESPN announced Patrick would remain off-air from ESPN Radio until August 13 for his week-long farewell. He actually returned on August 15, and finished his final three broadcasts as his "Farewell for Now Tour" shows. During his final shows, clips from memorable interviews were played during the bumper music before each segment, and Dan encouraged listeners to visit his website (www.danpatrick.com) in order to keep up with him in the future. He signed off from his final show by thanking everyone involved with it as well as those who supported him throughout his TV work at ESPN. His concluding remarks were simply, "With that said, thank you. Goodbye... for now."

Guests who appeared on his final show included Bob Costas, MLB outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., former NFL players Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, and actor Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy.

Premiere Radio and Fox Sports Radio

The Dan Patrick Show returned to the air on October 1, 2007; the show was produced by the Content Factory, while national sales and syndication is handled by Premiere Radio Networks. The program initially began on outlets owned by Clear Channel, but has since expanded to many more stations across the United States, both live and tape-delayed depending on the market. Eventually the show was added to national radio when Fox Sports Radio used it to replace "Out Of Bounds with Craig Shemon & James Washington" on January 20, 2009. The show can also be heard live on SiriusXM 247, a Fox Sports Radio simulcast. It used to be heard on a delayed basis on Sirius XM Sports Nation, which broadcasts on both XM and Sirius. The show was removed the first week of January 2010, removing it from the Sirius platform entirely. The show simulcasts online at danpatrick.com, and live on the Fox Sports Radio site.

The show began simulcasting live on DirecTV's Audience Network (formerly The 101 Network) in August 2009. The show's web site is hosted by Sports Illustrated, for which Patrick serves as a senior writer. In October 2009, the rights to the Dan Patrick Show were purchased from The Content Factory by DirecTV's sports division, DirecTV Sports Group. DirecTV Sports Group now produces the show. Premiere Radio continues its role as distributor.

As of October 25, 2010, the show began simulcasting on Fox Sports Net and Comcast Sports Net. The Comcast and Fox Sports Net broadcasts ended in July and on October 17, 2012, respectively, though DirecTV continued carrying the show on their Root Sports regional sports networks which formerly affiliated with FSN. After a short delay, the program began airing on NBC Sports Network on November 5, 2012.

The main studio from which the show is broadcast is in Milford, Connecticut. Space above the Subway restaurant at River Street and New Haven Avenue in downtown Milford was converted into an elaborate clubhouse-style studio by DIY Network as part of their "Man Caves" series hosted by former NFLer Tony Siragusa and DIY's Jason Cameron. The studio features several monitors, sports memorabilia, a basketball hoop, a pinball machine, a foosball table, a bar with 3 kegs and a golf simulator. The show had previously been produced in the attic of Patrick's home in the transition period from ESPN to PRN. As of September 2012, the Monday show is broadcast from a studio in New York City during the NFL season. Patrick did this so he would not be as inconvenienced following Football Night in America's late ending on Sunday nights. As of 2015 with the move of all NBC Sports operations to Stamford including Football Night, the show mainly originates from Milford.

Patrick often relates anecdotes of his ESPN career, in both positive and negative lights. He often refers to his former employer as "The Mother Ship" (and less frequently, "ESPeon"), and expresses disappointment with their practice of preventing their talent from appearing as guests on his show, and frustration when an ESPN employee has agreed to come on the show only to later cancel. In the case of Erin Andrews appearing on the show, she later sent him a message and Patrick then stated on air that she had been told by ESPN she would no longer be available as a guest to the show. In response, Patrick has used the phrase, "if you're afraid, buy a dog," and on the rare occasion an ESPN employee does appear on the show, will say, "you don't own a dog." Michael Wilbon, co-host of Pardon the Interruption is the only regular guest of the show from ESPN, appearing a handful of times per year. Mike Golic and Chris Berman are the only other former colleagues to appear on the show since Patrick's departure from ESPN, appearing on set before the Super Bowls in 2010 and 2013, respectively. (Scott Van Pelt called in briefly on one occasion.) Whenever college basketball analyst Jay Bilas appears, it is while he is doing television commentary for CBS during March Madness. Other guests who have developed a relationship with Patrick over the years and served alongside Patrick while when both were at ESPN include baseball analyst Peter Gammons, whom Patrick affectionately refers to as "The Dalai Lama" for his tremendous insight of the game. Patrick will often mockingly speak to ESPN management directly while on air, in large part after discovering thoughts or news he has been able to divulge from guests appearing on his show are later found on ESPN programs or website, without giving credit or mentioning "The Dan Patrick Show" as their source. Patrick has stated on his show many times he is less forgiving when his former employer fails to give credit to guests who appear on his show regularly who might be in direct competition with ESPN, such as ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio, who might be the first to report on a story and later appear on The Dan Patrick Show but may be lesser-known than Patrick.

He also has remarked on their history of stealing news that is broken on his show, and having their own reporters "confirm" such news rather than directly attributing it to Patrick's show (this has caused him to coin the phrase, "We don't break news, we sprain news"). Despite mocking ESPN, he often speaks fondly of his former co-workers, both those appearing on and off the air.

The Danettes

Patrick is joined on the air by the "Danettes": executive producer Paul Pabst ("Paulie"), executive producer Todd Fritz ("Fritzy"), director of operations Patrick O'Connor ("Seton"), and show blogger writer Andrew Perloff ("McLovin"). Patrick regularly chats with his crew about sports, and discussion will often break off into other topics such as current events, entertainment, and their personal lives. The Danettes are generally encouraged to speak honestly and share their actual opinions, with Patrick often carrying on with them in a conversational manner. Patrick has acknowledged that he was influenced by Howard Stern when incorporating the members of his staff into the on-air aspects of the show.

In addition to their duties on the Dan Patrick Show, the Danettes have their own television program; The Box Score airs on DirecTV (in addition to being available online) and was carried on the NBC Sports Network until August 16, 2013, immediately following The Dan Patrick Show. The Box Score serves as a complementary program to The Dan Patrick Show, recapping highlights from the day's show and further expanding on the behind-the-scenes elements of the program. The 30-minute show features the four Danettes and Casey Geraghty, who serves as the program's host. On November 27, 2013, Geraghty left The Box Score and the show was revamped and returned in early 2014. Dan Patrick himself is not a credited cast member, although he occasionally makes appearances or prerecords brief segments.

The term "Danette" was given to the crew by former NBA player Reggie Miller.

MVD

The "Most Valuable Danette" (MVD) award is a year-end honor typically bestowed upon the best-performing (or 'exceeding low expectations') member of the "Danettes" by Dan Patrick.

Year	Winner
2008	Patrick O'Connor ("Seton")
2009	Andrew Perloff ("McLovin")
2010	Todd Fritz ("Fritzy")
2011	Todd Fritz ("Fritzy")
2012	Patrick O'Connor ("Seton")
2013	Patrick O'Connor ("Seton")
2014	Andrew Perloff ("McLovin")
2015	Paul Pabst ("Paulie")

LVD

The Least Valuable Danette (LVD) award is a year-end honor typically bestowed upon the worst-performing member of the "Danettes" by Dan Patrick.

Year	Winner
2014	Todd Fritz ("Fritzy")

Routines and segments

Daily

• Wall of Morale: On the televised version of The Dan Patrick Show, the cameramen will frequently pan on the "Wall of Morale", a wall featuring a 12 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover models. As of early 2013, the wall features (first row from left): 1988 - Elle Macpherson, 2012 - Kate Upton, 2009 - Bar Refaeli, 1995 - Daniela Pestova; (second row from left) 2010 - Brooklyn Decker, 1998 - Heidi Klum, 1997 - Tyra Banks, 2008 - Marisa Miller; (third row from left) 2003 - Petra Němcová, 2011 - Irina Shayk, 2002 - Yamila Diaz, 1999 - Rebecca Romijn. SI model Chrissy Teigen is commemorated at the very top of the Wall of Morale with a picture but her shared 2014 SI Swimsuit issue has yet to make the wall.
• Height/weight gong: Callers often start their calls by announcing their height and weight, which are then followed by the sound effect of a boxing ring gong (bell). At one point during Rob Dibble's tenure as co-host, he was going through a workout to lose weight and build muscle, and would frequently report his height and current weight. After a while his updates would be followed by the bell sound. Eventually, callers would do likewise just to get the gong, and this continued even after Dibble's departure from the show. Ceppaglia would sometimes comment with "beefy!" or "fat!" for callers judged particularly out-of-proportion. In 2008, Dan himself was gonged when he compared his 6'3" height to David Letterman's 6'2" following an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman. When a caller reports his/her height and weight but Paulie forgets to ring the bell, it is typically met with scorn from Patrick.
• Sound Bite Intros: At the opening of the show, and at the top of each new hour, the show runs a series of brief clips from past episodes, often of interviewed guests or Patrick himself. Some of them are taken out of context to suggest something else is being discussed, such as Patrick being praised or mocked.
• Bumper Music: At the end of each commercial break, Seton chooses from a set list of tunes to welcome the audience back to the show. Patrick can often be heard humming along to the music just before he begins speaking once again to the audience.
• "What Did We Learn Today?": At the end of every show, Patrick and the Danettes crew will take a couple of minutes to discuss what they learned on the broadcast, usually derived from the interviews or news stories of the day. Patrick may attempt to make a final selection from the suggestions that are given out but usually asks Fritzy to determine what Patrick has learned for the day.
• Online Poll Question: During each show, McLovin is in charge of updating the poll results verbally to Dan upon his request during the show. Much of the show's discussions among the staff and callers deal with that day's online poll question, usually dealing with a hot topic. Occasionally the poll will reflect the show's tendency to veer off into non-sports-related topics. The poll will sometimes change in the middle of the show if the crew feels the original one is weak or a better one is conceived, or if the poll becomes lopsided and Patrick feels a new poll should be offered. At times, Patrick may talk about how off-topic the show has gotten and invite a member from the show's "Locker Room", a chat room made available on the show's website, to create the poll.
• Stat of the Day: Since late 2011/early 2012, Seton has hosted a segment called "Stat of the Day" in which he highlights a topical statistic he finds interesting. McLovin's aforementioned segment "Against The Grain" has a friendly rivalry going with Seton's new segment. After a short search for theme music, Jamey Jasta of Connecticut-based band Hatebreed supplied what has become the segment's song (consisting of the words "Stat of the Day" repeatedly growled over a heavy metal backing.) Seton will usually hold up the Sign of the Horns while it is played. In December 2013 Will Ferrell appeared on the show in character as Ron Burgundy and sang his own version of "stat of the day," it is played on the air during the segment when a caller requests it.
• Mock Headlines: Fritzy hosts a segment called "Mock Headlines" where he reveals a handful of humorous catch phrases to summarize the major news headlines from the day before. If Frizty botches the headlines, he is sometimes subject to some sort of punishment. In early 2013, the show introduced "Fans Vs. Fritzy: Mock Headlines", where callers will offer up better mock headlines to challenge Fritzy's.
• The Box: During breaks in the radio broadcast of the show, any of the Danettes may enter "The Box", a makeshift confessional booth with a camera, to share their thoughts with TV viewers about current events, sports, the show, other off-topic news, or relationship issues with the group. The setting mocks segments in competition reality-TV shows (Big Brother, e.g.) in which a member of the group is allowed to speak on camera out of earshot of the other competitors, but on occasion what is said in The Box on this show is discussed outside The Box.

Weekly

• Against the Grain: Since the 2010 NFL season, Andrew "McLovin" Perloff began hosting a weekly segment called "Against the Grain," in which he offers a series of short observations about the league that may not reflect popular opinion. In between, a clip from the chorus of the Bad Religion song of the same name is played by Seton. The song is also played in the background throughout the segment. Occasionally the phrase is used outside the show in another broadcast and McLovin invariably takes pride for the quasi-trend. In the 2011 NFL season, Against the Grain became sponsored by Red Hook.
• Cougar of the Week: At the end of each week, Fritzy does a weekly segment in "The Box" in which he vaguely describes a woman based off career accomplishments, gossip, and appearance. He concludes the segment by unveiling who the "Cougar" is with a sound bite made for the segment.
• Five Good Seconds/Soccer Breakdown: Paulie will occasionally be given a strictly-timed five second segment to discuss notable events in soccer; the title appears to be based on the "5 Good Minutes" interview segment of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. On rarer occasions, the show will play the sole soundbite Dan brought over from the ESPN version of the show: Gary Miller creating an inadvertent blooper reel while preparing for a SportsCenter soccer breakdown during the 1994 World Cup. Miller butchered "FIFA" (the name of soccer's governing body), "Rigobert Bahanag Song" and "Gianluca Pagliuca" and twice yelled "I hate soccer!!". As referenced often by Patrick and his crew, the clip begins with Miller saying "Soccer breakdown in 3, 2, 1".
• Arcade Fire: On Fridays, the show usually leads into the final segment of the final hour with the opening of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire, a favorite song of Patrick's.
• Got It Done Award/Best and Worst of the Weekend: On Mondays the staff and callers will give their suggestions for a "Got It Done Award," given to an individual or team that had a particularly noteworthy performance in recent days. They will also give one suggestion each for the "Best and Worst" performances of the past weekend.
• Impressions: Patrick and his crew often do quick impressions of particular sports figures, with the most frequent including Shaquille O'Neal and his low voice and halting speech pattern, Keith Olbermann and his deep booming voice, Mike Krzyzewski's nasal-prone critiques, Katharine Hepburn and various lines from On Golden Pond, John Madden and his mixed speech rate game expressions and observations, Chris Berman making various grunting sounds or fictional last names for athletes, Bill Clinton's Southern twang, Mike Tyson's "I'm gonna eat your children!", the SportsCenter voiceover person saying "Next!" or "Brought to you by.." and Lou Holtz saying a favorite line of Patrick's: "They put their pants on same way we do!" Members of the Danettes have their own renditions to offer, including Pabst's impressions of Stone Phillips and Andrew Luck, O'Connor's version of Brett Favre and Bill Walton, and Fritz's versions of Rick Astley, Andrea Kremer and Shannon Sharpe, along with his diatribes of fellow Brooklynite, Adam Sandler.

Irregular

• Dodge Balls: For any variety of reasons—a loss in a bet, missing an entertaining game on television that aired over the weekend or previous evening, harping about a fact that was later proven to be false, members of the show don a football helmet and face a barrage of dodge balls.
• Wheel of Punishment: In a spinoff of sorts from the usual dodge ball punishment for losing a bet, wrong prediction, an on-air gaffe among others, the "Wheel of Punishment" is introduced when one of the aforementioned happens. The Wheel of Punishment is based off Wheel of Fortune but instead of cash rewards, the wheel features a series of tongue-in-cheek punishments which could be wearing certain clothing, revoking segment privileges, or other humorous things.
• Coffee Break with McLovin:If a guest makes a visit to the studio, McLovin will usually engage with them in an interview in the break room.
• Passion Bucket: Former UCLA Bruins football coach Rick Neuheisel stated during an interview on the show that "when you’re at UCLA, you have to have your passion bucket full when you play the Trojans." Patrick took an immediate liking to the phrase and would occasionally attempt to convince his guests to use it when appearing on other outlets. Bob Costas, NFL Network host Rich Eisen, Fox Sports baseball announcer Tim McCarver, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and then Minnesota Timberwolves center Kevin Love are among those that have done so. Cornell men's basketball player Ryan Wittman dropped "passion bucket" during a NCAA men's basketball tournament 2010 Sweet Sixteen press conference.
• A Well-Listened-To Radio Show: A reporter at a college football press conference once cited Patrick's show as a "well-listened-to" national sports radio show, rather than by name, and Patrick has since taken to self-deprecatingly referring to his own show as such.
• Flinchball: A game created in studio where two people, typically Danettes, stand about six feet apart opposite one another and try and hit each other in the "man region" by one bouncing a small yellow bouncy football between the wickets, so to speak. Rules evolved but the basic premise is that each person gets a set amount of attempts to hit their opponent. If you flinch the thrower gets another shot and if the shot hits the target and the person who got hit has no reaction, they somehow "win". The first ever Flinchball tournament was held in 2013 with Paulie literally taking home the cup, in that the trophy is an athletic supporter.

"Occupy Gameday"

In September, 2011, Patrick discovered that there are members of Dan Nation that are bringing signs referencing Patrick to College Gameday, ESPN's college football pregame show. Although it's not an official segment of The Dan Patrick Show, Dan and Dan Nation mention Occupy Gameday (a parody of the Occupy movement) often throughout the radio show and Dan "doesn't encourage it, but celebrates this". ESPN has strengthened security to not allow any signs on Gameday referencing Patrick or the radio show, but fans still bring signs on Gameday. There is a current Facebook page for Occupy Gameday created by members of Dan Nation and as of November 11, 2011, Occupy Gameday is still ongoing each Saturday and some signs are currently hanging in the Mancave.

Mobile Apps

Aside The Dan Patrick Show official homepage, podcasts of the show can be accessed through the free mobile apps on Android devices and iOS devices. These apps also give the ability to listen to the live stream of the show.

The iOS app can be found for free on Apple's App Store. This app was created by Airkast, Inc. This app was last updated April 5, 2014.

External links

• Dan Patrick Online Dan's official web site
• [1] The Dan Patrick Show app for iOS devices
• DP Show Direct Official Site for On-demand Video of the Dan Patrick Show and the Box Score