WEBVTT - The Fifth Hour: B-Fen the Bruin/FSR Alum! 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:01.480 Kabooms. 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.400 If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.200 a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.480 of the Old Republic, a soul fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.520 treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:19.160 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow, it's the clearing 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:22.840 house of hot takes. Break free for something special. The 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:29.360 Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now. 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:35.239 In the air eywhere, and a very good Friday to you. 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.640 It is as you know, it's Black Friday, and the 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.000 normally good podcast hosts would not do a podcast on 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.680 Black Friday or this weekend. But hey, I love the 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:47.640 sound of my own voice, and I know there are 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:49.640 people that are looking for content because there's a lot 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.239 of really bad content this weekend. So tadda. Here we 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.480 are the Friday edition of The Fifth Hour. Happy Black Friday. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.760 There is an NFL game later today, the Raiders and 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:05.119 the Cans City Chiefs at my holy Land Arrowhead Stadium 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:07.640 in Kansas City. So I thought we would do something 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.560 a little different here and we would go into the 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:17.640 Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association. I hear the sound I 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.080 recognize right there now, a new member, one of our 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.760 new I will soon be a member of this I'm 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.880 sure at some point the Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association. 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.720 You know him, you love him, maybe I hate him, 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:30.320 I don't know. 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:38.720 But he's back. Ryan Finley. There he is. Look Ryan Finley. Unbelievable. 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.080 I never thought you'd have me on your podcast, Ben 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.800 never thought, but I guess it took an iHeartMedia layoff 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:48.240 to get that opportunity. And I can't wait. Well, now 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.280 you're part of the club, Brian. You weren't really part 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.440 of the club. I tried, that's trew. I explained to you. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.240 I've been fired many times in radio and been laid 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.160 off in radio, and you're not really in the business 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.880 until that is, so now welcome. 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.680 It's like you're bar mitzvah. You're part of the You're. 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.840 Part of the group now and that and ferg Dog 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.080 paid ten thousand dollars for this, So I hope it's. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:13.240 I hope it's with your. 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.040 But no, in all seriousness, but I know I was 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.120 very bummed out, obviously with Eddie and you and several 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.120 other people who were let go. It is a tough 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.360 time for everyone, and uh, I did reach out to you, 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.079 and I hope things are going all right for you 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.079 since all this went down back, you know, not that 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:32.720 long ago. 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.639 Yeah, things are going pretty well. I got the phone 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.840 call while I was flying back from a tennis trip, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.760 and it felt like I just nailed the week out, 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.040 a great week of tennis broadcasting. And then I get 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.359 the call and I'm like, uh oh, and. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.640 Yeah, we know it. You didn't think you were getting 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:53.040 a promotion. 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.919 You didn't believe, no, Well, I honestly what I thought 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.920 initially was is because I borrowed a Comrex to do 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:02.120 postgame brewin talk football while I was in Michigan for 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.639 this tennis broadcast. So I thought I was getting a 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.560 call to say, hey, we need that Comrex back asap, 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.480 and I would have just been like, yeah, I'm. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:12.920 Flying home right now. I'm in the airport. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.440 I was literally sitting in the terminal of Middland, Michigan 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:18.800 or just thereafter. 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.840 It was right nextplor to Middland, Michigan, somewhere in Michigan, some. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.519 Random so some some Well it's technically Saginaw, but it's 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.480 so small there were litterally there are literally four gates 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.840 inside this airport, and I just had the greatest week, 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.600 and I'm like, just I'm on a high and I'm 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:38.480 about to get on the airplane and I get this call. 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:39.920 But it's life. 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.280 It happens, and I will always cherish my time with you. 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.040 Oh well, not with me. I don't know that's for 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:49.040 I would say with the company. I don't know that 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:49.440 with me. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.000 But I I did not obviously, I get let go 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.920 this time. But I did have a similar experience. I 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.520 was in Kansas City meeting listeners, had a great time. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:01.480 I had a wonderful experience. 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:04.440 I flew back, I took the first flight out Monday 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:05.560 morning from Kansas City. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.880 I get into LA I go to sleep. I don't 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:10.760 even know where I am. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.760 I wake up and there's all these text messages, and 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:19.880 usually that means either somebody died or somebody got let go. 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.560 And then I put two and two together, and then 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:24.039 I had to make some phone calls, and then I 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.159 found out the news about Eddie, and then you and 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.159 some of the other people that were like, oh, so 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.920 it was a back to reality situation. You've got I mean, 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.279 one thing about you, You've always been more prone to 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:36.400 play by play, Brian. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.640 I mean, he said, I've known you that that is. 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:42.039 Your passion, right you You were your mentor, one of 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.200 the people in your life, the great Dick Enberg, right, 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.760 who you were around in San Diego there, and so 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:49.360 you looked up to him, and so you've kind of 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.279 followed that path, right. So for you, I mean, it 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.160 sucks to lose a gig and all that, but now 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.679 you're more open to to do the tennis stuff and 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.400 all the play by play stuff, right. 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.440 Yeah, well said. And I always cherished my time with 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.440 Dick Emberg. He was somebody that, to be honest with you, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:12.320 when my mom got remarried in twenty seventeen, she had 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:17.080 Dick Emberg and the wife of Dick, they both came out. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.520 It was a destination wedding. There was only like twenty 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.760 five people, and this was about six months before Dick 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.240 passed away. And it was great to be able to 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.440 spend that time with him as a family friend. And 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:33.000 certainly he has had this incomparable presence in broadcasting. But yeah, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.200 my goal and my focus, Ben, as you know, is 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.440 versatility is employability. And I know that I've told that 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.040 to you and you've told that to me on your 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.960 show many a time. When I filled in for Eddie 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.720 on the Ben Malors Show, just because of situations like this, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.800 because of the uncertainty of the business that we live in. 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:54.240 My goal has always been my focus is to be 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:59.240 good at as many things as possible so that when 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.200 something like this happens, that I have other things to 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.560 go to that will allow me to continue to pay 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.640 for my rent and all that good stuff. So thankfully, 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.839 I'm in a really good position with you know, UCLA 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:12.480 and doing a lot of the hosting stuff. So I'm 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.880 still on Fox Sports Radio. I e am five seventy 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:19.120 for those events. But yeah, you said it. I get 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.400 to do a lot of the live events when it 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.200 comes to the TV side, whether it's beach volleyball or 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.440 tennis or other things as well. So I dearly am 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.000 going to miss the people there and our experiences in 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.960 the fun I honestly, I have to tell you, Ben 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:34.560 that I got it. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:36.320 When I found out that I'd. 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.640 Gotten the opportunity at Fox Sports Radio, I was actually 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.719 on the doorstep of quitting the business. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.599 This is a crazy story. My sister was getting married. 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.160 This is twenty eighteen, and I was so distraught about 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.720 the rejection that we all deal with all of us 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:52.719 deal with it. But I was coming to a point 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.320 where I was just about to give up. And so 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:58.599 the day that I was at my one of my 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.200 lowests and just thinking, all right, this is not for me, 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.480 I got a nice email from Dan, my former boss, 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.400 who said, we have an opportunity potentially for you. Would 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.200 you like to join us. It's a part time this 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.320 and part time that. And I said absolutely. And I 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.960 have to be very grateful for that opportunity for him, 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.720 because if it wasn't for Fox Sports Radio, then I'm 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.240 not doing a lot of this UCLA stuff at five 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.400 seventy and other things. So that was, in a way, 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.440 it was a lift for me. That'll always appreciate. 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:29.520 Well, that's great. 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:31.840 What were you going to do if you didn't we 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.239 You're gonna become like a banker. I remember Rob Parker 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:36.480 tells the story about him. 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:38.360 Stevehn A Smith. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.280 Was gonna like he worked at a bank or something 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.080 like that. He was going to get out of the business. 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:45.720 And then like Rob talked him in, Stephen A Smith 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.120 to stay, stay in the business and not become a 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.280 recluse or something like that. And they leave leave media behind. 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.200 And now Steve and as making, you know, thirty million 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:55.640 dollars a year or whatever he's making at ESPN. But 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.280 did you have a backup plan? I never had a 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.240 backup plan. Like, if I had back up, I probably 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:03.400 would have done that, because I you know, it took 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.960 me a while before anybody actually gave me a legitimate gig. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.000 I did a lot of fill in, a lot of 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.600 waking up, and it was a it was a nightmare. 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.960 I mean I did years a weekend overnight radio and uh, 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.160 you know, those are terrible hours. You can't get any 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.560 relationship going. It's a nightmare. But what was your backup point? 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:23.920 In many ways, Ben, as I'm listening to talk, I'm 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.040 thinking about, Yeah, I flirted with the idea of just 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.080 being like a bartender or something. But I'm like you, 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.959 generally speaking, I never really had a backup plan. I 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.160 you know, we we have to be determined in this business, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.040 as you know, and resilient, and I just I mean, 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:41.920 not to get deep, but to get deep and to 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.400 get heavy for a second. Like when my dad was around. 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.120 My dad had a had a rough illness. He died 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.240 in front of me when I was a kid, and 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:54.400 he had cancer and but he survived four to five 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.720 more years longer than he was supposed to given the 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.320 doctor's prognosis of him. And why I bring up that 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:04.640 story is because you know, thankfully, knock on wood, I'm healthy. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:09.480 But I got a chance to watch that man overcome 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:11.680 a lot and to deal with a lot and to 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.000 stay persistent. And I've kind of kept that with me 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.160 in the world of business. And so to your point, Ben, 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:21.080 I think, in many respects, using my father's legacy and 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.360 that that story and that message that he that he 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.320 showed me firsthand, I really never wanted to do anything 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.960 else in life but this in the end, and so 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:31.440 that's kind of where I am. 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:33.480 That's cool, and that's a great tribute to your to 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.040 your pops that you were you're doing that, and I 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.040 I got to you talk about rejection, and uh, you know, 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.000 as man, we get rejected by women all the time. Yes, 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.200 I did, you know, in the dating game and all that. 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:46.400 It's part of the world. But in the business world, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:47.600 you get rejected. 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.479 And I when I first got in, I my original 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:53.720 plan before I became a talk radio guy, was I 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:55.280 was going to be a play by play announcer. 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:56.679 So I had this in my head. I had this 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:58.400 all mapped out. You know. I saw Vin. 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.240 Scully on TV when I was like, guess, all right, 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.160 I'll do that. That sounds like fun. I get to 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.439 travel with the sports team and be a play by 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:04.920 play guy. 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:06.959 So I tried to do that. 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:08.880 And when I was at saddleback, he did the play 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.040 by play on the basketball and the football whatever. And 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.880 so I made some demo tapes and I you know, 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.360 back then there were these big cassette tape things, and 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.400 I sent them out to every minor league baseball team 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:21.760 and I'm thinking, I'll get a minor. 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:22.959 League job and I'll work my web. 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.199 And every one of them, you know, rejected me, have 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.040 rejection letters. So then that that was a blow. And 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:30.240 then I was like, well and then I did the 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.040 math on that. I started looking up the play by 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.000 play guys and this is a long time, and I 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.280 don't know if it's the same, but these guys even 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:38.600 in like I remember I was in Indianapolis and the 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.640 Triple A play by play guy had been there for 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.559 like thirty five years doing Triple A Indianapolis Indians games. 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.800 And I was like, what for thirty years? And you know, 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.600 I'm doing the math in my head. I'm like, these jobs, 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.480 you know, And I looked around all the baseball guys 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.000 and at that time, you had Harry Carey was doing 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:59.480 the Cubs, Alice was with the Phillies, Ernie Harwell was 0:10:59.480 --> 0:10:59.920 with the Tege. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.079 All these guys were like their seventies, in their eighties, 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:02.760 you know. 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.200 And I'm like, you know, at that time, I'm in 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.480 my twenties, and I'm like, oh my god, this is 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:09.840 another math on. This is not gonna I mean, some 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:11.640 of these guys are going to check out and you know, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.120 retire or whatever, but still the next wave and I'm 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:16.200 not necessarily the next way. 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:17.240 So I did the math on that. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.439 So then I went to talk radio, and then I 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:23.079 started fuzing around with that and I started sending stuff out, 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.720 sent out a bunch of again cassette tapes different radio 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:28.480 stations I wanted to work at that. I thought, Hey, 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:33.920 I'm WBN in Buffalo. It's my name, yeahs. And I 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.800 still have a box and I when I was moving, 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.480 I found the box of all the rejection letters. Wow, 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.680 all these radio stations, and the coolest thing is several 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.839 of them I have worked at my show that the 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.960 overnight shows carried on but wow, one of them hired 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.319 me to do wei I got rejected. Yeah, they hired 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.400 me to do some filling stuff years ago, and then 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:57.439 the Score. 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.280 In Chicago we were on for a while. Well you know, 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.959 a couple other radio stations we've been on over the years. 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:04.839 But you know it's true. 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.120 I mean at one point and maybe I wasn't ready 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.719 and you get rejected, but you got to keep going, man, 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.560 And people, it doesn't guarantee you're gonna make it, but 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.600 if you have a backup plan you give up, then 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.959 you're guaranteed to not make You. 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.679 Know what I'm saying, And that's my position, man. 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:25.840 Yeah you said it. Ben and I have such a 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.120 weird and there's no one way to do this. As 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.280 you said, you pointed this out, you had a thought 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:33.640 in your mind of what you wanted to do, and 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.440 then you made the pivot and sort of in that 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.600 realm of thinking, I did the same thing. Like I 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.480 started out in college. I was a sports producer at 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.360 a local TV station in North Carolina. So basically what 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.040 I was doing is I was shooting high school football, 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:50.480 I was editing, I was. 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:51.680 Writing copy for the anchor. 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.240 I wasn't on the air, but I did that while 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.080 I was in college, did that three days a week, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.600 and then I basically was up on the desk in 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.719 between live shows, and I just put together reel and 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.800 I just kept going at it and finally got an 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.920 opportunity and Spokane where I was there. Lived there for 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.160 two years and was a sports anchor weekend sports anchor 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.240 for the CPS affiliate there, and was also a reporter, 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.760 and we covered Mike Leach when he was at Washington. 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.040 States, and good years, Mike Man, Mike Leach, of all 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.480 the people I've come from my top five, oh no doubt, 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:32.600 loquats wonderful, just amazing outlook on life. And he passed 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:34.600 away a couple of years ago, but man, was that guy. 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.920 What a what a peach man? What a what a 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:38.560 good dude? 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:40.560 Mike Leach? Was he? 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.400 And he was great for you because of the quirkiness 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:45.480 and gosh he You know, he passed way too soon, 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.840 but think about the quotes that he would give, and 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.040 I know on your show you would run wild with 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.480 those things. Because that's what I loved about him, is 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.960 being able to sit on those Monday press conferences with 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.360 him and the last thing he ever want wanted to 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.679 do with with folks that were beat reporters from wherever, 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:08.480 what local newspaper or whatnot. The last thing he wanted 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.520 to do was talk football. He wanted those opportunities ben 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:15.520 to talk about dating, to talk about pirates, to talk 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:19.800 about movies, to talk about Matthew McConaughey. The last thing 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.480 on a Monday press conference of a game week that 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:27.240 Mike Leach wanted to talk about was football. And that's 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.240 what made him so special well, and he. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.120 Stood out to I used to cover Pac ten Media 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:33.680 Day back when it was the Pac ten. I'd go 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.400 every year, big event in LA and they had you know, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.280 it's free food, media free loan out there, get a 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.240 free meal, and I'd listen to all the coaches from 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.720 the Pac ten. And usually at that time it was 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.200 like there was Oregon was good, sc was good, occasionally 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.480 UCLA was good, but most of the other teams sucked, 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.560 and the coaches all said the same thing. It was 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:57.480 this monotone coach speak, you know, the same verbiage. And 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:01.840 then Mike Leach would get up there and just kill 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.800 it and smile. You were like he was like watching 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.960 a great entertainer on stage as he waxed whatever was 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.320 going on at the time, and it was just so undertanded. 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.120 And he was really a great offensive mine too. Talk 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.520 about his some of the innovations he had for offensive football. 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.040 I know he had taken some of that stuff from 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:22.960 other coaches, but he had made it a little bit 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.320 better and fond members that. 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:27.200 So you're working there local TV. 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.320 No money, I would assume, right, A lot of ours 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:31.760 no money. 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.560 I mean yeah, when that first job in Spokane. I 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.680 mean again, the price of living. The cost of living 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.600 in Spokane, Washington is a lot lower than Los Angeles. 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.320 But I was making actually pay you, I think, to 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:43.720 live there. 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:48.480 By the way, it is a beautiful part of the 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:53.520 country because it's up against the northern Idaho border. So 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.400 if anybody who's listening to this has ever been to 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.040 Cordelaine Lake, it is absolutely beautiful. 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.520 So if you like nature, you're gonna love the area. 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:03.760 There's not a whole lot going on, and in the 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.720 middle of the state of Washington, if you're driving from 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.640 one side to the other, the middle looks like Mars 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.040 because there's nothing and it's just about all flat. But yeah, 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.320 so I was making my first year in Spokane Ben, 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:19.360 I made twenty eight thousand dollars that first year, twenty 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:20.400 eight thousand dollars. 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:21.120 That was it. 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:22.360 And so we've had. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.280 A lot of money in like nineteen twenty, I would 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:29.920 have been yes, and so yeah, and I think the 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.880 second year I made like thirty or thirty or something 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:37.680 like some are somewhere right around there. And then the 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:39.200 I got to go to the front on the line 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:40.520 at the soup kitchen when you're making the. 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:42.720 Thirties, Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, whatever. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:43.160 Whatever. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.640 It's like, you Ben, whenever there's places to get free 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.000 food at a media opportunity. 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:49.080 I know where I can find you. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:51.880 My twenties. 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:54.160 You know, you didn't know me when I was really fat, 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.960 but my twenty I started out in radio I was nineteen, 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.000 and then my twenties and pretty much my thirties. 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:00.680 Most of my. 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.720 Thirties, I just was a media freeloader and I ate 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.359 and I well, and I never spent my own money 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.879 because they were, you know, providing free food. It was 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:10.960 it was great, but yeah, you really And I wasn't 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.040 making a lot of money either in radio. I wasn't 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:14.840 making thirty thousand, but I was made a little more 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:16.440 on that but it was you know, it was LA 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:17.560 so it was more expensive. 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.360 So sure, yeah, yeah, so yeah. 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.119 So I was in Spokane and then after two years, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:27.760 I wanted to look somewhere else and so an opportunity 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.920 in Memphis popped up and it was with the ABC 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.919 station and I was there for three years as a 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.240 fill in sports thanker. But mostly most of my my 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.960 work was done in the field, and a lot of 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.720 my assignments were around going to practices for Memphis Grizzlies 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:48.280 and Memphis Tiger basketball and the high school basketball and 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:52.439 the high school football. There was so good, so much talent. 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.440 And I also would go down and cover the sec Ole, 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:58.560 miss which is where half of my family went. That 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:00.880 was really a treat being able to go down there. 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.840 It's about a fifty five minute drive from Memphis to Oxford, Mississippi, 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:06.440 so that was part of. 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.639 What was in our in our viewing area. So you 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:09.960 go down there and cover games. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.720 Brian, you do not let people know that you have 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.760 ties to Old Miss. You keep that on the down low. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:15.960 You don't let people know about that. 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.440 You keep why my dad and my sister went there. 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:19.800 I'm aware. 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.920 You like to mention that you're very proud of that, right, 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:26.639 you're proud of your your roots. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.760 And let me tell you. 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.919 Let me tell you this, but my dad had my 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.919 dad when he was alive, he wanted to go to 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.160 Ole Miss because at the time they were really good 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.680 at football, and he had no way to pay for that. 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.119 He had no way to pay for the school. He 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.440 shows up, he gets into the school. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.399