WEBVTT - The Fifth Hour: Boom Shakalaka! 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:01.440 Kubbooms. 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.360 If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.160 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 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.480 treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.439 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:18.400 Wow. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.280 The clearing House of Hot takes break free for something special. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:30.680 The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:35.000 In the air everywhere. The Fifth Hour with me, Ben 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.919 Malor and Danny G Radio as we are together on 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:45.000 this Friday, the tenth day of January, and I gotta 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.479 tell you, I was on last night doing the Overnight. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.240 So Danny G by the way, is on assignment. He 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:54.520 will produce this podcast and hopefully be with us over 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.080 the next couple of days. On the weekend that Danny 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.480 has been dealing with the fires and had to leave 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.920 his home, there's some craziness out near him, and I 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.480 didn't want to address that, but it is, by the way, 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.640 National house Plant Appreciation Day to day before we get 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.880 into the podcast, because we like these dopey holidays. It's 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:21.360 appreciation Day, which is fogazy, but apparently houseplants were used 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.760 by wealthy families back in five hundred BC. They go 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:28.399 all the way back to five hundred BC to this day. 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:30.840 I remember back in the I think it was like 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:34.920 the eighties or the nineties, there was a fad of 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.640 fake houseplants. But that's pretty much all I know. Those 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:41.840 plastic houseplants were everywhere. But I don't have any other 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:46.600 information other than its National house Plant Appreciation Day. Today 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:51.520 it's also Quitter's Day, so big day there. Quitter's Day 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:56.240 held the second Friday in January. It falls on January 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:00.920 tenth today, and it is a new Year's resolution, which 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.040 began four thousand years ago right the itching Babylon started 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:08.480 the tradition of setting new Year's resolutions, and supposedly today 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.519 Quitter's Day has set aside recognize those who set new 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:17.160 goals and failed to achieve them. Yes, so if you 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.600 planned on doing something and you're already doing the opposite, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:25.400 congratulations you are being honored today on National Quitter's Day. 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:31.000 A wonderful day. So on this edition of the Fifth Hour, 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:35.120 we've got scramble Drill, Scramble drill. We have that we 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:41.200 also have on the Oregon Trail and the idiom of 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:46.919 the day, the idiom of the day. But we'll start 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.440 with this. So I wanted to mention and we do 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.799 promote Benny versus the Penny. Some of you get annoyed 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:54.840 by the Oh I used to like your podcast, but 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.080 you spend so much time telling you about Benny versus 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:03.160 the Penny. Yes, Guilty as charged, Guilty as charged. I 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:05.240 have a TV show that I am trying to get 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:08.200 people to watch. I will take every advantage I can 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.320 to get people to watch said TV show. If you're 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.200 annoyed by that, just fast forward in the podcast. But 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.240 I actually have a good story to tell as I 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.160 welcome you in to this edition of the Fifth Hour. Right, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.120 this is our happy place. We get to hang around. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:23.240 We can say bad words because it's only in the 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.520 podcast format. We don't run into the roadblock of the FCC, 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:29.359 where if we say a bad word we're in trouble. 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.359 Podcasts are like the old West. You can say whatever 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.680 you want, knock it out of the park. So the 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:40.600 other day, it was a normal, normal week. It started 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:43.240 out a long long time ago, which really wasn't that 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.760 long ago. It was a few days ago. I start 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:49.520 getting ready for the next episode of the TV show, 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.119 pretty much when the games kick off on Thursday during 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.040 the season. So I'm watching the game on Thursday seeing 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.120 what I did wrong. It's kind of like that coward bit, 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.320 what did Ben get right? What had been get wrong? 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.560 This year, It's been a lot that I got wrong. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.240 Things that are supposed to happen haven't happened, and so 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:11.360 I'm trying to outmaneuver the penny. And we've zoomed through 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:15.320 the NFL regular season, so it's a constant thing watching football, 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:19.839 looking at the numbers and all that, and it's a 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.960 paralysis by analysis is generally what happens. I have too 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.080 much information. Now I try to whittle that down. There's 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.520 certain key indicators that I look for, and that's kind 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.760 of how we make the Fedicini alfredo. So that's how 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:35.599 that goes together. You gotta have the sauce, you gotta 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.480 have the noodles, and put all those together. So the 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:43.960 week started somewhat normal. I start putting stuff together on 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:49.040 Sunday night, and then more on Monday night, and Tuesday 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.760 is a big day to kind of get everything together, 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:56.920 and then Wednesday is the day that we put the 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:02.760 sausage into the two What becomes the sausage. We put 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.520 our head down and then all of a sudden, so 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.159 it was normal, and then all hell broke loose, Hot 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.040 Diggity Dog, all hell broke loose. So I had put together. 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.680 What I do is I send ideas. I pitch ideas 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.000 to Vinnie, who's the producer of Bennie Versus the Penny 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.000 and the team in Boston. But Vinnie's the guy that 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:24.960 producers the show. So I spend Monday and Tuesday mostly 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.799 cooking up ideas, and then Wednesday, starting in the morning, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.240 is a production day. So that's the day on Wednesday 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.279 where I throw all these eyes ideas down. I scribble 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:40.400 them down with chicken scratch, and then I put some 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:44.000 stats together, riveting stuff, right, riveting stuff. So I put 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.719 all this stuff together, and I'm putting the show together, 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.880 doing my thing. La la la la la la la 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.280 la la la la la la. You know, nothing to 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:56.200 see here, just putting the show together. And mentioned all 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.320 hell broke loose because the fires actually started on Tuesday. 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.760 But we have fires all the time. In southern California. 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.640 Fires are a regular thing, so you figure, okay, there's fires, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.760 it's fire seasons pretty much year round. We don't get 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:16.480 much rain here, so fine, nothing to see here. Well, 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:21.640 the fires On Wednesday morning, it was getting pretty pretty nasty, 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:26.359 pretty gnarly, and it just kept getting worse and worse 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:34.200 and worse and worse. And by Wednesday afternoon I was 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.919 getting emails from the people at Universal Studios saying, the 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:41.080 lot is closed, the lot is closed today, We're not 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.720 sure if the lot's going to be open on Thursday, 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.640 which is the day that we record Benny Versus the Penny, 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.000 and they were waiting for the next wave of fires, 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.680 which they knew were apparently coming. I didn't know you 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.040 could forecast fires. I guess there were a number of 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:58.840 them that were started out, all of them, but a 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:04.000 number of them were started by homeless people. So wonderful. Anyway, 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.400 So Wednesday I start I start getting messages saying, you know, 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.520 we're not sure if the lot's gonna be open. Let's 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.080 have a contingency plan. So I didn't really think much 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.960 of it. I thought, well, it seems like it's pretty bad, 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.360 but the planes are back up, the helicopters are back 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.480 up to put out the fire, and so since that's 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:26.360 going on, it should be okay, right, you know, you 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:30.480 know what happened, you assume it should be okay. So fine, 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:37.920 that's that. And then about ninety minutes later, and don't 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:39.880 hold me to that. I'd have to go back and 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.960 check my my messages, but it felt like about ninety 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:48.280 minutes later, they sent a message saying, all right, we've 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:54.960 nailed down the contingency plan. If we can't do Thursday, 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.240 we're we're gonna do. We're gonna do Friday. We'll do like, 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.800 we'll do it Friday morning. We'll record many versus the Penny. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.520 And they asked me my availability, and then yeah, I 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.720 don't I don't care. I'll record the show at any time, 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:16.480 any place, anywhere. Let's do it. I'm down. So I 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.000 text him back. I said, whatever you need me to do, 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:23.239 I will do. The show must go on. So fine, 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.000 So they said, thank you. That's great. It's very kind 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:30.440 of you. We appreciate you doing that. Wonderful. All right, fine, 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:36.600 So then another ninety minutes goes by and I'm getting 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:38.920 ready for the radio show, right, I'm doubling down on 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:40.760 the radio show. I'm like, all right, I'm getting ready. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:45.160 It's it's Wednesday. It's starting to be that time where 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.120 I got to lock in on the on the radio 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:48.600 show and figure out what I'm going to talk about, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.760 Mallard monologues and all that. And so now I get 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.360 all right, lots closed contingency plan. We'll send a crew 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.800 out from Universal Studios to where you are and we'll 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:05.960 do your show remotely. So okay, And then there's some 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:08.520 meetings going on in Boston. I mean, it's a total 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.680 scramble scramble drill, people trying to figure out like what 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.320 are we doing? What are we doing? And I'm like, 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.600 I don't care. And then I'm like, there was this talk. Well, 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.120 maybe we'll send a crew out and I'll meet Looney 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.319 because Looney's closer to Universal Studios where he lives then 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.120 I do out in the north Woods. And so we're 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.360 going through all this anyway, we determine, because of the situation, 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.520 we would just do the show from our home studios. 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:36.439 Looney has a studio he does some work at KBC, 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.199 and I have the studio for Fox Sports Radio and 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.480 this podcast. I'm actually in the studio right now. So 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:47.000 we're like, all right, we'll just do it on Thursday, 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:48.480 but we'll just do it from the home studio and 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.760 we'll figure it out and all that. So I said, 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.160 all right, this will be different, and I'm curious how 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.240 this is going to go. Never done a national TV 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:02.280 show from my podcast studio, but here we were. We 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.920 had no other option because Universal Studios has been closed 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.440 because the fires and the fires pretty close. The studios 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.839 have had major fires over these Universal Studios. They've had 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:17.920 some serious, serious fires that have caused tremendous damage to 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:19.840 the back lot where we like to walk around and 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.679 all that. So whatever it takes to keep Universal Studios 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.360 in tech, I know they have some of their own 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:31.480 fire crews out that way. So we ended up yesterday 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:38.000 doing the TV show from our homes and if you 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.200 watch it it already. The reason we had to do 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.840 it on Thursday was because it starts airing Thursday evening. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.960 So we needed a show because the show was scheduled 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:52.560 to be broadcast in some markets on Thursday evening, and 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.760 so we had to get the show out. People needed 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.960 to show. People agreed to carry the show, and they 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.440 had programming they needed to do the program. So we 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:03.480 did the show and it was it was interesting. There 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.600 were there were some obviously issues we had to work through, 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:10.679 some technical stuff. I had a pretty good setup, though, 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.960 I got to tell you, I don't think I don't 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:18.520 think it looked that bad. It looked pretty similar I 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.679 think to the way the show does look on a 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.480 normal weekly basis. There were some audio issues we had 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:29.280 to work out. The great thing about NBC, and it's 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.640 out of NBC Boston, they have all the bells and 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:35.360 whistles that you need to do a show from your home. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.160 Considering that during COVID that's all they did. So they 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:44.640 figured out during that pandemic, how can we have television 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.600 from people's homes, And so they figured it all out 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.520 and it was it was great. Everything worked out, and 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.640 so they had everything that we needed. The IFB hookup 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:00.600 with the headphones, the way that we did the video 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:04.719 and the backdrop and the lighting and everything was good 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.000 to go. It was a chef's kiss. So I do 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.000 want to thank Vinnie and the people over there at 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.280 NBC Sports in Boston for making that a very smooth, 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:19.679 very smooth transition. There was one snaffo that we just 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:23.360 got burned by because we were doing the show and 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.680 about an hour after the show was put to bed 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:33.640 and then sent out to the affiliates, the NFL stumbled 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.960 through an announcement. There's a segment if you watch this 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.720 week's episode of Benni Versus Penny, there's a segment where 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.240 we stumbled through a portion of the show. We're talking 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.960 about the Rams and the Vikings, and the Vikings fans 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:48.000 were planning a hostile takeover, so we talked about that 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.840 during the show. Well, at the time we were talking 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.720 about that. The NFL was scheduled to play the Ram 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:58.160 Viking game on Monday night in Los Angeles in Inglewood, 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:00.679 in the hood in Inglewood, and then out of an 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:04.720 abundance of caution, okay, they decided to move the game. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:06.520 They didn't have to move the game. The game could 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.600 have been played there. They chose to to move the game. 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:14.240 So it's the it's only the second playoff game Playoffs 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.880 in the history of the NFL where they've moved a 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:22.479 playoff game. The story behind that, the other one is fascinating, 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.640 Like this one is just Hey, it's twenty twenty five, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.160 you know, we've we've got to let everyone know that 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:31.440 we're more concerned about people than everyone else and and 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:33.760 all that. Like, you could easily have played the game 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.720 on Monday night and it would have actually been been fine. 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.640 But I bring this up because the NFL has been 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.960 in existence for over one hundred years. It's been a minute, right, 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.440 it's been a minute. And through all of the different 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.840 events that have taken place in the history of America 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:57.120 that have been intertwined, wrapped around, wrapped around the NFL 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.800 like simultaneously, right, the NFL is being played, life goes on. 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:08.319 There was the President Kennedy being assassinated. There's been shuttles 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.280 that have exploded, There's been different events that have happened 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.680 nine to eleven, and so the NFL's pawster and things. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.000 But as far as the playoffs are concerned, incredibly, the 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.400 Ram Viking game this weekend is only the second playoff 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.040 game in the history of the one hundred plus year 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.440 NFL to be moved to a different city. So I 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:30.040 wanted to give you the first one. The first one 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:35.400 was the nineteen thirty six NFL championship matchup between the 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:41.080 Boston Redskins and the Green Bay Packers. Have you heard 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.840 this story before? You have not? Okay, good. I actually 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:46.280 was going to use this on the Overnight Show, and 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:47.840 for some reason I never got to it. Bad job. 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:52.200 By me. So the Redskins and the Packers, we're going 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.160 to play the NFL Championship game nineteen thirty six, but 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.720 the game was moved out of Boston to New York. 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:03.440 The reason the game was moved get to the point please. 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.720 The reason is because the Redskins, the Boston Redskins, they 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:10.200 were the one schedule to host the NFL Championship at 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.320 Finnway Park, that was their home stadium. But the owner 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.320 a guy that is notorious for being a bit of 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:22.040 a douche, George Preston Marshall. Now I never met him. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.240 Maybe he was a nice guy, but the history books, 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.920 the people that write history have not been very kind 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:33.360 to George Preston Marshall. So the owner of the Redskins decided, 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:34.560 you know what, I don't want to play the game 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.240 at Finnway Park. I want to move the game to 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.880 the Polo Grounds in New York City. So a team 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:45.760 from Boston played a team from Wisconsin at the Polo 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:50.440 Grounds in New York City. And the reason that George 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.760 Preston Marshall did that is he was annoyed because the 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:59.800 sports fans in Boston were not in they were not 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.400 invested in that type of American football. In nineteen thirty six, 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.120 baseball was popular, horse racing, boxing, and he didn't want 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.760 the game to be played there because he was worried 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.080 about he wanted to make money, he was worried about 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:17.040 not selling enough tickets in Boston. So he's like, I 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.280 got to get out of here now. It is interesting 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.640 to note that there's more to the story. As Paul 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.400 Harvey would say, you know the news, but now you're 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:29.120 about to find the found out the rest of the story. 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:30.480 You're going to find out the rest of the story. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:40.000 So Marshall was planning on relocating what was the Boston Redskins, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.760 and in nineteen thirty seven. The following year, he took 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:50.240 the Boston Redskins. He said bye bye to Boston and 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:56.239 moved them to Washington, DC and they became the Washington 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.680 Redskins starting in nineteen thirty seven. That had They later 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:02.960 around and played football for years and years, and then 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:06.000 the Wolkesters got involved and couldn't say that anymore. I 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.320 had to change the name of the team, and very 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:13.480 offensive to say that, and the NFL completely gen reflected 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.240 a few years back and got rid of the nickname. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.960 Now the team really didn't have a nickname. Yeah, I 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:23.000 look at the team formerly know as the Redskins, I'm like, 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.880 it's just kind of faceless team. It's like the Memphis 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.560 Grizzlies or the New Orleans Pelicans. They're just these teams 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.560 that are just kind of there. They're filler teams. They 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.960 don't really move the needle at all. The names are blah, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.640 the uniforms are blah. That's pretty much where I am 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:48.600 on the Washington Commanders, if you will. Now turning the 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:54.840 page on that. There was a moment about a week 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.480 ago that I thought I would be doing this podcast 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:02.080 from another state. I was convinced I was going to 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.880 figure out a way to get it done. Unfortunately, much 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.000 to my dismay, I could not do it. We're talking 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.399 about going on the Oregon Trail. Now, what is that 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:19.600 all about? Let me explain. So I learned after the fact. Unfortunately, 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.360 after the fact, I learned that somebody that I had 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:28.320 been a friend with for a number of years passed 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.840 away at the end of twenty twenty four. It actually 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:40.199 happened in November November of twenty twenty four, and I 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.639 didn't find out about it at the time, and I 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.040 actually found out about it a little later than that. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:51.520 But I got a text from some number I didn't recognize. No, 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.760 normally I don't pay any attention to the text messages. 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.760 I'm like, this is somebody, this is probably spam. It's 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.880 probably spam. What am I doing? But this one had 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:06.600 information where only certain people would know the information? You know. 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:11.160 So and so I'm, you know, regarding the person I'm 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.359 about to talk about, and he said, there will be 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:19.840 another email coming. You have been invited to a celebration 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:25.720 of life for this particular person. So the person that 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:33.439 died is former Portland Trailblazers broadcaster Brian Wheeler was the 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:37.960 radio voice of the Portland Trailblazers from nineteen ninety eight 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.520 to twenty nineteen and had become a good friend of 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:46.720 mine for years. I met him shortly after he took 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.439 over in nineteen ninety eight. Now, back in those days, 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:54.520 I covered the NBA. I was there every night Clippers 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:59.080 Lakers games. I lived the NBA life. I probably went 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:04.120 to eighty plus NBA games including the playoffs per year 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.200 combined Clippers and even the Lakers, which I covered back 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.639 in those days. And so I was friends with this guy, Tony, 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.680 who was the engineer. He did the visiting teams, and 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:16.719 Tony was a buddy of mine, and he introduced me 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.840 to a lot of the play by play guys. He's like, hey, Ben, 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:21.399 you got to meet this guy. And Wheels had just 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.600 started out as the play by play guy for the Blazers. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:27.439 He had replaced a gentleman who had been there for 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:32.200 seemingly ever, the longtime play by play guy the Blazers. 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.720 I forget his name. I forget his name right now, Shanelle, 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:36.920 I believe his name, but he had been there a 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:41.840 long time. So I immediately bonded with Brian Wheeler. He 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:44.280 was kind of a bigger guy, and I was a 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.399 much bigger guy at the time, and he was the 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.639 radio voice of the Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers are some 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.840 really good teams. Early on, they were in the Western 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:57.520 Conference Finals. They played the Lakers in the postseason one year, 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:02.719 and I saw wheel a couple times a year. They 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.040 probably four times a year. I would see him when 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.160 the Blazers would come to La to play the Clippers, 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:10.840 and likes always made sure I was out there when 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:13.199 the Blazers were in town and Over the years we 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.200 became friends. We talk on the phone. Sometimes we send 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:21.480 text messages to each other. Occasionally, Wheels had an afternoon 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:28.159 drive radio show in Portland and I would be a 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:33.600 guest on there. Occasionally called me up to fill in. Actually, 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:36.199 I auditioned when I was out of work one of 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:38.440 the jobs I lost years ago. I auditioned for the 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.440 radio station. I got offered the afternoon drive show in Portland, 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.600 and I turned it down. I was I couldn't do 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.240 it because the a the money wasn't good enough, and 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:51.600 it just felt like the wrong move in my career 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:55.440 at that time. So I didn't do it. But our 0:21:55.440 --> 0:22:02.080 friendship continued, and Wheels and I we talked quite a bit. 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:05.600 And there's some stories. I don't know if it's appropriate 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:07.600 to tell them right now. I might wait until after 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:10.600 the celebration of life. I did want to thank that 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.240 the Trailblazers and the people who were involved in Wheel's 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.520 life for inviting me. I was honored to be invited. 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.440 I really wanted to make it. The event is on Sunday. 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.159 I was planning on trying to fly up. Actually today, 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:28.560 I was gonna fly up today, and then my plan 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.840 was to kind of hang out. I've never been to Portland. 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:34.000 I've flown over to go to Seattle. I was gonna 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:36.480 come to port I'm gonna go to Portland. I'll hang out. 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:40.080 My wife has a friend there. She'll visit her friend, 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:42.960 and then maybe I'll do a mallor meet and greet 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:46.359 on Saturday, and then I'll go to the event on 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:50.520 Sunday and then I'll fly back. The problem was the logistics. 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:54.200 I found out about this at the last minute, so 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:56.880 it pretty expensive to fly up there. But I could 0:22:57.240 --> 0:22:59.359 spend the money and I wouldn't really have an issue 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.920 with that, but I would have had to miss a show. 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:06.040 There were no flights out after the event. I would 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:08.200 have to wait until Monday morning, so I would have 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.760 missed the radio show. But it's like, yeah, I could 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:15.679 have done that. But anyway, the flight thing, it just 0:23:15.720 --> 0:23:19.639 didn't work out. So I was pretty bummed out when 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:21.639 I found out of it. I didn't find out right away. 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:24.359 There are some stories I want to tell. I feel 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:26.359 like it's inappropriate to tell them right at this minute, 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:29.359 but let's just say me and Wheels had a very 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:36.520 good friendship and I'd made some moves. There was one 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:40.520 moment and remind me on this. I'll get into it 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.359 in the future podcast. If I forget remind me. I 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:45.480 want to wait till after Sunday. But there was one 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:50.439 situation that would have changed NBA broadcasting and would have 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:56.600 been absolutely amazing. But I was involved in it. I 0:23:57.119 --> 0:24:01.159 was helping Brian Wheeler. There was a job that was 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:05.879 open and I knew some people and I attempted to 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:10.760 help and then at the very last minute, somebody from 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:15.560 the outside stepped in and messed everything up. And so 0:24:17.200 --> 0:24:20.159 it's unfortunate. But if you never heard Brian wheel he 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:22.199 was the radio voice of the Trailblazers, and he was 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:24.640 he was the guy that had a lot of catchphrases. 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:29.359 The one that he was most famous for NBA Entertainment 0:24:29.760 --> 0:24:33.760 on their vignette shows. Remember nineteen ninety eight, this is 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:37.920 before social media, and really social media took off probably 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:41.560