1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:01,440 Speaker 1: Kubbooms. 2 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 2: If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 2: a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 2: of the Old Republic, a soul fashion of fairness. He 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 2: treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the 6 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 2: rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to Clearinghouse of 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth Hour 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 2: with Ben Mahller starts right now. 9 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: In the air everywhere. 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 3: The Fifth Hour with Me, Ben Mahler and Danny g 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 3: Radio on location from Lost Wages, Nevada. After doing the 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 3: overnight show from the world famous iHeart Media Building, which 13 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 3: is now part of the Fremont Street Experience, we go 14 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 3: into the podcast studio. I'm here in Vegas for a 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 3: special meet and greet with the boys from Minnesota. More 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 3: on that coming later on, but right now we worry 17 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 3: about today's podcast. We also celebrate National Kangaroo Awareness Day, 18 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 3: another one of those dopey holidays, which got me down 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 3: a kangaroo. 20 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: Hole, if that's even a thing. 21 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 3: Ossi Waz and Ozzi Momentum and all the other guys 22 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 3: that have been part of the show over the years. 23 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: So I fell down this path of fun. 24 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 3: Facts about kangaroos, I didn't find too much. I did 25 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 3: find that around thirty million years ago the kangaroo's ancestors 26 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 3: arrived in the Australian rainforest. I love how they have 27 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 3: these rough dates around thirty million years ago. And the 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 3: people that study this stuff for a living they say 29 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 3: that the possum likely developed, or the kangaroo rather developed 30 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 3: from a possum like animal that lived in trees. 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: And eventually made their way to the ground. 32 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 3: You know how the theory is that human beings were 33 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 3: in the ocean, came out of the ocean, or did 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 3: we come out of the ocean? 35 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: Who knows? 36 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 3: Anyway, the kangaroo species so it's been in development for 37 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 3: a long long time. 38 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: And my favorite fun fact about. 39 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 3: Kangaroos I got from Ozzie Waz who informed me he 40 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 3: lives out in the remote part of Australia, not in 41 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 3: one of the big cities like Perth or Sydney, and 42 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 3: he informed me that out there the kangaroo will instead 43 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 3: of running away from lights or freezing, the kangaroos will 44 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 3: run towards his car, which I'm still laughing at. 45 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: The photos. 46 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 3: He sent me a couple of years back when his 47 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 3: car was attacked by a kangaroo and really messed it up, 48 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 3: like punching the car. 49 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: I also learned that. 50 00:02:54,360 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 3: Skippy was the first big star kangaroo. Skippy the bush Kangaroo, 51 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 3: I'm not making that up, made her television debut in 52 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 3: an Australian children's TV series called Skippy, and that was 53 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 3: one of the first big stars. That was in the 54 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 3: nineteen sixties when the kangaroo became mainstream, or at least 55 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 3: became a star on TV. So on this podcast we 56 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 3: go down memory lane and jazz hands. But let's not 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 3: bear the lead, my man, all right, we won't bear 58 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 3: the lead. Tonight it is on like Donkey Gong. I 59 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 3: will be watching from a sportsbook somewhere in Los Wages, Nevada, 60 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 3: the first chapter of what could be a seven part 61 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 3: mini series, the twenty twenty five World Series Game number one, 62 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 3: and I got to I've never been to Toronto. The 63 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 3: Dodgers and Blue Jays tonight in that fine city. I 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 3: have thought about Toronto. I have flirted with the idea 65 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 3: of going to Toronto. I even done a little radio 66 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 3: in Toronto, but I have never actually been physically in Toronto. 67 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 3: It's one of those cities that lives in the imagination 68 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 3: in the back of my mind, kind of like a postcard. 69 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: When I think of Toronto, having never been there, I 70 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: think of a clean place. 71 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 3: I think of a big metropolis, a big downtown. 72 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: I think of polite people. 73 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 3: It's vaguely exotic because it's a place where I would assume, 74 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 3: just like the reputation of Canada, people apologize with Canadian 75 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 3: nice right, apologize for cutting in line. And I look 76 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 3: at the skyline there, and I love skylines. Of The 77 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 3: skyline of Toronto is amazing. It looks like it was 78 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 3: designed by someone with a passion for crisp lines. And 79 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 3: I don't know about the zoning laws there, but it 80 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 3: looks amazing when I've seen photos of it. 81 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: Now. 82 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 3: I have been to Canada exactly twice. Once years ago, 83 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 3: I went to Niagara Falls. I didn't plan on going 84 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 3: to the Canadian side, but let's be hon it, it doesn't. 85 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: Really count anyway. You go there. 86 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 3: You go to Buffalo, and then the suburbs of Buffalo's 87 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 3: Niagara Falls, and so you drive to Niagara Falls and 88 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 3: there's a bridge. You can walk across the bridge. There's 89 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 3: some customs people there and boom, welcome to Canada. You 90 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 3: look at the falls from the other side. They look 91 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 3: the same, and you buy some maple candy. You look 92 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 3: at a bunch of Canadian flags, you play a few 93 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 3: arcade games, and it feels like you've actually accomplished something 94 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 3: culturally that's meaningful. 95 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: And you know, but it's tourist Canada. It's visitor Canada. 96 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. 97 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 3: It's kind of like if you took someone from I 98 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 3: don't know, from New Zealand and you put them in 99 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 3: Times Square and said, well, this is New York. 100 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: Well no, it's part of New York. 101 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 3: You can go to Staten Island, you go to Queens, 102 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 3: you go to Brooklyn, you can go depends where you are. 103 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 3: It's like the La and the Man and the Elephant 104 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 3: in that whole thing. But the other trip that I 105 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 3: made was just this year we talked about it, to Vancouver, 106 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 3: a city so beautiful it feels like it was cooked 107 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 3: up in some like AI generation machine, by. 108 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: Some really super computer. 109 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 3: You got the mountains in Vancouver, you got the ocean, 110 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 3: you got the trees, the skyline, all of them working 111 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 3: together perfectly in harmony. 112 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: It's like a. 113 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 3: Jazz quartet that gives you a cacophony of beautiful sounds 114 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 3: and doesn't miss a beat. Now, my comrade Nico, a 115 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 3: friend of the show, a consumer of this podcast, practically 116 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 3: rolled out the red carpet at the airport Vancouver, and 117 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 3: Nico treated me like I was hosting the tonight show 118 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 3: back when that mattered. Arrived Nico with a nice gift 119 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 3: basket at the Sweet Vancouver Grizzlies hat and those cheese 120 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 3: puff things that they have in Canada, which are ten 121 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 3: times better than we have in America. I got some 122 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 3: soccer swag out of it. Now we ate at every 123 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 3: poutine joint within a ten mile radius of the hotel 124 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 3: we stayed at in Vancouver. We started at the you know, 125 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 3: we started at the local place, which was right around 126 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 3: the corner, and we worked our way through some of 127 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 3: the more exotic places. Went to Chinatown in Vancouver. We 128 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 3: also stared at the skyline. 129 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: Like we were. 130 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 3: You'd never seen this before. It been to major cities, 131 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 3: but it was great. We walked to some of the trails, 132 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 3: didn't spend too much time. We wanted to spend more time. 133 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 3: We wont be there for a weekend at Stanley Park, 134 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 3: and I am telling you, hand to god, this park, 135 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 3: Stanley Park makes Central Park looked like a sandbox behind 136 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 3: a rest stop. And it was named after Lord Stanley. Yes, 137 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 3: that Lord Stanley, the guy from the Stanley Cup. And Nico, 138 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 3: who I'm convinced has a secret job with the Canadian 139 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 3: Chamber of Commerce, at least the British Columbia version. 140 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: Now, when we got. 141 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 3: Together in Vancouver and we had a meet and greet, 142 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 3: a pretty good turnout considering and we've been on and 143 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 3: off the radio there in Vancouver. So Nico, he insisted, 144 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,679 Speaker 3: he said, listen, Toronto's great, Like, maybe we'll get together 145 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 3: in Toronto and we'll see a Maple Leafs game. I've 146 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 3: heard a lot about the experience of going to a 147 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 3: hockey game in Canon and going to Toronto, and specifically 148 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 3: even they never win, you know, you love it and 149 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 3: all this stuff. We want to have me experience that, 150 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 3: and that would be great if it ever happens. I 151 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 3: know his son is on the road to soccer stardom 152 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 3: and he's living his dream and it's awesome. 153 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: His great doting father and all that. 154 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 3: Now, just for the record, I am not saying this 155 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 3: about my love of Toronto because of the World Series Toronto. 156 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 3: I'm just telling you he was on my list. I 157 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 3: thought of it as I was coming in here to 158 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 3: the remote podcast studio here in Vegas, and and my 159 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 3: list of places I want to go isn't very long anymore, 160 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 3: like I at least in the States. I mean, there's 161 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 3: some other places. I haven't really been anywhere outside. I said, well, Canada, 162 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 3: the States, I understand, North America. I'm staying outside North America. 163 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 3: So the radio days part of this. So my relationship 164 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,959 Speaker 3: with Toronto is not geographic as I've laid out. It's 165 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 3: broadcast back way back in a decade called the nineties, 166 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 3: when I was a young lad, a West Coast radio stringer, 167 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 3: just starting out, lugging a tape recorder in clubhouses and dugouts. 168 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 3: I was a semi regular correspondent. And I believe the callers, 169 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 3: and don't hold me to this, as I remember were CJ. 170 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 3: Cl better known as Tom Looney, would say, by its 171 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 3: gangster name, the fan five ninety and I would call in, well, 172 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 3: they would call me. 173 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: I didn't call them. They would call me first, say hey, 174 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: can you come on at. 175 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 3: Four o'clock our time, which is one o'clock your for 176 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 3: a little hot West Coast baseball talk. And this was 177 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 3: in a period of time the Athletics had some good 178 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 3: teams and so I was never famous. I'm sure nobody 179 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 3: in Toronto remembers me calling in. I was a young, 180 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 3: young idiot and it was only for a few minutes. 181 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 3: But in my head like I was a big star, 182 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 3: and I was a star in Toronto radio. And I 183 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 3: was a guy that even though I was on the phone, 184 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 3: I was talking into microphones and I had opinions and 185 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 3: they asked me my opinions on the Angels of the 186 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 3: Mariners or whoever was going on, and the Dodgers, and it 187 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 3: was cool. 188 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: It was a fun thing. 189 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 3: And whenever the Blue Jays would come through Anaheim, I 190 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 3: would hustle down to the big A. I'd grab some 191 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 3: quotes from players in that eraic guys like John al Larude, 192 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 3: Roberto Alamar, Joe Carter. I snagged a bunch of sound 193 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 3: from Cido Gaston. 194 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: Who was a smooth operator. 195 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 3: Cido Gaston and the Jays they didn't win in those years. 196 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 3: This was just after their back to back championship appearances 197 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 3: with the back in the early nineties. And then they 198 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 3: had the work stoppage that canceled the World Series in 199 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 3: ninety four, But the clubhouse had the faint smell of 200 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 3: winning still, you know what I mean, Like they still 201 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 3: had that aura, that afterglow from their success, and that 202 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 3: does hang in the air even when the championship drives, 203 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 3: because there's people that say, well, they have championship punigree 204 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 3: as one of the quotes. Now, my friend and I 205 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 3: have not kept up with him. He's in Chicago now 206 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 3: named Chuck Swarsky. Chuck Swersky is the voice or was 207 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 3: the voice of the Toronto Raptors back in that period 208 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 3: of time, and he had a talk show on the 209 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 3: radio in Toronto, and he would have me on as 210 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 3: a correspondent on his show and when the Raptors would 211 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 3: come into La And this actually continued up until COVID 212 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 3: when I stopped going to games on a regular basis 213 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 3: because of well you know why. 214 00:11:58,400 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: But anyway, at that time we used. 215 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 3: To it the same when he come up with the 216 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 3: Bulls and he was in Toronto, and he was a original, unique, exciting, 217 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:13,560 Speaker 3: great rhythmic tones from Chuck Swirsky. And he's the guy 218 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 3: who coined Vince sanity and I think he came up 219 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 3: with Airic Canada also for Vince Carter, who was the 220 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 3: big star of the Raptors at. 221 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: That period of time. 222 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 3: And if you've ever heard him broadcast a game on 223 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 3: the radio, it is a treat, you know, when you know, 224 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 3: you'd know he made a dunk sound like the moon landing. 225 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 3: It was like the most exciting thing. And I even 226 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 3: I have some friends in the Toronto area. One of 227 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 3: them used to work at Fox Sports Radio, Canadian Mike 228 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 3: Canadian Mike, who worked for our place, worked at TMZ 229 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 3: for a while actually, and he's back in his home 230 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 3: city of Toronto. Toronto's always been near my orbit, I 231 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 3: just never quite touched down. Now there's more to the story, 232 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 3: without dating myself too much, and this is all just 233 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 3: things that are popping into my head with the World 234 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 3: Series starting tonight in Toronto, and so without dating myself, 235 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 3: even though the calendar already has done that for me. 236 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 3: I am actually older than the Toronto Blue Jays, which 237 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 3: is kind of scary. The Jays were born shortly after 238 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 3: I was born. I was already around, I was a toddler. 239 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 3: I was already scribbling box scores and notebooks. I was 240 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 3: memorizing batting averages like they were the Holy Scripture, unless 241 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 3: I was just pooping my bed. Unless I was just 242 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 3: pooping my bed at that time. But back then, the 243 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 3: Blue Jays when I first kind of figured things out, 244 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 3: and when do you figure things out, like nine or ten, nine, 245 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 3: ten or eleven, the Blue Jays were a curiosity. They 246 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 3: were a rumor for someone like me who grew up 247 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 3: in California. Baseball I loved. I was obsessed with baseball 248 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 3: now Canada. When I thought of Canada, I thought of 249 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 3: that Montreal Expos. 250 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: I'd see the Dodgers play the Expos every once in 251 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: a while. But Toronto. 252 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 3: That was just kind of foreign, like they were they 253 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 3: were playing baseball next to maple trees, and they had 254 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 3: like ice ranks everywhere and all this stuff. 255 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,679 Speaker 1: And gotta understand, this was before the Interweb. 256 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 3: I grew up in an era, an era where we 257 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 3: would go to the market and every was it every 258 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 3: week or every month. They'd have an encyclopedia you had 259 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 3: to buy, which was the Wikipedia of the time, And 260 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 3: so we didn't have social media and all that stuff 261 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 3: back in my day, and before you could click a 262 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 3: stream and watch a game like we can now whether 263 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 3: it's legal or not. Now I got my baseball knowledge 264 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 3: from the Sporting News. They had these books, the Green 265 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 3: and Red Book, and they had one was for the 266 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 3: National League and one was for the American League, and 267 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 3: that was the Holy Bible. And then you had Peter Gammons, 268 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 3: and he wrote for Sports st Peter Gammons was the 269 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 3: oracle of baseball. 270 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: And if he wrote it, it was the Gospel. It 271 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: was gospel. 272 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 3: And on Saturday mornings before the NBC Game of the 273 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 3: Week and BC, I got my education from This Week 274 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 3: in Baseball, hosted by the immortal dulcetones of Mel Allen. Now, 275 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 3: This Week in Baseball was not a show, it was 276 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 3: a ritual. And when Mel Allen's voice hit the screen, 277 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 3: and this was old at mel Allen. He had been 278 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 3: the voice of the Yankees. 279 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: This Week in Baseball, I was in a trance. 280 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 3: And I was lucky enough to get to know Vin 281 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 3: Scully a little bit, and I asked him about Mel Allen, because. 282 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: Mel Allen was a hero of mine. 283 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 3: And he talked about how wonderful Mel Allen was, and 284 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 3: mel had fallen. Ben told me the story as he 285 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 3: got a little older, he fell like getting out of 286 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 3: the bathtub. And he was never quite the same after that, 287 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 3: but for me he was wonderful. I remember when the 288 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 3: Jays started to get pretty good in the mid eighties, 289 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 3: like the mid nineteen eighties, they played the Royals and 290 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 3: the playoffs. 291 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: I think I was like nineteen eighty five and. 292 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 3: Twib notes, which I only learned as an adult, meant 293 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 3: this week in baseball notes. I just thought it was 294 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 3: something else. What's the word twib mean? Is that like twig? No, 295 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 3: it's twib I don't understand. 296 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: Just go with it. 297 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 3: So I'd watch these twib notes and they'd go around 298 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 3: the major leagues, and again I didn't grow up with being. 299 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: Able to watch. The Blue Jays were never ever, as I. 300 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 3: Remember, on the Game of the Week on NBC, because 301 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 3: they had West Coast and East Coast games, you'd always 302 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 3: get the Yankees, and then on the West Coast we'd 303 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 3: get the Dodgers and the Giants and teams like that. 304 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 3: So twib notes would cut to Exhibition Stadium and Mel 305 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,880 Speaker 3: would say, with a booming delivery, this week in baseball 306 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 3: we go to Toronto, where the Blue Jays are flying 307 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 3: high top the American League East standings, and then they'd 308 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 3: cut away to a shot of the manager, and they 309 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 3: go through and the camera would pan to George Bell, 310 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 3: Lloyd Moseby, and Jesse Barfield. 311 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: That amazing outfield of that era. 312 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 3: And in my child ears, my boyhood ears, that was mythic, 313 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 3: like I was told these are the greatest outfielders assembled 314 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 3: in that generation, and I believed it, like that was 315 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 3: the top outfield in baseball. You had the bazooka, the 316 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,880 Speaker 3: cannon for Jesse Barfield's arm. You had George Bell known 317 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 3: as Taco Bell, who swung like he was trying to 318 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 3: hit the ball into Hudson May. 319 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: And you had the great Lloyd. 320 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:58,719 Speaker 3: Moseby, a smooth operator himself, just like the manager. And 321 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 3: of course you can't tell the story of growing up 322 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 3: watching baseball and watching the Blue Jays from afar, not 323 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 3: a fan, just watching as a casual fan of ball baseball. 324 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,159 Speaker 3: The Dave Winfield story. Now, you know, you know when 325 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 3: it comes to Dave Winfield. So in nineteen eighty three, 326 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 3: Winfield accidentally during a game with a batted ball, killed 327 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 3: a seagull at Exhibition Stadium, which was this football stadium 328 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 3: that was not designed for baseball, and it was very 329 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:31,120 Speaker 3: odd on television. 330 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:31,719 Speaker 1: I'd watch it. 331 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 3: I always have to sell the Blue Jays is on 332 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 3: this weekend baseball or when the Angels would go there. 333 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 3: And it was very bizarre because there's all these seats 334 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,360 Speaker 3: that weren't used, and they had the water right near 335 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 3: there anyway, So Dave Winfield hit a seagull, killed it, 336 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 3: and the Canadian Mounties arrested him for cruelty to animals. 337 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 3: Hand to God, as I remember it, and they arrested 338 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 3: him like over a bird. A bird is the word 339 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 3: only in Canada. Can a man hit four hundred and 340 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 3: sixty five home runs and still be remembered as a 341 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 3: winged casualty. It is the stuff of legends. I'm an 342 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 3: old dude now, I guess I don't know, and when 343 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 3: do you come old? 344 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: And I remember it now. 345 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:15,640 Speaker 3: That story is part of the weird mythology of Toronto baseball, 346 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 3: like the Snow Games, the stadium that turned into a 347 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 3: relic before it even hit twenty, the Joe Carter leap 348 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 3: in the air in nineteen ninety three, a moment that 349 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 3: still echoes every single October. So the World Series is tonight, 350 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,159 Speaker 3: and so here we are the Dodgers heading north to 351 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 3: play the Jays tonight, and I've been around again. I've 352 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 3: been around the edges of Toronto. My whole run here 353 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 3: in radiof waxed loquacious here. I don't know how long 354 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 3: this podcast is, but I've talked to you. I've talked 355 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 3: to the fans of Toronto. The radio show that I 356 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 3: do overnight has been on and off the radio in 357 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 3: Toronto and Hamilton, and we go on, we go off 358 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 3: station has changed formats. 359 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: It's the radio world. 360 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 3: We have a lot of listeners in Hamilton and some 361 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 3: in Toronto that have interacted. We did a Boston meet 362 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,479 Speaker 3: and greet back in twenty nineteen, I think it was 363 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, and had a guy drive down from Canada 364 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 3: from Toronto drove down to Boston. 365 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: Which was kind of cool. 366 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 3: And so I've been on the airwaves on and off 367 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 3: there called in back in the day when the Blue 368 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 3: Jays were still kind of good. 369 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: And I learned, you know, I learned. 370 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 3: Because of all that the mythology of Toronto baseball, watching 371 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 3: the highlight reels and just never walk the streets, and 372 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,439 Speaker 3: there's there's some kind of weird poetic part to that, 373 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 3: like some cities you visit, some cities you kind of imagine, 374 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 3: and Toronto is still imagination for me. It's a city 375 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 3: I know kind of without knowing, and I'll go there 376 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 3: and I hope I'm not disappointed. Sometimes you go places 377 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 3: you're not disappointed. But someday I'll get there and I'll 378 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 3: stand outside the Rogers Center and I'll stare up at 379 00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 3: the CN Tower and I'll eat some ballpark poutine and 380 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 3: I'll check that. 381 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: Box and then I'll move on to something else. 382 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 3: But it really started my fascination with the lack of 383 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 3: information about the Blue Jays, and it was all because 384 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 3: of this week in baseball. So while I have a 385 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 3: fascination with Toronto, Go, Dodgers Go, They're in town. 386 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: There. 387 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 3: Cannot wait for tonight. Always fun to watch the world. 388 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 3: There's gonna be extra special from the sportsbook here, and 389 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 3: I'm not sure which sportsbook. 390 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go to. 391 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 3: We'll figure that out at a later day, but we 392 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 3: look forward to it in Vegas. 393 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: Now, before I get out of here, I did want 394 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: to mention not that I'm going anywhere, I actually have 395 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:37,719 Speaker 1: some I'm doing in Vegas. I have to go to 396 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: bed in a little bit. 397 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 3: But I've been seeing this so often during these baseball 398 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 3: playoffs and other college football and different sporting events I've 399 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 3: been watching. I have to bring this up, so it's 400 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 3: about a commercial, but just bear with me. So the 401 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 3: thing about airline commercials is that they're all little Broadway shows. 402 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 3: At least, it seems like like that everyone's teeth sparkles 403 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 3: like they've been polished by the tooth fairy herself. 404 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: Personally, she didn't even need any money. 405 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 3: The skies are always cheerful, everyone's smiling, like I said, 406 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 3: And when I fly, I see a lot of people 407 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 3: that are in bad moods. I see many people that 408 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 3: haven't showered in a long time. I see people that 409 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 3: look like they would rather. 410 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: Be anywhere else than the airport. 411 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 3: And I've never seen in one of these commercials as 412 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 3: screaming baby. I've never seen being stuck in the middle 413 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 3: seat between two guys who smell like old tuna fish 414 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 3: sandwiches and are bigger than the girth of the plane. No, 415 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 3: what I see on these commercials, it's always a choreographed, 416 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 3: happy clappy celebration where everyone's twirling their carry ons like 417 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 3: they're starring and singing in the rain right, and now lately, 418 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 3: as I've watched the baseball playoffs, I have been hit 419 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 3: over the head. I'm sure you have as well with 420 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 3: a barrage. I think they are thirty second musicals about 421 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 3: Southwest Airlines. Good looking people dancing in different locations, laughing 422 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 3: like the gate change was the greatest thing that ever happened, 423 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 3: because they get the walk by the Cinabun and they 424 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 3: didn't know the cinapun was there. You know, the usual 425 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 3: standards stuff, and not necessarily this one. But you see 426 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 3: the guy spinning the suitcase like he's Fred Astare with 427 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 3: the Samsonite. The woman does the chat cha cha while 428 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,479 Speaker 3: the flight attendant beams with pride. 429 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: In the background. 430 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 3: This commercial featured a lady who's smiling and excited because 431 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 3: of what Southwest Airlines is doing. So she took a 432 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 3: watermelon in the grocery store and pretended she was Gallagher 433 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 3: and slammed the thing. Now, so if you didn't know 434 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 3: any better, if you didn't any better, you would think 435 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 3: Southwest was giving away free chip trips to Fiji just 436 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 3: by watching the commercial. And as an added bonus, a 437 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 3: foot massage, a manny and a petty and a warm 438 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,880 Speaker 3: chocolate chip cookie. But they are not no no, no, 439 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 3: no no. They are announcing, and they're spending a lot 440 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 3: of money doing this, a lot of ad time. 441 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: I guess they're soft. Announcing hasn't started yet. 442 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 3: That the very thing that made Southwest special, the thing 443 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 3: that made Southwest Airlines stand out above the crowd, is 444 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 3: going away and there's nothing you can do about it. 445 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 3: And they're telling you this as good news because they're 446 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,120 Speaker 3: doing it with jazz hands. They're giving you jazz hands. 447 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: Now. 448 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,680 Speaker 3: Once upon a time, in a land far far away, 449 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 3: Southwest was the funky cousin, the upstart airline. They were 450 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 3: the black sheep of the airline community. Everyone else these 451 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 3: days charged charged you for essentially breathing. They do like 452 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 3: the nickel and dime situation that we have here in 453 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 3: Vegas with the overcharging, and that's a lot of the 454 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 3: airline industry right, just a bad attitude. But Southwest was different. 455 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: They weren't like that. 456 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 3: No baggage fees, no seat assignments, just line up, pick 457 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 3: your spot, first come, first serve. They weren't glamorous, but 458 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 3: they were honest. They were the waffle house of the sky. 459 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 3: If you will come as you are eat all the 460 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 3: hash browns you want, and we'll get you where you're going. 461 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: And that's it. 462 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 3: But now now the waffle house is adding a dress 463 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 3: code and a nine dollars fee for the privilege of 464 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 3: sitting at the counter, if you will, metaphorically, so Southwest, 465 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 3: if you have not heard the reason they're spending so 466 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 3: much money on commercials, they are very excited with jazz 467 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 3: hands to announce and a woman spiking a watermelon that 468 00:25:53,080 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 3: Southwest is morphing into every other stale, boring, overpriced airline line, 469 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 3: the place where customer service goes to die, in fact, 470 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 3: customer services. 471 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: Code for you'll pay extra for. 472 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 3: That, but I got it for free. I don't understand. 473 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 3: I don't get it. I don't get it. What's going on? 474 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 3: That kind of thing, because that's the way of the world, 475 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:32,359 Speaker 3: reminds me of a famous a famous tune that was 476 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 3: about the man upstairs, The man upstairs, And I've quoted 477 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 3: these lyrics a few times, right, maybe this I think 478 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:48,360 Speaker 3: it's the boys upstairs, I think is what the song is. 479 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 3: It's a Tom Petty song and it's all the boys 480 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 3: upstairs want to see is how much you'll pay for 481 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 3: what you used to get for free. And this is 482 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 3: a great example. This is a great example of that. 483 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 3: Now I complain about this stuff. I've talked about this 484 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 3: on the podcast before. My wife's like, oh, it's just 485 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 3: you know, that's the price of stuff. Now, I said, well, 486 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,879 Speaker 3: it wasn't the price of stuff. They were able to 487 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 3: survive without having us to spend that. It's all the 488 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 3: dumb stuff. It's all all the stupid stuff that bothers 489 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 3: me anyway. So Southwest is going to be like every 490 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 3: other airline and you'll pay extra. They want you to 491 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,919 Speaker 3: smile while they slip the hand into your back pocket 492 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 3: and take your wallet out and empty all of your 493 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 3: money and all that. 494 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: They want to run up your credit. 495 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 3: Card and they want to hand you a plate of 496 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 3: steam broccoli and let you know that it is apple pie. 497 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: It is French apple pie, and it's all the mode 498 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: and you're going to love it. 499 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 3: And that is that isn't evolution, it's erosion. And the 500 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 3: marketing team knows exactly what they're doing. I'm not ripping them, 501 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 3: I would. I understand why they're doing it. It's some 502 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,040 Speaker 3: big ad firm and that's why the commercials are so 503 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 3: aggressively cheerful. They're trying to inoculate you against outrage. You 504 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 3: shouldn't be happy or shouldn't be angry, because everyone's happy. 505 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 3: It's hard to get mad at a person doing the 506 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 3: electric slide or a woman slamming down a watermelon. It's 507 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 3: like getting angry at a golden retriever. You can't get 508 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 3: angry at a golden retriever. 509 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: Or a baby. 510 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 3: The brilliance, if you can call it that in a sick, 511 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,359 Speaker 3: twisted way of modern corporate America. Listen, I'm part of 512 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 3: the advertising world also, but it's how it packages bad news. 513 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 3: As a block party. They tell you, hey, your ticket 514 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 3: is getting more expensive. But look, here's a ukulele. It's 515 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 3: the it's the look over here. So that's what magic is. 516 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 3: The whole point of magic is to get your eyes 517 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 3: looking somewhere else. We also all have a blind spot 518 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 3: right in front of us. And the magicians they were 519 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 3: con artists, but they figured that out. And I love magic. 520 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 3: I just know the hustle. I've learned the scam. And 521 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 3: they tell you the thing you loved about the airline 522 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 3: is vanishing. 523 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: The bags fly free. 524 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 3: The some people like the open seating, the bags fly 525 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 3: free thing is the big one for me. But here's 526 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 3: a drone shot of somebody smiling and a nice, nice 527 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 3: looking woman in man and they're high fiving. 528 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: In slow motion. 529 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 3: They sell you inconvenience wrapped in confetti. And the cool 530 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 3: part is that for years, Southwest built an identity on 531 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 3: being the other airline. 532 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: Right. 533 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 3: It's kind of like my theory on America started out, 534 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 3: you know, taxation without representation. We're going to go start 535 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 3: our own country here, and you know, give it a 536 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 3: couple hundred years, and there's like so much tax it's insane, 537 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 3: especially if living where I live, in the People's Republic 538 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 3: of California and where you can't get a free bag 539 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 3: at the grocery store or use a plastic straw, and 540 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 3: because they're worried about the environment, and then the whole 541 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 3: place burns up and all those things go in the sky. Anyway, 542 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 3: but you know, they're looking out and they're taxing you 543 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 3: for the honor of looking out for you because you're 544 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 3: not an adult and you can't figure it out. But again, listen, 545 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 3: you know the identity was they were different and you 546 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,239 Speaker 3: didn't they didn't have to play those games, and we 547 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 3: all bought in There are very many loyal customers. I 548 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 3: used to fly Southwest quite a bit on my traveling days, 549 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 3: and you're just another passenger at the mercy of another 550 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 3: airline conglomerate that's decided customer service is best measured by 551 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 3: how efficiently they can convince you the sucker, to pay 552 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 3: for what used to be for free. And what's next 553 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 3: a surcharge. If you dare to smile without the approval 554 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 3: of the airline, that is going to cost you a 555 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 3: preferred breathing zone. And we'll have the a breathing zone, 556 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 3: the b breathing zone, and the sea breathing zone. 557 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: For nineteen ninety nine. And that's the get in price. 558 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: The buy now price will. 559 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 3: Be much higher down the line. It's the power of marketing. 560 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 3: It's the power mark you know. 561 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:02,719 Speaker 1: That's what this is. 562 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 3: You can change people's perspective and all that is just 563 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 3: just has to put enough costs. 564 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: You just have to put enough gloss in there. 565 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 3: And if you polish the pig enough, you start thinking 566 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 3: maybe just maybe it's not a pig, maybe it's a 567 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 3: show pony, it's not a pig, and maybe you'll clap 568 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 3: and it's great, and I would advise you to not 569 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 3: be fooled when a company that once prided itself on 570 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 3: being different starts acting like everyone else and everything else. 571 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 3: The confetti is not a celebration. That is camouflage. That's right, 572 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 3: when it looks like a sprinkle cookie with all the 573 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 3: different colors, that's camouflage. 574 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 1: And it's the clown world. 575 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 3: So listen, go ahead, they're obviously not consulting with a 576 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 3: weekend podcast. Go ahead, Southwest, crank up the old music there, 577 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 3: spin the suitcases, do the jazz hands, body slam whoever 578 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 3: you want with a smile, and hire the top Tony 579 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 3: Award winning choreographer. But I see the broccoli, and no 580 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 3: amount of jazz hands, no amount of smiling and winking 581 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 3: at the cameras going to make it taste like delicious 582 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 3: apple pie. 583 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: It's just not. 584 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 3: And on that note, we'll get out, have a wonderful 585 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 3: rest of your Friday here with my man Danny G 586 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 3: producing this podcast, and we will be back at it again. 587 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,719 Speaker 3: A story that has never been told. I'm saving this 588 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 3: for the Saturday podcast. It is a lasso of a 589 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 3: good time. Let me just say, a lasso of a 590 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 3: good time. So we'll save that for the Saturday Pot. 591 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 3: Have a wonderful rest of your day today. I will 592 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 3: be hanging out in Vegas. If you're in town here 593 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 3: and you wanna say hello, If you're a fan of 594 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 3: the show, and you're not crazy, and you've taken a 595 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 3: shower within the last few days. 596 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: I'd love to meet you. 597 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 3: So send me a message, and I'm on Twitter at 598 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 3: Ben Maler. I'll check it throughout the day. I normally 599 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 3: don't do that, but for you, I will do that anyway. 600 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 3: I have a great rest of your day. And as 601 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 3: much as I talked about Toronto, if I got paid 602 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 3: for every time I said that name, I'd make a 603 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,440 Speaker 3: lot of money. The Dodgers are going to win the 604 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 3: World Series and that is that. Later skater aasta pasta. 605 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: Now gotta murder, I gotta go