Speaker 1: Kaboom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
Speaker 1: week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
Speaker 1: the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
Speaker 1: crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
Speaker 1: pill poppers in the penthouse the Clearinghouse of Hot Takes
Speaker 1: break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
Speaker 1: Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, and welcome
Speaker 1: into the podcast do jo. The Fifth Hour with Ben
Speaker 1: Maller and Danny g Radio Black at it again and
Speaker 1: we thank you for subscribing. And this podcast, if you
Speaker 1: don't know by now, a spin off of the Overnight Show,
Speaker 1: The Ben Maller Show, and it is only available in
Speaker 1: the podcast format. You cannot get this on terrestrial radio.
Speaker 1: As we are in the air everywhere thanks to the
Speaker 1: vast power of my heart, the global reach of podcasting,
Speaker 1: and every week, three podcasts the week and eight days
Speaker 1: a week, because four hours a night are not enough
Speaker 1: on the Overnight and you're going on to listen all
Speaker 1: weekend because on Saturday I will tell the story I
Speaker 1: have never told before. I did something for the first
Speaker 1: time in my life last week and I did not
Speaker 1: talk about this on the radio show, so I'll talk
Speaker 1: about that tomorrow, but right now, we gotta get down
Speaker 1: to business. Because I love radio. You know that it's
Speaker 1: my job, it's my my life's passion. And I have
Speaker 1: friends all over the country. I have made radio friends
Speaker 1: that work at different stations, and one of my good
Speaker 1: friends I talked about them quite a bit on the
Speaker 1: radio show anytime I bring up Baltimore is someone I
Speaker 1: refer to as Sports with Coleman. His name is Jerry Coleman.
Speaker 1: We've had him on the podcast before. I was on
Speaker 1: Jerry's radio show not that long ago. He had done
Speaker 1: a night show in Baltimore. And the reason I wanted
Speaker 1: to have Jerry on this week is mainly just so
Speaker 1: I could talk to him, because we're friends and I
Speaker 1: have an excuse to talk to him on the podcast,
Speaker 1: but also the fact that he was part of a
Speaker 1: mass layoff at his radio station and a national radio
Speaker 1: layoff at a competing company. Not I heart, but a
Speaker 1: rival of my heart, and Jerry is one of the
Speaker 1: good radio guys. He's done it all. He's a really
Speaker 1: a Swiss army knife. We used that term for people
Speaker 1: in sports, but in sports broadcasting, and Jerry is the
Speaker 1: guy that will do a little bit of this, a
Speaker 1: little bit of that, a little bit of everything. He's
Speaker 1: worked all over the clock. He had done a night
Speaker 1: show in Baltimore, He's done morning radio in that city.
Speaker 1: He has has been in Baltimore radio for over a decade,
Speaker 1: but he's worked over thirty years in the radio business.
Speaker 1: And he got let go. He got the old pink
Speaker 1: slip from his radio station last week and he joins
Speaker 1: us now and Jerry, we have a saying in the
Speaker 1: radio business when you're giving the pink slip, when you're
Speaker 1: giving your walking papers, that you are on the beach.
Speaker 1: But you are literally and figuratively taking that to the
Speaker 1: next level, aren't you, Jerry correct? And as I speak
Speaker 1: to you now, I am on the beach, not far
Speaker 1: from Sarasta in Longboat Key, Florida, to be exact. So
Speaker 1: I literally am and was on the beach today. I
Speaker 1: am grateful in one aspect and that there was some
Speaker 1: bloodshed from the company I worked at, and they did
Speaker 1: alert me before I went on vacation, so um, in
Speaker 1: other words, I would have found out in the middle
Speaker 1: of my vacation had they not told me which I
Speaker 1: think you know, it was a more humane way to
Speaker 1: approach and this does nothing though Jerry, and I feel
Speaker 1: terrible for you, but for my neurosis. And we've known
Speaker 1: each other for for a number of years here. But
Speaker 1: one of my things is I hate taking vacation because
Speaker 1: when I was an intern in San Diego at the
Speaker 1: mighty six ninety in my head, I'm not sure this
Speaker 1: actually happened, but in my head, every time one of
Speaker 1: the hosts took a vacation, they never came back from
Speaker 1: vacation and they just they didn't say anything. And so
Speaker 1: so when I found out what happened to you, which
Speaker 1: was a terrible decision in my opinion, by the station
Speaker 1: in Baltimore. But when I found that out, I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: this is now. I can never take a vacation again.
Speaker 1: I was like, in my head, I'm like, well that's it.
Speaker 1: I can't, I can't go anywhere. But you you handle
Speaker 1: it very well. I give you credit, and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure how you're enjoying your vacation. Is it? Okay? You've
Speaker 1: been on it for a while as we're talking right now,
Speaker 1: and this airing on a Friday, So you've been in
Speaker 1: your tropical destination for a while. Are you able to compartmentalized, Jerry,
Speaker 1: I am. Uh. Severance had a lot to do with that.
Speaker 1: The conversation at a time before leaving, I think had
Speaker 1: a lot to do with that. I'm glad I didn't
Speaker 1: get a phone call in the middle of this vacation
Speaker 1: letting me know what unfortunately happened to a lot of
Speaker 1: my colleagues around the country in multiple markets. So when
Speaker 1: they did tell me that that it was, they actually
Speaker 1: took me off and told me, you know, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be more to come on Tuesday, whenever, whatever day it
Speaker 1: was that they did it. And I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: thank you for letting me know, and you know, kind
Speaker 1: of when I went in one ear and out the other,
Speaker 1: and then I realized, you know, okay, I was tipped
Speaker 1: off at a time and they did, you know, in
Speaker 1: a way helped me out. I mean, the fact that
Speaker 1: you know, I found out before I went on vacation,
Speaker 1: um did put a little detriment on the vacation, but
Speaker 1: hasn't completely runned it all together because actually, now I'll
Speaker 1: extend it because is it's better than knowing I would
Speaker 1: say in the middle or then I mean, you get
Speaker 1: back and then you get the call and it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: I didn't need to come back so soon, So there
Speaker 1: is a benefit. I'm trying to be, you know, positive
Speaker 1: in that aspect. I've been down this road before, bounce
Speaker 1: back before. We'll see what's down the road in the horizon.
Speaker 1: I assume there will be something I always has been.
Speaker 1: It could be a presumption, but already, you know, I
Speaker 1: received you know, correspondence from different people in different industries
Speaker 1: and not necessarily radio about different possible avenues. So we
Speaker 1: will see where that leads. But I was caught by
Speaker 1: a surprise, and you know, in fact, they never give
Speaker 1: you your last show on the radio, and I almost
Speaker 1: really had that on on my last day on which
Speaker 1: was a Thursday, and was let go via zoom on
Speaker 1: a Friday. And I had a feeling that morning that
Speaker 1: that was the case, and I probably had a feeling
Speaker 1: that Thursday night when I did my last show that
Speaker 1: that was the case. But I wasn't gonna do anything
Speaker 1: to bern any bridges or rip anyone like that and
Speaker 1: go out in a ball of flames because I do
Speaker 1: want to work again. So I just took the high
Speaker 1: road and and did that be a social media and uh,
Speaker 1: let it go from there, because I think that's the
Speaker 1: best way to go about it. Uh, no grudges. I
Speaker 1: think I've been you know, I don't think it was right,
Speaker 1: Uh in terms of what I brought to the table,
Speaker 1: and in terms of sen only hosting, but covering teams,
Speaker 1: doing sports updates. Um, there was just a variety of
Speaker 1: things that I did for the radio station over well
Speaker 1: over a decade, more close to thirteen years, just over
Speaker 1: twelve that you know, I thought sometimes were overrooked. And
Speaker 1: maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, we will see.
Speaker 1: But what a treat it was to be able to
Speaker 1: host your own show in your hometown, choose the guest list,
Speaker 1: have complete show control, excuse me of the as you say,
Speaker 1: sports talk, real estate, and really not have any micromanaging.
Speaker 1: And that was the case until the Yam you know.
Speaker 1: I mean I've heard from all sorts of people within
Speaker 1: the company reminding me was not performance or rating to
Speaker 1: relate it, and it certainly wasn't. It was an unfortunate
Speaker 1: aspect of the business and where it is at times
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, it's the business is not in a
Speaker 1: good place. We'll get to that. Well, we're getting into
Speaker 1: it now, but we'll talk more about it. So you
Speaker 1: had a premonition, you had a feeling that the end
Speaker 1: was near, and I had something similarly. The only way
Speaker 1: you get a final show is if it's leaked in
Speaker 1: the New York Post or you're retiring, right, I was
Speaker 1: on the air years ago. For those that maybe haven't
Speaker 1: heard the story before that listened to this podcast, but
Speaker 1: Jerry knows the story. So back in oh nine there
Speaker 1: was a presidential election result, well the election was an
Speaker 1: OH eight, but the result was announced in oh nine
Speaker 1: or the the the changing of the guard, changing of
Speaker 1: the president happened in oh nine. It is, I believe,
Speaker 1: the second term of Barack Obama. But at that time,
Speaker 1: the day before, I remember exactly the date. It was
Speaker 1: the day before. I think January twenty one is the
Speaker 1: date they change presidents. I believe it's sometimes, yeah, sometime
Speaker 1: in January, and uh yeah. Politically, we don't try to
Speaker 1: avoid politics now on the podcast. We used to talk
Speaker 1: about politics, but I I was respected, I still respect
Speaker 1: the presidency, and I always liked watching the the ceremony
Speaker 1: from d C and so I it was the night
Speaker 1: before and I was planning on watching the ceremony we
Speaker 1: were doing the show, and there was a headline of
Speaker 1: a bulletin that came. This is the early day as
Speaker 1: of Twitter, but there was a story from the New
Speaker 1: York Post that there were going to be mass uh
Speaker 1: mash mass casualties, layoffs whatever at the company that I
Speaker 1: was working for, that they were going to be announced
Speaker 1: like the next day, right. So I somebody had sent
Speaker 1: me the story actually via a text message, and one
Speaker 1: of my friends in the business, and I was right
Speaker 1: before the show was about to start, and and so
Speaker 1: I I, of course, being the schmuck that I am,
Speaker 1: I sent the story. I forwarded it onto everyone else
Speaker 1: that was working on the show. And uh. And then
Speaker 1: about about ten fifteen minutes in the show, I get
Speaker 1: an email from one of the bosses. Now, no one
Speaker 1: ever emails me. And now you know, Jerry, you did nights.
Speaker 1: You know you don't. You do not get contacted after
Speaker 1: work hours like nine to five. That's a red flag
Speaker 1: if you do get contact. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm in
Speaker 1: my head, I'm connecting the dots here. I'm like, okay, uh,
Speaker 1: let's see, I got somebody sent me a story from
Speaker 1: The New York Post saying the company I work for
Speaker 1: is gonna lay off and get rid of all these people. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then ten minutes fifteen minutes later, I get an
Speaker 1: email from my boss saying there's a mandatory meeting the
Speaker 1: next morning that I have to be at. And I said, well,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not that bright, but I think I
Speaker 1: can connect the pieces here. I think we've got something.
Speaker 1: And my my producer was losing his mind. He's like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm gonna be He'd never been fired before,
Speaker 1: the never lost a job. He actually ended up running.
Speaker 1: He's an assistant program director at a radio station. Now
Speaker 1: they had we had an intern that had just started.
Speaker 1: He relocated. Kid from Boston had relocated, moved to l
Speaker 1: It was his first night working on my show. And
Speaker 1: oh goodness, he got he got he got. Kid moved
Speaker 1: all the way to l A for one night. Yeah. So, like,
Speaker 1: what happened to your team? Jar? Are they still there?
Speaker 1: Are they? Have you talked to your your producer? I know?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, no, well yeah, I mean yeah yeah. They
Speaker 1: all survived. And producers that I worked with over the years,
Speaker 1: and people that I helped out that such some very
Speaker 1: nice things on social d on you know, some of
Speaker 1: the things I passed along to him over the years.
Speaker 1: But the premonition came from the fact that my boss
Speaker 1: was also going on vacation and this person was like, no,
Speaker 1: I really would like to meet with you on Friday
Speaker 1: morning before we go away on vacation. I just think
Speaker 1: it's important we talked before you go away. And I
Speaker 1: had requested a meeting um weeks ago and left it
Speaker 1: alone and didn't even follow up with it. And this
Speaker 1: was titled a catchup meeting, just catching up, and I
Speaker 1: swear to God, within thirty seconds I was I was
Speaker 1: done of within the zoom meeting and I said, wow,
Speaker 1: I you know, I thought you would do something like
Speaker 1: this face to face. And the person indicated something that
Speaker 1: actually rang true, you know, and I'll give him. They
Speaker 1: said they didn't want to waste my time, had me
Speaker 1: drive all the way with gas prices lay there right now,
Speaker 1: I appreachd drive all the way in just to tell
Speaker 1: you you're terminated. So it was all done via zoom now,
Speaker 1: and the human resources person was all line as well
Speaker 1: and bing bang boom, and it was over. Well that
Speaker 1: is nice because they made us all drive in one
Speaker 1: Karen Kay, who you know who I worked with for
Speaker 1: a while. KK. I love KK because KK, you know
Speaker 1: season professional radio woman. She also knew we were getting
Speaker 1: uh we were getting pole axed that day and she said,
Speaker 1: I'm not driving in. I'm not driving to get told
Speaker 1: I'm not working there anymore. And she didn't do it,
Speaker 1: and uh, I still I love the fact that she
Speaker 1: repelled at that at that particular moment. Well, the cool
Speaker 1: thing now and I didn't have this the last time
Speaker 1: I got Uh, I got whacked in the businesses that
Speaker 1: with social media now and I was gonna say, well,
Speaker 1: send a message to your listeners. But you can keep
Speaker 1: track of a lot of your fans, your a via Twitter,
Speaker 1: which is another social media which has gotta be great
Speaker 1: that you know, whenever you get your next gig, wherever
Speaker 1: it is, whatever platform it happens to be, you can
Speaker 1: let people know. And for so long in our business,
Speaker 1: as you referenced, when you get let go, you don't
Speaker 1: get to say goodbye. They don't allow you to to
Speaker 1: have a final opportunity in in radio to say goodbye
Speaker 1: to your to your listeners. And so you at least
Speaker 1: have a chance to connect with a lot of people
Speaker 1: via social media, as you said, people were reaching out
Speaker 1: to you. So that's gotta be nice that, you know,
Speaker 1: six months down the line, a year down line, whatever
Speaker 1: it is, you get your next job, hopefully sooner after
Speaker 1: your seference runs out. Whenever that is, uh, you can
Speaker 1: bring the bring the band back together, right, You've got
Speaker 1: that going for you. That is definitely possible. And if
Speaker 1: I were to go to the podcast route, I don't
Speaker 1: know if that would interfere with some of the terms
Speaker 1: of the sefferance, so that could be something that I do.
Speaker 1: I'm not just gonna do it for the heck of it,
Speaker 1: just like you don't do it for the heck of it.
Speaker 1: I mean, we all like to here are voices and
Speaker 1: all that. Frankly, after thirty two years on the radio
Speaker 1: and you know, worrying about your next job, after using
Speaker 1: your previous job, I decided, you know, I'm going to
Speaker 1: keep pursuing. I'm not giving up, but I'm also not
Speaker 1: going to jump right back in at the first thing
Speaker 1: that's thrown my way. I'm going to enjoy some time off, regroup,
Speaker 1: hopefully have something by the time football season goes, because
Speaker 1: it's the very important time and that that was the
Speaker 1: downside is you know, I've been out covering the Ravens
Speaker 1: and I have to tell you, you know, the Oils
Speaker 1: have been nice in terms of some of the responses
Speaker 1: I've gotten, But Man of Baltimore Ravens a team that
Speaker 1: I know you'd like to pick on at times. And
Speaker 1: I have taken so many shots at this team, yet
Speaker 1: they have rhino skin, as you like to say. Because
Speaker 1: I've heard from so many people in that organization, very
Speaker 1: high up, even you know, the PR department. Um, they
Speaker 1: still have invited me to come out to their practices,
Speaker 1: games and all that. Frankly, I appreciate that, but I
Speaker 1: told them I'm probably gonna be reluctant in doing that.
Speaker 1: If I'm not working, I don't see a reason to
Speaker 1: be out there. But I appreciate the invite, being able
Speaker 1: to be around the team and all that, But after
Speaker 1: thirty some years, I just want to make it as
Speaker 1: part of a job and not just go out there
Speaker 1: and you know, play grab bass as you say, and
Speaker 1: you know, just be around the players and the coach
Speaker 1: and hear what they have to say. I can do
Speaker 1: that from a distance too, So yeah, probably not going
Speaker 1: to do that again until I'm actually gainfully employed. But
Speaker 1: very classy of them to do that, and the Orioles
Speaker 1: are honoring my credential as well. I just kind of hurt,
Speaker 1: not as much as as the Ravens, but that just
Speaker 1: maybe a set of circumstances where the team has been
Speaker 1: on the road. But I do appreciate. You know, you
Speaker 1: got a chance, like you to be able to work
Speaker 1: in your home town where you were raised. You know,
Speaker 1: that's that's a dream come true. Yeah, no, it's great.
Speaker 1: And I do give the Ravens credit, even though I
Speaker 1: will continue to bash them that they uh, they at
Speaker 1: least handle things the right ways, as I have tried
Speaker 1: to say to people who I know. For example, I
Speaker 1: ripped the Lakers all the time, and the Lakers have
Speaker 1: been still allow me out there if I want to go.
Speaker 1: I don't go as much anymore, uh, just because I
Speaker 1: don't know anybody in the in the the Beat report.
Speaker 1: I used to know all the Beat reporters back in
Speaker 1: the day, and everyone used to go out there, and
Speaker 1: I go out there and it's I don't know anybody
Speaker 1: as far you know, just about I have. There's only
Speaker 1: a few people I know. But the Lakers been okay.
Speaker 1: But that's the thing, Jerry, like these teams, we play
Speaker 1: a role as the critic in the upper balcony and
Speaker 1: they're the ones that are rolling in money. And it's
Speaker 1: it's a nice marriage though it's okay. It's you don't
Speaker 1: have to be confrontational. And there's a lot of places
Speaker 1: and we know teams, Jerry that have have spat Louis
Speaker 1: at guys. Uh, the the Angels a great example, the Angel.
Speaker 1: You talk about the Angels, and I would say the
Speaker 1: equivalent of that is the NFL t down that that's
Speaker 1: the closest of Baltimore. It can be very spiteful as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's good to hear about the the Raven. Are
Speaker 1: we gonna be able to continue to spar about Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: We've had a few text conversations, we've talked on the phone.
Speaker 1: We've sure. I mean everything, I think everything I've said
Speaker 1: and predicted is currently still true as we're speaking right now.
Speaker 1: I do not anticipate a contract coming. The guy is
Speaker 1: gonna make twenty three million dollars this year, and that's
Speaker 1: more he's made in any year in his entire life.
Speaker 1: If you were to say that then, uh, he would
Speaker 1: be set for life if you were to invest it
Speaker 1: the right way. But this is a guy that doesn't
Speaker 1: have an agent, plays in a town in Baltimore. We're
Speaker 1: the most popular player on the team right now, is
Speaker 1: the kicker. I can't think of any other NFL market
Speaker 1: where that's the case with Justin Tucker has all the endorsements,
Speaker 1: he has a new contract. Um, he's already being called
Speaker 1: the goat, which I'm always uncomfortable with calling a player
Speaker 1: the greatest of all time, except maybe Tom Brady while
Speaker 1: they're still playing. But Lamar is us gonna go out
Speaker 1: and I think play football and gamble on himself, and
Speaker 1: he better hope he doesn't get hurt because it'll be
Speaker 1: the most expensive injury in NFL history. And again, doesn't
Speaker 1: have any deals in terms of endorsements or anything outside
Speaker 1: of just playing football, because either he's stubborn or his
Speaker 1: mother's stubborn, or they're stubborn together. But not having an
Speaker 1: age and continues sir that what's it like being around Lamar?
Speaker 1: You've covered a few quarterbacks in your time in in radio.
Speaker 1: What's the day to day like with Lamar Jackson? And well,
Speaker 1: some people think he has like this magical touch you
Speaker 1: know about him, and he's not a funny personality and everything.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say he's great in terms of getting a
Speaker 1: lot of content because when you do listen to him talk,
Speaker 1: it's just very brief answers. But I mean just being
Speaker 1: around him in terms of personality. Likes to crack jokes,
Speaker 1: you know, and also makes you realize how old you
Speaker 1: are been because he's in his young twenties, and you know,
Speaker 1: he reads the stuff he posts on social media, but
Speaker 1: it's very hard to relate to him as someone who's
Speaker 1: almost twice his age, if not a little bit further
Speaker 1: than that. So that's the difference between a lot of
Speaker 1: today's athletes and and the way I look at things,
Speaker 1: it's like a totally different generation. Some of the stuff
Speaker 1: they post on social media, you know, is either above
Speaker 1: my pay grade or I just you know, it's a
Speaker 1: parallel universe, and the generation levide. At what point did
Speaker 1: that happen for you? It happens for everyone a little differently.
Speaker 1: But I I know from my time and I did
Speaker 1: the same job that you had early on. We were
Speaker 1: both radio stringers, radio reporters, so we were in locker
Speaker 1: rooms quite often doing our thing. And and I'm trying
Speaker 1: to like, at what point when guys started retiring that
Speaker 1: I was around like every day. That was the first sign.
Speaker 1: But then when you saw players kids get to the
Speaker 1: big leagues, I was like, wait a minute, what what
Speaker 1: is going on here? And that happened. You know, obviously
Speaker 1: it takes twenty years or whatever, but at that point,
Speaker 1: I'm like, wow, this is well, there's prime, there's prime
Speaker 1: examples everywhere. It's funny you mention that because Orlando Brown Jr.
Speaker 1: I covered SEUs his father when he was with the
Speaker 1: Ravens after he had left the Browns. He made all
Speaker 1: that money if you get hit the eye by the
Speaker 1: penalty flag and all that he was. He was a
Speaker 1: wild character. And then his son comes to the Ravens
Speaker 1: and is there for a cup of coffee before wanting
Speaker 1: more money trying to play left tackle. I mean you
Speaker 1: mentioned Vladimir or Guerrero Senior. I was just talking with
Speaker 1: someone today about he was the worst ball hitter I've
Speaker 1: ever seen, and you know, now his kids playing and
Speaker 1: making more money than he is. So yeah, it does
Speaker 1: make you feel kind of old. But also when you
Speaker 1: read some of these tweets and posts on social media,
Speaker 1: it's like I don't even understand, you know, when you
Speaker 1: read them aloud, especially on the radio, it's like, I understand,
Speaker 1: you only have a certain number of characters you can use,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's like you're reading something from another world
Speaker 1: or another universe. So it's hard to decipher a lot
Speaker 1: of this. And then you try to ask for clarity
Speaker 1: at a press conference and you don't get much there. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a strange thing about social media and some of
Speaker 1: the language that's used on there and the lingo, and
Speaker 1: you know, you just have to try and figure it
Speaker 1: out for yourself or maybe speak to someone who's twenty
Speaker 1: years younger than you. You need a Dakota ring, Jerry.
Speaker 1: You've got to get one of those Dakota rings, and
Speaker 1: you have to on the fly be able to interpret
Speaker 1: and change words around to make them broadcast friendly. I
Speaker 1: believe so. But now that you are, for the moment
Speaker 1: on the beach from your gig in Baltimore, and who knows,
Speaker 1: maybe you'll get another gig in Baltimore. But until that happens,
Speaker 1: will you now admit on the record on the Fifth
Speaker 1: Hour podcast here that the cal Ripken. Kevin Costner's story,
Speaker 1: the urban legend was legit that it actually happened that
Speaker 1: the night the power went down at Camden Yards. That
Speaker 1: was because of an incident, a brew haha, a ker
Speaker 1: fluffle that took place between actor Kevin Costner and Cal Ripken.
Speaker 1: Right now that I know you were headed down that
Speaker 1: avenue is as I heard you say, well you finally
Speaker 1: admit you do realize on your own network years ago,
Speaker 1: didn't Kevin Costn call in at one point to your network?
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure, ye, more than sure. He called in
Speaker 1: after one of your hosts and I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was you or someone else repeated that ridiculous story,
Speaker 1: and he called in to defend it. Uh No, I
Speaker 1: will not concede that. Having been there at the ballpark
Speaker 1: that night, I just think that's posterous. I saw the
Speaker 1: guy before the game. I don't believe he left the
Speaker 1: ballpark to go home to beat up Kevin Costner. No,
Speaker 1: I'm just not he didn't go home. Jerry the way,
Speaker 1: and I the reason I buy the story he walked
Speaker 1: in on him as part of the not not hold
Speaker 1: us all right? So I eat after that happened, it
Speaker 1: might even be the night of, but I think it
Speaker 1: was the night after. It was the night I was
Speaker 1: they were playing. Yeah, it was. It was a big
Speaker 1: say and the Mariners had a great team and they
Speaker 1: were they were a sexy team at that time. That's
Speaker 1: how long ago this was. The Orioles actually were considered
Speaker 1: a model franchise still, although they had kind of gonne
Speaker 1: down a little bit. And so I was covering the
Speaker 1: Dodgers though, So I'm I'm on the West coast and
Speaker 1: a buddy of mine comes up to me says, You're
Speaker 1: not gonna believe what happened in Baltimore. And he says,
Speaker 1: I just got off the phone with uh, you know
Speaker 1: person X will Say, who happens to be somewhat connected
Speaker 1: to the ownership in Baltimore, who said, hey, this is
Speaker 1: what he gave you, the whole story. It was like
Speaker 1: right away, the story was right there, and and then
Speaker 1: you know, I was like okay, and people's of course
Speaker 1: denied it. But that thing had amazing legs. But the
Speaker 1: story was Ripkin was he had Costner staying at his
Speaker 1: house and and they were golfing or whatever, and then
Speaker 1: he had to go to the ballpark and on his
Speaker 1: way to the ballpark. He had forgotten something that he
Speaker 1: needed and he came back to the house and he
Speaker 1: walked in and he saw Kevin Costner doing something that
Speaker 1: most people who are in in cal Ripkins situation would
Speaker 1: not appreciate. And uh, and then it was on and
Speaker 1: there was like a little sparring match that took place there.
Speaker 1: But again, I recall seeing them and maybe even speaking
Speaker 1: with them before the game that day. No indication there
Speaker 1: was power out in that blocked area at Camden. You know,
Speaker 1: the massive conspiracy we're talking about here is you know,
Speaker 1: I mean multiple levels that would have to go. And
Speaker 1: again I just well know, yeah, the conspiracy is that
Speaker 1: the Orioles somebody made a phone call to the power
Speaker 1: company there or in Baltimore and they shut the power out.
Speaker 1: Has got the cord that happened since as they had
Speaker 1: they had a power outage, there hasn't Now, there was
Speaker 1: There was a power outage when a train hit a
Speaker 1: power generator one time. I do remember that. That was
Speaker 1: the only other time the power was out in fact
Speaker 1: at any I know we had the Super Bowl thing
Speaker 1: where they lost power of the Ravens and I was
Speaker 1: there in New Orleans yeah, but and that was only
Speaker 1: half the stadium by the way, It wasn't like we
Speaker 1: were in the dark and I couldn't see the person
Speaker 1: next to me. That was a bit exaggerated, But nonetheless
Speaker 1: it wasn't good enough to play football for a while. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but but I'm trying to think, like, how many other
Speaker 1: times had they had to cancel the game completely because
Speaker 1: the power went out? Uh? And probably in the history
Speaker 1: of the yard that's a great question. That might be
Speaker 1: the outlier there. They didn't they didn't play, they didn't
Speaker 1: play it. They didn't play a fanless game in the
Speaker 1: middle of riots going on around town. But yeah, that
Speaker 1: was I don't think that's uh, I don't think that's
Speaker 1: been repeated. And so no, I do understand your skepticism then,
Speaker 1: but well, not only have you know off to wait
Speaker 1: for the movie or documentary to come out on that places,
Speaker 1: well everyone and everyone's gonna have to die before that happens.
Speaker 1: But but do you think Kevin Popsker would play himself
Speaker 1: in that movie? Hey, if the checks big enough, man
Speaker 1: Ti Tao is playing. He's in a documentary about being
Speaker 1: catfish at Notre Dame back in the day. So how much.
Speaker 1: Do you think he's getting paid? Man, I will add that.
Speaker 1: I will add that cow has remarried. Ah, there you go,
Speaker 1: adding on. But this was years later, years later, water
Speaker 1: unto the bridge. Okay, all right, I maintained. I am convinced.
Speaker 1: I buy it hook line and sinker, just like I
Speaker 1: buy that the Patrick Ewing NBA Draft lottery was fixed
Speaker 1: for the Knicks, and they still didn't win the championship
Speaker 1: even with being given Ewing because they froze the envelope,
Speaker 1: the frozen on the Yeah, you're still going with that theory.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think what other theories out there are
Speaker 1: still being perpetuated till this day. Oh, there's great. I believe.
Speaker 1: I believe a lot of Michael Jordan's was suspended from
Speaker 1: the NBA for gambling. Gambling. He then played minor league
Speaker 1: baseball in Birmingham, Alabama. Would also like to let you know, Jerry,
Speaker 1: I got a Birmingham Baron's hat added to my collection.
Speaker 1: I collect b hats and the old the one Jordan
Speaker 1: war the old Birmingham Baron's hat from back in the day.
Speaker 1: But but I believe that Jordan was suspended, but they
Speaker 1: didn't want to. They didn't want to shame him publicly,
Speaker 1: so David Stern and the NBA hierarchy got together and
Speaker 1: they came up with this fugazi minor league baseball thing.
Speaker 1: So I buy that one. I buy the ripping one,
Speaker 1: the ewing one. What other great sports conspiracies have there
Speaker 1: been here? I'm trying to think now, I'm really racking
Speaker 1: my brain to think of just again outrageous conspiracy ease
Speaker 1: in the Annals of Sports. You know, that's why they said,
Speaker 1: Um Jordan's father was killed as payback. That was also
Speaker 1: part of it. Um when when he lost his father
Speaker 1: very strangely in that situation. Yes, uh yeah, Now, anything
Speaker 1: that's happened with Tiger Woods I don't believe as accurate
Speaker 1: from the uh incident outside his driveway in Orlando with
Speaker 1: his What was that was that it was a holiday night.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Yes, I was on the air and oh,
Speaker 1: like I still remember a call I took the night
Speaker 1: that happened. Of course, I I went insane to the
Speaker 1: membrane with wall the wall. I never do four hours
Speaker 1: on the same topic if I can avoid it. But
Speaker 1: it was Thanksgiving. It was we Thanksgiving weekend, and I
Speaker 1: know there was football, but I just kept going back
Speaker 1: to Tiger Woods, and he got chased and there was
Speaker 1: a car accident and all that stuff. I believe all
Speaker 1: that because that happened again to him where he was
Speaker 1: under the influence and couldn't drive his car. And I
Speaker 1: do believe, I do believe he wasn't. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't think he was a thousand percent sober when he
Speaker 1: drove off a cliff and in southern California either no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I they found a bottle of pills like that were
Speaker 1: fell out of the car on that Tiger has been
Speaker 1: able to to dodge a lot of a lot of trouble.
Speaker 1: But I I remember ranting about that, and I had
Speaker 1: a caller who said, why are you talking about this?
Speaker 1: Nobody cares, nobody believes t MZ. This didn't happen, you know.
Speaker 1: It's it's that It's just like when I ripped Rafael
Speaker 1: Palmero back in the day after he the day after
Speaker 1: I mentioned this the other day on the on the
Speaker 1: radio show, but he had gotten his three thousand hit.
Speaker 1: It was like a Friday night in Seattle, and I
Speaker 1: remember that I was listening to your show and covering
Speaker 1: the team and I was there when he did his
Speaker 1: to not probably one of the and I feel comfortable
Speaker 1: in saying this on your podcast. When it comes to intellect,
Speaker 1: I would say Rafael Palmerro still rates is probably one
Speaker 1: of the top five dumbest athletes I've ever had to
Speaker 1: cover in terms of responses and quotes and even trying
Speaker 1: to lie. I mean, he was terrible at that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he got he got burned. But I came on the
Speaker 1: next next afternoon. I was doing like a fill in
Speaker 1: shift on the in the afternoon, and I I said, well,
Speaker 1: how do we know that Palmero is this is a
Speaker 1: legitimate thing, this this is a clean thing. And uh,
Speaker 1: people from your neck of the woods there, Jerry from
Speaker 1: from the state of Maryland called up and they had
Speaker 1: the traditional accent going and they were like, yes, you know,
Speaker 1: this is why you're doing weekend radio. You know, you
Speaker 1: know there's there's nothing Palmero. No, he's not cheating all
Speaker 1: this stuff. And then shortly thereafter we know what happened.
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe it, because you know, we were led
Speaker 1: to believe that the steroid player was you know, all
Speaker 1: bulked up and had the back act and all. He
Speaker 1: didn't fit the characteristics. But then it made sense and
Speaker 1: then uh, I remember mcguel Tahada being involved saying that,
Speaker 1: you know, he spiked the shot of his and both
Speaker 1: of those guys became pariahs around the organization and we're
Speaker 1: never really back. Rafael palm Arrow has never been invited
Speaker 1: back for anything. So they just celebrated the thirty year
Speaker 1: anniversary of Camden Yards and his name was never mentioned.
Speaker 1: Not that he had well he did. I mean he
Speaker 1: had some milestone moments in that ballpark. He's one of
Speaker 1: the few players they hit five hundred home runs and
Speaker 1: three thousand hits, but you know, no one really talks
Speaker 1: about that because he's a cheater. Yeah. Well, and that's
Speaker 1: the future of Fernando Tatis Jr. Like the Padre fans
Speaker 1: will be okay with him as long as he hits,
Speaker 1: but everyone else it's gonna be vicious. Well that's again,
Speaker 1: that's that's one of those like you know, we have
Speaker 1: our fun with Kyler Murray and you look at towns
Speaker 1: like that. I guess it's gonna be hard for me
Speaker 1: to work in towns, certain towns if I start making
Speaker 1: fun of him. But you know, there are towns that
Speaker 1: have never won a championship, and it's just hard to
Speaker 1: imagine that when you've been fortunate to be around teams
Speaker 1: that have won championships, you know you should never take
Speaker 1: that for granted. I mean, I been able to cover
Speaker 1: two super Bowls. Your rams are just coming off winning
Speaker 1: a super Bowl at home. You look at towns like
Speaker 1: Cleveland and San Diego and Arizona and Buffalo, and they've
Speaker 1: been waiting their entire lives. Yeah, no, it is. It
Speaker 1: is true. But the the thing I have noticed from
Speaker 1: doing the Overnight Show over the years is the tribalism
Speaker 1: is next level in certain towns. It's why Houston, Phoenix, Uh, Cleveland.
Speaker 1: I've had many battles. Heck, even in your old neck
Speaker 1: of the woods there in Baltimore where you live. Oh,
Speaker 1: they circle the wagons, they circle the wagon. I ripped,
Speaker 1: I made some I made some jokes about ray Lewis
Speaker 1: actually the last that Super Bowl against the forty Niners,
Speaker 1: and guys were very upset with me. Is threatening me.
Speaker 1: I just thought of another conspiracy theory, though I had forgotten.
Speaker 1: A few minutes ago. In Sports Game six of the
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals in like twenty years ago, Lakers and Kings. Yes,
Speaker 1: that and that was Now Tim Donnie, I do not
Speaker 1: believe he actually worked the game, but Tim Donnie, he
Speaker 1: claimed that was that was a fixed job to keep
Speaker 1: Sacramento out, to keep Sacramento from going to the championship round. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so I I buy that one. I buy that one another.
Speaker 1: David S. Stern Special, I guess so you got too
Speaker 1: out his plate right now? Yeah, And and what's they
Speaker 1: what do they say? Pirates, dead men, tell no tales. Right,
Speaker 1: he's not here, he can't be here to defend himself.
Speaker 1: So you know, yeah, there's there's there's nothing going on.
Speaker 1: He's he's moved on. He's he's checked out there. And
Speaker 1: that's the way that goes. So uh as far as
Speaker 1: the radio stuff, getting back to the radio business and
Speaker 1: the radio said, we've been in the business a long time, Jerry,
Speaker 1: I love radio. You know. Now it's a lot of
Speaker 1: podcasting and radio. They've been able to companies have been
Speaker 1: able to figure out that, you know, not only is
Speaker 1: it the live show, but you can listen whenever you
Speaker 1: want on demand, like on podcasts like this, which is
Speaker 1: really good, and you know, you don't have to just
Speaker 1: listen when the show is on live you can listen
Speaker 1: anytime you want. But I would I would love to
Speaker 1: see the the great epiphany in the radio business because unfortunately,
Speaker 1: a lot of the decisions that are made at the
Speaker 1: upper management level are not in the best interests of radio.
Speaker 1: And I've got a threat of needle here, Jerry, as
Speaker 1: you know, but uh, you know, there's just things that
Speaker 1: could be made that are better for the listener, better
Speaker 1: for the people that work in the business, and I
Speaker 1: don't know what it's gonna take to get back to that.
Speaker 1: And I feel like there's a lot of money that
Speaker 1: could be made for everyone involved in the business if
Speaker 1: better decisions were made. And uh, I'm I'm hopeful, but
Speaker 1: not not hopeful anytime soon that will get to that point.
Speaker 1: But the leadership it really needs to kind of rethink
Speaker 1: things in this business because you compare it to some
Speaker 1: of the other entertainment industries and I feel like we're
Speaker 1: the caboose in the back and it shouldn't be that way, Jerry.
Speaker 1: My opinion should not be that way. I'm a radio purist.
Speaker 1: I love I agree with you. I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, it's an outdated concept in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways. And you have worked different shifts, just
Speaker 1: like I have. And you know I've done morning Drive,
Speaker 1: I've done afternoon Drive, but on in the evenings, when
Speaker 1: you're on after about six or seven pm East Coast
Speaker 1: time at night, you know, management isn't usually listening their
Speaker 1: home with their families, either eating dinner or out to
Speaker 1: dinner or watching TV. And sometimes you're a forgotten person.
Speaker 1: And I made the decision and was a conscious front
Speaker 1: elite point drive because I did not want to be
Speaker 1: waking up at three in the morning, uh, for the
Speaker 1: rest of my life. But by doing that, I you know,
Speaker 1: forgot a lot of money and a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot in terms of moving and time shifts and realizing that,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of times when my show ended,
Speaker 1: I do maybe one of two or three people in
Speaker 1: the building left, you know, the radio, the r the
Speaker 1: sister stations within the within the corporation, we're all just
Speaker 1: you know, music oriented, just running, you know, automatically. So
Speaker 1: I was the only live voice on the air until
Speaker 1: I signed off. And you know, that got to be
Speaker 1: a little I wouldn't say, you know, bothersome, but just
Speaker 1: depressing and that you know, there was no one around
Speaker 1: and speak to and I was used to that for
Speaker 1: a while, but then I got you saw st of
Speaker 1: the fact of just being left alone. And I was
Speaker 1: one of the advantages is, you know, with the shift
Speaker 1: you have, but when you come into the radio station,
Speaker 1: you have people around you that you can have conversations
Speaker 1: with during the break and it's nice to have that,
Speaker 1: or you know, have some people floating around the building
Speaker 1: besides the people that are just cleaning up the building. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well I don't even see that. I don't even see
Speaker 1: the people cleaning up the building. They're done by by
Speaker 1: the time. No, no, no. And it's the funniest thing.
Speaker 1: And you know, I've gone back to the main studio
Speaker 1: about half the time, and uh and I just it
Speaker 1: it fastests I walk in there and there's no one.
Speaker 1: I mean, the only people there are the people on
Speaker 1: on the show, you know who who. You know, Eddie
Speaker 1: has to be there because of some technical stuff, and
Speaker 1: Roberto has to be there and because of their jobs
Speaker 1: they have to be there. But it was it really
Speaker 1: It's crazy because it used to be back in the olders,
Speaker 1: there were people coming and going all the time. It
Speaker 1: was like a a be a bee hive, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of activity going on, but but not anymore.
Speaker 1: Just I've taken enough of your time. I know you're
Speaker 1: on vacation. I appreciate you hanging out with us and
Speaker 1: keep me posted. Obviously we're friends, so you're gonna let
Speaker 1: me know what happens. And hopefully you can get a
Speaker 1: gig somewhere in Baltimore. But if not, somebody's gonna get
Speaker 1: a great broadcast or whether it's podcasting me. I hope
Speaker 1: we don't lose you in in radio. I hope you
Speaker 1: continue on in radio. But if you just go to
Speaker 1: a podcast, I hope you make a killing on that.
Speaker 1: And uh, and thanks for If I were a betting man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: if I were a betting man, and I bet that
Speaker 1: I'd eventually be on the radio and crack the mic
Speaker 1: on the radio again. When that happens, nobody knows, including me,
Speaker 1: including the person who probably may hire me next. We
Speaker 1: will see. But you know, the gambling industry is really
Speaker 1: opening up. One day it will reach your state and
Speaker 1: the state I'm in in Florida, and then I really
Speaker 1: think it will take off. So you know, I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to doing some things that involve that. Uh. I
Speaker 1: enjoy that as much as you do. And you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, the podcasting world has its advantages, as you know,
Speaker 1: because you control what you get to say there. You
Speaker 1: don't really have big brother watching over you. And you
Speaker 1: can wrap it up right now with me if you
Speaker 1: wanted to, or we could go another seventeen minutes, but
Speaker 1: I know we're not going to do no exactly. That's
Speaker 1: a great thing. Like radio, I do. I do four
Speaker 1: hours a night. You did, uh, you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know how long. What is your show? Three hours? Three
Speaker 1: or four hours? Something like that? You did did a lot,
Speaker 1: depending depending on if there was a game. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was usually four, but there was a game, we'd have
Speaker 1: a pregame show, so it'll be three. Yeah. So I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: podcast most this podcast, these things are like thirty thirty
Speaker 1: five minutes. When I go too long, my boss to
Speaker 1: say no, no, no. A podcast helps to be about
Speaker 1: thirty minutes. Don't go too much longer than thirty minutes
Speaker 1: because that's all that's all they want, so correct. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, Well we'll get out on that. Jerry, thank
Speaker 1: you and good luck. We'll talk to you next time. Thanks,
Speaker 1: but thanks for having me in to be able to
Speaker 1: follow Brent Musburger is one of the great honors of
Speaker 1: my career. Just one week after the great brient Musburger Um,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me, Ben, and you know I'll be
Speaker 1: listening and we'll be in touch well. And Musburger was
Speaker 1: on vacation and you're on vacation, so we have you
Speaker 1: have that in common. Again, a parallel universe, but I
Speaker 1: appreciate the comparison.