WEBVTT - Stocking Up 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.400 If you thought four hours a day, hundred minutes a 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:09.120 week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.400 of the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.440 treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.520 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. It's the clearinghouse of 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:23.360 hot takes. Break free for something special, the Fifth Hour, 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:28.160 which Ben Maller starts right now. It's fifth Hour, and 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:33.720 we are joined now by Dick Stockton, a legendary figure. 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:36.880 What a career he has had over the many years 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:42.720 on network television and calling all the big sporting events NFL, NBA, 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.840 stunt baseball, you name it. And he joins us now 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.560 for a special conversation here and a video chat. This 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:53.920 is not only available on the audio format, but also 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.520 in the video format. Dick, welcome, I'm looking at you. 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.960 You look good here, and how you holding up? How 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.800 you've been having a life here over the pandemic. You know, 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:08.319 I'm doing great, pen and I appreciate you're asking. Uh, 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.959 I'm doing the smart things. Uh. I haven't been. You know, 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.600 I'm not hunkering down. I'm living life, but I'm doing 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.840 the smart things. Uh. And you know what they are. 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.959 I don't have to go through the whole. It's here. 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.400 We all hear it every day. But I'm doing fine 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.360 and we're just all trying to get through this, right. Yeah, 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:29.360 what have you been doing? Is there anything special to 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:31.320 pass the time? We had a lot of time these days. 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.480 Is there anything that you've found? Are you well, you 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.080 know a lot of a lot of interest and uh, 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.720 you know, and uh and so watching games isn't you know, 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:44.600 isn't the only thing in the world for me? You know, 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.320 I played tennis and I played golf, you know, following 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.960 the rules. Uh, you know. I I work out in 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:55.880 my pool. Uh. I played the piano. I actually I 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.279 played the piano, saying once in a while, but before 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.000 very you people as little as possible. And I like 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.720 to read a lot, you know, So you know, when 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.919 you take everything the consideration, uh, you know, it's life 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.560 and I just go through it, you know. So I 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:13.440 enjoy what I do and I hope to get back 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.280 to it and we hope that we have an NFL season. 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:19.240 But you know, it's what I do. It's not who 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.799 I am. And so life has been, you know what 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.160 it is for everyone, but adjusting where it needs to 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.280 be adjusted. Yeah. And and with that, I mean, are 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.200 you planning on calling the games this year? I know 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.520 there's some some guys have said they're not gonna do it. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:34.800 Do you know what the plan is for the NFL? 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:36.800 Are you going to be in a studio somewhere if 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:38.800 you do do the games? Are you actually go on site? 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:40.920 You know? You know? Then, to be honest, we we 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:45.360 have no definitive word from Fox Sports. Um. You know, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.080 I'm under contract to do games, and I'm you know 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.280 what I've planned to do the games. Uh, but we 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:55.560 have not heard anything about how it's going to be done. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.359 And uh. You know the great thing about Fox Sports, 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.160 and it's been this way through is my twenty seventh 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:05.600 year with them, is that they call you when they 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.520 want you to know something and there are no rumors. Uh, 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.440 there are no innuendows and none of those things happen. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.400 And when they tell you, that's what it is. And 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.080 so when they make a decision, uh, and you know, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.520 they have to decide how they want to you know, 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:25.120 broadcast these games and hopefully we'll have them, they'll let 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.440 me know. Yeah. And with that, just in general, I mean, 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:33.040 you've been around the industry, uh forever, and you've seen 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.240 seen so much here, Like, what is your gut instinct 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:37.800 tell you on how this is gonna work out? I 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:39.640 know there's a lot of doomsday people out there that 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.320 this isn't gonna work. What what do you think can 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.760 sports pull this come back off? You know, it's it's 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.040 a It's a great question, Ben, because everyone has speculated. 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.960 The amazing thing is when this thing started, they say, 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.600 what's going to happen to sports? And we've seen some 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.240 movement in a lot of areas. You know, baseball teams 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.000 starting to practice and then stop practicing, the NBA gathering 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.480 in the bubble in the Orlando, the NHL planning. We 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.040 don't know about college football. The NFL is going according 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.800 to what their plan is. I know that, you know, 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.440 the preseason schedule to this point has been knocked down 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.200 from four to two. Uh So, I don't have a 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.560 gut feeling, to be honest, I I don't know. I 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.440 can't predict. I don't think anyone can as to what 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.120 it's really going to look like. There are so many 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.080 reports coming out. I've read, you know, one today about 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.400 the Ravens saying they're gonna allow fourteen thousand people in 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.719 the stadium, the Chiefs will allow a number of people. 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.599 I don't know. I really don't know, and so it's 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.599 I'm fine with that. We all want to know. And 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.360 when when the word comes down, that will be the word. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.159 And until it does, we just wait and see. Dick, 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.520 have you ever been in a position in your long 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.039 career that that rivals something like this? I mean, obviously 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.360 the climate is drastically different, but just the the lack 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.640 of opportunity to actually be at a you to call 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.279 a game and maybe have to do things from a 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.720 remote studio. Has that ever happened to you, whether it's 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:08.839 for for baseball and football, basketball all never. Never, I've 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.240 never had to call a game from a studio. If 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:16.800 I had to, I would be prepared to do so. Obviously, 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.279 they're going to be different things. I mean, you're not 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.520 going to have all the people on site if you 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:25.720 do that, um, and we could be on site if 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.839 they separate your partner, you know, and uh, you know, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.800 the people up in the booth, I don't know. I 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:34.599 mean I don't know any of them. Couldn't answers to 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.400 whether they're going to piping crowd noise or whether they're 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.479 going to have virtual fans in the stands. I have 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.440 no idea what they planned to do. I think they're 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.080 having big discussions, But I have never been under that 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.320 circumstance before. I've always been at the games that I 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.839 have broadcasts, and I've never done it off of a monitor. 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.159 But if I had to in a studio, that's what 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.960 I do, like all the other all colleagues wouldn't have 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:58.840 to do the same thing. Yeah, And I was gonna 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.039 ask you just a piggyback top of that, like during 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.839 your long career and how you've performed, are there points 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.799 in a broadcast who you actually use the crowd's emotion 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.400 and how they've kind of gotten up or even down 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.680 and use that as an extra tool for you, And 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.200 how you actually sound while you're on Are you you 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.120 feed into that emotion? That's a That's what I do. 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.360 I actually, I mean I that is that is what 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.719 I'm you know what I feel. And a lot of 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.240 broadcasters have been that way. Been Scully of course, has 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.560 been that way. The great Dodger broadcaster. Uh, you know, 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.360 Joe Buck is aware of that very much, and uh 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.240 I even employed it. You know what I when I 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.000 called called the fisks home run way back in the 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.760 seventy five World Series between the Red Sox and the 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.200 Cincinnati Reds when Fisk get the home run, and I 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:52.039 remained silent for nearly a minute while the crowd was 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.719 going crazy and the cameras were showing the fans and 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.200 showing Fisk grounding the basis. And I think that's really 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:03.719 what iportant part of a broadcast is. I personally feel 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:07.600 that announcers talk too much, and that you know, they 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:09.840 have so much information at hand that they want to 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.240 give it out, but the fan at home doesn't want 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.280 to be assaulted all the time. And you know, sometimes 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.360 you know, the term too much information really fits when 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:23.040 you're doing a broadcast. So I believe in that there's 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:28.320 nothing better than the reaction of the crowd and the 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.520 different pictures that a director would show, you know, at 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.360 a sporting event after a touchdown or a home run 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.280 or any of those things. So you know, that's the 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.320 important thing, and so that comes into play a little bit, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:42.800 you know, if we don't have fans at the game. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.520 Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.120 Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:53.200 Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Yeah, 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.920 and and just to follow that up, you've done radio 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:57.840 and television. I know you was the TV guy, but 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.440 you've done a lot of radio. We're radio guys mostly, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.800 so did you You're great at television, But did you 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.160 compare and contrast? Do you like radio more when you started? 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:10.920 Or is it you've always enjoyed television. Well, I grew 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.120 I grew up, then I grew up on radio. I 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:17.200 mean I grew up on radio. I think baseball is 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.880 a radio sport. I think it's meant to be a 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.520 radio sport. The thing that I love about radio, and 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.480 I've done, like you men in much more television than radio, 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.640 is the fact that in radio you use your imagination. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.040 You're sitting in front of the radio, you know, set 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.640 or whether it would be a transistor radio when I 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.000 was growing up or whatever you now, and you imagine 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:43.800 things and the announcment describes what is going on, and 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.880 you're now imagining the runner running, uh, you know, towards 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.240 the sun part of the field, or towards the open 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.840 end of the stadium into the you know, whatever the situation. 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.240 Situation may be in and a good broadcast to describe 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.720 in football, especially the uniforms that the team was wearing, 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.960 or in basketball before it starts, so you can imagine 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.000 them in the colors that they're wearing. And so it's 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.200 very important to do it. And you know, some of 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.560 the best broadcasters on radio that I grew up with 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.920 didn't talk uh end to end, They didn't fill every 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.640 second of it. They'd let the crown come in there. 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.840 There was a great baseball announcertain and you may have 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:26.200 remembered named Ernie Harwell, and he worked for the Detroit 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:29.600 Tigers for I don't know forty years, fifty years, thirty 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.600 ye or whatever it was. And and the great sound 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:36.680 And think that all of the Michigan people late at night, 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.800 you know, outside listening to just the sound of the 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.080 crowd for the moment when Ernie was doing a game 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.000 and just saying what needed to be said. Yeah, it's 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.079 it's it's great. And you went you went to Syracuse. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.959 But now when you went to Syracuse, now it's broadcasting 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.200 you is it because of you? Dick the guys like 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.599 yourself there. Because now if you want to be a 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.040 broadcaster in sports, you've got to go to Syracuse. Well, 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.600 I suggest that they changed the name to the Stockton 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.680 School of Broadcasting instead of the new House School of Broadcasting. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.280 But he paid for all those buildings and all those 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.720 great facilities that they have, And so I wasn't the 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.640 first one. Um uh, you know, I was one of 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.040 the early ones. I think Marv Albert and I were, 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.360 you know, synonymous. He was ahead, but I think I 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.120 worked at the campus station before he did, W A. R. 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.160 And uh. And all of them have come in since. 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.480 And some of the great ones that we know have 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:36.800 come from Syracuse University, and their facilities actually are as 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:42.200 good as any networks facilities. That's that's how tremendous has become. Dick, 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.400 is there anything professionally you you haven't done what you'd 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.120 like to do? Well, you know, that's a that's a 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.360 good question. I have no regrets. I mean I've called 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.640 a World Series. I've called six Super Bowls on you know, 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.480 the world feed of the NFL that went overseas. I've 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:03.720 done nine NBA final I've done n c A tournament games, 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.880 have won the host of the championship game. I've done 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:08.640 a couple of Olympics. I've also done a couple of 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.280 hockey games. And you know, the one thing that I wish, 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.400 and it's not a regret, is that I had done 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:17.719 more hockey because I really enjoyed hockey growing up in 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.120 the suburb of New York City a Ranger fan and 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.880 listening to a lot of the games, uh, you know, 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.760 from out of town on the radio. And uh if 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:30.080 I had an opportunity to two hockey games for Fox 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:34.680 working with Mike Ruzione when Fox had the contract for NHL, 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.680 and I would have enjoyed doing more hockey. That's the 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.120 only thing. But I wouldn't call it a regret. What 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:44.360 about Philly Olympics. What events did you call for the Olympics? Well, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.280 I I was I was blessed to call one of 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:51.880 the great Olympic events of all time in the Winter Olympics. 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.200 I called Dan Jansen's gold medal and world record speed 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.560 skating event and in a in a great story because 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.400 as you know, Jansen had competed and uh come up 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:07.360 short in previous Olympics for various reasons, and he did 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.560 not win the five hundred. He slipped and that was 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.040 one of the problems he had falling. But his last 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.240 event in the last chance to win a gold medal 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:20.320 was the one thousand meter in Hammar in Norway, and 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.120 uh Eric Heiden, the Great. Eric Heiden won five gold 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.120 medals in the nineteen eighty Olympics in speed skating was 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.800 my partner and he not only won the gold medal, 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.120 he set the world record, so he finished on a 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:35.199 high militon so that was great. And in Valda Sare 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.800 I called the men's alpine skiing events the there So 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:41.839 those are the two Winter Olympics I broadcast and it 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.600 was a great thrill to do that. Fox Sports Radio 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.520 has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.920 all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.599 and within the I Heart Radio app search f s 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.640 R to listen live. So I guess the question is 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.800 obviously that you've called every type of sport imaginable. Which 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:01.920 one is the hardest? Which one there from a play 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.720 by play standpoint? What is the one that is the 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:08.880 most difficult to call, whether it be on television or radio. Well, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.199 that's another another good question. Now I never called horse racing. 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.800 I think that would be, uh, you know, a difficult 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.160 one to call, and I never got into that. But 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.880 I think you know honestly, and people think you the 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:24.440 sports that you have to fill are the hardest, and 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.079 I don't look at it that way. I mean, I've 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.920 called a lot of baseball games, and baseball you just 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.800 don't fill. You let the crowd and the ambiance take over. 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.040 And when there's a big pitch in a big moment, 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.320 you know, you call that and uh. And sometimes you 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.600 just say they see it strike three and the picture 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:41.280 walks off the mount and you really don't have to 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:45.000 say anything. But I think, to me, the hardest is football. 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:51.000 And the reason why, man is because you have a 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.320 segment of moment of time to call a play, and 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.280 when you call that play, it has to be correct. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.240 It has to be accurate, it has to be either 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:05.440 right call, it has to have the right emotion under 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.439 the moment of the game, and then you have to 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.080 get out and let your partner come in and then 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.800 you may play off your partner at the end. So 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.440 I think that you have to make a short period 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.680 count when you call a football game, and that's why 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.440 I think that's the one that may be the most challenging. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.320 And I mean, what was it like in the early days, 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:27.960 And I know what it's like now in the business. 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.200 But when you were breaking in in the in the 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.880 sixties and the early seventies and you were making your mark, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.320 what was how difficult was it? What was the process 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.560 like compared to what it is now? Well, you know, 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.240 it's all about experience and all about reps. And I 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.920 wrote the other day in my in my column that 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.720 I do, uh you know, the Stockton dot com, which 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.200 I do one every week, and I talked about a 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.080 lot of factors of my career Stockton says. And it's 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.520 a column I also write for a newspaper called The 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:01.120 Thousand Island Son. And I was talking about preseason football. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.440 And the first football game I ever called was a 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:10.240 preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the St. Louis Cardinals. 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:15.120 And this was in before the Steelers became a powerful team. 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.880 And I'll never forget I was calling the game and 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.040 the game was going so fast for me that I 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.320 felt like I wanted to put my arms out, stand 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.640 up and say, can you just stop and slow down 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.400 and let me catch up because I had to catch 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.720 up to who ran the ball, who made the tackle, 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.120 how many are to the game? What down is it? 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:35.920 And this was the hardest thing for me to get 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.120 because it was going too fast. And now, to me, 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.760 when I call a football game, it's in slow motion. 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:44.480 I see the receivers going down field, I know who 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.680 they are. It's all about reps. It's all about experience, 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.280 and so I think when you're doing things in the 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:54.640 early days, then it's all about just getting the experience 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:58.080 down and you get better with age and with time. Dick, 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.960 on that note, you started to where you're at now. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.800 We see a lot of your content replayed over and 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.800 over and over again, especially with the Lakers and Celtics 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.520 and and obviously what not with the World Series. But 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.280 you don't have a chapter. You have books of content. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:19.200 So when people obviously watch this material and now you 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.520 see it on television some of the greatest games that 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.880 you've ever witnessed and called, what does that mean to you? 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.080 How do you feel when you watch those games just 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.400 to replay? Well, I'm just I just say, what a 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.960 what a blessed career I've had, and uh, and I 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.080 just watched it. I mean, if we all saw the 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.760 last Dance, I think a lot of people did of 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:43.200 the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls Championships and and uh, I 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:47.360 guess my calls were featured sprinkled throughout it, and it 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.640 was just fun to watch, and I would smile recalling 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.200 those games. I remember calling Jordan the sixties three point game, 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.720 the most points that he ever scored in a game, 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.840 and it was at Boston Garden. And so what I 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.840 do when I hear a lot of that is that 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.280 I remember being there at the time, and I remember 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:10.280 walking into Boston Garden for you know, that second game 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:14.399 of that that brief, you know series between the Bulls 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.119 and the Celtics, and uh, and I remember the circumstances 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.480 of it. When I see the Lakers and the Celtics, 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.800 I remember sitting down the courtside no air conditioning at 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.520 Boston Garden, sweating through my clothes. And I know that 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.480 the Lakers didn't have any air conditioning either, which is 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.920 why they had to get I v s at halftime 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.359 of their games against the Celtics in the those memorable, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.800 you know matches they had in the eighties. Be sure 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.560 to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.720 at two am Eastern eleven p m. Pacific. Well, to 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.719 follow that up. I grew up watching every great memory 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.159 I think of with Bird and Magic you were calling 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.720 the game. I remember you at the Boston Garden with 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.320 Tommy Heinson and Pat O'Brien at the half and you 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.280 know I remember is. I mean, you must hear this 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.239 all the time, but you really when people see you, 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.800 they it's like you flashed back to that wonderful time 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.480 when you fell in love with sports. Uh. And you 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.119 must hear that quite a bit when you're out and 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:16.639 about talking to people. But are you known for that? 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.800 Do you think the Celtics, Lakers is or just in general, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.199 the NBA and the eighties is what you're known for. 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:24.240 You've done so much do you think that's what you're 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.560 calling card is? Well, you know, it's funny. I've I've 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.879 done uh you know, twenties twenty seven years with Fox 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.960 doing NFL and I've done NFL with CBS before, And 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:35.920 you're absolutely right, I'm getting to that point. I've done 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.640 a lot of division, um you know, playoffs with Turner 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.600 when I did those games for them along with games 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.880 with Fox, and I did the Olympics. But I think 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.680 that you know, people do uh you know tab me 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:54.600 with the eighties because I called every Lakers Celtic Final 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.080 in the eighties. So when you're doing them year in 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.280 a year out, and uh, you know you art of 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.240 course with the seventies Sixers and the Lakers, and you 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.119 end up with the Detroit Pistons, the bad Boys winning 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.520 their back to back finals. Uh, you know at the 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.879 end of the eighties up in to the So I 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.240 think people say, yeah, Lakers Celtics, and maybe more for 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.879 that than for anything else. Yeah, I think I agree 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:22.200 with you there. Yeah. And and also you did NBA 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.720 games you set up until a few years ago, and 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.560 you know, the guys today there's always this bar room 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:31.800 controversy that that guys have. You know, could Lebron and 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:35.000 Kawhi Leonard and these guys play against Burden Magic and 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.920 the guys before that you've called those games. You've seen 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:41.720 all these different generations of NBA players. What do you say, 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.560 I don't. I don't get into that. You know then, 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.399 And the reason why is that we're talking about different eras. 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.679 I mean, you look at Jerry West and Oscar Robertson 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.840 and Bill Russell and Will Chamberlain, and then you look 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:58.760 at the athletes of today, the speed, the size, I mean, 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.639 the centers were six nine at that time, the guards 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.159 were six one. You're six one. You know, the chances 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:07.960 are you're not gonna, you know, be able to see 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.800 much action because who are you going to defend? And 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.400 then when Magic Johnson came along as a six ft 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:18.040 nine inch point guard or power forward or center as 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.679 he played the one game that Kareema build your bar 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.960 was out and you remember that, I think it was uh. 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:28.040 You know, the size and the speed of these players, 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.639 especially in football. You look at football highlights from the 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.800 fifties and you look at football highlights now. I mean 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.520 offensive lineman can run faster than running backs did in 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:41.040 those days. So you know, time has made athletes bigger 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:45.520 and faster, so to compare, you know, I think it's wrong. Uh. 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:48.120 And and for the for the same token, I think 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:52.440 it's wrong to forget about the era of Oscar Robertson 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:56.120 and Jerry West. You know, an Elgin Baylor and if 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:58.080 you were to say, and people saying, who who's he 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:01.240 stick talking about? And then move into the sixties and 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:04.000 you look at the chem Elijah Wan and Elvin Hayes 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.680 and people say who are they? And then you move 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.720 on to other years and now it's Lebron and so 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:12.840 I think what you have to do, guys, is to 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:17.400 just accept the era that you're in and not compare. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:21.400 I think personally, there's too much comparison all around. I mean, 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.480