Speaker 1: If you thought four hours a day, minutes a week
Speaker 1: was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants of
Speaker 1: the old Republic, the 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 clearing House of Hot
Speaker 1: takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with
Speaker 1: Ben Maller starts right now. That it does, and we
Speaker 1: are in the air everywhere the vast power of podcasting,
Speaker 1: the global reach of the I Heart podcast network, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for downloading and subscribing to this particular podcast,
Speaker 1: a spinoff of the radio show The Overnight Show, The
Speaker 1: Ben Maller Show on Fox Sports Radio. This a standalone
Speaker 1: show as a spinoff, and we are here now eight
Speaker 1: days a week because four hours are clearly not enough,
Speaker 1: and joined yet again by David Gascon for better or worse,
Speaker 1: He is right over there standing. Uh. I don't know
Speaker 1: if this could be like a standing eight count, Ben,
Speaker 1: but welcome to the month of July. And uh we
Speaker 1: are bearing for another month of the coronavirus. And uh,
Speaker 1: I guess we what we do? We're dipping our toes
Speaker 1: back in the deep end of the pool today. Well,
Speaker 1: I've got my tap dance shoes on because we're gonna
Speaker 1: go do a little tap dance on the third rail.
Speaker 1: Oh Mad, it's the third rail. So I'm gonna warn
Speaker 1: you right now if you are triggered by political conversation
Speaker 1: and related to sports, this is probably not the podcast
Speaker 1: for you. Okay. If you don't want to hear that,
Speaker 1: I understand. Not everyone wants to hear that. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people tell me they listen to the
Speaker 1: show to get away from that. I get it, I
Speaker 1: completely understand. But if you're into it and you're you
Speaker 1: want to hear some interesting opinions, I am very excited
Speaker 1: about this an interview podcast. You probably know that from
Speaker 1: looking at it. Uh. And we are going to be
Speaker 1: joined here in a couple of minutes by the great
Speaker 1: Lee Terrell. Uh. Now, Leo Terrell and I have had
Speaker 1: a similar radio games. Now he's had more cool stuff
Speaker 1: happened in his life. He's an attorney, you know, he's
Speaker 1: he's actually lived the life I've just been in radio.
Speaker 1: But Leo very successful civil rights attorney. Fact, he calls
Speaker 1: himself the fair minded civil rights attorney. And he was
Speaker 1: a teacher and he's had a lot of interesting things
Speaker 1: that he's done in his life. Uh, and he's done
Speaker 1: very well in education and whatnot. And uh he started
Speaker 1: at k ABC in Los Angeles around the time I
Speaker 1: started at the mighty six ninety in San Diego, which
Speaker 1: is our we learned from Hacksall, uh when when he
Speaker 1: was on a few while back that it's you know,
Speaker 1: seventies seven thousand watch it was really in l A
Speaker 1: station slash you know, San Diego slash l A uh
Speaker 1: six night. But anyway, so uh we we've kind of
Speaker 1: been on the radio at the same time here. I've
Speaker 1: appreciated from Afar Leo's work. I love good radio. I'm
Speaker 1: a radio nerd. I love people that do radio well.
Speaker 1: And I you know, guess on my pet peeve is
Speaker 1: when people do layup line radio and you know Mount
Speaker 1: Rushmore and he just don't put any effort into it.
Speaker 1: I never got that sense from Leo when I've listened
Speaker 1: to him over the years. He's always been prepared. He's
Speaker 1: got passionate opinions, and that to me, that's the most
Speaker 1: entertaining thing to listen to. Us what I look forward
Speaker 1: to listening to when I tune into a radio show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's fascinating because you know how he connected. He
Speaker 1: actually has know my dad for decades. And two things
Speaker 1: that you know, the chief had told me was he
Speaker 1: said something about Leo that you need to know is
Speaker 1: that one he listens and two he cares. And as
Speaker 1: the first things that popped up to me, Obviously, if
Speaker 1: you're gonna be if you're gonna be dynamic and radio,
Speaker 1: you've gotta be able to do those two things because
Speaker 1: unlike sports, where you can, like you said, mail and
Speaker 1: it at time to do box score, radio, politics and
Speaker 1: social issues, no chance. Yeah, you can't. You can't do it.
Speaker 1: You'll be be called out. And and Leo, I feel
Speaker 1: like he's getting more and more popular. Is his his
Speaker 1: reach is print is getting bigger and bigger. I know
Speaker 1: he's a contributor at Fox News. He's done some other
Speaker 1: TV stuff sporadically, but I feel like this last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks he's really been at the forefront a lot
Speaker 1: of these issues that we talk about because they're loosely
Speaker 1: related to sports. Yeah, but I think one of the
Speaker 1: main reasons outside of what he's doing in terms of
Speaker 1: content is if you've noticed Ben he has a Lavalier
Speaker 1: microphone and he has a wonderful backdrop in his studio.
Speaker 1: Wait wait, wait, wait wait, I got I got a
Speaker 1: I'm looking behind me here. I got a beautiful blue
Speaker 1: background with the Fox Sports Radio logo and my logo.
Speaker 1: Although I didn't notice the way the people at the
Speaker 1: company made the logo not to go down a rabbit
Speaker 1: hole here is uh they made the logo. So where
Speaker 1: I sit and you can pretty much only see the
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio logo and not not the Ben Mallard
Speaker 1: Show logo. I find. Somebody pointed that out to me, said,
Speaker 1: you know, you can't really see your logo. You can
Speaker 1: only see the Fox Sports radiogo. And I'm like, no, no,
Speaker 1: my it was there. It's just my head is covering
Speaker 1: it up. And so but anyway, and before we get
Speaker 1: into leo here, I did want to promote us because
Speaker 1: all about us. This is a fourth US Live weekend.
Speaker 1: If you if you want a special cameo, shout out
Speaker 1: you know, I can tell you how patriotic I am
Speaker 1: and wrap myself in the flag if you want on cameo.
Speaker 1: If you want that this weekend for the holiday, we
Speaker 1: are available. We're both on Cameo. I'm on cameo dot com.
Speaker 1: Just search my name Ben Mallord. Love to do it
Speaker 1: if you're super fan, if that's something you would be
Speaker 1: interested in. It's not free, but still uh not that much.
Speaker 1: Is certainly cheaper than most of the people that are
Speaker 1: on Cameo that are just outrageous some of them. I mean,
Speaker 1: let's be honest here, some of the prices are over
Speaker 1: the top. And guest and you're on there also, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: you can follow me on there, David David J. Gasconers
Speaker 1: through the search and of course Twitter. I'm on there
Speaker 1: at David Jay gascon On Instagram is at Dave gascon Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm on all the social media should know that
Speaker 1: by now, but maybe not Ben Maller on Twitter. That's
Speaker 1: Ben Maller on Twitter, Instagram, Ben Maller on Fox and
Speaker 1: Facebook Ben Maller Show. And again, if you see those
Speaker 1: videos from time to time, please watch him. That helps
Speaker 1: out get those views up. I know it seems ridiculous,
Speaker 1: but the people in our in our company do look
Speaker 1: at those kind of things, so that doesn't help us out.
Speaker 1: But right now, enough of us, guess on, let's get
Speaker 1: right into it and we welcome in on the high
Speaker 1: Speed Hotline. I don't know we have a name for.
Speaker 1: This is just the phone. He just called in on
Speaker 1: the phone. How about this we could call line once?
Speaker 1: This one actually works. We have a line one. Hey man,
Speaker 1: I am very excited to talk to with We have
Speaker 1: not spoken before, but as I said earlier, a big
Speaker 1: fan of his work on radio specifically and also television.
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of him recently. We welcome in
Speaker 1: Leo Terrell, who joins us here on the Fifth Hour
Speaker 1: with Ben Maller and David Guest Gun and Leo. Big fan.
Speaker 1: I've enjoyed you over there. What have you been up to? Well? Then,
Speaker 1: first of all, thank you and Dave thanks for having me. Uh,
Speaker 1: you're right. I started on radio in about the nineties,
Speaker 1: mid nineties, and Uh, as much as I am a lawyer,
Speaker 1: I loved so I've listened to you over the years,
Speaker 1: and I listened to Dave, and it's just a privilege
Speaker 1: to be on the air with you guys. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's good to have an attorney on because I
Speaker 1: feel like we need an attorney with what's going on
Speaker 1: in the world. You know, we have a deal in
Speaker 1: the sports world obviously, and that has turned very political.
Speaker 1: And it's great to have a lawyer on like yourself
Speaker 1: here to to help enlighten us here. But from a
Speaker 1: legal perspective, do you think it makes sense for the
Speaker 1: sports league such as the NFL, the NBA, NASCAR to
Speaker 1: make the transition into the political world. You know what
Speaker 1: My answer is, yes and no. I think they intersect.
Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, people love sports. I love
Speaker 1: sports to escape from the rat race of the world
Speaker 1: politics and all the anger. It's a way to escape.
Speaker 1: I make the flip side of that, and you experienced
Speaker 1: it with Kaepernick, and you see what's happening with NASCAR
Speaker 1: is that the situation is that these people, these athletes,
Speaker 1: are public figures and they have a conscious to have
Speaker 1: an opinion, and they can make a tremendous pack. Now
Speaker 1: the question is the fan. Does the fan want to
Speaker 1: hear the opinion of of Bubba Wallace or a Colin Kaepernick?
Speaker 1: And to me, as a civil rights attorney, is an
Speaker 1: individual issue. For me, I'd rather keep politics out of sports.
Speaker 1: But hey, we can't deny it. It exists and it's
Speaker 1: going to be a continuation of of athletes. Give me
Speaker 1: opinions on uh civil issues such as the George Floyd murdered. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, continuing down that line, Leo, I mean,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees of the Saints said something that many people
Speaker 1: felt was benign about the national anthem, and he just
Speaker 1: got trampled on for saying that, and he issued three apologies,
Speaker 1: at least three apologies. What did you make of that
Speaker 1: whole scenario where he had to apologize multiple times for
Speaker 1: something many people felt it was not something you need
Speaker 1: to apologize for. Thank you very much for asking that question, Drew.
Speaker 1: If you're listening to me, you should not apologize. You
Speaker 1: have a right. Drew Brees had a right to express
Speaker 1: his opinion. And let me be clear because there's this,
Speaker 1: and this is your initial question about you know, should
Speaker 1: athletes talk about politics and all this stuff? Hey, there
Speaker 1: is a lot of different opinions on black lives. Now,
Speaker 1: let me give you a perfect example. I don't support
Speaker 1: black lives. I do not support black lives because they
Speaker 1: don't support all black lives, for example, black police officers
Speaker 1: who are murdered. Now I get away with saying that
Speaker 1: because I'm black. What would have happened if Drew Brees
Speaker 1: would have said that, and he oh, he just his
Speaker 1: statement was benign. But what it would have happened if
Speaker 1: Drew Brees would have said Leo Trull just said, he
Speaker 1: would have been annihilated. And I think that's wrong. I
Speaker 1: think athletes have a right to express opinions and this
Speaker 1: sort of gang mentality. Oh, oh my gosh, how dare you? Hey?
Speaker 1: If any athletes wants to talk to me why I
Speaker 1: oppose Black Lives matter, give me a call. But I
Speaker 1: think Drew Brees was unjustly harassed. Be sure to catch
Speaker 1: live editions of The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two
Speaker 1: a m. Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
Speaker 1: and the I Heart Radio app. Yeah, and going down
Speaker 1: that same same rabbit hole, Leo, we saw it with
Speaker 1: an NBA broadcaster, Grant Napier, who had been calling Sacramento
Speaker 1: Kings games for like thirty years, and he said all
Speaker 1: lives matter, and that sent the mob off. And have
Speaker 1: we now gotten to the point where you can't say
Speaker 1: anything and it has the thought police taken over here
Speaker 1: and there's no different opinions? Leo, Yeah, I think you have.
Speaker 1: And that and that Sacramento announcer in my opinion was
Speaker 1: treated unfairly. All lives matter, I'll say it. All lives matter.
Speaker 1: And here's the problem. There is like a mindset and
Speaker 1: this is what the problem is. Let's here's the elephant
Speaker 1: the room. I I compliment Black Lives Matter for dominating
Speaker 1: social media, but what they have done is they have
Speaker 1: hijacked the issue of equality in this country. And you
Speaker 1: got corporations, you got athletes, you got companies just contributing
Speaker 1: millions and millions of dollars, and you have Black Lives
Speaker 1: Matter have basically stifle individuals athletes such as Drew Breeds. Yeah,
Speaker 1: now it's up in sacrament They've stifled their speech. And
Speaker 1: as a result, if you don't agree with this perception
Speaker 1: of Black Lives Matter in totality, you're gonna be punished.
Speaker 1: And again, the original issue here is this. When I
Speaker 1: listened to sports, when I listened to basketball and football
Speaker 1: and baseball, I don't want to deal with politics and
Speaker 1: political issues. I want to escape, and now that seems
Speaker 1: to be impossible. Leo. I mean credential wise, I don't
Speaker 1: know if a lot of the listeners know your background,
Speaker 1: know your resume, but I know you went to cal State,
Speaker 1: Domingus Hills. You've got a master's from Pepperdine and then
Speaker 1: you've got your j d from from u C. L A.
Speaker 1: So you're used to a bruin. A lot of people
Speaker 1: here in southern California might not like that, especially if
Speaker 1: they're Trojan friens Um hey ring basketball, Trojan football. The
Speaker 1: next actually in right of the bread and butter um,
Speaker 1: what's your what's your thought process behind what the NBA?
Speaker 1: Because you look at all the leagues, well, it's the NBA,
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL, and now NASCAR.
Speaker 1: But with the NBA and how progressive they are, they've
Speaker 1: had the thought and they flowed the idea with the
Speaker 1: players and the Players Association that they want to once
Speaker 1: the season does resume in Orlando, is that they want
Speaker 1: to have the players have an opportunity to not have
Speaker 1: their last names on their jerseys but have either social issues,
Speaker 1: social causes, or charity funds that are are named on
Speaker 1: the back of their jerseys. What's your thought behind all that?
Speaker 1: And do you feel that that is beneficial for the
Speaker 1: sport and and for the general public. Uh, let me
Speaker 1: let me answer that question. Absolutely not. It's a horrible idea.
Speaker 1: And again, I'm a civil rights attorney. I got a
Speaker 1: lot of credibility to speak on issues involving police miscons
Speaker 1: I have handled some of the biggest police cases in
Speaker 1: this country for the last twenty five years. And and
Speaker 1: this this attempt to basically among the NBA players to
Speaker 1: hijack the NBA and turn into a social conscious issue
Speaker 1: when in fact they don't even really know what they're
Speaker 1: talking about. Again, you know, you know, we got this
Speaker 1: horrible situation of George Floyd being murdered, but this this
Speaker 1: leap in logic that oh my gosh, police officers are
Speaker 1: racist throughout the entire country. I will submit to you
Speaker 1: the following fact that in democratic cities Chicago, l A, Baltimore, Washington,
Speaker 1: gul who's running the city minorities, people of color. So
Speaker 1: back to the social issue, whoever is thinking about this,
Speaker 1: they don't understand what the real issue is. I can
Speaker 1: tell you right now, NBA, help me develop great schools
Speaker 1: in the minority community. School education is the civil rights issue,
Speaker 1: not police misconduct. So this this symbolic issue of wearing
Speaker 1: social justice issues on the back of your jersey. That's
Speaker 1: a great PR stunt, But it doesn't accomplish anything, and
Speaker 1: a defeats again the original question you asked me, I
Speaker 1: want to go watch basketball to escape from problems in
Speaker 1: heading not to see it in my face. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's fastened that you brought that up with the
Speaker 1: education system because I had the chance after we had
Speaker 1: originally taught and I had a chat with what the chief.
Speaker 1: I had a chat with my dad a few days
Speaker 1: ago and asked him, you know, background wise that you
Speaker 1: guys you know connected, and he told me a fascinating
Speaker 1: case that you guys were a part of. And then
Speaker 1: he had mentioned something interesting when he was working in
Speaker 1: the Southeastern Division and you had a lot of contacts
Speaker 1: and people you knew and Watts, and he told me
Speaker 1: a fascinating story about how these black and these mothers
Speaker 1: would put their kids in in bathtubs at night so
Speaker 1: they can sleep with protection because there'd be guns sprang
Speaker 1: bullets all over the place when these kids are going
Speaker 1: to bed at night. And it was fascinating to me.
Speaker 1: What he had told me is that kids would go
Speaker 1: to school and the first hour they learned nothing, and
Speaker 1: the last hour of the day in school they learned
Speaker 1: nothing because they were worried about what happened the night before,
Speaker 1: and they were worried about what's going to happen at
Speaker 1: night when they go home, when they're simply trying to survive.
Speaker 1: And my question, my question to you for Lee is
Speaker 1: this is that there aren't players and there are athletes
Speaker 1: like Ben's talked about this a lot with Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: for his well renowned as he was, most of the
Speaker 1: charity work he did behind the scenes. So my question is,
Speaker 1: do you feel like enough of these athletes do enough
Speaker 1: for their communities to make sure that they can get
Speaker 1: some of the benefits of what they have done professionally
Speaker 1: and obviouacy financially. Let me think about that. Give me
Speaker 1: a say, hell, no, they haven't done nothing, because what
Speaker 1: you just described goes on every day. That's why, here's
Speaker 1: another news flash. People of color love the police in
Speaker 1: the community. You know why it is that buffer zone
Speaker 1: between them and the criminals. They love the police in
Speaker 1: community of color. And have they done enough could you imagine? Look,
Speaker 1: let's be clear again, I'm gonna be very honest with you.
Speaker 1: African Americans dominated NBA basketball. They make millions of billions
Speaker 1: of dollars they're branded. Could you imagine if they put
Speaker 1: some money into education, improve the school system. The reason
Speaker 1: why the three of us are talking right now because
Speaker 1: we went to school, we went to college, we got
Speaker 1: an education, and we have been able to pull ourselves
Speaker 1: up through education. And what I'm saying if these it's
Speaker 1: everyone from the NBA listen to this podcast, please stop
Speaker 1: worrying about putting your name on the back of a
Speaker 1: jersey for branding your own personal benefit. If you really
Speaker 1: care about people of color, improve the school system. Education
Speaker 1: is the new civil rights issue. Athletes. Be sure to
Speaker 1: catch live editions of The Ben Miller Show weekdays at
Speaker 1: two a m. Eastern, eleven p m. Pacific and LEO.
Speaker 1: We've heard a lot of athletes recently, not not a ton,
Speaker 1: but a few that have said, you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know if I want to even play. We've heard Dwight Howard,
Speaker 1: some NBA guys say that until there's major change, that
Speaker 1: they feel like they're uncomfortable playing their sports because their
Speaker 1: entertainment for the masses and all that. In your opinion,
Speaker 1: what do you think they actually want to see happen
Speaker 1: before they'd be happy playing? Because I've I've heard a
Speaker 1: lot of random statements, but I haven't heard any specifics
Speaker 1: on what really needs to happen for them to be comfortable.
Speaker 1: You know, I'll tell you right now. Let's set aside
Speaker 1: the pandemic, and you know, they say they don't want
Speaker 1: to play the until things change in society. Now what
Speaker 1: I find amazing when I hear them say this, I
Speaker 1: hear I'm hearing black multimillionaires basically sitting there and saying,
Speaker 1: you know, I want things to change. Are they see
Speaker 1: discrimination and police misconduct every day? Are they reflecting their
Speaker 1: views of what their personal experiencing, or are they guessing
Speaker 1: what's going on out in the communities of color because
Speaker 1: they know there's a total disconnect there. I'm scratching my head.
Speaker 1: Because they don't live in the community any longer. They're
Speaker 1: insulated from all the issues that they're troubled by. So
Speaker 1: all these athletes who are not going to play, they're
Speaker 1: gonna go back to their big mansions and their multiple
Speaker 1: cards and relax, And they don't say the data in
Speaker 1: day out problems of the people who they allegedly are
Speaker 1: concerned with. I find that hard to believe, and I
Speaker 1: think it's very disingenuous. And all they're doing is drinking
Speaker 1: the cool aid that we gotta change this racist system
Speaker 1: that exists. Let me be as clear as possible, because
Speaker 1: this systematic discrimination, institutionalized racism. Athletes, let me tell you
Speaker 1: right now, this is not the nineteen sixties. This is
Speaker 1: not Bull Connor, Lexter Maddox, George Wallace, the German Shepherds
Speaker 1: of going after black folks at dining areas. That doesn't exist.
Speaker 1: This is where you have athletes, superstar celebrities of all
Speaker 1: different colors, a black president for eight years part of
Speaker 1: the system. So stop playing that game. There are pockets
Speaker 1: of racism. I agree, That's why I'm still working. But
Speaker 1: come on, athletes from the NBA, NFL, m MLB, they're
Speaker 1: facing racism, give me a give me a break. Come on, well,
Speaker 1: and Leo following that up, how much heat are you taking?
Speaker 1: I mean as a black guy, and I know we've
Speaker 1: seen a few other people who have crossed the line,
Speaker 1: if you will, and they take a lot of crap.
Speaker 1: Are you taking a lot of crap for your position
Speaker 1: on this? How? How have people been treated me? You know?
Speaker 1: One of the reason why I've always been self employed
Speaker 1: so that I wouldn't have to worry about economic pressure.
Speaker 1: A self employeed lawyer for thirty years, I don't have
Speaker 1: to worry about going into the office. And the boss said, hey, man,
Speaker 1: I just don't like what you said on Ben Mallard
Speaker 1: and David Gascone's UH podcast. You're gonna wabout you go
Speaker 1: so economically, I'm not worried as far as and I
Speaker 1: have credibility on the left on this so called you
Speaker 1: know discrimination, So I have tremendous credibility answer your questions
Speaker 1: and by taking some heat, Yeah, does it bother me? No,
Speaker 1: hear that Drew Brees. It doesn't bother me because I
Speaker 1: can sleep well, it's my conscious. It's clear. I challenge
Speaker 1: debate anyone on the issues that I'm a articulating on
Speaker 1: this podcast because I know, I know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I'm a civil rights lawyer for thirty years, and you've
Speaker 1: got all these athletes, non athletes, talking about civil rights.
Speaker 1: Show me your credentials. I'll debate anytime you want to,
Speaker 1: on the on the arena floor, downtown city hall or
Speaker 1: the middle of the street. So no, I'm getting heat,
Speaker 1: but I'm not bothered by it. I want more heat. Leo.
Speaker 1: I guess. The one question is when you mentioned athletes,
Speaker 1: and even if you cross over to celebrities, they're all
Speaker 1: wealthy and they all have incredible comfort from obviously their
Speaker 1: opportunities and what they've credit for themselves. Who do you
Speaker 1: think or what do you think is the driving force
Speaker 1: behind this with these athletes, Because as you mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: the thought of giving money away or a thought of,
Speaker 1: you know, providing money for a charity or for a
Speaker 1: cause is one thing, but to actually support it and
Speaker 1: to be intelligent to have knowledge behind it is a
Speaker 1: completely other thing. So why do you think or who
Speaker 1: do you think is kind of pushing these buttons for
Speaker 1: these athletes? And who do you think is steering the
Speaker 1: ship for them? A good question and it's easy answer.
Speaker 1: They're insulated by yes people and easy yes people want
Speaker 1: to uh our only focus on perception. Again, I go
Speaker 1: back to Black Lives Matter. It's a small fringe organization,
Speaker 1: but they have control social media and they dominate the
Speaker 1: the conversation. To answer your questions, these athletes are misguided
Speaker 1: by yes people who surround them so and they provide
Speaker 1: them with advice, in my opinion, bad advice to make
Speaker 1: sure that they look good but from a substance standpoint,
Speaker 1: a substance standpoint, nothing, I'll give Lebron I'll get. Let
Speaker 1: me give Lebron James credit on one issue, one issue,
Speaker 1: which should be something that all these athletes they really
Speaker 1: want to do. Something he created that I promise school.
Speaker 1: That was powerful. I used to be a school teacher
Speaker 1: for five years. I know the power of education. Now
Speaker 1: you now that was substance. And could you imagine all
Speaker 1: these athletes making zillions of dollars, the pressure they have
Speaker 1: on corporation and companies that want an endorsement. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: improve the quality of the school. Let's go private schools.
Speaker 1: Private school was in the city of l A. That
Speaker 1: that would be great. We get rid of these horrible
Speaker 1: public school teachers, these horrible unions. I used to be
Speaker 1: a public school teacher. We get rid of these unions
Speaker 1: who are nothing, are nothing, to have only the interests
Speaker 1: of their own self interests and not about the kids
Speaker 1: in minority areas. That's theory to go. But hey, they're
Speaker 1: insulated by yes people and all these yes people's are
Speaker 1: concerned about public perception. Period. Now, Leo, you grew up
Speaker 1: in southern California, went to Guardina High School. Correct me
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong on that. Um, what was your first love?
Speaker 1: Were you a football guy? Or you a basketball guy?
Speaker 1: Or baseball? Like? Where did you fall in love with first?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you right now. First of all, I
Speaker 1: love sports more than you guys. Okay, okay, that's okay. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're gonna say that, that means that Ben and
Speaker 1: I love politics more than you. Let me tell you.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask I'm want to ask you a question.
Speaker 1: All I wanted to do was become a short stop
Speaker 1: like Mori Wills. That's all I wanted to do in
Speaker 1: my life. And I and and to Baseball was my
Speaker 1: number one favorite old time sports. And and then it
Speaker 1: transitioned to football in the seventies with Bras Shaw and
Speaker 1: the Steelers, and then it transitions in the eighties to
Speaker 1: Magic and the Lakers in basketball. So I basically grew
Speaker 1: up loving baseball. And really I'm really a three sports person. Baseball, basketball, football,
Speaker 1: I like the Olympics. I like track and feel. By
Speaker 1: the way, let me brag a little bit, because, like
Speaker 1: I said, I love sports. On February one, February nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty seven, Muhammad Ali fought a guy for fifteen rounds
Speaker 1: the Houston nast Dome. His name was Ernie Terrell. I repeat,
Speaker 1: Ernie Terrell. Do your research. That's my cousin. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. Yes, fourth, guys, Yes, I love sports.
Speaker 1: I love boxing. Well, see the reason why I was
Speaker 1: asking is this is that you know, a few years
Speaker 1: ago I coached in Compton. I actually coached junior college
Speaker 1: football Compton College, and part of Major League Baseball's Inner
Speaker 1: City programs is that they helped build a legit baseball
Speaker 1: diamond in the city of Compton on Compton Camp, Compton's campus.
Speaker 1: A few days ago, Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies
Speaker 1: had sent out a giant post on on a blog
Speaker 1: and put it on Twitter and Instagram about what he
Speaker 1: grew up and what he felt like and what he saw,
Speaker 1: what he experienced, and part of it was the lack
Speaker 1: of engagement with black youth in the game of baseball.
Speaker 1: Have have you experienced that? And do you see that
Speaker 1: here in Los Angeles? Because when do you think about baseball?
Speaker 1: At least for me, I think about cal State Fullerton,
Speaker 1: I think Long Beach State, I think U c l A.
Speaker 1: I think pepper Dyne I think you see Irvine even
Speaker 1: think Sandy was state. So it's a hot bed for
Speaker 1: talent here in southern California. But do you think we
Speaker 1: get enough here from the youth. I think don't we
Speaker 1: get We have, you know, the Dodgers here, and I
Speaker 1: think we have the opportunities and the resources here in
Speaker 1: l A. I didn't. I don't feel that it's something
Speaker 1: that uh, people of color are not made up or
Speaker 1: don't have opportunities to pursue. I think it's I think
Speaker 1: it's a hotbed of talent here. I think it's a
Speaker 1: matter of choice. I think right now that the choice
Speaker 1: in southern California is basically football and basketball. But opportunities, definitely,
Speaker 1: definitely they exist for baseball and you know, this pursuit
Speaker 1: or you know, trying to recruit. I think it's the
Speaker 1: issue is really the preference of the of the students
Speaker 1: in the community, and they prefer basketball and football. But
Speaker 1: I do want to say something on this topic. You know,
Speaker 1: I would prefer if you asked me. As much as
Speaker 1: sports has gotten a lot of athletes out of the
Speaker 1: community and have gone on to bigger and better things,
Speaker 1: you know, if they're gonna put a nice football still
Speaker 1: or a basketball diamond in the in the in in
Speaker 1: the community of color. Can you improve the school against
Speaker 1: the education aspect? You guys know as well as I do.
Speaker 1: Athletics is a short term career. And you know I'm
Speaker 1: practicing law. I could practice law forever. I got twenty
Speaker 1: five years in the bank. I could feel I can
Speaker 1: go out and teach right now. And so I'm looking
Speaker 1: at and you guys know the percentages of athletes who
Speaker 1: actually make it to make it to the big time.
Speaker 1: We want to make sure these athletes have an alternative
Speaker 1: two sports. And that's what Smith. That goes back to
Speaker 1: education again. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Speaker 1: Ben Meller Show weekdays at two a m. Eastern eleven
Speaker 1: pm Pacific. Well and Leo following that, I mean, we've
Speaker 1: had the war on police, which apparently is going on
Speaker 1: right now, but what about a war on education? When,
Speaker 1: as you've said, as a teacher, what what would you
Speaker 1: what are a couple of points you would throw out
Speaker 1: that need to be done to improve the education in
Speaker 1: the inner city, in the in the black community. What
Speaker 1: tangibly can these athletes do that would make a dramatic difference.
Speaker 1: Thank you NBA, Lebron, Uh, Chris Paul, all you guys
Speaker 1: on T and T in all of these states. So
Speaker 1: let me tell what we should do. Uh, give people
Speaker 1: of color choice, I mean choice, not sell the kool
Speaker 1: aid that public schools are great institutions. They're not. They're horrible. Now,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong. I went to a public school.
Speaker 1: But give individuals a choice between public schools and private
Speaker 1: schools and charter school make it competitive, give an economic incentive.
Speaker 1: This is what I could imagine. I would imagine a
Speaker 1: high school or elementary school. The faculty are professors, college professors.
Speaker 1: I mean, it would just be amazing what you know
Speaker 1: as well as I do. Kids can learn so much
Speaker 1: at a young age. And that to me, Uh, Chris Paul, Uh,
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Lebron, Adam Silver. Improve
Speaker 1: the qualities of schools. Just challenge public schools. Drive that
Speaker 1: unions out of there. I'm sorry being now, I'm being political.
Speaker 1: The unions are just so detrimental to improving schools in
Speaker 1: minority areas. That's number one. That's what I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: pushing for the rest of my life. Do you think
Speaker 1: it hurts us or helps us that certain universities now
Speaker 1: are are actually getting rid of the s A T.
Speaker 1: I think I think it's an insult. I love the
Speaker 1: innerdized test. And let me tell you what I'm talking about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I went to u c. L A Law school. I
Speaker 1: took the California State Bar, the hardest bar in the country.
Speaker 1: Wait before you get in, before you get anything else, LEO,
Speaker 1: when you took the California State Bar, how much did
Speaker 1: it cost then? Because I know it's over a thousand
Speaker 1: dollars now and it's three days, let me tell you
Speaker 1: about if it's If memories serves me correct, it may
Speaker 1: have been anywhere between three or four year dollars. And
Speaker 1: I may be wrong. I just don't remember. But but
Speaker 1: I took the California State Bar, and this black man
Speaker 1: past the California State Bar on the first try, and
Speaker 1: and and and and all. A standardized test provised is
Speaker 1: is a level of qualification and competency to eliminate the
Speaker 1: s a T. To eliminate standardized tests, it gives you
Speaker 1: a level playing field. And trust me, and I took
Speaker 1: the this California State Bard thirty some nine years ago,
Speaker 1: and so I'm i'm I'm against eliminating standardized test. And
Speaker 1: let me just throw this out because it's gonna happen
Speaker 1: in California. They's putting on the bill on the legislation
Speaker 1: um the eliminate just to reinstitute affirmative action. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: I'm a civil rights journey I believe in the equality,
Speaker 1: not preferential treatment. This is not nineteen sixty Again, I
Speaker 1: got these three. Also, if NBA players build up schools
Speaker 1: in the inner city, those those black and brown kids
Speaker 1: would be passing the s a T becoming doctors and
Speaker 1: lawyers in great numbers. Yeah, and I'm gonna go out.
Speaker 1: You mentioned your your relative there, your cousin with Muhammad Ali.
Speaker 1: But some people, so some people are comparing Colin Kaepernick
Speaker 1: to Mohammed Ali. Where are you on that? There's a
Speaker 1: Kaepernick has been turned into a deity by certain factions.
Speaker 1: Where are you on the Kaepernick story? Thank you for
Speaker 1: asking that question. Uh, it is an insult two Mom
Speaker 1: Ali's family and everyone who knows the accomplishments of Muhammad
Speaker 1: Ali to put Colin Kaepernick to even in that category,
Speaker 1: that's that's an insult. Again, I get the way I
Speaker 1: get to say that because I guess my color shameful.
Speaker 1: Everyone should be able to say what I'm saying if
Speaker 1: they steel that way. Now, let's let me go on
Speaker 1: and explain why why I say this, uh, this, this assumption.
Speaker 1: And let me tell you again, there are bad police officers.
Speaker 1: Don't dispute that. But when Kaepernick uh presentation the racial
Speaker 1: injustice among police departments, I don't buy him. I don't buy.
Speaker 1: I don't know what his motives was. He has a
Speaker 1: right to express his motive, but I don't buy his
Speaker 1: motive that he was protesting this massive across the nation,
Speaker 1: uh police misconduct we's saying in Chicago, l A. Baltimore.
Speaker 1: If Mr Kaepernick listened to your podcast, I'd like to
Speaker 1: talk to him about it. He is a creature of
Speaker 1: public perception and his timing. He had the perfect storm
Speaker 1: four years ago. He came out he was a lone ranger.
Speaker 1: He's been he's been black ball, which I think is
Speaker 1: wrong by the NFL. And then the George Floyd situation.
Speaker 1: Guess what people did. Oh, he's right, No, No, he's
Speaker 1: not right, because what happened in Minneapolis was three was
Speaker 1: one rogue police officer with three other knitwith and they
Speaker 1: murder a black man. But guess what the public perception
Speaker 1: this if nineteen sixty all over again and everybody said, oh,
Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick is right. No, Colin Kaepernick is still wrong.
Speaker 1: But you know what, he's a big man now because
Speaker 1: he just pointed George Floyd and said, look, see I
Speaker 1: was right. And when Goodell uh said, oh, black lives matter,
Speaker 1: well again, there was a black retired captain in Saint
Speaker 1: Louis who was murdered. To send me a pond shop,
Speaker 1: I didn't see Colin Kaepernick there. I didn't see al
Speaker 1: sharpened there. I didn't see black lives matter there. But
Speaker 1: he's his life. He's a black man. See that's that's
Speaker 1: the hypocrisy of all this. And Drew Brees, if you're listening,
Speaker 1: take back your apology. Well absolutely, I agree with you
Speaker 1: on that. I think the apology was ridiculous. But Leo,
Speaker 1: what about Lebron? We want to go back to Lebron
Speaker 1: because some people are some people around his circle or
Speaker 1: saying this is a future politician, This is a guy
Speaker 1: that somebody could run for president. You're in the political world,
Speaker 1: how do you think he would do as a politician?
Speaker 1: Lebron James. I think there's, uh, there's two key elements
Speaker 1: to being a good politician. You gotta have a good
Speaker 1: heart where people really believe that you care about them.
Speaker 1: You gotta have a good head, And I think Lebron
Speaker 1: James has a great heart, and I think he needs
Speaker 1: to have someone you know, I told you he was
Speaker 1: insulated with a lot of yes people around him. People
Speaker 1: are interested in perception, but he needs to expand his
Speaker 1: inner circle with people to keep him inform of facts,
Speaker 1: information and come up with a position because you know,
Speaker 1: I would disagree with Michael Jordan's years ago he said
Speaker 1: demographic Republicans both by nikes. Now, I think there's a
Speaker 1: place for for athletes if they want to pursue the
Speaker 1: plitical ram, but just don't do it based on your
Speaker 1: brand name. Learn the facts, educate yourself because you have
Speaker 1: people who will follow you because of their association by
Speaker 1: watching you play sports. So I think Lebron James has
Speaker 1: a tremendous potential a lot of upside if he goes
Speaker 1: the political route, but surround himselves with people who have
Speaker 1: his best interest at heart and what he wants to
Speaker 1: accomplish at heart. Fox Sports radio has the best sports
Speaker 1: talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
Speaker 1: at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
Speaker 1: And Leo is gonna ask you a question on that note,
Speaker 1: because Lebron and some of the other stars in the
Speaker 1: NBA are forming themselves a a voting rights group. If
Speaker 1: you're the commissioner, Adam Silver, who has been progressive and
Speaker 1: has actually looked for for ways to to push the
Speaker 1: push the envelope a little bit and to get out
Speaker 1: there into the into the communities, what do you do
Speaker 1: and how do you as as commissioner the NBA. I
Speaker 1: know it's a it's a it's a tight tight walk
Speaker 1: because you're obviously doing's best for the league, what's best
Speaker 1: for the owners, but also you're gonna look out for
Speaker 1: your players too. So when you have, like you said,
Speaker 1: an insulated group like this, some might perceive that as
Speaker 1: Lebron's just getting people that want to follow him to
Speaker 1: the voting you know, to the voting balance. Um, how
Speaker 1: do you advise these guys then if they don't have
Speaker 1: the kind of pushback that you were offering for other individuals,
Speaker 1: that challenge you I think first of all, Silver, You're right,
Speaker 1: has a very tight rope to sort of walk. Remember
Speaker 1: he's employed by the owners. They hire him, and I
Speaker 1: think Silver has a lot of credibility Donald Sterling situation.
Speaker 1: I think he has a lot of credibility as far
Speaker 1: as being decisive, also having the listening ear of the player.
Speaker 1: But you know, this is the line that he has
Speaker 1: to draw and and and the players have to understand
Speaker 1: what their role is. The NBA unlike the other leagues,
Speaker 1: and you guys would probably agree with this, I hope
Speaker 1: is that it is player dominated, unlike the NFL where
Speaker 1: the owner's control. So there is a a position that
Speaker 1: Adam Silver and the players reps with Lebron and Chris
Speaker 1: Paul and they have to work for the total betterment
Speaker 1: of not only what the NBA stands for, but this
Speaker 1: idea of going beyond sports into other areas. I have
Speaker 1: a problem with that. Yeah, and Leo, I guess we'll
Speaker 1: leave you on this. I saw the other day that
Speaker 1: President Trump retweated a video that you were in the
Speaker 1: other night on on Fox that I know. Trump is
Speaker 1: very controversial, obviously, that's pretty cool though, to have the
Speaker 1: president of the United States UH tweet that out. How
Speaker 1: did that feel? I was, I was, I would listen
Speaker 1: to me. I was, first of all, very happy. I
Speaker 1: think what I said in the tweet that the the video,
Speaker 1: I believe. I believe that you know, I love this country,
Speaker 1: and I think that there's been a lot of pandering
Speaker 1: going on. And what bothers me is that the a
Speaker 1: lot of people are manipulating, exploiting the George Floyd situation.
Speaker 1: For the President of the United States to retweet something
Speaker 1: that I participated in about this country, UH was a
Speaker 1: great honor. And UH. I think the president right now
Speaker 1: is UH is a person trying to establish law and
Speaker 1: order in this country. And unfortunately, because we're in a
Speaker 1: political season, UH, he's not any help from the other party,
Speaker 1: And I think that creates a very unusual election this
Speaker 1: upcoming year. And I think that Uh, we had the pandemic,
Speaker 1: the riots, the loss of the Great Kobe Bryant. This
Speaker 1: has been one of the most unusual years ever in
Speaker 1: my life. And we still have about four or five
Speaker 1: months left. Absolutely, Leo, thank you for your time, big fan.
Speaker 1: Love hearing you on the radio, seeing you on TV,
Speaker 1: and continued success. And man, I want to say that.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, because I love sports and just
Speaker 1: to talk about sports, politics and life. This is probably
Speaker 1: when I really enjoyed the interview. Thank you very much
Speaker 1: for having me, Leil, thanks for coming on with us.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Take care, have a good day.