Speaker 1: Boom. 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 clearing House of Hot
Speaker 1: takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with
Speaker 1: Ben Maller starts right now in the air everywhere. Yes,
Speaker 1: another weekend is upon us, and that means the weekend
Speaker 1: cannot start until you hear the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller. Because,
Speaker 1: as we like to say, four hours are not enough.
Speaker 1: We do this eight days a week, eight days a week.
Speaker 1: This is a spinoff of the Overnight Show. You knew
Speaker 1: that already, right, and we thank you. Although I am
Speaker 1: told by some that they listen to this podcast and
Speaker 1: not the radio show, which is mildly offensive. Which is
Speaker 1: mildly offensive. And you can get this podcast, as you've
Speaker 1: already found out, anywhere anywhere you get podcast. It's part
Speaker 1: of the I Heart podcast network. But it's available on
Speaker 1: all of the platforms. And if you want to send
Speaker 1: a Hello to me, you can contact me on all
Speaker 1: the social media channels at Ben Maller at Ben Maller
Speaker 1: on Twitter, Instagram, Ben Maller on Fox Facebook, Ben Maller Show.
Speaker 1: And if you're a super duper p one in the
Speaker 1: Mallard militia, you can reach out to me on cameo
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Speaker 1: mitzvah's or you just want a positive note, any of
Speaker 1: those things. You can reach me on cameo dot com.
Speaker 1: It's not free, but it's not that much. Just search
Speaker 1: my name cameo dot com and Ben Maller. And so
Speaker 1: this is an interview podcast. An interview podcast, and you
Speaker 1: know what that means. That means not a lot of
Speaker 1: me B s ng I welcome and this is a
Speaker 1: return engagement to the Fifth Hour pod cast. One of
Speaker 1: my old grizzled radio veterans, Uh the man who has
Speaker 1: been in the sports talk radio wars. Actually did a
Speaker 1: show with this guy in my early days in the
Speaker 1: radio business, but I've known him way before that. He's
Speaker 1: done political talk radio, he's done a lot of sports talk.
Speaker 1: He's been in Philly and Los Angeles and other cities
Speaker 1: around the country working in the radio industry. He hosted
Speaker 1: Clipper postgame coverage and pregame coverage for years. And he also,
Speaker 1: as I said, did some political radio at big talk
Speaker 1: stations like kf I and k ABC in Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: and so welcome in. Well, we'll give it up here
Speaker 1: for Lee Klein and Lee I want to start here.
Speaker 1: We're gonna go down and do some confrontations with athletes
Speaker 1: and players here kind of a theme of the podcast.
Speaker 1: And why don't we start with Hall of Fame coach
Speaker 1: Bill Fitch. And it was at a Clipper media game
Speaker 1: events years and years ago. We were all playing basketball.
Speaker 1: Bill Fitch, the Hall of Fame coach, was coaching us.
Speaker 1: You can verify many of the stories that I have
Speaker 1: told on the radio over the years about random people
Speaker 1: and Bill Fitch, hall of Fame basketball coach. He coached
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets, but at the end
Speaker 1: of his career he coached the Clippers. And Bill Fitch
Speaker 1: was the coach of a media basketball game that we
Speaker 1: both played in. And do you remember what Bill Fitch
Speaker 1: said about me? Who can never forget that? Hey? It
Speaker 1: was an Irvine at the University of California, Irvine at
Speaker 1: their gym, and Norm Peters was there along with you
Speaker 1: and I and Bill Fitch. You were so out of
Speaker 1: breath at this moment of time. Your face was beat red,
Speaker 1: sweat pouring profusely out of every single pore of your body.
Speaker 1: Blew the whistle. You were standing next to him. I
Speaker 1: was standing next to you, and Norma was on the
Speaker 1: other side. And Bill Fitch looked at you and he said,
Speaker 1: and I quote, you are the worst basketball player I
Speaker 1: have ever seen in my life. That is a ringy endorsement.
Speaker 1: And uh, and I got tak you. Now. I loved
Speaker 1: Bill Fitch. Bill Fitch was awesome. Uh. And he's still around,
Speaker 1: he's in his eighties here, But that that was the
Speaker 1: greatest endorsement I had ever gotten leave from someone in
Speaker 1: sports of my athletic powers. There, And you gotta remember
Speaker 1: this was when I this was before I lost the weight.
Speaker 1: I was huffing and puffing. And as you said, I
Speaker 1: I've always been a prolific sweater. I've had the ability
Speaker 1: to sweat. Uh. And keep in mind the other problem
Speaker 1: there is that we were we were covering l a
Speaker 1: Clipper training camp at the Brent Events Center as I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's still called that, but in Irvine Uh,
Speaker 1: and so Bill Fitch and we we I don't think
Speaker 1: any of us anticipated that we were gonna be asked
Speaker 1: to play in a media basketball clinic with Bill Fitch
Speaker 1: is the coach and all that. It just kind of happened,
Speaker 1: as I remember, and I don't remember them saying, hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be playing basketball at the end of the
Speaker 1: open of training camp. I don't recall that. Uh, and
Speaker 1: it happened. And I also like to point out Lee
Speaker 1: that you know, well, I was the worst of the worst.
Speaker 1: I believe Bill Fitch also pointed something out that you
Speaker 1: were You were not great either, and that the other
Speaker 1: media people who were playing that day, we're all a
Speaker 1: bunch of slubs pretty much. Yes, yeah, I would agree,
Speaker 1: But keep in mind something and this is for the audience,
Speaker 1: not for you. The basketball team. The Clippers had about
Speaker 1: twenty guys, because this is training camp before the cuts came,
Speaker 1: they were watching this and most likely as horrible as
Speaker 1: the Clippers were every year in those years, they probably
Speaker 1: were looking at us and saying, this is the only
Speaker 1: team we can beat all season. I just want to
Speaker 1: point out I told this to Coach Fitch later on.
Speaker 1: You know, he was only with the Clippers for a
Speaker 1: few years and uh and I loved it. The team sucked,
Speaker 1: but he was fun, as we said. But he coached
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship, and he had
Speaker 1: Larry Bird, he had McHale and Parish uh And and
Speaker 1: corn and Cornbread Maxwell was was also Cedric Maxwell was
Speaker 1: on that team as well. So people think of that
Speaker 1: great Celtics team in the nineteen eighties, most people think
Speaker 1: of Casey Jones as the coach of those great Celtic
Speaker 1: teams in the eighties. But the first championship, that Group
Speaker 1: one was under the tutelage of Bill Fitch with Red
Speaker 1: Arbach as the executive and the owner of that So
Speaker 1: I my my statement, and I told Fitch this is
Speaker 1: that the greatest player you coached was was either Larry
Speaker 1: Bird with the Celtics or he was with Houston and
Speaker 1: they got to the finals and lost with he had
Speaker 1: Elijah one. So it was one of those two. But
Speaker 1: the worst player there is no debate. There is no debate, Lee,
Speaker 1: and you heard it, and that's why I wanted to
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I want to have you on
Speaker 1: the podcast again is because Bill Fitch confirmed all those
Speaker 1: he coached in the NBA from nineteen seventy to nine.
Speaker 1: And the guy coached all over the place. And uh on,
Speaker 1: I'm the worst player. I'm the worst player least. So
Speaker 1: I take that as a badge of honor, a feather
Speaker 1: in my cap. I certainly do. And he and it's
Speaker 1: not just that he goched some bad teams with the nets. Also,
Speaker 1: remember he went to New Jersey before he went to
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and they were they were pretty lousy there also,
Speaker 1: as I remember it. Also, can I add this two
Speaker 1: quick things, One of all of the teams and the
Speaker 1: players that he coached in his long career, that's why
Speaker 1: he's in the NBA Hall of Fame. That actually the
Speaker 1: college also, but if he had a gigantic list of
Speaker 1: every ballplayer we ever coached, you are last on that
Speaker 1: list and Larry Birds on the top. So you truly
Speaker 1: are on the same list. Yeah, because you're you know,
Speaker 1: and you you taught me this years ago, Lea that
Speaker 1: you remember the very top and the very bottom. The
Speaker 1: middle kind of get lost, right, it gets lost. Like
Speaker 1: it's the same concept in sports. You want to either
Speaker 1: be a championship contender or you want to be the
Speaker 1: worst team. You don't want to be like the five
Speaker 1: hundred team. You don't want to be because nobody no seriously, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, who remembers average? Who remembers that I just
Speaker 1: looked by the way I cheated here, Bill Fitch his
Speaker 1: first year in the NBA with the Cavaliers in nineteen seventy.
Speaker 1: There's a guy that has one of the great nicknames
Speaker 1: as a name. Bingo Smith played for the Cavaliers that year,
Speaker 1: the great Bingo Smith. There were so many great names
Speaker 1: in the seventy yet the greatest of all time world
Speaker 1: be free, but Bingoes the seventy he was in Philadelphia
Speaker 1: seventies six, or he played with the San Diego Clippers
Speaker 1: even before they moved to Los Angeles. But keep in mind,
Speaker 1: Dingo could be the first name above you on that list,
Speaker 1: that's right. He might be just slightly slightly above other Well,
Speaker 1: this was not a great nickname. But the the Clippers,
Speaker 1: you remember there when they were in Buffalo, the Buffalo Braves,
Speaker 1: Bob McAdoo, right, was their big star. Do you remember
Speaker 1: the time I was doing radio locally in l A.
Speaker 1: We had Bob mcado I don't think you were with me.
Speaker 1: That day we had Bob McAdoo on. He was an
Speaker 1: assistant for the Miami Heat and and I was, you know,
Speaker 1: regaling him with stories about the Clippers because he he
Speaker 1: was at that time the clip He led every offensive category,
Speaker 1: not anymore for the Clippers because of the Buffalo Braves connection.
Speaker 1: And he wanted nothing to do with the Clippers, Bob McAdoo,
Speaker 1: and he just wanted he wanted to distance himself like
Speaker 1: he was going away from hot lava as as I
Speaker 1: were call. Uh, But I want to move on and
Speaker 1: another great you know story since we're going back, and
Speaker 1: this is the theme of this podcast is like locker
Speaker 1: room confrontations. Alright, I want to stop you for a second.
Speaker 1: I want to bring something up quick and then you
Speaker 1: can bring up your next thing. Do you remember when
Speaker 1: you and Dave Smith were doing the show together and
Speaker 1: you called a hotel and I believe he was a ballplayer,
Speaker 1: baseball player for the Houston Astros when they were in
Speaker 1: the National League. And if the name escapes me, but
Speaker 1: I got knocked on the door, I'll be right back.
Speaker 1: Do you remember what I'm speaking of? Yeah? Not only
Speaker 1: do I remember that, that's one of the great all time.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I hate interviews and I you know,
Speaker 1: I don't do interviews on the show is because of
Speaker 1: this I have PTSD. You are referring to a baseball
Speaker 1: player for the Astros in he played with a bunch
Speaker 1: of different teams, Derek Bell. Remember Derek Bell. Yeah, Derek,
Speaker 1: Derek Bell. And this is in the you know, most
Speaker 1: of these stories are like in the nineties, but Derek
Speaker 1: Bell was playing for the Astros. They had the Killer
Speaker 1: Bees going on and they were gonna play the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: as I remember it, and we were doing a midday show.
Speaker 1: And I also remember the other thing I remember about
Speaker 1: that is we were on remote at a car rental
Speaker 1: place by L A x Um and I forget which one,
Speaker 1: but there I remember trying to do the show and
Speaker 1: every like two minutes a plane was flying over our
Speaker 1: head to land at L A x and, uh, a
Speaker 1: lot of ambient noise there that that was like a
Speaker 1: degree of difficulty. But we had Derek Bell on and
Speaker 1: this was you know, a guy that had some big
Speaker 1: years in Houston, was a key part of that Astro
Speaker 1: teams was pretty good and so we had him on
Speaker 1: and you know, he was nice enough and then like
Speaker 1: he I guess somebody knocked on his door in the
Speaker 1: hotel and he's like, hey, I'll be right back, and
Speaker 1: so we're like, okay, um, he put the phone down
Speaker 1: and then he never came back. He just I guess
Speaker 1: there was some ut. Yeah, but but the beauty was
Speaker 1: you kept holding on. You went through a commercial break,
Speaker 1: you kept on holding on, and come back from a
Speaker 1: commercial break, you're still holding on for him. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Uh and and as I know, that's the technique I usually,
Speaker 1: as you know in the Overnight show, when someone falls asleep,
Speaker 1: I do the Derek Bell. I just keep going back
Speaker 1: to them. I go back to them to see what
Speaker 1: they're they're doing that, you know, that's my my mantra there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that was one of the all time That
Speaker 1: was the only all time greats. And speaking, one of
Speaker 1: the all time greats. This guy's also a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: It's a basketball Hall of Famer play by play guy,
Speaker 1: Ralph Lawlor. And you were there. You were a witness
Speaker 1: to one of the funniest things that has happened in
Speaker 1: my life. You can verify I'm not making this up.
Speaker 1: In fact, you kept this story alive for over twenty years,
Speaker 1: you kept this story alively. I am referring to the
Speaker 1: nineteen NBA draft. So we're going over twenty years back
Speaker 1: in the way back machine. And before you go any further, people,
Speaker 1: every word is going to be absolutely true. Not only
Speaker 1: am I going to verify it beforehand, I don't have
Speaker 1: to verify it when it's over whatever, Ben says, I
Speaker 1: guarantee you it's gonna be truth. And you know you
Speaker 1: gotta keep it clean, don't you. Well, no, I don't know.
Speaker 1: We're on the podcast. We have different regulations here on
Speaker 1: the podcast, but I think for Ralph, maybe we should
Speaker 1: keep it clean. Maybe for Ralph's sake, he's retired. He's
Speaker 1: retired now. But be sure to catch live editions of
Speaker 1: The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two a m. Eastern
Speaker 1: eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app. So and the great thing, My favorite part,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell a story and say my favorite part
Speaker 1: is I have the reputation lee of being like the
Speaker 1: Clippers kabana away right, Like I'm in the tank for
Speaker 1: the Clippers and all that stuff, and I do like
Speaker 1: the Clippers and I want them to win but you know,
Speaker 1: I liked when they when they do something wrong, I
Speaker 1: pointed out, and I I like to highlight that as well.
Speaker 1: I don't run away from that kind of stuff. When
Speaker 1: they for example, when they choked against the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 1: We we both were going back and forth. I wasn't
Speaker 1: on We'll get to I mean, I was on social media,
Speaker 1: but I was texting you as the implosion was happening
Speaker 1: with the Clippers. We were we were going back and forth.
Speaker 1: And for those that didn't hear, the Lee actually hosted,
Speaker 1: you hosted postgame Clipper Talk, so you were around thee.
Speaker 1: I worked with Ralph for for uh six seasons, uh,
Speaker 1: in addition to my regular sports show. UH. And what
Speaker 1: you're about to tell is one of the top three
Speaker 1: of all time. Get told properly, So go ahead and
Speaker 1: tell me. Now you're putting pressure on me. So Ralph is,
Speaker 1: Ralph is a Hall of Fame broadcaster. He, as we said, retired,
Speaker 1: he's I think he was in Florida now. But my
Speaker 1: my computer of like mind. As Ralph would say, you know, Bengo,
Speaker 1: holy smokes, I fasten your seats. So the nine draft
Speaker 1: was perceived to not be a great draft. The idea
Speaker 1: was it was not a great draft, and the Clippers
Speaker 1: went out into left field and picked a guy from
Speaker 1: the University of the Pacific, which most of your great
Speaker 1: players don't come from the University of the Pacific, which
Speaker 1: is in I think Stockton, California. So there was a
Speaker 1: center named Michael Michael Oldawad Candy was the guy's name,
Speaker 1: and it was the debate was like between Olaad Candy,
Speaker 1: Mike Baby I think was the other guys. I I
Speaker 1: kind of flashback, So there was the debate who the draft,
Speaker 1: and of course the Clippers in this era drafted the
Speaker 1: wrong guy, Michael Wacandy. But at the time I was
Speaker 1: doing the midday show, and I'll never forget I went
Speaker 1: to the l A Convention Center they were building Staples Center.
Speaker 1: They were building Staples Center. They had a GALLA news
Speaker 1: conference to welcome Michael Ilawa Candy to the Clippers, and
Speaker 1: he made all these bold statements about how he was,
Speaker 1: you know, because Shock was the star for the Lakers
Speaker 1: and there you know, it's a two center town now
Speaker 1: with Candy Man and all that. So and then I
Speaker 1: watched him play like the first exhibition game, and I
Speaker 1: knew this guy was as stiff. I knew this guy
Speaker 1: was a dog with fleas, you know, and I and
Speaker 1: and very rarely, I think we can both agree on
Speaker 1: this lead. When you see someone the first impression, you're
Speaker 1: very rarely that far off, you know, like if you think,
Speaker 1: you know, very few times has someone come out and
Speaker 1: can't play and then all of a sudden turn out
Speaker 1: to be great. It happens, but it's very rare that
Speaker 1: it happened. Usually your first impression is your correct impression.
Speaker 1: So I saw him play an exhibition game. He was terrible.
Speaker 1: So I went on the show. I was doing the
Speaker 1: midday show, and I took some shots at Michael Ilwa
Speaker 1: Candy and you know, another terrible draft by the Clippers.
Speaker 1: What were they thinking? Why they draft this guy? You know,
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. And the Clippers later on they
Speaker 1: played like that. In those days, they played like eight
Speaker 1: or nine exhibition games. They played a ton of them,
Speaker 1: and the Clippers were playing the Lakers. And this was
Speaker 1: obviously before Staples Center. It was in the bowels of
Speaker 1: the Fabulous Forum. And I had known Ralph. We have
Speaker 1: been out of the games for years, and you were
Speaker 1: with me, and Ralph approached me in one of the
Speaker 1: tunnels underneath the Forum, and I think it was right
Speaker 1: near the media room where they served that that beef
Speaker 1: with noodles. How small was that compared to the one
Speaker 1: in Staples Center at the closet. Uh it was always
Speaker 1: meat on top of noodles or they had They also
Speaker 1: had ravioli some number. It was lasagna with garlic breton.
Speaker 1: That was the two meals they served at the Forum
Speaker 1: in the media room that I remember that. And I
Speaker 1: also remember Jack would the great actor would come in there,
Speaker 1: Jack Nicholson and he would come in there and have coffee.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you become there. But anyway, so I'm getting off
Speaker 1: the beaten track here. So Ralph approaches me, and he
Speaker 1: was very upset. He was very defensive of Michael Obawa
Speaker 1: Condi the Center, and he said something that would follow
Speaker 1: him at least with us, Me, me Lee and Ralph
Speaker 1: for over the next twenty years. It was a very
Speaker 1: uncomfortable wager that Ralph made. By the way, it still is,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a cold case. It's not closed yet.
Speaker 1: It's not no, it is not over. So Ralph was
Speaker 1: so convinced, and I love Ralph for this. He was
Speaker 1: so convinced that Oliwa Candy was gonna be amazing, that
Speaker 1: Oliwa candy was gonna be great. Uh that he said,
Speaker 1: if as I remember it, he said, some of the
Speaker 1: effective OLIVERA Candy is not one of the top five
Speaker 1: centers and an all like an all star level player
Speaker 1: within X number of years, forget how many was within
Speaker 1: a couple of years that he would um go to
Speaker 1: center court at the at the at the at the
Speaker 1: sports arena or the forum, and he would pull my
Speaker 1: pants down and kiss my ass. I believe is that?
Speaker 1: Am I correct here? I believe that's what he said
Speaker 1: right that? Well he might have no, No, that's not
Speaker 1: what he said. You're keeping it clean. Allow me without
Speaker 1: going overboard. Okay, all right, you you give the lea
Speaker 1: version here. Okay. The bet was, the original bet was
Speaker 1: that if it didn't come true, he was betting you
Speaker 1: that if what he said wasn't true, he would get
Speaker 1: down on his knees and give you a blank blank
Speaker 1: Okay okay. And then I said I wanted at half court,
Speaker 1: and he said it's fine with me. So to this day,
Speaker 1: Michael oh a hand over all of the years following
Speaker 1: then and I would go over to the scorer's table
Speaker 1: before a game when they were setting up for route
Speaker 1: to sit there on broadcast for the Clippers, and I
Speaker 1: would always say with then next to me, don't you
Speaker 1: owe him a bet right now? And his reply, over
Speaker 1: every year, the hundreds of times we did this was
Speaker 1: it isn't over yet. He's still playing. Yeah, that that
Speaker 1: was his reply. And then once he retired, ol Over
Speaker 1: Candy and he retired like, oh man, probably he stopped
Speaker 1: playing like ten twelve years something like that. From where
Speaker 1: we are right now, he said, he kept saying, well,
Speaker 1: he could come back, he might he might make he
Speaker 1: might make a comeback. There. I think the bet is
Speaker 1: now old. Kenny's about to turn forty six years Oh,
Speaker 1: I think he's forty five something like that right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there is no there is no comeback and there was
Speaker 1: no career. But is he called ace as I mentioned?
Speaker 1: And still yeah, Favor and olthough Candy average less than
Speaker 1: ten points in less than seven rebounds per game as
Speaker 1: the number one pick. Now I went back, do you
Speaker 1: remember who the Clippers? And I know doing the hindsight
Speaker 1: thing is always a dangerous deal, but who was in
Speaker 1: that draft that was not supposed to be a great draft.
Speaker 1: Who the Clippers passed over. They passed over everyone. There
Speaker 1: are at least three Hall of Fame players who would
Speaker 1: be considered among the top fifty of the last fifty
Speaker 1: years of the NBA who played and were in that
Speaker 1: draft that year that was Let me give you the names.
Speaker 1: Really this was Vince Carter, Vinceanity was was in that draft.
Speaker 1: How about Paul Pierce, the Celtics star who won a
Speaker 1: champ a Chip in Boston. And Dirk Novitsky who was
Speaker 1: not supposed to be good as I remember he was
Speaker 1: as stiff his first year, but he turned out to
Speaker 1: be pretty good, obviously with the marriage. So there are three.
Speaker 1: Those are three bona fide studs that were in that draft,
Speaker 1: and the Clippers took Michael Kandy. And the great thing
Speaker 1: about it is that they weren't even considering any of
Speaker 1: those guys. The other option was like Mike Bibby. They
Speaker 1: weren't even considering any of the players that actually turned
Speaker 1: out to be good. They passed on all those other players. Diana,
Speaker 1: who else was in that draft? Who? Okay, he went
Speaker 1: in the in the second round. The new head coach
Speaker 1: of the Clippers, Tyron Lou Oh, the Great Tylu. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well he's he's the guy that kawai Wan. He's a
Speaker 1: championship coach. Lee. Yeah, I don't know how much. I
Speaker 1: don't know how much he actually I don't know how
Speaker 1: much he actually coached. But yeah, there you go, the
Speaker 1: Great Tylu. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Speaker 1: Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Stern Pacific on
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. All right,
Speaker 1: so that's one Ralph. We have a bunch of Ralph Lawler.
Speaker 1: The stories that we can get. We should We shouldn't
Speaker 1: pick on him because out of love and respect as
Speaker 1: he had for us. We went through a lot of
Speaker 1: years with with Ralph and he to this day when
Speaker 1: you go to Staples Center, in the whole history of
Speaker 1: the Clippers, meaning the Buffalo Braves moving to San Diego
Speaker 1: and from that moment until today, Ralph Lawler up until
Speaker 1: he retired a year ago, was the announcer for all
Speaker 1: of those years. And he the Vince Scully, the Johnny
Speaker 1: most of Boston. Uh so many years and the Clippers,
Speaker 1: as you will know, do not have one banner for
Speaker 1: anybody or anything up there. Well, listen, Clippers don't need banners.
Speaker 1: They've got memories. You don't need banners. Right then banners
Speaker 1: get dusty and all that. And then when they build
Speaker 1: that new arena which they're building right now in the
Speaker 1: hood in Inglewood, the Taijmal Hall of the NBA, which
Speaker 1: they're building, hopefully by then when it's open, people actually
Speaker 1: be able to go to the games again. But when
Speaker 1: they open that arena, I'm guessing Ralph's getting a statue,
Speaker 1: right will that have been too far away from him
Speaker 1: calling the games? Because Chick Current has a statue, Bob
Speaker 1: Miller has one in l A. I mean, I'm not
Speaker 1: a big statue guy, but if you're gonna give someone
Speaker 1: from the Clipper past a statue, if you're if you're
Speaker 1: gonna get into the statue game, Ralph Lawler would have
Speaker 1: to be there, and they what they should do, and
Speaker 1: I say this with the greatest amount of respect, Uley,
Speaker 1: is what they should do with the Ralph statue is
Speaker 1: have him with his microphone and they can have like
Speaker 1: a piece of paper with one of his end of
Speaker 1: the year monologues on it where the future is bright
Speaker 1: for the Clippers. Don't though there was such a with
Speaker 1: such a Homer that the Clippers would win fifteen to
Speaker 1: twenty games every single year. You win twenty games, you
Speaker 1: lose sixty two. So that's how bad the Clippers work
Speaker 1: for so many of these years at the Sports Arena,
Speaker 1: and he would always, always, and we would laugh about
Speaker 1: it at the end of the season, give his prediction
Speaker 1: for next year to wrap up the final game of
Speaker 1: the year. I like these Clippers. They have the number
Speaker 1: one draft choice coming up in May or June or
Speaker 1: whatever it would be, and they have the nucleus with
Speaker 1: whether it with Bill Fitch or Geene Shoe, whoever the
Speaker 1: coach was, and the future looks awfully right for this
Speaker 1: young team. I like, what's coming next year? And get
Speaker 1: your tickets now season tickets are available. Yeah. And then
Speaker 1: it was always like they'll have a new or like
Speaker 1: they'll have a new coach, they'll make some trades and
Speaker 1: they have a draft pick. Things are looking up. You
Speaker 1: know that that same raw it was great and he
Speaker 1: had it down. He hit it down to a science.
Speaker 1: Ralph had it down to a science. By the end
Speaker 1: of that he is deserving of a microphone batterer or
Speaker 1: of a statue. And and it won't be at Staples Center,
Speaker 1: because as you mentioned, the Clippers will be moving to
Speaker 1: a new arena whenever that's completed. That that arena will
Speaker 1: be located right next to where the Rams new football
Speaker 1: field is, and so it'll be a sports conglomerate sort
Speaker 1: of like what what was years ago the racetrack in
Speaker 1: the forum, next to each other at that time. But
Speaker 1: in all honesty, you and I both love Ralph very much.
Speaker 1: I know you do. He was always good and kind
Speaker 1: to us, and he was always a homer, and he
Speaker 1: was a prankster, and he's yet to pay off his debt.
Speaker 1: And as long as we both all of us live,
Speaker 1: and Ralph lives a long life, I will always remind
Speaker 1: him of that. Yeah, And I remember the last when
Speaker 1: they when he was retiring and they had that Gallas
Speaker 1: ceremony and we went over and snap some photos and
Speaker 1: all that we we brought. You brought that up. You
Speaker 1: made sure to bring that up there. And and I
Speaker 1: also remember that you were so bad. You're very One
Speaker 1: of your skills that you're not good at is taking photos.
Speaker 1: Remember I had to we had to redo the photo
Speaker 1: because I had to take a photo of me and Ralph,
Speaker 1: and then the angle was not the greatest angle there.
Speaker 1: Have you worked on that? By the way, have you
Speaker 1: worked on your camera camera skills? Have you know? If
Speaker 1: you were here, I'd punch in the nose. You know,
Speaker 1: people tell everybody how tall you are. I'm like five ten,
Speaker 1: you know something like that. Come on, um, six five
Speaker 1: six six? If I stand up with good a gust
Speaker 1: or something like that, all imagine with your cell phone
Speaker 1: taking a photo and you gotta stand close and he's
Speaker 1: six ft five and the other person is five ft ten.
Speaker 1: You gotta go back. You gotta keep on going back
Speaker 1: to get him to get then in the entire photo
Speaker 1: from his shoes to the top of his head. If
Speaker 1: I went any further back, I'd be out of Staples Center.
Speaker 1: So I had to take the best that I possibly could,
Speaker 1: chopping off as little as I could to take this photo.
Speaker 1: And this man is criticizing me for doing this. Please,
Speaker 1: why don't you take a selfie? Moron? Do you just
Speaker 1: have two faces? Wow? Does the defense rest nally? You
Speaker 1: have no further questions your honor? Okay? All right? Do
Speaker 1: you want to you want to call in any expert
Speaker 1: witnesses or anything like that. Yeah, I don't need forensics.
Speaker 1: It's okay, all right, very very good. Now, since there's
Speaker 1: a theme here, we're doing the Clippers and one of
Speaker 1: the all time iconic names of the Clippers. This is
Speaker 1: before my time a little bit. I was just a
Speaker 1: fan when he played Benoit Benjamin ben Wab Benjamin and
Speaker 1: we we had no I I dealt with Benoit a little,
Speaker 1: but he was still in the NBA when I started
Speaker 1: in the media business, but he was not with the
Speaker 1: Clippers and anymore. But we we have some legendary uh
Speaker 1: confrontations and run ins with Benoit. I think the first
Speaker 1: time we had on the podcast you I think we
Speaker 1: touched on I don't remember, but the the I'm almost
Speaker 1: positive we did. But the interaction with you and Benoit,
Speaker 1: he had hired Don King as his agent. He was
Speaker 1: actually out of the NBA for a little bit and
Speaker 1: in Europe. He played in Europe at that time. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the legendary story that one of the great Lead
Speaker 1: Klein stories of all time is when you asked Benoit
Speaker 1: Benjamin a question about life in Europe, but Benoit gave
Speaker 1: you one of the great answers of all time. Um,
Speaker 1: I noticed that he was there. I hadn't seen him
Speaker 1: in years. Uh. And by the way, if you were
Speaker 1: talking about Michael Olo and Candy as the number one
Speaker 1: draft pick of um, if there was anybody on the
Speaker 1: Clippers as a center could make Bennoy Benjamin look like
Speaker 1: an All Star Hall of Famer, it was Michael Old
Speaker 1: or Candy, isn't it. Oh? Yeah, well yeah Old Candy
Speaker 1: was a total stipp and he was the third pick
Speaker 1: in the draft. Uh right, you know if you play
Speaker 1: that game, that was the car. They could have had
Speaker 1: Carl Malone or Joe Dumars, there's somebody like that, and
Speaker 1: they picked Annoyit Benjamin, the pride of Creton. But so
Speaker 1: you you asked. You asked Annoy It about where you
Speaker 1: know he had been in Europe and all that, and
Speaker 1: he gave me. I asked him, wait, wait, hold on.
Speaker 1: The first thing I said was hello. He recognized me,
Speaker 1: and he was with his wife. Now here's a guy
Speaker 1: that's seven ft one or seven ft two, and his
Speaker 1: wife was about five ft one and nice lady, okay,
Speaker 1: and there's a little crowd around us, and he sees me.
Speaker 1: I see him. I walked over. I shook his hand.
Speaker 1: And where you've been, Bennoit? Uh? Europe. You've been playing
Speaker 1: in Europe? Yeah? Where did you play? Uh? I was
Speaker 1: playing in Europe? No? No know? Where were you playing
Speaker 1: in Europe? All over? No? No, no, name some cities
Speaker 1: that you played in. Okay, That's how it got this way.
Speaker 1: And when I asked them to name some cities, this
Speaker 1: is the reply. First off, the cities Germany, Spain, countries,
Speaker 1: not even cities. Right, So I decided to abandon that
Speaker 1: avenue of conversation immediately right. And then out of the
Speaker 1: clear blue he looks at me and he says, do
Speaker 1: you know any NBA team that's looking for a center? Okay?
Speaker 1: And I'm thinking, huh what? And I immediately dashed over
Speaker 1: to where you were and I begged you whoever you
Speaker 1: were talking to come with me, come with me, and
Speaker 1: I slept you by the by the arm to run
Speaker 1: over to Bennoit. And then I said to Bennoy Benoit,
Speaker 1: this is Ben Mallor hello, Hello. Asked him the same
Speaker 1: question you asked me, and he says, do you know
Speaker 1: any NBA team center? So we became at that moment
Speaker 1: his agent for looking for any team that needed not
Speaker 1: just the center, but Bennoy Benjamin, who had been out
Speaker 1: of the NBA for at least two or more years,
Speaker 1: not a celebrity star, to say the least, looking at
Speaker 1: us to get him a job. I was outstanding. We
Speaker 1: became scouts. We were NBA scouts at that momently. We
Speaker 1: were scouts. We were trying to figure out where to
Speaker 1: put Benoit. And so when people say, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: I give advice, they ripped me. You're giving advice to
Speaker 1: these NBA teams. I've had NBA players ask for advice
Speaker 1: and you're a witness to it. I'm glad. I'm glad
Speaker 1: you told me that. Sorry. The other Benoit story that
Speaker 1: I wanted to mention for the purposes of this podcast
Speaker 1: was when he was briefly with the Vancouver Grizzlies. The
Speaker 1: Clippers in those days were playing. They played a few
Speaker 1: games at the Pond in Anaheim, which has a different
Speaker 1: corporate name now but where the Mighty Ducks play, and
Speaker 1: the Clippers were trying to get a fan base. They
Speaker 1: were trying to cultivate a fan base in Orange County,
Speaker 1: so that's not really the story. They played in Orange County.
Speaker 1: I'm an Orange County guy, so I always made sure
Speaker 1: to go to those games, and I had to do
Speaker 1: anyway for work, and so it had been a tradition.
Speaker 1: Bennoy played with the Clippers until like the early nineties,
Speaker 1: like the beginning of the nineties, and every time he
Speaker 1: came back, he played like another ten years off and on.
Speaker 1: But every time he came back to the Sports Arena
Speaker 1: or played the Clippers, the few Clipper loyal loyal fans
Speaker 1: that they had would always boo Benoy. So tradition. And
Speaker 1: so I was covering a game he was playing for
Speaker 1: the Vancouver Grizzlies at the time. I don't think he
Speaker 1: played very long for the Vancouver Grizzlies. And remember, but
Speaker 1: he played in Vancouver. They were playing the Clippers in Anaheim,
Speaker 1: and it might have even been an exhibition game. I
Speaker 1: don't recall. It was. No, this was a real game.
Speaker 1: This was not the next Hibision game. This is a
Speaker 1: regular scheduled game that went from the Sports Arena because
Speaker 1: they would play about eight games a year, which is
Speaker 1: now called the Honda Center as their home court. Because
Speaker 1: Darnald Sterling was thinking maybe maybe we can move to
Speaker 1: the pond and get out of the Sports Arena, so
Speaker 1: that he was testing the waters and for two years
Speaker 1: they played almost every team in the West one game
Speaker 1: at at the what is now the Honda Center and
Speaker 1: down in Anaheim. So that was the regular season game,
Speaker 1: all right, So it's a regular season games. Fine, So
Speaker 1: they're playing Vancouver, and I think Vancouver like Byron Scott
Speaker 1: or something this it was a weird hodgepodge Vancouver team.
Speaker 1: Uh that that might have been the either the expansion
Speaker 1: year or right after. But anyway, so Benoit's there and
Speaker 1: we had the idea. You know, we knew Benoit was
Speaker 1: gonna get boots, so I was trying to get some
Speaker 1: sound of what Benoit thought about being booed before he
Speaker 1: actually got booed. So we went in the locker room.
Speaker 1: I was Dave l a San Diego radio legend, Dave
Speaker 1: Palay who does his own podcast, and so we went
Speaker 1: in to interview Benoit and asked him, you know, what's it.
Speaker 1: I forget exactly what the question was. It was something like,
Speaker 1: you know, can you believe after all these years, the
Speaker 1: fans are still you know, still booing you every time
Speaker 1: you play the Clippers something along those lines. I didn't
Speaker 1: phrase it exactly like that, but something along those lines.
Speaker 1: And Benoit the two things I remember is He started
Speaker 1: out fine, but he was chewing gum, and no one
Speaker 1: choose gum quite like Benoit. Benjamin, right, I mean this
Speaker 1: guy should he should teach him masterclass on how to
Speaker 1: chew bubble gum. Uh, just very in your face, like
Speaker 1: just the oh my. Anyway, so he was doing that
Speaker 1: and he started out fine. You know, he gave some
Speaker 1: as I remember the answer, we have the audio I
Speaker 1: have been on a cassette tape somewhere. But Benoit started out, okay.
Speaker 1: You know that he's had a career. You know he's
Speaker 1: okay with that. You know, fans can do what they want.
Speaker 1: And as he starts giving the answer, he starts working
Speaker 1: himself into a lather, getting upset with people bulling him.
Speaker 1: And then he remember the body language. He starts punching
Speaker 1: his fist into his hand. He takes his right fist.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can hear that. He starts
Speaker 1: punching his hand, and then he gave one of the
Speaker 1: great great speeches. At the end of that, he said,
Speaker 1: I will take on anyone on any court in the
Speaker 1: United States or Canada, and I'll kick their ass. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I'm paraphrasing, obviously, but but he went on this
Speaker 1: legendary rant and it was it was hilarious and I ran,
Speaker 1: I remember running, I said, And I was big, fat guy,
Speaker 1: couldn't run that fast. But I had to play the
Speaker 1: tape for you. I had to play the audio for
Speaker 1: you lead because it was an amazing clip. You are
Speaker 1: absolutely correct. He also he also mentioned in that because
Speaker 1: you came running out just as you said, I was
Speaker 1: standing near the locker room. He ran right over to
Speaker 1: me like whoa, like overwhelmingly running right at me, and
Speaker 1: then hear this. You gotta hear this, you know. And
Speaker 1: you played the tape for me. And in that tape
Speaker 1: when he was pounding his fist, I'll take on the fans.
Speaker 1: He also mentioned, I'll take on the media. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: I forgot about that, oh man. That as I was saying, hey,
Speaker 1: I looked it up. That was the nineteen nine five
Speaker 1: Vancouver Grizzlies. You want to take again. How many players
Speaker 1: can you name in the nineteen Vancouver Grizzlies. Probably none,
Speaker 1: I would say zero. It wasn't that long after that
Speaker 1: they wound up moving to Memphis, right, Uh they had Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're only in Vancouver for a couple years. They had
Speaker 1: the great Blue Edwards, remember him from the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 1: He was on the team. Greg Anthony, who was kid
Speaker 1: Cole Anthony was just drafted by the Orlando Magic this week.
Speaker 1: He was on that team. Derrick Martin, our buddy Derrick Martin,
Speaker 1: who was played with the Clippers later on Big Country.
Speaker 1: Bryant Reeves. Uh, he was on my add the team
Speaker 1: I haven't heard in twenty five years. He was a rookie.
Speaker 1: Byron Scott was on that team at the end of
Speaker 1: his career. Gerald Wilkins. Remember he was a pretty good player,
Speaker 1: Gerald Wilkins. He had a long career, Yes he did.
Speaker 1: He was the brother of Dominique, right, I think direct. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he had a good career. There you go, boy, This
Speaker 1: podcast is reaching a new lowly We're doing We're doing
Speaker 1: Vancouver Grizzly. All right, well, all right, so let's let
Speaker 1: me switch this up. Maybe you do not remember this
Speaker 1: because I've never talked to you about this. You and
Speaker 1: I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of games together at
Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium, the Angel games, Laker games, Clipper games. It
Speaker 1: surpasses well into the hundreds together. Yeah, therewith Also, if
Speaker 1: you remember during that great run of USC between two
Speaker 1: thousand two and two thousand nine. We used to go
Speaker 1: to the USC games on a Saturday, you remember, yes,
Speaker 1: every Saturday for years when they were bad, when I
Speaker 1: started going, and then we were fortunate enough to go
Speaker 1: during the glory days of Pete Carroll and how when
Speaker 1: they were wonderful and they were like an NFL team
Speaker 1: for a couple of years. Well, there's two stories in particular.
Speaker 1: One of them you may not remember, the other one
Speaker 1: you will. The first one is, in order to get
Speaker 1: uh a press pass, you had to call the athletic
Speaker 1: office in order for them to send it to you, remember, yes,
Speaker 1: and you would get and you would get it usually
Speaker 1: in the mail or something of that nature. They sent
Speaker 1: it to the radio station and you somehow wangled that.
Speaker 1: You always got a parking pass along with your press
Speaker 1: pass to get into the game. I was at that time.
Speaker 1: I never got a I got a press pass, but
Speaker 1: I never got the car pass. So there were games
Speaker 1: where we were actually together in the same car going
Speaker 1: to the coliseum. In one particular killer instance, for some reason,
Speaker 1: I did not get my media pass to get into
Speaker 1: the game. But that didn't stop me because I was
Speaker 1: told that they had either forgotten but it's okay to
Speaker 1: come or whatever. So I do not have a pass,
Speaker 1: but then has a pass and a parking pass. So
Speaker 1: we parked our car, and at that time they had
Speaker 1: the beginning of that underground parking where they first opened up.
Speaker 1: So we parked the car. We walked all the way around,
Speaker 1: halfway around the Coliseu and to go where the press
Speaker 1: entrance is. And you were the only one who had
Speaker 1: a big red pass at this big thing. And I
Speaker 1: was at that time smoking cigarettes, so I had an
Speaker 1: empty Marlborough box, not the pack, but a box. And
Speaker 1: I said to you, because you had to take the
Speaker 1: elevator all the way to the top, and we're standing
Speaker 1: by the elevator and you can't get into the elevator
Speaker 1: without a pass. So Ben could go in and I couldn't.
Speaker 1: So I said to Ben, when you get up stairs,
Speaker 1: walk over to the edge above and put your pass
Speaker 1: into the Marlboro box and throw it all the way
Speaker 1: down to me. I'll go in. Now. The press box
Speaker 1: at the Colisseum is at the very very top of
Speaker 1: the Colisseum, so when you walk out the side door
Speaker 1: of the press box, you are above every fan in
Speaker 1: the colisseum. There is no place to stand higher than
Speaker 1: where you are. There's nobody that is above you, and
Speaker 1: there is a cement wall at the tippy top of
Speaker 1: the Colisseum. I'm way down there, you know, twenty yards
Speaker 1: away at least thirty yards away down below. And then
Speaker 1: did what he did. He folded in half, stuffed it
Speaker 1: into the Marlborough box and tossed the Marlborough box down
Speaker 1: and it landed between on the ground. It landed between
Speaker 1: the colisseum cement down at the bottom and a row
Speaker 1: of hedges. I had to go through hedges that had
Speaker 1: no cut through to bend over and pick it up,
Speaker 1: and I finally went in and then held up. Other
Speaker 1: than watching the game at that type with binoculars in
Speaker 1: the press box, the main reason we both went was
Speaker 1: what did they serve in those days? Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Well I until you had just mentioned that story, I
Speaker 1: wanna begin by saying I didn't even remember it, But
Speaker 1: then you started talking about it, and I do remember.
Speaker 1: I remember that. I remember also having to like pick
Speaker 1: you up at some shady parking lot in the wrong
Speaker 1: part of town to go. We'd leave your car and
Speaker 1: then we drive in car pool into the colisseum and
Speaker 1: uh and all that. But yeah, in those days, and
Speaker 1: they don't do this anymore now they give you like
Speaker 1: a turkey sandwich and an apple. But in the old days,
Speaker 1: they had a chef like you'd see it a find
Speaker 1: like a lowry steak place with one of those chef
Speaker 1: hats on and a big carving life. And they had
Speaker 1: one side. They had prime rib and they had turkey,
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. It was just the most amazing
Speaker 1: and the media would just go out like us just
Speaker 1: to eat. The team wasn't that good. They had been
Speaker 1: good before, but they were kind of going through a
Speaker 1: lull and so, oh my god, that was amazing and
Speaker 1: I was that was my big eating days only. I
Speaker 1: love that. That was It's great, wonderful and they and
Speaker 1: they had better than Dodger Stadium Dodger dogs. They had
Speaker 1: great hot dogs at half time too. Yeah, well, we
Speaker 1: could do all different. We'll have to have you back
Speaker 1: another time, Leader, just to talk about the food that
Speaker 1: we consumed, the massive amount of foot But you never
Speaker 1: gained weight. You're very You've always been pretty lean. And
Speaker 1: I'm the one that gained the weight eating all the food.
Speaker 1: So you survived not being able to gain weight, which
Speaker 1: what is your secret? Is it your genetics? I mean,
Speaker 1: because you didn't really gain any weight despite eating the
Speaker 1: same crap. I ate a little more than you, but
Speaker 1: you still ate a lot of bad food those days.
Speaker 1: I would say, I credit all right, now, last thing
Speaker 1: here ly, and then we'll let you out of here.
Speaker 1: Will It will free you from the shackles of the podcast. No, no,
Speaker 1: I got one, and then and then you'll go the
Speaker 1: last one. Another instance, another instance. You know how crowded
Speaker 1: it was in those days when they got good that
Speaker 1: these games started thanks to ABC either at four thirty
Speaker 1: five o'clock twelve thirty, that they arranged the times because
Speaker 1: USC was number one in the nation, they would always
Speaker 1: have them televised on ABC National Television and television controls
Speaker 1: to start time, there's this afternoon game and the traffic
Speaker 1: it's so horrible around the coliseum. It's downtown, just a
Speaker 1: little south of downtown Los Angeles. It is horrendous, and
Speaker 1: so you have to follow what the police are directing
Speaker 1: traffic in the handful of streets in order for you
Speaker 1: to find a parking spot. Do you remember the time
Speaker 1: where the top and It wasn't a real cop. It
Speaker 1: was just somebody that was hired to direct traffic. I
Speaker 1: asked you to pull forward, but you couldn't pull any
Speaker 1: forward because you were gridlock crossing over figure oh and
Speaker 1: to go into the tunnel to the parking and couldn't move.
Speaker 1: The lights have changed and you're in the middle blocking
Speaker 1: gridlocking traffic going north south because you're facing east west
Speaker 1: right in the middle of the street. Remember that, I do,
Speaker 1: And you remember what was said to me after that?
Speaker 1: You remember what was said as I recall, as they
Speaker 1: they asked me to block the intersection, and then, as
Speaker 1: I remember, didn't they get upset with me for blocking
Speaker 1: the intersection? They were yelling at you. It was it
Speaker 1: was a female and she was yelling at you because
Speaker 1: you were driving and she was on your side, and
Speaker 1: I yelled at her, how stupid she is. You're blocking traffic.
Speaker 1: Why did you pull us forward? Because she was blaming
Speaker 1: you for blocking traffic, although she's the one who puts
Speaker 1: you there. I know. It was outstanding in competence. It
Speaker 1: was outstanding and comf well. And you let me say
Speaker 1: I got not only did you get me in trouble.
Speaker 1: The late Alex Russo. My my guy, Alex double overtime Alex.
Speaker 1: He got me in trouble too. I was driving him
Speaker 1: to a game one time and the same thing happened.
Speaker 1: We got stuck. They wouldn't let us enter where we
Speaker 1: needed to enter. There was like one spot we could
Speaker 1: enter into the parking lot. They wouldn't let us. It
Speaker 1: was blocked off. So we kept driving in circles and uh.
Speaker 1: And then finally Alex the like the fourth time we
Speaker 1: drove around the block trying to get in where we
Speaker 1: need to go. Uh. He He then rolled down the
Speaker 1: window and started yelling at the traffic cop that and
Speaker 1: then and I'm like, Alex, they have my license play
Speaker 1: what are you doing you? I said the same thing
Speaker 1: to you too, by the way, But anyway, my last
Speaker 1: story here. And I told this story on the air
Speaker 1: last week on the podcast. I ranted about it and
Speaker 1: I you were there, you were part of this. It
Speaker 1: was one of the great nights. It's it's in the
Speaker 1: top five nights I've had dealing with somebody in sports.
Speaker 1: We had dinner with Tommy Heinson, who just passed away recently.
Speaker 1: The Great, the Great, the New Year's Eve. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was New Year's even and you were at the table
Speaker 1: and and UH and Tommy just started regaling us with
Speaker 1: these amazing stories that we had not heard before about
Speaker 1: the early days in Boston. And it was an awesome
Speaker 1: conversation and one of the all time greats. Tommy had
Speaker 1: so much personality and he just kind of started casually.
Speaker 1: And my favorite part of that. There were a couple
Speaker 1: of parts. I mentioned it on the on the podcast
Speaker 1: last week. Remember when he said that pat Riley ripped
Speaker 1: off what the Celtics had done when he came to
Speaker 1: the Lakers and was coaching the Lakers and all that.
Speaker 1: I think that Tommy Hinson, for those that don't know
Speaker 1: who he was, he did pass away about a week
Speaker 1: or so an NBA Hall of Fame seven or eight
Speaker 1: rings because he played with Bill Russell, and that incredibly
Speaker 1: great when they won uh ten of eleven championships, ten
Speaker 1: out of eleven years, ten championships. Uh a broadcaster back
Speaker 1: in New England for the Celtics color man for years.
Speaker 1: You and I both knew he hated the referees, didn't he?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, it was. It was. It was legendary
Speaker 1: his rants about the referees on he did he put
Speaker 1: on TV. But who he was. I grew up knowing
Speaker 1: who he was as a great basketball player. And there
Speaker 1: we are on New Year's He's sitting down Ben and
Speaker 1: I and maybe two other people and Tommy Heinson had
Speaker 1: the chair. He was talking to us for almost an hour.
Speaker 1: Remember what he said about Walter McCarty. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it said it last week. But he he
Speaker 1: was so excited because they actually the Celtics at that time,
Speaker 1: we're pretty dull and they were a boring team, and
Speaker 1: that Walter was actually one of the guys that I
Speaker 1: think he said something I'm paraphrasing that he moved around
Speaker 1: and the other guys just stood around, right, There's something
Speaker 1: like that along those lines. And Walter had just been
Speaker 1: uh put on the roster of the Clippers as a
Speaker 1: bench player. Yeah, he was at the end of his
Speaker 1: career and he wasn't it wasn't exactly playing much at all.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that was that was anyway, Remember he told
Speaker 1: the story. I feel exactly what he had said Tommy
Speaker 1: about trying to get people in Boston and New England
Speaker 1: to play basketball, and it was had some issues. They're
Speaker 1: trying to get basketball to become a popular sport. This
Speaker 1: is back in his early days with the the Celtics
Speaker 1: and Red ar back and all that, But it was
Speaker 1: it was a great night. Do you have anything to promotely?
Speaker 1: Do you have a book, do you have a podcast?
Speaker 1: You have anything you would like to promote? Would you
Speaker 1: like to promote where you're going to be having a lunch.
Speaker 1: I'm in the middle. I'm in the middle of writing
Speaker 1: a book called this is not a book I am doing.
Speaker 1: You know me personally, what's going on in my life
Speaker 1: which I don't want to discuss, which is not negative,
Speaker 1: awaiting the arrival and not and not necessarily of a child.
Speaker 1: There's a great mit, It's a great mitch. Yes, if
Speaker 1: I was awaiting the arrival of a child, I would
Speaker 1: congratulate myself at my age being able to even do that.
Speaker 1: But nevertheless, I'm making the days under COVID go by
Speaker 1: as quickly as possible. Um. I do know that there
Speaker 1: are so many stories that you and I haven't even
Speaker 1: discussed or remembered one by one. When you did the
Speaker 1: remote from from the from from Sprint in Santa Monica,
Speaker 1: that's one. I mean, I don't want to go on
Speaker 1: with there's another podcast in the future that we can
Speaker 1: discuss other things with. Uh. We we had on the Clippers,
Speaker 1: but we haven't even touched the Dodgers. We haven't touched
Speaker 1: about Matt Williams. Do I have to Yeah, Yeah, we
Speaker 1: have another. We've had so many lock I've had with you,
Speaker 1: locker room confrontations with old athletes. We could do, We'll do.
Speaker 1: We'll have you on again. You'll be a rotating guestly,
Speaker 1: so I'd like you to have not that we pay
Speaker 1: you and that that you're gonna make get any money
Speaker 1: out of this, but but we do thank you, and
Speaker 1: you want to give out your email. I people want
Speaker 1: to contact you. Leave some of the old time listeners
Speaker 1: from back in the day who are finding this well.
Speaker 1: I want to thank the people that listen to your podcast.
Speaker 1: I know there's quite a few. I've listened to them myself.
Speaker 1: And when I gave out my email address about two
Speaker 1: months ago when we did our last one, I actually
Speaker 1: got two people, two people that emailed me. So if
Speaker 1: those that remember me from either from being doing my
Speaker 1: regular sports show for three hours a night in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles for a million years, or from the Clippers or
Speaker 1: anything that nature You can get a hold of me
Speaker 1: by just emailing me at clippers Man that's plural, clippers
Speaker 1: man at yahoo dot com and I'll be more than
Speaker 1: happy to answer you. So I appreciate you asked me
Speaker 1: for that, and and and how's everything in your life going. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm doing podcasting. I'm at the top of my life now.
Speaker 1: Everything's good, everything's we'll catch up. Thank you, We appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You stay well, stay healthy, and say hello to your
Speaker 1: wife and family for me.