December 3, 2025 • 51 mins
Big Ben talks about Mike Tomlin agreeing with frustrated Steelers fans booing, Michael Jordan commenting on what's wrong with today's NBA players, Maller to the Third Degree, #QueenOfHearts w/ LaReina, Password: Word Game of the Stars, and more!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmalers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
They're not Angry Burns, It's Angry Burns. Welcome in the beginning.
Come another night of the Ben Maler Show.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
We are in the air everywhere, belly tip belly as
we run the Yum Yum package coast to coast, border
to border and beyond.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
All the mast and hypnotically powerful microphones of fs are
ammudinating live from the Bob as we bob and weave
our way through audio haymakers all night long from the
world famous Fox Sports Radio studios. Here hanging out with you,
(01:21):
as approved by Totally Fused and Danny in Nashville, who
remind us that this portion of the Ben Malar Show
on Fox made possible in part by our friends at
tire Rack. That's right for over forty years, Tyraq has
been helping customers like Ferg dog Alf and malarprop Guy
find the right tires for how, what and where they drive,
(01:43):
ship fast and free, which is very important to mister
nice guy back by free road hazard protection with convenient
installation options like mobile tire installation tire rac dot com.
The wait tire bond should be so our lead. This
hour is from Pittsburgh. The Steelers are not bad. They're
(02:05):
not good. They played bad in their last game, and
I just love any chance I have to play audio
for Mike Tomlin. It's just so good. So we're gonna
take a trip to Pittsburgh, PA. Right there they fall
out from the no show second half performance. There as
Steelers fans were giving Mike Tomlin the business, they greeted
(02:28):
him with a chorus of boo flat and raining down
rhythmic chanting to get rid of Mike Tomlin. After that
debacle in the second half where they just were guilty
of truancy. It just did not show up. So Tomlin
was asked again about all of this, the uprising, you,
the natives not being happy with the Pittsburgh Steelers and
(02:49):
everything that's going on right now. In Pittsburgh. They brought
in Aaron Rodgers. He's not very good. You know, made
some moves, but haven't exactly paid off. No dividends from
those moves in the offseason right now. So Tomlin was
asked about everyone being very restless in the steel City,
and let's go to the audio tape.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
In general, I agree with them. From this perspective, football
is our game. We're in a sport entertainment business. And
so if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning.
And so when you're not winning is not entertaining. And
if you've been in this business, you understand that, and
so I respect it. I share frustrations. I understand what
(03:32):
makes this thing go, and winning is what makes this
thing go.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I say the same thing as you know, people see
here in the sports talk business. We're in the entertainment business.
That's what we're in here. Well, we're just it's the vehicle,
the window is the sporting world. But Tomlin's such a
great sound bite, just absolute wonderful. So it's a good
jumping off point. You heard Tom and there we're in
the entertainment business, the sports entertainment business. So let us
discuss the question for the esteem panel, what intrigues you
(04:00):
the most about Mike Tomlin agreeing with the frustrated Steeler
fan base and the boozoo that rained down on Mike Tomlins.
So I've got bomb Squad, iPhone twelve and Emmy and
we will combine all of these things together and we
(04:23):
are going to have a grand old jamboree, is what
We're going to have, Just a wonderful jamburee. So a
Mike Tomlin reminding us yet again that he is a
smooth operator, a smooth operator. He knew the line of
questioning was coming, all right, shaw Dave Foy, he knew
what was coming down. And so Tomlin, he walked into
(04:46):
the blast zone, the demilitarized zone there, the smooth operator
he is, and the booze raining down he was asked
about that, and like mortar firing down from the upper
balcony there at the stadium formerly known as Hinz Field,
And instead of ducking, instead of being defensive and pushing
(05:08):
back and all that, no, he was able to take
his little clippers and he clipped the red wire, not
the blue wire, because the blue wire would have gone kerfluey.
He clipped the red wire with his bare hands, showing
you the ability that he's the captain of the bomb
squad and he can't cut the blue wire because it's kerfluey.
(05:29):
You got to cut the red wire. He cut the
red wire, and he did it just before everything exploded,
So there you go. He didn't argue, Tomin, didn't push back,
he didn't deflect, none of that stuff. He didn't whind
about hurt feelings and all that stuff. He basically said,
you're mad and you're right. You're mad and you're right.
(05:51):
He took the air out of the angry balloon, is
what Mike Tomlin did. And he also used the spin
Golly effect is what he used on this. He's been
Gali effect here. That Tomlin has the ability to mesmerize
and hypnotize. He could mesmerize a parking meter Mike Tomlin
(06:13):
the way that he speaks. And you know, people have
upset and the team hasn't won a playoff game at
a long time. They don't look like they're gonna win
a playoff game this year. If they even get to
the playoffs, that's not a guarantee. So there's a lot
of stuff going on and the people upset and they're like,
you know, but Mike, he sounds kind of like he
(06:34):
knows what he's doing. Yeah, So Tomlins, Pittsburgh Steeler football team,
the way they've played most of the season. Again, they're
not the worst team, they're not the great. They've played
like they've been zombie fied the Steelers here, and there's zombies,
slow walkers, just a little off where they need to be,
(06:58):
just a little bit off. The Steelers are twenty eighth
an offense. And if you think that's not great, how
about their defense? The defense has to be better than
twenty eighth, No, twenty eighth in total defense this year?
Holy Sean the hood guy Batman, what's going on? And
so there we are. That's not balance. Who they're twenty
(07:18):
eighth and twenty eighth, that's ballot No. No, that is
symmetry of suck. Is what that is. That's not balance,
That symmetry of suck. So I hope you enjoy that.
A complete boone doggle. The Steelers season so far, and
that team consistently for five, six, seven years has served
(07:41):
up slow turned vanilla ice cream. They don't serve anything
other than slow turned vanilla ice cream. And then people say, well,
we want sprinkles we'd like to get. Well, we don't
have any sprinkles. What we have is vanilla ice cream,
is slow turned vanilla. I scream, but we want some fudge.
Don't give you any fudge. We have no fudge for you.
What about a nice waffle cone? We don't have waffle
(08:03):
Can I get a waffle bawl? We don't have waffle balls.
I'm sorry, we don't have that. All we have is
vanilla ice cream and you have to eat with your hands.
That's Steeler football. That's what it is here. And Tomlin
as the pied piper. He knows he's golden. Tomlin knows
either he keeps the job in Pittsburgh, which is the
most likely outcome because they don't get rid of coaches,
(08:24):
and either that or he goes and gets some no
show TV job somewhere where he can just spew nonsense
and get paid tons of money and not doing any
prep like Tom Brady, So you could do that. Or
the other option is he goes and gets another coaching
job somewhere at the NFL level. We'll get hired in
two minutes if he is let go by the Steelers,
which is very unlikely. But he's the pied piper, that's
(08:46):
what he is. He's piping the pied piper. You put
the parade behind Tomlin, and of course, unfortunately the parade
behind him is dragging one leg. That's his team, which
is not ideal, groaning, and they're selling punts a dime
a dozen. You get twelve punts for one dime. It's
really quite the operation they've got going there in Pittsburgh.
(09:08):
Meanwha to the Warp Speed Sports Wire, not the High
Speed Sports Wire, the Warp Speed Sports Wire where Adam
Feeland has found a new home. Adam Feelin, I don't
know if you saw this or or maybe not, maybe
you did not keep up on this. And they're very
concerned about washed up wide receivers where they end up
late of the Minnesota Vikings. We have learned now that
(09:29):
Adam Feelen is taking his talents too Pittsburgh. He's gonna
join Mike Tomlin and the Steelers claimed off waivers. They
fire you, and every other business can claim the fired employee.
And Adam Feeling asked to be given the pink slip.
He was given the pink slip, and so there we go,
(09:49):
all right, the question what does washed up wide receiver
Adam Feeland bring to the Petsburg Steelers. All right, so
I'll tell you what he brings. Okay, after several minutes
of contemplating on the long drive in from the north Woods,
contemplating what Adam Feeling brings to the Steers, think of
(10:11):
it in the holiday spirit. He's like a Christmas ornament,
or in this case, a roster ornament. And what does
that mean. That means that if you've watched football casually,
Adam Feeling looks great hanging from the depth chart tree,
looks really good night, sparkles under the lights at the facility,
(10:33):
and you're like, oh, that's a name I've heard of.
This guy used to be one of the top receivers
in the NFL with the Vikings. And he also absolutely
does not change the direction of the team. Doesn't change
the direction of the team. The Steelers passing offense. Let
me spell it off for you. It's E N E
M C A namick. There a name it. Pittsburgh is
(10:57):
where wide receivers go to run the five yard curl
and pray for sunlight. Of course, this time of the
year you are and it's got, it's got. That offense
has less downfield juice. Where's the juice? All right, there's
no juice there. They've got less juice than a dead
(11:18):
car battery on the side of the interstate in the
in the blizzard back in Minnesota where Adam Fieln was. Okay,
good luck on that. And these guys can barely complete
a pass. Literally, if you look at the numbers, I'm
not making this. They can barely complete a pass beyond
ten yards, and they need a flight plan, and even
then they don't get clearance to complete the pass over
ten yards. So it's a big mess. So unless Adam
(11:41):
Feelin can hire a special personal coach Poncetelyon Poncetelyon as
his personal trainer. And the legend is one of the
great legends that the waters of Florida famously the fountain
of youth, the springs of youth. Well, how about has
anyone checked the mononga HeLa. What if Ponstellion was wrong
(12:03):
and the waters that will keep us living forever are
in the mononga HeLa or the Allegheny. Why didn't anyone
check that? Bad job by them? You can hire Poncetellion
as Adam Feelin's guy, and then there you go. The
fountain of youth will be bubbling up somewhere, and of
course that's not likely to happen. So that means this
is a cosmetic, a purely cosmetic move. It's kind of
(12:27):
like going out to the desert and seeing a cactus
and putting lipstick on the cactus. Well, it looks okay,
but it's still a cactus. Not gonna do anything with it.
That's it. Feeling is an iPhone twelve in a world
of iPhone seventeen, Pro, Max, Ultra Infinity and Beyond whatever, whatever, whatever,
(12:51):
whatever dumb names they come up with for these phones.
So he's a warm body. I assume he's got a
warm body. He's not dead, so I assume he's got
a warm body, and he's a good seat filler. Good
seat filler, looks good. Nostalgia you can tell, Oh, you
remember what this guy Feeling was with the Vikings and
he was great in twenty twenty. Remember that. Yeah, so
name you recognize. So you got that name you recognize,
(13:14):
and you kind of check the box and what's in
the what's in the box you just checked the box.
So the Steelers what they need is dinomte. They did
not get dynamite. They did not. They picked up a
nice scented candle. That's what they got. So if your
dog farts, you can light the candle and you've got
a nice scent there, and it's just great and wonderful. Now.
(13:37):
On the Mallor report card for the Adam Feeling edition,
the most important scorecard of them all, the Malor report
Card for Adam Feeling going from Minnesota the Pittsburgh on waivers.
Did I give it an A, A bright you go
to be? Did I give it a C, A D
or an F? No of that. On the Malley report card,
(14:02):
I gave it a P for placebo. The placebo effect
is what I gave it.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Meanwhile, last word, this is a good story. I saw
this and it's it's continued to get better and better
and better and better and better. So we'll go to Gotham.
A lot of stuff going on. Giants sucked, but there's
a lot of stuff going on around the Giants which
is somewhat interesting. And I have a talk show to do,
so I think this is interesting and I wanted to
share it with you if you didn't see this. So
(14:29):
the Giants have this stud rookie out of Penn State,
Abdul Carter, who so far his elite skill is not
showing up to team meetings and practices on time. He's
really good at that. Like, if you want an elite
edge rusher who is so good he can't show up
on time to work, You've got your guy. Abdul Carter
is really good. So he got benched. You saw the
(14:50):
Money Night game. He did not play the first two
series of that game. That is the second time Abdul
Carter has been benched for malfeasance and truancy all that stuff.
That was against the Patriots when by the time he
got into the game was seventeen to nothing. Yeah, game over,
game over at that point. Anyway, get to the point please. So,
(15:13):
although he was initially reported that Carter was benched for
disciplinary reasons, there was a fake report that got some
legs online that claimed the reason Abdull Carter was punished
was for watching porn in a team meeting. Yeah, that's
a totally fake report, right. It was a parody account
(15:34):
on x that spread the rumor, and the reason we're
bringing it up is because what do you think Abdull
Carter did the mensa the mensa for the New York Giants.
What do you think he did? Do you think he
ignored the story? B said no comment, which is a
way of annoying the story. Or c sent out a
(15:56):
comment trying to debunk the satire story. Ding ding ding
ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. Yes, so
this numb nuts. Abdul Carter decided, I'm gonna respond to
the obvious fake story. Let me tell you something, even
if these guys were watching porn in a meeting, they're
not gonna say it publicly, all right anyway, So abdul
(16:18):
Carter responded and then deleted the post on social media.
The post said stop this is his post, stop slandering
my name real and now I'm gonna clean this up
because we're on the radio. Lucky Tony would say the word,
but I'm gonna clean up real poop. He said a
different word. It starts with an S. But I don't
know that word. You know, we're kids. We can't say
(16:41):
that word. We're not a grown ups. It's not the
middle of the night. We can't say that word. Be
in trouble, So anyway, that's the quote, and he said,
and if you believe that BS, you stupid, not your stupid,
you stupid. Okay. Carter then of course did what everyone does,
trying to delete the evidence. He deleted the post. We
know how that works. I know about it. I didn't
see it in real time. So question, how do you
(17:04):
classify the giant's edge rusher Abdull Carter, responding passionately to
a satire report. I report it was something busting balls
on social media. So Carter committed the NFL's version of
an unforced error, big thing in tennis, right, unforced error.
(17:27):
This was it wasn't just a mistake, just a mistake.
This was an Emmy Award type of performance as in
me as in mental error by Abdulla Carter. Emmy the
kind that you submit for consideration in the category in
(17:47):
Hollywood for outstanding achievement in making a bad story worse
the winner. Abdull Carter, congratulations. So a parody account, which
was obviously a parody account, a cartoon character that's got
some kind of Wi Fi hook up, and they throw
out a fake story claiming that Abdul Carter got benched
(18:07):
because he was watching porno in a team meeting, which
is obviously bogus and total satire, not a grain of
truth in it, not even close. And what does Abdul
Carter do? He quote, tweets it, blast, it deletes it,
then fires off if you believe that'd be asked to you, stupid.
Congratulations to Abdulla Carter the New York Giants. You just
(18:30):
poured rocket fuel on a spark, just a little spark
that was dying on the vine there, and you turned
to nothing burger into a double whopper with extra cheese.
Congratulations on that. So this is what these social media overlords,
this is what they dream of, the dumb athlete handing
(18:52):
them free content. Congratulations, you've done it, amplifying nonsense and
chi chan chi chan chi chain and doing the manipulation
in the matrix for them. So I'm Dual Carter obviously
a fan of Disney growing up. He loved not Mickey Mouse,
not Goofy. He was a fan of Dumbo. Loves the
(19:12):
Dumbo Absolute grab those giant ears from Dumbo and go
around and round and round and round and the fake
story straight into prime time. So a rookie mistake, great
thing when you're a rookie. Anything you do so just
a rookie mistake.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mellor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Calvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
That's right, you can now watch The Odd Couple live
on YouTube every day.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
All you gotta do search our cup FSR on YouTube
again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Check us out on YouTube and subscribed the air up there,
Welcome in the beginning of another hour of the Ben
Mather Show. We are in the air everywhere besides one another,
as we are powered by spit and sawdust coast the coast,
(20:26):
border to border and beyond on the vast and groovibly
powerful microphones of FSR amminating live from the full the
ear full of amazing hot sports takes from the world
famous Fox Sports Radio Studios, as approved by Fried Daddy,
(20:48):
who tells me that he is a preferred customer at
tire Rack. Yeah, Fried Daddy has purchased so many tires
there he's gotten preferred status for over forty years. Tyraq
has been helping customers like Friy Daddy find the right
tires for how, what and where they drive. Even Greg,
the real estate mogul in Baltimore agrees ship fast and
(21:09):
freeback by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options
like mobile tire installation tire rack dot Com The Way
Tire Buying Show. I got to click this button here.
This is our new technology, so I click this. There
we go, all right, and this show also sponsored by
DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NFL
(21:31):
and NBA. Right now, use the promo code Malice my
last name m A L l e R to claim
your special offer at DraftKings Again, that's promo code Malor
at DraftKings. The crown is yours. If you have listened
to the Overnight Show, you know that we don't talk
(21:51):
much basketball. Rare and appropriate, rare and appropriate. Well, this
would be one of those rare and appropriate times because
his airness has entered the chat. Michael Jordan getting paid
a little more than I got paid when I worked
at NBC. But Michael Jordan stopped by NBC for a
little camera side chat with Mike Turco. And these big
(22:14):
leather chairs, big leather chairs. Do you see any of this? No,
you weren't. You weren't watching. You didn't watch the Knickerbockers
and the and the Celtics are well. Michael Jordan discussed
a bunch of things, including his love of the game clause,
the legendary love of the game clause that he had
(22:34):
in his contract with the Chicago Bulls, and Jordan also
brought up the modern player in comparison. Let's go to
the audio tape. Take a listen. Here's Michael Jordan the
love of the game.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Other game of contract. Right, if I was driving with
you down the street and I see play basketball game
inside the road, I can go play in that basketball game,
and if I get hurt, my contract is still guarantee.
I love the game so much that I would never
let someone take the opportunity for me to play the
game away from me, as opposed to now where you
(23:04):
don't have it, players probably don't play now they get
individual attention with their trainer. Sure, no way to go
out and shoot one hundred shots or one thousand shots.
I found it to my benefit was go play basketball, man.
That's what you did, that's what you grew up doing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
There you go. Now, I'm the same way as Jordan.
If I go and see somebody doing sports takes on
the side of a country road, I'll pull over and
I'll do sports takes. And I have it in my
contract here at Fox Sports Radio where I'm allowed to
get into a sports debate on a dark country road
out in the boondocks. And they allowed me to do that,
and I had that written in. Yeah, I had that.
(23:43):
That was written into the contract. And Jonas Knox does
not have that. He's not allowed to do that. He
cannot pull over and do a hot take debate on
the side of it. I have that. That's me, just
like Michael Jordan. I'm the Jordan of my time. All right,
So let's get into this. Let's discuss That's a good
jumping off point what Jordan said. So how did Michael
Jordan's comments about today's players essentially not playing basketball enough, right,
(24:05):
not loving the game, not wanting to play enough. How
did that hit you? So I've got Pickley, wigglely belly whopper,
and free chole, and we will combine all of these
things together and we are going to channel moneyball. Malle
is what we're gonna channel.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
So number one, his airness, stepped up to the microphone,
step right up, step right up, fun for.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
All ages is there, has stepped up and basically told
today's NBA players kids yet don't play enough basketball. He
dropped the mic and he walked away. And you know
what doesn't sound wrong to me? Doesn't sound wrong to
me in Jordan's speak, which is not coach speak. In
Jordan speak, the actual basketball part of basketball has become
(24:57):
for the modern player and incan convenience. It is an inconvenience,
a nuisance to the modern player. It's an ingrown toenail,
is what it is. And it's an ingrown toenabo toenail
on an oversized foot for the modern superstar. And Jordan, Now,
(25:19):
was this a humble bracture. Of course it was. It
was better in mine day. And this is one thing
in my life. I remember when I started in the
sports radio and there were there were guys from the
old generation who were ripping the modern player of the
nineties they said, those guys are a bunch of softies,
Alan Iverson and Kobe Bryant, and that generation, the guys
from the eighties, and now then the guys from the
(25:42):
nineties ripped the following generations. It's it's the same thing,
I mean, But on Jordan's point, I think he hit it.
I mean, Jordan had the fire in the belly. Was
baked into his contract that he could play a pickup
game of basketball anywhere, anytime, even if it was on
a cracked blacktop next to a Pigley wiggley in Wilmington,
(26:03):
North Carolina, it didn't matter. And if he blew out
his knee too bad, Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner at the time,
had to pay the contract, had to cut the check,
cut that check, cut that check to Michael George. And
that's how deep his obsession. His obsession ran, And so
he was a Jim Ratt loved basketball stuff, lived in
(26:25):
the weight room and the practice cord and occasionally the casino.
That would happen. Now today, the new age baller, they
float on an inner tube down the Lazy River. They do,
yet they have all the creature comforts. They have private chefs,
they have personalized trainers. They have the shooting coaches, they
(26:47):
have the stretching gurus, they have sleep consultants, they have
a social media team, they have emotional support gardeners. For
some reason, I don't know why you'd need that. So
it's work smarter, not harder. That's the mantra there motto.
But Jordan's message was kind of obviously, stop hiding behind
the amenities checklist. It's kind of weak. Go play basketball, man.
(27:10):
The game has become a chore and the issue, and
to me this cuts down to the main problem that
I have with watching basketball, that the players treat it
like it's taking out the trash day. You know how
you got to take the trash out and want to
take he wants to take the trash out, but it's
what you gotta do. You know, if trash fills up,
(27:32):
you don't want a bunch of vermin in your home,
so you throw the trash out. And it shows in
the product like it does. I have it on in
the background. I was watching the Knick Celtics game, and
I saw the Warriors game after that, and at least
the first half, and it shows in the product where
you can tell as a fan the players don't really
(27:54):
seem like they want to be there. They like playing
grab ass with the other players and all that. They
don't really want to play in the regular season game.
It doesn't mean anything other than we're getting eight million
dollars a game or some ridiculous thing like that. All right, now,
more of Michael Jordan audio from NBC. So, Michael Jordan
was asked if the players of today's version of basketball
(28:17):
have the mindset to achieve greatness, which is a so
we call a low hanging fruit question. That is a
t ball question for Michael Jordan's Again, Jordan asked by
Mike de Rico if the players of the modern NBA
have the mindset to achieve greatness. Let's go to the
audio tape.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
It's hard to be hungry when you have, as simple
as that. I mean, if you don't have, you are
willing to do whatever you have. So my mental approach
was going do my job, be the best basketball player
I can be, and all the chips and everything outside
of that. I have people that were handling that, you know,
(28:57):
but basketball courte I'm handling it right. And now it's
like it's a prerequisite. You know, everybody has to have
a logo. Everybody has to have a you know why right, Well,
I'm pretty sure I'm part of the reason why every
part of the round to get a logo.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
But brand right, brand right, Bran Jordan.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
But the thing is is that that brand established based
on what I did on the basketball court. You know,
I didn't put the brand before I put the work.
You know, I put the work first, and then the
brand evolved based on the work.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Right there you go, all right, So that's Michael Jordan
on the athlete today. So the question what do you
take away from that Michael Jordan's comments about that today's
basketball players in the NBA wanting the logo right away,
right away. So I took away the C word, not
that sea word coddled, That's what I took over Jordan's
(29:47):
like these guys are coddled and air Jordan nothing but
net on this one. I also relate to this because
the management. I really want to thank the company. They
have decided they want to keep me hungry. They don't
want to pay me co Hed money or Dan Patrick money,
or they just want me to really still have that
fire in my belly. And I thank them for that.
(30:08):
And so just keeping it real and it does mean something.
But the way I look at this, the goat, the
real goat, not Lebron James, please. The goat basically said
that the modern basketball player wants the logo before the
legacy and the brand before the blood, sweat and tears,
and coming from Michael Jordan. Who's got that cachet, right,
(30:30):
the guy who's silhouette, Michael Jordan. You realize his silhouette,
that shot of him from the slam Dunk contest extended
out that logo of Michael Jordan. The silhouette of Michael
Jordan has essentially replaced the Church steeple in American sporting culture.
It is great and it says something. But this is
(30:51):
a belly whopper. I wrote on my scorecard, belly whopper.
A full belly makes a dull brain does. And so
these guys are born into and once you're determined to
be a prodigy, from the time you're about what ten
years old, Oh man, you're good to go. And it's
(31:11):
like a decade of having your ass kissed and nil
deals now and sneaker deals and documentary crews following your
journey to the NBA off court production companies all that stuff,
and there was a point where you had to earn it.
You had to outwork the horse. Right, That was the
old line, had at work the horse. Now you don't
have to outwork the horse. There is no horse, of course,
(31:33):
of course, of course. And get all the goodies, all
the goodies, all the perks, right and all that, and
just have to make sure that you use the right
filter on your Instagram story and you're good to go.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
The NBA is one giant tech incubator in sneakers, that's
what's And the league is drowning in the abundance of
caution culture, which is another issue with love of the
game and all that. I feel like that's the unofficial slogan.
Is anything I'm wrong on that the unofficial strogn of
the NBA is out of an abundance of caution? Like
(32:07):
this is the modern NBA. You stub your toe, don't
rub some dirt on it, miss the game? Come on,
gotta rest back to back?
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Come on?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
What do we are? We we some kind of a
wild uh DRACONI in Neanderthal world? You can't play back?
Do you think that a modern athlete can play back
to back? What is wrong with you. For the love
of God, we cannot expect our athletic heroes to play
back to back. Do you work back to back days?
I don't work back Oh that's right, I do work
(32:37):
back to back days. Oh okay, you work, but you
work two days. Really you have a second job? Is
that right? Oh my god? Oh oh my? Uh so
load management National TV A big game Island game. Now
the algorithm says you should not play. The algorithm says
do not play. Okay, just chill out. Everyone is so
(33:00):
warped in this bubble rap that it got more bubble
rap on these basketball players than Amazon spends buying bubble
wrap for the packages they send out. And it's the
bare minimum optics is what it is. Bare minimals, Like
just do the bare minimum, check the contract compliance box.
(33:21):
If you're an NBA star, Like you're clocking in at
a cubicle on a nine to five. And so Jordan's
telling you, He's like, listen, today's players want the logo
before they've earned the lore. And it is true. As
someone that lived in a world before Michael Jordan was
a superstar in the NBA, it happened coincided there was
(33:41):
a famous commercial with Spike Lee. How about Spikey. Isn't
Spike Lee almost seventy He's still fan boying it up
at the Knicks games. Isn't that great? I saw him
on the TV? Anyway, There was a Spike Lee Michael
Jordan commercial that kind of took that thing to the
next level back in the day. But Jordan's He's telling you,
it's like, listen, these guys, this is what they want.
This is the world we were in, which is really
fresh from and considering it's his business model that everyone
(34:04):
wants to mimic, right, It's the Jordan model that everyone wants.
It's not his love of the game, it's the love
of the Chiching, Chiching, Chiching chi Ching. The brand extension
is what it is. And the product, of course, the
NBA product right now is as bad as it's ever
been in my life. A diluted like cheap Gatorade powder.
(34:25):
There was a point the NBA was really bad in
the nineties, I remember, because they had Mike Fittello was
coaching the Cleveland Cadavers and pat Riley was coaching the Knickerbockers,
and it was slowed down. It was really boring, dull basketball.
But at least the players were playing now not so
much all right now, final point, speaking of that, to
la la land we go where Lebron James, who's looking
(34:49):
up at the goat Michael Jordan wishing he was Michael Jordan.
So Lebron James extended his double digit scoring streak to
two and ninety seven games. He did this the other
night in a cloud of controversy. Uh yeah, So the
Lakers were blown out by the Phoenix Suns thunder Dan
(35:11):
Marley with a couple of hammer dunks there for the Sons.
It was it was wild how good they were. And
my god, did they had. Mary Stottammeier had a big
day there, and just a really good team there for
the Phoenix Suns. Anyway, Lebron he was playing in garbage
time with a bunch of backups when he reached the
(35:31):
ten point marker, and that had a lot of people
raising their eyebrows saying like, what are you doing, dude?
Let it die, Let it die, Let it die, let
it die, let it die. All right, So question Lebron
James being accused of catering to his legacy stat padding.
Lebron James to get to ten points to continue that
(35:54):
streak of double digit games. Is this accusation against Lebron
James inbo or out of bounds? That's the question. So
we went to a booth review on this and expedited
booth review and we determined its inbounds. Inbounds now as
inbounds as oxygen being required for human beings to survive,
(36:19):
you need oxygen, very important. You have oxygen. If you
don't have oxygen, you got problems. We don't even know
why anyone would be pretending that this is not what
it's being described as unless you are so far up
Lebron's took us you can't see any sunlight. Okay, that
might be the case, but Lebron is an full on
in this game, was full on legacy maintenance mode. That's
(36:41):
what Lebron was doing. And he's out there polishing his
resume like he's working part time at Zales and he's
dealing with the jewelry. At the end of the day,
Lebron trying to get that new endorsement deal with Fredo
lay Now you might have heard back in the day
of the Frito Bandito. Well, Lebron's like, what about the
statistical Bendito. That's me Lebron James guys stealing hollow numbers,
(37:06):
hollow numbers like he's running a smash and grab operation
in the box score. Now junk stats, a lot of
junk stats, garbage time, compost and this goes on all
the time, and we try to call it every time
we see it. We pointed out some of the great
examples of this are Russell Westbrook with the most bogus
triple double season of all time. If you go back,
(37:27):
there's some videos there. Russ was doing cosplay and I
think it was twenty seventeen. I want to say, I
think that's about right. Remember him boxing out. The videos
were great on YouTube. He was with OKC. He was
literally Russell Westbrook was boxing out his own teammates to
get rebounds. He was boxing out his own teammates. Hey, hey,
(37:47):
numb nuts, you're on the same team. And then there
was a there were some videos of the bigs on
okay see at the time who were literally trying to
get out of the way so Westbrook could get the
bogus triple double stats. It was hilarious. And the thing
about this is that we remember it in the moment.
But when people go back and look at the Wikipedia
(38:08):
pages of these guys, the next group of fans, they
don't realize this. They're not smart enough to do the
research on that, nor do they have the time that
that's a bogus record. This is a bogus record and
all that stuff. So it's not just basketball. It goes
on in all the other sports as well. Remember Josh Allen,
Josh Allen checked in. It was a week eighteen game.
(38:29):
I believe they were playing the Patriots. The Bills were
playing the Patriots. He played one play, if I remember correctly,
Josh Allen, so his iron Man streak would continue one play,
Keep it alive, Keep it alive. Okay, there you go,
the stat padding. Marching band applauds that they play the
music and all that. It's just absolutely great. So Lebron
(38:50):
hit the ten point mark with about seven minutes to
go in the game. The Lakers were down by twenty
five points. He got then yes, like a bad karaoke singer.
A moment later they took him out there. Those are
not meaningful stats. Those are what we call vanity calories.
Those are empty carbs. That's what that is. And yet
(39:10):
when Lebron, when Lebron's long gone from playing in the NBA,
and they look at that stat, the casuals, the low
information fantals, you look at that record, they're not gonna
remember Lebron's stat. Padded that and was playing in garbage
time to try to get to ten points. He really
has shown his age this season. Lakers have a really
good record, but he has shown his age. So it's
a Fugazi situation.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
At least Lebron did not reach the level of the
single greatest, the single greatest stat padding moment in the
history of my career in talk radio. It happened over
twenty years ago, one of the great moments. I'm not
making this up. It sounds like I'm making this up.
I mean so, one of Lebron's teammates, a guy named
Ricky Davis. Ricky Davis needed one more rebound to get
(39:57):
a triple double. So what did Ricky Davis do? Time
is running out, Ricky Davis decided to shoot a basket
at his own basket of course, to miss it to
get the rebound. And David sir, they had a commission
with balls and hair on his chest at the time,
and David Stuarts said, that's not gonna count. Sorry, we're
(40:20):
not counting that now. Adam Silver, Today's commissioner, he probably
would have called it creative stat expression.
Speaker 8 (40:26):
We must let our players express themselves. And even though
it's just a dirty play, we're going to allow it
because it's creative static expression. That's Adam Silver's NBA and
that's the product that's not very good right now.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
It's all part of the Lebron This story is part
of the Lebron experience and not the good part.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 9 (40:49):
Here we are.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
That was way back in seven to the third degree.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
This is one big event.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Gets grilled cup.
Speaker 10 (41:00):
For the first time in his thirteen year NFL career.
Russell Wilson was a healthy scratch. With Jameis Winston as
the number two quarterback, the Giants decided to make Russell
Wilson inactive from Monday Night Football. Ben, Do you think
Wilson hangs it up at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
No, No, He's going to go somewhere. He'll be a
training camp arm somewhere, and he's going to try to
continue his career. There's a supply chain shortage of quarterbacks there,
so he'll someone will give him a chance to try
to make a team next year. He's sucked for how
many teams, now the Broncos, He wasn't good at the NFAC,
(41:33):
at the Broncos, Steelers, and now the Giants. The writing's
on the wall, Coop. But I say he's going to
continue as you'll get one more chance next. I'm embarrassing.
Speaker 10 (41:42):
I know Brian Schottenheimer warmed the cow warmed his Cowboys
players that just because we've won three games, that doesn't
change anything. Going on to say that the team can't
grow complacent as they push for a playoffs.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
No, no, Ben, do you.
Speaker 10 (41:54):
Think the Cowboys will find themselves in the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Well, they look good. I don't want to be a
prisoner of them all. I'm still gonna go no at
this point. Now, I'll change my opinion this should they
win the Thursday Night get But I'm not convinced. Everyone's
getting all excited because they made some plays against Kansas City,
which doesn't look like a playoff team right now, and
the Eagles, who are having all kinds of issues so
(42:18):
you start peeling back those games and they're nice wins,
but they don't look as nice when you look at
the internal stuff with the Eagles and Kansas City is
just not a very good team this year next.
Speaker 10 (42:28):
Jets kicker Nick Folk insisted in an interview after the
Jets picked up their third win of the season that
the team is getting better under Aaron Glenn. He also
said that there's a lot of promise for the future
of the organization.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Ben do you think they have the right guy at
the helm? Well, I don't know for sure. Obviously, I
would say this season is a complete waste, and you
always sell the future. We're gonna be great. If Nick
Foles came out said this guy can't coach, he blows
we suck. We're gonna suck for years. Like course, of
course he's gonna say the futures. But I haven't seen
evidence that we're going back direction. How do we know how? Guys?
(43:02):
I hate dog I gotta eat dog me. I got it, Jenny,
what I got it? I got it.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live It's o it Bies with Lil Rain at
tenne clean up Hearts, Gonna help you.
Speaker 5 (43:26):
Dear Rye gear Rye to night, dear ry to night,
dear ry.
Speaker 11 (43:33):
You heard the man. It's time for love here on
the Ben Malors Show. And you know we actually had
a listener asked earlier this week about Megan thee Stallion
and Clay Thompson with the naming of the boat. I
think it's amazing. You know what, they might as well
change as basketball nickname too, Clay the Stallion. Let's just
move it on.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I love it. Oh you are right. Well, we have
some questions for you on the phones and on the
X machine. Rob says Ben. I put our foot soldiers
to work and the campaign still going on there. Oh
the stickers he's talking about, Well that's not for Loreena.
Nate the Hammer writes in. He says, I was talking
to a woman and she said she just wanted to
(44:15):
be friends. I told her I have enough friends, which
I do, but she lost it. Was I in the wrong,
says Nate. This is Nate the Hammer.
Speaker 11 (44:23):
Yeah, well you were being honest with what you want
from her, and if you don't want her in that
regular position. Then carry on.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Move onboard, upboarding, onward, far out. Dave says, my lady
keeps telling me to take take it as a compliment
when she lets one rip while we're wrestling. I don't
know how to take it. I figured i'd ask an experts.
Speaker 11 (44:45):
Yeah, I mean, she's trying to say she feels comfortable.
But something about doing that it breaks the romance. You know,
what if you're wrestling and you like, you know, you
want to get closer, and then she rips the one,
You're like, oh, and I want to go in a
completely other room than you, you know.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
And pass out a gas mask or something, just pass out.
Eke in Roseville, Minnesota says, Hey, today's our forty ninth wedding.
Everything about that I met congratulations, great man. I met
him at the meet and greet there in Minnesota says
I don't need any relationship advice from Lorena. He says
the four ls make for a long marriage. He says,
a long marriage a love, laughter, loyalty, and listening to
(45:25):
each other. So apparently, Lorena, that's the key. The four els.
Speaker 11 (45:28):
Love, laughter, loyalty, and listen.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
That's all you need. Let's go to the phones. Bobby
in Florida, Key Lime Pie, Bobby in Florida for Loraina
on the Queen ft bbby, Oh yeah, take them a call.
Speaker 12 (45:43):
So based on that last message, the listening part kind
of feeds into my question. So you know, I'm dating
this girl. Everything's great, we're madly in love. And so
we get to the point where we're getting a little
intimate and come to find out when she's getting to
the to the top of the mountain, and it sounds
like somebody's beating a bag of puppies with a hammer.
Speaker 9 (46:07):
A ball gag, a ballgager.
Speaker 12 (46:09):
Do I get myself some here plugs?
Speaker 11 (46:12):
You can always shove her face on a pillow too,
that could work.
Speaker 12 (46:15):
Okay, might incorporate that.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Well, that's a tremendous there.
Speaker 11 (46:19):
At least you know you're doing a good job, right.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Apparently she can get her to the top of the mountain.
Speaker 11 (46:25):
Then to keep her at the bottom.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
She might be dying. I'll just go to Rick in Maryland. Hello, Rick,
Welcome Rick in morning time.
Speaker 9 (46:32):
It sounds like he said a little intimate. But anyway,
look at you. I had fort Worth on my mind yesterday.
But look he's listening right now. If he's dealing with
a woman who drive for door dance and she has
time to see him every time doing her route, is
that either love or stalking? Tell him please, he's listening.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Ooh, I don't know. It sounds like a stage four.
Speaker 11 (46:57):
It sounds like she's like, oh I can buy again.
Speaker 12 (46:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (46:59):
No, that's a little weird, but also it could be
a little sweet if you think about it.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
She's putting you know, it's not gonna last though, right,
that cannot last, that's not.
Speaker 11 (47:09):
Maybe she keeps the little trinkets from every door that
she goes to.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
I thought about you on this one. I thought you
might like this. You want to take that seems like
a lot of trouble.
Speaker 9 (47:19):
Kill Daniel is all love, man, No, don't disrespect anything
from yesterday.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Yeah there, crossing guard Daniel, America's favorite crossing guard. Yes,
thank you, all right, let's go, let's go to Uh
we don't have time. I was gonna put a caller on,
but you know, this guy's long winded and he's gonna
rant about the tabloids and all that. So, uh, there
you go. The Queen of hearts. We love Love, Love
is in the air. Loudwhere yes it is.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mellor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Attention everyone,
and the password is password, you idiot, password the word
Game of the Stars. Here's Ben Meller.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Hell, we don't do shout outs, so we can't say
a happy birthday to the salsa czar who's in New
York City today listening to the show getting up early
here on his sixtieth birthday. Happy, happy birthday, but not
a shout out. That's a mention, not a shout out.
We don't do shout outs. That's a mention. So big difference,
big difference. Okay, let's welcome in our concessions. We have
(48:25):
Manuel in Guardina, who's gonna play in southern California, fresh
off the jungle. Hello, Manuel, Oh.
Speaker 12 (48:33):
Being honored and privileged to play. I don't want to
give a shout out of a happy birthday to my
daughter Ana Lisa either, so you know we.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Will definitely not wish your daughter and Alisa a happy birthday.
We will not do that. Hope she understands.
Speaker 5 (48:47):
Hope she understand.
Speaker 12 (48:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Okay, who do you want to partner up with.
Speaker 9 (48:53):
Ah Man, I'm gonna go with you, all.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
Right, man man, Well, we're in it to win. It
very good, sounds good, and we have Trent in which
it tall. Hello Trent, welcome, welcome, Yeah, thanks for having me.
All right, you got that early morning voice thing going
on there, Trent, I got you. I have the same thing.
Who do you want to partner up? Have you got
Lorena or the Coop de Loop?
Speaker 9 (49:13):
Let's go with Lorena?
Speaker 1 (49:14):
Okay, all right, Lorena, you're very nice.
Speaker 11 (49:17):
Well you know, I just have the best lexicon. I'm shocked.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
I don't get Well, you're picked. Now, let's see what
you've got. Manuel and Guardia. We have a list of words.
Here's not a list. It's a big board, big board
big boarder list, not a list, big board whatever. Who
the kel? Heres? Go ahead? Manuel, pick a number one
to ten? One number one? All right, let's go with
(49:42):
how about bill Fold? Bill Fold? Yeah, there you go.
Ten nothing, good, guys, ten nothing, Trent. Pick a number.
Pick a number, Trent two to ten.
Speaker 11 (49:55):
Think, Oh, okay, I'm gonna do a good job and
not say the word outline this week like I did
last time.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Why not? Let's go with them passwords? The word Game
of the Stars allowed, allowed? What do you do? Which
were you? Number five? Okay, that's just that's just a
bad okay illegal?
Speaker 7 (50:21):
Whoa's no way, there's no way.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Are you kidding me? You gotta be joking? All right,
go man, Manuel, we're tied. I picking number one, two
to ten, but not five? You got it? Did you
give him that end?
Speaker 12 (50:39):
You heard me?
Speaker 9 (50:41):
Lucky?
Speaker 1 (50:43):
All right? Number seven? Let's go with blah blah blah blah.
How about uh irritating?
Speaker 9 (50:55):
Uh obnoxious?
Speaker 11 (50:57):
No good guess all right, go ahead, let's go with uh.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Oh, take your time, Miranda, don't mind the clock? Obnoxious, annoying?
Whoa that is too? Ah right, hurry up? Picking up?
Or Trent. I can't believe I'm winning, Trent. Go with
the number eight number?
Speaker 10 (51:22):
Go ahead, Lorena quickly, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 11 (51:25):
Travel travel?
Speaker 1 (51:27):
What was that travel? No, let's go with holiday.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
Holiday?
Speaker 1 (51:33):
Hurry up? Holiday man?
Speaker 12 (51:34):
Well holiday?
Speaker 1 (51:37):
Yeah, so where was vacation? I think you cheated. I
think you cheated, Lorena. I think there was some cheating
going on. I'm going cheating
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmalers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
They're not Angry Burns, It's Angry Burns. Welcome in the beginning.
Come another night of the Ben Maler Show.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
We are in the air everywhere, belly tip belly as
we run the Yum Yum package coast to coast, border
to border and beyond.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
All the mast and hypnotically powerful microphones of fs are
ammudinating live from the Bob as we bob and weave
our way through audio haymakers all night long from the
world famous Fox Sports Radio studios. Here hanging out with you,
(01:21):
as approved by Totally Fused and Danny in Nashville, who
remind us that this portion of the Ben Malar Show
on Fox made possible in part by our friends at
tire Rack. That's right for over forty years, Tyraq has
been helping customers like Ferg dog Alf and malarprop Guy
find the right tires for how, what and where they drive,
(01:43):
ship fast and free, which is very important to mister
nice guy back by free road hazard protection with convenient
installation options like mobile tire installation tire rac dot com.
The wait tire bond should be so our lead. This
hour is from Pittsburgh. The Steelers are not bad. They're
(02:05):
not good. They played bad in their last game, and
I just love any chance I have to play audio
for Mike Tomlin. It's just so good. So we're gonna
take a trip to Pittsburgh, PA. Right there they fall
out from the no show second half performance. There as
Steelers fans were giving Mike Tomlin the business, they greeted
(02:28):
him with a chorus of boo flat and raining down
rhythmic chanting to get rid of Mike Tomlin. After that
debacle in the second half where they just were guilty
of truancy. It just did not show up. So Tomlin
was asked again about all of this, the uprising, you,
the natives not being happy with the Pittsburgh Steelers and
(02:49):
everything that's going on right now. In Pittsburgh. They brought
in Aaron Rodgers. He's not very good. You know, made
some moves, but haven't exactly paid off. No dividends from
those moves in the offseason right now. So Tomlin was
asked about everyone being very restless in the steel City,
and let's go to the audio tape.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
In general, I agree with them. From this perspective, football
is our game. We're in a sport entertainment business. And
so if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning.
And so when you're not winning is not entertaining. And
if you've been in this business, you understand that, and
so I respect it. I share frustrations. I understand what
(03:32):
makes this thing go, and winning is what makes this
thing go.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I say the same thing as you know, people see
here in the sports talk business. We're in the entertainment business.
That's what we're in here. Well, we're just it's the vehicle,
the window is the sporting world. But Tomlin's such a
great sound bite, just absolute wonderful. So it's a good
jumping off point. You heard Tom and there we're in
the entertainment business, the sports entertainment business. So let us
discuss the question for the esteem panel, what intrigues you
(04:00):
the most about Mike Tomlin agreeing with the frustrated Steeler
fan base and the boozoo that rained down on Mike Tomlins.
So I've got bomb Squad, iPhone twelve and Emmy and
we will combine all of these things together and we
(04:23):
are going to have a grand old jamboree, is what
We're going to have, Just a wonderful jamburee. So a
Mike Tomlin reminding us yet again that he is a
smooth operator, a smooth operator. He knew the line of
questioning was coming, all right, shaw Dave Foy, he knew
what was coming down. And so Tomlin, he walked into
(04:46):
the blast zone, the demilitarized zone there, the smooth operator
he is, and the booze raining down he was asked
about that, and like mortar firing down from the upper
balcony there at the stadium formerly known as Hinz Field,
And instead of ducking, instead of being defensive and pushing
(05:08):
back and all that, no, he was able to take
his little clippers and he clipped the red wire, not
the blue wire, because the blue wire would have gone kerfluey.
He clipped the red wire with his bare hands, showing
you the ability that he's the captain of the bomb
squad and he can't cut the blue wire because it's kerfluey.
(05:29):
You got to cut the red wire. He cut the
red wire, and he did it just before everything exploded,
So there you go. He didn't argue, Tomin, didn't push back,
he didn't deflect, none of that stuff. He didn't whind
about hurt feelings and all that stuff. He basically said,
you're mad and you're right. You're mad and you're right.
(05:51):
He took the air out of the angry balloon, is
what Mike Tomlin did. And he also used the spin
Golly effect is what he used on this. He's been
Gali effect here. That Tomlin has the ability to mesmerize
and hypnotize. He could mesmerize a parking meter Mike Tomlin
(06:13):
the way that he speaks. And you know, people have
upset and the team hasn't won a playoff game at
a long time. They don't look like they're gonna win
a playoff game this year. If they even get to
the playoffs, that's not a guarantee. So there's a lot
of stuff going on and the people upset and they're like,
you know, but Mike, he sounds kind of like he
(06:34):
knows what he's doing. Yeah, So Tomlins, Pittsburgh Steeler football team,
the way they've played most of the season. Again, they're
not the worst team, they're not the great. They've played
like they've been zombie fied the Steelers here, and there's zombies,
slow walkers, just a little off where they need to be,
(06:58):
just a little bit off. The Steelers are twenty eighth
an offense. And if you think that's not great, how
about their defense? The defense has to be better than
twenty eighth, No, twenty eighth in total defense this year?
Holy Sean the hood guy Batman, what's going on? And
so there we are. That's not balance. Who they're twenty
(07:18):
eighth and twenty eighth, that's ballot No. No, that is
symmetry of suck. Is what that is. That's not balance,
That symmetry of suck. So I hope you enjoy that.
A complete boone doggle. The Steelers season so far, and
that team consistently for five, six, seven years has served
(07:41):
up slow turned vanilla ice cream. They don't serve anything
other than slow turned vanilla ice cream. And then people say, well,
we want sprinkles we'd like to get. Well, we don't
have any sprinkles. What we have is vanilla ice cream,
is slow turned vanilla. I scream, but we want some fudge.
Don't give you any fudge. We have no fudge for you.
What about a nice waffle cone? We don't have waffle
(08:03):
Can I get a waffle bawl? We don't have waffle balls.
I'm sorry, we don't have that. All we have is
vanilla ice cream and you have to eat with your hands.
That's Steeler football. That's what it is here. And Tomlin
as the pied piper. He knows he's golden. Tomlin knows
either he keeps the job in Pittsburgh, which is the
most likely outcome because they don't get rid of coaches,
(08:24):
and either that or he goes and gets some no
show TV job somewhere where he can just spew nonsense
and get paid tons of money and not doing any
prep like Tom Brady, So you could do that. Or
the other option is he goes and gets another coaching
job somewhere at the NFL level. We'll get hired in
two minutes if he is let go by the Steelers,
which is very unlikely. But he's the pied piper, that's
(08:46):
what he is. He's piping the pied piper. You put
the parade behind Tomlin, and of course, unfortunately the parade
behind him is dragging one leg. That's his team, which
is not ideal, groaning, and they're selling punts a dime
a dozen. You get twelve punts for one dime. It's
really quite the operation they've got going there in Pittsburgh.
(09:08):
Meanwha to the Warp Speed Sports Wire, not the High
Speed Sports Wire, the Warp Speed Sports Wire where Adam
Feeland has found a new home. Adam Feelin, I don't
know if you saw this or or maybe not, maybe
you did not keep up on this. And they're very
concerned about washed up wide receivers where they end up
late of the Minnesota Vikings. We have learned now that
(09:29):
Adam Feelen is taking his talents too Pittsburgh. He's gonna
join Mike Tomlin and the Steelers claimed off waivers. They
fire you, and every other business can claim the fired employee.
And Adam Feeling asked to be given the pink slip.
He was given the pink slip, and so there we go,
(09:49):
all right, the question what does washed up wide receiver
Adam Feeland bring to the Petsburg Steelers. All right, so
I'll tell you what he brings. Okay, after several minutes
of contemplating on the long drive in from the north Woods,
contemplating what Adam Feeling brings to the Steers, think of
(10:11):
it in the holiday spirit. He's like a Christmas ornament,
or in this case, a roster ornament. And what does
that mean. That means that if you've watched football casually,
Adam Feeling looks great hanging from the depth chart tree,
looks really good night, sparkles under the lights at the facility,
(10:33):
and you're like, oh, that's a name I've heard of.
This guy used to be one of the top receivers
in the NFL with the Vikings. And he also absolutely
does not change the direction of the team. Doesn't change
the direction of the team. The Steelers passing offense. Let
me spell it off for you. It's E N E
M C A namick. There a name it. Pittsburgh is
(10:57):
where wide receivers go to run the five yard curl
and pray for sunlight. Of course, this time of the
year you are and it's got, it's got. That offense
has less downfield juice. Where's the juice? All right, there's
no juice there. They've got less juice than a dead
(11:18):
car battery on the side of the interstate in the
in the blizzard back in Minnesota where Adam Fieln was. Okay,
good luck on that. And these guys can barely complete
a pass. Literally, if you look at the numbers, I'm
not making this. They can barely complete a pass beyond
ten yards, and they need a flight plan, and even
then they don't get clearance to complete the pass over
ten yards. So it's a big mess. So unless Adam
(11:41):
Feelin can hire a special personal coach Poncetelyon Poncetelyon as
his personal trainer. And the legend is one of the
great legends that the waters of Florida famously the fountain
of youth, the springs of youth. Well, how about has
anyone checked the mononga HeLa. What if Ponstellion was wrong
(12:03):
and the waters that will keep us living forever are
in the mononga HeLa or the Allegheny. Why didn't anyone
check that? Bad job by them? You can hire Poncetellion
as Adam Feelin's guy, and then there you go. The
fountain of youth will be bubbling up somewhere, and of
course that's not likely to happen. So that means this
is a cosmetic, a purely cosmetic move. It's kind of
(12:27):
like going out to the desert and seeing a cactus
and putting lipstick on the cactus. Well, it looks okay,
but it's still a cactus. Not gonna do anything with it.
That's it. Feeling is an iPhone twelve in a world
of iPhone seventeen, Pro, Max, Ultra Infinity and Beyond whatever, whatever, whatever,
(12:51):
whatever dumb names they come up with for these phones.
So he's a warm body. I assume he's got a
warm body. He's not dead, so I assume he's got
a warm body, and he's a good seat filler. Good
seat filler, looks good. Nostalgia you can tell, Oh, you
remember what this guy Feeling was with the Vikings and
he was great in twenty twenty. Remember that. Yeah, so
name you recognize. So you got that name you recognize,
(13:14):
and you kind of check the box and what's in
the what's in the box you just checked the box.
So the Steelers what they need is dinomte. They did
not get dynamite. They did not. They picked up a
nice scented candle. That's what they got. So if your
dog farts, you can light the candle and you've got
a nice scent there, and it's just great and wonderful. Now.
(13:37):
On the Mallor report card for the Adam Feeling edition,
the most important scorecard of them all, the Malor report
Card for Adam Feeling going from Minnesota the Pittsburgh on waivers.
Did I give it an A, A bright you go
to be? Did I give it a C, A D
or an F? No of that. On the Malley report card,
(14:02):
I gave it a P for placebo. The placebo effect
is what I gave it.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Meanwhile, last word, this is a good story. I saw
this and it's it's continued to get better and better
and better and better and better. So we'll go to Gotham.
A lot of stuff going on. Giants sucked, but there's
a lot of stuff going on around the Giants which
is somewhat interesting. And I have a talk show to do,
so I think this is interesting and I wanted to
share it with you if you didn't see this. So
(14:29):
the Giants have this stud rookie out of Penn State,
Abdul Carter, who so far his elite skill is not
showing up to team meetings and practices on time. He's
really good at that. Like, if you want an elite
edge rusher who is so good he can't show up
on time to work, You've got your guy. Abdul Carter
is really good. So he got benched. You saw the
(14:50):
Money Night game. He did not play the first two
series of that game. That is the second time Abdul
Carter has been benched for malfeasance and truancy all that stuff.
That was against the Patriots when by the time he
got into the game was seventeen to nothing. Yeah, game over,
game over at that point. Anyway, get to the point please. So,
(15:13):
although he was initially reported that Carter was benched for
disciplinary reasons, there was a fake report that got some
legs online that claimed the reason Abdull Carter was punished
was for watching porn in a team meeting. Yeah, that's
a totally fake report, right. It was a parody account
(15:34):
on x that spread the rumor, and the reason we're
bringing it up is because what do you think Abdull
Carter did the mensa the mensa for the New York Giants.
What do you think he did? Do you think he
ignored the story? B said no comment, which is a
way of annoying the story. Or c sent out a
(15:56):
comment trying to debunk the satire story. Ding ding ding
ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. Yes, so
this numb nuts. Abdul Carter decided, I'm gonna respond to
the obvious fake story. Let me tell you something, even
if these guys were watching porn in a meeting, they're
not gonna say it publicly, all right anyway, So abdul
(16:18):
Carter responded and then deleted the post on social media.
The post said stop this is his post, stop slandering
my name real and now I'm gonna clean this up
because we're on the radio. Lucky Tony would say the word,
but I'm gonna clean up real poop. He said a
different word. It starts with an S. But I don't
know that word. You know, we're kids. We can't say
(16:41):
that word. We're not a grown ups. It's not the
middle of the night. We can't say that word. Be
in trouble, So anyway, that's the quote, and he said,
and if you believe that BS, you stupid, not your stupid,
you stupid. Okay. Carter then of course did what everyone does,
trying to delete the evidence. He deleted the post. We
know how that works. I know about it. I didn't
see it in real time. So question, how do you
(17:04):
classify the giant's edge rusher Abdull Carter, responding passionately to
a satire report. I report it was something busting balls
on social media. So Carter committed the NFL's version of
an unforced error, big thing in tennis, right, unforced error.
(17:27):
This was it wasn't just a mistake, just a mistake.
This was an Emmy Award type of performance as in
me as in mental error by Abdulla Carter. Emmy the
kind that you submit for consideration in the category in
(17:47):
Hollywood for outstanding achievement in making a bad story worse
the winner. Abdull Carter, congratulations. So a parody account, which
was obviously a parody account, a cartoon character that's got
some kind of Wi Fi hook up, and they throw
out a fake story claiming that Abdul Carter got benched
(18:07):
because he was watching porno in a team meeting, which
is obviously bogus and total satire, not a grain of
truth in it, not even close. And what does Abdul
Carter do? He quote, tweets it, blast, it deletes it,
then fires off if you believe that'd be asked to you, stupid.
Congratulations to Abdulla Carter the New York Giants. You just
(18:30):
poured rocket fuel on a spark, just a little spark
that was dying on the vine there, and you turned
to nothing burger into a double whopper with extra cheese.
Congratulations on that. So this is what these social media overlords,
this is what they dream of, the dumb athlete handing
(18:52):
them free content. Congratulations, you've done it, amplifying nonsense and
chi chan chi chan chi chain and doing the manipulation
in the matrix for them. So I'm Dual Carter obviously
a fan of Disney growing up. He loved not Mickey Mouse,
not Goofy. He was a fan of Dumbo. Loves the
(19:12):
Dumbo Absolute grab those giant ears from Dumbo and go
around and round and round and round and the fake
story straight into prime time. So a rookie mistake, great
thing when you're a rookie. Anything you do so just
a rookie mistake.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mellor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Calvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
That's right, you can now watch The Odd Couple live
on YouTube every day.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
All you gotta do search our cup FSR on YouTube
again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Check us out on YouTube and subscribed the air up there,
Welcome in the beginning of another hour of the Ben
Mather Show. We are in the air everywhere besides one another,
as we are powered by spit and sawdust coast the coast,
(20:26):
border to border and beyond on the vast and groovibly
powerful microphones of FSR amminating live from the full the
ear full of amazing hot sports takes from the world
famous Fox Sports Radio Studios, as approved by Fried Daddy,
(20:48):
who tells me that he is a preferred customer at
tire Rack. Yeah, Fried Daddy has purchased so many tires
there he's gotten preferred status for over forty years. Tyraq
has been helping customers like Friy Daddy find the right
tires for how, what and where they drive. Even Greg,
the real estate mogul in Baltimore agrees ship fast and
(21:09):
freeback by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options
like mobile tire installation tire rack dot Com The Way
Tire Buying Show. I got to click this button here.
This is our new technology, so I click this. There
we go, all right, and this show also sponsored by
DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NFL
(21:31):
and NBA. Right now, use the promo code Malice my
last name m A L l e R to claim
your special offer at DraftKings Again, that's promo code Malor
at DraftKings. The crown is yours. If you have listened
to the Overnight Show, you know that we don't talk
(21:51):
much basketball. Rare and appropriate, rare and appropriate. Well, this
would be one of those rare and appropriate times because
his airness has entered the chat. Michael Jordan getting paid
a little more than I got paid when I worked
at NBC. But Michael Jordan stopped by NBC for a
little camera side chat with Mike Turco. And these big
(22:14):
leather chairs, big leather chairs. Do you see any of this? No,
you weren't. You weren't watching. You didn't watch the Knickerbockers
and the and the Celtics are well. Michael Jordan discussed
a bunch of things, including his love of the game clause,
the legendary love of the game clause that he had
(22:34):
in his contract with the Chicago Bulls, and Jordan also
brought up the modern player in comparison. Let's go to
the audio tape. Take a listen. Here's Michael Jordan the
love of the game.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Other game of contract. Right, if I was driving with
you down the street and I see play basketball game
inside the road, I can go play in that basketball game,
and if I get hurt, my contract is still guarantee.
I love the game so much that I would never
let someone take the opportunity for me to play the
game away from me, as opposed to now where you
(23:04):
don't have it, players probably don't play now they get
individual attention with their trainer. Sure, no way to go
out and shoot one hundred shots or one thousand shots.
I found it to my benefit was go play basketball, man.
That's what you did, that's what you grew up doing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
There you go. Now, I'm the same way as Jordan.
If I go and see somebody doing sports takes on
the side of a country road, I'll pull over and
I'll do sports takes. And I have it in my
contract here at Fox Sports Radio where I'm allowed to
get into a sports debate on a dark country road
out in the boondocks. And they allowed me to do that,
and I had that written in. Yeah, I had that.
(23:43):
That was written into the contract. And Jonas Knox does
not have that. He's not allowed to do that. He
cannot pull over and do a hot take debate on
the side of it. I have that. That's me, just
like Michael Jordan. I'm the Jordan of my time. All right,
So let's get into this. Let's discuss That's a good
jumping off point what Jordan said. So how did Michael
Jordan's comments about today's players essentially not playing basketball enough, right,
(24:05):
not loving the game, not wanting to play enough. How
did that hit you? So I've got Pickley, wigglely belly whopper,
and free chole, and we will combine all of these
things together and we are going to channel moneyball. Malle
is what we're gonna channel.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
So number one, his airness, stepped up to the microphone,
step right up, step right up, fun for.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
All ages is there, has stepped up and basically told
today's NBA players kids yet don't play enough basketball. He
dropped the mic and he walked away. And you know
what doesn't sound wrong to me? Doesn't sound wrong to
me in Jordan's speak, which is not coach speak. In
Jordan speak, the actual basketball part of basketball has become
(24:57):
for the modern player and incan convenience. It is an inconvenience,
a nuisance to the modern player. It's an ingrown toenail,
is what it is. And it's an ingrown toenabo toenail
on an oversized foot for the modern superstar. And Jordan, Now,
(25:19):
was this a humble bracture. Of course it was. It
was better in mine day. And this is one thing
in my life. I remember when I started in the
sports radio and there were there were guys from the
old generation who were ripping the modern player of the
nineties they said, those guys are a bunch of softies,
Alan Iverson and Kobe Bryant, and that generation, the guys
from the eighties, and now then the guys from the
(25:42):
nineties ripped the following generations. It's it's the same thing,
I mean, But on Jordan's point, I think he hit it.
I mean, Jordan had the fire in the belly. Was
baked into his contract that he could play a pickup
game of basketball anywhere, anytime, even if it was on
a cracked blacktop next to a Pigley wiggley in Wilmington,
(26:03):
North Carolina, it didn't matter. And if he blew out
his knee too bad, Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner at the time,
had to pay the contract, had to cut the check,
cut that check, cut that check to Michael George. And
that's how deep his obsession. His obsession ran, And so
he was a Jim Ratt loved basketball stuff, lived in
(26:25):
the weight room and the practice cord and occasionally the casino.
That would happen. Now today, the new age baller, they
float on an inner tube down the Lazy River. They do,
yet they have all the creature comforts. They have private chefs,
they have personalized trainers. They have the shooting coaches, they
(26:47):
have the stretching gurus, they have sleep consultants, they have
a social media team, they have emotional support gardeners. For
some reason, I don't know why you'd need that. So
it's work smarter, not harder. That's the mantra there motto.
But Jordan's message was kind of obviously, stop hiding behind
the amenities checklist. It's kind of weak. Go play basketball, man.
(27:10):
The game has become a chore and the issue, and
to me this cuts down to the main problem that
I have with watching basketball, that the players treat it
like it's taking out the trash day. You know how
you got to take the trash out and want to
take he wants to take the trash out, but it's
what you gotta do. You know, if trash fills up,
(27:32):
you don't want a bunch of vermin in your home,
so you throw the trash out. And it shows in
the product like it does. I have it on in
the background. I was watching the Knick Celtics game, and
I saw the Warriors game after that, and at least
the first half, and it shows in the product where
you can tell as a fan the players don't really
(27:54):
seem like they want to be there. They like playing
grab ass with the other players and all that. They
don't really want to play in the regular season game.
It doesn't mean anything other than we're getting eight million
dollars a game or some ridiculous thing like that. All right, now,
more of Michael Jordan audio from NBC. So, Michael Jordan
was asked if the players of today's version of basketball
(28:17):
have the mindset to achieve greatness, which is a so
we call a low hanging fruit question. That is a
t ball question for Michael Jordan's Again, Jordan asked by
Mike de Rico if the players of the modern NBA
have the mindset to achieve greatness. Let's go to the
audio tape.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
It's hard to be hungry when you have, as simple
as that. I mean, if you don't have, you are
willing to do whatever you have. So my mental approach
was going do my job, be the best basketball player
I can be, and all the chips and everything outside
of that. I have people that were handling that, you know,
(28:57):
but basketball courte I'm handling it right. And now it's
like it's a prerequisite. You know, everybody has to have
a logo. Everybody has to have a you know why right, Well,
I'm pretty sure I'm part of the reason why every
part of the round to get a logo.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
But brand right, brand right, Bran Jordan.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
But the thing is is that that brand established based
on what I did on the basketball court. You know,
I didn't put the brand before I put the work.
You know, I put the work first, and then the
brand evolved based on the work.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Right there you go, all right, So that's Michael Jordan
on the athlete today. So the question what do you
take away from that Michael Jordan's comments about that today's
basketball players in the NBA wanting the logo right away,
right away. So I took away the C word, not
that sea word coddled, That's what I took over Jordan's
(29:47):
like these guys are coddled and air Jordan nothing but
net on this one. I also relate to this because
the management. I really want to thank the company. They
have decided they want to keep me hungry. They don't
want to pay me co Hed money or Dan Patrick money,
or they just want me to really still have that
fire in my belly. And I thank them for that.
(30:08):
And so just keeping it real and it does mean something.
But the way I look at this, the goat, the
real goat, not Lebron James, please. The goat basically said
that the modern basketball player wants the logo before the
legacy and the brand before the blood, sweat and tears,
and coming from Michael Jordan. Who's got that cachet, right,
(30:30):
the guy who's silhouette, Michael Jordan. You realize his silhouette,
that shot of him from the slam Dunk contest extended
out that logo of Michael Jordan. The silhouette of Michael
Jordan has essentially replaced the Church steeple in American sporting culture.
It is great and it says something. But this is
(30:51):
a belly whopper. I wrote on my scorecard, belly whopper.
A full belly makes a dull brain does. And so
these guys are born into and once you're determined to
be a prodigy, from the time you're about what ten
years old, Oh man, you're good to go. And it's
(31:11):
like a decade of having your ass kissed and nil
deals now and sneaker deals and documentary crews following your
journey to the NBA off court production companies all that stuff,
and there was a point where you had to earn it.
You had to outwork the horse. Right, That was the
old line, had at work the horse. Now you don't
have to outwork the horse. There is no horse, of course,
(31:33):
of course, of course. And get all the goodies, all
the goodies, all the perks, right and all that, and
just have to make sure that you use the right
filter on your Instagram story and you're good to go.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
The NBA is one giant tech incubator in sneakers, that's
what's And the league is drowning in the abundance of
caution culture, which is another issue with love of the
game and all that. I feel like that's the unofficial slogan.
Is anything I'm wrong on that the unofficial strogn of
the NBA is out of an abundance of caution? Like
(32:07):
this is the modern NBA. You stub your toe, don't
rub some dirt on it, miss the game? Come on,
gotta rest back to back?
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Come on?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
What do we are? We we some kind of a
wild uh DRACONI in Neanderthal world? You can't play back?
Do you think that a modern athlete can play back
to back? What is wrong with you. For the love
of God, we cannot expect our athletic heroes to play
back to back. Do you work back to back days?
I don't work back Oh that's right, I do work
(32:37):
back to back days. Oh okay, you work, but you
work two days. Really you have a second job? Is
that right? Oh my god? Oh oh my? Uh so
load management National TV A big game Island game. Now
the algorithm says you should not play. The algorithm says
do not play. Okay, just chill out. Everyone is so
(33:00):
warped in this bubble rap that it got more bubble
rap on these basketball players than Amazon spends buying bubble
wrap for the packages they send out. And it's the
bare minimum optics is what it is. Bare minimals, Like
just do the bare minimum, check the contract compliance box.
(33:21):
If you're an NBA star, Like you're clocking in at
a cubicle on a nine to five. And so Jordan's
telling you, He's like, listen, today's players want the logo
before they've earned the lore. And it is true. As
someone that lived in a world before Michael Jordan was
a superstar in the NBA, it happened coincided there was
(33:41):
a famous commercial with Spike Lee. How about Spikey. Isn't
Spike Lee almost seventy He's still fan boying it up
at the Knicks games. Isn't that great? I saw him
on the TV? Anyway, There was a Spike Lee Michael
Jordan commercial that kind of took that thing to the
next level back in the day. But Jordan's He's telling you,
it's like, listen, these guys, this is what they want.
This is the world we were in, which is really
fresh from and considering it's his business model that everyone
(34:04):
wants to mimic, right, It's the Jordan model that everyone wants.
It's not his love of the game, it's the love
of the Chiching, Chiching, Chiching chi Ching. The brand extension
is what it is. And the product, of course, the
NBA product right now is as bad as it's ever
been in my life. A diluted like cheap Gatorade powder.
(34:25):
There was a point the NBA was really bad in
the nineties, I remember, because they had Mike Fittello was
coaching the Cleveland Cadavers and pat Riley was coaching the Knickerbockers,
and it was slowed down. It was really boring, dull basketball.
But at least the players were playing now not so
much all right now, final point, speaking of that, to
la la land we go where Lebron James, who's looking
(34:49):
up at the goat Michael Jordan wishing he was Michael Jordan.
So Lebron James extended his double digit scoring streak to
two and ninety seven games. He did this the other
night in a cloud of controversy. Uh yeah, So the
Lakers were blown out by the Phoenix Suns thunder Dan
(35:11):
Marley with a couple of hammer dunks there for the Sons.
It was it was wild how good they were. And
my god, did they had. Mary Stottammeier had a big
day there, and just a really good team there for
the Phoenix Suns. Anyway, Lebron he was playing in garbage
time with a bunch of backups when he reached the
(35:31):
ten point marker, and that had a lot of people
raising their eyebrows saying like, what are you doing, dude?
Let it die, Let it die, Let it die, let
it die, let it die. All right, So question Lebron
James being accused of catering to his legacy stat padding.
Lebron James to get to ten points to continue that
(35:54):
streak of double digit games. Is this accusation against Lebron
James inbo or out of bounds? That's the question. So
we went to a booth review on this and expedited
booth review and we determined its inbounds. Inbounds now as
inbounds as oxygen being required for human beings to survive,
(36:19):
you need oxygen, very important. You have oxygen. If you
don't have oxygen, you got problems. We don't even know
why anyone would be pretending that this is not what
it's being described as unless you are so far up
Lebron's took us you can't see any sunlight. Okay, that
might be the case, but Lebron is an full on
in this game, was full on legacy maintenance mode. That's
(36:41):
what Lebron was doing. And he's out there polishing his
resume like he's working part time at Zales and he's
dealing with the jewelry. At the end of the day,
Lebron trying to get that new endorsement deal with Fredo
lay Now you might have heard back in the day
of the Frito Bandito. Well, Lebron's like, what about the
statistical Bendito. That's me Lebron James guys stealing hollow numbers,
(37:06):
hollow numbers like he's running a smash and grab operation
in the box score. Now junk stats, a lot of
junk stats, garbage time, compost and this goes on all
the time, and we try to call it every time
we see it. We pointed out some of the great
examples of this are Russell Westbrook with the most bogus
triple double season of all time. If you go back,
(37:27):
there's some videos there. Russ was doing cosplay and I
think it was twenty seventeen. I want to say, I
think that's about right. Remember him boxing out. The videos
were great on YouTube. He was with OKC. He was
literally Russell Westbrook was boxing out his own teammates to
get rebounds. He was boxing out his own teammates. Hey, hey,
(37:47):
numb nuts, you're on the same team. And then there
was a there were some videos of the bigs on
okay see at the time who were literally trying to
get out of the way so Westbrook could get the
bogus triple double stats. It was hilarious. And the thing
about this is that we remember it in the moment.
But when people go back and look at the Wikipedia
(38:08):
pages of these guys, the next group of fans, they
don't realize this. They're not smart enough to do the
research on that, nor do they have the time that
that's a bogus record. This is a bogus record and
all that stuff. So it's not just basketball. It goes
on in all the other sports as well. Remember Josh Allen,
Josh Allen checked in. It was a week eighteen game.
(38:29):
I believe they were playing the Patriots. The Bills were
playing the Patriots. He played one play, if I remember correctly,
Josh Allen, so his iron Man streak would continue one play,
Keep it alive, Keep it alive. Okay, there you go,
the stat padding. Marching band applauds that they play the
music and all that. It's just absolutely great. So Lebron
(38:50):
hit the ten point mark with about seven minutes to
go in the game. The Lakers were down by twenty
five points. He got then yes, like a bad karaoke singer.
A moment later they took him out there. Those are
not meaningful stats. Those are what we call vanity calories.
Those are empty carbs. That's what that is. And yet
(39:10):
when Lebron, when Lebron's long gone from playing in the NBA,
and they look at that stat, the casuals, the low
information fantals, you look at that record, they're not gonna
remember Lebron's stat. Padded that and was playing in garbage
time to try to get to ten points. He really
has shown his age this season. Lakers have a really
good record, but he has shown his age. So it's
a Fugazi situation.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
At least Lebron did not reach the level of the
single greatest, the single greatest stat padding moment in the
history of my career in talk radio. It happened over
twenty years ago, one of the great moments. I'm not
making this up. It sounds like I'm making this up.
I mean so, one of Lebron's teammates, a guy named
Ricky Davis. Ricky Davis needed one more rebound to get
(39:57):
a triple double. So what did Ricky Davis do? Time
is running out, Ricky Davis decided to shoot a basket
at his own basket of course, to miss it to
get the rebound. And David sir, they had a commission
with balls and hair on his chest at the time,
and David Stuarts said, that's not gonna count. Sorry, we're
(40:20):
not counting that now. Adam Silver, Today's commissioner, he probably
would have called it creative stat expression.
Speaker 8 (40:26):
We must let our players express themselves. And even though
it's just a dirty play, we're going to allow it
because it's creative static expression. That's Adam Silver's NBA and
that's the product that's not very good right now.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
It's all part of the Lebron This story is part
of the Lebron experience and not the good part.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 9 (40:49):
Here we are.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
That was way back in seven to the third degree.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
This is one big event.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Gets grilled cup.
Speaker 10 (41:00):
For the first time in his thirteen year NFL career.
Russell Wilson was a healthy scratch. With Jameis Winston as
the number two quarterback, the Giants decided to make Russell
Wilson inactive from Monday Night Football. Ben, Do you think
Wilson hangs it up at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
No, No, He's going to go somewhere. He'll be a
training camp arm somewhere, and he's going to try to
continue his career. There's a supply chain shortage of quarterbacks there,
so he'll someone will give him a chance to try
to make a team next year. He's sucked for how
many teams, now the Broncos, He wasn't good at the NFAC,
(41:33):
at the Broncos, Steelers, and now the Giants. The writing's
on the wall, Coop. But I say he's going to
continue as you'll get one more chance next. I'm embarrassing.
Speaker 10 (41:42):
I know Brian Schottenheimer warmed the cow warmed his Cowboys
players that just because we've won three games, that doesn't
change anything. Going on to say that the team can't
grow complacent as they push for a playoffs.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
No, no, Ben, do you.
Speaker 10 (41:54):
Think the Cowboys will find themselves in the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Well, they look good. I don't want to be a
prisoner of them all. I'm still gonna go no at
this point. Now, I'll change my opinion this should they
win the Thursday Night get But I'm not convinced. Everyone's
getting all excited because they made some plays against Kansas City,
which doesn't look like a playoff team right now, and
the Eagles, who are having all kinds of issues so
(42:18):
you start peeling back those games and they're nice wins,
but they don't look as nice when you look at
the internal stuff with the Eagles and Kansas City is
just not a very good team this year next.
Speaker 10 (42:28):
Jets kicker Nick Folk insisted in an interview after the
Jets picked up their third win of the season that
the team is getting better under Aaron Glenn. He also
said that there's a lot of promise for the future
of the organization.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Ben do you think they have the right guy at
the helm? Well, I don't know for sure. Obviously, I
would say this season is a complete waste, and you
always sell the future. We're gonna be great. If Nick
Foles came out said this guy can't coach, he blows
we suck. We're gonna suck for years. Like course, of
course he's gonna say the futures. But I haven't seen
evidence that we're going back direction. How do we know how? Guys?
(43:02):
I hate dog I gotta eat dog me. I got it, Jenny,
what I got it? I got it.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live It's o it Bies with Lil Rain at
tenne clean up Hearts, Gonna help you.
Speaker 5 (43:26):
Dear Rye gear Rye to night, dear ry to night,
dear ry.
Speaker 11 (43:33):
You heard the man. It's time for love here on
the Ben Malors Show. And you know we actually had
a listener asked earlier this week about Megan thee Stallion
and Clay Thompson with the naming of the boat. I
think it's amazing. You know what, they might as well
change as basketball nickname too, Clay the Stallion. Let's just
move it on.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I love it. Oh you are right. Well, we have
some questions for you on the phones and on the
X machine. Rob says Ben. I put our foot soldiers
to work and the campaign still going on there. Oh
the stickers he's talking about, Well that's not for Loreena.
Nate the Hammer writes in. He says, I was talking
to a woman and she said she just wanted to
(44:15):
be friends. I told her I have enough friends, which
I do, but she lost it. Was I in the wrong,
says Nate. This is Nate the Hammer.
Speaker 11 (44:23):
Yeah, well you were being honest with what you want
from her, and if you don't want her in that
regular position. Then carry on.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Move onboard, upboarding, onward, far out. Dave says, my lady
keeps telling me to take take it as a compliment
when she lets one rip while we're wrestling. I don't
know how to take it. I figured i'd ask an experts.
Speaker 11 (44:45):
Yeah, I mean, she's trying to say she feels comfortable.
But something about doing that it breaks the romance. You know,
what if you're wrestling and you like, you know, you
want to get closer, and then she rips the one,
You're like, oh, and I want to go in a
completely other room than you, you know.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
And pass out a gas mask or something, just pass out.
Eke in Roseville, Minnesota says, Hey, today's our forty ninth wedding.
Everything about that I met congratulations, great man. I met
him at the meet and greet there in Minnesota says
I don't need any relationship advice from Lorena. He says
the four ls make for a long marriage. He says,
a long marriage a love, laughter, loyalty, and listening to
(45:25):
each other. So apparently, Lorena, that's the key. The four els.
Speaker 11 (45:28):
Love, laughter, loyalty, and listen.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
That's all you need. Let's go to the phones. Bobby
in Florida, Key Lime Pie, Bobby in Florida for Loraina
on the Queen ft bbby, Oh yeah, take them a call.
Speaker 12 (45:43):
So based on that last message, the listening part kind
of feeds into my question. So you know, I'm dating
this girl. Everything's great, we're madly in love. And so
we get to the point where we're getting a little
intimate and come to find out when she's getting to
the to the top of the mountain, and it sounds
like somebody's beating a bag of puppies with a hammer.
Speaker 9 (46:07):
A ball gag, a ballgager.
Speaker 12 (46:09):
Do I get myself some here plugs?
Speaker 11 (46:12):
You can always shove her face on a pillow too,
that could work.
Speaker 12 (46:15):
Okay, might incorporate that.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Well, that's a tremendous there.
Speaker 11 (46:19):
At least you know you're doing a good job, right.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Apparently she can get her to the top of the mountain.
Speaker 11 (46:25):
Then to keep her at the bottom.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
She might be dying. I'll just go to Rick in Maryland. Hello, Rick,
Welcome Rick in morning time.
Speaker 9 (46:32):
It sounds like he said a little intimate. But anyway,
look at you. I had fort Worth on my mind yesterday.
But look he's listening right now. If he's dealing with
a woman who drive for door dance and she has
time to see him every time doing her route, is
that either love or stalking? Tell him please, he's listening.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Ooh, I don't know. It sounds like a stage four.
Speaker 11 (46:57):
It sounds like she's like, oh I can buy again.
Speaker 12 (46:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (46:59):
No, that's a little weird, but also it could be
a little sweet if you think about it.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
She's putting you know, it's not gonna last though, right,
that cannot last, that's not.
Speaker 11 (47:09):
Maybe she keeps the little trinkets from every door that
she goes to.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
I thought about you on this one. I thought you
might like this. You want to take that seems like
a lot of trouble.
Speaker 9 (47:19):
Kill Daniel is all love, man, No, don't disrespect anything
from yesterday.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Yeah there, crossing guard Daniel, America's favorite crossing guard. Yes,
thank you, all right, let's go, let's go to Uh
we don't have time. I was gonna put a caller on,
but you know, this guy's long winded and he's gonna
rant about the tabloids and all that. So, uh, there
you go. The Queen of hearts. We love Love, Love
is in the air. Loudwhere yes it is.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mellor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Attention everyone,
and the password is password, you idiot, password the word
Game of the Stars. Here's Ben Meller.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Hell, we don't do shout outs, so we can't say
a happy birthday to the salsa czar who's in New
York City today listening to the show getting up early
here on his sixtieth birthday. Happy, happy birthday, but not
a shout out. That's a mention, not a shout out.
We don't do shout outs. That's a mention. So big difference,
big difference. Okay, let's welcome in our concessions. We have
(48:25):
Manuel in Guardina, who's gonna play in southern California, fresh
off the jungle. Hello, Manuel, Oh.
Speaker 12 (48:33):
Being honored and privileged to play. I don't want to
give a shout out of a happy birthday to my
daughter Ana Lisa either, so you know we.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Will definitely not wish your daughter and Alisa a happy birthday.
We will not do that. Hope she understands.
Speaker 5 (48:47):
Hope she understand.
Speaker 12 (48:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Okay, who do you want to partner up with.
Speaker 9 (48:53):
Ah Man, I'm gonna go with you, all.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
Right, man man, Well, we're in it to win. It
very good, sounds good, and we have Trent in which
it tall. Hello Trent, welcome, welcome, Yeah, thanks for having me.
All right, you got that early morning voice thing going
on there, Trent, I got you. I have the same thing.
Who do you want to partner up? Have you got
Lorena or the Coop de Loop?
Speaker 9 (49:13):
Let's go with Lorena?
Speaker 1 (49:14):
Okay, all right, Lorena, you're very nice.
Speaker 11 (49:17):
Well you know, I just have the best lexicon. I'm shocked.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
I don't get Well, you're picked. Now, let's see what
you've got. Manuel and Guardia. We have a list of words.
Here's not a list. It's a big board, big board
big boarder list, not a list, big board whatever. Who
the kel? Heres? Go ahead? Manuel, pick a number one
to ten? One number one? All right, let's go with
(49:42):
how about bill Fold? Bill Fold? Yeah, there you go.
Ten nothing, good, guys, ten nothing, Trent. Pick a number.
Pick a number, Trent two to ten.
Speaker 11 (49:55):
Think, Oh, okay, I'm gonna do a good job and
not say the word outline this week like I did
last time.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Why not? Let's go with them passwords? The word Game
of the Stars allowed, allowed? What do you do? Which
were you? Number five? Okay, that's just that's just a
bad okay illegal?
Speaker 7 (50:21):
Whoa's no way, there's no way.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Are you kidding me? You gotta be joking? All right,
go man, Manuel, we're tied. I picking number one, two
to ten, but not five? You got it? Did you
give him that end?
Speaker 12 (50:39):
You heard me?
Speaker 9 (50:41):
Lucky?
Speaker 1 (50:43):
All right? Number seven? Let's go with blah blah blah blah.
How about uh irritating?
Speaker 9 (50:55):
Uh obnoxious?
Speaker 11 (50:57):
No good guess all right, go ahead, let's go with uh.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Oh, take your time, Miranda, don't mind the clock? Obnoxious, annoying?
Whoa that is too? Ah right, hurry up? Picking up?
Or Trent. I can't believe I'm winning, Trent. Go with
the number eight number?
Speaker 10 (51:22):
Go ahead, Lorena quickly, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 11 (51:25):
Travel travel?
Speaker 1 (51:27):
What was that travel? No, let's go with holiday.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
Holiday?
Speaker 1 (51:33):
Hurry up? Holiday man?
Speaker 12 (51:34):
Well holiday?
Speaker 1 (51:37):
Yeah, so where was vacation? I think you cheated. I
think you cheated, Lorena. I think there was some cheating
going on. I'm going cheating
Host
Ben Maller
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.