May 7, 2021 • 40 mins
An LA staple in the tv and radio industry, Steve Hartman, decided to step inside the octagon to hang with Ben and David. A career that started at UCLA has risen to the national level with no shortage of fun.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
If you thought four hours a day, hundred minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes
break three for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere as we
are back at it. A new weekend is upon us,
and we are glad you have found your way into
the podcast world. We are not restricted by the Federal
Communications Commission because this is only available in the podcast format.
(00:45):
A spinoff of the Ben Maller Shaw Heard five nights
a week syndicated on Fox Sports Radio through My Heart
all over the United States and a hundred and sixty
five countries and ships at sea all over the globe.
There because the American Forces Network. But this podcast is
an interview podcast, and we are joined this weekend. Amazingly,
(01:08):
I thought he wasn't gonna be here, but David Gascon
in the house for these own ten sound effects. If
he makes his way to the Mincros final, I mean,
I got people that are here and near and dear
to my heart. You've got some fan boys and boot
liquors and sicko fans on the overnights. So it's a
(01:29):
it's a perfect comment. I have people that respect quality radio.
That's it. That's all that. Nothing more than that, nothing
more than that. Yeah, they call it fanatics. Maybe if
you were good, you'd have something. Maybe that I got that.
I got lovers, that's all I got. I'm I'm excited
about this guest today. We um, well, that really gets
(01:52):
a friend of the podcast, friend of the part. We
don't do guests. We have friends of the podcast people
we like, people we want to talk to. And I
figured like we we need to get back to our
roots because now I love Dave Parker and that was
great and flashback to my childhood with Dave Parker. But
I love talking radio. You know the business of radio.
I love it. I'm a radio nerd, and I love
(02:14):
the great people that are on radio that do such
a great job and having some of them on and
people we know, and we are excited because not only
do we get to talk to a colleague at Fox
Sports Radio on the weekends, but also a guy I've
known since I was a kid. I started in radio
and I was nineteen years old and this guy was
(02:34):
one of the big stars at the at the mighty
six ninety when I started, and I didn't intern on
his show. I interned on Lee Hacks on Hambleton's show.
But we're talking about Steve Hartman, the man that has
been the loose cannon of Southern California and syndicated radio
for forever pretty much, right going back to the late
(02:54):
eighties early nineties. He's been on on radio and so
we're gonna we're gonna catch up with Steve, which I'm
excited about because a lot of stories with Steve, and
Steve's been on television and radio and done it. Had
a Hall of Fame crew. He's actually in Uh maybe
we'll bring this up. Maybe maybe not, but he's in
the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. And it's
(03:16):
funny because Arnie Spanier he's trying to get into that
Hall of Fame. He's very upset that he's not in it.
We've had Arnie on the podcast and uh, I'm not
in it either, But Steve's in there. He's a Hall
of Famer. He had a verified bona fide Hall of
Famer here. Yeah, he's joining us right now. He's a beast.
I So I worked as an intern for him back
(03:37):
in the day, back when I was at San Diego Stand.
I think it was like two thousand four, two thousand five,
and and I was one of those loggers. I don't
know if you you did this back in the day, Ben,
but I had a log tape, and this is when
they did tape to tape editing. So whenever I was
given a cassette tape or a VHS tape, i'd had
to log the time from when like let's just say
(03:59):
it's Major Baseball, I don the lot of the time
from when a pitch was thrown to one the pitch
or the play was over with. So I had logged
times so when they did their television spots that they'd
be you know, enough time in there for when they
had obviously sound on tape. So I was logging all
the buroll for them. So I knew Steve only from
(04:20):
Afar because everyone said he was pretty much like the
class nerd. He was just like in and out, perfectly
parted hair. It was loud, he was he was just
he was just that guy, and uh, pretty surreal to
all of a sudden fast forward the clock a decade
and a half later and I get to be working
with him. That's pretty cool. And Steve is authentic. You
(04:43):
know some of these guys in radio and I'm pretty
quiet off the off the radio, guess and I'm pretty reserved.
But Steven, he's he's non stopping and he doesn't look
like it. That's I know he works every day and
but it's just his personality. I try to kind of
wind down and but he he does not. He does
(05:04):
not believe in winding down. Enough of that, let's welcome
in the man, the mid the legend fs R colleague.
He's doing morning drive in San Diego. But he is
the ultimate loose cannon, a man who has seen and
done everything, Steve Hartman. So, Steve, it's great to have
you on. We've been trying to get you on the podcast. Actually,
Guesscott hasn't been trying to get anyone on the podcast.
(05:24):
But let me begin with this. Now, you've had many
great accomplishments. You've covered Super Bowls, all Star games, You've
interviewed the biggest name in biggest names in sports. So
where does this appearance on the Fifth Hour podcast rank
in your hierarchy of career accomplishments. Well, this doesn't take
a lot of thought then, because it is absolutely at
(05:46):
the top. And let me say for the record, we
make this perfectly clear for the record. And I say
this in one honestly, and I've said this from the
first time I've barked Ben Mallor on the radio. Ben
Mallor is the best at what he does. Now, you
can qualify it that in any way you want, but
(06:07):
I believe that Ben Maller is the best at what
he does. And I just want to state that for
the record, so twisted anyway you want, you do what
you do better than anyone else. That's it, period, exclamation
point wow. As a ring endorsement. As you know, Steve,
I started at the station you started. I was just
(06:28):
a merely know lowly intern at Extra Sports six ninety
and the Mighty six ninety and I interned for Hacks.
We've had Hacks on the podcast a couple of times.
But I remember i'd get there early because I was
a radio nerd, Steve, and I would see you in
check Fordy doing your thing. They're doing the show and
I love the vibe and that whole thing. And obviously
(06:49):
I've gotten into the business all these years and been
in it and whatnot period. But what was it like?
I want to know before I got there. I saw
what it was like when I got there a few
years after the station had launched. But what was it
like when you guys first went on the year and
launched that thing? Alright? So ben I, I mean, I
don't want to go ahole history listen, but we have time.
It's a podcast. So um As you know, back in
(07:10):
the eighties, I was working as a PR guy for
the l A Raiders. I had no interest in being
a broadcaster that I thought about being a broadcaster. You know.
I was working as a PR guy and I got
frustrated because Al Davis wouldn't give me a raise to
thirty thousand dollars a year. This is literally why I
quit the Raiders. As I asked. I wrote a letter
(07:31):
to Mr Davis saying, you're you're paying me twenty four thousand,
three hundred dollars. I'm doing a cropload of work paying
me the thirty thousand, he said, thousand, we are five
and tenders yere, you want me to give you a raise.
That was enough done finished. I took a non sports
job for four months. I had seen the movie Wall
(07:51):
Street one too many times and I was convinced I
was working for Gordon Gecko and I was Bud Fox.
Four months later I quit that job, so I was
back at ground zero. And as you know then, my
radio career actually started at this little k Fox radio
with my mentor but for Willa. But for my whole
career is due to a man named but for Willo,
the steam Namer, long time newspaper radio guy in Los Angeles.
(08:15):
He took me under his wing when I was twenty
years old. He said, you're freaking kid. I don't know
how you retained so much crapp in her head that
I could use you. So I was working at this
little radio station k Fox when but got contacted by
a man named John Lynch. And it was amazing to
me because this John Lynch was in San Diego. He
(08:38):
had the station six. It was the flagship of the Chargers,
and they had an afternoon radio guy named Lee Hacks
on Hamilton's. And I've never heard of Hacks. So you know, Ben,
how it is if you don't understand that's from the
southern California standpoint. There are three distinct markets. There's l A,
they're Sandy, Orange County, and they're San Diego. The well
(09:00):
events of San Diego sports in l A is no
different than Buffalo. There is no relevance of San Diego
sports in Los Angeles. So I've never heard of this
hacks I guy. So but calls me and he says, look,
listen to this actor. You can hear the signal up
in LA. So I'm listening the first time I hear HACKSA.
I called back, but he goes, what do you think
(09:20):
I said? I literally count of twelve things this guy
made up, completely made up, Like there's he's he's stating
things on the air that are not true. I mean,
absolutely not true. So we went down to do an
audition show on the weekend, and you can you can
figure this one out. Then, So we drive down to
San Diego. This is old Pacific Highway Studios and we
(09:45):
do a Saturday audition show and Budded lined up all
these guests and I was gonna do like updates that's
the bed Folo show, right, And none of the guests
showed up. It was a catastrophe. I mean it was
the worst radio show ever. I show I had a
tape of. This show was an absolute bomb. So we're
driving back to l Igo whether it goes that opportunity
(10:05):
in San Diego. But they stayed in touch and the
next thing you know, I get called down to San Diego.
They tell me, look, we don't want but we want you,
and like, what are you talking about? But for a bullshow,
Well we got this young guy, brad Cess matt Or,
We're gonna put you with him. And I'm like really,
So they hired me and then seven months later Brad
(10:26):
was out and Chet forty shows up. How much interaction
do you happen with Chet? Did you have much? Yeah?
I only met him a few times. It was very nice.
Uh little guy, right, A little guy remember, and uh
you know I I talked to him a bit in
the newsroom with a high speed sports wire in the
sports tick, right. But yeah, I didn't talk to him
(10:46):
too much. There's only a few times I talked to
him back in those days. But he was great. You
You and Chet were wonderful. He had all here. I
don't when he was the money. I'm like, yeah, I
don't like this novice Right, seven months on the radio,
I'm still trying to figure out if this is anything
I have any interest in doing, and they stick me
with you know, Chet forty, and I'm thinking, didn't we
(11:08):
interview him talking about how he was facing a prison
sentence for federal tax evasion, like he was going to
go to prison, And now we're gonna hire this guy
to be my partner. And I remember John Lynch of
the gather on ran our station, looked at me and
he goes, you better make this work. And I'm like,
so my whole career, as short as it was at
that point, is writing on me trying to figure out
(11:31):
how to do a radio show with a guy that
he had even less radio experience than I had. So
we who are really two guys? And then, you know,
back in those days, like sports talk radio was pretty mild,
wasn't too much noise going on, but early on Chet
Night just started screaming at each other like he wasn't
(11:52):
ready for a young guy to challenge anything he had
to say. I was like, if you say one more
stupid thing, I swear to him a knock in tomorrow.
I mean, we got so heated on the air. All
I kept thinking is my radio career is going to
end before even begins. And then there was an article
in the Union Tribune Dwan in San Diego did this
(12:13):
glowing review of our radio show. I'm radios think is
this guy listening to what I'm listening to? And from
that point on, and of course we got the name
of loose Cannons from ax Off, who was getting inundated
with phone calls on his show, which came on after ours,
the people complaining about our show that these guys are
off their charts, are ripping the chargers and everything else.
(12:37):
And he called us a couple of loose cannons. And
you know how nickname works, and like, you don't give
yourself a nickname. So somebody called the facts that had
said this, and the next caller said, hey, loose cannons,
and that's how it started. I just want like wildfire
from that point on, so those five years would said,
it's hard to believe. Now it's going to be twenty
(13:01):
five years since he passed away, coming up here on
May eighteen, the team then, is the anniversary of Chet
passing away. I can't believe that. I can't believe it's
been that long and you guys did so well, and
then you've you've kept the Loose Cannons brand going all
these years. How many different Loose Cannons? I know you
did the show after Chet passed away, you changed it up,
(13:22):
and then you went to l A and you did
the show with Victor Brick and Michael Thompson and Pat O'Brien,
and uh, how many different incarnations have there been of
the Loose Cannons. Well, let's let's be I I don't
know if I have any real standing in the history
of sports talk radio, but I can safely say that
no one has hosted a show with more co host
(13:44):
than I have in sports radio history. I mean, I've
done shows with you who have a Night and on
his show with in my career, so I guarantee you
I hold that record without a doubt. But the true
Loose Cannons after Chet forty was Philly Billy morn Dell.
Then I came up to Los Angeles and Michael Thompson
and Victor Brick, and then they got rid of it.
(14:05):
When I did the National show with Chris Myers, it
was Myers apartment. I hated that we went back to
the Loose Cannons and we brought in Paddle Brian and
then after I went down to San Diego, they brought
the Loose Cannon brand back that you're not gonna believe this.
You readed for this, Ben, So I get moved. In December,
the Morning show in San Diego, the Fox affiliate got
(14:26):
taken out by budget cuts, so sort of like when
the pandemic began, and was sort of like, uh, you know,
we're gonna flatten the curve for a couple of weeks,
I like Boston San Diego said can you just temporarily
fill in on the morning show. I'm still on the
morning show and like partners rich Ornberger and John Shaeffer
who did the afternoon they're still called the Loose Cannons.
(14:49):
What so the lud Cannon so and people are like,
where's horror? How can you have a show called the
Loose Cannons without Hartmen? But that's that is right now.
The afternoon show and I think thirteen six D in
San Diego is called The Lewis Cannons with rich Overberger,
John Paper and I'll do on the Morne Show. Oh
(15:11):
wait wait see see see if I went on I
went on the podcast. I was I went through the
thirteen sixty page and I was like, all right, I
want to see what's going on here and do my
due diligence. And I saw the Louis Cannon's name, and
I didn't see your picture, and I thought, well, maybe
you just didn't want your picture used or something. I
didn't I didn't realize that you weren't even part of
that show right now. That's crazy. Yeah, it's it's unbelieving.
(15:33):
People are confused, like and there are people like, have
you left the stage and I got in there, Oh,
I'm on the mornings. You know how this works, Yeah,
he'll got your audience. Then people people have a certain show,
whether it's the mornings, mid day's, afternoons, late night, whatever
that they're walking into. They don't necessarily know the entire
line up at the station. They just know the shows
that they listened to. And so they're people like you
(15:56):
know my Twitter at cafase, but too if you let
the stage, I go, oh, I'm on the morning. I'm
doing a morning show now for six to nine. So
it is. It is one of the great revelations though
Steve and I learned that over the years being in radio,
that you know, you think you're the most important person
to somebody's life, but really it's just the time you're
on they happen to be listening. And if you're not
there there, you know they they might like you, but
(16:19):
they're not gonna really most people are gonna go out
of their way, you know that. It's it's like, if
you're there, it's convenient, they'll listen. If not, sorry, I
wonder what happened, but I'll move on. Its crazy today today,
literally today on our text line during the morning show,
I've been doing radio for thirty two years now, NonStop,
thirty two years, much of this time, seven days a week, right,
(16:42):
And somebody texted me and goes, I've never heard this
Steve Harpin guy, but I really like what he has
to say. So yeah, two years somebody today hit in,
let's see in the morning show saying I've never heard
this Steve Harpin guy before, but I really like what
he has to say. Um, I think he's got a
(17:02):
chance to make it. I think Steve Hartman can have
a long career in a Hall of fame career in radio.
That's what I think, yes, I guess I don't think
it's great. You always think like everyone's followed your entire
career oligiously. And you know, I've had people Michael Thompson,
believe it or not, came in our show. I have
Michael every once in a while, and he was upset
that we were calling the show loose cannons. He goes,
(17:24):
we were the original loose Cannons, and I'm like, actually, weren't.
Michael forty was the original loose Gannon. He got hammered
on social media. No, you're loose cannon history. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Miller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Be sure to
(17:44):
catch live editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at
two aim eastern eleven pm Pacific. Guys, I I know
a little something of something, but I'm gonna make an
educated guest here, and I'm gonna say that guy that
made that compliment to Steve was not was not Don
Martin Martin moment, so I have to go third rails.
(18:09):
So Steve like it's not been all like smooth sailing
sun rainbows. You wouldn't Don Martin have had that, You
guys have gone back in forth in year's rain Well,
let's let's talk about the whole John Martin association. So
here's what happened, guys. So we were sailing along at
six ninety quite nicely, and they launched eleven fifty. Then
(18:32):
you're obviously very familiar with the eleven fifty back in seven.
Yet I'm sorry. In seven they launched Mark. What was
Marty Mark was going to be the l A counterpart
at six nine, and this is when JA Corp. Had
acquired uh the from what was called was our original
(18:57):
Stations for Dead anyway, you So this require did car
eventually get swallowed up by Clear Channel. So the idea
was they had a guy named Jack Evans, and Jack
Evans was running the show, and he was saying that
six ninety would be San Diego and eleven fifty was
going to be l A. And I remember asking, why
would they stop listening to six nine in l A
(19:18):
because we had a huge l A Orange cadey audience.
He goes, they will, Well, I guess what they didn't.
So we get the two thousand and two and it's
right around the time of the World Series when the
Angels beat the Giants. I'll never forget this. So I
had gotten a phone call a couple of months earlier
(19:38):
from this Robin Berta Lucci, and she was running Camp five,
but she was sort of overseeing the eleven fifty operation.
There seemed to be transition, you know, like Dave Smith
had been let go, and you know some of the
guys you all know from those eleven fifty days. So
we were assuming as soon as the season was over,
because their contract with the Dodgers was running out, that
(19:59):
that would be end of eleven fifty and at six
Mammy would just hold as we had been before eleven fifty.
But I get this phone call from this Robin Berta
Luci and she says, yeah, could you fill in on
the afternoon show on eleven fifty this week? And I'm
like what. So we had our boss, Bill Pew, who
happens to be the brother of Dan Patrick. Dan Patrick's
(20:21):
real name is Dan Pew, by the way, as you
guys know. So anyway, I go to a Bill pe Are,
our programming guy at six man Ago I get the
weirdest phone call from this Robin burta Lucien, she wants
me to do the afternoon show. This will be line.
I don't want to overstate my importance, but it was
sort of like the Clippers calling the Lakers saying, can
we ball Kobe for a game? You know, like you know,
(20:42):
just good? He could he work for us, and his
reaction was sort of like what do you think? I'm like,
what do you mean? What I think? If you look
at midday show here? You want me to do the
afternoon show on that other station will never happened because
they got into the World Series and everything else. And
then the day will all remember was the day that
it was Halloween two thousand two. Billy Wendell and I
(21:07):
just finished doing our midday show and we finished the
show and we get called into Bill Pugh's office and
he tells us that day six nineties dead as we
know it. We're gonna merge six fifty to create a
superstation and right now, you guys are not a part
of it. And I'm like, okay, so what are we
(21:32):
doing here? When are we going to find out whether
we're a part of it? He wanted to bring in
a show he had created down in San Diego, Scott
and b R, Scott Kaplan, Billy ray Smith. But when
they notified the l A people, They're like, who the
hell is Scott and b R? We want Hartman, we
want the loose Cannons. So I got the call and
(21:53):
then Philly Billy blindsides me because I thought hard to
keep him on the show. He it's because John Lynch
our old Bots at six ninety was starting a new
station that was going to be based in San Diego.
So the next phone call I get is sort of
a guy who's just been hired to run the new superstation,
(22:16):
Don Martin. Don Martin, So I've never met Don Martin.
I find out that he's engaged to Robin Berto Lucci
and we're gonna meet and I'll put this way. With Don,
it was a challenge, no question, and obviously Don has
had a highly successful career in radio management. But we
(22:40):
did butt heads. If I didn't like things that were happening,
I told him, and he didn't always react all that
well to that. So that's just the way I've been
throughout my career. I mean, I lived to my loose
candidate Hannon Monicker, and we had episodes, many episodes over
the years, we had good times, we had bad times,
(23:03):
but that the bottom line is this is going to
happen in any industry, guys. I mean I could give
you one specific story. It's not exactly a secret story.
It was a very public story, uh, where Don and
I had it out at a Dodger game and it
pretty much cemented our situation. But I'll also tell you this,
(23:24):
Don Martin when he got back in a position of
power wanting the network for Fox Sports Radio and no
hesitance and bringing me back to do the weekend So um,
the last time I saw it done was at the
Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon. They were honoring VIC before
the pandemic. Uh, and we were cordials. So everything is
(23:44):
good as far as I'm concerned, and you know Ben
as well as even Mr Dave gascon If you're in
this business, if you want to survive in this business,
you can't be making enemies. You can't be burning bridges.
If you have disagreements, move on and just get back
to the business of doing good radio. No, but I
(24:04):
gotta tell you, see, that's one of the great accompetitions.
I remember that night and everyone was My phone was
blown up. Did you hear what happened in the in
the luxury box a Dodger stadium? No, I didn't hear
what happened, and everyone had a different version. You know.
It's like that that phone game where you you you
passed the message along and all right, here, I'll give
you a very quick what happened. So here's what happened.
(24:25):
I was It was a Dodger Yankee game. Okay, so
the Yankees were at Dodger stadiums. Even know it's a
massive crowd of Dodgers stadium. I was actually at the
Dodger game doing television work. So I was on the
field doing a live shot and I run into Dave Us,
emotions director and Brian Blackmore, you know, open working for
(24:45):
the station. So I'm doing the national radio show at
this point, and I don't have a whole lot of
time in Burbank. Don had just been let go as
running the Fox Sports radio network the week before, and
I hadn't spoken to him since. So I asked Wete,
not knowing if Don was going to be at the game,
whether they had the Sweet there, and we said, oh yeah,
(25:07):
go down and get some food. So I walk into
the Sweet and as I'm in the sweet I see
Don Martin and but he's got his back turn and
he's getting some food. So I walk up to him
and I manx us to find out what happened, right,
And so I walk up to Don and he turns
around and I said, what's up to mar And he
(25:31):
looks at me. He goes, if I were you, I
would turn around and walk out of here right now.
And I'm looking at him, like, you know, we'll face
to face, like a why would I do that? He goes,
I know. And basically what happened was this he was
blaming Pattle Brian for his being outstit by the network.
(25:52):
Obviously I had nothing to do it, I had, I had,
I want no power at all. Zero. All I know
is is that at the bosses at clear Channel at
the time, I had decided to flip our show and
make it really the Paddle Ryan Show again someday I
had no control over and neither did John Martin. So
(26:15):
but Don was angry and he took it out on me.
And it was in front of a lot of people,
a lot of people, and so you know, I can't
I just I can get past all this stuff. It
really doesn't phase me, but in reality it was. It
was pretty much the end for me as far as
(26:35):
working Monday through Friday at the network. And I feel
fortunate to have continued my career after And it was
it was just a very unfortunate situation. Steve, does this
rival in comparison to when you you gas lit a
colleague of ours a few years ago prior to the
to the NFL draft. It was the draft that saw
(26:59):
Baker may Field, Sam Donald's, Josh Rosen amongst many others,
Josh Allen as well, and um, and you decided to
poke and prod and and spearhead a knife into the
side of Brady Papinga, thus catapulting him into my studio
ready for a fist fight. Well, first of all, David,
(27:23):
you I have nothing to do with that. That was you.
And then let me let me take caskon. Is unbelievable
about that? You talked about revisionist history. I had nothing
to do with that. Now yet, m I ind antagonist.
Ben's an antagonist. That's what we do. We if we
if we see its spark, we put the blowtorch on it.
(27:43):
And the thing was, I did get Brady for thing
a former NFL linebacker, a big man, big man really
agitated with Gascon then you could have he couldn't believe that.
He literally walks out of the studio, right through the
control studio, turns the corner into the update studio. I
didn't get to see the expression on space from where
(28:05):
I was sitting, said, they do you tell me? It
was great? He was, He was standing, what do you?
Brady Pepina is one of like the mellow when I've
been around him, he's been mellow, and you know, and
what did you do? What? He he goes from zero
to sixty and the blink of a NYE, something just
goes around and h we were talking about Josh Rosen
(28:26):
and Baker Mayfield, and I said, Josh Rosen has been
the better quarterback, you know, going through high school to college.
It's not his fault that he's had an offensive line
that's just been decimated. He's got no coaching staff. And
you know, Baker Mayfields had all these thing the riches
given to him in Oklahoma. And then I had seen
Josh Rosen in high school and in college, and I
(28:47):
knew Brady didn't monitor him like growing up. So he
thought like Rosen was aloof and all these other things,
and I pretty much said, like, you don't know what
the hell you're talking about. And then we come back
from break and he tries to start undressing me, saying,
you don't know what defenses are, you don't know how
to read coverage, and they starts asking me all these things,
and I started answering on the air, but Steve continues
(29:10):
to like poke at him on air. And then right
after that he came into the into the studio on
break and he got my face and I got right
up at him too, and um and yeah, well and
by the way, when he got back in study, I
totally backed him up. You know that I wasn't gonna go.
You were you were, you were gone. You were happy
to me at that point, David, that's that point. I
(29:33):
was all Papa, Steve. And now the one thing that
we'll get behind you on is despite the fact that
you're a couple of years older than both been in myself, Um,
you look like a forty year old man with you
look better than than I do. I know that, Steve.
But it's amazing and so I believe and you have
not you know, you've got a little. Uh Like. I
(29:55):
was telling a friend I was watching on TV, and
I said, you know, he's kind of become like he
Jim Hill. You know, Jim Hill hasn't aged at all,
exactly Hill five by tied for twelve years. So that's
the whole point. Another way I learned from Jim Hill
how to basically freeze yourself in time is what you
do when Because I was looking the other day at
(30:18):
a show that we did, Jim and I about fifteen
years ago, and yeah, I have to admit both of
us pretty much like exactly the same. It's it's it's
it's amazing for those for those listening that aren't in
l a. Jim Hill has been on TV since I
was a kid, and he looked exactly the same as
when I was like eight years old watching him on TV.
And see if you know, as you said, you looked
the same. So he let you in on the cheek code.
(30:38):
He let you in on how to not use to
stop it. Well, the one thing Jimmy used to always
say to me all the time was keep fooling them,
keep fooling them. I will say this about Jim Hill
and just his hair, his frow. So I sat next
to this man every weekend for twelve years in a row.
Twelve years in a row. And let's see, Jim now
is seventy I'm gonna say he's at least seventy three
(31:01):
years old. But in the years that I sat next
to him, I never saw a single gray hair, not one.
So I if you know a little touch up that
you know, that's it's sort of passable. But it was
amazing to me. I kept thinking, there's gotta be one,
Like what right you can see? I can see his
whole air everything. Never once, Steve, did you never once
with Jim Hill? Speaking of Jim Hill, did you ever
(31:23):
enjoy the experience that Jim Ill had at night on
those party butts? So when I started working with Jim,
this is in the beginning. So I started working a
channel two in and I'm a radio guy. I mean,
I've been doing l A t V now for it's
(31:44):
gonna be twenty three years in June that I've been
doing l A t V between cbsk CAL and kt
L A where I'm now, and but I've never looked
at myself as a TV guy. I'm a radio guy
who happens to do a weekend gig on TV. It's
stealing money. I can promise you that anyway. So Jim
Hill immediately and I we we hit it off. Jim.
(32:05):
Jim doesn't get buddy buddy with a lot of people, right,
everyone knows Jim Hill, but he doesn't know everybody. If
you actually hear him say your name, that's a miracle,
Like even for me. It took probably a few months
working on every week before he actually could say Steve,
Like I mean, he's not great with names. So as
(32:29):
soon as we hit it off though, we felt like, hey,
we're pretty good together here. And in those days, Jim
had the fun Bus. And the fun bus was exactly
as advertised. It was one of those custom busses like
celebrities have. You got to have some pretty serious coin
to get one of those. And he would bring let's say,
(32:50):
adult entertainment onto the bus with us, so it would
be like me and a print of his and some
girls and it was a fun bus. So we did
this everywhere. I want to have fun times in a
lot of different places at Jim Hill, and he's a
really fun guy and knows how to entertain himself. So yes,
(33:14):
we had quite a few excursions on the fun bus.
Legendary stories to say the least, huh like Jerry Jones
party bus, the Jim Hill Fund Bus. I remember seeing.
I have a great Jim Hill story. I don't think.
I don't know if I've told this before, but we
were doing a remote at the eleven fifty when when
I was doing eleven fifty from Bob's Classy Lady out
(33:34):
in the valley of Strip Club, which they put us.
They put us they put a sports bar behind the
Strip Club and they wanted us to get people to
go to the sports bar. Did not work out very well.
But we go into you know, after the show, we
go into Bob's Classy Lady. You know that's we were
done with our shift and we're you know, enjoying it there,
and uh, it was. It was so funny because the
(33:54):
manager had come over and given some some gift cards out.
And I guess the legend you know, to us, because
we were, you know, we were the radio guys. But
I guess the legend is and I don't think this
is true because I think that was too far from
where Jim lived. But the legend I heard was that
they gave him like a gold Card. He was. He
was yet the Hollywood Tropicana, which used to be right
across from where CBS was. I remember back back in
(34:17):
the day, not that I went there, Steve, unless I
might have gone there a few times. But well, I'll
put it this way now again, this is no secret
about Jim and so yeah, he likes adult entertainment. Who doesn't.
So um, But one night we were out on the
fun bus and we made we made a stop to
a uh a stript place that I've never seen before.
(34:37):
I still to this day do not know if this
place exists, Like it was a private club. We walk
in it. Everything was really upscale, like not your typical place.
And Jim was just classic, like he everybody knows Jim.
Who doesn't know Jim Hill in Los Angeles. So basically
(34:59):
he hold them uns to me, just take care of
my boy Hartman over here. And to say that they did.
They had like they had like a menu like you
do you you order what kind of girl you want
to be in the company of. You know, what kind
of physical features do you find most appealing? And so
I made my order and a girl came up to
(35:22):
me that was so beyond it's like literally ordering a
Hamburger and you get prime rip, like it was like
whoa we wah wah yah yah um and and Jim
took care of everything. And I just remember I was
up there, you know, multiple dance of the whole thing.
I was sudding, hear, hey, hardman, we gotta get going here.
(35:43):
And of course I was in a fog. I don't
know where I was at that point. Um, but yeah,
to be in the company of Jim Hill is rarefied air.
And you know, I've I've been insanely fortunate. I seem
like accident after accident after accident in my career to
be in the company of like really big time people
(36:05):
and just started being dragged along to all their fun times.
And I've never complained about it. It's always good to me,
always work. I know, I know you gotta go, Steven
in a couple of minutes, but I just wanted to
get a good Al Davis story. I've heard you tell
the tale about Irwindale and this is this is one
of my favorite stories. Where the Raiders were for like
two days gonna move to Irwindale when they were the
(36:26):
l A Raiders. What went on? Give me that story?
It's one of the greats. When when Al Davis went out,
they had a news conference and what went on with
that episode, Well, here's here's what happened to Irwindale. So
if you don't know a Raider history, when the Raiders
moved to Los Angeles, all kinds of promises are made
by the Colosseum Commission that they were going to build
(36:49):
luxury suites. We even had a prototype luxury suite at
our headquarters in El Segundo. And then the Colosseum Commission
came under new leadership up and they did the whole
idea of luxury boxes. They wanted to go with a
multi level parking lot. I know you guys have been
with call seem Do you see any multi level parking
(37:09):
lots that never obviously happened either. So, all of a sudden,
this guy named Zader her mass Celio Zaber, who is
Zelia representing the city of Irwindale, had a presentation of
the idea that they would build a stadium in Erwindale
for the Raiders. Well, Al Davis's official reaction was no chance. Okay, no, no,
(37:34):
we're not He didn't even know what Irwin, none of
us knew where Irwindale was, like, it's north North Okay.
So what ultimately happened here was is that her Masteria
came back and said, I tell you what, We'll give
you ten million dollars non refundable if you just consider
(37:54):
our offer. And by the way, you know what happened
with that ten million dollars. That's how we signed both Jackson.
That's where the money came for the waiters to entice
Bo Jackson to create a double life as a Major
League Baseball player and as an NFL player. That money
(38:15):
was probably used for that upgrade that our our stations.
So yes, we had a press conference out in Erwendale
to announce the Raiders were probably going to be making
Irwindale our new home. When the bottom line was he
had no intention of ever doing this. Ever, that whole
(38:36):
is still there where they foundation of that stadium. You
can drive to Irwindale. It's never been filled in. It
is absolutely actual. Well I have an update now I
go by this, do they actually did just recently fill
it in? Finally finally filled the anycause I've end up
in Irwindale years. Every time I used to drive up
there was still big hole. No No, this was in
(38:56):
the last during the whole COVID thing. The I think
it was last year. They they go by there on
my way home and they filled it in finally. But yeah,
every time I drove by there, I thought of Al Davis.
And I remember the news conference when somebody showed up
with an Irwindale Raiders jacket. I still remember, like a
silver Irwindelle Raiders jackett. Listen to me, they're going to happen.
But once they handed him ten million dollars, he spent
(39:19):
it immediately, of course, and all left there The following
year in nine, and I remember telling him. I actually
did a sit down Mr. Davis, and I said, look,
I was like the only l A guy there. All
these guys are people that came down from Oakland originally.
And I told him flat out, I said, you're never
gonna survive in l A if you don't start stepping
(39:40):
up your game. It's not just about winning games. What
do you do when you lose games? And then all
of a sudden, that's what was happening. We had lost
about twenty thousand fans poor game after they had won
that Super Bowl in l A. Because they were losing.
Nobody l l A is going to support a loser
and and unfortunately Raiders found out the hard way. All right, Steve,
we love you, thank you. We gotta have you on again.
(40:01):
You're wonderful. You're great. I have a million stories. I'm
just getting started. But Ben, it's always very Mr Gascon
Love you guys, Ben Keeper. I get to listen to
you Sunday night. I leave Hollywood at midnight. It takes
me two hours to get back to San Diego. I
listened to every second, so shot out to you. That's
Sunday night into Monday morning. I laughed my ass off
(40:23):
constantly listening to your show. Best ever. Love you all right,
the legend, the Great Steve. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at two am
Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
pm Pacific.
If you thought four hours a day, hundred minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes
break three for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere as we
are back at it. A new weekend is upon us,
and we are glad you have found your way into
the podcast world. We are not restricted by the Federal
Communications Commission because this is only available in the podcast format.
(00:45):
A spinoff of the Ben Maller Shaw Heard five nights
a week syndicated on Fox Sports Radio through My Heart
all over the United States and a hundred and sixty
five countries and ships at sea all over the globe.
There because the American Forces Network. But this podcast is
an interview podcast, and we are joined this weekend. Amazingly,
(01:08):
I thought he wasn't gonna be here, but David Gascon
in the house for these own ten sound effects. If
he makes his way to the Mincros final, I mean,
I got people that are here and near and dear
to my heart. You've got some fan boys and boot
liquors and sicko fans on the overnights. So it's a
(01:29):
it's a perfect comment. I have people that respect quality radio.
That's it. That's all that. Nothing more than that, nothing
more than that. Yeah, they call it fanatics. Maybe if
you were good, you'd have something. Maybe that I got that.
I got lovers, that's all I got. I'm I'm excited
about this guest today. We um, well, that really gets
(01:52):
a friend of the podcast, friend of the part. We
don't do guests. We have friends of the podcast people
we like, people we want to talk to. And I
figured like we we need to get back to our
roots because now I love Dave Parker and that was
great and flashback to my childhood with Dave Parker. But
I love talking radio. You know the business of radio.
I love it. I'm a radio nerd, and I love
(02:14):
the great people that are on radio that do such
a great job and having some of them on and
people we know, and we are excited because not only
do we get to talk to a colleague at Fox
Sports Radio on the weekends, but also a guy I've
known since I was a kid. I started in radio
and I was nineteen years old and this guy was
(02:34):
one of the big stars at the at the mighty
six ninety when I started, and I didn't intern on
his show. I interned on Lee Hacks on Hambleton's show.
But we're talking about Steve Hartman, the man that has
been the loose cannon of Southern California and syndicated radio
for forever pretty much, right going back to the late
(02:54):
eighties early nineties. He's been on on radio and so
we're gonna we're gonna catch up with Steve, which I'm
excited about because a lot of stories with Steve, and
Steve's been on television and radio and done it. Had
a Hall of Fame crew. He's actually in Uh maybe
we'll bring this up. Maybe maybe not, but he's in
the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. And it's
(03:16):
funny because Arnie Spanier he's trying to get into that
Hall of Fame. He's very upset that he's not in it.
We've had Arnie on the podcast and uh, I'm not
in it either, But Steve's in there. He's a Hall
of Famer. He had a verified bona fide Hall of
Famer here. Yeah, he's joining us right now. He's a beast.
I So I worked as an intern for him back
(03:37):
in the day, back when I was at San Diego Stand.
I think it was like two thousand four, two thousand five,
and and I was one of those loggers. I don't
know if you you did this back in the day, Ben,
but I had a log tape, and this is when
they did tape to tape editing. So whenever I was
given a cassette tape or a VHS tape, i'd had
to log the time from when like let's just say
(03:59):
it's Major Baseball, I don the lot of the time
from when a pitch was thrown to one the pitch
or the play was over with. So I had logged
times so when they did their television spots that they'd
be you know, enough time in there for when they
had obviously sound on tape. So I was logging all
the buroll for them. So I knew Steve only from
(04:20):
Afar because everyone said he was pretty much like the
class nerd. He was just like in and out, perfectly
parted hair. It was loud, he was he was just
he was just that guy, and uh, pretty surreal to
all of a sudden fast forward the clock a decade
and a half later and I get to be working
with him. That's pretty cool. And Steve is authentic. You
(04:43):
know some of these guys in radio and I'm pretty
quiet off the off the radio, guess and I'm pretty reserved.
But Steven, he's he's non stopping and he doesn't look
like it. That's I know he works every day and
but it's just his personality. I try to kind of
wind down and but he he does not. He does
(05:04):
not believe in winding down. Enough of that, let's welcome
in the man, the mid the legend fs R colleague.
He's doing morning drive in San Diego. But he is
the ultimate loose cannon, a man who has seen and
done everything, Steve Hartman. So, Steve, it's great to have
you on. We've been trying to get you on the podcast. Actually,
Guesscott hasn't been trying to get anyone on the podcast.
(05:24):
But let me begin with this. Now, you've had many
great accomplishments. You've covered Super Bowls, all Star games, You've
interviewed the biggest name in biggest names in sports. So
where does this appearance on the Fifth Hour podcast rank
in your hierarchy of career accomplishments. Well, this doesn't take
a lot of thought then, because it is absolutely at
(05:46):
the top. And let me say for the record, we
make this perfectly clear for the record. And I say
this in one honestly, and I've said this from the
first time I've barked Ben Mallor on the radio. Ben
Mallor is the best at what he does. Now, you
can qualify it that in any way you want, but
(06:07):
I believe that Ben Maller is the best at what
he does. And I just want to state that for
the record, so twisted anyway you want, you do what
you do better than anyone else. That's it, period, exclamation
point wow. As a ring endorsement. As you know, Steve,
I started at the station you started. I was just
(06:28):
a merely know lowly intern at Extra Sports six ninety
and the Mighty six ninety and I interned for Hacks.
We've had Hacks on the podcast a couple of times.
But I remember i'd get there early because I was
a radio nerd, Steve, and I would see you in
check Fordy doing your thing. They're doing the show and
I love the vibe and that whole thing. And obviously
(06:49):
I've gotten into the business all these years and been
in it and whatnot period. But what was it like?
I want to know before I got there. I saw
what it was like when I got there a few
years after the station had launched. But what was it
like when you guys first went on the year and
launched that thing? Alright? So ben I, I mean, I
don't want to go ahole history listen, but we have time.
It's a podcast. So um As you know, back in
(07:10):
the eighties, I was working as a PR guy for
the l A Raiders. I had no interest in being
a broadcaster that I thought about being a broadcaster. You know.
I was working as a PR guy and I got
frustrated because Al Davis wouldn't give me a raise to
thirty thousand dollars a year. This is literally why I
quit the Raiders. As I asked. I wrote a letter
(07:31):
to Mr Davis saying, you're you're paying me twenty four thousand,
three hundred dollars. I'm doing a cropload of work paying
me the thirty thousand, he said, thousand, we are five
and tenders yere, you want me to give you a raise.
That was enough done finished. I took a non sports
job for four months. I had seen the movie Wall
(07:51):
Street one too many times and I was convinced I
was working for Gordon Gecko and I was Bud Fox.
Four months later I quit that job, so I was
back at ground zero. And as you know then, my
radio career actually started at this little k Fox radio
with my mentor but for Willa. But for my whole
career is due to a man named but for Willo,
the steam Namer, long time newspaper radio guy in Los Angeles.
(08:15):
He took me under his wing when I was twenty
years old. He said, you're freaking kid. I don't know
how you retained so much crapp in her head that
I could use you. So I was working at this
little radio station k Fox when but got contacted by
a man named John Lynch. And it was amazing to
me because this John Lynch was in San Diego. He
(08:38):
had the station six. It was the flagship of the Chargers,
and they had an afternoon radio guy named Lee Hacks
on Hamilton's. And I've never heard of Hacks. So you know, Ben,
how it is if you don't understand that's from the
southern California standpoint. There are three distinct markets. There's l A,
they're Sandy, Orange County, and they're San Diego. The well
(09:00):
events of San Diego sports in l A is no
different than Buffalo. There is no relevance of San Diego
sports in Los Angeles. So I've never heard of this
hacks I guy. So but calls me and he says, look,
listen to this actor. You can hear the signal up
in LA. So I'm listening the first time I hear HACKSA.
I called back, but he goes, what do you think
(09:20):
I said? I literally count of twelve things this guy
made up, completely made up, Like there's he's he's stating
things on the air that are not true. I mean,
absolutely not true. So we went down to do an
audition show on the weekend, and you can you can
figure this one out. Then, So we drive down to
San Diego. This is old Pacific Highway Studios and we
(09:45):
do a Saturday audition show and Budded lined up all
these guests and I was gonna do like updates that's
the bed Folo show, right, And none of the guests
showed up. It was a catastrophe. I mean it was
the worst radio show ever. I show I had a
tape of. This show was an absolute bomb. So we're
driving back to l Igo whether it goes that opportunity
(10:05):
in San Diego. But they stayed in touch and the
next thing you know, I get called down to San Diego.
They tell me, look, we don't want but we want you,
and like, what are you talking about? But for a bullshow,
Well we got this young guy, brad Cess matt Or,
We're gonna put you with him. And I'm like really,
So they hired me and then seven months later Brad
(10:26):
was out and Chet forty shows up. How much interaction
do you happen with Chet? Did you have much? Yeah?
I only met him a few times. It was very nice.
Uh little guy, right, A little guy remember, and uh
you know I I talked to him a bit in
the newsroom with a high speed sports wire in the
sports tick, right. But yeah, I didn't talk to him
(10:46):
too much. There's only a few times I talked to
him back in those days. But he was great. You
You and Chet were wonderful. He had all here. I
don't when he was the money. I'm like, yeah, I
don't like this novice Right, seven months on the radio,
I'm still trying to figure out if this is anything
I have any interest in doing, and they stick me
with you know, Chet forty, and I'm thinking, didn't we
(11:08):
interview him talking about how he was facing a prison
sentence for federal tax evasion, like he was going to
go to prison, And now we're gonna hire this guy
to be my partner. And I remember John Lynch of
the gather on ran our station, looked at me and
he goes, you better make this work. And I'm like,
so my whole career, as short as it was at
that point, is writing on me trying to figure out
(11:31):
how to do a radio show with a guy that
he had even less radio experience than I had. So
we who are really two guys? And then, you know,
back in those days, like sports talk radio was pretty mild,
wasn't too much noise going on, but early on Chet
Night just started screaming at each other like he wasn't
(11:52):
ready for a young guy to challenge anything he had
to say. I was like, if you say one more
stupid thing, I swear to him a knock in tomorrow.
I mean, we got so heated on the air. All
I kept thinking is my radio career is going to
end before even begins. And then there was an article
in the Union Tribune Dwan in San Diego did this
(12:13):
glowing review of our radio show. I'm radios think is
this guy listening to what I'm listening to? And from
that point on, and of course we got the name
of loose Cannons from ax Off, who was getting inundated
with phone calls on his show, which came on after ours,
the people complaining about our show that these guys are
off their charts, are ripping the chargers and everything else.
(12:37):
And he called us a couple of loose cannons. And
you know how nickname works, and like, you don't give
yourself a nickname. So somebody called the facts that had
said this, and the next caller said, hey, loose cannons,
and that's how it started. I just want like wildfire
from that point on, so those five years would said,
it's hard to believe. Now it's going to be twenty
(13:01):
five years since he passed away, coming up here on
May eighteen, the team then, is the anniversary of Chet
passing away. I can't believe that. I can't believe it's
been that long and you guys did so well, and
then you've you've kept the Loose Cannons brand going all
these years. How many different Loose Cannons? I know you
did the show after Chet passed away, you changed it up,
(13:22):
and then you went to l A and you did
the show with Victor Brick and Michael Thompson and Pat O'Brien,
and uh, how many different incarnations have there been of
the Loose Cannons. Well, let's let's be I I don't
know if I have any real standing in the history
of sports talk radio, but I can safely say that
no one has hosted a show with more co host
(13:44):
than I have in sports radio history. I mean, I've
done shows with you who have a Night and on
his show with in my career, so I guarantee you
I hold that record without a doubt. But the true
Loose Cannons after Chet forty was Philly Billy morn Dell.
Then I came up to Los Angeles and Michael Thompson
and Victor Brick, and then they got rid of it.
(14:05):
When I did the National show with Chris Myers, it
was Myers apartment. I hated that we went back to
the Loose Cannons and we brought in Paddle Brian and
then after I went down to San Diego, they brought
the Loose Cannon brand back that you're not gonna believe this.
You readed for this, Ben, So I get moved. In December,
the Morning show in San Diego, the Fox affiliate got
(14:26):
taken out by budget cuts, so sort of like when
the pandemic began, and was sort of like, uh, you know,
we're gonna flatten the curve for a couple of weeks,
I like Boston San Diego said can you just temporarily
fill in on the morning show. I'm still on the
morning show and like partners rich Ornberger and John Shaeffer
who did the afternoon they're still called the Loose Cannons.
(14:49):
What so the lud Cannon so and people are like,
where's horror? How can you have a show called the
Loose Cannons without Hartmen? But that's that is right now.
The afternoon show and I think thirteen six D in
San Diego is called The Lewis Cannons with rich Overberger,
John Paper and I'll do on the Morne Show. Oh
(15:11):
wait wait see see see if I went on I
went on the podcast. I was I went through the
thirteen sixty page and I was like, all right, I
want to see what's going on here and do my
due diligence. And I saw the Louis Cannon's name, and
I didn't see your picture, and I thought, well, maybe
you just didn't want your picture used or something. I
didn't I didn't realize that you weren't even part of
that show right now. That's crazy. Yeah, it's it's unbelieving.
(15:33):
People are confused, like and there are people like, have
you left the stage and I got in there, Oh,
I'm on the mornings. You know how this works, Yeah,
he'll got your audience. Then people people have a certain show,
whether it's the mornings, mid day's, afternoons, late night, whatever
that they're walking into. They don't necessarily know the entire
line up at the station. They just know the shows
that they listened to. And so they're people like you
(15:56):
know my Twitter at cafase, but too if you let
the stage, I go, oh, I'm on the morning. I'm
doing a morning show now for six to nine. So
it is. It is one of the great revelations though
Steve and I learned that over the years being in radio,
that you know, you think you're the most important person
to somebody's life, but really it's just the time you're
on they happen to be listening. And if you're not
there there, you know they they might like you, but
(16:19):
they're not gonna really most people are gonna go out
of their way, you know that. It's it's like, if
you're there, it's convenient, they'll listen. If not, sorry, I
wonder what happened, but I'll move on. Its crazy today today,
literally today on our text line during the morning show,
I've been doing radio for thirty two years now, NonStop,
thirty two years, much of this time, seven days a week, right,
(16:42):
And somebody texted me and goes, I've never heard this
Steve Harpin guy, but I really like what he has
to say. So yeah, two years somebody today hit in,
let's see in the morning show saying I've never heard
this Steve Harpin guy before, but I really like what
he has to say. Um, I think he's got a
(17:02):
chance to make it. I think Steve Hartman can have
a long career in a Hall of fame career in radio.
That's what I think, yes, I guess I don't think
it's great. You always think like everyone's followed your entire
career oligiously. And you know, I've had people Michael Thompson,
believe it or not, came in our show. I have
Michael every once in a while, and he was upset
that we were calling the show loose cannons. He goes,
(17:24):
we were the original loose Cannons, and I'm like, actually, weren't.
Michael forty was the original loose Gannon. He got hammered
on social media. No, you're loose cannon history. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Miller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Be sure to
(17:44):
catch live editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at
two aim eastern eleven pm Pacific. Guys, I I know
a little something of something, but I'm gonna make an
educated guest here, and I'm gonna say that guy that
made that compliment to Steve was not was not Don
Martin Martin moment, so I have to go third rails.
(18:09):
So Steve like it's not been all like smooth sailing
sun rainbows. You wouldn't Don Martin have had that, You
guys have gone back in forth in year's rain Well,
let's let's talk about the whole John Martin association. So
here's what happened, guys. So we were sailing along at
six ninety quite nicely, and they launched eleven fifty. Then
(18:32):
you're obviously very familiar with the eleven fifty back in seven.
Yet I'm sorry. In seven they launched Mark. What was
Marty Mark was going to be the l A counterpart
at six nine, and this is when JA Corp. Had
acquired uh the from what was called was our original
(18:57):
Stations for Dead anyway, you So this require did car
eventually get swallowed up by Clear Channel. So the idea
was they had a guy named Jack Evans, and Jack
Evans was running the show, and he was saying that
six ninety would be San Diego and eleven fifty was
going to be l A. And I remember asking, why
would they stop listening to six nine in l A
(19:18):
because we had a huge l A Orange cadey audience.
He goes, they will, Well, I guess what they didn't.
So we get the two thousand and two and it's
right around the time of the World Series when the
Angels beat the Giants. I'll never forget this. So I
had gotten a phone call a couple of months earlier
(19:38):
from this Robin Berta Lucci, and she was running Camp five,
but she was sort of overseeing the eleven fifty operation.
There seemed to be transition, you know, like Dave Smith
had been let go, and you know some of the
guys you all know from those eleven fifty days. So
we were assuming as soon as the season was over,
because their contract with the Dodgers was running out, that
(19:59):
that would be end of eleven fifty and at six
Mammy would just hold as we had been before eleven fifty.
But I get this phone call from this Robin Berta
Luci and she says, yeah, could you fill in on
the afternoon show on eleven fifty this week? And I'm
like what. So we had our boss, Bill Pew, who
happens to be the brother of Dan Patrick. Dan Patrick's
(20:21):
real name is Dan Pew, by the way, as you
guys know. So anyway, I go to a Bill pe Are,
our programming guy at six man Ago I get the
weirdest phone call from this Robin burta Lucien, she wants
me to do the afternoon show. This will be line.
I don't want to overstate my importance, but it was
sort of like the Clippers calling the Lakers saying, can
we ball Kobe for a game? You know, like you know,
(20:42):
just good? He could he work for us, and his
reaction was sort of like what do you think? I'm like,
what do you mean? What I think? If you look
at midday show here? You want me to do the
afternoon show on that other station will never happened because
they got into the World Series and everything else. And
then the day will all remember was the day that
it was Halloween two thousand two. Billy Wendell and I
(21:07):
just finished doing our midday show and we finished the
show and we get called into Bill Pugh's office and
he tells us that day six nineties dead as we
know it. We're gonna merge six fifty to create a
superstation and right now, you guys are not a part
of it. And I'm like, okay, so what are we
(21:32):
doing here? When are we going to find out whether
we're a part of it? He wanted to bring in
a show he had created down in San Diego, Scott
and b R, Scott Kaplan, Billy ray Smith. But when
they notified the l A people, They're like, who the
hell is Scott and b R? We want Hartman, we
want the loose Cannons. So I got the call and
(21:53):
then Philly Billy blindsides me because I thought hard to
keep him on the show. He it's because John Lynch
our old Bots at six ninety was starting a new
station that was going to be based in San Diego.
So the next phone call I get is sort of
a guy who's just been hired to run the new superstation,
(22:16):
Don Martin. Don Martin, So I've never met Don Martin.
I find out that he's engaged to Robin Berto Lucci
and we're gonna meet and I'll put this way. With Don,
it was a challenge, no question, and obviously Don has
had a highly successful career in radio management. But we
(22:40):
did butt heads. If I didn't like things that were happening,
I told him, and he didn't always react all that
well to that. So that's just the way I've been
throughout my career. I mean, I lived to my loose
candidate Hannon Monicker, and we had episodes, many episodes over
the years, we had good times, we had bad times,
(23:03):
but that the bottom line is this is going to
happen in any industry, guys. I mean I could give
you one specific story. It's not exactly a secret story.
It was a very public story, uh, where Don and
I had it out at a Dodger game and it
pretty much cemented our situation. But I'll also tell you this,
(23:24):
Don Martin when he got back in a position of
power wanting the network for Fox Sports Radio and no
hesitance and bringing me back to do the weekend So um,
the last time I saw it done was at the
Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon. They were honoring VIC before
the pandemic. Uh, and we were cordials. So everything is
(23:44):
good as far as I'm concerned, and you know Ben
as well as even Mr Dave gascon If you're in
this business, if you want to survive in this business,
you can't be making enemies. You can't be burning bridges.
If you have disagreements, move on and just get back
to the business of doing good radio. No, but I
(24:04):
gotta tell you, see, that's one of the great accompetitions.
I remember that night and everyone was My phone was
blown up. Did you hear what happened in the in
the luxury box a Dodger stadium? No, I didn't hear
what happened, and everyone had a different version. You know.
It's like that that phone game where you you you
passed the message along and all right, here, I'll give
you a very quick what happened. So here's what happened.
(24:25):
I was It was a Dodger Yankee game. Okay, so
the Yankees were at Dodger stadiums. Even know it's a
massive crowd of Dodgers stadium. I was actually at the
Dodger game doing television work. So I was on the
field doing a live shot and I run into Dave Us,
emotions director and Brian Blackmore, you know, open working for
(24:45):
the station. So I'm doing the national radio show at
this point, and I don't have a whole lot of
time in Burbank. Don had just been let go as
running the Fox Sports radio network the week before, and
I hadn't spoken to him since. So I asked Wete,
not knowing if Don was going to be at the game,
whether they had the Sweet there, and we said, oh yeah,
(25:07):
go down and get some food. So I walk into
the Sweet and as I'm in the sweet I see
Don Martin and but he's got his back turn and
he's getting some food. So I walk up to him
and I manx us to find out what happened, right,
And so I walk up to Don and he turns
around and I said, what's up to mar And he
(25:31):
looks at me. He goes, if I were you, I
would turn around and walk out of here right now.
And I'm looking at him, like, you know, we'll face
to face, like a why would I do that? He goes,
I know. And basically what happened was this he was
blaming Pattle Brian for his being outstit by the network.
(25:52):
Obviously I had nothing to do it, I had, I had,
I want no power at all. Zero. All I know
is is that at the bosses at clear Channel at
the time, I had decided to flip our show and
make it really the Paddle Ryan Show again someday I
had no control over and neither did John Martin. So
(26:15):
but Don was angry and he took it out on me.
And it was in front of a lot of people,
a lot of people, and so you know, I can't
I just I can get past all this stuff. It
really doesn't phase me, but in reality it was. It
was pretty much the end for me as far as
(26:35):
working Monday through Friday at the network. And I feel
fortunate to have continued my career after And it was
it was just a very unfortunate situation. Steve, does this
rival in comparison to when you you gas lit a
colleague of ours a few years ago prior to the
to the NFL draft. It was the draft that saw
(26:59):
Baker may Field, Sam Donald's, Josh Rosen amongst many others,
Josh Allen as well, and um, and you decided to
poke and prod and and spearhead a knife into the
side of Brady Papinga, thus catapulting him into my studio
ready for a fist fight. Well, first of all, David,
(27:23):
you I have nothing to do with that. That was you.
And then let me let me take caskon. Is unbelievable
about that? You talked about revisionist history. I had nothing
to do with that. Now yet, m I ind antagonist.
Ben's an antagonist. That's what we do. We if we
if we see its spark, we put the blowtorch on it.
(27:43):
And the thing was, I did get Brady for thing
a former NFL linebacker, a big man, big man really
agitated with Gascon then you could have he couldn't believe that.
He literally walks out of the studio, right through the
control studio, turns the corner into the update studio. I
didn't get to see the expression on space from where
(28:05):
I was sitting, said, they do you tell me? It
was great? He was, He was standing, what do you?
Brady Pepina is one of like the mellow when I've
been around him, he's been mellow, and you know, and
what did you do? What? He he goes from zero
to sixty and the blink of a NYE, something just
goes around and h we were talking about Josh Rosen
(28:26):
and Baker Mayfield, and I said, Josh Rosen has been
the better quarterback, you know, going through high school to college.
It's not his fault that he's had an offensive line
that's just been decimated. He's got no coaching staff. And
you know, Baker Mayfields had all these thing the riches
given to him in Oklahoma. And then I had seen
Josh Rosen in high school and in college, and I
(28:47):
knew Brady didn't monitor him like growing up. So he
thought like Rosen was aloof and all these other things,
and I pretty much said, like, you don't know what
the hell you're talking about. And then we come back
from break and he tries to start undressing me, saying,
you don't know what defenses are, you don't know how
to read coverage, and they starts asking me all these things,
and I started answering on the air, but Steve continues
(29:10):
to like poke at him on air. And then right
after that he came into the into the studio on
break and he got my face and I got right
up at him too, and um and yeah, well and
by the way, when he got back in study, I
totally backed him up. You know that I wasn't gonna go.
You were you were, you were gone. You were happy
to me at that point, David, that's that point. I
(29:33):
was all Papa, Steve. And now the one thing that
we'll get behind you on is despite the fact that
you're a couple of years older than both been in myself, Um,
you look like a forty year old man with you
look better than than I do. I know that, Steve.
But it's amazing and so I believe and you have
not you know, you've got a little. Uh Like. I
(29:55):
was telling a friend I was watching on TV, and
I said, you know, he's kind of become like he
Jim Hill. You know, Jim Hill hasn't aged at all,
exactly Hill five by tied for twelve years. So that's
the whole point. Another way I learned from Jim Hill
how to basically freeze yourself in time is what you
do when Because I was looking the other day at
(30:18):
a show that we did, Jim and I about fifteen
years ago, and yeah, I have to admit both of
us pretty much like exactly the same. It's it's it's
it's amazing for those for those listening that aren't in
l a. Jim Hill has been on TV since I
was a kid, and he looked exactly the same as
when I was like eight years old watching him on TV.
And see if you know, as you said, you looked
the same. So he let you in on the cheek code.
(30:38):
He let you in on how to not use to
stop it. Well, the one thing Jimmy used to always
say to me all the time was keep fooling them,
keep fooling them. I will say this about Jim Hill
and just his hair, his frow. So I sat next
to this man every weekend for twelve years in a row.
Twelve years in a row. And let's see, Jim now
is seventy I'm gonna say he's at least seventy three
(31:01):
years old. But in the years that I sat next
to him, I never saw a single gray hair, not one.
So I if you know a little touch up that
you know, that's it's sort of passable. But it was
amazing to me. I kept thinking, there's gotta be one,
Like what right you can see? I can see his
whole air everything. Never once, Steve, did you never once
with Jim Hill? Speaking of Jim Hill, did you ever
(31:23):
enjoy the experience that Jim Ill had at night on
those party butts? So when I started working with Jim,
this is in the beginning. So I started working a
channel two in and I'm a radio guy. I mean,
I've been doing l A t V now for it's
(31:44):
gonna be twenty three years in June that I've been
doing l A t V between cbsk CAL and kt
L A where I'm now, and but I've never looked
at myself as a TV guy. I'm a radio guy
who happens to do a weekend gig on TV. It's
stealing money. I can promise you that anyway. So Jim
Hill immediately and I we we hit it off. Jim.
(32:05):
Jim doesn't get buddy buddy with a lot of people, right,
everyone knows Jim Hill, but he doesn't know everybody. If
you actually hear him say your name, that's a miracle,
Like even for me. It took probably a few months
working on every week before he actually could say Steve,
Like I mean, he's not great with names. So as
(32:29):
soon as we hit it off though, we felt like, hey,
we're pretty good together here. And in those days, Jim
had the fun Bus. And the fun bus was exactly
as advertised. It was one of those custom busses like
celebrities have. You got to have some pretty serious coin
to get one of those. And he would bring let's say,
(32:50):
adult entertainment onto the bus with us, so it would
be like me and a print of his and some
girls and it was a fun bus. So we did
this everywhere. I want to have fun times in a
lot of different places at Jim Hill, and he's a
really fun guy and knows how to entertain himself. So yes,
(33:14):
we had quite a few excursions on the fun bus.
Legendary stories to say the least, huh like Jerry Jones
party bus, the Jim Hill Fund Bus. I remember seeing.
I have a great Jim Hill story. I don't think.
I don't know if I've told this before, but we
were doing a remote at the eleven fifty when when
I was doing eleven fifty from Bob's Classy Lady out
(33:34):
in the valley of Strip Club, which they put us.
They put us they put a sports bar behind the
Strip Club and they wanted us to get people to
go to the sports bar. Did not work out very well.
But we go into you know, after the show, we
go into Bob's Classy Lady. You know that's we were
done with our shift and we're you know, enjoying it there,
and uh, it was. It was so funny because the
(33:54):
manager had come over and given some some gift cards out.
And I guess the legend you know, to us, because
we were, you know, we were the radio guys. But
I guess the legend is and I don't think this
is true because I think that was too far from
where Jim lived. But the legend I heard was that
they gave him like a gold Card. He was. He
was yet the Hollywood Tropicana, which used to be right
across from where CBS was. I remember back back in
(34:17):
the day, not that I went there, Steve, unless I
might have gone there a few times. But well, I'll
put it this way now again, this is no secret
about Jim and so yeah, he likes adult entertainment. Who doesn't.
So um, But one night we were out on the
fun bus and we made we made a stop to
a uh a stript place that I've never seen before.
(34:37):
I still to this day do not know if this
place exists, Like it was a private club. We walk
in it. Everything was really upscale, like not your typical place.
And Jim was just classic, like he everybody knows Jim.
Who doesn't know Jim Hill in Los Angeles. So basically
(34:59):
he hold them uns to me, just take care of
my boy Hartman over here. And to say that they did.
They had like they had like a menu like you
do you you order what kind of girl you want
to be in the company of. You know, what kind
of physical features do you find most appealing? And so
I made my order and a girl came up to
(35:22):
me that was so beyond it's like literally ordering a
Hamburger and you get prime rip, like it was like
whoa we wah wah yah yah um and and Jim
took care of everything. And I just remember I was
up there, you know, multiple dance of the whole thing.
I was sudding, hear, hey, hardman, we gotta get going here.
(35:43):
And of course I was in a fog. I don't
know where I was at that point. Um, but yeah,
to be in the company of Jim Hill is rarefied air.
And you know, I've I've been insanely fortunate. I seem
like accident after accident after accident in my career to
be in the company of like really big time people
(36:05):
and just started being dragged along to all their fun times.
And I've never complained about it. It's always good to me,
always work. I know, I know you gotta go, Steven
in a couple of minutes, but I just wanted to
get a good Al Davis story. I've heard you tell
the tale about Irwindale and this is this is one
of my favorite stories. Where the Raiders were for like
two days gonna move to Irwindale when they were the
(36:26):
l A Raiders. What went on? Give me that story?
It's one of the greats. When when Al Davis went out,
they had a news conference and what went on with
that episode, Well, here's here's what happened to Irwindale. So
if you don't know a Raider history, when the Raiders
moved to Los Angeles, all kinds of promises are made
by the Colosseum Commission that they were going to build
(36:49):
luxury suites. We even had a prototype luxury suite at
our headquarters in El Segundo. And then the Colosseum Commission
came under new leadership up and they did the whole
idea of luxury boxes. They wanted to go with a
multi level parking lot. I know you guys have been
with call seem Do you see any multi level parking
(37:09):
lots that never obviously happened either. So, all of a sudden,
this guy named Zader her mass Celio Zaber, who is
Zelia representing the city of Irwindale, had a presentation of
the idea that they would build a stadium in Erwindale
for the Raiders. Well, Al Davis's official reaction was no chance. Okay, no, no,
(37:34):
we're not He didn't even know what Irwin, none of
us knew where Irwindale was, like, it's north North Okay.
So what ultimately happened here was is that her Masteria
came back and said, I tell you what, We'll give
you ten million dollars non refundable if you just consider
(37:54):
our offer. And by the way, you know what happened
with that ten million dollars. That's how we signed both Jackson.
That's where the money came for the waiters to entice
Bo Jackson to create a double life as a Major
League Baseball player and as an NFL player. That money
(38:15):
was probably used for that upgrade that our our stations.
So yes, we had a press conference out in Erwendale
to announce the Raiders were probably going to be making
Irwindale our new home. When the bottom line was he
had no intention of ever doing this. Ever, that whole
(38:36):
is still there where they foundation of that stadium. You
can drive to Irwindale. It's never been filled in. It
is absolutely actual. Well I have an update now I
go by this, do they actually did just recently fill
it in? Finally finally filled the anycause I've end up
in Irwindale years. Every time I used to drive up
there was still big hole. No No, this was in
(38:56):
the last during the whole COVID thing. The I think
it was last year. They they go by there on
my way home and they filled it in finally. But yeah,
every time I drove by there, I thought of Al Davis.
And I remember the news conference when somebody showed up
with an Irwindale Raiders jacket. I still remember, like a
silver Irwindelle Raiders jackett. Listen to me, they're going to happen.
But once they handed him ten million dollars, he spent
(39:19):
it immediately, of course, and all left there The following
year in nine, and I remember telling him. I actually
did a sit down Mr. Davis, and I said, look,
I was like the only l A guy there. All
these guys are people that came down from Oakland originally.
And I told him flat out, I said, you're never
gonna survive in l A if you don't start stepping
(39:40):
up your game. It's not just about winning games. What
do you do when you lose games? And then all
of a sudden, that's what was happening. We had lost
about twenty thousand fans poor game after they had won
that Super Bowl in l A. Because they were losing.
Nobody l l A is going to support a loser
and and unfortunately Raiders found out the hard way. All right, Steve,
we love you, thank you. We gotta have you on again.
(40:01):
You're wonderful. You're great. I have a million stories. I'm
just getting started. But Ben, it's always very Mr Gascon
Love you guys, Ben Keeper. I get to listen to
you Sunday night. I leave Hollywood at midnight. It takes
me two hours to get back to San Diego. I
listened to every second, so shot out to you. That's
Sunday night into Monday morning. I laughed my ass off
(40:23):
constantly listening to your show. Best ever. Love you all right,
the legend, the Great Steve. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at two am
Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Ben Miller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
pm Pacific.
Host
Ben Maller
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