April 18, 2021 • 42 mins
Ben opens up listener questions and answers them more honestly than you might like...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, 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. The clearing House of Hot
takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with
(00:23):
Ben Maller starts right now Sunday. That's right, hey, you
you've tuned in on a Sunday, a day of rest,
to the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller and not David
Gascon because four hours a night on the overnight clearly
(00:44):
not enough. Eight days a week, eight days a week,
and this would be the eighth day of the week,
a double dose. Not only do you get the Fifth
Hour podcast right now, assuming you're listening on Sunday, but
also we have live radio program in the overnight starting
at eleven o'clock in the West at two am in
(01:07):
the East on a Sunday morning. But this is all
about the mail. And if you didn't hear listener mail,
I love this is my favorite podcast the way I
love the Friday one doing the conversations, and I put
up with the Saturday podcast, but the Sunday mail Bag
always love it. It's a spinoff of Ask Ben on
the radio show. And we are joined yet again if
you missed Saturday. Big Mike a Fox Sports Radio icon
(01:32):
who's been at the company for seventeen years. Seventeen years,
and he is with us again. So Big Mike. Now
the way this is gonna work. These are all actual
questions sent in by actual consumers of the Fifth Hour
podcast and Fox Sports Radio and and we will just
randomly ask me. There's some sports questions, a lot of
(01:52):
non sports questions. There's a lot of people that fought
Gascon was gonna be here, clearly not realizing the Gascon
takes off every other weekend. So you're in the gascon,
not in the Gascon chair as you told us, because
you're you don't want that chair has been silly, but
you're in the gascon roles. So you have to try
to answer either as Gascon or as Big Mike, whatever
whatever you choose, whichever mood strikes me. I mean, let's
(02:14):
do it all right, here we go. First question is
from Matt in Elmira, New York. By the way, these
questions all set via the show Facebook page. Ben Mallers
Show or Real Fifth Hour at gmail dot com. Real
fifth Hour at gmail dot com. So Matt in Elmira,
New York says Ben and a gascon slash Big Mike,
(02:36):
Big Mike's name, I would like to know your personal
opinions regarding NBA players resting well not injured. I understand
the disappointment of road fans once, for example, the Nets
come to town, Matt says, and Kyrie and Harden sit
out for rest. Tickets are wildly expensive for all sporting
events anymore. Uh, and you have a right to be irritated. Uh.
(03:01):
To that, some say, why don't these players rest during
home games instead? But that seems foolish, disrespect your hometown fans.
So he's going back and forth on this, and uh,
he said, you know, people bring up Jordan played all
eighty two games at forty years old. Uh, that was
that side of the aisle. And he says, I understand
(03:21):
players health. This is a very long, winning question for
Matt and Olmira, New York. Uh, he says, I just
don't know exactly where I stand on the issue. I'd
love to hear your thoughts, all right, Matt, I will
go first I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it,
hate it, hate it. Do not like it. Uh. And
I believe that if you're healthy, you should play. And
(03:43):
I'm also maybe I'm completely wrong on this, but I
don't think you can correctly predict when he's you played
x number of minutes or x number of games, your
body's gonna break down. Right, So not always in North
I the wage medical gurus who seemed convinced, you know,
if you play a certain number of back to back
(04:04):
games in the NBA, you're not gonna be healthy and
your your body's gonna break down. I think it's voodoo medicine.
I don't buy it. Everyone's different and what they what
they can take and what they can't take is different.
And the other thing too, is you know, it's one
of those things that's changed where it used to be
a badge of all you. You would feel shame and
you'd feel guilt if you didn't play. We'd hear that.
(04:28):
You know, my teammates need me, the fans need me.
I know, I gotta be out there. I gotta play.
Now it's the opposite. We've done a one eighty and
now it's like, well, it doesn't really matter you. People
get offended when they're when they're expected to play and
and and coaches are shamp For example, Tom Thibodeau, the
coach of the Knickerbockers, when he was in Chicago and
(04:48):
he had his guys play, he really pushed them to
play a lot of minutes. And the media, the basketball media,
the softies in the basketball media, killed Tom tibodoz Well.
He's like a despot because he wants to he wants
his guys to play. He plays him a lot of minutes,
and he doesn't have load management and all that, and
he got very upset. But I think it's ridiculous. I
(05:09):
I think it's embarrassing. And I like what they used
to do in the olden days, because you know, I
was back in my day when I was a kid.
What they would do is they'd have they wouldn't give players,
as I remember, a full game off. They'd only play them.
And if they played like thirty five minutes a game,
they play him fifteen or they play him ten. But
they play a little bit. So the fans on the
(05:30):
road got to see the star players. Because a big
part I'm going along here myself, but a big part
of the NBA marketing is to sell the stars, not
even the teams. It's it's come out and watch Steph
Curry and the Golden State Warriors, come out and check
out Jason Tatum and the Celtics. Well, if you go
(05:50):
to a game, you pay money, you're being sold that
you're going to see those guys. And I understand if
they're hurt, that's fine. But if if they're not hurt
and they just they feel like playing because you know
they they're delicate little flowers, that's bull crap. How do
you how do you stand? I'm with you, Uh, most
of the way through all of that, I agree. I
(06:12):
also think that part of winning a championship is durability,
and it's unfair if while you know some players are
playing every game for the whole season, they are obviously
going to take on more wear and terror than the
guys who are taking it. Gives you an unfair advantage
if you're deciding to take games off. And it's not
(06:33):
truly about what a champion is. The champion is the
guy who can you know, the team that can get
through all that without you know, breaking down and still
has enough horses. And you get into the bench and
you see, you know, well, do you have the guys
if you lose somebody or if somebody's not you know,
able to perform, do you have somebody on the bench
(06:53):
that could step in and fill in. I mean, that's
part of being a champion is being able to get
past all that sort of stuff. And on top of that, like,
if you want to arrest your players, you know how
remember how the Showtime Lakers used to do it. They'd
blow doors and by the third quarter they'd be up
by twenty points and they take all the starters out
and they never played the fourth quarter. So if you
(07:14):
really want to arrest your guys, I think that that's fine.
Do it. Like you said, if you place thirty five,
you only play him twenty because you're blowing doors on
guys anyway. I mean, pick your spots to give your
guys rest when you've already performed, you know. Yeah, yeah,
you know. It's like the term and it's a political term,
but it's jerrymandering, right you read draw That's pretty much
(07:38):
what these these teams have done. It. It's not just
the NBA, but the NBA. It's more obvious where you
people don't like it in politics when you change it
so you can't lose the election. But there it's supposed
to be, at least I was raised as a sports fan.
It's supposed to be a war of attrician right and
and the team that wins the championship has survived all
of that and played and put their best it forward.
(08:00):
So that's where I stand up. And the only problem,
the real problem is the motivation for the franchises, for
those teams to rest their players, because the franchises do
better when they win championships. So they're going to bend
as many of these rules as they can to get
that ring. They're not thinking about the fan every day
(08:21):
that's coming to this to the stadium to watch. They
just want they just want that championship, so they don't
you know, teams have a real motivation to do this,
and until the NBA can figure out a way to
remove that ability, they're they're just gonna keep doing it. Well.
The other thing too, is obviously the money. Right. These
guys that used to be athletes. I don't want to
(08:41):
say they were disposable, but they were replaceable. And now
with the amount of money uh that is is especially
like baseball. Basketball players make it, the star guys make
it time. But baseball pitchers the baby. We're gonna eventually.
We saw it last year. But they will get rid
of pitchers Haiti, because there's a couple of pictures every
(09:03):
year they get hurt, either getting hit by a pitch
or running the bases, and they just don't want to
go in random question, what are the stats as far
as complete games pitched anymore? Well, forget about that. Can
we ever get a complete game anymore? No, you can't
get that unless you've got one hitter or no hitter going.
They're gonna yank you. Yeah, And who's the genius. Who's
(09:23):
the mensa that decided your arm's gonna fall off after
a hundred pitches? Like who decided that that the human
body can only handle a hundred pitches? Because you hear
stories like in the old days of Lavon Hernandez pitching
in Cuba throwing three pitches, or Fernando Valenzuela in in Mexico,
you know two hundred eighty. Hell, even in the early
(09:45):
days when Fernando is with the Dodgers, you know, Tommy
Losorda would leave him in there and they didn't care
about pitch counts in those days, but it's like they
just arbitrary number. Well, you get through a hundred pitchers,
you've gotta start warming somebody up in the bullpen because
they can't handle. It's like, come on, I don't like
it all right. J Bone from Portland, Maine writes into
the fifth hour he says, who is the dude who
(10:08):
does the voiceovers for the game shows, the Third Degree, etcetera?
Have you ever met him? No? J Bone, I have
not met him. The only voiceover guy that I've met
was the original voice of Fox Sports Radio, who's a
really cool guy. Met him at the Fox lot and boy,
I'm forgetting his name, but he's actually the voice that
I think. He's the voice of ESPN now. But he
(10:30):
he did movie trailers. Like guy was like a d
J in Minnesota, and he had a very interesting story
how he got into the voiceover stuff. But yeah, I
have not met the voice of Fox Sports Raid. I
don't even know what. I don't know where the guy lives.
I know that he's on there a lot doing the
voiceover stuff. Yeah, I know Bob, You know Bob. Where's
(10:51):
he at? He is? Uh? He does most of his
work out of the heart Burbank Studios. Okay, so it's
just a local guy in l A here, guy in
l A here. He works with our our imaging department
as well. I think he also does work for a
local affiliate here in Los Angeles. So okay, and he's
a really good guy. Yeah, well that's a racket man.
(11:14):
The voiceover stuff, that's the way to go. Yeah. Actually
very talented because not only is Bob the voice, but
he's also the producer of a lot of those uh
those bits. So he is uh, he has a sound wizard.
One man band. That's good alright. Glenn in Chicago writes
that he says, who would you rather have filling in
(11:34):
on your show? Fake news or gag on? Or should
I say which is worse for the show? Well that's
you know, that's like Sophie's choice. You know, there's no
right choice there with that. Each bring their own set
of problems. Um, Brian friendly, Uh, who I have had
on the show. He's like the go to filling guy. See.
(11:55):
The thing with Brian is he thinks he's funny and
he never stops talking, which is problematic. And then a
gas gun. Uh he thinks he's better than all the
people that call up and then hangs up on people
and sometimes doesn't even screen the call. So there's issues
with both. So I did pick your poison, but some
of you idiots. He here's the thing, big Mike. Some
of these guys are like, oh, I like I like chaos,
(12:16):
and so they like when Brian or Gascons in there
because it drives me nuts. And I mean the lot,
I mean the Loody bin, but not the Tom Loody bin,
and they get very upset with me. Well, I would
if I had to pick, I'd probably go with fake news.
I mean friendly is uh. Look, he may talk too much,
(12:37):
but man, his voice is so smooth. It's like it's
like having a warm cup of hot cocoa poured in
your ear hole. You know. It's just yeah for me, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
It's kind of like getting a boiling pot of McDonald's
coffee and pulling in your lap, you know, and then
you can see and alright. Glenn also had a suggestion
(13:02):
for a bit on the show. He says, how about
take a Regina spin cycle Regina call and have her
give life advice to callers. Advice from spin cycle, Regina,
I actually like that. That's a good idea for a bit, Glenn.
I'll have to wait for a slow day in sports.
I hope we don't have any of those. I hope
it's not like last year where everything shuts out. But
I mean it could be a funny bit for a
(13:23):
few minutes. Here have Regina give advice out. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern. Chad from Champagne, Illinois at the
home of a fighting a line I he says here proudly,
Hey Ben and Gascon. Of course Gascon is not here.
What is the weirdest or most craziest thing you have
(13:46):
ever seen while driving to and or attending a sporting event? Okay,
I'm glad you asked this question, Chat. I have one
of the most surreal, riduculous stories about this, and I
believe that my story is in the top three all
time stories of things you've seen on the way to
(14:08):
a sporting event. So let's flashback million years ago spring
training covering the Dodgers in the Grapefruit League. Uh, and
the Dodgers had a game in Jupiter. So we're going
from Vero Beach down the Highway One there to to
Jupiter for the spring training game. I think that's how
we went. I don't remember. We had to use maps
(14:29):
back in those days. So I'm driving down Highway One
trying to get to the Cardinals spring training facility. I
think they're still in Jupiter. At that time. It was
the Cardinals and the Montreal Expos that were the team. Anyway,
So I'm I'm driving down and uh, there was a
a bottleneck. There was a bunch of traffic on the highway,
and we were like, what's going on? And we got
(14:50):
up to where there had been an accident, and it
was one of the most insane things I had ever seen.
In fact, it was so crazy. Well I'm about to
know you that I thought it was like a TV
show or a movie or it was like an episode
of those punked type shows. Hand the God, I'm driving
(15:12):
down the highway going to the spring training game. The
accident takes place. It was a hearse that was turning
left and got hit like kind of head on, and
somehow the back of the hearse had opened up and
the casket had it didn't completely fall out, and it
(15:32):
just kind of moved back, but I think it stayed closed,
which I was concerned about. But all these people were
standing around like they didn't really know like what to
do because like you know, it's a proper way you
have to move the casket and all that. It was
very It was unreal, man, it was. And it's one
of those images that I can close my eyes right now,
(15:55):
Big Mike, and I can see the image as I
drove past. It was to forget. Yeah. It was insane, man.
Any anything you've got, you anything like, yeah, but anything
that you remember going or coming from a game. The
craziest thing that ever happened to me go into a game.
I was heading to see Peyton Manning of the Tennessee
(16:16):
Volunteers play against U C. L A and the Rose
Bowl regular season matchup. And uh, on the freeway on
the way to the Rose Bowl. Uh. Yeah, I I
took the bird to the windshield like kill the bird.
Oh oh, destroyed the bird, like crack my windshield all
the way across spider web the whole thing. I had
(16:39):
bad guts, like in front of my face the whole time.
I had to kind of drive with my head to
the side because I couldn't see from all the bird
guts that were still on my windshield. It was nasty.
But you know that I was at that game too,
He at the same games. Not like a gunshot when
that stupid bird it too. Man, it was loud. Well,
(17:02):
I think the bird had it was on a coma
Kaze suicide mission. That's what I think he had a coming. Yeah,
at one time I was was driving down the down
the road and a rabbit ran in front of my car.
And I'm convinced the rabbit had a death wish and
got it got what it wanted there. But I've never
I've never had a bird that would Boy, that would
freak you out. Yeah, it was a little freaking because
(17:23):
it hit right in front of my face, like it
that's where bird guts. Bird guts stuck in the windshield.
And how do you how do you handle the insurance
on that? How do you explain to you say, why
is a bird hit my windshield? And yeah, well when
the guy came out to replace the windshield, that's not
like he couldn't tell that a bird hit my windshield.
And yeah, I wouldn't know how to go about doing
(17:45):
that on purpose. If I could Yeah, that's reminiscent of
Eddie hit a boat on the freeway. He got in
an accident and hit a boat. Yeah, I guess the
guy's boat had come off the hitch and was on
the four oh five and kaboom. I guess it's better
(18:07):
than hitting a boat with your car while you're on
the water. That's good point. Yeah, that would be Yeah,
I see what you did there, Pierre. In Springfield, Massachusetts,
home of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, says Ben
and Gascon. As a youth, I was introduced to the
strat o Matic baseball board game. Have either of you
(18:28):
ever had the pleasure to play any of these strat
o Matic products. I've played all the major sports versions
except football. They're great for stat nerds and introduced me
to many players of the past from the nineteen thirties
to present. Now I am aware of the strat o
Matic brand. Pierre, I never played. I when I got
(18:51):
into fantasy, it was it was called rotissary baseball. Listen. Yeah,
that's what I got really into, and that's what I
became obsessed with, like stats and and all that, and yeah,
it wasn't the story. It started at a place the
guys got together and they created Fantasy Baseball at a
rotisserie Chicken place in New York, and so they just
(19:12):
called it Rotisserie Baseball because that was like the name
of the restaurant. I think that was a story, but
I don't use anymore. It's now saw fantasy and all that.
But you knew the strato matic ether big Mike. I
did not. I had. I had a buddy who had
a big, giant poster board up in his bedroom and
he would, you know, get the paper and read the
stats and and chalk him up. Uh. And then at
the end of the season we'd all we don't sit
(19:34):
down and and add everything up and figure out who won. Yeah,
we're dinosaurs. It was important. It was like Sporting News
had all the stats and that was a big thing.
And then I do. I'd get them from the Times,
just from the sports page, just go straight to the
box scores. Yeah, not so much anymore now now they're
in your phone. You got him right now, anything you need,
(19:55):
any statu you passed me? Hey, I was I blind
him at the Seahawk fan from a limp be all
Washington rights and says, this is both of you. If
you could have a town named after you. What would
it be and where would it be? Like a Mallarville, Mallarburg. Uh, No, No,
what we should have is Mallard stand. How about that?
(20:16):
Wouldn't that be good? Mallerstan Yeah, Mallar stand. Yeah, you know,
because stand, you know standards of I didn't know this
when I was younger, but I learned this watching a documentary.
I think most people know this, but I didn't. I'm dumb.
Stand just means land, So Afghanistan, whatever, Tobekistan. It's just
that's just land. That's how they say land. So Mallard stand.
(20:41):
We would have to be in a place where there's
a lot of people because I want publicity, and we'd
have to have like sports teams and you know, nice
infrastructure and all that. I think you know that that
corridor that's where most of the population is. What about
you if there was a big Mike town, what do
you like? What place called the city? And have you know? No?
(21:01):
I think I go the opposite. I think my town
is uh is probably up in the mountains somewhere very
few people. Probably most of the population would be wildlife.
I don't I don't like people so I think I
think my town is just gonna be pretty much me
and my wife and a few people. I like, we'll
call it like ling Guardia, Lingardia. I like that, Linguardia. Yeah,
(21:25):
with the Buffalo Row, you absolutely will need an invitation
and a passport to get in. So and you'll have
like watch towers and guys with guns and whoa, whoa.
I don't know about the guns. No, no guns country. Yeah,
but we'll definitely have security perimeter though. I need to
know who's coming in and if you, uh, if you
(21:47):
break any of the laws, which will all be you know,
made by me, you'll be escorted from ling Guardia with
a quickness. So Lingardia sounds like Dubai to me, sound
a little bit like Dubai. Absolutely dictatorship. Yes, I understand,
all right. Uh Tony in Seattle Rights and he says, Ben,
(22:07):
when did you first meet gas Can and what was
your first impression? I met him at the company. I
don't remember meeting him prior to that. I met him
when he started at Fox Sports Radio, and I I
really didn't think much of Gascott when I first met him.
I didn't really because I don't really know who was whatever.
But you know, like like most that he brought up
(22:30):
the fact that we had worked he had worked in
San Diego, and I gotta get my start in San Diego.
And so there's a kinship. Anybody that started in radio
in San Diego. We all have the same stories because
like the same ten people still work in San Diego radio.
So it's it's the same. It's a very small fraternity
of people in the radio, the radio world. Chris in
(22:54):
Iowa says, any advice on entering the voice over business,
Chris says, uh, yeah, Well, I would say that the
advice it's hard to do, is to just network. And
we had Mel Procter on on Friday. He talked about
how he networked when he was at NFL Films and
one thing led to another and he got opportunities because
(23:15):
he met people and schmooz uh with with people. But yeah,
I mean that's that That's the thing. I mean, most
of these jobs. I say it all the time that
the advice I always say is that most of these
jobs in radio and television and voiceover are from who
you know, not what you know. You know. I hate
to say that, but I feel like that's the case.
(23:35):
I think that's the case in most professions. It's like
networking and and things like that. So that's the hard part.
And I would say if you're christ and Iowa, if
you've got good audio, which you obviously think you do
as a voiceover guy, you've got to find a way
to get in on these auditions or at least have
have your stuff heard, which often means you have to
(23:55):
get an agent, which is problematic, but they and the
good thing about most agent you don't have to pay
them until you actually get something. And then when you
when you have to pay them, or they take a
big chunk out of your money. And don't don't forget
the celebrity aspect of the voiceover work. And uh, speaking
to Mel Proctor, you know he's he's just a guy,
(24:16):
and yet you know he's been honing his craft. And
some guy who played baseball for ten years is gonna
is gonna get a job before he does, not because
he's any better at it, just because people know who
he is. They recognize who he is. And you know,
James Earl Jones does you know so many and you
know there's they're those those really good voiceover gigs tend
(24:38):
to just go to actors and people that recognize their voice,
so it makes it even tougher to break into the business. Yeah, well,
you're referring course to the great jock occracy, Howard co
Sell talking about that, which is even more pronounced now
than it was even when Howard was around back and
back in his days. All right, Mike from Vegas, right
since says what you propose to the NHL to attract
(25:03):
more viewers? More viewers? Let's see here, what could the
NHL do well? The problem with the NHL, on tell,
there's always been the it's hard to keep track of
the puck, right, it's not. It's not really television friendly sport.
Remember when Fox tried the glowing puck, that tracer puck, Yeah,
(25:24):
and that See. I think they should go back to
something like that because the technology is a lot better
now than it was when they did. It was like
they had this tail behind it the whole time. Like, Yes,
if you just make it like a little bigger looking
that it's easier to follow. I agree, I think they
should go back to something like that. Are you a
hockey guy, big Mike? Oh? Yeah, but I I would
(25:46):
say I'm a much bigger fan of hockey in the
stadium than I am at watching it on TV. I mean,
that's one of those sports that really helps you to
be there. It's a lot easier to follow the puck. Huh.
Now I look at you get you, and you hear
the sound when they crash into the oh yeah, and
you get to see like the empty ice when they're
making a line change and there's only like three guys
(26:08):
on the ice at once, and then you know, it's
just it's just a much different visual. I'm an anti
net guy. I liked it when the pluck would go
flying into the crowd and people would be scrambling to
get the puck. But there's nets everywhere you go to
baseball games, that's everywhere. That's nets. Nets, nets. That's that's
that's annoy Enough of the nets. Uh. Kathleen from Madison, Wisconsin,
(26:33):
wright saying hello, Kathleen, She says, how did you meet
your wife? Uh? Kathleen, I met my wife online dating,
believe it or not. I was doing some online dating
and struck out quite a bit. And finally, if you
turn over enough rocks eventually, you'll I think, I think
the phrase actually, if you kiss enough frogs. Isn't that
(26:54):
something like that? You know, yeah, something like that. Yeah,
I don't know, but that's how I I met my wife.
And when I met her, I didn't tell her Wilton Radio.
I told her I did sales, and at that time
I had my website, So I think I did. I
think I might have told her I did some website
stuff something like that. So that's the the story on that,
Big Mike. Did you meet your wife at? Howd you
(27:14):
meet your wife at a bar? Online? What you do?
I met my wife at a bar, actually a bar, Yeah,
I was. That's that's the traditional way to do it.
That's like that's how people. Yeah, well, yeah, we met
at a bar, and that's what we've been married for
one years now. So thank gradually, Jose in Northern California says,
(27:37):
my lord Ben, thanks again for having your little brother
Brian Finley on the show. It is so funny when
you abuse him. Had to listen to the show twice,
he said, But that and then he wants me to
replace gag On with Brian Finley. Well, I don't know
about them permanently. Yeah, I don't know about that. That's
(27:58):
a little bunch I mean, guess gonna misses so much
time anyway, it's almost like he's he's here half the time.
So it's not that big Kevin from Rockford, Illinois writes, So,
he says, Mr Maller, in all of your years living
in the not so great state of California, have you
ever come across any exotic wildlife such as rattlesnakes, mountain lions,
(28:20):
big horn sheep, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Uh No, not really.
I didn't see a buffalo on Catalina Island, and but
that that's where the buffalo rome. Occasionally they'll come into,
like the back of avalon the city. There you'll see
a buffalo. And I used to hike around the hills
(28:40):
in l A and I there were were mountain lions.
I saw a bobcat. But that doesn't really intimidate you.
What about you, big Mike here right? No outdoors guy?
Sure I have yeah, I've I've hidden from bears before. Really,
you know, dude, I was how scared? Were you were
you like peeing your pants were Actually it was I
(29:01):
was staying in Tahoe and I had climbed upstairs to
the there was like a rooftop like patio thing where
you kind of see the view of the whole valley.
It was beautiful, and I as I go to walk
back down, I see people are like waving at me,
and I'm like, what's going on. I looked down and
(29:22):
coming up the condo steps and this was, you know,
big condo complex. Was a black bear in her cub
just walking up the steps that I was about to
go walk back down to get back to my condo room.
So I like shut the door and and hit around
the corner. But uh yeah, that's probably my closest encounter.
And I tried to pick up a snake on a
hike once. I thought it was just a curvy stick, right,
(29:45):
I thought I was gonna I was gonna pick up
this cool looking walking stick. I was like, awesome, it's
laying across the trail. I reached down to pick it up,
and it moved, And yes, I did scream like a
little girl. Yeah, well you're and put You're so much
bigger than the snake. But still that venom the venom, right,
yeah sake. Man, it wasn't well, I thought it was
a stick. It wasn't supposed to move. Yeah, yeah, be
(30:08):
sure to catch live editions of the Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two am Eastern Pacific. Jason from Rocky Mount, Virginia, rights,
Since since Ben you talked about your hat collection, that's right,
I have noticed the mad Hatter of sports chatter. It's
one of my many nicknames there. So it got me thinking.
We have a few minor league teams in the area there,
(30:30):
he says, remind me your hat size and mailing address. Well, well, Jason,
I would be very kind. I'm a size eight. I'd
be very large, Big Mike. You probably have about the
same side. You have a large head yourself. I have
a large head, but not that big dude. I'm like three.
All right, Yeah, I'm I'm a size eight. Uh. And
you can send it, just send it to Fox Sports Radio.
(30:51):
The address is what is it? Let me think of
the address here, boy, I don't know what is you.
You're there, big Mike? What is the Let me get
the I gotta go to the car here. I got
it's won five to six right zero venturable of our
Sherman Oaks, California nine one zero nine four zero three?
(31:11):
And what sweet do they have to send it to you? Now?
Because the mail rooms changed now that they put your
name on it, just put my name on. I don't
attention Ben mallor it'll get to you. There you go. Yeah,
they've moved a lot of things around during the pandemic,
so I don't even I don't even know where to
get the mail now. I have no idea where to
get the mail. When I come in, I'm like, I
don't know where the mail is. So it's on the
table by the kitchen. Just so you know, there's actually
(31:34):
some stuff sitting waiting there for you. I'm meant to
tell you, really, yeah, come and pick up my mail.
But oh, did I tell you my favorite hat story?
Do you do you know this one? Have you heard
this one? That Richie Sexon once spent time on the
d L because the equipment manager saw on the schedule
was like the assistant assistant manager grabbed a hat, saw
(31:56):
that his hat size was like eight and a quarter
or something like that, just he had a giant head.
Thought it was a mistake. I thought it was a typo.
So pulled him a seven and a quarter hat and
Richie Sexton sprained his neck trying to jam the lid
on the top of his head because it was too small,
is there? I remember that? So I thought he he
thought he had like he had he had intense headache
(32:19):
or something like that, I thought. And he wasn't sure
what was going on. And then they figured out that
his hat was he ended up all with DL because
his hat was too small. Was he as dumb as
a box of rocks though? Because yeah, like, wouldn't you
know if you put a hat on, it's not it
doesn't fit, especially a baseball player that has to have
hats on every day at their job. You think you'd
(32:43):
figure it out, Like what's going on with that? Yeah?
You know? Yeah, dumb as a box of rocks? A
R R J in Sane and Tonio. Right, So he says,
but what's your favorite? What was your favorite board game
to play? I don't know if you're asking now or not.
I don't play a lot of board games these days,
although probably gonna be having a big, big step in
(33:04):
a in a couple of months, I'll probably played more
board games. I'll explain why more later. But I like
the classics and the games when I was younger that
are still popular today. Like I played Battleship, but I
mean it was a big deal Electronic Battleship. When that
came out, it was a big Monopolies is still huge.
Trivial Pursuit was a big game back in the day,
(33:24):
Connect for Sorry, Operation Um, Hungry Hungry Hip Hops. When
I was a kid, I love that. That was a
fun game. There was a game called mouse Trap that
had always weird. Yeah, yeah, I gotta we were a
big board games because we didn't have you know, yeah,
it was like a big deal. We had to play
(33:46):
the board games played many hours ago. Clue you name it.
I'm I'm a scrabble guy. That would that be my
go to scrabbles your go Yeah, I like like a
little random trivia stuff. True in Pursuit probably the game
is that play now? I would say Trivial Pursuit Monopoly,
but a good Connect Forward game. Wrong with that. I'm
(34:09):
done with the good game of risk. I just gotta,
you know, mark some time on my calendar for it. Yeah,
that's right, that's the problem. Yeah, we're old guys, a
little big Mike. We can have like game night now,
we can have like board game night night. That's what
old people do, right, old people stuff. I was not aware.
I'm in let's do it, Okay, Carlos in Bang Bang Houston, Texas, right,
(34:31):
since says Bay, Uh, you're very smart man. Well, Carlos
think it's very kind of you to say that, starting
to always suck up to the person you want. Answering
the question, he says, my question is what happened all
the Fox Sports regional channels? Why are they called bally Sports? Uh?
He says, uh, Well, the reason they're called bally Sports
(34:52):
is because Fox Sports sold all of their regional channels,
not all of them, but most of them, and they
were rebranded. If they're not owned by Fox Sports anymore,
run by Fox Sports, they were rebranded in ballies. With
sports gambling becoming more and more popular state by state,
and that really the gold rush for sports gambling, Bali's invested.
(35:16):
They're they're trying to get that brand to be the
go to brand for people that are gamblers, and so
they put their name on all these networks. So it's
the same people work at those networks. It's just called
the Bally's Sports Southern California or Dallas or where wherever
your wherever your location is. So that's the answer. And
(35:37):
he also want to know if with my birthday coming up.
You want to know if guess Guesscan or gas Can
will be getting me another steak? Well, I hope not.
And then he recommended this is actually a good idea
for a guest on the podcast Mattress Mac. Do you
know who Mattress Mac is? Big Mike, do not know
who Mattress. So Mattress Mac is this local celebrity in Houston.
(35:59):
He's the He's the bed king of Houston, right they
call him. Thus, Mattress Mackie sells beds. I think there's
other household products, whatever you sell, but this guy has
a deal every year where if you buy your furniture
and the cheating as Astros, for example, end up winning
(36:20):
the World Series, you're you don't have to pay for
your furniture. It's free, right, It's a great marketing gimmick.
He's done it with all the teams in Houston. Will
do it for the Texans, the Rockets, the I don't
know that you can do it for the Rockets these
days because they're terrible, but the Astroids. And he did
it for the n c A tournament with Houston, the
University of Houston. And so what ends up happening is
(36:41):
if it gets close. Because what Mattress Mac does is
he takes out an insurance premium. That's the way the
scam works. And uh, and so the insurance actually pays it,
but you gotta pay the premium and all that and
to cover your losses, your potential losses. If it gets
down to the championship game, Mattress Mac well then hedge
(37:02):
and he will bet millions of dollars against the team
that he has on where the risk is. So like
the Astros playing the Dodgers, he bet a bunch of
money on the Dodgers just in case, you know, the
Astros actually ended up winning. Uh, you know what I'm saying.
(37:23):
So you got you know, he would have to bet
on the Yeah, that's right, I screwed that up bat
job by me. Yeah, so bell in the Astros to
cover himself in case the other team one. That's right
there you go. So, but yeah, I would talk Mattress.
I would put Mattress back on. It seems like an
interesting quite a character to do that. But another, you know,
that's not just a Houston thing. I know that in Boston. Uh,
(37:45):
they had a thing with the Red Sox where if
you you bought furniture, you got your stuff for free.
If the Red Sox won in the World Series, those
things pop up. Barry in Nashville rights in the music City,
He says, Ben, I slacked off last week. I didn't
ask him in a question. Job by me, yet clearly
very bad job by you, he says. Now that Gascon
has joined the intermittent fasting, both of you can answer this. Well,
(38:08):
he can't, he's not here, but big my canons. How
do you fight back the hunger pains when you fast? Uh,
he says, And when you end your fast, you weigh
yourself right away and does the weight loss register immediately. Alright,
couple of things now. First of all, I'm past the
(38:28):
hunger pain stage. Like I don't really I don't really
get that I did when I first started fasting. But
it's to me, it's just mind over matter. If you
don't mind, it doesn't matter. And I just would drink.
I drink a lot of water and try to fill
my stomach up with as much water as I can
because there's no calories in it. And then I'll try
to sweat that out when I go to the gym. Uh.
(38:51):
And then I don't. I don't wear myself. I don't.
I don't want to have it. I'll wear myself occasionally,
but I like to wait so I get some serious results.
But I'm not a day to day weigh yourself. Gay,
You're supposed to do that, but I don't like doing it.
I agree with you. I don't think you should be
weighing yourself because weight is only one small aspect of
(39:11):
your overall health. And while yes, it's important to stay
at a good weight, it's more important to live a
healthy lifestyle. And if you're too focused on just your weight,
you're gonna lose focus on the things that are important,
which is being healthy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Now are you?
Are you in the fasting cult? Big mincre I would
say that I do tend to try to avoid eating
(39:35):
heavy at night, not necessarily fasting, but I do. I
have tried to, you know, make dinner time earlier. I'm
trying to, you know, skip the desserts. I know that
if I am going to have something that has too
many calories in it or too much sugar in it,
I'm gonna try to eat it earlier in the day,
so you know, I have a chance to burn it. Off. Yeah,
(39:57):
I'm near with you. To me, the most important heavy
meal they should be lunch. I'm not. I don't really,
I'm not a breakfast guy. I mean, I just usually
I'm doing the overnight, so I'm sleeping during breakfast. But
I I'll get up and I'll be like lunch when
I guess is breakfast because I'm breaking a fast. But
I'm a big lunch guy. Not that I don't like dinner,
but it's more more important lunch. The last one. Christie
(40:20):
writes him from Parts Unknown and says, my question is
if one of your younger callers and fans asked you
to go to prom as a celebrity, would you say yes? Uh, well,
that would be awkward. I never went to my own prom,
so that would be weird, Christie. But yeah, I I
would be down with it, although I don't know. I
(40:41):
probably have to, you know, go hang out with some
dude or whatever, because I don't think there's a lot
of high school women girls in our demographic. I would say,
I don't think they're they're grabbing. I'm going I know
I'm being I'm being sexist there. I just think the
general sports talk your consumer typically middle aged people usually dude,
(41:04):
that's uh, I guess yeah, but who am I? So? Anyway,
but how weald would that be if I went to
a prom, Big Mike, which that would be very weird.
That would be very awkward for everyone involved, for everyone involved. Yeah,
all right, listen, it's been a fun weekend, Big Mike.
Look at that. You survived three podcast well the last
two you helped out on the first one behind the scenes.
(41:25):
But here we've reached the end of the road Big Mike.
So I thank you for your help this weekend. I
made it. I'm glad. It was fun, had a good time. Yeah,
be on standby because Giscon might not be here next
week or the week after, so you might oh yeah, yeah,
that phone could ring. You might get the phone call.
Yeah anyway, Yeah, all right, listen, having great rest of
your Sunday, Remember the radio show to Night to Night
(41:48):
back behind the microphones, the powerful microphones and Fox Sports
Radio will be bloviating the overnight away at two am
in the East on Monday, but eleven pm in the
West on a Sunday night into Monday, will recap all
the events of the weekend here in the sporting world,
and we will talk to you. Then
Boom. If you thought four hours a day, 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. The clearing House of Hot
takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with
(00:23):
Ben Maller starts right now Sunday. That's right, hey, you
you've tuned in on a Sunday, a day of rest,
to the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller and not David
Gascon because four hours a night on the overnight clearly
(00:44):
not enough. Eight days a week, eight days a week,
and this would be the eighth day of the week,
a double dose. Not only do you get the Fifth
Hour podcast right now, assuming you're listening on Sunday, but
also we have live radio program in the overnight starting
at eleven o'clock in the West at two am in
(01:07):
the East on a Sunday morning. But this is all
about the mail. And if you didn't hear listener mail,
I love this is my favorite podcast the way I
love the Friday one doing the conversations, and I put
up with the Saturday podcast, but the Sunday mail Bag
always love it. It's a spinoff of Ask Ben on
the radio show. And we are joined yet again if
you missed Saturday. Big Mike a Fox Sports Radio icon
(01:32):
who's been at the company for seventeen years. Seventeen years,
and he is with us again. So Big Mike. Now
the way this is gonna work. These are all actual
questions sent in by actual consumers of the Fifth Hour
podcast and Fox Sports Radio and and we will just
randomly ask me. There's some sports questions, a lot of
(01:52):
non sports questions. There's a lot of people that fought
Gascon was gonna be here, clearly not realizing the Gascon
takes off every other weekend. So you're in the gascon,
not in the Gascon chair as you told us, because
you're you don't want that chair has been silly, but
you're in the gascon roles. So you have to try
to answer either as Gascon or as Big Mike, whatever
whatever you choose, whichever mood strikes me. I mean, let's
(02:14):
do it all right, here we go. First question is
from Matt in Elmira, New York. By the way, these
questions all set via the show Facebook page. Ben Mallers
Show or Real Fifth Hour at gmail dot com. Real
fifth Hour at gmail dot com. So Matt in Elmira,
New York says Ben and a gascon slash Big Mike,
(02:36):
Big Mike's name, I would like to know your personal
opinions regarding NBA players resting well not injured. I understand
the disappointment of road fans once, for example, the Nets
come to town, Matt says, and Kyrie and Harden sit
out for rest. Tickets are wildly expensive for all sporting
events anymore. Uh, and you have a right to be irritated. Uh.
(03:01):
To that, some say, why don't these players rest during
home games instead? But that seems foolish, disrespect your hometown fans.
So he's going back and forth on this, and uh,
he said, you know, people bring up Jordan played all
eighty two games at forty years old. Uh, that was
that side of the aisle. And he says, I understand
(03:21):
players health. This is a very long, winning question for
Matt and Olmira, New York. Uh, he says, I just
don't know exactly where I stand on the issue. I'd
love to hear your thoughts, all right, Matt, I will
go first I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it,
hate it, hate it. Do not like it. Uh. And
I believe that if you're healthy, you should play. And
(03:43):
I'm also maybe I'm completely wrong on this, but I
don't think you can correctly predict when he's you played
x number of minutes or x number of games, your
body's gonna break down. Right, So not always in North
I the wage medical gurus who seemed convinced, you know,
if you play a certain number of back to back
(04:04):
games in the NBA, you're not gonna be healthy and
your your body's gonna break down. I think it's voodoo medicine.
I don't buy it. Everyone's different and what they what
they can take and what they can't take is different.
And the other thing too, is you know, it's one
of those things that's changed where it used to be
a badge of all you. You would feel shame and
you'd feel guilt if you didn't play. We'd hear that.
(04:28):
You know, my teammates need me, the fans need me.
I know, I gotta be out there. I gotta play.
Now it's the opposite. We've done a one eighty and
now it's like, well, it doesn't really matter you. People
get offended when they're when they're expected to play and
and and coaches are shamp For example, Tom Thibodeau, the
coach of the Knickerbockers, when he was in Chicago and
(04:48):
he had his guys play, he really pushed them to
play a lot of minutes. And the media, the basketball media,
the softies in the basketball media, killed Tom tibodoz Well.
He's like a despot because he wants to he wants
his guys to play. He plays him a lot of minutes,
and he doesn't have load management and all that, and
he got very upset. But I think it's ridiculous. I
(05:09):
I think it's embarrassing. And I like what they used
to do in the olden days, because you know, I
was back in my day when I was a kid.
What they would do is they'd have they wouldn't give players,
as I remember, a full game off. They'd only play them.
And if they played like thirty five minutes a game,
they play him fifteen or they play him ten. But
they play a little bit. So the fans on the
(05:30):
road got to see the star players. Because a big
part I'm going along here myself, but a big part
of the NBA marketing is to sell the stars, not
even the teams. It's it's come out and watch Steph
Curry and the Golden State Warriors, come out and check
out Jason Tatum and the Celtics. Well, if you go
(05:50):
to a game, you pay money, you're being sold that
you're going to see those guys. And I understand if
they're hurt, that's fine. But if if they're not hurt
and they just they feel like playing because you know
they they're delicate little flowers, that's bull crap. How do
you how do you stand? I'm with you, Uh, most
of the way through all of that, I agree. I
(06:12):
also think that part of winning a championship is durability,
and it's unfair if while you know some players are
playing every game for the whole season, they are obviously
going to take on more wear and terror than the
guys who are taking it. Gives you an unfair advantage
if you're deciding to take games off. And it's not
(06:33):
truly about what a champion is. The champion is the
guy who can you know, the team that can get
through all that without you know, breaking down and still
has enough horses. And you get into the bench and
you see, you know, well, do you have the guys
if you lose somebody or if somebody's not you know,
able to perform, do you have somebody on the bench
(06:53):
that could step in and fill in. I mean, that's
part of being a champion is being able to get
past all that sort of stuff. And on top of that, like,
if you want to arrest your players, you know how
remember how the Showtime Lakers used to do it. They'd
blow doors and by the third quarter they'd be up
by twenty points and they take all the starters out
and they never played the fourth quarter. So if you
(07:14):
really want to arrest your guys, I think that that's fine.
Do it. Like you said, if you place thirty five,
you only play him twenty because you're blowing doors on
guys anyway. I mean, pick your spots to give your
guys rest when you've already performed, you know. Yeah, yeah,
you know. It's like the term and it's a political term,
but it's jerrymandering, right you read draw That's pretty much
(07:38):
what these these teams have done. It. It's not just
the NBA, but the NBA. It's more obvious where you
people don't like it in politics when you change it
so you can't lose the election. But there it's supposed
to be, at least I was raised as a sports fan.
It's supposed to be a war of attrician right and
and the team that wins the championship has survived all
of that and played and put their best it forward.
(08:00):
So that's where I stand up. And the only problem,
the real problem is the motivation for the franchises, for
those teams to rest their players, because the franchises do
better when they win championships. So they're going to bend
as many of these rules as they can to get
that ring. They're not thinking about the fan every day
(08:21):
that's coming to this to the stadium to watch. They
just want they just want that championship, so they don't
you know, teams have a real motivation to do this,
and until the NBA can figure out a way to
remove that ability, they're they're just gonna keep doing it. Well.
The other thing too, is obviously the money. Right. These
guys that used to be athletes. I don't want to
(08:41):
say they were disposable, but they were replaceable. And now
with the amount of money uh that is is especially
like baseball. Basketball players make it, the star guys make
it time. But baseball pitchers the baby. We're gonna eventually.
We saw it last year. But they will get rid
of pitchers Haiti, because there's a couple of pictures every
(09:03):
year they get hurt, either getting hit by a pitch
or running the bases, and they just don't want to
go in random question, what are the stats as far
as complete games pitched anymore? Well, forget about that. Can
we ever get a complete game anymore? No, you can't
get that unless you've got one hitter or no hitter going.
They're gonna yank you. Yeah, And who's the genius. Who's
(09:23):
the mensa that decided your arm's gonna fall off after
a hundred pitches? Like who decided that that the human
body can only handle a hundred pitches? Because you hear
stories like in the old days of Lavon Hernandez pitching
in Cuba throwing three pitches, or Fernando Valenzuela in in Mexico,
you know two hundred eighty. Hell, even in the early
(09:45):
days when Fernando is with the Dodgers, you know, Tommy
Losorda would leave him in there and they didn't care
about pitch counts in those days, but it's like they
just arbitrary number. Well, you get through a hundred pitchers,
you've gotta start warming somebody up in the bullpen because
they can't handle. It's like, come on, I don't like
it all right. J Bone from Portland, Maine writes into
the fifth hour he says, who is the dude who
(10:08):
does the voiceovers for the game shows, the Third Degree, etcetera?
Have you ever met him? No? J Bone, I have
not met him. The only voiceover guy that I've met
was the original voice of Fox Sports Radio, who's a
really cool guy. Met him at the Fox lot and boy,
I'm forgetting his name, but he's actually the voice that
I think. He's the voice of ESPN now. But he
(10:30):
he did movie trailers. Like guy was like a d
J in Minnesota, and he had a very interesting story
how he got into the voiceover stuff. But yeah, I
have not met the voice of Fox Sports Raid. I
don't even know what. I don't know where the guy lives.
I know that he's on there a lot doing the
voiceover stuff. Yeah, I know Bob, You know Bob. Where's
(10:51):
he at? He is? Uh? He does most of his
work out of the heart Burbank Studios. Okay, so it's
just a local guy in l A here, guy in
l A here. He works with our our imaging department
as well. I think he also does work for a
local affiliate here in Los Angeles. So okay, and he's
a really good guy. Yeah, well that's a racket man.
(11:14):
The voiceover stuff, that's the way to go. Yeah. Actually
very talented because not only is Bob the voice, but
he's also the producer of a lot of those uh
those bits. So he is uh, he has a sound wizard.
One man band. That's good alright. Glenn in Chicago writes
that he says, who would you rather have filling in
(11:34):
on your show? Fake news or gag on? Or should
I say which is worse for the show? Well that's
you know, that's like Sophie's choice. You know, there's no
right choice there with that. Each bring their own set
of problems. Um, Brian friendly, Uh, who I have had
on the show. He's like the go to filling guy. See.
(11:55):
The thing with Brian is he thinks he's funny and
he never stops talking, which is problematic. And then a
gas gun. Uh he thinks he's better than all the
people that call up and then hangs up on people
and sometimes doesn't even screen the call. So there's issues
with both. So I did pick your poison, but some
of you idiots. He here's the thing, big Mike. Some
of these guys are like, oh, I like I like chaos,
(12:16):
and so they like when Brian or Gascons in there
because it drives me nuts. And I mean the lot,
I mean the Loody bin, but not the Tom Loody bin,
and they get very upset with me. Well, I would
if I had to pick, I'd probably go with fake news.
I mean friendly is uh. Look, he may talk too much,
(12:37):
but man, his voice is so smooth. It's like it's
like having a warm cup of hot cocoa poured in
your ear hole. You know. It's just yeah for me, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
It's kind of like getting a boiling pot of McDonald's
coffee and pulling in your lap, you know, and then
you can see and alright. Glenn also had a suggestion
(13:02):
for a bit on the show. He says, how about
take a Regina spin cycle Regina call and have her
give life advice to callers. Advice from spin cycle, Regina,
I actually like that. That's a good idea for a bit, Glenn.
I'll have to wait for a slow day in sports.
I hope we don't have any of those. I hope
it's not like last year where everything shuts out. But
I mean it could be a funny bit for a
(13:23):
few minutes. Here have Regina give advice out. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays
at two am Eastern. Chad from Champagne, Illinois at the
home of a fighting a line I he says here proudly,
Hey Ben and Gascon. Of course Gascon is not here.
What is the weirdest or most craziest thing you have
(13:46):
ever seen while driving to and or attending a sporting event? Okay,
I'm glad you asked this question, Chat. I have one
of the most surreal, riduculous stories about this, and I
believe that my story is in the top three all
time stories of things you've seen on the way to
(14:08):
a sporting event. So let's flashback million years ago spring
training covering the Dodgers in the Grapefruit League. Uh, and
the Dodgers had a game in Jupiter. So we're going
from Vero Beach down the Highway One there to to
Jupiter for the spring training game. I think that's how
we went. I don't remember. We had to use maps
(14:29):
back in those days. So I'm driving down Highway One
trying to get to the Cardinals spring training facility. I
think they're still in Jupiter. At that time. It was
the Cardinals and the Montreal Expos that were the team. Anyway,
So I'm I'm driving down and uh, there was a
a bottleneck. There was a bunch of traffic on the highway,
and we were like, what's going on? And we got
(14:50):
up to where there had been an accident, and it
was one of the most insane things I had ever seen.
In fact, it was so crazy. Well I'm about to
know you that I thought it was like a TV
show or a movie or it was like an episode
of those punked type shows. Hand the God, I'm driving
(15:12):
down the highway going to the spring training game. The
accident takes place. It was a hearse that was turning
left and got hit like kind of head on, and
somehow the back of the hearse had opened up and
the casket had it didn't completely fall out, and it
(15:32):
just kind of moved back, but I think it stayed closed,
which I was concerned about. But all these people were
standing around like they didn't really know like what to
do because like you know, it's a proper way you
have to move the casket and all that. It was
very It was unreal, man, it was. And it's one
of those images that I can close my eyes right now,
(15:55):
Big Mike, and I can see the image as I
drove past. It was to forget. Yeah. It was insane, man.
Any anything you've got, you anything like, yeah, but anything
that you remember going or coming from a game. The
craziest thing that ever happened to me go into a game.
I was heading to see Peyton Manning of the Tennessee
(16:16):
Volunteers play against U C. L A and the Rose
Bowl regular season matchup. And uh, on the freeway on
the way to the Rose Bowl. Uh. Yeah, I I
took the bird to the windshield like kill the bird.
Oh oh, destroyed the bird, like crack my windshield all
the way across spider web the whole thing. I had
(16:39):
bad guts, like in front of my face the whole time.
I had to kind of drive with my head to
the side because I couldn't see from all the bird
guts that were still on my windshield. It was nasty.
But you know that I was at that game too,
He at the same games. Not like a gunshot when
that stupid bird it too. Man, it was loud. Well,
(17:02):
I think the bird had it was on a coma
Kaze suicide mission. That's what I think he had a coming. Yeah,
at one time I was was driving down the down
the road and a rabbit ran in front of my car.
And I'm convinced the rabbit had a death wish and
got it got what it wanted there. But I've never
I've never had a bird that would Boy, that would
freak you out. Yeah, it was a little freaking because
(17:23):
it hit right in front of my face, like it
that's where bird guts. Bird guts stuck in the windshield.
And how do you how do you handle the insurance
on that? How do you explain to you say, why
is a bird hit my windshield? And yeah, well when
the guy came out to replace the windshield, that's not
like he couldn't tell that a bird hit my windshield.
And yeah, I wouldn't know how to go about doing
(17:45):
that on purpose. If I could Yeah, that's reminiscent of
Eddie hit a boat on the freeway. He got in
an accident and hit a boat. Yeah, I guess the
guy's boat had come off the hitch and was on
the four oh five and kaboom. I guess it's better
(18:07):
than hitting a boat with your car while you're on
the water. That's good point. Yeah, that would be Yeah,
I see what you did there, Pierre. In Springfield, Massachusetts,
home of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, says Ben
and Gascon. As a youth, I was introduced to the
strat o Matic baseball board game. Have either of you
(18:28):
ever had the pleasure to play any of these strat
o Matic products. I've played all the major sports versions
except football. They're great for stat nerds and introduced me
to many players of the past from the nineteen thirties
to present. Now I am aware of the strat o
Matic brand. Pierre, I never played. I when I got
(18:51):
into fantasy, it was it was called rotissary baseball. Listen. Yeah,
that's what I got really into, and that's what I
became obsessed with, like stats and and all that, and yeah,
it wasn't the story. It started at a place the
guys got together and they created Fantasy Baseball at a
rotisserie Chicken place in New York, and so they just
(19:12):
called it Rotisserie Baseball because that was like the name
of the restaurant. I think that was a story, but
I don't use anymore. It's now saw fantasy and all that.
But you knew the strato matic ether big Mike. I
did not. I had. I had a buddy who had
a big, giant poster board up in his bedroom and
he would, you know, get the paper and read the
stats and and chalk him up. Uh. And then at
the end of the season we'd all we don't sit
(19:34):
down and and add everything up and figure out who won. Yeah,
we're dinosaurs. It was important. It was like Sporting News
had all the stats and that was a big thing.
And then I do. I'd get them from the Times,
just from the sports page, just go straight to the
box scores. Yeah, not so much anymore now now they're
in your phone. You got him right now, anything you need,
(19:55):
any statu you passed me? Hey, I was I blind
him at the Seahawk fan from a limp be all
Washington rights and says, this is both of you. If
you could have a town named after you. What would
it be and where would it be? Like a Mallarville, Mallarburg. Uh, No, No,
what we should have is Mallard stand. How about that?
(20:16):
Wouldn't that be good? Mallerstan Yeah, Mallar stand. Yeah, you know,
because stand, you know standards of I didn't know this
when I was younger, but I learned this watching a documentary.
I think most people know this, but I didn't. I'm dumb.
Stand just means land, So Afghanistan, whatever, Tobekistan. It's just
that's just land. That's how they say land. So Mallard stand.
(20:41):
We would have to be in a place where there's
a lot of people because I want publicity, and we'd
have to have like sports teams and you know, nice
infrastructure and all that. I think you know that that
corridor that's where most of the population is. What about
you if there was a big Mike town, what do
you like? What place called the city? And have you know? No?
(21:01):
I think I go the opposite. I think my town
is uh is probably up in the mountains somewhere very
few people. Probably most of the population would be wildlife.
I don't I don't like people so I think I
think my town is just gonna be pretty much me
and my wife and a few people. I like, we'll
call it like ling Guardia, Lingardia. I like that, Linguardia. Yeah,
(21:25):
with the Buffalo Row, you absolutely will need an invitation
and a passport to get in. So and you'll have
like watch towers and guys with guns and whoa, whoa.
I don't know about the guns. No, no guns country. Yeah,
but we'll definitely have security perimeter though. I need to
know who's coming in and if you, uh, if you
(21:47):
break any of the laws, which will all be you know,
made by me, you'll be escorted from ling Guardia with
a quickness. So Lingardia sounds like Dubai to me, sound
a little bit like Dubai. Absolutely dictatorship. Yes, I understand,
all right. Uh Tony in Seattle Rights and he says, Ben,
(22:07):
when did you first meet gas Can and what was
your first impression? I met him at the company. I
don't remember meeting him prior to that. I met him
when he started at Fox Sports Radio, and I I
really didn't think much of Gascott when I first met him.
I didn't really because I don't really know who was whatever.
But you know, like like most that he brought up
(22:30):
the fact that we had worked he had worked in
San Diego, and I gotta get my start in San Diego.
And so there's a kinship. Anybody that started in radio
in San Diego. We all have the same stories because
like the same ten people still work in San Diego radio.
So it's it's the same. It's a very small fraternity
of people in the radio, the radio world. Chris in
(22:54):
Iowa says, any advice on entering the voice over business,
Chris says, uh, yeah, Well, I would say that the
advice it's hard to do, is to just network. And
we had Mel Procter on on Friday. He talked about
how he networked when he was at NFL Films and
one thing led to another and he got opportunities because
(23:15):
he met people and schmooz uh with with people. But yeah,
I mean that's that That's the thing. I mean, most
of these jobs. I say it all the time that
the advice I always say is that most of these
jobs in radio and television and voiceover are from who
you know, not what you know. You know. I hate
to say that, but I feel like that's the case.
(23:35):
I think that's the case in most professions. It's like
networking and and things like that. So that's the hard part.
And I would say if you're christ and Iowa, if
you've got good audio, which you obviously think you do
as a voiceover guy, you've got to find a way
to get in on these auditions or at least have
have your stuff heard, which often means you have to
(23:55):
get an agent, which is problematic, but they and the
good thing about most agent you don't have to pay
them until you actually get something. And then when you
when you have to pay them, or they take a
big chunk out of your money. And don't don't forget
the celebrity aspect of the voiceover work. And uh, speaking
to Mel Proctor, you know he's he's just a guy,
(24:16):
and yet you know he's been honing his craft. And
some guy who played baseball for ten years is gonna
is gonna get a job before he does, not because
he's any better at it, just because people know who
he is. They recognize who he is. And you know,
James Earl Jones does you know so many and you
know there's they're those those really good voiceover gigs tend
(24:38):
to just go to actors and people that recognize their voice,
so it makes it even tougher to break into the business. Yeah, well,
you're referring course to the great jock occracy, Howard co
Sell talking about that, which is even more pronounced now
than it was even when Howard was around back and
back in his days. All right, Mike from Vegas, right
since says what you propose to the NHL to attract
(25:03):
more viewers? More viewers? Let's see here, what could the
NHL do well? The problem with the NHL, on tell,
there's always been the it's hard to keep track of
the puck, right, it's not. It's not really television friendly sport.
Remember when Fox tried the glowing puck, that tracer puck, Yeah,
(25:24):
and that See. I think they should go back to
something like that because the technology is a lot better
now than it was when they did. It was like
they had this tail behind it the whole time. Like, Yes,
if you just make it like a little bigger looking
that it's easier to follow. I agree, I think they
should go back to something like that. Are you a
hockey guy, big Mike? Oh? Yeah, but I I would
(25:46):
say I'm a much bigger fan of hockey in the
stadium than I am at watching it on TV. I mean,
that's one of those sports that really helps you to
be there. It's a lot easier to follow the puck. Huh.
Now I look at you get you, and you hear
the sound when they crash into the oh yeah, and
you get to see like the empty ice when they're
making a line change and there's only like three guys
(26:08):
on the ice at once, and then you know, it's
just it's just a much different visual. I'm an anti
net guy. I liked it when the pluck would go
flying into the crowd and people would be scrambling to
get the puck. But there's nets everywhere you go to
baseball games, that's everywhere. That's nets. Nets, nets. That's that's
that's annoy Enough of the nets. Uh. Kathleen from Madison, Wisconsin,
(26:33):
wright saying hello, Kathleen, She says, how did you meet
your wife? Uh? Kathleen, I met my wife online dating,
believe it or not. I was doing some online dating
and struck out quite a bit. And finally, if you
turn over enough rocks eventually, you'll I think, I think
the phrase actually, if you kiss enough frogs. Isn't that
(26:54):
something like that? You know, yeah, something like that. Yeah,
I don't know, but that's how I I met my wife.
And when I met her, I didn't tell her Wilton Radio.
I told her I did sales, and at that time
I had my website, So I think I did. I
think I might have told her I did some website
stuff something like that. So that's the the story on that,
Big Mike. Did you meet your wife at? Howd you
(27:14):
meet your wife at a bar? Online? What you do?
I met my wife at a bar, actually a bar, Yeah,
I was. That's that's the traditional way to do it.
That's like that's how people. Yeah, well, yeah, we met
at a bar, and that's what we've been married for
one years now. So thank gradually, Jose in Northern California says,
(27:37):
my lord Ben, thanks again for having your little brother
Brian Finley on the show. It is so funny when
you abuse him. Had to listen to the show twice,
he said, But that and then he wants me to
replace gag On with Brian Finley. Well, I don't know
about them permanently. Yeah, I don't know about that. That's
(27:58):
a little bunch I mean, guess gonna misses so much
time anyway, it's almost like he's he's here half the time.
So it's not that big Kevin from Rockford, Illinois writes, So,
he says, Mr Maller, in all of your years living
in the not so great state of California, have you
ever come across any exotic wildlife such as rattlesnakes, mountain lions,
(28:20):
big horn sheep, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Uh No, not really.
I didn't see a buffalo on Catalina Island, and but
that that's where the buffalo rome. Occasionally they'll come into,
like the back of avalon the city. There you'll see
a buffalo. And I used to hike around the hills
(28:40):
in l A and I there were were mountain lions.
I saw a bobcat. But that doesn't really intimidate you.
What about you, big Mike here right? No outdoors guy?
Sure I have yeah, I've I've hidden from bears before. Really,
you know, dude, I was how scared? Were you were
you like peeing your pants were Actually it was I
(29:01):
was staying in Tahoe and I had climbed upstairs to
the there was like a rooftop like patio thing where
you kind of see the view of the whole valley.
It was beautiful, and I as I go to walk
back down, I see people are like waving at me,
and I'm like, what's going on. I looked down and
(29:22):
coming up the condo steps and this was, you know,
big condo complex. Was a black bear in her cub
just walking up the steps that I was about to
go walk back down to get back to my condo room.
So I like shut the door and and hit around
the corner. But uh yeah, that's probably my closest encounter.
And I tried to pick up a snake on a
hike once. I thought it was just a curvy stick, right,
(29:45):
I thought I was gonna I was gonna pick up
this cool looking walking stick. I was like, awesome, it's
laying across the trail. I reached down to pick it up,
and it moved, And yes, I did scream like a
little girl. Yeah, well you're and put You're so much
bigger than the snake. But still that venom the venom, right,
yeah sake. Man, it wasn't well, I thought it was
a stick. It wasn't supposed to move. Yeah, yeah, be
(30:08):
sure to catch live editions of the Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two am Eastern Pacific. Jason from Rocky Mount, Virginia, rights,
Since since Ben you talked about your hat collection, that's right,
I have noticed the mad Hatter of sports chatter. It's
one of my many nicknames there. So it got me thinking.
We have a few minor league teams in the area there,
(30:30):
he says, remind me your hat size and mailing address. Well, well, Jason,
I would be very kind. I'm a size eight. I'd
be very large, Big Mike. You probably have about the
same side. You have a large head yourself. I have
a large head, but not that big dude. I'm like three.
All right, Yeah, I'm I'm a size eight. Uh. And
you can send it, just send it to Fox Sports Radio.
(30:51):
The address is what is it? Let me think of
the address here, boy, I don't know what is you.
You're there, big Mike? What is the Let me get
the I gotta go to the car here. I got
it's won five to six right zero venturable of our
Sherman Oaks, California nine one zero nine four zero three?
(31:11):
And what sweet do they have to send it to you? Now?
Because the mail rooms changed now that they put your
name on it, just put my name on. I don't
attention Ben mallor it'll get to you. There you go. Yeah,
they've moved a lot of things around during the pandemic,
so I don't even I don't even know where to
get the mail now. I have no idea where to
get the mail. When I come in, I'm like, I
don't know where the mail is. So it's on the
table by the kitchen. Just so you know, there's actually
(31:34):
some stuff sitting waiting there for you. I'm meant to
tell you, really, yeah, come and pick up my mail.
But oh, did I tell you my favorite hat story?
Do you do you know this one? Have you heard
this one? That Richie Sexon once spent time on the
d L because the equipment manager saw on the schedule
was like the assistant assistant manager grabbed a hat, saw
(31:56):
that his hat size was like eight and a quarter
or something like that, just he had a giant head.
Thought it was a mistake. I thought it was a typo.
So pulled him a seven and a quarter hat and
Richie Sexton sprained his neck trying to jam the lid
on the top of his head because it was too small,
is there? I remember that? So I thought he he
thought he had like he had he had intense headache
(32:19):
or something like that, I thought. And he wasn't sure
what was going on. And then they figured out that
his hat was he ended up all with DL because
his hat was too small. Was he as dumb as
a box of rocks though? Because yeah, like, wouldn't you
know if you put a hat on, it's not it
doesn't fit, especially a baseball player that has to have
hats on every day at their job. You think you'd
(32:43):
figure it out, Like what's going on with that? Yeah?
You know? Yeah, dumb as a box of rocks? A
R R J in Sane and Tonio. Right, So he says,
but what's your favorite? What was your favorite board game
to play? I don't know if you're asking now or not.
I don't play a lot of board games these days,
although probably gonna be having a big, big step in
(33:04):
a in a couple of months, I'll probably played more
board games. I'll explain why more later. But I like
the classics and the games when I was younger that
are still popular today. Like I played Battleship, but I
mean it was a big deal Electronic Battleship. When that
came out, it was a big Monopolies is still huge.
Trivial Pursuit was a big game back in the day,
(33:24):
Connect for Sorry, Operation Um, Hungry Hungry Hip Hops. When
I was a kid, I love that. That was a
fun game. There was a game called mouse Trap that
had always weird. Yeah, yeah, I gotta we were a
big board games because we didn't have you know, yeah,
it was like a big deal. We had to play
(33:46):
the board games played many hours ago. Clue you name it.
I'm I'm a scrabble guy. That would that be my
go to scrabbles your go Yeah, I like like a
little random trivia stuff. True in Pursuit probably the game
is that play now? I would say Trivial Pursuit Monopoly,
but a good Connect Forward game. Wrong with that. I'm
(34:09):
done with the good game of risk. I just gotta,
you know, mark some time on my calendar for it. Yeah,
that's right, that's the problem. Yeah, we're old guys, a
little big Mike. We can have like game night now,
we can have like board game night night. That's what
old people do, right, old people stuff. I was not aware.
I'm in let's do it, Okay, Carlos in Bang Bang Houston, Texas, right,
(34:31):
since says Bay, Uh, you're very smart man. Well, Carlos
think it's very kind of you to say that, starting
to always suck up to the person you want. Answering
the question, he says, my question is what happened all
the Fox Sports regional channels? Why are they called bally Sports? Uh?
He says, uh, Well, the reason they're called bally Sports
(34:52):
is because Fox Sports sold all of their regional channels,
not all of them, but most of them, and they
were rebranded. If they're not owned by Fox Sports anymore,
run by Fox Sports, they were rebranded in ballies. With
sports gambling becoming more and more popular state by state,
and that really the gold rush for sports gambling, Bali's invested.
(35:16):
They're they're trying to get that brand to be the
go to brand for people that are gamblers, and so
they put their name on all these networks. So it's
the same people work at those networks. It's just called
the Bally's Sports Southern California or Dallas or where wherever
your wherever your location is. So that's the answer. And
(35:37):
he also want to know if with my birthday coming up.
You want to know if guess Guesscan or gas Can
will be getting me another steak? Well, I hope not.
And then he recommended this is actually a good idea
for a guest on the podcast Mattress Mac. Do you
know who Mattress Mac is? Big Mike, do not know
who Mattress. So Mattress Mac is this local celebrity in Houston.
(35:59):
He's the He's the bed king of Houston, right they
call him. Thus, Mattress Mackie sells beds. I think there's
other household products, whatever you sell, but this guy has
a deal every year where if you buy your furniture
and the cheating as Astros, for example, end up winning
(36:20):
the World Series, you're you don't have to pay for
your furniture. It's free, right, It's a great marketing gimmick.
He's done it with all the teams in Houston. Will
do it for the Texans, the Rockets, the I don't
know that you can do it for the Rockets these
days because they're terrible, but the Astroids. And he did
it for the n c A tournament with Houston, the
University of Houston. And so what ends up happening is
(36:41):
if it gets close. Because what Mattress Mac does is
he takes out an insurance premium. That's the way the
scam works. And uh, and so the insurance actually pays it,
but you gotta pay the premium and all that and
to cover your losses, your potential losses. If it gets
down to the championship game, Mattress Mac well then hedge
(37:02):
and he will bet millions of dollars against the team
that he has on where the risk is. So like
the Astros playing the Dodgers, he bet a bunch of
money on the Dodgers just in case, you know, the
Astros actually ended up winning. Uh, you know what I'm saying.
(37:23):
So you got you know, he would have to bet
on the Yeah, that's right, I screwed that up bat
job by me. Yeah, so bell in the Astros to
cover himself in case the other team one. That's right
there you go. So, but yeah, I would talk Mattress.
I would put Mattress back on. It seems like an
interesting quite a character to do that. But another, you know,
that's not just a Houston thing. I know that in Boston. Uh,
(37:45):
they had a thing with the Red Sox where if
you you bought furniture, you got your stuff for free.
If the Red Sox won in the World Series, those
things pop up. Barry in Nashville rights in the music City,
He says, Ben, I slacked off last week. I didn't
ask him in a question. Job by me, yet clearly
very bad job by you, he says. Now that Gascon
has joined the intermittent fasting, both of you can answer this. Well,
(38:08):
he can't, he's not here, but big my canons. How
do you fight back the hunger pains when you fast? Uh,
he says, And when you end your fast, you weigh
yourself right away and does the weight loss register immediately. Alright,
couple of things now. First of all, I'm past the
(38:28):
hunger pain stage. Like I don't really I don't really
get that I did when I first started fasting. But
it's to me, it's just mind over matter. If you
don't mind, it doesn't matter. And I just would drink.
I drink a lot of water and try to fill
my stomach up with as much water as I can
because there's no calories in it. And then I'll try
to sweat that out when I go to the gym. Uh.
(38:51):
And then I don't. I don't wear myself. I don't.
I don't want to have it. I'll wear myself occasionally,
but I like to wait so I get some serious results.
But I'm not a day to day weigh yourself. Gay,
You're supposed to do that, but I don't like doing it.
I agree with you. I don't think you should be
weighing yourself because weight is only one small aspect of
(39:11):
your overall health. And while yes, it's important to stay
at a good weight, it's more important to live a
healthy lifestyle. And if you're too focused on just your weight,
you're gonna lose focus on the things that are important,
which is being healthy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Now are you?
Are you in the fasting cult? Big mincre I would
say that I do tend to try to avoid eating
(39:35):
heavy at night, not necessarily fasting, but I do. I
have tried to, you know, make dinner time earlier. I'm
trying to, you know, skip the desserts. I know that
if I am going to have something that has too
many calories in it or too much sugar in it,
I'm gonna try to eat it earlier in the day,
so you know, I have a chance to burn it. Off. Yeah,
(39:57):
I'm near with you. To me, the most important heavy
meal they should be lunch. I'm not. I don't really,
I'm not a breakfast guy. I mean, I just usually
I'm doing the overnight, so I'm sleeping during breakfast. But
I I'll get up and I'll be like lunch when
I guess is breakfast because I'm breaking a fast. But
I'm a big lunch guy. Not that I don't like dinner,
but it's more more important lunch. The last one. Christie
(40:20):
writes him from Parts Unknown and says, my question is
if one of your younger callers and fans asked you
to go to prom as a celebrity, would you say yes? Uh, well,
that would be awkward. I never went to my own prom,
so that would be weird, Christie. But yeah, I I
would be down with it, although I don't know. I
(40:41):
probably have to, you know, go hang out with some
dude or whatever, because I don't think there's a lot
of high school women girls in our demographic. I would say,
I don't think they're they're grabbing. I'm going I know
I'm being I'm being sexist there. I just think the
general sports talk your consumer typically middle aged people usually dude,
(41:04):
that's uh, I guess yeah, but who am I? So? Anyway,
but how weald would that be if I went to
a prom, Big Mike, which that would be very weird.
That would be very awkward for everyone involved, for everyone involved. Yeah,
all right, listen, it's been a fun weekend, Big Mike.
Look at that. You survived three podcast well the last
two you helped out on the first one behind the scenes.
(41:25):
But here we've reached the end of the road Big Mike.
So I thank you for your help this weekend. I
made it. I'm glad. It was fun, had a good time. Yeah,
be on standby because Giscon might not be here next
week or the week after, so you might oh yeah, yeah,
that phone could ring. You might get the phone call.
Yeah anyway, Yeah, all right, listen, having great rest of
your Sunday, Remember the radio show to Night to Night
(41:48):
back behind the microphones, the powerful microphones and Fox Sports
Radio will be bloviating the overnight away at two am
in the East on Monday, but eleven pm in the
West on a Sunday night into Monday, will recap all
the events of the weekend here in the sporting world,
and we will talk to you. Then
Host
Ben Maller
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