October 21, 2025 • 45 mins
Mark is joined by Sirius XM's Eddie Trunk to talk about the late great Ace Frehley. Mike Defabo joins for his weekly Steelers chat. Ask Mark Anything!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yes, it's always a privilege to talk to Hard Rocks
number one radio host, but today the circumstances are unfortunate
joining me to discuss the late Ace Frayley.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's Eddie Trunk. Eddie.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
First off, my condolences to you. I know you and
Ace Frayley were very close.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah, thank you, Mark, And I'm sorry if it's a
little noisy in the background. I'm at a hotel at
the moment and just kind of got caught outside my room.
But yeah, no, I appreciate it. It's been a brutal couple
of weeks because unfortunately I knew this was coming, and
it's here and I'm actually getting ready to attend the
first of the two days of the services.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So well, we appreciate you taking the time. And what's
even more unfortunate is Ace had been doing very well,
hadn't he. I saw him play twice recently. He was
in top form, and then I guess he fell at
his studio.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, you know, I actually hosted a couple of shows
them in the Midwest earlier earlier this earlier this year,
and he was doing well. Actually, ironically, I had a
couple friends of mine tell me recently who had gone
to see him, who were very very critical from being
honest of his performances, tell me that they had seen
him recently and it was the best he had ever been.
(01:18):
But yeah, unfortunately he took a fall that he actually
fell twice. He actually fell once and it was very minor,
and I spoke to him afterwards and he was okay.
And then he took a fall that was catastrophic and
he hit his head several times and it caused serious
damage that he never recovered.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
From what is Ace's legacy within the context of what
he meant to Kiss, I felt he was so important
and probably parentally underrat in that regard.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Well, I'll tell you what. Anybody who you know, you know,
Kiss always got the knock from detractors of being all
style and image and ability and no songs and no
ability to play, which anybody that's a Kiss fandos is
patently untrue. But that was always the knock on the
band from their detractors for their whole their whole history really.
(02:12):
But but the people who even the people who were
the detractors in that area would always say, yeah, but
you know what, the guitar players the most talented guy.
You know, they would always say stuff like that, and
you know he so he kind of was thought of
in that way, and he was immensely influential. I mean,
(02:34):
all you've got to do is look no further than
you know the people who have reached out and said
things about him ever since he passed away. Just look
at what's happened on social media. It is absolutely at
Eddie van Halen level. And people have made that comparison
to me. Now they're very very different guitar players, and
(02:55):
Eddie van Halen's impact was, you know, because he had
obviously read to the instrument and the way you play
the instrument. But Ace's solos, you know, I always called
them songs within the songs. I mean they were incredible
parts of kiss songs and very very memorable. And then
you factor in all the theatrics and all the imaging
(03:16):
and everything that he brought to the table, and the
smoking guitar and the guitar that shot the rockets and
the light up guitar and all that stuff, and it
was a very very potent mix. Anybody that's around my age,
which is sixty one years old, I mean, that was
your beatles and He was an enormous part of that,
and a lot of people called him the most rock
and roll member of the band, you know, the most
(03:38):
you know, the guy who actually walked in and talked
it and kid from the Bronx, who just became one
of the most influential players really in rock history. And
I think you're seeing that with the outpouring of love
for him and every musician. I mean, I did a
tribute show to him Mark on my Serious XM show.
I had everybody from Nuno Bettencourt to Joe Bonamasa and Tom.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Morello call in, like very very.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Varied types of guitar players from different backgrounds, all just
saying what an impact he had on them.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, that's all right on the money.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
He was certainly the quintessential rock star, you know, definitely
lived the vibe. And I you know, having met all
the members of Kiss and obviously you've spent more time
with them than me, But I.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Always thought Ace was the realest guy.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I'm not saying that to denigrate anybody else, but like
I always sensed it when you talk to Ace, what
you saw was exactly what you got one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I mean, he was pretty unfiltered. I mean there were
times that sometimes that maybe got him in a little
bit of trouble, you know, because he just kind of
let it fly on what he thought and was kind
of unfiltered. But I always kind of appreciated that about him.
And yeah, he was very, very very much that and
he was very outspoken. I mean I had a forty
year friendship with him that started with us working together
(04:52):
when I signed him to his record label his first
solo deal, and I just, you know, it was just
one of these things where we always made the friendship
because outside of signing him and working with him for
on his label front for about four or five years
and doing three and a half records with him, I
stayed out of his business, you know. So people always said,
(05:14):
how'd you maintain a friendship with the guy for so long?
I stayed out of the business, you know. I just
we became friends on another level after we did the
label thing together, and you know, because he could be look,
I'm not gonna lie. He had he had his weak points.
You know, he had struggled with issues with sobriety and
struggled with issues with drugs and things like that. But
he really turned his life around in the last ten
(05:35):
fifteen years and was doing extraordinarily well and that you know,
that was really really important to him, and I was
very proud of him for doing that. But yeah, he
walked in and talked it. I mean, he was the
real deal.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I wished his last one with Kiss would have lasted longer.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I think it was terrible that he didn't get on
stage at the Garden for that last show. I thought
that would have been very fitting rock and roll Hall
of Fame all that. I will say, though, the reunion
with the makeup, I was glad a Scott that I
that had to have men a ton to him just
to do that one more time, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I mean, look, the reunion in ninety six was the
biggest thing in music that year. I mean, statistically even
it was beyond enormous. And that was you know, that
lasted about three four years until the wheels started to
come off a little bit again and some of the
same problems started to creep in. I think one of
the really big problems with the reunion and why it
(06:32):
fell apart after a few years was the original band
comes back together. It's the biggest thing in the world.
They put the makeup back on, they start doing stadiums
when previously the band with the other version had been
doing half a house in an arena, and Peter and Ace,
you know, coming back into that that proved what people
what it meant to people and the increase in the business.
(06:54):
But the big difference was they were coming back into
the band they co founded as Highed Guns and after
a while, you know, okay, you agree to your contract initially,
then you see the business going on, and you see
two other people making the lion's share of the money,
and it's naturally gonna breed animosity, and it did, and
(07:14):
all the same problems crept up. So that's why I
kind of went away pretty quick. But it was a huge,
huge thing when it happened, of course, and obviously it
gave a whole other generation a chance to see the bead.
I'll tell you the thing that I really regret is,
you know, Gene and Paul would not allow Ace to
play with them at the Rock and Roll Hall of
(07:35):
Fame induction, So as a result, Kiss didn't play, and
I think the fans felt got really short chance changed
on that. I think that was something that was really
something that was important to the fans, and Ace refused
what happened because I was involved in it. Ace said,
I'm not showing up and watch somebody else in my
makeup portray me who's not even getting inducted. So when
(07:59):
he said he wasn't to show up, the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fames said no, no, we need you to
show up. He said, okay, well then we either play
with the original band who was getting inducted, or I
don't come. And that's why nobody ended up playing. So
there were a lot of missed opportunities. But I'll tell
you this, the thing that you're real bummer about this
is people may or may not have heard Kiss was
(08:20):
getting the Kennedy Center Honors, which is scheduled I think
for early next year, and it was going to be
the first time in years that the original four members
were at least going to be standing side by side
again to get that honor. And now, unfortunately, you know,
obviously they're going to have to do something posthumously for Ace,
but that was something I know he was looking forward
(08:40):
to and something that the fans were really looking forward to.
And it's a real bummer that we're not going to
get that moment.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
The one thing telling about the rock and roll induction Eddie,
With almost every other group, to my knowledge, they inducted
whoever the band said should go in with Kiss. The
rock and Roll Hall insisted on those fours guys, period,
didn't they?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Well, that was what the rock and Roll Hall of
Fame did decide obviously. But I'll tell you Mark, Look,
and I've got a lot of issues with Ronald Hall
of Famous decades and I'm very outspoken about it. And
I am a voter, just so people know, I am
a voter. I'm not a nominator, but they have made
me a voter. But I'll say this, one of the many,
(09:23):
many problems with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
beyond who finally does or doesn't get in, is then
who the Hall of Fame decides from the band gets
in right, And that is decided by the Hall of Fame,
And it is wildly erratic, meaning like you will have
there's no logic to it, and there's no consistency to it.
(09:44):
You'll have a situation where they'll put in a guy
who played on half of one record, and then you'll
have a case like Dio didn't go in with Sabbath
and did three studio records as their front man. So
how does that make sense? None of it makes sense.
But yes, with Kiss it was a four only and look,
if you are a band that gets nominated, you can
(10:05):
push back on that. You can fight it. Bon Jovi did.
Bon Jovi fought it and got Hugh McDonald put in,
who was not originally on the ballot. But if you
don't squawk about it and you don't fight it, then
and look, sometimes the bands want it to be that way.
They don't want to bring extra people, they don't want
to bring players that came in afterwards. So it's a
bit of a two way street on that one as
to who's to blame who does and doesn't actually get in.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I want to mention Ace's solo album when Kiss put
out the four solo albums, because I thought that told
to tail Eddie. Ace's album was to me the best
one and got by far the best reviews.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Didn't it It.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Was by far the biggest it is It was the
only one that had a hit single on it with
New York Groove, and it was many considered to be
the best of the four. I put it neck and
neck with Paul Stanley's I thought, I think his record
is phenomenal as well. But the big thing about Aces
in seventy eight was that nobody saw it coming. Prior
(11:03):
to that record, Ace had only sung one lead vocal
in his life and it was on the previous Kiss record.
Shocked me. It was the first time he sang lead vocal.
And everybody's like, wait a minute. So this guy who was,
let's be honest, branded and as the f up of
the band and the unreliable guy and the guy that
was always drunk and high and couldn't pull it together.
(11:25):
So you're going to say that guy is not only
going to make a full solo record but also sing
all the songs come on. And then it shocked the
world and probably Gene and Palm more than anyone when
that ends up becoming the definitive record of the four.
So yeah, that and that was a huge pivotal moment
for him because it gave him confidence that he could
(11:47):
be a solo artist. And if I'm being honest, Mark,
and you know, I'm as much as I'm close to
some of these guys, I do call it like I
see it It also probably was a bit probably hurt
Ace a little bit in the because it gave him
a false sense of being the solo star. And we
all know that you're only as good as your last record.
(12:09):
And I think because of that success of that record,
and because he had a hit single, which was a
song by the way, that he did not write, I
don't people don't realize New York Group is actually a cover.
But regardless, he had a hit single. He shocked the
world with that record. It gave him this confidence of like, well,
I'm the star of the band. I can be my
own lead guy. And to some degree he could be,
(12:31):
but to a lot of degrees he couldn't be. And
you know, it created division with the Kiss on the
next couple records, and Kiss had to give him more songs,
even if they weren't great songs on the subsequent records
to keep them happy. And it just gave him this confidence,
I don't need these guys anymore. And I don't think
that was entirely true.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Finally, Eddie guys our age, I'm sixty four or sixty one.
We remember Kiss in the in the in the days
when they just broke out. Do enough people remember that, Like,
do we underestimate the impact fifty years later?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Maybe you had to.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Be there, but it was an absolute phenomenon, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't think. Look, you know,
we grew up mark with Kiss when there was an
anonymity to it, And I bring that up all the
time because I don't think people really realize that, like
Kiss in the last what has it been forty years
since they took off the makeup forty two? Everyone knows
who they are. You can be on Instagram and you
can see Paul Stanley making pizza, and you know that
(13:30):
Gene Simmons is a businessman, and you know what they do,
and you know how they talk, and you know how
they behave, and you know their families and you know
where they live in mansions and Beverly Hills. But back then,
in the seventies, you knew nothing about them. You didn't
know who they really were. You didn't know what they
looked like behind the makeup. So it was a larger
than life thing. It was a completely different perspective from
(13:51):
how you perceived the band. Nobody ever seen anything like them,
heard anything like them, and nobody ever had a band
that they loved. But the people were superheroes. They didn't
know who they really were. Were they people and other bands?
Were they people that nobody knew of? Were they totally
you know, who were these guys and that you know
that lasted for seven years and eight years and that
(14:13):
was a really really big component to the band. So
they were they were super grouped, They were superheroes. They
were larger than life, they were everything. And you know,
as a kid, you know, when I discovered them at
twelve thirteen years old, I mean they were my world
for two three years. I didn't allow any other band
to even come into my orbit because they just looked
them as a threat to kiss, as stupid as that sounds.
(14:35):
So I was, you know, I was all in. And
I'll tell you. To Beatles fans, I know, they would
scoff at this and laugh and you know, laugh me
out of the room. But to people who grew up
with it and grew up in the hard rock and
grew up in the mid seventies, they were our Beatles.
You had four guys that all sang, You had four
guys that were larger than life, You had people, you
(14:57):
had four bands, four guys that made very hooky songs,
the hard rock edge. You had four guys putting on
a stage show onlike anything anybody had ever seen. So
were they were our Beatles?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
You know, you really were, No question.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I said at the opening of my show today that
that the previous generation had the Beatles, and you picked
your favorite Beetle, and with us it was Kiss, and
we picked our favorite member and mine was Ace, no
question about that.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And when you went to those shows. My first show
in my life was nineteen seventy seven Kiss at Madison
Square Garden. Back then you used to go and people would,
fans would hang. Back then, they used to allow you
to bring banners into concerts.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Matter of fact, if we look on the back to
Kiss Alive, there was the classic photo two guys holding
the Kiss banner. That was the norm back then. And
I just remember going to the garden and draped over
all the railings you would see a different bedsheet that
was spray painted with whoever member. There was Peter, there
was a there was Paul, there was Gene. It was
really that larger than life and it was really this big,
(15:55):
four way equally moving machine. And that changed radically as
when members started to leave and Gene and Paul took
the band over. But back then, in those glory years
seventy four to seventy nine, there was nothing bigger. The
Gallup Poll ranked them the biggest band in the world
in nineteen seventy eight, made for TV movie. Nobody had
(16:15):
ever put out four solo records on the same day.
I mean, it was just all stuff that nobody had
ever done before, the merchandising everything, and Ace was a
huge part of that with his playing and the image
the smoking guitar. Nobody saw anybody like their guitar on
fire and have smoke come out in the middle of
the solo, or shoot rockets out of it, or send
it into the lighting trust. So these were all things
(16:38):
that were really really groundbreaking.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Eddie.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I appreciate you so much taking a time again. My
condolences and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Thank you, Mark all the best. Do you take care?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Okay, that's Eddie Trunk remembering the life of the late
great Ace Frehley. We got Mike de Fabo talking steelers
at the bottom of the hour one oh five to nine.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
Yeah, you know them, Mark.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
A lot of gibberish, a lot of booze a lot
of public.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Relations TX at one five nine.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Doublem on the xx Eddie trunk for joining me. Mike
de Fabo joins me just a moment to talk Steelers.
How about that game where Denver scored thirty three points
in the fourth quarter to come from behind and beat
the New York Football Giants by one. So, Jackson Dard,
isn't ya tittle? Kansas City might make the playoffs now,
despite me predicting that they will not. Heck, everybody might
(17:28):
make the playoffs. It's such a haphazard league. You got
Green Bay at Acrosshore on Sunday featuring Mika Parsons, the
best defensive player in football.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
No, no, it's TJ Fatass.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
It's DJ, except he's not even top five anymore and
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Speaker 4 (18:44):
Tonight's it's the Pens against the Canucks. Game time is seven.
Our coverage starts at six here every game and the
best coverage right here on your home of the Pens
one five nine d X.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
From the Dollar Energy Fund Weather Center. This reporter is
sponsored by Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Party Cloudy's guys tonight than mostly cloudy overnight dropping to
forty four degrees.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Overcast guys expected tomorrow. Look for high fifty.
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Speaker 2 (19:16):
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Speaker 7 (19:21):
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Speaker 1 (19:28):
Steelers with the disappointing loss at Cincinnati and are rather confusing.
Mike tom Win press conference today, joining me now to
talk about both and about the game coming up Sunday
night at home against Green Bay from the Athletic, He's
Mike de Fable. Mike, what did you make of what
tom Win said today? He blamed the run defense primarily.
Why didn't he blame the past defense that was a
(19:48):
bit more obvious.
Speaker 7 (19:51):
Yeah, it seemed to.
Speaker 6 (19:51):
Me like he was trying to cover for those guys
in the secondary, because when he talked about the game,
he pointed out the run defense being inadequate.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
Which it was.
Speaker 6 (19:59):
He pointed out Mason McCormick had a big false start,
which it was, and he pointed out the turnovers that
changed the game. But he kind of left out the
most important factor, which was they built this secondary to
beat the Bengals.
Speaker 7 (20:13):
They built this.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
Secondary thinking that they were better equipped to handle Jamar
Chase and t. Higgins and yet they allowed Jamar Chase
to set a record for their franchise with sixteen receptions.
That was really the number one issue. I mean, they
didn't do anything well on defense, but this was really
his pets for the secondary, and they plunked it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I thought the defense was way too passive against Flacco.
I thought they gave up too much underneath. Is that
how you saw it?
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yeah, I mean they were giving up a lot underneath.
I agree with you that they were passive in some senses,
and I think that one way I think I would
do things differently at the Steelers ce Flacco again.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
It's bring some more pressures and bring.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Some more Blitzes because they kind of have returned to
their Blitzberg roots. They've definitely dialed up the pressure in
recent games. But they were trying to just go with
a four man rush and they were not getting home
enough and so you know, the flaka was trying to
get the ball out of his hands quickly. I think
that the only way to solve that is to really
put him under some heat and make him get the
(21:19):
ball out and hit him and hurry him and knock
him off of his game.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And I mean a.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Four year old quarterback is not going to want to
get hit a lot. I think that's what I would
have tried to dial up. But really, nothing that they
did worked no matter what they tried. They did try
some different coverages, they went from man to zone, they
had different people on different receivers. Nothing they did worked
at all.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I thought the approach of each offense was telling too, Mike.
The Bengals turned Flaco loose and he'd barely been there.
And the Steelers really have made Rogers a game manager,
haven't they?
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Yeah, you know, their game plan really is like short
quick passes and run the ball in the occasional deep
shot when it's there. And you know, I agree with you.
I also would take it one step further, Mark and
say this game was an example of two teams that
have taken dramatically different approaches to roster building. The Bengals,
(22:17):
a lot of people were critical of them because they
basically are paying two guys wide receiver one tight money,
whereas the Steelers, as everybody obviously knows, went all in
on defense. And I think it's Thursday Night shows. Good
offense in twenty twenty five beats high paid defense. It's
just the way that it is, and I think of anything,
this should really illuminate that the Steelers need to think
(22:39):
long and hard about their approach and the way they
allocep their resources in a salary cap league.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Well in that vein Mike, is anyone on that defense
performing at an elite level?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I mean even one single player.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
I'm racking by brain here because I think we've seen
elite play, but not elite performances like TJ. Watt was
pretty much invisible. You know, Cam Hayward had some pressures,
but pretty much invisible.
Speaker 7 (23:10):
Alex Heismith's not a great game from him.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
I mean you, if your plan is going to be
that they want to get pressure with just four, you
should be able to with given how much you're paying
those guys up front, and they weren't able to get
the job done at all. You know, if you want
to play nickel defense and count on your inside linebackers
two guys to fill three holes, you should be able
to do that when you're paying Patrick Queen all that money.
(23:36):
You know, if you want to man up Jamar Chase
and T. Higgins, or at least slow and shut them
down to a degree, you should be able to do
that when you're paying Jalen Ramsey all that money. So
I agree with you, Mark, I don't think that there's
a person on this team that's necessarily played up to
their paycheck or up to expectations on the defensive side
of the ball.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Was Ramy exposed? Will teams go after him after what?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Or is that an outlier because Chase is the best
receiver in football.
Speaker 7 (24:05):
I don't know that it is an outlier unfortunately.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
I mean, I think Ramsey definitely still a very good player,
and there's ways they can use him to be a
difference maker on defense, and he has been a difference
maker at times.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
But I just look at this game, and then I.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Look back to the Seattle game and against Seattle Jackson
Smith and Jigba and Cooper Cupp, who's I mean, he's
in his thirties at this point too. Both of those
guys were beating Jalen Ramsey, and you know, so, I
don't think that he's this guy that you could simply say, hey,
you go head to head against the top receiver, shut
(24:40):
him down, and we'll take care of the rest. Maybe
at one point in his career he was that guy,
but at least given the schematics to the Steelers defense
or the way that he's playing so far early in
his tenure here, I don't think that he is still
that guy that you could simply say take away the opponent,
the opponent's number one wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
We're talking to, Mike, the fable of the athletic. He's
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Speaker 2 (25:07):
Mike, I feel like they needed that win. I feel
like they needed to be five and one. Now it
feels like.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
They're gonna lose two of the next three. They're headed
for five and four. It seems so familiar, doesn't it.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
Yeah, I'm a little bit worried because it did feel
like this was a game where they could have really
separated themselves.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
In the AFC North and made up some ground.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Because it really gets much more difficult from here for
the Steelers and especially the defense, This defense that has
not risen to expectations, not played up to the level
that everyone was expecting this season. They still have to
play the Lions, who are a very good offense. They
still have to play the Bills that are going to
(25:47):
be a great.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Offense with Josh Allen.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
They still have to play the Ravens twice, just a
few months after Terrell Austin said they've got a Baltimore
problem and they've got.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
To play the Colts.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Who.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
I mean, it seems like every time Shane styke In
plays Mike.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Tomin and Tarrell Austin, Shane Stiken looks like a wizard
and they look far from it.
Speaker 7 (26:05):
So, I mean, they've got they.
Speaker 6 (26:07):
Haven't even played the good offensive teams yet, and their
defense is already showing some cracks right now. And so
that's what really concerns me is that this defense that
was once so hyped, they haven't even faced the tough
teams and they're already showing some problems.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Well speak of which, Green Bay isn't a great matchup
for anyone because they're good, but it feels like.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
A real bad matchup for the Steelers. It's a tough,
physical team that could run and throw the ball.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
Yeah, there's tests no matter how you want to dice
it up. There's really tough matchups for the Steelers, and
I think maybe the biggest one is Micah Parsons in
that pass rush against this young Steelers offensive line because
I actually feel like the last couple games the Steelers
offensive line has improved. I think that the way that
(26:57):
they were able to shut down and null five Miles
Garrett was probably the best performance of the season. And
then the last game without Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals have
no pass rush. If they don't have trained Hendrickson, no
one's going to get home. So I don't really take
a lot out of that. So this one's really going
to be a test of are they improving or did
they just do a better job against Garrett by doubling
(27:18):
and tripling him and then against the Bengals team that
had no pass rush whatsoever. So I think I think
it could be a tough game there. I think it's
a tough game because the Steelers have struggled defensively getting
off the field on third downs and the green Bay
Packers are a very good third down offense.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
It's a bad.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Matchup because the Steelers defense gives up too many exposed
to have played, and the Green Bay Packers are one
of the most explosive passing offenses, at least in terms of.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
A per play type level.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
You know, so up and down the board, I think
there's some very difficult matchups.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
For the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (27:52):
That said, oddly, I think the Steelers are going to
win this one just because of the Aaron Rodgers factor,
you know, I think I think looking ahead to these
next couple of games, I think they're gonna win this one,
and I think they're gonna turn right around and.
Speaker 7 (28:04):
Lose to the Colts and Shane Ssiken just because.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Of the fact that, like things don't make sense with
the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers should have beaten Joe Flacco
ten days into his tenures of Bengals, but they don't
win on Thursday Night football.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
The Steelers shouldn't win against the Green Bay Packers because they're.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
A better football team, but they're probably going to just
because these are the type.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
Of games that they win, especially with Aaron Rodgers as
their quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, here's my disclaimer there, and I don't doubt what
you're saying, but I think Rogers might overthink at playing
against Green Bay for the first time, and I think
if he starts out bad, it could go real bad.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
I agree with you there, because you know, people that
have covered the Packers that I've talked to a lot
one of their criticisms of him is in the playoffs,
they feel like there's times where he tries to do
too much, tries to put the team on his back,
and starts working outside of structure too much and kind
of freelancing and kind of putting too much on his shoulders.
(29:03):
And I think that that would be my concern with
this game. I think that the Steelers are going to
need to run the ball effectively or at least have
some balance to their offense, and they're going to need
Aaron Rodgers to protect the football. And I think if
he feels like he needs to play hero ball, or
they get in a situation where they're behind, I think
that's where things can get away from them.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Who can emerge as an additional weapon for the Steelers
And the answer might be nobody, But somebody needs to,
don't they?
Speaker 7 (29:32):
Yeah? I think, you know. I can think about this
in a couple of ways.
Speaker 6 (29:36):
I mean, the obvious one is Roman Wilson, and I
think a lot of people were optimistic.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Calvin Austin being out the last two games.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Would mean simply Roman Wilson would be up, But as
we saw, the Steelers were content to play Ben Scronic
and Scottie Miller and you know, Keishawn Williams other guys
even more.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
Than Roman Wilson.
Speaker 6 (29:55):
So somehow, some way, Roman Wilson earning the trust of
this coach and.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's not going to have if it's not happened by now,
it's just not going to happen.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
And you're right, You're right, you're right, Mark.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
I mean, the notion that freaking Ben Scarnic and Scottie
Miller should be planned more than Roma Wilson is insane.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
I agree with you, Mark, because you have to develop
these young players and the only way is to develop
them is to put them on the field. And last
year was an injury mostly the cost Roman Wilson's rookie year.
Now it's what now, it's coaching decisions that they're choosing
not to play him and they're instead going with these
these veteran guys that their feeling is very well established.
(30:36):
You know, Roman Wilson's ceiling has not yet been established.
So I'd like to see more from him, but I
agree with you that we might not. Maybe the answer
to your question, Mark is just more balance and consistency
from the tight ends. Because if Pat Firemans has had
a pretty underwhelming season until last game, you know, and
in that game, like he finally started to break out.
(30:58):
If they can find ways to keep Darnel Washington, keep
Pat Ryan with Keith John new Smith involving the offense,
plus DK and Calvin Austin, you know, now you've got
five guys who are getting.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
The ball and you could spread the football around a
little bit.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
I think maybe that's my answer, is just more consistent
production from the guys.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
That you know can do it.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Does Nick Kerbing need to play more because he's on
performing what let alone high Smith?
Speaker 6 (31:26):
I think in past rush situations. Yes, But I think
the reason why we saw so much about high Smith
in the last game, and Cole Hulkum for that matter,
is because they weren't stopping the run. And those are
your rundown linebackers. So I think that's why we didn't
see more of her Big and the fact that he's
undersized and just not quite as good as high Smith
(31:48):
against the run. But I agree with you that I
think it's reached the point where you could make the
case that nearly every third down her Big should be
out there in some form or fashion.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Are the Steelers I don't want to say soft, Mike,
that's probably an unfair word, but it feels like they're
getting physically dominated a lot of the times, like Bully's
probably too strong, but maybe not.
Speaker 6 (32:13):
Yeah, I think I think there are instances where they
need to do a better job of getting off blocks.
I mean, when you allow what was it, one hundred
and fifty rushing yards or whatever to one of the
worst rushing offenses in the league, you're losing the physical
part of the matchup for sure, and there's also just
some execution things. So they were in their nickel defense
(32:35):
for most of the game, like about eighty percent of
the time, and that was to match up against the
three wide receivers. And when you do that, it means
you've got two inside linebackers for three gaps, and they
weren't fitting those gaps appropriately, and.
Speaker 7 (32:51):
So, like, I think it was both.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
I think it was physically they weren't getting off the blocks,
and then in terms of execution they were all also
plenty of times when guys weren't in the gaps they
were supposed to be in.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Mike is always great stuff. I appreciate the insight, great
work at the athletic We'll talk again next week.
Speaker 7 (33:09):
All right, so good Mark, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
That is Mike the Fable from the Athletic Breaklast by Armstrong.
That's Armstrong one wire dot Com super Genius here on
the X. Now it's time to ask Mark Anything. Eight
three three four one two nine thirty nine. That's eight
three three four one two ninety nine thirty nine, Or
leave a talkback via the microphone icon at the iHeartMedia app.
(33:32):
It's the Mark Man Show one oh five to nine.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Time now to send in your questions for Ask Mark Anything,
use the talkback Mike on your free iHeartRadio app and
record your question for the super Genius.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
There's no Spirits summer news, so join us for the
exsers halloweenk.
Speaker 9 (33:53):
Clues on Thursday, October thirtieth. The who Says Sale It
with Live He'sy from the Clintones playing all your nineties favorites.
Ten dollars and fifty nine cents from every ticket sold
goes to the Mariolamu Foundation or York Crew for this
twenty one year old door event and dressing your Halloween
best to score prizes all night.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Fock.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Tickets are on seal now at Gateway clipper.
Speaker 9 (34:19):
Dot com the exes Halloway cru on the Gateway Clipper
sponsored by Disaster Restoration Services.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
We'll see you one October thirty.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
At Citizens we all make sense of your money and
all your money And now.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
The super genius Mark madd finishing his checks, causing it
constant commotion.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Sometimes I'm so damned dump. I would take a phone
call from me the.
Speaker 10 (34:45):
Ex at one oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I've enjoyed today's show.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
It's been all over the place, a lot of ace
friendly talk, having Eddie trunk on, but uh.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Aces to my heroes. Very sad to see him go.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I often think about that too, is like, I mean,
considering what's playing right now, like when when David Coverdell goes,
oh my God, when Jimmy Page goes, when Robert Plant goes,
who I'm gonna see it wheeling next week. I mean,
like those guys, I'm gonna take a day off work.
I'll be that's shaken. And if that makes me kind
(35:28):
of goofy, I think it just makes me a fan.
Somebody tweeted, I can't believe Madden was almost crying when
he eulogized as freely at the beginning of the show.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Now I didn't almost cry.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I was crying, and shame on you if you don't
have heroes that you can feel that way about when
they go. But now it's time to ask Mark anything
A three three four one thirty nine and it's brought
to us by People's Natural Gas. That's Peopleshyphengas dot Com.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Let's go to Jake. Jake, ask Mark Anything.
Speaker 11 (36:01):
Hey, super genius. When was the first time you saw
kissing concert? And what's your favorite kiss song? Thank you
for that interview with Eddie Trunk. That's the best tribute
to as on the radio.
Speaker 12 (36:13):
All all all.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Actually ed Ed's done better, but yeah, it was great
to talk to Eddie. The first time I saw Kiss,
the first two contracts I saw were Rod Stewart with
Faces and then Kiss Mott and Rush, both at at
the Civic Arena. So that's the first time I saw Kiss.
That had to have been like seventy six ish. I
(36:35):
was like fifteen, sixteen years old. I wish I could
remember the exact dates, but the fact that it was
Faces indicates it had to be seventy five or seventy six,
and then Kiss a couple months later.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
My favorite kiss songs are.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
All the A songs, I mean, shock me, rip it
Out from the solo album New York Grew from the
solo album Rocket Ride. He wrote Cole Jin didn't sing it.
I mean, I think Ace just had a knack, as
did everybody in the band. But but Ace really got
what kiss should sound like, both in terms of writing
and of course his guitar playing.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Let's go to DJ DJ Askmark anything, Hi.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
Mark, I'm calling about Penglin hockey again. Basically, after the
first week, the Penguins look good and then they looked bad.
The second week on the West Coast, they won two
out of three games. I was actually there for the games.
They have four wins and are looking good. But if
you look at their opponents, none of those teams are
above five hundred.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
That's okay.
Speaker 13 (37:30):
Do you think they okay? So you think there's reason
to be optimistic?
Speaker 1 (37:33):
No, no, but I'm saying it's okay when you beat
bad teams. They're supposed to beat bad teams in LA
and the LA Kings are a good team. They're just
off to a bad start. That was actually, to my mind,
their most impressive win.
Speaker 13 (37:48):
Yeah, I think so it's a good game.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
You know, Hey, if you're serious about trying to make
the playoffs, and I hope they are not.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But you know, right now, like like Pierre said earlier,
you're playing a Vancouver team. It's really beat up. You're
at Florida Thursday, the Panthers are really beat up. I mean,
there's some points to be got here. If you really
do think you could make the playoffs, Let's go to Jude. Hey, Jude,
you're all with double M.
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Good day, Double M.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I said, good day.
Speaker 14 (38:17):
Hey, really appreciate your Ah Freely tribute. It was really
sad to hear about the passing of him last week.
I'm in my early thirties and first concert with seeing
them during the reunion tour at Melon Arena, but with
a little disappointed as part of the farewell tour that
they didn't bring the original members back.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Yeah, they just weren't going to do that. They just
weren't going to do that right, And I think it's terrible, bro,
it's awful, But you get tired of talking about it.
I mean, I knew they wouldn't. I've known enough about
Jane and Paul for years to know that that just wasn't.
They will never give of themselves at the expense of themselves,
(38:58):
if that makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
No, I agree.
Speaker 7 (39:01):
I guess part of it was seeing what Ozzy did
and then kind of thought it, thinking of what could
have been.
Speaker 12 (39:06):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
I was at the last Kiss Live show ever at MSG.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
And there was nothing special about it. Nothing.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I mean, I'm glad I went because you know, you
should be there at the end if you were there
all those years, But there was nothing.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Special about it. Thank you for the call.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Actually, one story I do want to tell. One of
my favorite Kiss memories is when they did Reunite. I
was at World Championship Wrestling and we worked with Kiss.
We put a wrestler, Dale Torborg first, and then Brian
Adams in Jean's makeup called him the Kiss Demon, and
(39:45):
we didn't do a very good job promoting it. But
Kiss came and played live when the Demon debuted, and
their stage to play live was set up literally right
behind our broadcast location.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I was on TV at the time and it was
right behind me.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Shavanne and Scott Hudson and they played war Machine to
bring Dale to the ring. But then we went off
the air and they played three more songs. So you know,
me and Shavanni, especially the two big Kiss fans stayed
right there. I mean I could have reached up and
touched any of the members of Kiss that we were
(40:22):
like in the equivalent of the photographer's pit, you know,
at a normal country.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
It was so awesome.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
One of my favorite Kiss memories, meeting all four guys
on that occasion.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
And actually I was part of.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
A conversation with the Ace Freightley and Scott Hall, who
was our Ace Freightley, if you get my drift. Amazing
to see those two talk. Both gone. Now let's go
to a talkback.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Mark Adams from Pleasant Hills.
Speaker 15 (40:53):
I haven't watched Resting in years, but I saw Sting
made an appearance on aw the other day and I
wanted to know what you saw, and memories were of
working with him at WANs.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Real good guy. We didn't get along at first, we
did at the end. Every time I've seen him since,
we got along. An absolutely iconic performer, especially as the Crow,
the guy who came down from the rafters and and
and went after the nWo uh. We screwed it up
at that star Kade where he should have beat Hogan clean.
But you know, I have nothing but the highest regard
(41:25):
for sting and the fact that he came out and
did something in an aw show confirms that nobody in
wrestling ever really quits.
Speaker 5 (41:33):
Uh.
Speaker 10 (41:34):
Let's go to Jerry, Hey, Mark Tom. I really feel
like Kiss was split on the line between Gene and
Paul and Ash and Peter in the terms of Gene
and Paul like were dead serious, like they should be.
Speaker 12 (41:50):
Taken as a serious act, and Atham and Peter were.
I don't know if they kind of end on the
jokes because I didn't really think they were jo but on.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
The app no, No, I just think I can I
can define it better. Gene and Paul were serious businessmen.
As and Peter were not good Paul, Yeah, and Geena
and Paul were also control freaks, and As and Peter
were not. And in situation like that, there's only ever
going to be one winner. Let's go to Ken Ken
(42:22):
and Beaver Countie.
Speaker 7 (42:25):
Well, it's a.
Speaker 3 (42:27):
Question for you, guy man.
Speaker 11 (42:28):
We usually talk sports, but what was your favorite rock
concert show.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Of all time? I've said that many times. I believe
I forget the exact date.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Nineteen eighty eight Guns N' Roses on the Way Up
Open It for Aerosmith and their comeback tour with with
We're Done with Mirrors.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Uh, you know, the.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Up and coming band trying to catch the veterans in Wheeling,
West Virginia the West Banco Arena. I don't know what
it's called now. Maybe that is what it's called now,
but it was just classic. I'll never forget that. The
best concert I've ever seen. Let's go to David. David,
what's up?
Speaker 7 (43:04):
Hey?
Speaker 16 (43:04):
Hey, Mark, I know you're not the biggest fan of
international play, but now the egypt is qualified for the
World Cup, would you be interested in going to watch
most Solid play this summer somewhere in the US.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Yeah, I'm gonna go see at least one World Cup game.
I'm not necessarily Arsta, but Sea in America play, so yeah.
I would love to see Moplay, although boy, he's struggling
right now, and I hope he can get back on
for him because Liverpool certainly needed. Let's go to a talkback.
Speaker 15 (43:31):
In Double M when the Penns had the HBK line
and Shawn Michaels came to PPG. Did you have anything
to do with facilitating that with your connections in wrestling.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
No, but I named the line HBK and I and
I did the Shawn Michael steam music, and I suggested
we should bring Shawn in.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Did I arrange it? No, But it wouldn't happen without me.
I can tell you that for sure. And I brought
two of my friends together, Shawn and Brett keyes our
buddies to this day after meeting. Then they go hunting
and stuff still right now, and I think the world
of both guys. And yeah, I had a lot to
do with that, but I did not directly arrange it.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
Let's go to Dick in Churchill.
Speaker 6 (44:13):
Dick, do you prefer three company episodes with mister Fairlie
or mister.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
I preferm with Suzanne Summers. Let's go to j Jay.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Mark.
Speaker 11 (44:27):
I'm want to ask you, do you think Aaron Rodgers
has the strongest partment in NFL history?
Speaker 6 (44:33):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Is that relevant? Does it matter?
Speaker 11 (44:37):
I'm just asking because a lot of people have been
debating it.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's a idiotic debate.
I don't think it matters who has the strongest. I
think you need strength, you need accuracy, you need stats,
you need rings.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Let's go to a talkback.
Speaker 5 (44:52):
Mark, would you agree that the defense let coach t
you down against the Bengals, and do you agree with
his statement regardless and trading Joe Flacco within the division.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I agree with everything coach T says and does. He's
a football mastermind. Five ninety eight.
Yes, it's always a privilege to talk to Hard Rocks
number one radio host, but today the circumstances are unfortunate
joining me to discuss the late Ace Frayley.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's Eddie Trunk. Eddie.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
First off, my condolences to you. I know you and
Ace Frayley were very close.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah, thank you, Mark, And I'm sorry if it's a
little noisy in the background. I'm at a hotel at
the moment and just kind of got caught outside my room.
But yeah, no, I appreciate it. It's been a brutal couple
of weeks because unfortunately I knew this was coming, and
it's here and I'm actually getting ready to attend the
first of the two days of the services.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So well, we appreciate you taking the time. And what's
even more unfortunate is Ace had been doing very well,
hadn't he. I saw him play twice recently. He was
in top form, and then I guess he fell at
his studio.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, you know, I actually hosted a couple of shows
them in the Midwest earlier earlier this earlier this year,
and he was doing well. Actually, ironically, I had a
couple friends of mine tell me recently who had gone
to see him, who were very very critical from being
honest of his performances, tell me that they had seen
him recently and it was the best he had ever been.
(01:18):
But yeah, unfortunately he took a fall that he actually
fell twice. He actually fell once and it was very minor,
and I spoke to him afterwards and he was okay.
And then he took a fall that was catastrophic and
he hit his head several times and it caused serious
damage that he never recovered.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
From what is Ace's legacy within the context of what
he meant to Kiss, I felt he was so important
and probably parentally underrat in that regard.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Well, I'll tell you what. Anybody who you know, you know,
Kiss always got the knock from detractors of being all
style and image and ability and no songs and no
ability to play, which anybody that's a Kiss fandos is
patently untrue. But that was always the knock on the
band from their detractors for their whole their whole history really.
(02:12):
But but the people who even the people who were
the detractors in that area would always say, yeah, but
you know what, the guitar players the most talented guy.
You know, they would always say stuff like that, and
you know he so he kind of was thought of
in that way, and he was immensely influential. I mean,
(02:34):
all you've got to do is look no further than
you know the people who have reached out and said
things about him ever since he passed away. Just look
at what's happened on social media. It is absolutely at
Eddie van Halen level. And people have made that comparison
to me. Now they're very very different guitar players, and
(02:55):
Eddie van Halen's impact was, you know, because he had
obviously read to the instrument and the way you play
the instrument. But Ace's solos, you know, I always called
them songs within the songs. I mean they were incredible
parts of kiss songs and very very memorable. And then
you factor in all the theatrics and all the imaging
(03:16):
and everything that he brought to the table, and the
smoking guitar and the guitar that shot the rockets and
the light up guitar and all that stuff, and it
was a very very potent mix. Anybody that's around my age,
which is sixty one years old, I mean, that was
your beatles and He was an enormous part of that,
and a lot of people called him the most rock
and roll member of the band, you know, the most
(03:38):
you know, the guy who actually walked in and talked
it and kid from the Bronx, who just became one
of the most influential players really in rock history. And
I think you're seeing that with the outpouring of love
for him and every musician. I mean, I did a
tribute show to him Mark on my Serious XM show.
I had everybody from Nuno Bettencourt to Joe Bonamasa and Tom.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Morello call in, like very very.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Varied types of guitar players from different backgrounds, all just
saying what an impact he had on them.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, that's all right on the money.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
He was certainly the quintessential rock star, you know, definitely
lived the vibe. And I you know, having met all
the members of Kiss and obviously you've spent more time
with them than me, But I.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Always thought Ace was the realest guy.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I'm not saying that to denigrate anybody else, but like
I always sensed it when you talk to Ace, what
you saw was exactly what you got one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I mean, he was pretty unfiltered. I mean there were
times that sometimes that maybe got him in a little
bit of trouble, you know, because he just kind of
let it fly on what he thought and was kind
of unfiltered. But I always kind of appreciated that about him.
And yeah, he was very, very very much that and
he was very outspoken. I mean I had a forty
year friendship with him that started with us working together
(04:52):
when I signed him to his record label his first
solo deal, and I just, you know, it was just
one of these things where we always made the friendship
because outside of signing him and working with him for
on his label front for about four or five years
and doing three and a half records with him, I
stayed out of his business, you know. So people always said,
(05:14):
how'd you maintain a friendship with the guy for so long?
I stayed out of the business, you know. I just
we became friends on another level after we did the
label thing together, and you know, because he could be look,
I'm not gonna lie. He had he had his weak points.
You know, he had struggled with issues with sobriety and
struggled with issues with drugs and things like that. But
he really turned his life around in the last ten
(05:35):
fifteen years and was doing extraordinarily well and that you know,
that was really really important to him, and I was
very proud of him for doing that. But yeah, he
walked in and talked it. I mean, he was the
real deal.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I wished his last one with Kiss would have lasted longer.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I think it was terrible that he didn't get on
stage at the Garden for that last show. I thought
that would have been very fitting rock and roll Hall
of Fame all that. I will say, though, the reunion
with the makeup, I was glad a Scott that I
that had to have men a ton to him just
to do that one more time, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I mean, look, the reunion in ninety six was the
biggest thing in music that year. I mean, statistically even
it was beyond enormous. And that was you know, that
lasted about three four years until the wheels started to
come off a little bit again and some of the
same problems started to creep in. I think one of
the really big problems with the reunion and why it
(06:32):
fell apart after a few years was the original band
comes back together. It's the biggest thing in the world.
They put the makeup back on, they start doing stadiums
when previously the band with the other version had been
doing half a house in an arena, and Peter and Ace,
you know, coming back into that that proved what people
what it meant to people and the increase in the business.
(06:54):
But the big difference was they were coming back into
the band they co founded as Highed Guns and after
a while, you know, okay, you agree to your contract initially,
then you see the business going on, and you see
two other people making the lion's share of the money,
and it's naturally gonna breed animosity, and it did, and
(07:14):
all the same problems crept up. So that's why I
kind of went away pretty quick. But it was a huge,
huge thing when it happened, of course, and obviously it
gave a whole other generation a chance to see the bead.
I'll tell you the thing that I really regret is,
you know, Gene and Paul would not allow Ace to
play with them at the Rock and Roll Hall of
(07:35):
Fame induction, So as a result, Kiss didn't play, and
I think the fans felt got really short chance changed
on that. I think that was something that was really
something that was important to the fans, and Ace refused
what happened because I was involved in it. Ace said,
I'm not showing up and watch somebody else in my
makeup portray me who's not even getting inducted. So when
(07:59):
he said he wasn't to show up, the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fames said no, no, we need you to
show up. He said, okay, well then we either play
with the original band who was getting inducted, or I
don't come. And that's why nobody ended up playing. So
there were a lot of missed opportunities. But I'll tell
you this, the thing that you're real bummer about this
is people may or may not have heard Kiss was
(08:20):
getting the Kennedy Center Honors, which is scheduled I think
for early next year, and it was going to be
the first time in years that the original four members
were at least going to be standing side by side
again to get that honor. And now, unfortunately, you know,
obviously they're going to have to do something posthumously for Ace,
but that was something I know he was looking forward
(08:40):
to and something that the fans were really looking forward to.
And it's a real bummer that we're not going to
get that moment.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
The one thing telling about the rock and roll induction Eddie,
With almost every other group, to my knowledge, they inducted
whoever the band said should go in with Kiss. The
rock and Roll Hall insisted on those fours guys, period,
didn't they?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Well, that was what the rock and Roll Hall of
Fame did decide obviously. But I'll tell you Mark, Look,
and I've got a lot of issues with Ronald Hall
of Famous decades and I'm very outspoken about it. And
I am a voter, just so people know, I am
a voter. I'm not a nominator, but they have made
me a voter. But I'll say this, one of the many,
(09:23):
many problems with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
beyond who finally does or doesn't get in, is then
who the Hall of Fame decides from the band gets
in right, And that is decided by the Hall of Fame,
And it is wildly erratic, meaning like you will have
there's no logic to it, and there's no consistency to it.
(09:44):
You'll have a situation where they'll put in a guy
who played on half of one record, and then you'll
have a case like Dio didn't go in with Sabbath
and did three studio records as their front man. So
how does that make sense? None of it makes sense.
But yes, with Kiss it was a four only and look,
if you are a band that gets nominated, you can
(10:05):
push back on that. You can fight it. Bon Jovi did.
Bon Jovi fought it and got Hugh McDonald put in,
who was not originally on the ballot. But if you
don't squawk about it and you don't fight it, then
and look, sometimes the bands want it to be that way.
They don't want to bring extra people, they don't want
to bring players that came in afterwards. So it's a
bit of a two way street on that one as
to who's to blame who does and doesn't actually get in.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I want to mention Ace's solo album when Kiss put
out the four solo albums, because I thought that told
to tail Eddie. Ace's album was to me the best
one and got by far the best reviews.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Didn't it It.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Was by far the biggest it is It was the
only one that had a hit single on it with
New York Groove, and it was many considered to be
the best of the four. I put it neck and
neck with Paul Stanley's I thought, I think his record
is phenomenal as well. But the big thing about Aces
in seventy eight was that nobody saw it coming. Prior
(11:03):
to that record, Ace had only sung one lead vocal
in his life and it was on the previous Kiss record.
Shocked me. It was the first time he sang lead vocal.
And everybody's like, wait a minute. So this guy who was,
let's be honest, branded and as the f up of
the band and the unreliable guy and the guy that
was always drunk and high and couldn't pull it together.
(11:25):
So you're going to say that guy is not only
going to make a full solo record but also sing
all the songs come on. And then it shocked the
world and probably Gene and Palm more than anyone when
that ends up becoming the definitive record of the four.
So yeah, that and that was a huge pivotal moment
for him because it gave him confidence that he could
(11:47):
be a solo artist. And if I'm being honest, Mark,
and you know, I'm as much as I'm close to
some of these guys, I do call it like I
see it It also probably was a bit probably hurt
Ace a little bit in the because it gave him
a false sense of being the solo star. And we
all know that you're only as good as your last record.
(12:09):
And I think because of that success of that record,
and because he had a hit single, which was a
song by the way, that he did not write, I
don't people don't realize New York Group is actually a cover.
But regardless, he had a hit single. He shocked the
world with that record. It gave him this confidence of like, well,
I'm the star of the band. I can be my
own lead guy. And to some degree he could be,
(12:31):
but to a lot of degrees he couldn't be. And
you know, it created division with the Kiss on the
next couple records, and Kiss had to give him more songs,
even if they weren't great songs on the subsequent records
to keep them happy. And it just gave him this confidence,
I don't need these guys anymore. And I don't think
that was entirely true.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Finally, Eddie guys our age, I'm sixty four or sixty one.
We remember Kiss in the in the in the days
when they just broke out. Do enough people remember that, Like,
do we underestimate the impact fifty years later?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Maybe you had to.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Be there, but it was an absolute phenomenon, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't think. Look, you know,
we grew up mark with Kiss when there was an
anonymity to it, And I bring that up all the
time because I don't think people really realize that, like
Kiss in the last what has it been forty years
since they took off the makeup forty two? Everyone knows
who they are. You can be on Instagram and you
can see Paul Stanley making pizza, and you know that
(13:30):
Gene Simmons is a businessman, and you know what they do,
and you know how they talk, and you know how
they behave, and you know their families and you know
where they live in mansions and Beverly Hills. But back then,
in the seventies, you knew nothing about them. You didn't
know who they really were. You didn't know what they
looked like behind the makeup. So it was a larger
than life thing. It was a completely different perspective from
(13:51):
how you perceived the band. Nobody ever seen anything like them,
heard anything like them, and nobody ever had a band
that they loved. But the people were superheroes. They didn't
know who they really were. Were they people and other bands?
Were they people that nobody knew of? Were they totally
you know, who were these guys and that you know
that lasted for seven years and eight years and that
(14:13):
was a really really big component to the band. So
they were they were super grouped, They were superheroes. They
were larger than life, they were everything. And you know,
as a kid, you know, when I discovered them at
twelve thirteen years old, I mean they were my world
for two three years. I didn't allow any other band
to even come into my orbit because they just looked
them as a threat to kiss, as stupid as that sounds.
(14:35):
So I was, you know, I was all in. And
I'll tell you. To Beatles fans, I know, they would
scoff at this and laugh and you know, laugh me
out of the room. But to people who grew up
with it and grew up in the hard rock and
grew up in the mid seventies, they were our Beatles.
You had four guys that all sang, You had four
guys that were larger than life, You had people, you
(14:57):
had four bands, four guys that made very hooky songs,
the hard rock edge. You had four guys putting on
a stage show onlike anything anybody had ever seen. So
were they were our Beatles?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
You know, you really were, No question.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I said at the opening of my show today that
that the previous generation had the Beatles, and you picked
your favorite Beetle, and with us it was Kiss, and
we picked our favorite member and mine was Ace, no
question about that.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And when you went to those shows. My first show
in my life was nineteen seventy seven Kiss at Madison
Square Garden. Back then you used to go and people would,
fans would hang. Back then, they used to allow you
to bring banners into concerts.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Matter of fact, if we look on the back to
Kiss Alive, there was the classic photo two guys holding
the Kiss banner. That was the norm back then. And
I just remember going to the garden and draped over
all the railings you would see a different bedsheet that
was spray painted with whoever member. There was Peter, there
was a there was Paul, there was Gene. It was
really that larger than life and it was really this big,
(15:55):
four way equally moving machine. And that changed radically as
when members started to leave and Gene and Paul took
the band over. But back then, in those glory years
seventy four to seventy nine, there was nothing bigger. The
Gallup Poll ranked them the biggest band in the world
in nineteen seventy eight, made for TV movie. Nobody had
(16:15):
ever put out four solo records on the same day.
I mean, it was just all stuff that nobody had
ever done before, the merchandising everything, and Ace was a
huge part of that with his playing and the image
the smoking guitar. Nobody saw anybody like their guitar on
fire and have smoke come out in the middle of
the solo, or shoot rockets out of it, or send
it into the lighting trust. So these were all things
(16:38):
that were really really groundbreaking.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Eddie.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I appreciate you so much taking a time again. My
condolences and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Thank you, Mark all the best. Do you take care?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Okay, that's Eddie Trunk remembering the life of the late
great Ace Frehley. We got Mike de Fabo talking steelers
at the bottom of the hour one oh five to nine.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
Yeah, you know them, Mark.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
A lot of gibberish, a lot of booze a lot
of public.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Relations TX at one five nine.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Doublem on the xx Eddie trunk for joining me. Mike
de Fabo joins me just a moment to talk Steelers.
How about that game where Denver scored thirty three points
in the fourth quarter to come from behind and beat
the New York Football Giants by one. So, Jackson Dard,
isn't ya tittle? Kansas City might make the playoffs now,
despite me predicting that they will not. Heck, everybody might
(17:28):
make the playoffs. It's such a haphazard league. You got
Green Bay at Acrosshore on Sunday featuring Mika Parsons, the
best defensive player in football.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
No, no, it's TJ Fatass.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
It's DJ, except he's not even top five anymore and
maybe not even top ten. But we'll get to that
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Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler Mike de Fabo
next one oh five to nine.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Tonight's it's the Pens against the Canucks. Game time is seven.
Our coverage starts at six here every game and the
best coverage right here on your home of the Pens
one five nine d X.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
From the Dollar Energy Fund Weather Center. This reporter is
sponsored by Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Party Cloudy's guys tonight than mostly cloudy overnight dropping to
forty four degrees.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Overcast guys expected tomorrow. Look for high fifty.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh free dental vision and hearing clinic
for kids and adults October twenty.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Is the super genius Mark Madden. You're talking to the
super genius.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
Double Hey, more good?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
The Bethion Rings who the exit one five nine.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Steelers with the disappointing loss at Cincinnati and are rather confusing.
Mike tom Win press conference today, joining me now to
talk about both and about the game coming up Sunday
night at home against Green Bay from the Athletic, He's
Mike de Fable. Mike, what did you make of what
tom Win said today? He blamed the run defense primarily.
Why didn't he blame the past defense that was a
(19:48):
bit more obvious.
Speaker 7 (19:51):
Yeah, it seemed to.
Speaker 6 (19:51):
Me like he was trying to cover for those guys
in the secondary, because when he talked about the game,
he pointed out the run defense being inadequate.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
Which it was.
Speaker 6 (19:59):
He pointed out Mason McCormick had a big false start,
which it was, and he pointed out the turnovers that
changed the game. But he kind of left out the
most important factor, which was they built this secondary to
beat the Bengals.
Speaker 7 (20:13):
They built this.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
Secondary thinking that they were better equipped to handle Jamar
Chase and t. Higgins and yet they allowed Jamar Chase
to set a record for their franchise with sixteen receptions.
That was really the number one issue. I mean, they
didn't do anything well on defense, but this was really
his pets for the secondary, and they plunked it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I thought the defense was way too passive against Flacco.
I thought they gave up too much underneath. Is that
how you saw it?
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yeah, I mean they were giving up a lot underneath.
I agree with you that they were passive in some senses,
and I think that one way I think I would
do things differently at the Steelers ce Flacco again.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
It's bring some more pressures and bring.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Some more Blitzes because they kind of have returned to
their Blitzberg roots. They've definitely dialed up the pressure in
recent games. But they were trying to just go with
a four man rush and they were not getting home
enough and so you know, the flaka was trying to
get the ball out of his hands quickly. I think
that the only way to solve that is to really
put him under some heat and make him get the
(21:19):
ball out and hit him and hurry him and knock
him off of his game.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
And I mean a.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Four year old quarterback is not going to want to
get hit a lot. I think that's what I would
have tried to dial up. But really, nothing that they
did worked no matter what they tried. They did try
some different coverages, they went from man to zone, they
had different people on different receivers. Nothing they did worked
at all.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I thought the approach of each offense was telling too, Mike.
The Bengals turned Flaco loose and he'd barely been there.
And the Steelers really have made Rogers a game manager,
haven't they?
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Yeah, you know, their game plan really is like short
quick passes and run the ball in the occasional deep
shot when it's there. And you know, I agree with you.
I also would take it one step further, Mark and
say this game was an example of two teams that
have taken dramatically different approaches to roster building. The Bengals,
(22:17):
a lot of people were critical of them because they
basically are paying two guys wide receiver one tight money,
whereas the Steelers, as everybody obviously knows, went all in
on defense. And I think it's Thursday Night shows. Good
offense in twenty twenty five beats high paid defense. It's
just the way that it is, and I think of anything,
this should really illuminate that the Steelers need to think
(22:39):
long and hard about their approach and the way they
allocep their resources in a salary cap league.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Well in that vein Mike, is anyone on that defense
performing at an elite level?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I mean even one single player.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
I'm racking by brain here because I think we've seen
elite play, but not elite performances like TJ. Watt was
pretty much invisible. You know, Cam Hayward had some pressures,
but pretty much invisible.
Speaker 7 (23:10):
Alex Heismith's not a great game from him.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
I mean you, if your plan is going to be
that they want to get pressure with just four, you
should be able to with given how much you're paying
those guys up front, and they weren't able to get
the job done at all. You know, if you want
to play nickel defense and count on your inside linebackers
two guys to fill three holes, you should be able
to do that when you're paying Patrick Queen all that money.
(23:36):
You know, if you want to man up Jamar Chase
and T. Higgins, or at least slow and shut them
down to a degree, you should be able to do
that when you're paying Jalen Ramsey all that money. So
I agree with you, Mark, I don't think that there's
a person on this team that's necessarily played up to
their paycheck or up to expectations on the defensive side
of the ball.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Was Ramy exposed? Will teams go after him after what?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Or is that an outlier because Chase is the best
receiver in football.
Speaker 7 (24:05):
I don't know that it is an outlier unfortunately.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
I mean, I think Ramsey definitely still a very good player,
and there's ways they can use him to be a
difference maker on defense, and he has been a difference
maker at times.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
But I just look at this game, and then I.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Look back to the Seattle game and against Seattle Jackson
Smith and Jigba and Cooper Cupp, who's I mean, he's
in his thirties at this point too. Both of those
guys were beating Jalen Ramsey, and you know, so, I
don't think that he's this guy that you could simply say, hey,
you go head to head against the top receiver, shut
(24:40):
him down, and we'll take care of the rest. Maybe
at one point in his career he was that guy,
but at least given the schematics to the Steelers defense
or the way that he's playing so far early in
his tenure here, I don't think that he is still
that guy that you could simply say take away the opponent,
the opponent's number one wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
We're talking to, Mike, the fable of the athletic. He's
brought to us by Armstrong the Internet. You kind of
on the people you trust Armstrong on Wired dot Com.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Mike, I feel like they needed that win. I feel
like they needed to be five and one. Now it
feels like.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
They're gonna lose two of the next three. They're headed
for five and four. It seems so familiar, doesn't it.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
Yeah, I'm a little bit worried because it did feel
like this was a game where they could have really
separated themselves.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
In the AFC North and made up some ground.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Because it really gets much more difficult from here for
the Steelers and especially the defense, This defense that has
not risen to expectations, not played up to the level
that everyone was expecting this season. They still have to
play the Lions, who are a very good offense. They
still have to play the Bills that are going to
(25:47):
be a great.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Offense with Josh Allen.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
They still have to play the Ravens twice, just a
few months after Terrell Austin said they've got a Baltimore
problem and they've got.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
To play the Colts.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Who.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
I mean, it seems like every time Shane styke In
plays Mike.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Tomin and Tarrell Austin, Shane Stiken looks like a wizard
and they look far from it.
Speaker 7 (26:05):
So, I mean, they've got they.
Speaker 6 (26:07):
Haven't even played the good offensive teams yet, and their
defense is already showing some cracks right now. And so
that's what really concerns me is that this defense that
was once so hyped, they haven't even faced the tough
teams and they're already showing some problems.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Well speak of which, Green Bay isn't a great matchup
for anyone because they're good, but it feels like.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
A real bad matchup for the Steelers. It's a tough,
physical team that could run and throw the ball.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
Yeah, there's tests no matter how you want to dice
it up. There's really tough matchups for the Steelers, and
I think maybe the biggest one is Micah Parsons in
that pass rush against this young Steelers offensive line because
I actually feel like the last couple games the Steelers
offensive line has improved. I think that the way that
(26:57):
they were able to shut down and null five Miles
Garrett was probably the best performance of the season. And
then the last game without Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals have
no pass rush. If they don't have trained Hendrickson, no
one's going to get home. So I don't really take
a lot out of that. So this one's really going
to be a test of are they improving or did
they just do a better job against Garrett by doubling
(27:18):
and tripling him and then against the Bengals team that
had no pass rush whatsoever. So I think I think
it could be a tough game there. I think it's
a tough game because the Steelers have struggled defensively getting
off the field on third downs and the green Bay
Packers are a very good third down offense.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
It's a bad.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Matchup because the Steelers defense gives up too many exposed
to have played, and the Green Bay Packers are one
of the most explosive passing offenses, at least in terms of.
Speaker 7 (27:44):
A per play type level.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
You know, so up and down the board, I think
there's some very difficult matchups.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
For the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (27:52):
That said, oddly, I think the Steelers are going to
win this one just because of the Aaron Rodgers factor,
you know, I think I think looking ahead to these
next couple of games, I think they're gonna win this one,
and I think they're gonna turn right around and.
Speaker 7 (28:04):
Lose to the Colts and Shane Ssiken just because.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Of the fact that, like things don't make sense with
the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers should have beaten Joe Flacco
ten days into his tenures of Bengals, but they don't
win on Thursday Night football.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
The Steelers shouldn't win against the Green Bay Packers because they're.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
A better football team, but they're probably going to just
because these are the type.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
Of games that they win, especially with Aaron Rodgers as
their quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, here's my disclaimer there, and I don't doubt what
you're saying, but I think Rogers might overthink at playing
against Green Bay for the first time, and I think
if he starts out bad, it could go real bad.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
I agree with you there, because you know, people that
have covered the Packers that I've talked to a lot
one of their criticisms of him is in the playoffs,
they feel like there's times where he tries to do
too much, tries to put the team on his back,
and starts working outside of structure too much and kind
of freelancing and kind of putting too much on his shoulders.
(29:03):
And I think that that would be my concern with
this game. I think that the Steelers are going to
need to run the ball effectively or at least have
some balance to their offense, and they're going to need
Aaron Rodgers to protect the football. And I think if
he feels like he needs to play hero ball, or
they get in a situation where they're behind, I think
that's where things can get away from them.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Who can emerge as an additional weapon for the Steelers
And the answer might be nobody, But somebody needs to,
don't they?
Speaker 7 (29:32):
Yeah? I think, you know. I can think about this
in a couple of ways.
Speaker 6 (29:36):
I mean, the obvious one is Roman Wilson, and I
think a lot of people were optimistic.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Calvin Austin being out the last two games.
Speaker 6 (29:43):
Would mean simply Roman Wilson would be up, But as
we saw, the Steelers were content to play Ben Scronic
and Scottie Miller and you know, Keishawn Williams other guys
even more.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
Than Roman Wilson.
Speaker 6 (29:55):
So somehow, some way, Roman Wilson earning the trust of
this coach and.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
It's not going to have if it's not happened by now,
it's just not going to happen.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
And you're right, You're right, you're right, Mark.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
I mean, the notion that freaking Ben Scarnic and Scottie
Miller should be planned more than Roma Wilson is insane.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
I agree with you, Mark, because you have to develop
these young players and the only way is to develop
them is to put them on the field. And last
year was an injury mostly the cost Roman Wilson's rookie year.
Now it's what now, it's coaching decisions that they're choosing
not to play him and they're instead going with these
these veteran guys that their feeling is very well established.
(30:36):
You know, Roman Wilson's ceiling has not yet been established.
So I'd like to see more from him, but I
agree with you that we might not. Maybe the answer
to your question, Mark is just more balance and consistency
from the tight ends. Because if Pat Firemans has had
a pretty underwhelming season until last game, you know, and
in that game, like he finally started to break out.
(30:58):
If they can find ways to keep Darnel Washington, keep
Pat Ryan with Keith John new Smith involving the offense,
plus DK and Calvin Austin, you know, now you've got
five guys who are getting.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
The ball and you could spread the football around a
little bit.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
I think maybe that's my answer, is just more consistent
production from the guys.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
That you know can do it.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Does Nick Kerbing need to play more because he's on
performing what let alone high Smith?
Speaker 6 (31:26):
I think in past rush situations. Yes, But I think
the reason why we saw so much about high Smith
in the last game, and Cole Hulkum for that matter,
is because they weren't stopping the run. And those are
your rundown linebackers. So I think that's why we didn't
see more of her Big and the fact that he's
undersized and just not quite as good as high Smith
(31:48):
against the run. But I agree with you that I
think it's reached the point where you could make the
case that nearly every third down her Big should be
out there in some form or fashion.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Are the Steelers I don't want to say soft, Mike,
that's probably an unfair word, but it feels like they're
getting physically dominated a lot of the times, like Bully's
probably too strong, but maybe not.
Speaker 6 (32:13):
Yeah, I think I think there are instances where they
need to do a better job of getting off blocks.
I mean, when you allow what was it, one hundred
and fifty rushing yards or whatever to one of the
worst rushing offenses in the league, you're losing the physical
part of the matchup for sure, and there's also just
some execution things. So they were in their nickel defense
(32:35):
for most of the game, like about eighty percent of
the time, and that was to match up against the
three wide receivers. And when you do that, it means
you've got two inside linebackers for three gaps, and they
weren't fitting those gaps appropriately, and.
Speaker 7 (32:51):
So, like, I think it was both.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
I think it was physically they weren't getting off the blocks,
and then in terms of execution they were all also
plenty of times when guys weren't in the gaps they
were supposed to be in.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Mike is always great stuff. I appreciate the insight, great
work at the athletic We'll talk again next week.
Speaker 7 (33:09):
All right, so good Mark, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
That is Mike the Fable from the Athletic Breaklast by Armstrong.
That's Armstrong one wire dot Com super Genius here on
the X. Now it's time to ask Mark Anything. Eight
three three four one two nine thirty nine. That's eight
three three four one two ninety nine thirty nine, Or
leave a talkback via the microphone icon at the iHeartMedia app.
(33:32):
It's the Mark Man Show one oh five to nine.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Time now to send in your questions for Ask Mark Anything,
use the talkback Mike on your free iHeartRadio app and
record your question for the super Genius.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
There's no Spirits summer news, so join us for the
exsers halloweenk.
Speaker 9 (33:53):
Clues on Thursday, October thirtieth. The who Says Sale It
with Live He'sy from the Clintones playing all your nineties favorites.
Ten dollars and fifty nine cents from every ticket sold
goes to the Mariolamu Foundation or York Crew for this
twenty one year old door event and dressing your Halloween
best to score prizes all night.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Fock.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Tickets are on seal now at Gateway clipper.
Speaker 9 (34:19):
Dot com the exes Halloway cru on the Gateway Clipper
sponsored by Disaster Restoration Services.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
We'll see you one October thirty.
Speaker 7 (34:31):
At Citizens we all make sense of your money and
all your money And now.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
The super genius Mark madd finishing his checks, causing it
constant commotion.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Sometimes I'm so damned dump. I would take a phone
call from me the.
Speaker 10 (34:45):
Ex at one oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I've enjoyed today's show.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
It's been all over the place, a lot of ace
friendly talk, having Eddie trunk on, but uh.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Aces to my heroes. Very sad to see him go.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I often think about that too, is like, I mean,
considering what's playing right now, like when when David Coverdell goes,
oh my God, when Jimmy Page goes, when Robert Plant goes,
who I'm gonna see it wheeling next week. I mean,
like those guys, I'm gonna take a day off work.
I'll be that's shaken. And if that makes me kind
(35:28):
of goofy, I think it just makes me a fan.
Somebody tweeted, I can't believe Madden was almost crying when
he eulogized as freely at the beginning of the show.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Now I didn't almost cry.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I was crying, and shame on you if you don't
have heroes that you can feel that way about when
they go. But now it's time to ask Mark anything
A three three four one thirty nine and it's brought
to us by People's Natural Gas. That's Peopleshyphengas dot Com.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Let's go to Jake. Jake, ask Mark Anything.
Speaker 11 (36:01):
Hey, super genius. When was the first time you saw
kissing concert? And what's your favorite kiss song? Thank you
for that interview with Eddie Trunk. That's the best tribute
to as on the radio.
Speaker 12 (36:13):
All all all.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Actually ed Ed's done better, but yeah, it was great
to talk to Eddie. The first time I saw Kiss,
the first two contracts I saw were Rod Stewart with
Faces and then Kiss Mott and Rush, both at at
the Civic Arena. So that's the first time I saw Kiss.
That had to have been like seventy six ish. I
(36:35):
was like fifteen, sixteen years old. I wish I could
remember the exact dates, but the fact that it was
Faces indicates it had to be seventy five or seventy six,
and then Kiss a couple months later.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
My favorite kiss songs are.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
All the A songs, I mean, shock me, rip it
Out from the solo album New York Grew from the
solo album Rocket Ride. He wrote Cole Jin didn't sing it.
I mean, I think Ace just had a knack, as
did everybody in the band. But but Ace really got
what kiss should sound like, both in terms of writing
and of course his guitar playing.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Let's go to DJ DJ Askmark anything, Hi.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
Mark, I'm calling about Penglin hockey again. Basically, after the
first week, the Penguins look good and then they looked bad.
The second week on the West Coast, they won two
out of three games. I was actually there for the games.
They have four wins and are looking good. But if
you look at their opponents, none of those teams are
above five hundred.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
That's okay.
Speaker 13 (37:30):
Do you think they okay? So you think there's reason
to be optimistic?
Speaker 1 (37:33):
No, no, but I'm saying it's okay when you beat
bad teams. They're supposed to beat bad teams in LA
and the LA Kings are a good team. They're just
off to a bad start. That was actually, to my mind,
their most impressive win.
Speaker 13 (37:48):
Yeah, I think so it's a good game.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
You know, Hey, if you're serious about trying to make
the playoffs, and I hope they are not.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But you know, right now, like like Pierre said earlier,
you're playing a Vancouver team. It's really beat up. You're
at Florida Thursday, the Panthers are really beat up. I mean,
there's some points to be got here. If you really
do think you could make the playoffs, Let's go to Jude. Hey, Jude,
you're all with double M.
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Good day, Double M.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I said, good day.
Speaker 14 (38:17):
Hey, really appreciate your Ah Freely tribute. It was really
sad to hear about the passing of him last week.
I'm in my early thirties and first concert with seeing
them during the reunion tour at Melon Arena, but with
a little disappointed as part of the farewell tour that
they didn't bring the original members back.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Yeah, they just weren't going to do that. They just
weren't going to do that right, And I think it's terrible, bro,
it's awful, But you get tired of talking about it.
I mean, I knew they wouldn't. I've known enough about
Jane and Paul for years to know that that just wasn't.
They will never give of themselves at the expense of themselves,
(38:58):
if that makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
No, I agree.
Speaker 7 (39:01):
I guess part of it was seeing what Ozzy did
and then kind of thought it, thinking of what could
have been.
Speaker 12 (39:06):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
I was at the last Kiss Live show ever at MSG.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
And there was nothing special about it. Nothing.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I mean, I'm glad I went because you know, you
should be there at the end if you were there
all those years, But there was nothing.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Special about it. Thank you for the call.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Actually, one story I do want to tell. One of
my favorite Kiss memories is when they did Reunite. I
was at World Championship Wrestling and we worked with Kiss.
We put a wrestler, Dale Torborg first, and then Brian
Adams in Jean's makeup called him the Kiss Demon, and
(39:45):
we didn't do a very good job promoting it. But
Kiss came and played live when the Demon debuted, and
their stage to play live was set up literally right
behind our broadcast location.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
I was on TV at the time and it was
right behind me.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Shavanne and Scott Hudson and they played war Machine to
bring Dale to the ring. But then we went off
the air and they played three more songs. So you know,
me and Shavanni, especially the two big Kiss fans stayed
right there. I mean I could have reached up and
touched any of the members of Kiss that we were
(40:22):
like in the equivalent of the photographer's pit, you know,
at a normal country.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
It was so awesome.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
One of my favorite Kiss memories, meeting all four guys
on that occasion.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
And actually I was part of.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
A conversation with the Ace Freightley and Scott Hall, who
was our Ace Freightley, if you get my drift. Amazing
to see those two talk. Both gone. Now let's go
to a talkback.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Mark Adams from Pleasant Hills.
Speaker 15 (40:53):
I haven't watched Resting in years, but I saw Sting
made an appearance on aw the other day and I
wanted to know what you saw, and memories were of
working with him at WANs.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Real good guy. We didn't get along at first, we
did at the end. Every time I've seen him since,
we got along. An absolutely iconic performer, especially as the Crow,
the guy who came down from the rafters and and
and went after the nWo uh. We screwed it up
at that star Kade where he should have beat Hogan clean.
But you know, I have nothing but the highest regard
(41:25):
for sting and the fact that he came out and
did something in an aw show confirms that nobody in
wrestling ever really quits.
Speaker 5 (41:33):
Uh.
Speaker 10 (41:34):
Let's go to Jerry, Hey, Mark Tom. I really feel
like Kiss was split on the line between Gene and
Paul and Ash and Peter in the terms of Gene
and Paul like were dead serious, like they should be.
Speaker 12 (41:50):
Taken as a serious act, and Atham and Peter were.
I don't know if they kind of end on the
jokes because I didn't really think they were jo but on.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
The app no, No, I just think I can I
can define it better. Gene and Paul were serious businessmen.
As and Peter were not good Paul, Yeah, and Geena
and Paul were also control freaks, and As and Peter
were not. And in situation like that, there's only ever
going to be one winner. Let's go to Ken Ken
(42:22):
and Beaver Countie.
Speaker 7 (42:25):
Well, it's a.
Speaker 3 (42:27):
Question for you, guy man.
Speaker 11 (42:28):
We usually talk sports, but what was your favorite rock
concert show.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Of all time? I've said that many times. I believe
I forget the exact date.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
Nineteen eighty eight Guns N' Roses on the Way Up
Open It for Aerosmith and their comeback tour with with
We're Done with Mirrors.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Uh, you know, the.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Up and coming band trying to catch the veterans in Wheeling,
West Virginia the West Banco Arena. I don't know what
it's called now. Maybe that is what it's called now,
but it was just classic. I'll never forget that. The
best concert I've ever seen. Let's go to David. David,
what's up?
Speaker 7 (43:04):
Hey?
Speaker 16 (43:04):
Hey, Mark, I know you're not the biggest fan of
international play, but now the egypt is qualified for the
World Cup, would you be interested in going to watch
most Solid play this summer somewhere in the US.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Yeah, I'm gonna go see at least one World Cup game.
I'm not necessarily Arsta, but Sea in America play, so yeah.
I would love to see Moplay, although boy, he's struggling
right now, and I hope he can get back on
for him because Liverpool certainly needed. Let's go to a talkback.
Speaker 15 (43:31):
In Double M when the Penns had the HBK line
and Shawn Michaels came to PPG. Did you have anything
to do with facilitating that with your connections in wrestling.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
No, but I named the line HBK and I and
I did the Shawn Michael steam music, and I suggested
we should bring Shawn in.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Did I arrange it? No, But it wouldn't happen without me.
I can tell you that for sure. And I brought
two of my friends together, Shawn and Brett keyes our
buddies to this day after meeting. Then they go hunting
and stuff still right now, and I think the world
of both guys. And yeah, I had a lot to
do with that, but I did not directly arrange it.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
Let's go to Dick in Churchill.
Speaker 6 (44:13):
Dick, do you prefer three company episodes with mister Fairlie
or mister.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
I preferm with Suzanne Summers. Let's go to j Jay.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Mark.
Speaker 11 (44:27):
I'm want to ask you, do you think Aaron Rodgers
has the strongest partment in NFL history?
Speaker 6 (44:33):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Is that relevant? Does it matter?
Speaker 11 (44:37):
I'm just asking because a lot of people have been
debating it.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's a idiotic debate.
I don't think it matters who has the strongest. I
think you need strength, you need accuracy, you need stats,
you need rings.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Let's go to a talkback.
Speaker 5 (44:52):
Mark, would you agree that the defense let coach t
you down against the Bengals, and do you agree with
his statement regardless and trading Joe Flacco within the division.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I agree with everything coach T says and does. He's
a football mastermind. Five ninety eight.
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