August 19, 2022 • 40 mins
Jerry Coleman returns to the Fifth Hour podcast. We discuss his recent departure from the local radio waves in Baltimore. After 30+ years working behind microphones, the state of the broadcasting business in 2022, covering Lamar Jackson, sports conspiracies involving Cal Ripken, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and more. Follow Jerry on Twitter @SportswColeman / Follow Ben on Twitter @BenMaller / Danny G. on Twitter @DannyGradio and listen to the original "Ben Maller Show," Monday-Friday on Fox Sports Radio, 2a-6a ET, 11p-3a PT!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kaboom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse the Clearinghouse of Hot Takes
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, and welcome
into the podcast do jo. The Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller and Danny g Radio Black at it again and
(00:44):
we thank you for subscribing. And this podcast, if you
don't know by now, a spin off of the Overnight Show,
The Ben Maller Show, and it is only available in
the podcast format. You cannot get this on terrestrial radio.
As we are in the air everywhere thanks to the
vast power of my heart, the global reach of podcasting,
(01:07):
and every week, three podcasts the week and eight days
a week, because four hours a night are not enough
on the Overnight and you're going on to listen all
weekend because on Saturday I will tell the story I
have never told before. I did something for the first
time in my life last week and I did not
(01:31):
talk about this on the radio show, so I'll talk
about that tomorrow, but right now, we gotta get down
to business. Because I love radio. You know that it's
my job, it's my my life's passion. And I have
friends all over the country. I have made radio friends
that work at different stations, and one of my good
(01:52):
friends I talked about them quite a bit on the
radio show anytime I bring up Baltimore is someone I
refer to as Sports with Coleman. His name is Jerry Coleman.
We've had him on the podcast before. I was on
Jerry's radio show not that long ago. He had done
a night show in Baltimore. And the reason I wanted
(02:13):
to have Jerry on this week is mainly just so
I could talk to him, because we're friends and I
have an excuse to talk to him on the podcast,
but also the fact that he was part of a
mass layoff at his radio station and a national radio
layoff at a competing company. Not I heart, but a
rival of my heart, and Jerry is one of the
(02:35):
good radio guys. He's done it all. He's a really
a Swiss army knife. We used that term for people
in sports, but in sports broadcasting, and Jerry is the
guy that will do a little bit of this, a
little bit of that, a little bit of everything. He's
worked all over the clock. He had done a night
show in Baltimore, He's done morning radio in that city.
(02:55):
He has has been in Baltimore radio for over a decade,
but he's worked over thirty years in the radio business.
And he got let go. He got the old pink
slip from his radio station last week and he joins
us now and Jerry, we have a saying in the
(03:15):
radio business when you're giving the pink slip, when you're
giving your walking papers, that you are on the beach.
But you are literally and figuratively taking that to the
next level, aren't you, Jerry correct? And as I speak
to you now, I am on the beach, not far
from Sarasta in Longboat Key, Florida, to be exact. So
(03:38):
I literally am and was on the beach today. I
am grateful in one aspect and that there was some
bloodshed from the company I worked at, and they did
alert me before I went on vacation, so um, in
other words, I would have found out in the middle
of my vacation had they not told me which I
think you know, it was a more humane way to
(04:00):
approach and this does nothing though Jerry, and I feel
terrible for you, but for my neurosis. And we've known
each other for for a number of years here. But
one of my things is I hate taking vacation because
when I was an intern in San Diego at the
mighty six ninety in my head, I'm not sure this
(04:20):
actually happened, but in my head, every time one of
the hosts took a vacation, they never came back from
vacation and they just they didn't say anything. And so
so when I found out what happened to you, which
was a terrible decision in my opinion, by the station
in Baltimore. But when I found that out, I was like, whoa,
(04:41):
this is now. I can never take a vacation again.
I was like, in my head, I'm like, well that's it.
I can't, I can't go anywhere. But you you handle
it very well. I give you credit, and I'm not
sure how you're enjoying your vacation. Is it? Okay? You've
been on it for a while as we're talking right now,
and this airing on a Friday, So you've been in
your tropical destination for a while. Are you able to compartmentalized, Jerry,
(05:06):
I am. Uh. Severance had a lot to do with that.
The conversation at a time before leaving, I think had
a lot to do with that. I'm glad I didn't
get a phone call in the middle of this vacation
letting me know what unfortunately happened to a lot of
my colleagues around the country in multiple markets. So when
they did tell me that that it was, they actually
took me off and told me, you know, there's gonna
(05:27):
be more to come on Tuesday, whenever, whatever day it
was that they did it. And I was like, okay,
thank you for letting me know, and you know, kind
of when I went in one ear and out the other,
and then I realized, you know, okay, I was tipped
off at a time and they did, you know, in
a way helped me out. I mean, the fact that
you know, I found out before I went on vacation,
(05:50):
um did put a little detriment on the vacation, but
hasn't completely runned it all together because actually, now I'll
extend it because is it's better than knowing I would
say in the middle or then I mean, you get
back and then you get the call and it's like, okay,
I didn't need to come back so soon, So there
(06:10):
is a benefit. I'm trying to be, you know, positive
in that aspect. I've been down this road before, bounce
back before. We'll see what's down the road in the horizon.
I assume there will be something I always has been.
It could be a presumption, but already, you know, I
received you know, correspondence from different people in different industries
(06:31):
and not necessarily radio about different possible avenues. So we
will see where that leads. But I was caught by
a surprise, and you know, in fact, they never give
you your last show on the radio, and I almost
really had that on on my last day on which
was a Thursday, and was let go via zoom on
a Friday. And I had a feeling that morning that
(06:53):
that was the case, and I probably had a feeling
that Thursday night when I did my last show that
that was the case. But I wasn't gonna do anything
to bern any bridges or rip anyone like that and
go out in a ball of flames because I do
want to work again. So I just took the high
road and and did that be a social media and uh,
let it go from there, because I think that's the
(07:14):
best way to go about it. Uh, no grudges. I
think I've been you know, I don't think it was right,
Uh in terms of what I brought to the table,
and in terms of sen only hosting, but covering teams,
doing sports updates. Um, there was just a variety of
things that I did for the radio station over well
over a decade, more close to thirteen years, just over
(07:36):
twelve that you know, I thought sometimes were overrooked. And
maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, we will see.
But what a treat it was to be able to
host your own show in your hometown, choose the guest list,
have complete show control, excuse me of the as you say,
sports talk, real estate, and really not have any micromanaging.
(07:58):
And that was the case until the Yam you know.
I mean I've heard from all sorts of people within
the company reminding me was not performance or rating to
relate it, and it certainly wasn't. It was an unfortunate
aspect of the business and where it is at times
right now. Yeah, it's the business is not in a
good place. We'll get to that. Well, we're getting into
(08:19):
it now, but we'll talk more about it. So you
had a premonition, you had a feeling that the end
was near, and I had something similarly. The only way
you get a final show is if it's leaked in
the New York Post or you're retiring, right, I was
on the air years ago. For those that maybe haven't
heard the story before that listened to this podcast, but
(08:42):
Jerry knows the story. So back in oh nine there
was a presidential election result, well the election was an
OH eight, but the result was announced in oh nine
or the the the changing of the guard, changing of
the president happened in oh nine. It is, I believe,
the second term of Barack Obama. But at that time,
(09:05):
the day before, I remember exactly the date. It was
the day before. I think January twenty one is the
date they change presidents. I believe it's sometimes, yeah, sometime
in January, and uh yeah. Politically, we don't try to
avoid politics now on the podcast. We used to talk
about politics, but I I was respected, I still respect
(09:27):
the presidency, and I always liked watching the the ceremony
from d C and so I it was the night
before and I was planning on watching the ceremony we
were doing the show, and there was a headline of
a bulletin that came. This is the early day as
of Twitter, but there was a story from the New
York Post that there were going to be mass uh
(09:49):
mash mass casualties, layoffs whatever at the company that I
was working for, that they were going to be announced
like the next day, right. So I somebody had sent
me the story actually via a text message, and one
of my friends in the business, and I was right
before the show was about to start, and and so
(10:11):
I I, of course, being the schmuck that I am,
I sent the story. I forwarded it onto everyone else
that was working on the show. And uh. And then
about about ten fifteen minutes in the show, I get
an email from one of the bosses. Now, no one
ever emails me. And now you know, Jerry, you did nights.
(10:31):
You know you don't. You do not get contacted after
work hours like nine to five. That's a red flag
if you do get contact. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm in
my head, I'm connecting the dots here. I'm like, okay, uh,
let's see, I got somebody sent me a story from
The New York Post saying the company I work for
is gonna lay off and get rid of all these people. Uh.
(10:53):
And then ten minutes fifteen minutes later, I get an
email from my boss saying there's a mandatory meeting the
next morning that I have to be at. And I said, well,
you know, I'm not that bright, but I think I
can connect the pieces here. I think we've got something.
And my my producer was losing his mind. He's like,
(11:14):
oh my god, I'm gonna be He'd never been fired before,
the never lost a job. He actually ended up running.
He's an assistant program director at a radio station. Now
they had we had an intern that had just started.
He relocated. Kid from Boston had relocated, moved to l
It was his first night working on my show. And
(11:34):
oh goodness, he got he got he got. Kid moved
all the way to l A for one night. Yeah. So, like,
what happened to your team? Jar? Are they still there?
Are they? Have you talked to your your producer? I know?
Oh yeah, no, well yeah, I mean yeah yeah. They
all survived. And producers that I worked with over the years,
(11:56):
and people that I helped out that such some very
nice things on social d on you know, some of
the things I passed along to him over the years.
But the premonition came from the fact that my boss
was also going on vacation and this person was like, no,
I really would like to meet with you on Friday
morning before we go away on vacation. I just think
(12:18):
it's important we talked before you go away. And I
had requested a meeting um weeks ago and left it
alone and didn't even follow up with it. And this
was titled a catchup meeting, just catching up, and I
swear to God, within thirty seconds I was I was
done of within the zoom meeting and I said, wow,
I you know, I thought you would do something like
(12:40):
this face to face. And the person indicated something that
actually rang true, you know, and I'll give him. They
said they didn't want to waste my time, had me
drive all the way with gas prices lay there right now,
I appreachd drive all the way in just to tell
you you're terminated. So it was all done via zoom now,
and the human resources person was all line as well
(13:01):
and bing bang boom, and it was over. Well that
is nice because they made us all drive in one
Karen Kay, who you know who I worked with for
a while. KK. I love KK because KK, you know
season professional radio woman. She also knew we were getting
uh we were getting pole axed that day and she said,
(13:23):
I'm not driving in. I'm not driving to get told
I'm not working there anymore. And she didn't do it,
and uh, I still I love the fact that she
repelled at that at that particular moment. Well, the cool
thing now and I didn't have this the last time
I got Uh, I got whacked in the businesses that
(13:44):
with social media now and I was gonna say, well,
send a message to your listeners. But you can keep
track of a lot of your fans, your a via Twitter,
which is another social media which has gotta be great
that you know, whenever you get your next gig, wherever
it is, whatever platform it happens to be, you can
let people know. And for so long in our business,
(14:04):
as you referenced, when you get let go, you don't
get to say goodbye. They don't allow you to to
have a final opportunity in in radio to say goodbye
to your to your listeners. And so you at least
have a chance to connect with a lot of people
via social media, as you said, people were reaching out
to you. So that's gotta be nice that, you know,
(14:24):
six months down the line, a year down line, whatever
it is, you get your next job, hopefully sooner after
your seference runs out. Whenever that is, uh, you can
bring the bring the band back together, right, You've got
that going for you. That is definitely possible. And if
I were to go to the podcast route, I don't
know if that would interfere with some of the terms
of the sefferance, so that could be something that I do.
(14:46):
I'm not just gonna do it for the heck of it,
just like you don't do it for the heck of it.
I mean, we all like to here are voices and
all that. Frankly, after thirty two years on the radio
and you know, worrying about your next job, after using
your previous job, I decided, you know, I'm going to
keep pursuing. I'm not giving up, but I'm also not
going to jump right back in at the first thing
(15:10):
that's thrown my way. I'm going to enjoy some time off, regroup,
hopefully have something by the time football season goes, because
it's the very important time and that that was the
downside is you know, I've been out covering the Ravens
and I have to tell you, you know, the Oils
have been nice in terms of some of the responses
I've gotten, But Man of Baltimore Ravens a team that
(15:33):
I know you'd like to pick on at times. And
I have taken so many shots at this team, yet
they have rhino skin, as you like to say. Because
I've heard from so many people in that organization, very
high up, even you know, the PR department. Um, they
still have invited me to come out to their practices,
(15:53):
games and all that. Frankly, I appreciate that, but I
told them I'm probably gonna be reluctant in doing that.
If I'm not working, I don't see a reason to
be out there. But I appreciate the invite, being able
to be around the team and all that, But after
thirty some years, I just want to make it as
part of a job and not just go out there
and you know, play grab bass as you say, and
(16:15):
you know, just be around the players and the coach
and hear what they have to say. I can do
that from a distance too, So yeah, probably not going
to do that again until I'm actually gainfully employed. But
very classy of them to do that, and the Orioles
are honoring my credential as well. I just kind of hurt,
not as much as as the Ravens, but that just
maybe a set of circumstances where the team has been
(16:36):
on the road. But I do appreciate. You know, you
got a chance, like you to be able to work
in your home town where you were raised. You know,
that's that's a dream come true. Yeah, no, it's great.
And I do give the Ravens credit, even though I
will continue to bash them that they uh, they at
least handle things the right ways, as I have tried
to say to people who I know. For example, I
(16:57):
ripped the Lakers all the time, and the Lakers have
been still allow me out there if I want to go.
I don't go as much anymore, uh, just because I
don't know anybody in the in the the Beat report.
I used to know all the Beat reporters back in
the day, and everyone used to go out there, and
I go out there and it's I don't know anybody
as far you know, just about I have. There's only
a few people I know. But the Lakers been okay.
(17:18):
But that's the thing, Jerry, like these teams, we play
a role as the critic in the upper balcony and
they're the ones that are rolling in money. And it's
it's a nice marriage though it's okay. It's you don't
have to be confrontational. And there's a lot of places
and we know teams, Jerry that have have spat Louis
(17:41):
at guys. Uh, the the Angels a great example, the Angel.
You talk about the Angels, and I would say the
equivalent of that is the NFL t down that that's
the closest of Baltimore. It can be very spiteful as well. Yeah,
so that's good to hear about the the Raven. Are
we gonna be able to continue to spar about Lamar Jackson.
(18:03):
We've had a few text conversations, we've talked on the phone.
We've sure. I mean everything, I think everything I've said
and predicted is currently still true as we're speaking right now.
I do not anticipate a contract coming. The guy is
gonna make twenty three million dollars this year, and that's
(18:23):
more he's made in any year in his entire life.
If you were to say that then, uh, he would
be set for life if you were to invest it
the right way. But this is a guy that doesn't
have an agent, plays in a town in Baltimore. We're
the most popular player on the team right now, is
the kicker. I can't think of any other NFL market
where that's the case with Justin Tucker has all the endorsements,
(18:47):
he has a new contract. Um, he's already being called
the goat, which I'm always uncomfortable with calling a player
the greatest of all time, except maybe Tom Brady while
they're still playing. But Lamar is us gonna go out
and I think play football and gamble on himself, and
he better hope he doesn't get hurt because it'll be
the most expensive injury in NFL history. And again, doesn't
(19:10):
have any deals in terms of endorsements or anything outside
of just playing football, because either he's stubborn or his
mother's stubborn, or they're stubborn together. But not having an
age and continues sir that what's it like being around Lamar?
You've covered a few quarterbacks in your time in in radio.
What's the day to day like with Lamar Jackson? And well,
(19:34):
some people think he has like this magical touch you
know about him, and he's not a funny personality and everything.
I wouldn't say he's great in terms of getting a
lot of content because when you do listen to him talk,
it's just very brief answers. But I mean just being
around him in terms of personality. Likes to crack jokes,
you know, and also makes you realize how old you
(19:56):
are been because he's in his young twenties, and you know,
he reads the stuff he posts on social media, but
it's very hard to relate to him as someone who's
almost twice his age, if not a little bit further
than that. So that's the difference between a lot of
today's athletes and and the way I look at things,
it's like a totally different generation. Some of the stuff
(20:16):
they post on social media, you know, is either above
my pay grade or I just you know, it's a
parallel universe, and the generation levide. At what point did
that happen for you? It happens for everyone a little differently.
But I I know from my time and I did
the same job that you had early on. We were
(20:37):
both radio stringers, radio reporters, so we were in locker
rooms quite often doing our thing. And and I'm trying
to like, at what point when guys started retiring that
I was around like every day. That was the first sign.
But then when you saw players kids get to the
big leagues, I was like, wait a minute, what what
(20:59):
is going on here? And that happened. You know, obviously
it takes twenty years or whatever, but at that point,
I'm like, wow, this is well, there's prime, there's prime
examples everywhere. It's funny you mention that because Orlando Brown Jr.
I covered SEUs his father when he was with the
Ravens after he had left the Browns. He made all
that money if you get hit the eye by the
(21:19):
penalty flag and all that he was. He was a
wild character. And then his son comes to the Ravens
and is there for a cup of coffee before wanting
more money trying to play left tackle. I mean you
mentioned Vladimir or Guerrero Senior. I was just talking with
someone today about he was the worst ball hitter I've
ever seen, and you know, now his kids playing and
making more money than he is. So yeah, it does
(21:41):
make you feel kind of old. But also when you
read some of these tweets and posts on social media,
it's like I don't even understand, you know, when you
read them aloud, especially on the radio, it's like, I understand,
you only have a certain number of characters you can use,
but sometimes it's like you're reading something from another world
or another universe. So it's hard to decipher a lot
(22:02):
of this. And then you try to ask for clarity
at a press conference and you don't get much there. So, yeah,
that's a strange thing about social media and some of
the language that's used on there and the lingo, and
you know, you just have to try and figure it
out for yourself or maybe speak to someone who's twenty
years younger than you. You need a Dakota ring, Jerry.
You've got to get one of those Dakota rings, and
(22:24):
you have to on the fly be able to interpret
and change words around to make them broadcast friendly. I
believe so. But now that you are, for the moment
on the beach from your gig in Baltimore, and who knows,
maybe you'll get another gig in Baltimore. But until that happens,
will you now admit on the record on the Fifth
(22:46):
Hour podcast here that the cal Ripken. Kevin Costner's story,
the urban legend was legit that it actually happened that
the night the power went down at Camden Yards. That
was because of an incident, a brew haha, a ker
fluffle that took place between actor Kevin Costner and Cal Ripken.
(23:08):
Right now that I know you were headed down that
avenue is as I heard you say, well you finally
admit you do realize on your own network years ago,
didn't Kevin Costn call in at one point to your network?
I'm pretty sure, ye, more than sure. He called in
after one of your hosts and I don't know if
it was you or someone else repeated that ridiculous story,
(23:31):
and he called in to defend it. Uh No, I
will not concede that. Having been there at the ballpark
that night, I just think that's posterous. I saw the
guy before the game. I don't believe he left the
ballpark to go home to beat up Kevin Costner. No,
I'm just not he didn't go home. Jerry the way,
and I the reason I buy the story he walked
(23:52):
in on him as part of the not not hold
us all right? So I eat after that happened, it
might even be the night of, but I think it
was the night after. It was the night I was
they were playing. Yeah, it was. It was a big
say and the Mariners had a great team and they
were they were a sexy team at that time. That's
how long ago this was. The Orioles actually were considered
(24:15):
a model franchise still, although they had kind of gonne
down a little bit. And so I was covering the
Dodgers though, So I'm I'm on the West coast and
a buddy of mine comes up to me says, You're
not gonna believe what happened in Baltimore. And he says,
I just got off the phone with uh, you know
person X will Say, who happens to be somewhat connected
(24:37):
to the ownership in Baltimore, who said, hey, this is
what he gave you, the whole story. It was like
right away, the story was right there, and and then
you know, I was like okay, and people's of course
denied it. But that thing had amazing legs. But the
story was Ripkin was he had Costner staying at his
(24:58):
house and and they were golfing or whatever, and then
he had to go to the ballpark and on his
way to the ballpark. He had forgotten something that he
needed and he came back to the house and he
walked in and he saw Kevin Costner doing something that
most people who are in in cal Ripkins situation would
(25:21):
not appreciate. And uh, and then it was on and
there was like a little sparring match that took place there.
But again, I recall seeing them and maybe even speaking
with them before the game that day. No indication there
was power out in that blocked area at Camden. You know,
(25:41):
the massive conspiracy we're talking about here is you know,
I mean multiple levels that would have to go. And
again I just well know, yeah, the conspiracy is that
the Orioles somebody made a phone call to the power
company there or in Baltimore and they shut the power out.
Has got the cord that happened since as they had
(26:04):
they had a power outage, there hasn't Now, there was
There was a power outage when a train hit a
power generator one time. I do remember that. That was
the only other time the power was out in fact
at any I know we had the Super Bowl thing
where they lost power of the Ravens and I was
there in New Orleans yeah, but and that was only
(26:26):
half the stadium by the way, It wasn't like we
were in the dark and I couldn't see the person
next to me. That was a bit exaggerated, But nonetheless
it wasn't good enough to play football for a while. Yeah, yeah,
but but I'm trying to think, like, how many other
times had they had to cancel the game completely because
the power went out? Uh? And probably in the history
of the yard that's a great question. That might be
the outlier there. They didn't they didn't play, they didn't
(26:50):
play it. They didn't play a fanless game in the
middle of riots going on around town. But yeah, that
was I don't think that's uh, I don't think that's
been repeated. And so no, I do understand your skepticism then,
but well, not only have you know off to wait
for the movie or documentary to come out on that places,
well everyone and everyone's gonna have to die before that happens.
(27:12):
But but do you think Kevin Popsker would play himself
in that movie? Hey, if the checks big enough, man
Ti Tao is playing. He's in a documentary about being
catfish at Notre Dame back in the day. So how much.
Do you think he's getting paid? Man, I will add that.
I will add that cow has remarried. Ah, there you go,
(27:34):
adding on. But this was years later, years later, water
unto the bridge. Okay, all right, I maintained. I am convinced.
I buy it hook line and sinker, just like I
buy that the Patrick Ewing NBA Draft lottery was fixed
for the Knicks, and they still didn't win the championship
even with being given Ewing because they froze the envelope,
(27:58):
the frozen on the Yeah, you're still going with that theory.
I'm trying to think what other theories out there are
still being perpetuated till this day. Oh, there's great. I believe.
I believe a lot of Michael Jordan's was suspended from
the NBA for gambling. Gambling. He then played minor league
baseball in Birmingham, Alabama. Would also like to let you know, Jerry,
(28:19):
I got a Birmingham Baron's hat added to my collection.
I collect b hats and the old the one Jordan
war the old Birmingham Baron's hat from back in the day.
But but I believe that Jordan was suspended, but they
didn't want to. They didn't want to shame him publicly,
so David Stern and the NBA hierarchy got together and
(28:41):
they came up with this fugazi minor league baseball thing.
So I buy that one. I buy the ripping one,
the ewing one. What other great sports conspiracies have there
been here? I'm trying to think now, I'm really racking
my brain to think of just again outrageous conspiracy ease
in the Annals of Sports. You know, that's why they said,
(29:04):
Um Jordan's father was killed as payback. That was also
part of it. Um when when he lost his father
very strangely in that situation. Yes, uh yeah, Now, anything
that's happened with Tiger Woods I don't believe as accurate
from the uh incident outside his driveway in Orlando with
(29:26):
his What was that was that it was a holiday night.
I don't know. Yes, I was on the air and oh,
like I still remember a call I took the night
that happened. Of course, I I went insane to the
membrane with wall the wall. I never do four hours
on the same topic if I can avoid it. But
it was Thanksgiving. It was we Thanksgiving weekend, and I
(29:47):
know there was football, but I just kept going back
to Tiger Woods, and he got chased and there was
a car accident and all that stuff. I believe all
that because that happened again to him where he was
under the influence and couldn't drive his car. And I
do believe, I do believe he wasn't. You know, I
don't think he was a thousand percent sober when he
drove off a cliff and in southern California either no, no, no,
(30:11):
I they found a bottle of pills like that were
fell out of the car on that Tiger has been
able to to dodge a lot of a lot of trouble.
But I I remember ranting about that, and I had
a caller who said, why are you talking about this?
Nobody cares, nobody believes t MZ. This didn't happen, you know.
(30:33):
It's it's that It's just like when I ripped Rafael
Palmero back in the day after he the day after
I mentioned this the other day on the on the
radio show, but he had gotten his three thousand hit.
It was like a Friday night in Seattle, and I
remember that I was listening to your show and covering
the team and I was there when he did his
to not probably one of the and I feel comfortable
in saying this on your podcast. When it comes to intellect,
(30:56):
I would say Rafael Palmerro still rates is probably one
of the top five dumbest athletes I've ever had to
cover in terms of responses and quotes and even trying
to lie. I mean, he was terrible at that. Yeah,
he got he got burned. But I came on the
next next afternoon. I was doing like a fill in
shift on the in the afternoon, and I I said, well,
(31:17):
how do we know that Palmero is this is a
legitimate thing, this this is a clean thing. And uh,
people from your neck of the woods there, Jerry from
from the state of Maryland called up and they had
the traditional accent going and they were like, yes, you know,
this is why you're doing weekend radio. You know, you
know there's there's nothing Palmero. No, he's not cheating all
(31:39):
this stuff. And then shortly thereafter we know what happened.
I couldn't believe it, because you know, we were led
to believe that the steroid player was you know, all
bulked up and had the back act and all. He
didn't fit the characteristics. But then it made sense and
then uh, I remember mcguel Tahada being involved saying that,
you know, he spiked the shot of his and both
(32:02):
of those guys became pariahs around the organization and we're
never really back. Rafael palm Arrow has never been invited
back for anything. So they just celebrated the thirty year
anniversary of Camden Yards and his name was never mentioned.
Not that he had well he did. I mean he
had some milestone moments in that ballpark. He's one of
the few players they hit five hundred home runs and
three thousand hits, but you know, no one really talks
(32:24):
about that because he's a cheater. Yeah. Well, and that's
the future of Fernando Tatis Jr. Like the Padre fans
will be okay with him as long as he hits,
but everyone else it's gonna be vicious. Well that's again,
that's that's one of those like you know, we have
our fun with Kyler Murray and you look at towns
like that. I guess it's gonna be hard for me
(32:45):
to work in towns, certain towns if I start making
fun of him. But you know, there are towns that
have never won a championship, and it's just hard to
imagine that when you've been fortunate to be around teams
that have won championships, you know you should never take
that for granted. I mean, I been able to cover
two super Bowls. Your rams are just coming off winning
a super Bowl at home. You look at towns like
(33:06):
Cleveland and San Diego and Arizona and Buffalo, and they've
been waiting their entire lives. Yeah, no, it is. It
is true. But the the thing I have noticed from
doing the Overnight Show over the years is the tribalism
is next level in certain towns. It's why Houston, Phoenix, Uh, Cleveland.
(33:28):
I've had many battles. Heck, even in your old neck
of the woods there in Baltimore where you live. Oh,
they circle the wagons, they circle the wagon. I ripped,
I made some I made some jokes about ray Lewis
actually the last that Super Bowl against the forty Niners,
and guys were very upset with me. Is threatening me.
I just thought of another conspiracy theory, though I had forgotten.
(33:51):
A few minutes ago. In Sports Game six of the
Western Conference Finals in like twenty years ago, Lakers and Kings. Yes,
that and that was Now Tim Donnie, I do not
believe he actually worked the game, but Tim Donnie, he
claimed that was that was a fixed job to keep
Sacramento out, to keep Sacramento from going to the championship round. Yeah, yeah,
so I I buy that one. I buy that one another.
(34:16):
David S. Stern Special, I guess so you got too
out his plate right now? Yeah, And and what's they
what do they say? Pirates, dead men, tell no tales. Right,
he's not here, he can't be here to defend himself.
So you know, yeah, there's there's there's nothing going on.
He's he's moved on. He's he's checked out there. And
(34:38):
that's the way that goes. So uh as far as
the radio stuff, getting back to the radio business and
the radio said, we've been in the business a long time, Jerry,
I love radio. You know. Now it's a lot of
podcasting and radio. They've been able to companies have been
able to figure out that, you know, not only is
it the live show, but you can listen whenever you
want on demand, like on podcasts like this, which is
(35:00):
really good, and you know, you don't have to just
listen when the show is on live you can listen
anytime you want. But I would I would love to
see the the great epiphany in the radio business because unfortunately,
a lot of the decisions that are made at the
upper management level are not in the best interests of radio.
And I've got a threat of needle here, Jerry, as
(35:22):
you know, but uh, you know, there's just things that
could be made that are better for the listener, better
for the people that work in the business, and I
don't know what it's gonna take to get back to that.
And I feel like there's a lot of money that
could be made for everyone involved in the business if
better decisions were made. And uh, I'm I'm hopeful, but
(35:46):
not not hopeful anytime soon that will get to that point.
But the leadership it really needs to kind of rethink
things in this business because you compare it to some
of the other entertainment industries and I feel like we're
the caboose in the back and it shouldn't be that way, Jerry.
My opinion should not be that way. I'm a radio purist.
(36:07):
I love I agree with you. I agree with you.
I think, you know, it's an outdated concept in a
lot of ways. And you have worked different shifts, just
like I have. And you know I've done morning Drive,
I've done afternoon Drive, but on in the evenings, when
you're on after about six or seven pm East Coast
time at night, you know, management isn't usually listening their
(36:31):
home with their families, either eating dinner or out to
dinner or watching TV. And sometimes you're a forgotten person.
And I made the decision and was a conscious front
elite point drive because I did not want to be
waking up at three in the morning, uh, for the
rest of my life. But by doing that, I you know,
forgot a lot of money and a lot of a
(36:52):
lot in terms of moving and time shifts and realizing that,
you know, a lot of times when my show ended,
I do maybe one of two or three people in
the building left, you know, the radio, the r the
sister stations within the within the corporation, we're all just
you know, music oriented, just running, you know, automatically. So
I was the only live voice on the air until
(37:14):
I signed off. And you know, that got to be
a little I wouldn't say, you know, bothersome, but just
depressing and that you know, there was no one around
and speak to and I was used to that for
a while, but then I got you saw st of
the fact of just being left alone. And I was
one of the advantages is, you know, with the shift
you have, but when you come into the radio station,
(37:35):
you have people around you that you can have conversations
with during the break and it's nice to have that,
or you know, have some people floating around the building
besides the people that are just cleaning up the building. Yeah,
well I don't even see that. I don't even see
the people cleaning up the building. They're done by by
the time. No, no, no. And it's the funniest thing.
And you know, I've gone back to the main studio
(37:56):
about half the time, and uh and I just it
it fastests I walk in there and there's no one.
I mean, the only people there are the people on
on the show, you know who who. You know, Eddie
has to be there because of some technical stuff, and
Roberto has to be there and because of their jobs
they have to be there. But it was it really
It's crazy because it used to be back in the olders,
(38:17):
there were people coming and going all the time. It
was like a a be a bee hive, you know,
it's a lot of activity going on, but but not anymore.
Just I've taken enough of your time. I know you're
on vacation. I appreciate you hanging out with us and
keep me posted. Obviously we're friends, so you're gonna let
me know what happens. And hopefully you can get a
gig somewhere in Baltimore. But if not, somebody's gonna get
(38:40):
a great broadcast or whether it's podcasting me. I hope
we don't lose you in in radio. I hope you
continue on in radio. But if you just go to
a podcast, I hope you make a killing on that.
And uh, and thanks for If I were a betting man, Yeah,
if I were a betting man, and I bet that
I'd eventually be on the radio and crack the mic
on the radio again. When that happens, nobody knows, including me,
(39:03):
including the person who probably may hire me next. We
will see. But you know, the gambling industry is really
opening up. One day it will reach your state and
the state I'm in in Florida, and then I really
think it will take off. So you know, I'm looking
forward to doing some things that involve that. Uh. I
enjoy that as much as you do. And you know,
I mean, the podcasting world has its advantages, as you know,
(39:26):
because you control what you get to say there. You
don't really have big brother watching over you. And you
can wrap it up right now with me if you
wanted to, or we could go another seventeen minutes, but
I know we're not going to do no exactly. That's
a great thing. Like radio, I do. I do four
hours a night. You did, uh, you know, I don't
know how long. What is your show? Three hours? Three
or four hours? Something like that? You did did a lot,
(39:46):
depending depending on if there was a game. Yeah, it
was usually four, but there was a game, we'd have
a pregame show, so it'll be three. Yeah. So I'm like, okay,
podcast most this podcast, these things are like thirty thirty
five minutes. When I go too long, my boss to
say no, no, no. A podcast helps to be about
thirty minutes. Don't go too much longer than thirty minutes
because that's all that's all they want, so correct. Yeah,
(40:08):
all right, Well we'll get out on that. Jerry, thank
you and good luck. We'll talk to you next time. Thanks,
but thanks for having me in to be able to
follow Brent Musburger is one of the great honors of
my career. Just one week after the great brient Musburger Um,
thanks for having me, Ben, and you know I'll be
listening and we'll be in touch well. And Musburger was
on vacation and you're on vacation, so we have you
(40:30):
have that in common. Again, a parallel universe, but I
appreciate the comparison.
Kaboom. If you thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
the old Republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
pill poppers in the penthouse the Clearinghouse of Hot Takes
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now in the air everywhere, and welcome
into the podcast do jo. The Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller and Danny g Radio Black at it again and
(00:44):
we thank you for subscribing. And this podcast, if you
don't know by now, a spin off of the Overnight Show,
The Ben Maller Show, and it is only available in
the podcast format. You cannot get this on terrestrial radio.
As we are in the air everywhere thanks to the
vast power of my heart, the global reach of podcasting,
(01:07):
and every week, three podcasts the week and eight days
a week, because four hours a night are not enough
on the Overnight and you're going on to listen all
weekend because on Saturday I will tell the story I
have never told before. I did something for the first
time in my life last week and I did not
(01:31):
talk about this on the radio show, so I'll talk
about that tomorrow, but right now, we gotta get down
to business. Because I love radio. You know that it's
my job, it's my my life's passion. And I have
friends all over the country. I have made radio friends
that work at different stations, and one of my good
(01:52):
friends I talked about them quite a bit on the
radio show anytime I bring up Baltimore is someone I
refer to as Sports with Coleman. His name is Jerry Coleman.
We've had him on the podcast before. I was on
Jerry's radio show not that long ago. He had done
a night show in Baltimore. And the reason I wanted
(02:13):
to have Jerry on this week is mainly just so
I could talk to him, because we're friends and I
have an excuse to talk to him on the podcast,
but also the fact that he was part of a
mass layoff at his radio station and a national radio
layoff at a competing company. Not I heart, but a
rival of my heart, and Jerry is one of the
(02:35):
good radio guys. He's done it all. He's a really
a Swiss army knife. We used that term for people
in sports, but in sports broadcasting, and Jerry is the
guy that will do a little bit of this, a
little bit of that, a little bit of everything. He's
worked all over the clock. He had done a night
show in Baltimore, He's done morning radio in that city.
(02:55):
He has has been in Baltimore radio for over a decade,
but he's worked over thirty years in the radio business.
And he got let go. He got the old pink
slip from his radio station last week and he joins
us now and Jerry, we have a saying in the
(03:15):
radio business when you're giving the pink slip, when you're
giving your walking papers, that you are on the beach.
But you are literally and figuratively taking that to the
next level, aren't you, Jerry correct? And as I speak
to you now, I am on the beach, not far
from Sarasta in Longboat Key, Florida, to be exact. So
(03:38):
I literally am and was on the beach today. I
am grateful in one aspect and that there was some
bloodshed from the company I worked at, and they did
alert me before I went on vacation, so um, in
other words, I would have found out in the middle
of my vacation had they not told me which I
think you know, it was a more humane way to
(04:00):
approach and this does nothing though Jerry, and I feel
terrible for you, but for my neurosis. And we've known
each other for for a number of years here. But
one of my things is I hate taking vacation because
when I was an intern in San Diego at the
mighty six ninety in my head, I'm not sure this
(04:20):
actually happened, but in my head, every time one of
the hosts took a vacation, they never came back from
vacation and they just they didn't say anything. And so
so when I found out what happened to you, which
was a terrible decision in my opinion, by the station
in Baltimore. But when I found that out, I was like, whoa,
(04:41):
this is now. I can never take a vacation again.
I was like, in my head, I'm like, well that's it.
I can't, I can't go anywhere. But you you handle
it very well. I give you credit, and I'm not
sure how you're enjoying your vacation. Is it? Okay? You've
been on it for a while as we're talking right now,
and this airing on a Friday, So you've been in
your tropical destination for a while. Are you able to compartmentalized, Jerry,
(05:06):
I am. Uh. Severance had a lot to do with that.
The conversation at a time before leaving, I think had
a lot to do with that. I'm glad I didn't
get a phone call in the middle of this vacation
letting me know what unfortunately happened to a lot of
my colleagues around the country in multiple markets. So when
they did tell me that that it was, they actually
took me off and told me, you know, there's gonna
(05:27):
be more to come on Tuesday, whenever, whatever day it
was that they did it. And I was like, okay,
thank you for letting me know, and you know, kind
of when I went in one ear and out the other,
and then I realized, you know, okay, I was tipped
off at a time and they did, you know, in
a way helped me out. I mean, the fact that
you know, I found out before I went on vacation,
(05:50):
um did put a little detriment on the vacation, but
hasn't completely runned it all together because actually, now I'll
extend it because is it's better than knowing I would
say in the middle or then I mean, you get
back and then you get the call and it's like, okay,
I didn't need to come back so soon, So there
(06:10):
is a benefit. I'm trying to be, you know, positive
in that aspect. I've been down this road before, bounce
back before. We'll see what's down the road in the horizon.
I assume there will be something I always has been.
It could be a presumption, but already, you know, I
received you know, correspondence from different people in different industries
(06:31):
and not necessarily radio about different possible avenues. So we
will see where that leads. But I was caught by
a surprise, and you know, in fact, they never give
you your last show on the radio, and I almost
really had that on on my last day on which
was a Thursday, and was let go via zoom on
a Friday. And I had a feeling that morning that
(06:53):
that was the case, and I probably had a feeling
that Thursday night when I did my last show that
that was the case. But I wasn't gonna do anything
to bern any bridges or rip anyone like that and
go out in a ball of flames because I do
want to work again. So I just took the high
road and and did that be a social media and uh,
let it go from there, because I think that's the
(07:14):
best way to go about it. Uh, no grudges. I
think I've been you know, I don't think it was right,
Uh in terms of what I brought to the table,
and in terms of sen only hosting, but covering teams,
doing sports updates. Um, there was just a variety of
things that I did for the radio station over well
over a decade, more close to thirteen years, just over
(07:36):
twelve that you know, I thought sometimes were overrooked. And
maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, we will see.
But what a treat it was to be able to
host your own show in your hometown, choose the guest list,
have complete show control, excuse me of the as you say,
sports talk, real estate, and really not have any micromanaging.
(07:58):
And that was the case until the Yam you know.
I mean I've heard from all sorts of people within
the company reminding me was not performance or rating to
relate it, and it certainly wasn't. It was an unfortunate
aspect of the business and where it is at times
right now. Yeah, it's the business is not in a
good place. We'll get to that. Well, we're getting into
(08:19):
it now, but we'll talk more about it. So you
had a premonition, you had a feeling that the end
was near, and I had something similarly. The only way
you get a final show is if it's leaked in
the New York Post or you're retiring, right, I was
on the air years ago. For those that maybe haven't
heard the story before that listened to this podcast, but
(08:42):
Jerry knows the story. So back in oh nine there
was a presidential election result, well the election was an
OH eight, but the result was announced in oh nine
or the the the changing of the guard, changing of
the president happened in oh nine. It is, I believe,
the second term of Barack Obama. But at that time,
(09:05):
the day before, I remember exactly the date. It was
the day before. I think January twenty one is the
date they change presidents. I believe it's sometimes, yeah, sometime
in January, and uh yeah. Politically, we don't try to
avoid politics now on the podcast. We used to talk
about politics, but I I was respected, I still respect
(09:27):
the presidency, and I always liked watching the the ceremony
from d C and so I it was the night
before and I was planning on watching the ceremony we
were doing the show, and there was a headline of
a bulletin that came. This is the early day as
of Twitter, but there was a story from the New
York Post that there were going to be mass uh
(09:49):
mash mass casualties, layoffs whatever at the company that I
was working for, that they were going to be announced
like the next day, right. So I somebody had sent
me the story actually via a text message, and one
of my friends in the business, and I was right
before the show was about to start, and and so
(10:11):
I I, of course, being the schmuck that I am,
I sent the story. I forwarded it onto everyone else
that was working on the show. And uh. And then
about about ten fifteen minutes in the show, I get
an email from one of the bosses. Now, no one
ever emails me. And now you know, Jerry, you did nights.
(10:31):
You know you don't. You do not get contacted after
work hours like nine to five. That's a red flag
if you do get contact. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm in
my head, I'm connecting the dots here. I'm like, okay, uh,
let's see, I got somebody sent me a story from
The New York Post saying the company I work for
is gonna lay off and get rid of all these people. Uh.
(10:53):
And then ten minutes fifteen minutes later, I get an
email from my boss saying there's a mandatory meeting the
next morning that I have to be at. And I said, well,
you know, I'm not that bright, but I think I
can connect the pieces here. I think we've got something.
And my my producer was losing his mind. He's like,
(11:14):
oh my god, I'm gonna be He'd never been fired before,
the never lost a job. He actually ended up running.
He's an assistant program director at a radio station. Now
they had we had an intern that had just started.
He relocated. Kid from Boston had relocated, moved to l
It was his first night working on my show. And
(11:34):
oh goodness, he got he got he got. Kid moved
all the way to l A for one night. Yeah. So, like,
what happened to your team? Jar? Are they still there?
Are they? Have you talked to your your producer? I know?
Oh yeah, no, well yeah, I mean yeah yeah. They
all survived. And producers that I worked with over the years,
(11:56):
and people that I helped out that such some very
nice things on social d on you know, some of
the things I passed along to him over the years.
But the premonition came from the fact that my boss
was also going on vacation and this person was like, no,
I really would like to meet with you on Friday
morning before we go away on vacation. I just think
(12:18):
it's important we talked before you go away. And I
had requested a meeting um weeks ago and left it
alone and didn't even follow up with it. And this
was titled a catchup meeting, just catching up, and I
swear to God, within thirty seconds I was I was
done of within the zoom meeting and I said, wow,
I you know, I thought you would do something like
(12:40):
this face to face. And the person indicated something that
actually rang true, you know, and I'll give him. They
said they didn't want to waste my time, had me
drive all the way with gas prices lay there right now,
I appreachd drive all the way in just to tell
you you're terminated. So it was all done via zoom now,
and the human resources person was all line as well
(13:01):
and bing bang boom, and it was over. Well that
is nice because they made us all drive in one
Karen Kay, who you know who I worked with for
a while. KK. I love KK because KK, you know
season professional radio woman. She also knew we were getting
uh we were getting pole axed that day and she said,
(13:23):
I'm not driving in. I'm not driving to get told
I'm not working there anymore. And she didn't do it,
and uh, I still I love the fact that she
repelled at that at that particular moment. Well, the cool
thing now and I didn't have this the last time
I got Uh, I got whacked in the businesses that
(13:44):
with social media now and I was gonna say, well,
send a message to your listeners. But you can keep
track of a lot of your fans, your a via Twitter,
which is another social media which has gotta be great
that you know, whenever you get your next gig, wherever
it is, whatever platform it happens to be, you can
let people know. And for so long in our business,
(14:04):
as you referenced, when you get let go, you don't
get to say goodbye. They don't allow you to to
have a final opportunity in in radio to say goodbye
to your to your listeners. And so you at least
have a chance to connect with a lot of people
via social media, as you said, people were reaching out
to you. So that's gotta be nice that, you know,
(14:24):
six months down the line, a year down line, whatever
it is, you get your next job, hopefully sooner after
your seference runs out. Whenever that is, uh, you can
bring the bring the band back together, right, You've got
that going for you. That is definitely possible. And if
I were to go to the podcast route, I don't
know if that would interfere with some of the terms
of the sefferance, so that could be something that I do.
(14:46):
I'm not just gonna do it for the heck of it,
just like you don't do it for the heck of it.
I mean, we all like to here are voices and
all that. Frankly, after thirty two years on the radio
and you know, worrying about your next job, after using
your previous job, I decided, you know, I'm going to
keep pursuing. I'm not giving up, but I'm also not
going to jump right back in at the first thing
(15:10):
that's thrown my way. I'm going to enjoy some time off, regroup,
hopefully have something by the time football season goes, because
it's the very important time and that that was the
downside is you know, I've been out covering the Ravens
and I have to tell you, you know, the Oils
have been nice in terms of some of the responses
I've gotten, But Man of Baltimore Ravens a team that
(15:33):
I know you'd like to pick on at times. And
I have taken so many shots at this team, yet
they have rhino skin, as you like to say. Because
I've heard from so many people in that organization, very
high up, even you know, the PR department. Um, they
still have invited me to come out to their practices,
(15:53):
games and all that. Frankly, I appreciate that, but I
told them I'm probably gonna be reluctant in doing that.
If I'm not working, I don't see a reason to
be out there. But I appreciate the invite, being able
to be around the team and all that, But after
thirty some years, I just want to make it as
part of a job and not just go out there
and you know, play grab bass as you say, and
(16:15):
you know, just be around the players and the coach
and hear what they have to say. I can do
that from a distance too, So yeah, probably not going
to do that again until I'm actually gainfully employed. But
very classy of them to do that, and the Orioles
are honoring my credential as well. I just kind of hurt,
not as much as as the Ravens, but that just
maybe a set of circumstances where the team has been
(16:36):
on the road. But I do appreciate. You know, you
got a chance, like you to be able to work
in your home town where you were raised. You know,
that's that's a dream come true. Yeah, no, it's great.
And I do give the Ravens credit, even though I
will continue to bash them that they uh, they at
least handle things the right ways, as I have tried
to say to people who I know. For example, I
(16:57):
ripped the Lakers all the time, and the Lakers have
been still allow me out there if I want to go.
I don't go as much anymore, uh, just because I
don't know anybody in the in the the Beat report.
I used to know all the Beat reporters back in
the day, and everyone used to go out there, and
I go out there and it's I don't know anybody
as far you know, just about I have. There's only
a few people I know. But the Lakers been okay.
(17:18):
But that's the thing, Jerry, like these teams, we play
a role as the critic in the upper balcony and
they're the ones that are rolling in money. And it's
it's a nice marriage though it's okay. It's you don't
have to be confrontational. And there's a lot of places
and we know teams, Jerry that have have spat Louis
(17:41):
at guys. Uh, the the Angels a great example, the Angel.
You talk about the Angels, and I would say the
equivalent of that is the NFL t down that that's
the closest of Baltimore. It can be very spiteful as well. Yeah,
so that's good to hear about the the Raven. Are
we gonna be able to continue to spar about Lamar Jackson.
(18:03):
We've had a few text conversations, we've talked on the phone.
We've sure. I mean everything, I think everything I've said
and predicted is currently still true as we're speaking right now.
I do not anticipate a contract coming. The guy is
gonna make twenty three million dollars this year, and that's
(18:23):
more he's made in any year in his entire life.
If you were to say that then, uh, he would
be set for life if you were to invest it
the right way. But this is a guy that doesn't
have an agent, plays in a town in Baltimore. We're
the most popular player on the team right now, is
the kicker. I can't think of any other NFL market
where that's the case with Justin Tucker has all the endorsements,
(18:47):
he has a new contract. Um, he's already being called
the goat, which I'm always uncomfortable with calling a player
the greatest of all time, except maybe Tom Brady while
they're still playing. But Lamar is us gonna go out
and I think play football and gamble on himself, and
he better hope he doesn't get hurt because it'll be
the most expensive injury in NFL history. And again, doesn't
(19:10):
have any deals in terms of endorsements or anything outside
of just playing football, because either he's stubborn or his
mother's stubborn, or they're stubborn together. But not having an
age and continues sir that what's it like being around Lamar?
You've covered a few quarterbacks in your time in in radio.
What's the day to day like with Lamar Jackson? And well,
(19:34):
some people think he has like this magical touch you
know about him, and he's not a funny personality and everything.
I wouldn't say he's great in terms of getting a
lot of content because when you do listen to him talk,
it's just very brief answers. But I mean just being
around him in terms of personality. Likes to crack jokes,
you know, and also makes you realize how old you
(19:56):
are been because he's in his young twenties, and you know,
he reads the stuff he posts on social media, but
it's very hard to relate to him as someone who's
almost twice his age, if not a little bit further
than that. So that's the difference between a lot of
today's athletes and and the way I look at things,
it's like a totally different generation. Some of the stuff
(20:16):
they post on social media, you know, is either above
my pay grade or I just you know, it's a
parallel universe, and the generation levide. At what point did
that happen for you? It happens for everyone a little differently.
But I I know from my time and I did
the same job that you had early on. We were
(20:37):
both radio stringers, radio reporters, so we were in locker
rooms quite often doing our thing. And and I'm trying
to like, at what point when guys started retiring that
I was around like every day. That was the first sign.
But then when you saw players kids get to the
big leagues, I was like, wait a minute, what what
(20:59):
is going on here? And that happened. You know, obviously
it takes twenty years or whatever, but at that point,
I'm like, wow, this is well, there's prime, there's prime
examples everywhere. It's funny you mention that because Orlando Brown Jr.
I covered SEUs his father when he was with the
Ravens after he had left the Browns. He made all
that money if you get hit the eye by the
(21:19):
penalty flag and all that he was. He was a
wild character. And then his son comes to the Ravens
and is there for a cup of coffee before wanting
more money trying to play left tackle. I mean you
mentioned Vladimir or Guerrero Senior. I was just talking with
someone today about he was the worst ball hitter I've
ever seen, and you know, now his kids playing and
making more money than he is. So yeah, it does
(21:41):
make you feel kind of old. But also when you
read some of these tweets and posts on social media,
it's like I don't even understand, you know, when you
read them aloud, especially on the radio, it's like, I understand,
you only have a certain number of characters you can use,
but sometimes it's like you're reading something from another world
or another universe. So it's hard to decipher a lot
(22:02):
of this. And then you try to ask for clarity
at a press conference and you don't get much there. So, yeah,
that's a strange thing about social media and some of
the language that's used on there and the lingo, and
you know, you just have to try and figure it
out for yourself or maybe speak to someone who's twenty
years younger than you. You need a Dakota ring, Jerry.
You've got to get one of those Dakota rings, and
(22:24):
you have to on the fly be able to interpret
and change words around to make them broadcast friendly. I
believe so. But now that you are, for the moment
on the beach from your gig in Baltimore, and who knows,
maybe you'll get another gig in Baltimore. But until that happens,
will you now admit on the record on the Fifth
(22:46):
Hour podcast here that the cal Ripken. Kevin Costner's story,
the urban legend was legit that it actually happened that
the night the power went down at Camden Yards. That
was because of an incident, a brew haha, a ker
fluffle that took place between actor Kevin Costner and Cal Ripken.
(23:08):
Right now that I know you were headed down that
avenue is as I heard you say, well you finally
admit you do realize on your own network years ago,
didn't Kevin Costn call in at one point to your network?
I'm pretty sure, ye, more than sure. He called in
after one of your hosts and I don't know if
it was you or someone else repeated that ridiculous story,
(23:31):
and he called in to defend it. Uh No, I
will not concede that. Having been there at the ballpark
that night, I just think that's posterous. I saw the
guy before the game. I don't believe he left the
ballpark to go home to beat up Kevin Costner. No,
I'm just not he didn't go home. Jerry the way,
and I the reason I buy the story he walked
(23:52):
in on him as part of the not not hold
us all right? So I eat after that happened, it
might even be the night of, but I think it
was the night after. It was the night I was
they were playing. Yeah, it was. It was a big
say and the Mariners had a great team and they
were they were a sexy team at that time. That's
how long ago this was. The Orioles actually were considered
(24:15):
a model franchise still, although they had kind of gonne
down a little bit. And so I was covering the
Dodgers though, So I'm I'm on the West coast and
a buddy of mine comes up to me says, You're
not gonna believe what happened in Baltimore. And he says,
I just got off the phone with uh, you know
person X will Say, who happens to be somewhat connected
(24:37):
to the ownership in Baltimore, who said, hey, this is
what he gave you, the whole story. It was like
right away, the story was right there, and and then
you know, I was like okay, and people's of course
denied it. But that thing had amazing legs. But the
story was Ripkin was he had Costner staying at his
(24:58):
house and and they were golfing or whatever, and then
he had to go to the ballpark and on his
way to the ballpark. He had forgotten something that he
needed and he came back to the house and he
walked in and he saw Kevin Costner doing something that
most people who are in in cal Ripkins situation would
(25:21):
not appreciate. And uh, and then it was on and
there was like a little sparring match that took place there.
But again, I recall seeing them and maybe even speaking
with them before the game that day. No indication there
was power out in that blocked area at Camden. You know,
(25:41):
the massive conspiracy we're talking about here is you know,
I mean multiple levels that would have to go. And
again I just well know, yeah, the conspiracy is that
the Orioles somebody made a phone call to the power
company there or in Baltimore and they shut the power out.
Has got the cord that happened since as they had
(26:04):
they had a power outage, there hasn't Now, there was
There was a power outage when a train hit a
power generator one time. I do remember that. That was
the only other time the power was out in fact
at any I know we had the Super Bowl thing
where they lost power of the Ravens and I was
there in New Orleans yeah, but and that was only
(26:26):
half the stadium by the way, It wasn't like we
were in the dark and I couldn't see the person
next to me. That was a bit exaggerated, But nonetheless
it wasn't good enough to play football for a while. Yeah, yeah,
but but I'm trying to think, like, how many other
times had they had to cancel the game completely because
the power went out? Uh? And probably in the history
of the yard that's a great question. That might be
the outlier there. They didn't they didn't play, they didn't
(26:50):
play it. They didn't play a fanless game in the
middle of riots going on around town. But yeah, that
was I don't think that's uh, I don't think that's
been repeated. And so no, I do understand your skepticism then,
but well, not only have you know off to wait
for the movie or documentary to come out on that places,
well everyone and everyone's gonna have to die before that happens.
(27:12):
But but do you think Kevin Popsker would play himself
in that movie? Hey, if the checks big enough, man
Ti Tao is playing. He's in a documentary about being
catfish at Notre Dame back in the day. So how much.
Do you think he's getting paid? Man, I will add that.
I will add that cow has remarried. Ah, there you go,
(27:34):
adding on. But this was years later, years later, water
unto the bridge. Okay, all right, I maintained. I am convinced.
I buy it hook line and sinker, just like I
buy that the Patrick Ewing NBA Draft lottery was fixed
for the Knicks, and they still didn't win the championship
even with being given Ewing because they froze the envelope,
(27:58):
the frozen on the Yeah, you're still going with that theory.
I'm trying to think what other theories out there are
still being perpetuated till this day. Oh, there's great. I believe.
I believe a lot of Michael Jordan's was suspended from
the NBA for gambling. Gambling. He then played minor league
baseball in Birmingham, Alabama. Would also like to let you know, Jerry,
(28:19):
I got a Birmingham Baron's hat added to my collection.
I collect b hats and the old the one Jordan
war the old Birmingham Baron's hat from back in the day.
But but I believe that Jordan was suspended, but they
didn't want to. They didn't want to shame him publicly,
so David Stern and the NBA hierarchy got together and
(28:41):
they came up with this fugazi minor league baseball thing.
So I buy that one. I buy the ripping one,
the ewing one. What other great sports conspiracies have there
been here? I'm trying to think now, I'm really racking
my brain to think of just again outrageous conspiracy ease
in the Annals of Sports. You know, that's why they said,
(29:04):
Um Jordan's father was killed as payback. That was also
part of it. Um when when he lost his father
very strangely in that situation. Yes, uh yeah, Now, anything
that's happened with Tiger Woods I don't believe as accurate
from the uh incident outside his driveway in Orlando with
(29:26):
his What was that was that it was a holiday night.
I don't know. Yes, I was on the air and oh,
like I still remember a call I took the night
that happened. Of course, I I went insane to the
membrane with wall the wall. I never do four hours
on the same topic if I can avoid it. But
it was Thanksgiving. It was we Thanksgiving weekend, and I
(29:47):
know there was football, but I just kept going back
to Tiger Woods, and he got chased and there was
a car accident and all that stuff. I believe all
that because that happened again to him where he was
under the influence and couldn't drive his car. And I
do believe, I do believe he wasn't. You know, I
don't think he was a thousand percent sober when he
drove off a cliff and in southern California either no, no, no,
(30:11):
I they found a bottle of pills like that were
fell out of the car on that Tiger has been
able to to dodge a lot of a lot of trouble.
But I I remember ranting about that, and I had
a caller who said, why are you talking about this?
Nobody cares, nobody believes t MZ. This didn't happen, you know.
(30:33):
It's it's that It's just like when I ripped Rafael
Palmero back in the day after he the day after
I mentioned this the other day on the on the
radio show, but he had gotten his three thousand hit.
It was like a Friday night in Seattle, and I
remember that I was listening to your show and covering
the team and I was there when he did his
to not probably one of the and I feel comfortable
in saying this on your podcast. When it comes to intellect,
(30:56):
I would say Rafael Palmerro still rates is probably one
of the top five dumbest athletes I've ever had to
cover in terms of responses and quotes and even trying
to lie. I mean, he was terrible at that. Yeah,
he got he got burned. But I came on the
next next afternoon. I was doing like a fill in
shift on the in the afternoon, and I I said, well,
(31:17):
how do we know that Palmero is this is a
legitimate thing, this this is a clean thing. And uh,
people from your neck of the woods there, Jerry from
from the state of Maryland called up and they had
the traditional accent going and they were like, yes, you know,
this is why you're doing weekend radio. You know, you
know there's there's nothing Palmero. No, he's not cheating all
(31:39):
this stuff. And then shortly thereafter we know what happened.
I couldn't believe it, because you know, we were led
to believe that the steroid player was you know, all
bulked up and had the back act and all. He
didn't fit the characteristics. But then it made sense and
then uh, I remember mcguel Tahada being involved saying that,
you know, he spiked the shot of his and both
(32:02):
of those guys became pariahs around the organization and we're
never really back. Rafael palm Arrow has never been invited
back for anything. So they just celebrated the thirty year
anniversary of Camden Yards and his name was never mentioned.
Not that he had well he did. I mean he
had some milestone moments in that ballpark. He's one of
the few players they hit five hundred home runs and
three thousand hits, but you know, no one really talks
(32:24):
about that because he's a cheater. Yeah. Well, and that's
the future of Fernando Tatis Jr. Like the Padre fans
will be okay with him as long as he hits,
but everyone else it's gonna be vicious. Well that's again,
that's that's one of those like you know, we have
our fun with Kyler Murray and you look at towns
like that. I guess it's gonna be hard for me
(32:45):
to work in towns, certain towns if I start making
fun of him. But you know, there are towns that
have never won a championship, and it's just hard to
imagine that when you've been fortunate to be around teams
that have won championships, you know you should never take
that for granted. I mean, I been able to cover
two super Bowls. Your rams are just coming off winning
a super Bowl at home. You look at towns like
(33:06):
Cleveland and San Diego and Arizona and Buffalo, and they've
been waiting their entire lives. Yeah, no, it is. It
is true. But the the thing I have noticed from
doing the Overnight Show over the years is the tribalism
is next level in certain towns. It's why Houston, Phoenix, Uh, Cleveland.
(33:28):
I've had many battles. Heck, even in your old neck
of the woods there in Baltimore where you live. Oh,
they circle the wagons, they circle the wagon. I ripped,
I made some I made some jokes about ray Lewis
actually the last that Super Bowl against the forty Niners,
and guys were very upset with me. Is threatening me.
I just thought of another conspiracy theory, though I had forgotten.
(33:51):
A few minutes ago. In Sports Game six of the
Western Conference Finals in like twenty years ago, Lakers and Kings. Yes,
that and that was Now Tim Donnie, I do not
believe he actually worked the game, but Tim Donnie, he
claimed that was that was a fixed job to keep
Sacramento out, to keep Sacramento from going to the championship round. Yeah, yeah,
so I I buy that one. I buy that one another.
(34:16):
David S. Stern Special, I guess so you got too
out his plate right now? Yeah, And and what's they
what do they say? Pirates, dead men, tell no tales. Right,
he's not here, he can't be here to defend himself.
So you know, yeah, there's there's there's nothing going on.
He's he's moved on. He's he's checked out there. And
(34:38):
that's the way that goes. So uh as far as
the radio stuff, getting back to the radio business and
the radio said, we've been in the business a long time, Jerry,
I love radio. You know. Now it's a lot of
podcasting and radio. They've been able to companies have been
able to figure out that, you know, not only is
it the live show, but you can listen whenever you
want on demand, like on podcasts like this, which is
(35:00):
really good, and you know, you don't have to just
listen when the show is on live you can listen
anytime you want. But I would I would love to
see the the great epiphany in the radio business because unfortunately,
a lot of the decisions that are made at the
upper management level are not in the best interests of radio.
And I've got a threat of needle here, Jerry, as
(35:22):
you know, but uh, you know, there's just things that
could be made that are better for the listener, better
for the people that work in the business, and I
don't know what it's gonna take to get back to that.
And I feel like there's a lot of money that
could be made for everyone involved in the business if
better decisions were made. And uh, I'm I'm hopeful, but
(35:46):
not not hopeful anytime soon that will get to that point.
But the leadership it really needs to kind of rethink
things in this business because you compare it to some
of the other entertainment industries and I feel like we're
the caboose in the back and it shouldn't be that way, Jerry.
My opinion should not be that way. I'm a radio purist.
(36:07):
I love I agree with you. I agree with you.
I think, you know, it's an outdated concept in a
lot of ways. And you have worked different shifts, just
like I have. And you know I've done morning Drive,
I've done afternoon Drive, but on in the evenings, when
you're on after about six or seven pm East Coast
time at night, you know, management isn't usually listening their
(36:31):
home with their families, either eating dinner or out to
dinner or watching TV. And sometimes you're a forgotten person.
And I made the decision and was a conscious front
elite point drive because I did not want to be
waking up at three in the morning, uh, for the
rest of my life. But by doing that, I you know,
forgot a lot of money and a lot of a
(36:52):
lot in terms of moving and time shifts and realizing that,
you know, a lot of times when my show ended,
I do maybe one of two or three people in
the building left, you know, the radio, the r the
sister stations within the within the corporation, we're all just
you know, music oriented, just running, you know, automatically. So
I was the only live voice on the air until
(37:14):
I signed off. And you know, that got to be
a little I wouldn't say, you know, bothersome, but just
depressing and that you know, there was no one around
and speak to and I was used to that for
a while, but then I got you saw st of
the fact of just being left alone. And I was
one of the advantages is, you know, with the shift
you have, but when you come into the radio station,
(37:35):
you have people around you that you can have conversations
with during the break and it's nice to have that,
or you know, have some people floating around the building
besides the people that are just cleaning up the building. Yeah,
well I don't even see that. I don't even see
the people cleaning up the building. They're done by by
the time. No, no, no. And it's the funniest thing.
And you know, I've gone back to the main studio
(37:56):
about half the time, and uh and I just it
it fastests I walk in there and there's no one.
I mean, the only people there are the people on
on the show, you know who who. You know, Eddie
has to be there because of some technical stuff, and
Roberto has to be there and because of their jobs
they have to be there. But it was it really
It's crazy because it used to be back in the olders,
(38:17):
there were people coming and going all the time. It
was like a a be a bee hive, you know,
it's a lot of activity going on, but but not anymore.
Just I've taken enough of your time. I know you're
on vacation. I appreciate you hanging out with us and
keep me posted. Obviously we're friends, so you're gonna let
me know what happens. And hopefully you can get a
gig somewhere in Baltimore. But if not, somebody's gonna get
(38:40):
a great broadcast or whether it's podcasting me. I hope
we don't lose you in in radio. I hope you
continue on in radio. But if you just go to
a podcast, I hope you make a killing on that.
And uh, and thanks for If I were a betting man, Yeah,
if I were a betting man, and I bet that
I'd eventually be on the radio and crack the mic
on the radio again. When that happens, nobody knows, including me,
(39:03):
including the person who probably may hire me next. We
will see. But you know, the gambling industry is really
opening up. One day it will reach your state and
the state I'm in in Florida, and then I really
think it will take off. So you know, I'm looking
forward to doing some things that involve that. Uh. I
enjoy that as much as you do. And you know,
I mean, the podcasting world has its advantages, as you know,
(39:26):
because you control what you get to say there. You
don't really have big brother watching over you. And you
can wrap it up right now with me if you
wanted to, or we could go another seventeen minutes, but
I know we're not going to do no exactly. That's
a great thing. Like radio, I do. I do four
hours a night. You did, uh, you know, I don't
know how long. What is your show? Three hours? Three
or four hours? Something like that? You did did a lot,
(39:46):
depending depending on if there was a game. Yeah, it
was usually four, but there was a game, we'd have
a pregame show, so it'll be three. Yeah. So I'm like, okay,
podcast most this podcast, these things are like thirty thirty
five minutes. When I go too long, my boss to
say no, no, no. A podcast helps to be about
thirty minutes. Don't go too much longer than thirty minutes
because that's all that's all they want, so correct. Yeah,
(40:08):
all right, Well we'll get out on that. Jerry, thank
you and good luck. We'll talk to you next time. Thanks,
but thanks for having me in to be able to
follow Brent Musburger is one of the great honors of
my career. Just one week after the great brient Musburger Um,
thanks for having me, Ben, and you know I'll be
listening and we'll be in touch well. And Musburger was
on vacation and you're on vacation, so we have you
(40:30):
have that in common. Again, a parallel universe, but I
appreciate the comparison.
Host
Ben Maller
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