There aren't enough hours in the day to do all he does. But somehow he gets it done. Jeff Stevens, an iHeart Radio veteran, member of the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the Arena voice of the UD Flyers, takes time out of his busy schedule to talk about it all. The NCAA First Four Tournament in Dayton, Ohio, for which he also handles the Arena duties; his rock & roll career as lead singer of Stranger, making music with his idols, and what's ahead.
Then, Dr. Brian Calfano of the University of Cincinnati weighs in on the resignation of Mitch McConnell as Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate come November; on the change of power, what it means for Kentucky, and what it means for McConnell himself, especially if Donald Trump is re-elected.
Stranger band
Mix 107.7 Morning Show
Dayton Hoopla website for NCAA First Four fun
UC link to Dr. Brian Calfano
IMDB Brian Robert Calfano
Then, Dr. Brian Calfano of the University of Cincinnati weighs in on the resignation of Mitch McConnell as Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate come November; on the change of power, what it means for Kentucky, and what it means for McConnell himself, especially if Donald Trump is re-elected.
Stranger band
Mix 107.7 Morning Show
Dayton Hoopla website for NCAA First Four fun
UC link to Dr. Brian Calfano
IMDB Brian Robert Calfano
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
This week on iHeart Cincy. Igave the final score and I get ready
to put the microphone down. Lebroncomes over and says, give me the
mic. Yes, the Lebron James. He played at the UD Arena when
he was just a senior in highschool. And we're going to hear from
the man who had that encounter withthe soon to be legendary Cleveland native who
went on to be the number onescorer in NBA history. Today, I'm
(00:23):
talking with UD Flyers Basketball Arena announcerJeff Stephens about his brush with Lebron Flyer
basketball and all the amazing fans,his role in the NCAA First Four Tournament
coming up March nineteenth and twentieth atUD Arena, and then a little later
we'll talk about his eighties rock band, one of the most popular in the
Miami Valley, and his on endinglove for the Cincinnati Reds. And later,
(00:47):
one of the most powerful men inWashington is from Kentucky, and come
November, Senator Mitch McConnell says he'llstep down as Minority leader of the Republicans
in the Senate. Today. Professorof political science and Journalism at you See
Brian Calfano is back to give ushis thoughts on Mitch McConnell. This may
be for him the most attractive optiongoing forward over the next few years,
(01:07):
because it gives him a chance tobe the cantankeris type. And Calfano asks
out loud, will McConnell take offthe gloves in his last term? Now
on iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins.Welcome. This is Ihared Cincy. I'm
Sandy Collins. This is a communityaffairs show for all the good folks in
Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana, and for anybody who cares about the
(01:30):
important issues we face both here andreally nationally. My first guest is an
old friend. Folks. I wantyou to meet Jeff Stevens and let me
just give you a long list ofhis accolades that I can remember. A
member of the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hallof Fame, he's our sister station mixed
morning show host for the last twohundred years. He's the first voice of
(01:53):
the Dayton Dragons baseball team twenty fouryears ago. He is the voice of
the Dayton Flyers basketball time team foralmost that long. You have your own
band, which we're not even gonnahave time to talk about, and I'm
sure a plethora of other things thatyou have been involved in the last few
years that we've kind of gone ourseparate ways. So Jeff Stevens, welcome
(02:19):
to iHeart Sinsey Sandy Collins. Sonice to talk to you again, friend,
and so nice to get to workwith you for a couple of minutes.
Thank you for the wonderful introduction ithas been. Yeah, I mean
you and I started working together twentyfive years ago at least, oh yeah,
more than that. It was init was in the nineties. Yeah,
(02:40):
And this is just a side note. We did a show similar to
this back to twenty five years ago. We called it Coffee Talk, and
it was a public affairs show andit was fun, kind of loosely,
loosely informative show with a lot oflaughs. So we're hoping to laugh a
(03:01):
little bit here today and kind ofreminisce. But I wanted to talk to
you mainly because the NC Doubla Firstfour is coming back to the University of
Dayton, which is just such agreat thing for the Flyers and for the
Dayton community, and you're the voiceof this tournament along with the voice of
the Dayton Flyers. So let's getstarted there and kind of talk about first,
(03:23):
how did you become the Dayton Flyersbasketball team arena announcer? How long
ago? And then we'll transition intothe NC DOUBLEA. Yeah, it was
well. You and I got towork together at the inaugural season of the
Dayton Dragons here in Dayton, andthat fall after the first Dragon season,
so the fall of two thousand,the Flyers called me and said, hey,
(03:46):
you do the Dragons games. Wouldyou have any interest in doing the
Flyers games? And I was like, wow, the men's Flyers games in
the arena. And they're like yeah, and I said of course. So
I went to do an audition andI went to the arena. It was
just me and this you know,sports information guy, just two of us
in the arena and he had alittle nine inch television and a video cassette
(04:09):
and he said, here, Iwant you to, you know, to
introduce some things. And I saidokay, And I mean I had no
idea. I mean, I playedbasketball, but I've never announced basketball before.
So I was like, I don'tknow what you want me to say.
And he said, well, thisis this is Tony Stanley. Say
that he made a three point basket. Okay, Tony Stanley for three?
(04:29):
All right? This guy just gotfouled and this guy went in and say
that he's shooting free throws. AndI did that, and I'm not kidding.
Ninety seconds later, I walked outand I called my family and I
said, hey, guys, guesswhat job I'm not getting. That would
be the Dayton Flyers men's basketball announcingjob. And they called me a week
later and said you're the guy.And I double check to make sure they
(04:51):
knew who they were calling in casethey called the wrong person, and sure
enough, they said it was me, and they wanted to give me a
shot and kind of go in adifferent direction. And that was twenty four
years ago. So I'm just aboutto finish well impact. In fact,
this past Friday night for Senior Nightat the Arena was the end of my
twenty fourth season, and I doget to do the first four games,
(05:13):
which is a really cool benefit ofbeing part of the ud staff. And
you replaced a long time announcer,and that's always difficult when you jump into
a place where everyone loves the announcerat the stadium that they've heard for so
many years, but you've certainly madeit your own. You know, when
you do the Flyers, you haveto do some prep work. You have
to figure out the names of theother teams and the pronunciations, which we
(05:33):
always have fun with. But nowwhen you do the first four, it's
it's very different because the teams aren'teven announced yet, and now you have
to cram with your other full timejob and all your other things that you're
doing to try to figure out howto do this, not only at the
arena but on ESPN. Yeah,it's it is the I love doing the
(05:59):
Flyers because I'm very familiar with them, and then I just have to kind
of lock in on what's you knowwhat, whatever team is coming in.
This year, there's been a coupleinteresting games where I could actually hear the
crowd as I was giving somebody whomaybe had like three or four names that
were all hard to pronounce, youknow, with a couple hyphens, and
I could just I can kind ofhear the crowd sort of snicker like,
hey, we're with you, buddy, We we That was a good one
(06:20):
right there. But with the firstfour as you were referring to, I'm
dealing with two teams that I don'treally know anything about, and especially because
there are two games, or thereare four games in two days and they're
back to back games, there's notime to think or prep or anything.
It's one game gets over, yougive the final score, and I am
(06:41):
tearing right into the next two teamsthat are coming in, and I'm trying
to find, you know, oneof their people or their radio announcer or
whatever to make sure to get thepronunciations. I'm very, very particular about
that. I never want to sayanybody's name wrong. I don't care if
you know, if if they nevereven play, I want to get their
name right when I do the introductionor whatever. So, yeah, that's
very important to me. And it'sa different level of stress than the regular
(07:05):
season is, and it's a differentlevel of stress than it is on the
radio when you're just in your studiowith a couple of other people. Meanwhile,
at the Judo Arena during these firstfour games and during the Flyers games,
what's the capacity there. It's thirteenthousand and five. It sounds like
nineteen, Yeah, it sounds likenineteen, but it's a loud, loud
(07:26):
place and they react. You know, some of the best fans in the
country, and it's really been funto get to know some of them and
be a part of it because youknow, and you mentioned replacing a legend.
Charlie Robinson was there for thirty yearsand I just finished by twenty fourth.
So between the two of us,the last fifty four years, it's
just been the two of us callingthe games. And Charlie was just an
(07:47):
amazing guy and a true legend,and everybody was used to his voice the
first few years. They it wasbefore social media, so they kind of
shielded me, as I found outlater from the who's this guy, Get
him out of there. We don'tlike this, He's not like the old
guy. They kind of shielded mefrom that, which I was very thankful
for. They told me, Youtold me about year five that nobody really
(08:09):
liked me the first couple of years. I said, oh, okay,
because you know, that would havebeen really that would have been a blow,
you know, to not only tothe ego, but also to your
confidence, you know, just tryingto go out there and do it.
So I did try to just makeit my own thing, and then eventually
it has kind of become my ownthing. So but yeah, there's there's
definitely times where the stress level isup there. Lebron James played his last
(08:31):
high school basketball game there. Thatwas a that was an interesting moment to
introduce him, and it was abig deal that they were playing, you
know, that he was playing hislast game there, and the place instantly
sold out. And after the gamewas over, I gave the final score
and I get ready to, youknow, put the microphone down. Lebron
comes over and says, give methe mic. And I'm looking around,
(08:52):
going, uh, we don't givethe mic to players. Sorry, and
I'm like, I know you're LebronJames. And my produce next to me
said, I'm sorry, we can'tgive you the mike. He's like,
give me the mic. I'm going, okay, this, what's what's happening
here? And then his mom issitting behind me. She's like, you
give him the mic and I'm peerpressure is off the charts right now,
(09:13):
and I said And then I finallylooked at my producer and she just give
him the mic. I said,Okay, you said it, so here
you go, mister James. Youknow, he's eighteen. I'm like,
here you go, and uh yeah, he just thanked the crowd for coming
out, thanked everybody for the support. It was really great. But it
was a wow moment I wasn't expecting. So you had to kind of push
back against Lebron James for a hotminute. That's uh, that's yeah,
(09:37):
that's kind of a very no doubt. You've never forgiven me. Yeah,
You've just had this this desire tobe deeply involved in the community, deeply
involved in entertainment, deeply involved insports. Tell me a little bit about
your sports career. I forget someof those details. When you were playing
baseball back in the day. Yeah, played baseball at Tip City High School
(09:58):
here, played basketball there as well, and then played some summers with Frosty
Brown and Post forty three Legion team, which back at the time, you
know, you didn't have all theseAAU and select groups and everything else.
You if you were going to playsome baseball outside of your your high school
team, you played for you know, for probably an American Legion team.
So that's what I did and andreally had my sights set on playing baseball
(10:22):
for the rest of my life.Uh, and uh and things didn't go
quite as well as uh as asI was told that they probably would when
I went to Bowling Green to playup there. So I just quickly shifted
things over to my to my radiocareer, which is where I got to
meet the most amazing program director ofall time, Scott Sloan, and uh
(10:45):
our Scott Sloan. He was thedirector, really really, he was my
first program director. Scott Sloane wasmy first program director, and he was
awesome and I learned so much fromhim and he and his buddy, right
I know, we're on the morningshow, and I mean it was just
when they were walking around, itwasn't just like others two nerds from the
college radio station. It was like, that's Scotty and Rhino right there.
(11:09):
So it was a really really coolthing. So it's fun to be able
to get to listen to him onWLW after all these years. You know,
we're working forty five minutes apart.That's a pretty sweet deal. I
told him you were opening up forRick Springfield again this year, and he
said, oh nice, let mesee you look at that and we were
looking at the mixed fest ad.You are the lead singer and the rock
(11:33):
star of Stranger. How long haveyou had that band together? Wow?
Things tend to I don't know.It was the last century, wasn't it.
It was the last century? RightWell. Our drummer is the newest
guy in the band, the newestguy, and he joined in nineteen ninety
six, so we always say that'sthe new guy. That's the new guy
(11:54):
right there, and he's from BeautifulMason, Ohio Rob and we yeah,
he's the newest guy in the band. So it's pretty cool. This is
our twenty eighth summer of going outto play and to get to open for
Richard Marx and Rick Springfield. That'sJuly twentieth at the phrase. But we've
been able to open for Riu Speedwagonand lover Boy and thirty eight Special and
(12:16):
Rick Springfield. This will be oursixth time to open for him, which
is really crazy. We've had thechance to record with some of these guys
as well, which has also beennuts. Just you know, the stuff
that you and I used to thinkabout when we were in middle school in
high school, about you know,being on the radio or performing someday.
It's been really cool to see someof them a lot of them really come
(12:37):
to Fruition, so it's been prettysweet. I'm going to pose a question
to you here. What would youdo if you booked your idol again this
year Rick Springfield? And he said, thanks, buddy, we don't want
stranger to open for us, sowe want a fresh show to open up.
What would you do? Believe me, I'm sure he's probably already said
(13:00):
that. No, Actually I rememberthat in the beginning, because you know,
we have concerns about conflict of interestin this business. You were very
reluctant to ever have the two coand sut a radio event with your band
event, and went out of yourway to make sure that nobody felt pressured,
that it was okay with everybody thatyou were the singing group. And
(13:20):
like you said, you have playedat big shows for big people and recorded.
Is any of the music that you'verecorded available on the internets? Yes?
Hell on the internets. Yes.We did a version of Missing You
with John Waite. Every time Ithink of you, that's you, buddy,
sounded good. I always catched mybreath. We did a song called
(13:43):
Christina, which is a Rick Springfieldsort of b side with Rick and we
record in the studio there in Cincinnati, just off Montgomery Road, and then
we send the tracks to la orwherever the artist is from at the time,
(14:03):
and they can record in their studios, send the tracks back to us,
and then it ends up being kindof a duet between me and Rick,
or me and John Waite, orme and Frankie prevative Frankie in the
knockouts. And we also are tryingto work out something with Richard Marx right
now. So all that stuff ison Apple or Spotify. You could just
search for Stranger featuring John Wait featuringRick Springfield. That's the best way to
(14:28):
find it. If you just lookfor Stranger, it comes up, you
get Stranger things, you get.Yeah, you definitely want to look for
the band Stranger, So let mejust say that, Oh that's hilarious.
And then of course you're on theiHeartRadio app. People can find you on
the next morning show. So let'sget back to the NC doublea real quick
before I let you go tell usa little bit about the tickets and what
(14:52):
kind of basketball people will see.Yeah, I mean, and you never
know who is going to show up. I mean, in the last two
years, I mean Wright State ofcourse, here in Dayton was in the
first flour so you never know whocould end up in there. It could
you know, one day, itcould be the Bearcats or Xavier or And
the Flyers ended up in the firstfour one time as well, which was
also weird because I was not allowedto be a Homer like I am for
(15:13):
the home games play it. Ihad to play it even basically for both
teams. So instead of you know, being the raw ra cheerleading, you
know, yelling announcer for the Flyersand then just laid back for the visiting
team, I had to be kindof in the middle for both teams.
So it was really hard watching theFlyers play and dialing it back considerably from
(15:37):
what I how I normally announced thegame, so not expecting that to be
the case this year. So becausethe Flyers hopefully will be in, we'll
have to see how things go.A week from today on Selection Sunday,
daytonhoopla dot com is where people canget their tickets, and Hoopla is just
kind of the It's kind of thestamp that's been put on all the fun
(16:00):
that happens around the Dayton area,which of course includes Mason and Cincinnati.
And over to Columbus and Indianapolis andeverything else because people come from all over
the place for these games. Soit's just in general it's called the Big
Hoopla. But you can go toDaytonhoopla dot com. On there you can
see how to buy the tickets.There's programs you could see. They're having
(16:21):
a Big Hooplah four mile fun runnext Sunday as well, and they're doing
this really cool stuff with STEM.So everything is really on that website.
It's really easy to get tickets andthere's just it's really good for our area.
It brings in millions of dollars notonly to Dayton but the surrounding areas
too every year. And fun fact, Dayton is my hometown. I will
(16:41):
tell you that it is the easiestvenue to get to in the world.
It's not like you have to getoff the interstate and turn like you do
what you see, you know orXavier. You literally get off at exit
fifty one. It's the Edwin C. Moses Boulevard and literally the arena is
right there at the bend in Rivers, so parking is there and it makes
(17:02):
it really easy. Anything else that'sgoing on that you want to promote or
tell your old friend about that.We haven't talked for probably six months or
so. Well, all I cansay is, I'm so proud of you
because I'm a huge Reds fan.I am super excited about the red season.
I'm the nerd that follows them whetherthey're ten and one hundred and fifty
(17:22):
or if they're is that a badthing too? Eighty that's a really bad
record, or last year when theywere eighty two and eighty, and obviously
we have very very high hopes forthis year. I will be at opening
Day, so I'm looking forward tothat. I miss working with you directly.
We've had so much fun over theyears, many many decades when you
were the voice of Light ninety ninepoint nine up here and we of course
(17:47):
were You were also part of Mixedone O seven seven, and now to
get to hear you on WLW beforeand or after Reds games during games,
I'm like, that's my palt Andy. It's fun. It is. So
let's talk about the Reds real quick. Since you're such a fan and our
listeners are very well versed in theReds. What are you thinking about pitching
and what are you thinking about someof the guys that came back and you
(18:07):
know, from last year and reallycreated the spark that's turning the Reds around.
Yeah. I love obviously Elie dela Cruz is super fun to watch.
But I think we got to makesure Matt McLain is okay. It
sounds like he's still nursing that injuryfrom last year. A couple guys are
like him and Lodolo and India,but there is so much talent McLain and
(18:29):
Lodolo and India who's still sort ofnursing some injuries a little bit through spring
training. We get them back healthy, it's going to be fantastic. But
Marte and and Carnassi and Strand andTyler Stevenson's had a great spring so far.
All the outfielders Friedol and Frehley andBenson and Stuart Fairchild. I mean
(18:52):
not to mention the guys that theywent out and brought in. Candelarios very
exciting. The pitchers like Mantas.He could end up being the opening day
starting pitcher, we'll see. Butof course Hunter Green, it's fun to
watch him here in Dayton at theDragons. Yeah, that's what's so much
fun. These guys have all mostof them have come through Dayton. Most
of them have. And in alot of times it's accelerated. It's not
(19:15):
three or four years, it's it'sa year or two. Yeah, Joeyvato
did some rehab down there at theDragons, and we also saw I wasn't
going to bring this up, butI have to. We also saw the
one and only. I don't thinkI can say it without laughing. Come
on, here we go, ready, I'm gonna say it. Yeah,
(19:36):
I can't do it it, AlbertPools. I was gonna make you say
it if you didn't bring it up. With the interview. Sandy and I
got to be the first people onthe planet to announce Albert pool Holes his
initial season for the Dragons, andI hope we got it right every time.
I'm not sure if we did,but we just laughed so hard about
what a silly name it was.And then he becomes this rock star in
(20:02):
the MLB and in the game.Has it quite been the same since he
retired a year or two ago.But to think that we announced his literally
the first time he was taking theand but you and I are in the
booth going, what how do wepoo poojo. What's what do we poojo?
Figure poojo? This is about somecrazy crazy dog. Yeah. I
(20:22):
don't want to extend this, butI do want to bring up the idea
too real quick that we opened upopening day at the Dayton Dragons as co
announcers and then we split the season. But you got something. You got
to be able to open up theday and introduce your hero, your Cincinnati
Reds legend, the catcher number five, Johnny Bench. Yeah, and I
(20:48):
always started crying because your arms areup above your head and you were like
giving the fists and stuff. Andwe're in the booth, you know,
we're way up above there and you'reand I'm crying because I knew it was
so important to you. It wasunbelievable. Fan of you know, fan
of the Reds as long as I'vebeen alive, but of course the Big
Red Machine was and my dad usedto take me down to the games,
got to meet Johnny a few times, and Tony and Pete and Concepcion and
(21:11):
all those guys, but Johnny wasalways my guy. And I'm sitting here
thinking I am introducing him walking outinto the field at the Dayton Dragons to
throw out the first pitch. Imean was that was one of the most
surreal moments of my career for sure. That was pretty awesome. This is
the second most surreal time in mylife right now, because we're gonna have
to wrap this up, mister Stevens. I know, we could talk all
(21:33):
day and bore people to death.But so you can find Jeff Stevens on
the iHeartRadio app. He works atMix one of seven seven also for the
Dayton Flyers, and the Stranger isgoing to open up for you changed it
to Mixfest. Now it's not Summerfestanymore. Was that like twenty years ago
and I'm just catching on or what? No, No, this is the
first year. It was a littlepaper called a cease and desist. Somebody
(21:55):
got mad after using it for twentyfour years, so we had to change
it soon. Yeah exactly. Isaid, well, you guys are really
staying on top of it. Butyeah, so the first year for mixed
Fest. It's the twenty fifth yearfor what we knew as Summerfest. So
if you love the eighties, thisis this is the band Stranger and that's
the show to go see at theat the phrase pavilion, which again is
(22:17):
very easy. It's in the Daytonarea. Jeff Stevens, thank you so
much. Let's not make me bookyou for an interview and stay in touch
better this year, all right,buddy, Thank you. Sandy Collins,
you are awesome. Coming up oniHeart Cincy to serve Kentucky in the Senate.
It's been in the honor of mylife to lead my Republican colleague has
(22:37):
been the hi. He is Kentucky'slongest serving Senator, Mitch McConnell. He's
stepping down from that role. Today, political science professor doctor Brian Calfano from
UC will appine on why McConnell isstepping down. We'll explain some of the
implications and hints at what could happento McConnell if Donald Trump is elected and
(22:59):
he's out of power. Coming upon iHeart Cincy, This is fifty five
KARC and iHeartRadio station. iHeart podcastupdates this week You're free iHeartRadio app Math
and Magic Stories from the Frontiers ofMarketing with Bob Pittman, Season six joined
iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO as he analyzesthe math and magic of marketing sitting down
with today's most gifted disruptors. MarketingSchool, Digital marketing and online marketing tips,
(23:22):
Actionable digital marketing lessons learned through yearsof being in the trenches office hours
with Mike Stive. Mike sits downwith the world's most important chief executives to
answer your most pressing questions about leadership, career, and life. Hear these
podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadioapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
We've got people talking. Anybody whothinks of White House press secretaries telling you
the truth. You don't know what'sgoing on at all. I'm fifty five
(23:44):
KRC, the talk station. We'reback at iHeart Cincy. I'm Sandy Collins
on this station's public affairs show addressingCincinnati, north of Kentucky and South eastern
Indiana issueses is doctor Brian Calfano.He is head of the journalism Department at
the University of Cincinnati, where he'salso a professor of political science. He's
(24:07):
our resident expert in all things political, and today we're going to talk a
little bit about Mitch McConnell and thebig changes coming to the US Senate.
But first, hello and thanks forbeing here, Brian, Are you rushed?
Yeah, you know, I'm alwaysrushed. Yeah, Well, I
know you are a very busy man, So we're going to make this quick.
I wanted to talk to you aboutthe resignation as the Senate Minority leader
(24:33):
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He's beenthere the longest and he has finally said
he is no longer going to bethe head of the Senate. He is
going to continue his Senate seat,but he wants to hand it over in
November. What are your thoughts onthat. Well, I'm not surprised,
and I know people are talking aboutthis as a result of the pressure that
(24:56):
his wing of the party has beenunder, especially when it comes to you
support for Ukraine and the continuation ofthis Reagan era Republican foreign policy. But
my goodness, the frozen Mitch McConnellepisodes that we saw a few times in
recent months, I mean, thatjust doesn't inspire confidence. And I know
(25:19):
people don't want to go down theroad of picking on somebody because of potential
medical issues, but you know,if you're going to have these positions of
public responsibility, then that kind ofof real demonstrative lack of command of your
faculties is really concerning. And Iknow that's not been something that folks have
(25:41):
wanted to talk too much about interms of why the decision to step down.
But I just can't imagine that's notin the mix. I just can't
see how it's not because that's justnot normal. I mean, people don't
do that. Mitch McConnell twenty yearsago, that would never be something that
would have happened to him. Imean, there's just no way to imagine
(26:02):
the sort of freezing in front ofthe press corps. And this is multiple
times you've done this at different speeches. I mean, this has not been
This has not been something that inspiresconfidence in his ability to lead. And
I think there have been attempts atprivate conversations to say, hey, when
is a good time to kind of, you know, transition out of this
(26:22):
role. But it may be abittersweet time for McConnell because he is seeing
I think, the final steps ofthe destruction of what he thought of as
the Republican Party. And what Imean by that is is the as I
mentioned, it's one of the Reaganera understanding of conservatism and a robust foreign
(26:47):
policy designed to check the aggression ofwhat you, I guess we used to
maybe call the Eastern Bloc, andnow it's it's Russia that's sort of just
taken up that mission. It's justunconscionable to I think a lot of people
in McConnell's orbit, to see theRepublicans retreat to this isolationism that they embraced
(27:14):
prior to World War Two, tosort of see them go back to this
you called America first. Call itwhatever you want, but the notion that
there isn't any real dog and ourdog in his fight with whatever Russia wants
to do with Ukraine, and whyare we spending all his money, and
why do we support NATO and allthe kinds of things that you've been hearing
(27:34):
from Trump and his supporters. AndMcConnell's been fighting that for a long time,
and so I think the lack ofhis ability to convince the party to
turn away from that perspective, Ithink has been another one of the reasons
why he's essentially decided to throw inthe towel. There's only so much time,
(27:59):
and there's only so much energy.You have to tilt at Woodenmills,
particularly when you see that the writingis on the wall, and if he
wants to I think have any kindof influence, he may be looking to,
you know, play the part ofthe John McCain curmudgeon for the last
couple of years of his term,where he's able to act out and do
(28:22):
things in ways that he wouldn't havebeen able to do if he maintained his
leadership position. And so this maybe for him the most attractive option going
forward over the next few years,because it gives him a chance to be
the cantankerous type that he's never hadto play because he's always been trying to
either obtain or maintain his position asa leadership. But maybe this is now
(28:45):
going to be Mitch McConnell unplugged oruntethered or unhinged or whatever it's going to
be. And if Trump ends upwinning in November, it could get really
interesting because he may end up becomingMcConnell, may end up becoming a Republican
in the in the mold of Romneyand kind of being that gadfly and kind
of being that voice that pushes backon a lot of the isolationism that you
(29:10):
have seen the Republican Party embrace overthe last few years. All right,
a lot to think about. Sorry, we have run out of time for
this show this week, but checkit out next week iHeart Cincy. We're
going to have more with doctor BrianCalfano on the frustrations that we voters fuel
towards our election process and the nearimpossibility but possible way to change the way
(29:33):
we elect our president that could seriouslyaffect the quality of politicians who run for
public office, giving voters more power. It's a lot to talk about,
and we'll do that next week.Now. If you have a question,
comment suggestion for this show, justfind me at this email address Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com since he is spelledwith an eye, and you can listen
(29:55):
to and share this show from theiHeartRadio podcast area. Just search for my
name's Sandy Collins to connect with theever growing resources and stories available to you
here in the Tri State. Thanksfor listening today. iHeart Cinci is a
production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
This week on iHeart Cincy. Igave the final score and I get ready
to put the microphone down. Lebroncomes over and says, give me the
mic. Yes, the Lebron James. He played at the UD Arena when
he was just a senior in highschool. And we're going to hear from
the man who had that encounter withthe soon to be legendary Cleveland native who
went on to be the number onescorer in NBA history. Today, I'm
(00:23):
talking with UD Flyers Basketball Arena announcerJeff Stephens about his brush with Lebron Flyer
basketball and all the amazing fans,his role in the NCAA First Four Tournament
coming up March nineteenth and twentieth atUD Arena, and then a little later
we'll talk about his eighties rock band, one of the most popular in the
Miami Valley, and his on endinglove for the Cincinnati Reds. And later,
(00:47):
one of the most powerful men inWashington is from Kentucky, and come
November, Senator Mitch McConnell says he'llstep down as Minority leader of the Republicans
in the Senate. Today. Professorof political science and Journalism at you See
Brian Calfano is back to give ushis thoughts on Mitch McConnell. This may
be for him the most attractive optiongoing forward over the next few years,
(01:07):
because it gives him a chance tobe the cantankeris type. And Calfano asks
out loud, will McConnell take offthe gloves in his last term? Now
on iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins.Welcome. This is Ihared Cincy. I'm
Sandy Collins. This is a communityaffairs show for all the good folks in
Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana, and for anybody who cares about the
(01:30):
important issues we face both here andreally nationally. My first guest is an
old friend. Folks. I wantyou to meet Jeff Stevens and let me
just give you a long list ofhis accolades that I can remember. A
member of the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hallof Fame, he's our sister station mixed
morning show host for the last twohundred years. He's the first voice of
(01:53):
the Dayton Dragons baseball team twenty fouryears ago. He is the voice of
the Dayton Flyers basketball time team foralmost that long. You have your own
band, which we're not even gonnahave time to talk about, and I'm
sure a plethora of other things thatyou have been involved in the last few
years that we've kind of gone ourseparate ways. So Jeff Stevens, welcome
(02:19):
to iHeart Sinsey Sandy Collins. Sonice to talk to you again, friend,
and so nice to get to workwith you for a couple of minutes.
Thank you for the wonderful introduction ithas been. Yeah, I mean
you and I started working together twentyfive years ago at least, oh yeah,
more than that. It was init was in the nineties. Yeah,
(02:40):
And this is just a side note. We did a show similar to
this back to twenty five years ago. We called it Coffee Talk, and
it was a public affairs show andit was fun, kind of loosely,
loosely informative show with a lot oflaughs. So we're hoping to laugh a
(03:01):
little bit here today and kind ofreminisce. But I wanted to talk to
you mainly because the NC Doubla Firstfour is coming back to the University of
Dayton, which is just such agreat thing for the Flyers and for the
Dayton community, and you're the voiceof this tournament along with the voice of
the Dayton Flyers. So let's getstarted there and kind of talk about first,
(03:23):
how did you become the Dayton Flyersbasketball team arena announcer? How long
ago? And then we'll transition intothe NC DOUBLEA. Yeah, it was
well. You and I got towork together at the inaugural season of the
Dayton Dragons here in Dayton, andthat fall after the first Dragon season,
so the fall of two thousand,the Flyers called me and said, hey,
(03:46):
you do the Dragons games. Wouldyou have any interest in doing the
Flyers games? And I was like, wow, the men's Flyers games in
the arena. And they're like yeah, and I said of course. So
I went to do an audition andI went to the arena. It was
just me and this you know,sports information guy, just two of us
in the arena and he had alittle nine inch television and a video cassette
(04:09):
and he said, here, Iwant you to, you know, to
introduce some things. And I saidokay, And I mean I had no
idea. I mean, I playedbasketball, but I've never announced basketball before.
So I was like, I don'tknow what you want me to say.
And he said, well, thisis this is Tony Stanley. Say
that he made a three point basket. Okay, Tony Stanley for three?
(04:29):
All right? This guy just gotfouled and this guy went in and say
that he's shooting free throws. AndI did that, and I'm not kidding.
Ninety seconds later, I walked outand I called my family and I
said, hey, guys, guesswhat job I'm not getting. That would
be the Dayton Flyers men's basketball announcingjob. And they called me a week
later and said you're the guy.And I double check to make sure they
(04:51):
knew who they were calling in casethey called the wrong person, and sure
enough, they said it was me, and they wanted to give me a
shot and kind of go in adifferent direction. And that was twenty four
years ago. So I'm just aboutto finish well impact. In fact,
this past Friday night for Senior Nightat the Arena was the end of my
twenty fourth season, and I doget to do the first four games,
(05:13):
which is a really cool benefit ofbeing part of the ud staff. And
you replaced a long time announcer,and that's always difficult when you jump into
a place where everyone loves the announcerat the stadium that they've heard for so
many years, but you've certainly madeit your own. You know, when
you do the Flyers, you haveto do some prep work. You have
to figure out the names of theother teams and the pronunciations, which we
(05:33):
always have fun with. But nowwhen you do the first four, it's
it's very different because the teams aren'teven announced yet, and now you have
to cram with your other full timejob and all your other things that you're
doing to try to figure out howto do this, not only at the
arena but on ESPN. Yeah,it's it is the I love doing the
(05:59):
Flyers because I'm very familiar with them, and then I just have to kind
of lock in on what's you knowwhat, whatever team is coming in.
This year, there's been a coupleinteresting games where I could actually hear the
crowd as I was giving somebody whomaybe had like three or four names that
were all hard to pronounce, youknow, with a couple hyphens, and
I could just I can kind ofhear the crowd sort of snicker like,
hey, we're with you, buddy, We we That was a good one
(06:20):
right there. But with the firstfour as you were referring to, I'm
dealing with two teams that I don'treally know anything about, and especially because
there are two games, or thereare four games in two days and they're
back to back games, there's notime to think or prep or anything.
It's one game gets over, yougive the final score, and I am
(06:41):
tearing right into the next two teamsthat are coming in, and I'm trying
to find, you know, oneof their people or their radio announcer or
whatever to make sure to get thepronunciations. I'm very, very particular about
that. I never want to sayanybody's name wrong. I don't care if
you know, if if they nevereven play, I want to get their
name right when I do the introductionor whatever. So, yeah, that's
very important to me. And it'sa different level of stress than the regular
(07:05):
season is, and it's a differentlevel of stress than it is on the
radio when you're just in your studiowith a couple of other people. Meanwhile,
at the Judo Arena during these firstfour games and during the Flyers games,
what's the capacity there. It's thirteenthousand and five. It sounds like
nineteen, Yeah, it sounds likenineteen, but it's a loud, loud
(07:26):
place and they react. You know, some of the best fans in the
country, and it's really been funto get to know some of them and
be a part of it because youknow, and you mentioned replacing a legend.
Charlie Robinson was there for thirty yearsand I just finished by twenty fourth.
So between the two of us,the last fifty four years, it's
just been the two of us callingthe games. And Charlie was just an
(07:47):
amazing guy and a true legend,and everybody was used to his voice the
first few years. They it wasbefore social media, so they kind of
shielded me, as I found outlater from the who's this guy, Get
him out of there. We don'tlike this, He's not like the old
guy. They kind of shielded mefrom that, which I was very thankful
for. They told me, Youtold me about year five that nobody really
(08:09):
liked me the first couple of years. I said, oh, okay,
because you know, that would havebeen really that would have been a blow,
you know, to not only tothe ego, but also to your
confidence, you know, just tryingto go out there and do it.
So I did try to just makeit my own thing, and then eventually
it has kind of become my ownthing. So but yeah, there's there's
definitely times where the stress level isup there. Lebron James played his last
(08:31):
high school basketball game there. Thatwas a that was an interesting moment to
introduce him, and it was abig deal that they were playing, you
know, that he was playing hislast game there, and the place instantly
sold out. And after the gamewas over, I gave the final score
and I get ready to, youknow, put the microphone down. Lebron
comes over and says, give methe mic. And I'm looking around,
(08:52):
going, uh, we don't givethe mic to players. Sorry, and
I'm like, I know you're LebronJames. And my produce next to me
said, I'm sorry, we can'tgive you the mike. He's like,
give me the mic. I'm going, okay, this, what's what's happening
here? And then his mom issitting behind me. She's like, you
give him the mic and I'm peerpressure is off the charts right now,
(09:13):
and I said And then I finallylooked at my producer and she just give
him the mic. I said,Okay, you said it, so here
you go, mister James. Youknow, he's eighteen. I'm like,
here you go, and uh yeah, he just thanked the crowd for coming
out, thanked everybody for the support. It was really great. But it
was a wow moment I wasn't expecting. So you had to kind of push
back against Lebron James for a hotminute. That's uh, that's yeah,
(09:37):
that's kind of a very no doubt. You've never forgiven me. Yeah,
You've just had this this desire tobe deeply involved in the community, deeply
involved in entertainment, deeply involved insports. Tell me a little bit about
your sports career. I forget someof those details. When you were playing
baseball back in the day. Yeah, played baseball at Tip City High School
(09:58):
here, played basketball there as well, and then played some summers with Frosty
Brown and Post forty three Legion team, which back at the time, you
know, you didn't have all theseAAU and select groups and everything else.
You if you were going to playsome baseball outside of your your high school
team, you played for you know, for probably an American Legion team.
So that's what I did and andreally had my sights set on playing baseball
(10:22):
for the rest of my life.Uh, and uh and things didn't go
quite as well as uh as asI was told that they probably would when
I went to Bowling Green to playup there. So I just quickly shifted
things over to my to my radiocareer, which is where I got to
meet the most amazing program director ofall time, Scott Sloan, and uh
(10:45):
our Scott Sloan. He was thedirector, really really, he was my
first program director. Scott Sloane wasmy first program director, and he was
awesome and I learned so much fromhim and he and his buddy, right
I know, we're on the morningshow, and I mean it was just
when they were walking around, itwasn't just like others two nerds from the
college radio station. It was like, that's Scotty and Rhino right there.
(11:09):
So it was a really really coolthing. So it's fun to be able
to get to listen to him onWLW after all these years. You know,
we're working forty five minutes apart.That's a pretty sweet deal. I
told him you were opening up forRick Springfield again this year, and he
said, oh nice, let mesee you look at that and we were
looking at the mixed fest ad.You are the lead singer and the rock
(11:33):
star of Stranger. How long haveyou had that band together? Wow?
Things tend to I don't know.It was the last century, wasn't it.
It was the last century? RightWell. Our drummer is the newest
guy in the band, the newestguy, and he joined in nineteen ninety
six, so we always say that'sthe new guy. That's the new guy
(11:54):
right there, and he's from BeautifulMason, Ohio Rob and we yeah,
he's the newest guy in the band. So it's pretty cool. This is
our twenty eighth summer of going outto play and to get to open for
Richard Marx and Rick Springfield. That'sJuly twentieth at the phrase. But we've
been able to open for Riu Speedwagonand lover Boy and thirty eight Special and
(12:16):
Rick Springfield. This will be oursixth time to open for him, which
is really crazy. We've had thechance to record with some of these guys
as well, which has also beennuts. Just you know, the stuff
that you and I used to thinkabout when we were in middle school in
high school, about you know,being on the radio or performing someday.
It's been really cool to see someof them a lot of them really come
(12:37):
to Fruition, so it's been prettysweet. I'm going to pose a question
to you here. What would youdo if you booked your idol again this
year Rick Springfield? And he said, thanks, buddy, we don't want
stranger to open for us, sowe want a fresh show to open up.
What would you do? Believe me, I'm sure he's probably already said
(13:00):
that. No, Actually I rememberthat in the beginning, because you know,
we have concerns about conflict of interestin this business. You were very
reluctant to ever have the two coand sut a radio event with your band
event, and went out of yourway to make sure that nobody felt pressured,
that it was okay with everybody thatyou were the singing group. And
(13:20):
like you said, you have playedat big shows for big people and recorded.
Is any of the music that you'verecorded available on the internets? Yes?
Hell on the internets. Yes.We did a version of Missing You
with John Waite. Every time Ithink of you, that's you, buddy,
sounded good. I always catched mybreath. We did a song called
(13:43):
Christina, which is a Rick Springfieldsort of b side with Rick and we
record in the studio there in Cincinnati, just off Montgomery Road, and then
we send the tracks to la orwherever the artist is from at the time,
(14:03):
and they can record in their studios, send the tracks back to us,
and then it ends up being kindof a duet between me and Rick,
or me and John Waite, orme and Frankie prevative Frankie in the
knockouts. And we also are tryingto work out something with Richard Marx right
now. So all that stuff ison Apple or Spotify. You could just
search for Stranger featuring John Wait featuringRick Springfield. That's the best way to
(14:28):
find it. If you just lookfor Stranger, it comes up, you
get Stranger things, you get.Yeah, you definitely want to look for
the band Stranger, So let mejust say that, Oh that's hilarious.
And then of course you're on theiHeartRadio app. People can find you on
the next morning show. So let'sget back to the NC doublea real quick
before I let you go tell usa little bit about the tickets and what
(14:52):
kind of basketball people will see.Yeah, I mean, and you never
know who is going to show up. I mean, in the last two
years, I mean Wright State ofcourse, here in Dayton was in the
first flour so you never know whocould end up in there. It could
you know, one day, itcould be the Bearcats or Xavier or And
the Flyers ended up in the firstfour one time as well, which was
also weird because I was not allowedto be a Homer like I am for
(15:13):
the home games play it. Ihad to play it even basically for both
teams. So instead of you know, being the raw ra cheerleading, you
know, yelling announcer for the Flyersand then just laid back for the visiting
team, I had to be kindof in the middle for both teams.
So it was really hard watching theFlyers play and dialing it back considerably from
(15:37):
what I how I normally announced thegame, so not expecting that to be
the case this year. So becausethe Flyers hopefully will be in, we'll
have to see how things go.A week from today on Selection Sunday,
daytonhoopla dot com is where people canget their tickets, and Hoopla is just
kind of the It's kind of thestamp that's been put on all the fun
(16:00):
that happens around the Dayton area,which of course includes Mason and Cincinnati.
And over to Columbus and Indianapolis andeverything else because people come from all over
the place for these games. Soit's just in general it's called the Big
Hoopla. But you can go toDaytonhoopla dot com. On there you can
see how to buy the tickets.There's programs you could see. They're having
(16:21):
a Big Hooplah four mile fun runnext Sunday as well, and they're doing
this really cool stuff with STEM.So everything is really on that website.
It's really easy to get tickets andthere's just it's really good for our area.
It brings in millions of dollars notonly to Dayton but the surrounding areas
too every year. And fun fact, Dayton is my hometown. I will
(16:41):
tell you that it is the easiestvenue to get to in the world.
It's not like you have to getoff the interstate and turn like you do
what you see, you know orXavier. You literally get off at exit
fifty one. It's the Edwin C. Moses Boulevard and literally the arena is
right there at the bend in Rivers, so parking is there and it makes
(17:02):
it really easy. Anything else that'sgoing on that you want to promote or
tell your old friend about that.We haven't talked for probably six months or
so. Well, all I cansay is, I'm so proud of you
because I'm a huge Reds fan.I am super excited about the red season.
I'm the nerd that follows them whetherthey're ten and one hundred and fifty
(17:22):
or if they're is that a badthing too? Eighty that's a really bad
record, or last year when theywere eighty two and eighty, and obviously
we have very very high hopes forthis year. I will be at opening
Day, so I'm looking forward tothat. I miss working with you directly.
We've had so much fun over theyears, many many decades when you
were the voice of Light ninety ninepoint nine up here and we of course
(17:47):
were You were also part of Mixedone O seven seven, and now to
get to hear you on WLW beforeand or after Reds games during games,
I'm like, that's my palt Andy. It's fun. It is. So
let's talk about the Reds real quick. Since you're such a fan and our
listeners are very well versed in theReds. What are you thinking about pitching
and what are you thinking about someof the guys that came back and you
(18:07):
know, from last year and reallycreated the spark that's turning the Reds around.
Yeah. I love obviously Elie dela Cruz is super fun to watch.
But I think we got to makesure Matt McLain is okay. It
sounds like he's still nursing that injuryfrom last year. A couple guys are
like him and Lodolo and India,but there is so much talent McLain and
(18:29):
Lodolo and India who's still sort ofnursing some injuries a little bit through spring
training. We get them back healthy, it's going to be fantastic. But
Marte and and Carnassi and Strand andTyler Stevenson's had a great spring so far.
All the outfielders Friedol and Frehley andBenson and Stuart Fairchild. I mean
(18:52):
not to mention the guys that theywent out and brought in. Candelarios very
exciting. The pitchers like Mantas.He could end up being the opening day
starting pitcher, we'll see. Butof course Hunter Green, it's fun to
watch him here in Dayton at theDragons. Yeah, that's what's so much
fun. These guys have all mostof them have come through Dayton. Most
of them have. And in alot of times it's accelerated. It's not
(19:15):
three or four years, it's it'sa year or two. Yeah, Joeyvato
did some rehab down there at theDragons, and we also saw I wasn't
going to bring this up, butI have to. We also saw the
one and only. I don't thinkI can say it without laughing. Come
on, here we go, ready, I'm gonna say it. Yeah,
(19:36):
I can't do it it, AlbertPools. I was gonna make you say
it if you didn't bring it up. With the interview. Sandy and I
got to be the first people onthe planet to announce Albert pool Holes his
initial season for the Dragons, andI hope we got it right every time.
I'm not sure if we did,but we just laughed so hard about
what a silly name it was.And then he becomes this rock star in
(20:02):
the MLB and in the game.Has it quite been the same since he
retired a year or two ago.But to think that we announced his literally
the first time he was taking theand but you and I are in the
booth going, what how do wepoo poojo. What's what do we poojo?
Figure poojo? This is about somecrazy crazy dog. Yeah. I
(20:22):
don't want to extend this, butI do want to bring up the idea
too real quick that we opened upopening day at the Dayton Dragons as co
announcers and then we split the season. But you got something. You got
to be able to open up theday and introduce your hero, your Cincinnati
Reds legend, the catcher number five, Johnny Bench. Yeah, and I
(20:48):
always started crying because your arms areup above your head and you were like
giving the fists and stuff. Andwe're in the booth, you know,
we're way up above there and you'reand I'm crying because I knew it was
so important to you. It wasunbelievable. Fan of you know, fan
of the Reds as long as I'vebeen alive, but of course the Big
Red Machine was and my dad usedto take me down to the games,
got to meet Johnny a few times, and Tony and Pete and Concepcion and
(21:11):
all those guys, but Johnny wasalways my guy. And I'm sitting here
thinking I am introducing him walking outinto the field at the Dayton Dragons to
throw out the first pitch. Imean was that was one of the most
surreal moments of my career for sure. That was pretty awesome. This is
the second most surreal time in mylife right now, because we're gonna have
to wrap this up, mister Stevens. I know, we could talk all
(21:33):
day and bore people to death.But so you can find Jeff Stevens on
the iHeartRadio app. He works atMix one of seven seven also for the
Dayton Flyers, and the Stranger isgoing to open up for you changed it
to Mixfest. Now it's not Summerfestanymore. Was that like twenty years ago
and I'm just catching on or what? No, No, this is the
first year. It was a littlepaper called a cease and desist. Somebody
(21:55):
got mad after using it for twentyfour years, so we had to change
it soon. Yeah exactly. Isaid, well, you guys are really
staying on top of it. Butyeah, so the first year for mixed
Fest. It's the twenty fifth yearfor what we knew as Summerfest. So
if you love the eighties, thisis this is the band Stranger and that's
the show to go see at theat the phrase pavilion, which again is
(22:17):
very easy. It's in the Daytonarea. Jeff Stevens, thank you so
much. Let's not make me bookyou for an interview and stay in touch
better this year, all right,buddy, Thank you. Sandy Collins,
you are awesome. Coming up oniHeart Cincy to serve Kentucky in the Senate.
It's been in the honor of mylife to lead my Republican colleague has
(22:37):
been the hi. He is Kentucky'slongest serving Senator, Mitch McConnell. He's
stepping down from that role. Today, political science professor doctor Brian Calfano from
UC will appine on why McConnell isstepping down. We'll explain some of the
implications and hints at what could happento McConnell if Donald Trump is elected and
(22:59):
he's out of power. Coming upon iHeart Cincy, This is fifty five
KARC and iHeartRadio station. iHeart podcastupdates this week You're free iHeartRadio app Math
and Magic Stories from the Frontiers ofMarketing with Bob Pittman, Season six joined
iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO as he analyzesthe math and magic of marketing sitting down
with today's most gifted disruptors. MarketingSchool, Digital marketing and online marketing tips,
(23:22):
Actionable digital marketing lessons learned through yearsof being in the trenches office hours
with Mike Stive. Mike sits downwith the world's most important chief executives to
answer your most pressing questions about leadership, career, and life. Hear these
podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadioapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
We've got people talking. Anybody whothinks of White House press secretaries telling you
the truth. You don't know what'sgoing on at all. I'm fifty five
(23:44):
KRC, the talk station. We'reback at iHeart Cincy. I'm Sandy Collins
on this station's public affairs show addressingCincinnati, north of Kentucky and South eastern
Indiana issueses is doctor Brian Calfano.He is head of the journalism Department at
the University of Cincinnati, where he'salso a professor of political science. He's
(24:07):
our resident expert in all things political, and today we're going to talk a
little bit about Mitch McConnell and thebig changes coming to the US Senate.
But first, hello and thanks forbeing here, Brian, Are you rushed?
Yeah, you know, I'm alwaysrushed. Yeah, Well, I
know you are a very busy man, So we're going to make this quick.
I wanted to talk to you aboutthe resignation as the Senate Minority leader
(24:33):
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He's beenthere the longest and he has finally said
he is no longer going to bethe head of the Senate. He is
going to continue his Senate seat,but he wants to hand it over in
November. What are your thoughts onthat. Well, I'm not surprised,
and I know people are talking aboutthis as a result of the pressure that
(24:56):
his wing of the party has beenunder, especially when it comes to you
support for Ukraine and the continuation ofthis Reagan era Republican foreign policy. But
my goodness, the frozen Mitch McConnellepisodes that we saw a few times in
recent months, I mean, thatjust doesn't inspire confidence. And I know
(25:19):
people don't want to go down theroad of picking on somebody because of potential
medical issues, but you know,if you're going to have these positions of
public responsibility, then that kind ofof real demonstrative lack of command of your
faculties is really concerning. And Iknow that's not been something that folks have
(25:41):
wanted to talk too much about interms of why the decision to step down.
But I just can't imagine that's notin the mix. I just can't
see how it's not because that's justnot normal. I mean, people don't
do that. Mitch McConnell twenty yearsago, that would never be something that
would have happened to him. Imean, there's just no way to imagine
(26:02):
the sort of freezing in front ofthe press corps. And this is multiple
times you've done this at different speeches. I mean, this has not been
This has not been something that inspiresconfidence in his ability to lead. And
I think there have been attempts atprivate conversations to say, hey, when
is a good time to kind of, you know, transition out of this
(26:22):
role. But it may be abittersweet time for McConnell because he is seeing
I think, the final steps ofthe destruction of what he thought of as
the Republican Party. And what Imean by that is is the as I
mentioned, it's one of the Reaganera understanding of conservatism and a robust foreign
(26:47):
policy designed to check the aggression ofwhat you, I guess we used to
maybe call the Eastern Bloc, andnow it's it's Russia that's sort of just
taken up that mission. It's justunconscionable to I think a lot of people
in McConnell's orbit, to see theRepublicans retreat to this isolationism that they embraced
(27:14):
prior to World War Two, tosort of see them go back to this
you called America first. Call itwhatever you want, but the notion that
there isn't any real dog and ourdog in his fight with whatever Russia wants
to do with Ukraine, and whyare we spending all his money, and
why do we support NATO and allthe kinds of things that you've been hearing
(27:34):
from Trump and his supporters. AndMcConnell's been fighting that for a long time,
and so I think the lack ofhis ability to convince the party to
turn away from that perspective, Ithink has been another one of the reasons
why he's essentially decided to throw inthe towel. There's only so much time,
(27:59):
and there's only so much energy.You have to tilt at Woodenmills,
particularly when you see that the writingis on the wall, and if he
wants to I think have any kindof influence, he may be looking to,
you know, play the part ofthe John McCain curmudgeon for the last
couple of years of his term,where he's able to act out and do
(28:22):
things in ways that he wouldn't havebeen able to do if he maintained his
leadership position. And so this maybe for him the most attractive option going
forward over the next few years,because it gives him a chance to be
the cantankerous type that he's never hadto play because he's always been trying to
either obtain or maintain his position asa leadership. But maybe this is now
(28:45):
going to be Mitch McConnell unplugged oruntethered or unhinged or whatever it's going to
be. And if Trump ends upwinning in November, it could get really
interesting because he may end up becomingMcConnell, may end up becoming a Republican
in the in the mold of Romneyand kind of being that gadfly and kind
of being that voice that pushes backon a lot of the isolationism that you
(29:10):
have seen the Republican Party embrace overthe last few years. All right,
a lot to think about. Sorry, we have run out of time for
this show this week, but checkit out next week iHeart Cincy. We're
going to have more with doctor BrianCalfano on the frustrations that we voters fuel
towards our election process and the nearimpossibility but possible way to change the way
(29:33):
we elect our president that could seriouslyaffect the quality of politicians who run for
public office, giving voters more power. It's a lot to talk about,
and we'll do that next week.Now. If you have a question,
comment suggestion for this show, justfind me at this email address Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com since he is spelledwith an eye, and you can listen
(29:55):
to and share this show from theiHeartRadio podcast area. Just search for my
name's Sandy Collins to connect with theever growing resources and stories available to you
here in the Tri State. Thanksfor listening today. iHeart Cinci is a
production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
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