¶ Conversation With Podcasters
Welcome everybody to another episode of the ride home rance podcast . This is , as always , your host , mike Bono . I got a great episode for us today . I have a fellow Podcaster on the show today . He's coming to us from Ohio . I believe is in Ohio and I was originally from South Carolina .
Edwin Vereen joins the show , edwin , thanks for joining , brother Mike was going on , man .
Finally , after Fifty-eleven thousand attempts , we got it .
We've been trying to schedule this in for a hot second , absolutely , but we're busy , men . We got you know , we got , we got it , we got stuff to do .
We got things to do . I have . Sometimes we make it happen , sometimes we can't , but we're , we're here today . We're here , we're making it happen today ?
Absolutely so . First and foremost , like I said , I believe you're from South Carolina . Is that where you're from originally ? Where did you grow up ? And you know kind of where , where you from , and tell a little bit , tell people a little bit about yourself .
I Am 40 years old , my birthday is November 8th and I'll be 41 pretty soon . That's either here or there . I don't want to be the ones that , hey , can you do something on the cash ? No , I'll work , I work , but if you want to , you can be some cash . I basically you know there .
I was born in a small town Just north of the world famous Myrtle Beach , a border town by the name of Little River , south Carolina . I See I was born to . My parents were older . When they had me they were older than age . My running joke is I was daddy's last good bullet . Yep , my parents were .
My parents were , you know , awesome , have a large family , special on my father's side and my mother's side . The funny thing about is , when I moved up here to Ohio , I found out that there were some foreens and I did this big old deep dive . It's like , oh my god , the foreens are not in that little small concentrated area in South Carolina .
They're in Florida , texas , georgia , michigan , connecticut , here in Ohio . So , so , so that stat . Let's see what else I got going on here . Yeah , you know , I played varsity high school . You know I played sports in high school .
You know , played football for two years and a A member of the original of the inaugural North Myrtle Beach high school wrestling team . I was one of the first . I didn't go through the whole seas cuz I'm like I'm tired this mess , I'm tired of it .
But it did teach me to stay low because you know , if you're a football player out there Wrestle during the offseason , it'll help with your center of gravity . You won't be standing up all the time . So , yep , I Participate in track and field .
I just want to hang out with the big boys and linemen played and I was like , well , you know , this is my last time , my last year Spending time with you guys . So I just hang out with you guys and eat cheap pizza and , you know , do big boy stuff . I was . I was the smallest of the big boys . They were like 240 , 250 , even 300 . I was like 199.999 .
Break that 200 mark , listen . I , when I wrestled , I wrestled like two different way classes and it's just like . You know , you got guys running around the school building with with sweats under his like , with garbage bags . You know they got the jawbreaker candy spitting in the water glass . I had to worry about all that .
I'm eating cheese burgers , I'm eating fries . I'm drinking , you know , I'm drinking fruit punch . I'm looking at them going mm-hmm . Yeah , so that was fun . But other than that , man , I I pretty much like sports , music and food . Oh , speaking of that , I Don't want to say used to be , because whenever I feel the itch , I can make it happen .
I also Am a rapper . Yes , I also am a rapper , and I've had shows from as far as Plymouth , new Hampshire , to Myrtle Beach , to Atlanta and all points in between . I picked that up about Two weeks before I graduated high school . I pinned my first rhyme , I got into the studio and I was hooked . I was hooked , I was hooked .
And so Just to say that , I say that the music kind of opened up another door for me to do this whole podcasting thing , because I met a dude by the name of what's his name ? Dj are dr Locke , jonathan wedlock , who since passed and and he said , hey , and I'm , and I lived in Atlanta for a while too , for two years .
He said , hey , man , how you feel about doing internet radio ? Now I was like what the hell is that ? I mean it's 2013 . I mean , I heard a podcast , but you know , the internet radio thing was kind of it's kind of different concept at that point in time . Yeah , yeah , yeah , new concept . So I Was a part of a trio by them for the crew .
He was the DJ . He taught about music . We had a Tawan Manning she did like the gossip and the entertainment news stuff like that and I was doing sports and I enjoyed it . I did sport so much as to where I had a segment on our Tuesday show and then he gave me access to the account .
He said man , you got so much to talk about people like it , do some on Friday . So I had football Friday , so I was . So I was doing like two little 15 minute segments a week , you know , and it was fun .
And then , around 2014 15 , I said , you know , I said I need to go to college because I'm sitting on my brother's couch in Atlanta and he was like , because I just broke up with a girl , I can't say the relationship saved my life , no , but I broke up with this girl and you know it's kind of not down and does just really kind of just like trying to
figure it out . And in the city like Atlanta , man , let me tell you my brother's like what are you doing ? I was like watching . I was like I'm watching his pen , I'm watching NFL live . He's like , no , what are you doing ? I was like Sitting on the couch watching TV , watching NFL live .
He said , well , you know you are , but he's really energetic , michael , I love . He's really gentle . He said , well , you know , 35 years old man , you better get some quarters to make it . I get no younger .
I was like , yeah , I guess you're right , and I really wanted to go to school for the at the Art Institute of Atlanta , but you know I don't want to . You know sully anybody's name , but the person I was with at the time , what I say , she kind of taught me out of it .
Her main concern was , you know , she had kids before me and she wanted to make sure the kids were good and I just wanted to get some stable income because I just started a serving job At um , at a cheesecake family which has been in the news a whole lot lately . Uh , and it was .
I was really trying to figure things out and then I was like , well , yeah , I guess you're kind of right . So I kind of I don't want that kind of got taught , though I kind of I don't kind of want to say I psyched myself out of it . I want to put it , I want to put blame on her . She had a legitimate concerns , but more me .
I kind of just asked , taught myself out of it and I kind of move around a little bit and you know , I love . I'm like , what do I love ? I love sports , I love music , I love food . Okay , well , you don't want to be a 40-year-old rapper ? No , I don't . You want to be a chef ?
Well , you did go to school for color in the arts and see how that turned out . You know , I didn't understand the whole prerequisite and ding in the kitchen . I'm like , look , just throw me in the kitchen , because my family knows how to cook . I know how to cook , I can make things happen .
So , finally , I enrolled at the former Ashford University , an online school , and in 2019 I graduated with my degree in journalism and mass communications with a minor in communication studies . And right along that time , that's why I started this , the sports post podcast probably a year after my mother passed away in 2000 Was when she passed away in 2018 .
I started the podcast March of 2019 and the
¶ Funny Sports Talk and Comedy Dreams
thing about the podcast man is fun . I love it . 220 as of today . 222 episodes , all regional content . You got myself Edwin , for you got Scott Donnelly , also known as the money man , scottie D and the all mighty be live . Also there's Brian Livingston , and it's just fun . This is three dudes talking sports . We kind of sort of got a format .
We kind of veer off the tracks for a little bit , we have some very funny moments and it's just wildly entertaining . Just it's just entertaining .
Yeah , I mean , I Never thought I would be a podcaster . I never thought I would get the part . I'm kind of like you . But I know , went to college right out of right out of high school . You know , I was an athlete , I was a swimmer , all this other stuff , a plate football in high school , but you know that , neither here nor there .
But you know , and I said , I got a degree in , you know , communications with sports , broadcasting , internalism as the track and a minor in management . Well , you know , the comedy thing kind of happened around 2012 , 2013 , ish , you know , started doing that fast forward to 2020 , that wonderful year of 2020 . Oh boy , I was .
Yeah , it was the end of February , right around March . I've been talking to this manager of this record label . My dream I've said this on here before is to be a full-time professional Comedian , stand-up comedian . That that's my dream , that's my goal , what I'm working towards .
And he was like , hey , man , you know , I saw your stuff , you're funny , we want to sign you . Let's , let's get this is . Start to get the ball rolling . I was like cool , what do I got to do ? And he was in Atlanta . Oddly enough , you were talking about a lot and he was in Atlanta too as well . Well , long , long and short of the story .
Well , getting ready to get on a plane , go down to Atlanta . Well , march 2020 , the world shuts down and I can't get . There's a caveman , I know you said you said you want to sign me . We've been it's virtual , said it's 2020 . You know we can make the email me to paperwork . I'll sign . Look it over , I'll sign it . I'll email it back .
You know , harm no foul . We can , we can still do this . He goes . Well , unfortunately , you don't have as big of an online presence as we thought you had and we're gonna pass . So you know , in the comedy world , that's a kick in the short hairs . You know that that's putting you right back , putting you right back to square one .
It's like I mean , that was I . Thankfully , I was so close to quitting my day job and being like I sit , I made it , I'm getting signed by her label , I'm about to go be the comedian , and so , lo and behold , I'm . I'm spiteful as I'll get up . So , uh , looking into podcasting , you know how to grow my online presence , stuff like that .
You know it's 2020 , my job shut down . It wasn't deemed essential at the time . So I was like all right , well , I got all this time . What can I do ? I can sit and write jokes . I got so many jokes . I can't write any more jokes right now without being able to perform them and so Uh Got hired on at this rv dealership .
You know they were essential at the time . You know I needed some income at the point in time and I had just been getting ear beaten by customers all day , every day , for 10 , 12 hours a day .
So on my little half hour ride home I don't know why , but I put my phone up on the mountain in my truck and I just started ranting about my day , just , and then just throwing it up on facebook , youtube , uh , instagram at the time tiktok really wasn't that as big as it was then , um , and one of my buddies , like dude , you have got to turn this into
a podcast . Like you have got to turn this into a podcast . I was like , hey , man , he goes . It's funny as hell just to hear you complain and bitch about your day . Like it's you , you gotta do . People will listen to it .
And Now I really want to message that manager because not to toot my own horn , uh , but the ride home rance podcast is heard in 43 countries in over 1100 cities . It's like hey .
I ain't got an online .
I ain't got a lot of online presents . You didn't . You didn't want to put the work in at the time , exactly .
Hey , as we say down south , well , you're doing something out , boy , you're doing something now . Yeah , you're doing something now . You ain't moving around , you're really doing something . But , yeah , man , I I get it . Man , that's not like for me , man , I have a very old youtube channel and , um , a funny thing about , about me .
You know , here's the thing about me . I'll meet a girl and I'll haul ass . So , damn quick , I'll meet a girl back . Baby , let's go , baby , let's go . Because I lived in New Hampshire from 2005 to 2009 . So that's how I want to get that , uh , that gig in New Hampshire .
And uh , it was right about the time youtube came out and everybody told me oh , eddie , you're funny , you should be a comedian . I mean , it's my sister . Friends , they thought I was cute . So you know , I , what I mean . They tell you all kind of shit , whatever .
And they tell you all kind of stuff and , um , I kind of did like you , I would just take like things of my everyday life and I would just Go on youtube and just fire off about it . Yeah , fire off about it . I caught a little flat for her family , but I didn't care . I'm like I'm talking about you .
Yeah .
A hit dog , a holler . Don't hit those . But a hit dog , a holler , and Sparky , your holler , your barking , it's , it's , it's , you're there . So it is what it is and Move me otherwise , but I would never really like , you know , put it in , put it in anybody's face .
So , you know , people just told me oh man , you should write jokes and you should do this , you should do that . But I was like in my 20s and , you know , had my priorities elsewhere and I was trying to go back to school or Get a job . In corrections , I was craving the hostability thing , right .
But but just let me to the point where , back in I think it was 2000 and , um , excuse me , 2010 I wanted to move back home . I tell people about that relationship , the the three best , I said the two best things . But now think about it . It's one of my signature stories , if you will , because I don't call myself a comedian , I call myself a storyteller .
You know , I'm all the editing , I'm telling stories . Uh , one of my signature moments is a story about spam and spaghetti . That , that story , a pair of Nice brand name swim trunks , polo to be exact , which I can't fit in now . Um and um At the time . You know the girl I was dating .
She had a child and I raised her for four years and I'm not gonna lie to you , it hurt me leaving the child more than it did her , because me and her it was , it was , it was over , it was over . So the spam and spaghetti , it's um , it's hella funny .
And the first time I publicly told that story , um , a friend of mine , story thrill , who's a comedian . He invited me to be a guest on this show and so he said , man , it's the first time , um , I've had a guest do all three . You know facets of the show . I had a character by the name of stan germany .
He was like a seven-inch lover man and you know , try to give good advice on dating . And then that's when , um , I told the spam spaghetti story . And then I was the musical . I was the guest musical before musical performer on the show and then I was in the interview with me and I told the infamous spam and spaghetti story .
It's just , it's just , it's one of my class stories and everybody like , oh , man , he should be a comedian . I tried open mic one time back in 2010 . One thing I can say oh boy , it is . It is definitely a challenge and as a former high school wrestler , I think you like what you get , like two minutes a period .
I thought the longest two minutes of my life was on a wrestling map , but the longest five minutes of my life was on that stage . I do want to open mic with no material . The first thing I do I open up on the fat guy with a big green knee . I showed up . All right , give it up for me , have you over here to get out of the way .
And then , like the problem was at that time I Didn't know my audience . Yeah , I couldn't really . I couldn't really spit ball the material like I wanted to . But somebody's like well , and once again it's like every no , why the hell people find me funny ? I don't get it , I don't know .
And some of my old coworkers at my current job I said man , you're funny , you're funny , dude . Man , I'm just me doing , I do . And it's like man , you should go up . If you go to the improv , man , we'll come and see you . I was like don't , don't , don't , do that , don't do that . But Now I kind of got a little something in the in the holster .
If I have to do that you know if I feel the need to do that . So I mean , it's just um . Yeah , I understand the whole comedic process as a creator Trying to create things . When it hits , it hits , and when it . When it's dry , it's dry . You can't come up with nothing , yeah you know it's , it's a process .
You know there's still those people out there that are like oh , you're a comedian . What you work like an hour a day Like is that is that all you do . It's like . I wish I only had to work an hour a day .
I was like y'all don't see what's going on behind the scenes , Like my joke notebook is always within arm's reach of me Because you never know when that sparks gonna hit and you're gonna think of something funny . And you got to write that . You got to write that stuff down and you know it's writing jokes .
It's practicing material , Whether that be in the mirror by yourself or at these open mics , getting on a stage and not getting paid for it . You know , just going out to an open mic and just trying to .
You know , work your material and you know I tell people because you , you got to it seems like you got to experience this a little bit when you went on stage and I tell every comedian I've been doing this 11 years , comedy and I tell every Comedian this it's not if you're going to bomb , it's when you're going , you're when you're gonna bomb and you will
learn more from a bomb Then you will from killing any room and I
¶ Navigating Challenges in Pursuing a Passion
Learned that the the hard way because I didn't have Somebody like me telling me this . They're like dude , you're hysterical . I went on stage the first time at a buddy's open mic , absolutely destroyed the room , you know , caught that comedy itch and have been doing it ever since .
But like my first five or six shows , you know I was going different cities , I was killing it in different cities and About that six or seven show I get up on stage and it's just crickets and I had to do a 15-minute set . You think five minutes as long . When you're bombing , add ten more to that .
And it's like , it's like you're up there , you're by yourself , the light is on you , that's it . You got a thousand and one things going to your head . The next thing , you know you , you start feeling your skin glisten . You're looking at different . You look at the different people in the audience .
They look at each like this they're on their phone , somebody's digging in the nose , scratching ass , it's just a whole lot going on . They're doing everything but laughing at you and man , that that is a humbling feeling . I mean , it is my buddy , my buzzer . Hey , man , you know if you got a .
I mean , like my buddy Sterling has told me , says you know , if you , you know , go up there . You know you , you probably you're not gonna kill and I , like at 40 years old , I understand that first at bat . You're not gonna hit it out the park , you're gonna strike out , you're gonna hit singles nine times .
I'll tell you that's . That's the truth . I I don't know what it was on me that first time I went on stage , but you know that's a rarity in this game .
Yeah yeah , you go hit singers . Okay , then how can I turn this single into a double , double to a triple ? So far , there's so such . How can I turn this to an inside the park home run ? Now I want to knock this ball , clean out the park . Yeah you saw I'm saying so . It takes time , man . I tell people like may have thought about me . I'm gonna look .
I'm busy enough as this between where the part time editor Station doing this podcast stuff which I'm still trying I mean , I'm in year number four and I'm really trying to , you know , dig my heels into because we have great content it's just us taking that next step of leveling up .
I like I'm I ain't got a damn time for I have the damn time for it in . Another thing that that just crossed my mind , normally with , like , you said something about not getting paid , I mean , but having loved ones is is great , but some advice I could recommend to people . Number one don't be out here like Jada Jada Pinkett Smith .
Tell me all your damn business , please . Sometimes you got keys on this shit to yourself . Yeah , keep it to yourself .
And if you converse with people , converse with people in your industry , converse with people that are like-minded somebody might work in a corporate setting you tell them what they got , what you got going on , and they are trying to break it down to you and it's like , well , you don't get it .
I'm trying to help you out , but I you , I don't think you don't get it . It's just like I'm Like I currently work at W OBL , wdl W radio in Oberlin Ohio . I've been there for a handful of years . What's my title ? God I don't know . I'm a jack of all trades .
If you go to our social media profiles all on Facebook and Twitter I made the game the , the game of the week chips . Like you know , you got like reverse clear view and you know I added another element because I thought it was a need for that .
Then we also do something called the Golden Helmet Award , where we nominate seniors throughout the year and at the end of the season , you know , they win . The Golden Helmet Award was the top football player in all of Lorraine County .
So between doing that , between Myself and Dave Rivera and I , who also work at W OBL , wdl W , we have our own thing called I 90 scores . We spotlight the athletes in Lorraine County and the kids love it . The kids love the kids . Are we gonna come to the games ? We gonna come to the games . I'm like , look , it's only two people , 50 million y'all .
But we appreciate the support . So you know we also do the same thing for that . As far as making like I 90 scores player the week award , we do that and they'll have a basketball season , but we really made an impact within the communities . Like that's the parents now . Hey , you cool , you coming back , you coming back .
I said there's a station that's something playing for me . I'm gonna come back . It's just like when you , when you , when you strike out to do something , a Lot of people are gonna have a lot to say yeah . And the thing about it is you have to be mindful of who's telling you this stuff . Okay , this person knows me , but do they know the industry ?
Do they Understand , do they know what's going on ? And a lot of times , like you say , when you don't get paid , you are , you put you , you get paid by experience , you're paying dues , and so people think like , okay , well , after the first year you should get paid . Well , a lot of times that don't happen . No , the first year is the interduct receive .
You gonna sink or swim , like I'm not gonna lie to you .
Man , I'll be real transparent and I don't care who here's this or not , but I've really given up Friday nights at my job , where I make money , to Do things for I 90 sports , like a brand building , like do things for I 90 sports and when I record my podcast I record it on one of my off days when I'm not at the station , you know , either cutting
commercials or helping run the audio board during podcasts of that . So I do a lot of stuff and I sacrifice a lot and
¶ Mental Health and Finding Peace
I tell myself the worst thing you can do is quit . Another thing you can do is let a bunch of voices and I'm gonna tell you a little quick story had a little rough weekend this weekend . I ain't gonna lie to you , mike , weekend was kind of rough between you know , regular job and life all together . Yeah , so you know what I did .
I Took my ass to the park . It is a cold injury day . I took my ass to the park , I said I sat down , I found a place by myself and I just , and I just , you know , had them , had them . I had a moment to sit there and and just clear my mind .
Yep , you , you need those meditation times , you know what I mean .
Yeah , people don't realize it .
You know when you're going a hundred miles an hour day , every day , like you need those times to just sit and decompress . I mean mind's stupid . I mean I might sit on the couch , throw on sports center or something , my wife sitting there next to me , my son's doing God knows what is a 14 year old , you know he's , he's out doing whatever he's doing .
And but you know , at the at the beginning of my me and my wife's relationship , you know eight years ago , you know she would look over on the couch and she was like , are you alright ? I'm like , yeah , why ? She was just like you haven't said anything for like two hours . I was just like , got nothing to say .
I'm just kind of decompressing from my day and my week , you know , just kind of deleting all the stuff in my head that I don't need in there anymore . Get that out of there , making more room to remember stuff . And you know it's just , I'm just decompressing . And now it's to the point .
Now there's been times , you know , eight years later , well , I've been , I sit on the couch just watching TV and then we'll look over there until I realize it's been like four or five Hours we haven't said a word to each other and we're just happy in that moment , because she realized that I'm just sitting there meditating to myself , just relaxing and just Clear
in my head . And now she does that too and people are like man , you'll sit there that long and you don't talk . We don't need to talk , I talk , I talk for a living . I don't need to talk all time .
Sometimes you just want to shut the hell up and just and just be , just just be , just exist . And so , like I just took that , I just took today and , as a matter of fact , as soon as we finish this , I'm about to go to a spot up the street have a beer , get some tacos and treat myself . You know , I'm saying so .
For me is just , and also I am a big mental health advocate because when my mom passed away in 2018 round Christmas time , it rock , it turned my world upside down . Yeah , because it made me realize okay , you're getting older , you're not getting any younger . So when you start getting in your late 30s , early 40s , things like this will happen .
Yeah before that , my father passed away one out , and back in 1995 , when I was 12 . I so I really didn't address that . I was just hey , I just want to go to school . I'm saying my daddy's gone , I just want to go to school . And then between that good God , my don't start crying but I've lost .
Between , let's just say this between 1995 to 2019 , I've lost three brothers , both grandparents and both parents , damn . And I never really had chance to heal or dress it . But like 2000 , 2019 , like my like shit is hit the fan .
Like I wasn't worried about the relationship , I was at it at the time , I didn't give it about anybody or anything , and Me and my brother was butting heads for reasons I won't disclose . I just want my brother to do better and he was doing things that was detrimental to that . That affected me in a way , but it faded him to him the most , and so it was .
And then I , it affected my performance on the job . And then my boss like you look distracted , dumbass , my brother just died . Like what are you ? What are you ? Are you dead ? What's wrong with you ? I told my boss that I didn't care . Like right , like like brah , I'm here because I got bills . I Got bills and I need the money , so that's why I'm here .
So I remember sitting on the couch it was January 31st 2019 . Like I looked in the mirror . I mean , I'm sorry , december , december , the New Year's Eve , 2019 . I looked in the mirror , I saw me , but I didn't see me . I didn't realize who the hell I was looking at that in the mirror .
And every since January 2020 , I made a commitment to Take care to address my mental health . And what I learned through therapy ? Man , it's People . People crap on it . I don't know why , because I think the main ones that crap on it .
They may need themselves , but that's that's for them , and whenever they're ready for me , for me , it just gives me a chance to Talk to someone that doesn't know me . I can be honest and transparent with them . I can tell them Everything that's going on in my life .
Prime example the mess I had this week at work , this this past weekend at my other , nine to five not the station , because I call the station fun job , but I call the other serving job , you know , the job that pays the bills and had a rough weekend full transparency . I'm gonna lie to you .
So I just Talked to my therapist about it and I felt so much better . I feel so much better . So I and I'm a big mental health advocate I do realize that October is , you know , no mental health awareness . Well , and you have , you have to .
In order for me to have the , the job , the fun job , the podcast , the I 90 sports and just waking up every morning , I have to have some . I have to . I have to have a clear mind . I can't have a lot of stuff on my mind .
Therefore , when my mind is loaded and distracted , I can't be the best person of any that I can be , and it's and there's no fun in that , there's a fun at what's open . I gotta tell people I'm like , well , I'm big on mental health . Man , I believe if you , if you don't have your mental health , you don't have nothing .
You can have all the big muscles of the world , but you know , if this thing up with that inclusion , I'm gonna go to him . If it ain't right , then you ain't gonna be right .
Yeah , you know I'm with you , I'm a big advocate for for mental health and everything like that . That . A lot of mental health professionals on on the podcast here . You know talking to them and you know I've taken little tidbits you know from them , just from our talks with them about what they do and you integrate that into a daily routine .
But you know people crap on therapy . I don't know why . I personally have never done it , but I'm not opposed to going if I know I need it . Right now my therapy Believe not is getting on stage . You know I Worsley , I talk about true stuff every . If he was me , 11 years of comedy . Is everything you say on stage true ? And to this point , yes , it's .
It's all true stories that have happened . I've found comedic spins on everything . But I've learned from being a comedian you have to find the funny and Every situation I'll give you . I'll give you a quick little story . I haven't gotten to tell this one on stage yet , I'm still kind of working out the Kings , but I'll tell to you here .
So my bottle exclusive . Last year my mom's real dad passed away and you know he wasn't in my life for the first 25 years of my life , so I never really called him grandpa , but he was . You know it hit hard because he'd been in , you know , been around trying to change from when he left and blah , blah , blah .
Well , we get to the funeral early and you know it's , you know , just me , my mom , my dad and my grandparents on my dad's side that are there at the funeral home at this point time . My wife and my son were with me too as well , and my grandpa on my dad's side absolutely Loves my wife , like he Just .
He absolutely loves her and he loves to talk to her . Problem is he can't hear real well and he has a hearing aid that he doesn't like turn up all the all the time . Oh boy , here we go . I come from a full-blooded Italian family . We're very loud individuals , as it is Couple that with not knowing how loud you're actually talking . He screams everything .
So we're in the middle of the funeral parlor . My mom's real dad can't be more than 20 feet away from us . In the casket , my grandfather leans over to my wife as if he's gonna whisper , but doesn't whisper , he goes . I don't know how many people are gonna show up to this . He was kind of an asshole and nobody liked him , like we could have been .
This is a sad day . We're at a funeral .
I've been a plenty . I know , yeah , I know I get it .
There's a dead person at the front of the room and then my dad obviously hears this and just turns he goes oh Jesus Christ , dad , what are you talking like ? Now those two are arguing in the middle of the funeral parlor and that's just no . Then we all kind of stopped looking at each other and just started hysterically laughing . That became the butler .
We told everybody that came in that story when they came in and it it lightened the moon in a very sad day and you know we could have been Distraught and crying and upset in , you know , in our feelings , but we found what was funny about it and it got us through that day and it gets . It gets me through . You know it's only been a year .
You know it's the sad , sad to even think about , but that story from that funeral Gets me through it . That and at the time my Three-year-old niece come and run up to me and I had a bigger beard at the time and she'd love to come in and grab it Because she doesn't see me , because I don't live by in that much , and she's just yanking on it .
And my wife , you know , you know we find funny in any situation and that's what's helped me in my mental health . So since we were talking about it and advocating about it , you know , if anybody's out there Find the funny in any situation , and I promise you your mental health will be a lot better .
I think it's what it is . Matter of fact , the . The word we're looking for is called levity . Yeah , you find a liberty , a matter of fact . If I'm pointing this right , this is how I know my image is backwards .
This guy , my co-host here , scott Dolly , also known as the money man for us , got a DI , learned through him about finding levity and everything that you know did like you got to find it . You got to find it and I was like Damn , I never thought about it like that . I've never really thought about that . It was just like Another quick story here .
It was a Few , was a month after my mom , dad , it was . It was February 2019 . I Thought my mom was gonna hang on through 2018 to see me , through 2018 , 2019 , to see me graduate , but she didn't . I was laying on the floor and , mike , I laid there for like a solid hour , yeah , and I was like what the hell am I gonna do between ?
But what , what am I gonna do ? Like ? What , the , what , the , what the fuck am I gonna ? What you gonna do ? Like you just gonna Pardon me , just wanted to fold up shop and just quit . So I'm just like laying there on the floor .
Just like Laying there like and now I look up , now look back on my damn I'm gonna look like a damn murder scene with you got to do is outlining and talk . I'm just laying on the floor , right . And so I'm just laying on the floor just having a conversation with myself . I'm like man , you know I'm now . I say I Don't know if I can go any further .
I Don't know if I can go any further . But then I heard my mom's voice . My mom was . My mom was a southern woman . Love the Lord , five to you was . She was a spitfire , she didn't play the games . I can hear her go , you better get your ass up to this . That work . Yep , I got you . I got you . I got you Because my mama said you big cuz cuz .
I can hear her . I get like as , as I'm getting up , get myself together , might get my brand together , like she gave me like a monologue slash speech . It was like everything the first 30 plus years of my life . It all came back to me again for like an hour straight and as I'm typing the paper I would hear different jewels that she would give me .
You know , make sure you got life insurance , make sure you got this . Make sure you got that . You know you come a long way , son , you never give me any trouble or you never been in jail Like my mom thought highly of you . Know I was the baby my mom thought highly of me and my sister called me spoiled .
I was like no , I'm just love and your ass is old . No , I didn't tell her that . But you know , it's just , yeah , it's just , it's just like realizing that you know , having that funny . Like me and my mom , we had a lot of funny moments , a lot of funny moments .
And then , while I'm typing my paper , wiping tears away , I'm thinking about those funny moments , like the time she picked me and my friend I'd be up at football practice in high school and they had the bump . What do you call those parking lot things ? The bumps , the stops or whatever you call them , just the so you don't go .
I've been wondering that for
¶ Memories of Mom and Random Conversation
34 years in my life too . I have no idea what those things are called , but I know what you're talking about .
Well , we gonna call it in the parking lot , what's the numbers , right ? So you got the what's the numbers across the whole damn parking lot , right . And so we get ready to leave and my mom was putting .
I noticed that you know she had one of them cars but , you know , due to the shift from the side right , she had to , she had to also be a dude shift from the side . I knew that going down , you're going backwards . She went up . I said , mama , you can't do that and I was like the hell just happened . So I just remember that funny moment , man .
Then , yeah , I love my mom , man , I miss her . I miss her . You know , I'm not gonna lie to you .
I just I thought the world of her , man , she couldn't do no wrong and you know , old folks , they had their ways , but I didn't want to say I gave my mom a pass , I just knew that , hey , mom , you know it is what it is , you know people gonna be people , but I love you , I love you . And yeah , yeah , man , my mama , that was my she .
She was one of my biggest supporters , I will say that . But she , you know she didn't , she wasn't around for the podcast and you know she was around for when I did the music and she supported me through our school and you know I remember sitting there and the I forgot the name of that arena that we graduated in San Diego , California .
It was home of the San Diego State Aztecs . I'm kind of just looking around and just looking around , it's like I can , like I can . I felt her presence , man , like all throughout that building . Like , yeah , mama , I did it , I did it . My people said , hey , y'all , I see y'all .
But I'm over looking around and okay , there's Kawaii Leonard's jersey and da da , da da . Yeah , mama , I did it . It's just just just seeing things and just seeing certain signs and just like , even though I'm not here with you son , I'm here with you inside .
That's a conversation me and my therapist had today , because I kind of had a moment , like you know , I wish I had some parental advice and my therapist said well , you know , just remember what your mother stood and you , you got your parental advice because I remember having a dream a while back and it was very vivid and it involved my mom and what it was .
It was just I looked back at it now I was like , okay , there's something that was on my mind for quite some time and I was looking for the answers and the good Lord in the universe said okay , I'm gonna put you in a situation with your mama and your mama gonna tell you what you need to do . And it hit me about three days ago .
I was like , damn there , it is right there . You know , there , it is right there . Don't you start crying on me , mike . I'm fine , I'm good bro .
I got one more question for you and then I got to get into this , this last segment here , because we are running down near the end of the episode here .
I talked to the devil podcast . No , you're good man .
You're good man . You're on the ride home rants podcast . I mean , I expect us to go off the rails a little bit . You know on this show but you were brought to us by . You know good friend of the show has been on the show a lot Tony Bogan . How do you know Tony ?
All right . So before I started at WOBLWDLW radio , I was a writer for Key on Sports Media Group with Viss McKee , and I met Tony through Key on Sports and me and Tony still kept in contact . I was only Key on Sports from June 2021 to about I think well , I'm going to say early 2022 .
Yeah , so sometime early 2022 , I was in between there and then , you know , I got a chance to work at the radio station . Like yeah , I'm going to take that . So I've known Tony for that long and Tony's a great dude . He's had me on his podcast multiple times and Tony's a great guy . Like we're doing the same with things .
Like what I'm doing in Lorraine County is the same thing he's doing over in Cuyahoga County , which is the county closer to Cleveland , everything , and so it's just like we talk a lot . I'm a character a lot of Panthers fan . He's the one the Saints fan and you know we're division rivals , but Tony's a good dude . He means well , he's a great guy .
That he is . Oh , and you're talking to a Buccaneers fan .
Well , that's the end of this . No , I'm joking , I got all the blame . I'm so joking , mike , you know what ? I have respect for Buccaneers fans because when you go to the Super Bowl , you win it . Now , if you're a Phelcons fan , you give up a 28 to three lead and you'll never see the Super Bowl again . So I can respect the Saints fan .
Because you went to the Super Bowl , you be the good team . You see , the other day I've dealt you went to Tampa Bay . You went to the Super Bowl twice . Why should I do it three ? How many times did I do it ? Like three times ? Twice , twice , yeah , twice , yeah , you went to the Super Bowl twice .
So you're touring on the Super Bowl and you beat good teams . Well , that one team could be what was the Raiders ? Oh yeah , y'all just beat the Brakes on them . They just , they just , they just took them . And so , like you know , I respect teams that can seal the deal , but the Phelcons , they can go pound sand . I'm now thinning forever .
I don't want to hear nothing about the Atlanta Falcons fans , because before you were , before , we had this video , this , this interview , this podcast interview . They showed like the best of Tom Brady compilation and they showed his immaculate comeback . For that time . They won the Super Bowl in Atlanta , and I'm not going to lie to you .
What the hell do I look like as a Panthers fan , jumping up and down , ruling for the Patriots ? Why ? Because of the Atlanta Phelcons . That's why . That's why the Phelcons yeah , whatever they're trying to hold us we all lost two Super Bowls . At least Tom Brady didn't walk us down when we had , when we had to leave that would be a tear and beat us .
And then we got overwhelmed by them . Let's just get that out of the way . That's what happened . So , yeah , so , yeah . So , other than that man , tony's a good dude man . I really respect him , I really like what he does , man , and he's got a bright future man .
Yeah , I've had him on here a lot on the show . I've been on his show . You know , love Tony to death . He's a good dude . So I always like to know when other guests of my show said to be guests to be on the show . I always like to know the connection . You know , that's just me personally and yeah , that's just me .
But like I said , and when we are running down near the end of this episode here , I got to get this segment end because if not the manager of this podcast , johnny Fitty Fowkone , will not let me hear the end of it . And that is the Fast 55 .
Five random questions from the wonderful manager of the podcast , johnny Fitty Fowkone , and Edwin I got to tell you my man , he sent these to me today . So these are kind of rapid fire . You can elaborate if you need to . And these have nothing to do with what we've been talking about for the past 35 , 40 minutes here .
Oh boy , here we go , let's get it when I say they're random .
They are random , so if you are ready , we will go ahead and get rolling . I've been ready , like yesterday , let's go All right . So question number one would you rather own a fast car or a fast boat ?
Give me a fast water or give me a fast boat . I mean fast , car I'm missing a water to messages I can't . For me , it's a control thing , so give me the fast car .
Okay , all right . Would you rather have a camel or a snake as a pet ?
Give me the camel I got . The only thing a snake can do for me is be a wallet or a belt or a pair of boots .
Yep , there's two kinds of snakes that I'm afraid of and that's a lot of ones and dead ones . So , yes , exactly , I don't care what it is , I don't like it , kill it , kill it . It's dead , kill it again . Question number three oh , this is such a fit . I just read this . This is such a fitting question .
All right , so if you're locked , if you locked Batman , the Christian Bale version , michael Myers , hall , cogan and John Wick in a room , who walks out as the winner ?
I think John Wick , man , because John Wick can do some things with a pencil . Yeah , hey , john Wick can make some things happen , man , john Wick , yeah , he's , yeah , john Wick , yeah .
Yeah , yeah , that's a tough one , but that's . That's such a pity question .
Because because hold on a little bit quick Batman got a utility bill and Michael Myers is just .
uh , so Okay okay , question number four , which would be more bizarre to see A muck , which is a half man , half duck , or Santa Claus flying a sleigh in the sky . That was a tough one to get through . I'm gonna read that again so I can get you the full question , because this , this , this one was tough .
No , I heard you . You said a muck , which is a man in the duck , or seeing Santa Claus fly the sleigh in the sky .
Right , yeah , which would be more bizarre to see .
Well , would really be bizarre seeing Santa Claus do that during the off season . But uh , no , uh , would really be bizarre . Is a muck ? Is a man that thinks he's a duck ? Because I'm going the other way ? I'm not asking questions , I'm running .
He's good on land and water .
you can't get away from him , you know , and he can fly and he can fly too , you know , yeah , and he can fly . The quake . Start quacking and he's gonna have a quake for me . Where's my brother with his wife ? Get him , get him .
Question number five and the final question here which is the better veggie , asparagus or broccoli ?
Oh , man and I , and I like both of them too . I like broccoli , the reason being , when it comes to asparagus , it has a chance . When you cook it too soft , it becomes stringy and it is a choking hazard to people 35 and over , including this guy . So , yeah , soft , soft cooked broccoli .
Man , soft cooked broccoli with a little bit of cheese and butter doesn't .
All right , that was the fast 55 , and . I gotta say he's been taking it easy on people . Those were some good questions from from a man like he's been . He's been kind of slacking on his randomness game . That was by far the most random ones we've had in a long time , in three years of running this segment , that is . That is that's that .
Those ones were tough . But , edwin , like I said , we are running down near the end of the episode here . I give every guest this opportunity at the end of the show . I'm gonna give you about a minute .
If there's anything you want to get out there , whether it's your podcast radio show , anything like that , or even if it's just a good message , I'm gonna give you about a minute , man , and the floor is yours All right .
So here we go . My name is Edwin Vereen and I'm a Jack of all trades , aka Johnny do everything and then some . Uh , the sports bros podcast , you can . It's available every Wednesday on google , spotify , apple , wherever podcasts are available . Um , my other fun job you catch me at WOBL , wdlw sports .
Uh , I run the live stream for , um , high school football and I think I'll be running the live stream for high school basketball too . Uh , too , so stay tuned . Like that , i90sports . You can check us out on twitter and instagram . Uh , let's see . If you want me to cut you real commercial , I can cut you commercial for the right price .
Um , I'm a voice out . Um , I like to voice over and you know stuff like that and I'm trying to do that . If you want me to edit your podcast , I'm not the best in the world , but I figured out the four years doing a podcast . Something must be going on doing right ? So , uh , if you ever want to get in contact me , uh , get in contact with me .
Uh , check me out at the real eddy cool on twitter , also on his x , and you spell that capital T , lower case h , lower case , lower case e . Uh , real capital R , lower case eal , eddy capital E ddy and cool capital k ool , k ool . That's the real eddy cool on twitter . That was a lot . That was a lot , but I got it again .
You got it in , man hey check him out on all of those . I will put all of the links for all of what edwin here has got going on in the description of this episode . So be sure to go and check him out . And also , I do gotta get this last sponsorship read in before we end this show , and that is for my own personal coffee brand , bono's brew .
You can check it out . It is made and roasted right here in the united states , in illinois and california . I have all different types of flavors . We're in the fall season . Yes , for all my basic people out there , I have pumpkin spice as well . I have everything from cowboy brew , which will put hair on your chest for sure . If you need
¶ Bono's Brew and Ride Home
a wake up call , cowboys brew from bono's brew is where it's at all . Different types of flavors , not overpowering like you're gonna get at the bucks and everything like that or dunking , but it will save you some money too as well , brewing your own coffee at home . I have learned this since starting this company in bono's brew .
Use the promo code ride home rance and I will give you 5 off of your first purchase . That is going to do it for this week's episode of the ride home rance podcast . I want to thank edwin vareen for joining . This was a lot of fun to get to sit and talk with you , man , a lot of fun to learn about you .
As always , if you enjoyed the show , be a friend , tell a friend . If you didn't tell them anyways , they might like it . Just because you didn't , that's gonna do it for me and I will see y'all next week . You .