Maller Mailbag

Ben Maller starts right now Sunday. That's right, hey, you you've tuned in on a Sunday, a day of rest, to the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller and not David Gascon because four hours a night on the overnight clearly not enough. Eight days a week, eight days a week, and this would be the eighth day of the week,

a double dose. Not only do you get the Fifth Hour podcast right now, assuming you're listening on Sunday, but also we have live radio program in the overnight starting at eleven o'clock in the West at two am in the East on a Sunday morning. But this is all about the mail. And if you didn't hear listener mail, I love this is my favorite podcast the way I love the Friday one doing the conversations, and I put up with the Saturday podcast, but the Sunday mail Bag

always love it. It's a spinoff of Ask Ben on the radio show. And we are joined yet again if you missed Saturday. Big Mike a Fox Sports Radio icon who's been at the company for seventeen years. Seventeen years, and he is with us again. So Big Mike. Now the way this is gonna work. These are all actual questions sent in by actual consumers of the Fifth Hour podcast and Fox Sports Radio and and we will just randomly ask me. There's some sports questions, a lot of

non sports questions. There's a lot of people that fought Gascon was gonna be here, clearly not realizing the Gascon takes off every other weekend. So you're in the gascon, not in the Gascon chair as you told us, because you're you don't want that chair has been silly, but you're in the gascon roles. So you have to try to answer either as Gascon or as Big Mike, whatever whatever you choose, whichever mood strikes me. I mean, let's do it all right, here we go. First question is

from Matt in Elmira, New York. By the way, these questions all set via the show Facebook page. Ben Mallers Show or Real Fifth Hour at gmail dot com. Real fifth Hour at gmail dot com. So Matt in Elmira, New York says Ben and a gascon slash Big Mike, Big Mike's name, I would like to know your personal opinions regarding NBA players resting well not injured. I understand the disappointment of road fans once, for example, the Nets come to town, Matt says, and Kyrie and Harden sit

out for rest. Tickets are wildly expensive for all sporting events anymore. Uh, and you have a right to be irritated. Uh. To that, some say, why don't these players rest during home games instead? But that seems foolish, disrespect your hometown fans. So he's going back and forth on this, and uh, he said, you know, people bring up Jordan played all eighty two games at forty years old. Uh, that was that side of the aisle. And he says, I understand

players health. This is a very long, winning question for Matt and Olmira, New York. Uh, he says, I just don't know exactly where I stand on the issue. I'd love to hear your thoughts, all right, Matt, I will go first I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. Do not like it. Uh. And

I believe that if you're healthy, you should play. And I'm also maybe I'm completely wrong on this, but I don't think you can correctly predict when he's you played x number of minutes or x number of games, your body's gonna break down. Right, So not always in North I the wage medical gurus who seemed convinced, you know, if you play a certain number of back to back games in the NBA, you're not gonna be healthy and your your body's gonna break down. I think it's voodoo medicine.

I don't buy it. Everyone's different and what they what they can take and what they can't take is different. And the other thing too, is you know, it's one of those things that's changed where it used to be a badge of all you. You would feel shame and you'd feel guilt if you didn't play. We'd hear that. You know, my teammates need me, the fans need me. I know, I gotta be out there. I gotta play. Now it's the opposite. We've done a one eighty and

now it's like, well, it doesn't really matter you. People get offended when they're when they're expected to play and and and coaches are shamp For example, Tom Thibodeau, the coach of the Knickerbockers, when he was in Chicago and he had his guys play, he really pushed them to play a lot of minutes. And the media, the basketball media, the softies in the basketball media, killed Tom tibodoz Well. He's like a despot because he wants to he wants

his guys to play. He plays him a lot of minutes, and he doesn't have load management and all that, and he got very upset. But I think it's ridiculous. I I think it's embarrassing. And I like what they used to do in the olden days, because you know, I was back in my day when I was a kid. What they would do is they'd have they wouldn't give players, as I remember, a full game off. They'd only play them. And if they played like thirty five minutes a game,

they play him fifteen or they play him ten. But they play a little bit. So the fans on the road got to see the star players. Because a big part I'm going along here myself, but a big part of the NBA marketing is to sell the stars, not even the teams. It's it's come out and watch Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, come out and check out Jason Tatum and the Celtics. Well, if you go to a game, you pay money, you're being sold that you're going to see those guys. And I understand if

they're hurt, that's fine. But if if they're not hurt and they just they feel like playing because you know they they're delicate little flowers, that's bull crap. How do you how do you stand? I'm with you, Uh, most of the way through all of that, I agree. I also think that part of winning a championship is durability, and it's unfair if while you know some players are playing every game for the whole season, they are obviously going to take on more wear and terror than the

guys who are taking it. Gives you an unfair advantage if you're deciding to take games off. And it's not truly about what a champion is. The champion is the guy who can you know, the team that can get through all that without you know, breaking down and still has enough horses. And you get into the bench and you see, you know, well, do you have the guys if you lose somebody or if somebody's not you know, able to perform, do you have somebody on the bench

that could step in and fill in. I mean, that's part of being a champion is being able to get past all that sort of stuff. And on top of that, like, if you want to arrest your players, you know how remember how the Showtime Lakers used to do it. They'd blow doors and by the third quarter they'd be up by twenty points and they take all the starters out and they never played the fourth quarter. So if you really want to arrest your guys, I think that that's fine.

Do it. Like you said, if you place thirty five, you only play him twenty because you're blowing doors on guys anyway. I mean, pick your spots to give your guys rest when you've already performed, you know. Yeah, yeah, you know. It's like the term and it's a political term, but it's jerrymandering, right you read draw That's pretty much what these these teams have done. It. It's not just the NBA, but the NBA. It's more obvious where you people don't like it in politics when you change it

so you can't lose the election. But there it's supposed to be, at least I was raised as a sports fan. It's supposed to be a war of attrician right and and the team that wins the championship has survived all of that and played and put their best it forward. So that's where I stand up. And the only problem, the real problem is the motivation for the franchises, for those teams to rest their players, because the franchises do

better when they win championships. So they're going to bend as many of these rules as they can to get that ring. They're not thinking about the fan every day that's coming to this to the stadium to watch. They just want they just want that championship, so they don't you know, teams have a real motivation to do this, and until the NBA can figure out a way to remove that ability, they're they're just gonna keep doing it. Well. The other thing too, is obviously the money. Right. These

guys that used to be athletes. I don't want to say they were disposable, but they were replaceable. And now with the amount of money uh that is is especially like baseball. Basketball players make it, the star guys make it time. But baseball pitchers the baby. We're gonna eventually.

We saw it last year. But they will get rid of pitchers Haiti, because there's a couple of pictures every year they get hurt, either getting hit by a pitch or running the bases, and they just don't want to go in random question, what are the stats as far as complete games pitched anymore? Well, forget about that. Can we ever get a complete game anymore? No, you can't get that unless you've got one hitter or no hitter going.

They're gonna yank you. Yeah, And who's the genius. Who's the mensa that decided your arm's gonna fall off after a hundred pitches? Like who decided that that the human body can only handle a hundred pitches? Because you hear stories like in the old days of Lavon Hernandez pitching in Cuba throwing three pitches, or Fernando Valenzuela in in Mexico,

you know two hundred eighty. Hell, even in the early days when Fernando is with the Dodgers, you know, Tommy Losorda would leave him in there and they didn't care about pitch counts in those days, but it's like they just arbitrary number. Well, you get through a hundred pitchers, you've gotta start warming somebody up in the bullpen because they can't handle. It's like, come on, I don't like

it all right. J Bone from Portland, Maine writes into the fifth hour he says, who is the dude who does the voiceovers for the game shows, the Third Degree, etcetera? Have you ever met him? No? J Bone, I have not met him. The only voiceover guy that I've met was the original voice of Fox Sports Radio, who's a really cool guy. Met him at the Fox lot and boy, I'm forgetting his name, but he's actually the voice that I think. He's the voice of ESPN now. But he

he did movie trailers. Like guy was like a d J in Minnesota, and he had a very interesting story how he got into the voiceover stuff. But yeah, I have not met the voice of Fox Sports Raid. I don't even know what. I don't know where the guy lives. I know that he's on there a lot doing the voiceover stuff. Yeah, I know Bob, You know Bob. Where's he at? He is? Uh? He does most of his work out of the heart Burbank Studios. Okay, so it's just a local guy in l A here, guy in

l A here. He works with our our imaging department as well. I think he also does work for a local affiliate here in Los Angeles. So okay, and he's a really good guy. Yeah, well that's a racket man. The voiceover stuff, that's the way to go. Yeah. Actually very talented because not only is Bob the voice, but he's also the producer of a lot of those uh those bits. So he is uh, he has a sound wizard.

One man band. That's good alright. Glenn in Chicago writes that he says, who would you rather have filling in on your show? Fake news or gag on? Or should I say which is worse for the show? Well that's you know, that's like Sophie's choice. You know, there's no right choice there with that. Each bring their own set of problems. Um, Brian friendly, Uh, who I have had on the show. He's like the go to filling guy. See. The thing with Brian is he thinks he's funny and

he never stops talking, which is problematic. And then a gas gun. Uh he thinks he's better than all the people that call up and then hangs up on people and sometimes doesn't even screen the call. So there's issues with both. So I did pick your poison, but some of you idiots. He here's the thing, big Mike. Some of these guys are like, oh, I like I like chaos, and so they like when Brian or Gascons in there

because it drives me nuts. And I mean the lot, I mean the Loody bin, but not the Tom Loody bin, and they get very upset with me. Well, I would if I had to pick, I'd probably go with fake news. I mean friendly is uh. Look, he may talk too much, but man, his voice is so smooth. It's like it's like having a warm cup of hot cocoa poured in your ear hole. You know. It's just yeah for me, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

It's kind of like getting a boiling pot of McDonald's coffee and pulling in your lap, you know, and then you can see and alright. Glenn also had a suggestion for a bit on the show. He says, how about take a Regina spin cycle Regina call and have her give life advice to callers. Advice from spin cycle, Regina, I actually like that. That's a good idea for a bit, Glenn. I'll have to wait for a slow day in sports. I hope we don't have any of those. I hope

it's not like last year where everything shuts out. But I mean it could be a funny bit for a few minutes. Here have Regina give advice out. Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern. Chad from Champagne, Illinois at the home of a fighting a line I he says here proudly, Hey Ben and Gascon. Of course Gascon is not here. What is the weirdest or most craziest thing you have ever seen while driving to and or attending a sporting event? Okay,

I'm glad you asked this question, Chat. I have one of the most surreal, riduculous stories about this, and I believe that my story is in the top three all time stories of things you've seen on the way to a sporting event. So let's flashback million years ago spring training covering the Dodgers in the Grapefruit League. Uh, and the Dodgers had a game in Jupiter. So we're going from Vero Beach down the Highway One there to to Jupiter for the spring training game. I think that's how

we went. I don't remember. We had to use maps back in those days. So I'm driving down Highway One trying to get to the Cardinals spring training facility. I think they're still in Jupiter. At that time. It was the Cardinals and the Montreal Expos that were the team. Anyway, So I'm I'm driving down and uh, there was a a bottleneck. There was a bunch of traffic on the highway,

and we were like, what's going on? And we got up to where there had been an accident, and it was one of the most insane things I had ever seen. In fact, it was so crazy. Well I'm about to know you that I thought it was like a TV show or a movie or it was like an episode of those punked type shows. Hand the God, I'm driving down the highway going to the spring training game. The

accident takes place. It was a hearse that was turning left and got hit like kind of head on, and somehow the back of the hearse had opened up and the casket had it didn't completely fall out, and it just kind of moved back, but I think it stayed closed, which I was concerned about. But all these people were standing around like they didn't really know like what to do because like you know, it's a proper way you have to move the casket and all that. It was

very It was unreal, man, it was. And it's one of those images that I can close my eyes right now, Big Mike, and I can see the image as I drove past. It was to forget. Yeah. It was insane, man. Any anything you've got, you anything like, yeah, but anything that you remember going or coming from a game. The craziest thing that ever happened to me go into a game. I was heading to see Peyton Manning of the Tennessee Volunteers play against U C. L A and the Rose

Bowl regular season matchup. And uh, on the freeway on the way to the Rose Bowl. Uh. Yeah, I I took the bird to the windshield like kill the bird. Oh oh, destroyed the bird, like crack my windshield all the way across spider web the whole thing. I had bad guts, like in front of my face the whole time. I had to kind of drive with my head to the side because I couldn't see from all the bird guts that were still on my windshield. It was nasty. But you know that I was at that game too,

He at the same games. Not like a gunshot when that stupid bird it too. Man, it was loud. Well, I think the bird had it was on a coma Kaze suicide mission. That's what I think he had a coming. Yeah, at one time I was was driving down the down the road and a rabbit ran in front of my car. And I'm convinced the rabbit had a death wish and got it got what it wanted there. But I've never I've never had a bird that would Boy, that would

freak you out. Yeah, it was a little freaking because it hit right in front of my face, like it that's where bird guts. Bird guts stuck in the windshield. And how do you how do you handle the insurance on that? How do you explain to you say, why is a bird hit my windshield? And yeah, well when the guy came out to replace the windshield, that's not like he couldn't tell that a bird hit my windshield. And yeah, I wouldn't know how to go about doing

that on purpose. If I could Yeah, that's reminiscent of Eddie hit a boat on the freeway. He got in an accident and hit a boat. Yeah, I guess the guy's boat had come off the hitch and was on the four oh five and kaboom. I guess it's better than hitting a boat with your car while you're on the water. That's good point. Yeah, that would be Yeah, I see what you did there, Pierre. In Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, says Ben

and Gascon. As a youth, I was introduced to the strat o Matic baseball board game. Have either of you ever had the pleasure to play any of these strat o Matic products. I've played all the major sports versions except football. They're great for stat nerds and introduced me to many players of the past from the nineteen thirties to present. Now I am aware of the strat o Matic brand. Pierre, I never played. I when I got

into fantasy, it was it was called rotissary baseball. Listen. Yeah, that's what I got really into, and that's what I became obsessed with, like stats and and all that, and yeah, it wasn't the story. It started at a place the guys got together and they created Fantasy Baseball at a rotisserie Chicken place in New York, and so they just called it Rotisserie Baseball because that was like the name of the restaurant. I think that was a story, but

I don't use anymore. It's now saw fantasy and all that. But you knew the strato matic ether big Mike. I did not. I had. I had a buddy who had a big, giant poster board up in his bedroom and he would, you know, get the paper and read the stats and and chalk him up. Uh. And then at the end of the season we'd all we don't sit down and and add everything up and figure out who won. Yeah, we're dinosaurs. It was important. It was like Sporting News had all the stats and that was a big thing.

And then I do. I'd get them from the Times, just from the sports page, just go straight to the box scores. Yeah, not so much anymore now now they're in your phone. You got him right now, anything you need, any statu you passed me? Hey, I was I blind him at the Seahawk fan from a limp be all Washington rights and says, this is both of you. If you could have a town named after you. What would it be and where would it be? Like a Mallarville, Mallarburg. Uh, No, No,

what we should have is Mallard stand. How about that? Wouldn't that be good? Mallerstan Yeah, Mallar stand. Yeah, you know, because stand, you know standards of I didn't know this when I was younger, but I learned this watching a documentary. I think most people know this, but I didn't. I'm dumb. Stand just means land, So Afghanistan, whatever, Tobekistan. It's just that's just land. That's how they say land. So Mallard stand.

We would have to be in a place where there's a lot of people because I want publicity, and we'd have to have like sports teams and you know, nice infrastructure and all that. I think you know that that corridor that's where most of the population is. What about you if there was a big Mike town, what do you like? What place called the city? And have you know? No? I think I go the opposite. I think my town is uh is probably up in the mountains somewhere very

few people. Probably most of the population would be wildlife. I don't I don't like people so I think I think my town is just gonna be pretty much me and my wife and a few people. I like, we'll call it like ling Guardia, Lingardia. I like that, Linguardia. Yeah, with the Buffalo Row, you absolutely will need an invitation and a passport to get in. So and you'll have like watch towers and guys with guns and whoa, whoa. I don't know about the guns. No, no guns country. Yeah,

but we'll definitely have security perimeter though. I need to know who's coming in and if you, uh, if you break any of the laws, which will all be you know, made by me, you'll be escorted from ling Guardia with a quickness. So Lingardia sounds like Dubai to me, sound a little bit like Dubai. Absolutely dictatorship. Yes, I understand, all right. Uh Tony in Seattle Rights and he says, Ben, when did you first meet gas Can and what was your first impression? I met him at the company. I

don't remember meeting him prior to that. I met him when he started at Fox Sports Radio, and I I really didn't think much of Gascott when I first met him. I didn't really because I don't really know who was whatever. But you know, like like most that he brought up the fact that we had worked he had worked in San Diego, and I gotta get my start in San Diego. And so there's a kinship. Anybody that started in radio

in San Diego. We all have the same stories because like the same ten people still work in San Diego radio. So it's it's the same. It's a very small fraternity of people in the radio, the radio world. Chris in Iowa says, any advice on entering the voice over business, Chris says, uh, yeah, Well, I would say that the advice it's hard to do, is to just network. And

we had Mel Procter on on Friday. He talked about how he networked when he was at NFL Films and one thing led to another and he got opportunities because he met people and schmooz uh with with people. But yeah, I mean that's that That's the thing. I mean, most of these jobs. I say it all the time that the advice I always say is that most of these jobs in radio and television and voiceover are from who you know, not what you know. You know. I hate to say that, but I feel like that's the case.

I think that's the case in most professions. It's like networking and and things like that. So that's the hard part. And I would say if you're christ and Iowa, if you've got good audio, which you obviously think you do as a voiceover guy, you've got to find a way to get in on these auditions or at least have have your stuff heard, which often means you have to get an agent, which is problematic, but they and the good thing about most agent you don't have to pay

them until you actually get something. And then when you when you have to pay them, or they take a big chunk out of your money. And don't don't forget the celebrity aspect of the voiceover work. And uh, speaking to Mel Proctor, you know he's he's just a guy, and yet you know he's been honing his craft. And some guy who played baseball for ten years is gonna is gonna get a job before he does, not because he's any better at it, just because people know who

he is. They recognize who he is. And you know, James Earl Jones does you know so many and you know there's they're those those really good voiceover gigs tend to just go to actors and people that recognize their voice, so it makes it even tougher to break into the business. Yeah, well, you're referring course to the great jock occracy, Howard co Sell talking about that, which is even more pronounced now than it was even when Howard was around back and

back in his days. All right, Mike from Vegas, right since says what you propose to the NHL to attract more viewers? More viewers? Let's see here, what could the NHL do well? The problem with the NHL, on tell, there's always been the it's hard to keep track of the puck, right, it's not. It's not really television friendly sport. Remember when Fox tried the glowing puck, that tracer puck, Yeah, and that See. I think they should go back to something like that because the technology is a lot better

now than it was when they did. It was like they had this tail behind it the whole time. Like, Yes, if you just make it like a little bigger looking that it's easier to follow. I agree, I think they should go back to something like that. Are you a hockey guy, big Mike? Oh? Yeah, but I I would say I'm a much bigger fan of hockey in the stadium than I am at watching it on TV. I mean, that's one of those sports that really helps you to be there. It's a lot easier to follow the puck. Huh.

Now I look at you get you, and you hear the sound when they crash into the oh yeah, and you get to see like the empty ice when they're making a line change and there's only like three guys on the ice at once, and then you know, it's just it's just a much different visual. I'm an anti net guy. I liked it when the pluck would go flying into the crowd and people would be scrambling to get the puck. But there's nets everywhere you go to

baseball games, that's everywhere. That's nets. Nets, nets. That's that's that's annoy Enough of the nets. Uh. Kathleen from Madison, Wisconsin, wright saying hello, Kathleen, She says, how did you meet your wife? Uh? Kathleen, I met my wife online dating, believe it or not. I was doing some online dating and struck out quite a bit. And finally, if you turn over enough rocks eventually, you'll I think, I think the phrase actually, if you kiss enough frogs. Isn't that

something like that? You know, yeah, something like that. Yeah, I don't know, but that's how I I met my wife. And when I met her, I didn't tell her Wilton Radio. I told her I did sales, and at that time I had my website, So I think I did. I think I might have told her I did some website stuff something like that. So that's the the story on that, Big Mike. Did you meet your wife at? Howd you meet your wife at a bar? Online? What you do? I met my wife at a bar, actually a bar, Yeah,

I was. That's that's the traditional way to do it. That's like that's how people. Yeah, well, yeah, we met at a bar, and that's what we've been married for one years now. So thank gradually, Jose in Northern California says, my lord Ben, thanks again for having your little brother Brian Finley on the show. It is so funny when you abuse him. Had to listen to the show twice, he said, But that and then he wants me to replace gag On with Brian Finley. Well, I don't know

about them permanently. Yeah, I don't know about that. That's a little bunch I mean, guess gonna misses so much time anyway, it's almost like he's he's here half the time. So it's not that big Kevin from Rockford, Illinois writes, So, he says, Mr Maller, in all of your years living in the not so great state of California, have you ever come across any exotic wildlife such as rattlesnakes, mountain lions, big horn sheep, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Uh No, not really.

I didn't see a buffalo on Catalina Island, and but that that's where the buffalo rome. Occasionally they'll come into, like the back of avalon the city. There you'll see a buffalo. And I used to hike around the hills in l A and I there were were mountain lions. I saw a bobcat. But that doesn't really intimidate you. What about you, big Mike here right? No outdoors guy? Sure I have yeah, I've I've hidden from bears before. Really,

you know, dude, I was how scared? Were you were you like peeing your pants were Actually it was I was staying in Tahoe and I had climbed upstairs to the there was like a rooftop like patio thing where you kind of see the view of the whole valley. It was beautiful, and I as I go to walk back down, I see people are like waving at me, and I'm like, what's going on. I looked down and coming up the condo steps and this was, you know,

big condo complex. Was a black bear in her cub just walking up the steps that I was about to go walk back down to get back to my condo room. So I like shut the door and and hit around the corner. But uh yeah, that's probably my closest encounter. And I tried to pick up a snake on a hike once. I thought it was just a curvy stick, right, I thought I was gonna I was gonna pick up this cool looking walking stick. I was like, awesome, it's

laying across the trail. I reached down to pick it up, and it moved, And yes, I did scream like a little girl. Yeah, well you're and put You're so much bigger than the snake. But still that venom the venom, right, yeah sake. Man, it wasn't well, I thought it was a stick. It wasn't supposed to move. Yeah, yeah, be sure to catch live editions of the Ben Maller Show

weekdays at two am Eastern Pacific. Jason from Rocky Mount, Virginia, rights, Since since Ben you talked about your hat collection, that's right, I have noticed the mad Hatter of sports chatter. It's one of my many nicknames there. So it got me thinking. We have a few minor league teams in the area there, he says, remind me your hat size and mailing address. Well, well, Jason, I would be very kind. I'm a size eight. I'd be very large, Big Mike. You probably have about the

same side. You have a large head yourself. I have a large head, but not that big dude. I'm like three. All right, Yeah, I'm I'm a size eight. Uh. And you can send it, just send it to Fox Sports Radio. The address is what is it? Let me think of the address here, boy, I don't know what is you. You're there, big Mike? What is the Let me get the I gotta go to the car here. I got it's won five to six right zero venturable of our Sherman Oaks, California nine one zero nine four zero three?

And what sweet do they have to send it to you? Now? Because the mail rooms changed now that they put your name on it, just put my name on. I don't attention Ben mallor it'll get to you. There you go. Yeah, they've moved a lot of things around during the pandemic, so I don't even I don't even know where to get the mail now. I have no idea where to get the mail. When I come in, I'm like, I don't know where the mail is. So it's on the table by the kitchen. Just so you know, there's actually

some stuff sitting waiting there for you. I'm meant to tell you, really, yeah, come and pick up my mail. But oh, did I tell you my favorite hat story? Do you do you know this one? Have you heard this one? That Richie Sexon once spent time on the d L because the equipment manager saw on the schedule was like the assistant assistant manager grabbed a hat, saw that his hat size was like eight and a quarter or something like that, just he had a giant head.

Thought it was a mistake. I thought it was a typo. So pulled him a seven and a quarter hat and Richie Sexton sprained his neck trying to jam the lid on the top of his head because it was too small, is there? I remember that? So I thought he he thought he had like he had he had intense headache or something like that, I thought. And he wasn't sure what was going on. And then they figured out that his hat was he ended up all with DL because his hat was too small. Was he as dumb as

a box of rocks though? Because yeah, like, wouldn't you know if you put a hat on, it's not it doesn't fit, especially a baseball player that has to have hats on every day at their job. You think you'd figure it out, Like what's going on with that? Yeah? You know? Yeah, dumb as a box of rocks? A R R J in Sane and Tonio. Right, So he says, but what's your favorite? What was your favorite board game to play? I don't know if you're asking now or not.

I don't play a lot of board games these days, although probably gonna be having a big, big step in a in a couple of months, I'll probably played more board games. I'll explain why more later. But I like the classics and the games when I was younger that are still popular today. Like I played Battleship, but I mean it was a big deal Electronic Battleship. When that came out, it was a big Monopolies is still huge. Trivial Pursuit was a big game back in the day,

Connect for Sorry, Operation Um, Hungry Hungry Hip Hops. When I was a kid, I love that. That was a fun game. There was a game called mouse Trap that had always weird. Yeah, yeah, I gotta we were a big board games because we didn't have you know, yeah, it was like a big deal. We had to play the board games played many hours ago. Clue you name it. I'm I'm a scrabble guy. That would that be my go to scrabbles your go Yeah, I like like a little random trivia stuff. True in Pursuit probably the game

is that play now? I would say Trivial Pursuit Monopoly, but a good Connect Forward game. Wrong with that. I'm done with the good game of risk. I just gotta, you know, mark some time on my calendar for it. Yeah, that's right, that's the problem. Yeah, we're old guys, a little big Mike. We can have like game night now, we can have like board game night night. That's what old people do, right, old people stuff. I was not aware. I'm in let's do it, Okay, Carlos in Bang Bang Houston, Texas, right,

since says Bay, Uh, you're very smart man. Well, Carlos think it's very kind of you to say that, starting to always suck up to the person you want. Answering the question, he says, my question is what happened all the Fox Sports regional channels? Why are they called bally Sports? Uh? He says, uh, Well, the reason they're called bally Sports is because Fox Sports sold all of their regional channels, not all of them, but most of them, and they

were rebranded. If they're not owned by Fox Sports anymore, run by Fox Sports, they were rebranded in ballies. With sports gambling becoming more and more popular state by state, and that really the gold rush for sports gambling, Bali's invested. They're they're trying to get that brand to be the go to brand for people that are gamblers, and so they put their name on all these networks. So it's

the same people work at those networks. It's just called the Bally's Sports Southern California or Dallas or where wherever your wherever your location is. So that's the answer. And he also want to know if with my birthday coming up. You want to know if guess Guesscan or gas Can will be getting me another steak? Well, I hope not. And then he recommended this is actually a good idea for a guest on the podcast Mattress Mac. Do you know who Mattress Mac is? Big Mike, do not know

who Mattress. So Mattress Mac is this local celebrity in Houston. He's the He's the bed king of Houston, right they call him. Thus, Mattress Mackie sells beds. I think there's other household products, whatever you sell, but this guy has a deal every year where if you buy your furniture and the cheating as Astros, for example, end up winning the World Series, you're you don't have to pay for your furniture. It's free, right, It's a great marketing gimmick.

He's done it with all the teams in Houston. Will do it for the Texans, the Rockets, the I don't know that you can do it for the Rockets these days because they're terrible, but the Astroids. And he did it for the n c A tournament with Houston, the University of Houston. And so what ends up happening is if it gets close. Because what Mattress Mac does is he takes out an insurance premium. That's the way the

scam works. And uh, and so the insurance actually pays it, but you gotta pay the premium and all that and to cover your losses, your potential losses. If it gets down to the championship game, Mattress Mac well then hedge and he will bet millions of dollars against the team that he has on where the risk is. So like the Astros playing the Dodgers, he bet a bunch of money on the Dodgers just in case, you know, the Astros actually ended up winning. Uh, you know what I'm saying.

So you got you know, he would have to bet on the Yeah, that's right, I screwed that up bat job by me. Yeah, so bell in the Astros to cover himself in case the other team one. That's right there you go. So, but yeah, I would talk Mattress. I would put Mattress back on. It seems like an interesting quite a character to do that. But another, you know,

that's not just a Houston thing. I know that in Boston. Uh, they had a thing with the Red Sox where if you you bought furniture, you got your stuff for free. If the Red Sox won in the World Series, those things pop up. Barry in Nashville rights in the music City, He says, Ben, I slacked off last week. I didn't ask him in a question. Job by me, yet clearly very bad job by you, he says. Now that Gascon has joined the intermittent fasting, both of you can answer this. Well,

he can't, he's not here, but big my canons. How do you fight back the hunger pains when you fast? Uh, he says, And when you end your fast, you weigh yourself right away and does the weight loss register immediately. Alright, couple of things now. First of all, I'm past the hunger pain stage. Like I don't really I don't really get that I did when I first started fasting. But it's to me, it's just mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. And I just would drink.

I drink a lot of water and try to fill my stomach up with as much water as I can because there's no calories in it. And then I'll try to sweat that out when I go to the gym. Uh. And then I don't. I don't wear myself. I don't. I don't want to have it. I'll wear myself occasionally, but I like to wait so I get some serious results. But I'm not a day to day weigh yourself. Gay, You're supposed to do that, but I don't like doing it.

I agree with you. I don't think you should be weighing yourself because weight is only one small aspect of your overall health. And while yes, it's important to stay at a good weight, it's more important to live a healthy lifestyle. And if you're too focused on just your weight, you're gonna lose focus on the things that are important, which is being healthy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Now are you? Are you in the fasting cult? Big mincre I would say that I do tend to try to avoid eating

heavy at night, not necessarily fasting, but I do. I have tried to, you know, make dinner time earlier. I'm trying to, you know, skip the desserts. I know that if I am going to have something that has too many calories in it or too much sugar in it, I'm gonna try to eat it earlier in the day, so you know, I have a chance to burn it. Off. Yeah, I'm near with you. To me, the most important heavy meal they should be lunch. I'm not. I don't really, I'm not a breakfast guy. I mean, I just usually

I'm doing the overnight, so I'm sleeping during breakfast. But I I'll get up and I'll be like lunch when I guess is breakfast because I'm breaking a fast. But I'm a big lunch guy. Not that I don't like dinner, but it's more more important lunch. The last one. Christie writes him from Parts Unknown and says, my question is if one of your younger callers and fans asked you to go to prom as a celebrity, would you say yes? Uh, well, that would be awkward. I never went to my own prom,

so that would be weird, Christie. But yeah, I I would be down with it, although I don't know. I probably have to, you know, go hang out with some dude or whatever, because I don't think there's a lot of high school women girls in our demographic. I would say, I don't think they're they're grabbing. I'm going I know I'm being I'm being sexist there. I just think the general sports talk your consumer typically middle aged people usually dude,

that's uh, I guess yeah, but who am I? So? Anyway, but how weald would that be if I went to a prom, Big Mike, which that would be very weird. That would be very awkward for everyone involved, for everyone involved. Yeah, all right, listen, it's been a fun weekend, Big Mike. Look at that. You survived three podcast well the last two you helped out on the first one behind the scenes. But here we've reached the end of the road Big Mike. So I thank you for your help this weekend. I

made it. I'm glad. It was fun, had a good time. Yeah, be on standby because Giscon might not be here next week or the week after, so you might oh yeah, yeah, that phone could ring. You might get the phone call.

Yeah anyway, Yeah, all right, listen, having great rest of your Sunday, Remember the radio show to Night to Night back behind the microphones, the powerful microphones and Fox Sports Radio will be bloviating the overnight away at two am in the East on Monday, but eleven pm in the West on a Sunday night into Monday, will recap all the events of the weekend here in the sporting world, and we will talk to you. Then