The Fifth Hour: A Winning Aura

Kutbooms.

If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of the Old Republic, a soul fashion of fairness. He treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to the Clearinghouse of hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now in.

The air everywhere.

The Fifth Hour with Me, Ben Mahler and Danny G Radio. Happy Saturday to you as we slide into the fourteenth day of June, a day to celebrate the flag. It is Flag Day today, also a big day if you're into protesting apparently today. But that's not what this is about, Danny G. We are about the drive, We're about the passion.

I don't even know what.

This is really about. It's not only a sports podcast. Although I did watch the Thunder and the Pacers, and I did watch Indiana right the vomit comment, I think I'm one of like five people outside of Indiana and Oklahoma City watching the NBA Finals. I was happy I did not have to do a monologue about that game, though it would have it wouldn't have been a bad monologue. But I'm just you know, it was a night I didn't have to do the show last night.

I feel like Indiana blew a golden opportunity. They just choked away those last couple of minutes.

Well, they had a seven point lead going to the fourth quarter and then in the fourth quarter could not hit the It was the line the broadside of a barn.

I mean, they were terrible.

Offensively, and our guy Pascal siakam pitching a shutout, or as Marcella says, see it come, he did not see it come.

Yeah, I did not score in the in the fourth quarter.

So essentially the Pacers sucked at a time you cannot suck.

And as a result there they're in some tough shape.

I mean, they've lost at homes and I gotta win another game in Oklahoma City, and so that's that's where we are.

That's that's I heard Haliburton as he was walking off the court. I heard him. He said to one of his teammates, it's just got to take one on the road.

There you go.

Well, it's not a good sign for the NBA. I don't know about you. Danny, but my phone. The people in my circle that text me random crap. The thing they were texting me about was not the game they were texting me about. And this kind of kind of lead us into this this podcast. Uh, the I call it the Alumni Gamer here. I kept getting messages did you see what he did?

As I I'm not on I wasn't on like Twitter or ex or whatever last night, so I was I didn't. I didn't see it. Uh.

And then people were sending me and our former morning guy, Stephen A.

Smith, did you see? He went viral?

And more people sent me this story than I wanted to say anything about the Pacers choking, choking the game have been a seven point league, going to the fourth quarter and blowing it.

Everyone in my circle said.

Can you believe he got caught doing that? That was the photo of Steven A. Smith, former Fox Sports radio morning man, who was spotted during the NBA Finals game playing Solitaire on his phone while the game the game was going on, Who goofed?

I've got to know that sounds like something you would do, except you'd be playing Wordle or one of those stupid games.

Well, I'd be playing, as you know, scrabble.

That's even worse.

I also get paid twenty million dollars a year. There's that.

I will defend steven A Stephen as. What stephen A does is performance art. He's got a ton of people that make him look good. Stephen got segment producers. They send him talking points for each segment. So really all he is, he's like an actor. He's just repeating the bullet points for each particular segment.

So yeah, they got people doing the work.

That's why steven A can't get into the weeds in certain conversations. Remember when he will like talk about players who aren't even in the league anymore.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's because, like you said, he knows the surface stuff, like the topic and the main points. But once he gets too far into the weeds, it's trouble.

Yeah, listen, and I'm not I'm not knocking steven A. He's much more successful.

Sound like you are.

Well, no, he's much more successful than I'll ever be. But I know what he's doing. It's it's acting. He's he's a characters.

You do not want to make an enemy out of him.

Listen.

I heard stephen A early on when he was just becoming a talk show host at Fox Sports Radio. Yeah, he Holst did a Saturday show. I've told the story before I was there. I did updates is Steven A did a show with John Eyer and who at the time was the Lakers sideline reporter. They did a show together on the weekends at Fox Sports Radio and Ireland got stuck. The Laker plane got mechanical problems. They couldn't make it back to La so Steve and A had to do the show by himself.

He wasn't prepared. He drowned on the air.

I'm amazed he's still able to work because he literally drowned on the radio. I heard him drown and so I mean, I listen and we all have had those moments.

I've had many of them.

I have won a week probably where that happens. But it's like people are shocked, like, oh my god, I can't believe he was playing solitaire during an NBA Finals game.

I'm not I'm not listening these guys. You know, they got the other things going on.

It's like you do something for a long time and not that you know Steve and he likes basketball. I'm not saying it doesn't much basketball. This is not the most compelling matchup in the world, and he knows whatever happens on the court, and you know, he's somebody will tell him what to say, and then he'll just repeat

About, was steven A playing soccer.

This is proof that the NBA really needs a lot of star power to really drive their viewership. And this just ain't it. Neither team has stars. I'm not interested in.

Well, they've created this formula. I ranted.

I did a monologue this week about it. I think we all kind of know the same thing. They've the recipe. It's like remember when Coca Cola changed the recipe for coke.

They knew coke and oh it.

Was the biggest mistake their company ever made.

Yeah, and the NBA has created this formula, big markets, star power and all that. Like the other night in the NHL game, the Stanley Cup Final game, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey were there, and that's bigger than any.

Stars that have attended the NBA Finals.

They just happen to be living in that area where the Florida Panthers plays. So anyway, So steven A, I hope he won the solitaire game.

I hope he did well on that. I don't know.

I play solitaire too. I don't play that often. I mostly play scrabble. Although I would point out Danny that many of the people that listen to this podcast, many of the p ones that I was playing against, I have beaten them into submission where they have given up, they have said no moss, they have thrown in the sponge. I'm that dominant that fans of the show, p ones of the Overnight radio show and this podcast where I was competing against in Scrabble Go, that's the app I used.

Scrabble Go.

Is this like password though? Where you were cheating with the computer opened. You have like a laptop or a pat open so chie.

The only ones I'm still playing are Patrick DJ Spin in San Diego, Bobby and Florida. But uh the you know, our buddy in Austin, he bailed alf the alien opineer, tossed in the he tossed in the towel. Another one of my guys from Texas who I was playing against. Guy from Ohio. I was playing against a bunch of listeners and these guys all just they say, couldn't handle it. They can't handle my my word ability, Danny, g my lexicon was too much. And these guys gave up. And

And here we thought you peaked in the fifth grade when you won that spelling beat.

Now, dare you?

We'll have later on, we'll have the freak show, what are you pee wee?

And the phrase of the week. But right now, Danny, we have breaking news. Now.

How can you have breaking news on a podcast because this is recorded, But we have breaking news right.

Now, breaking news live to tape, as you always say, because I think Tom Maloney taught you that.

Oh yeah, Looney would lose his fricking mind. He would get so upset, he would be lathering.

Did you kind have lived the tape? Why would you say that?

Oh my god, I feel like I hear Looney's voice saying you can't do breaking news on a podcast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

And because yesterday I got an email, Big Ben from one Julie Talbot. Oh, now, explain to our hundreds and hundreds and billions of listeners who Julie Talbot is.

All right, So, if you're in America, most of our audiences in America, the President of the United States is Donald Trump. If you work in radio at iHeart at P, the president, the boss, the big cheese is Julie Talbot. She's the She's the power broker of power brokers. She's got her finger on the button.

Indeed, she is the president of our company. And the President of the United States. Also has to do with this China. Clay Travis was at the White House. You might have seen the pictures the other day.

I did. You posted the photo? That's where I saw it.

You posted that was crazy to see see Clay in the in the White House.

Wild so when Clay left the White House, it was texting with me Trump. One of the things he loved about OutKick when it was on FSR. He was a fan of Animal Thunderdome. It's one of the things they talked about while Clay was there speaking with him.

That's great.

In the White House, they're talking about the who's that guy that you got on the interview that you.

Remember the famous tiger for me?

Yeah, yeah, the tiger hunter.

Yeah, we have now Nawab Shaffat Ali Khan, one of India's most famous tiger hunters. I believe he is on the line with us from the tiger hunting camp in India. Mister Khan, how are you.

Yes, hallo, this is Navad here.

You are right now? Yes, I appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much. You are in a camp hunting a man eating tiger right now?

Correct?

Absolutely true?

Yes, what is the latest on the tiger hunt?

You see, this is one of the most challenging and difficult operations of the century where it involves four tigers. The main many term is a tiger is called T one and she has two cubs which are about ten months old and they have also tasted human flesh. So we have orders now to tranquilize the mother and the cubs, and that is not possible to eliminate her by shooting.

What is when a tiger tastes human flesh? What happens? Do they continue to eat it? Do they like it? What happens there?

It's much easier to hunt a human being compared to any other animal in the wild because the natural prey of tigers, that's wild war and other herbivores. They can smell a tiger and get away, whereas a human being is completely breast of the power of smell, and he becomes an easy prey. And especially when there are cubs at here, it's easy for the tigers to catch human

Hell.

Yeah, Trump is joking around with Clay about oh, I used to love that animal Thunderdome thing you did on your show, and they were reminiscing about when Clay had his Fox Sports Radio outkickshow, which is when the two of them met, obviously, So Clay is telling me about what it was like at the White House and the pictures and all that, and then his last text was, oh, and by the way, I'm back home after fourth of July and we are gonna launch the Thunderdome podcast.

You've had these before, whereas he've been closed.

He's never given a date though. Okay, ever, he's never given a date, and I shared that with Julie Talbot on Friday. She sent me an email later in the day saying, I am getting the paperwork in order right now. We are going to get this thing launched. Me if the president of the network is saying it's going to happen, Clay is actually giving a date for it, now, I feel like I can announce that this is gonna actually happen this summer.

Outstanding, all right, what are we think of like a weekly podcast or what do we look at it?

It's just going to be once a week a week and you know it'd be the same exact thing the way I hosted it on OutKick with him, I found the really good animal versus men's stories, and then I teed up Clay to react to the crazy stories. And then usually the next week he would tell me, oh, you know last week, how there was that guy who wrangled the al gator. He had the cigar in his mouth and it went viral. Yeah, he's like, track that

Awesome.

Well that's great, And I know from my friends that work in local television the stories that they get the most feedback on, I guess is the word I'm going were. But the animal stories around here in southern California in the foothills, there's bears everywhere, and if they get video of a bear taking a swim in a family pool, gold, right, just gold, you know that kind of stuff.

But in the Animal Thunderdome's next level. So and there's there's always that usually.

Involves death too, like he loves the death stories.

Yeah, all right, well that's great. So that's exciting.

I mean, we're already here in mid June, so that's only like a month of less than a month away roughly, right.

Yeah, I don't know if they're going to be able to have everything ready for it to go on the date he's talking up. It'll probably be a few weeks after that, because it's not just as easy as snapping your fingers and putting a podcast on the air. If this doesn't happen now, then I'm never going to talk about the Animal Thunderdome ever again.

So was he was Clay at the Was he at the White House on Wednesday? Or Thursday?

Like?

What day was?

You're asking the wrong person. My week felt like two weeks and I don't even know what day or what time it is right now.

Yeah, I know, I man, I I'm the same I'm the same way. I just get up and I was like, all right, I have a show to do today, so I better get ready for the show. And then a day I don't have a show to do. I got a podcast to do, so I was like, I get the podcast. I got to get that ready.

So all I know was a few days ago, okay, And you know when I saw those pictures. I was like, he's there again. It's crazy because now I think that's his third time to the White House if I'm not mistaken. But this time he actually was with the Vice President for a while and then he was cutting it up with the big cheese like talk to him for over a half hour.

Yeah, that's awesome. No, that was a great, great photo that you shared of Clay. That's that's wild.

Now I just got to get president did the forward for Clay's upcoming book. I got to get the President to do the promo for Animal Thunderdome.

Oh that'd be great. This is President Donald Trump, and you better listen.

You know, I put you in some billions and billions and billions of animal.

Stories exactly, exactly.

Well, Animal Thunderome was great, But I was at a human zoo. I was at a human zoo last weekend. Danny g I made a quick, rare and appropriate trip to Vegas last weekend. It was kind of a late birthday fame my birthday in late April.

Haven't had a chance to really go anywhere.

Do anythings right. You brought me back some Vegas raider gear. I'm so thankful for.

Yeah.

Yeah, I got some some raider stuff for you know, a person or two over there.

But the so it's kind of a late birthday thing.

Now. I stayed in downtown in Vegas. I don't like the Strip. I like downtown. I've always tried to avoid the Strip and stay downtown right across the street. I didn't stay at Circa. I stayed across the street from Circa, which is a twenty one plus hotel.

It's beautiful.

They actually you have to give your identification to get into the hotel. They will not let you in unless you have an identification. And it's got the greatest sports book I've ever been to. The Circa sports Book is amazing. They don't pay me to say that, or I'm not getting any money out of it.

It's awesome.

So the way I do it, I went with a buddy of mine and we bet kind of pull our.

Money together and make some big bets.

And the first bet that we made now, I picked Edmonton to win the series over Florida. But it was game two. It was Friday night, last Friday night, so well not yesterday, but the Friday.

And I picked in that game.

I'd loaded up on Florida because outought Florida should have won Game one, and they screwed around, they fetched around, they lost that. So, not to get into the minutia of hockey on this podcast, but I bet on Florida, and if you forget because it's game two, we're way past that now. But this was the biggest wager I made in a long time, loaded up on Florida.

So how could you do that? You're not a hockey guy.

Well I just went with it now, needless to say, it was a nail bider. It was very stressful and it was a very long night. The game went to double overtime, double overtime, as my old friend Alex would say, and the Edmonton Oilers had at least three chances in the third period and overtime to win the game.

Should have, could have, would it?

But in the end, the former Boston Bruin Brad Marshan lit the lamp game winner. How sweet it is? And I want on the big bet. Then I lost on Saturday during the day.

Damn.

So they got your money back.

No, no, no, I was a smaller wager and then I won on Saturday Saturday night. I had the Red Sox first five against.

The against the Yankees.

I made a little bit of a baseball you actually left the desert a winter.

I did. I did, and my buddy was like, why don't we make another bet?

I said, dude, we've won two of three. We've made money, a good amount of money, and enough where we don't have to pay taxes on it. You know, if you go over a certain amount, you have to pay pay the boxman. So I was like, dude, I'm done, I'm out. I stopped now. One thing that was different this time, and I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or it was just more depressing, but I did not enjoy the downtown experience as much as I had in

Thing I mean.

But yet we had all the normal freaks. Unfortunately, were a lot of fentanyl freaks. It was like the Epicenter, but there just there was a guy saw walking around with the hunchback, the hunchback of Henderson. There was a woman I'm pretty sure had a beard, like a bearded lady. There was somebody I felt really bad for this This old woman was walking around and if you've ever seen the show Doctor Pimple Popper, you know that show where they have the giant cysts on their face.

It's hard to even watch the commercials for that.

Yeah, well, dude, Danny, I'm walking down Fremont Street and this woman, you know, she and all the woman and she had this giant it was like the size of my I have big hands, and it was the size of I made a fist right on the side of her face filled with plus and I'm like, oh my god.

I felt horrible for her.

And then there was somebody else that looked like they I mean, I can make a comment I probably shouldn't make. I will not make that comment, but that's just say, Danny, they look like a skeleton.

Bad timing because Covino and Rich they have their big twenty year celebration next weekend in Vegas. I'm going to be there broadcasting Live with the guys, and it is at Circa. That's where the event is all weekend. Well, Circa's great. I have nothing. I wouldn't leave the hotel. But well, that's what I was going to say. Though, they have like a karaoke night at dinner at some restaurant that's away from Circa, So there's a little bit of traveling around to get to the strip.

And uh, well, maybe maybe it was just this weekend.

I'm just telling you my experience, Like because I normally in the past I've seen the hunchback and the bearded lady and all that, the you know, the pinhead, and I'm like, Okay, for some reason, it just hit me a little different this. Maybe I'm getting soft Danny. Maybe that's it.

It could be. I have no idea. That was my Vegas experience.

I made some money and the gambling part was great, the hotel was great.

The sports book.

Maybe it's because you had this new aura around you, be because you were a winner, could be and you weren't. You weren't one of the losers walking around.

That certainly could be? Could be?

It for sure now what are you pee wee? So I wanted to mention this on my way. Actually before I get to that, I just wanted to follow up. So there's a there's a but your business Garadelli. There's a Gara Deli like ice cream shop in Vegas. Yes, yeah, so it's right near the Link. So they have my favorite favorite dessert there this ice this cookie Sunday at Garadelli. Always when I when I'm near a Giadelli, if rare and appropriate. I got to get that. So my wife

Yeah, thirty six dollars the park.

And I said, I'm good, Yeah, thirty six dollars to park. I said, I can you know how much ice cream I can buy for thirty six dollars?

I'm not.

So I went into the parking lot and I quickly made a U turn and got out of there. And I was only there for like two minutes and then I got my money or my ticket and I'd have to pay.

But yeah, I thirty six dollars. So let Vegas know.

I know, I don't care about me and all that, but you could have gotten more of my money. But you're not going to get thirty six dollars to park at the Link in Vegas. Screw you, you suck. You're all losers. You're money hungry a holes. Okay, now, as what are you pee wee? So I'm driving home. I

Normal drive. I do it.

You know many nights during the week. It's not many people on the road. It's just me, middle of the night, cruising along and in my peripheral vision to my right, I'm driving south on the one on one. In my peripheral vision to to my right, I see this and I'm like, I thought maybe I was having an hallucination. I thought there's no way and hand to God, Danny this this.

Dude, he must have thought he was pee Wee Herman.

You know, pee Wee loved that red bicycle more than anything he checked all across the country. Some guy was driving a bicycle, not an electric bicycle, mind you, a regular bicycle in the slope on the one oh one freeway at about three point thirty or four.

In the morning whenever.

It was what hell, yes, and it gets so then I'm I start honking my horn.

I'm like, holy fuck, does this guy want to die?

You know? And then the guy had the hoods, but Danny he turning. He gave me the evil eye. He looked at me like, what are you? What's your problem? And I'm like, dude, you're driving a regular bike.

Are you sure you weren't on the one on one? Maybe your car was on a bike trail.

Well maybe I was.

I don't know, but I mean, i'd seemed that I was on the one O one. I mean, my guy is unbelievable. I mean, maybe that was I couldn't really tell. It was dark. It was a regular bike. He was not electric bike. I don't think it was that red treasured bike from Peewee's Big Adventure. But that was that was next level, Danny. I have I've seen a lot of crazy things on the highway and whatnot, but I've seen people walking.

I see a lot of people walking on the highway but not only driving.

And you think, well, if you're dumb enough to drive a bike on the highway, maybe you'll do it on the emergency lane something like that.

No.

No, this guy was in the slow lane and he was definitely going slow. He was definitely going slow, and uh and then gets annoyed, gets annoyed me. So it was like it was it was wonderful. All right, real quick, we got the phrase of the week.

Phrase of the week. All right, real quick.

This is Nick and Wisconsin sent this one in. He says, Hey, Ben, I love this. Can you can you get the origin story on put that in your pipe and smoke it? Yes, Nick, Yes, I use this phrase put this, you know, put that in your pipe and smoke it.

And I fell down a rabbitole.

So this goes back to the early nineteenth century and the origins were in Britain and it was used to tell someone to accept something that is obviously unpleasant, undesirable and all that, whether you like it or not. And it started in the era of tobacco pipes, which were very common in the seventeen hundreds, in the eighteen hundreds, and so the concept is, you know, this is a hard truth. You gotta deal with it. You gotta digest it,

So it's been around. It's been around for a while. It's been around for a while.

So the phrase of the week put that in your pipe and smoke it. All right, we'll get out on that, Danny, and we'll have the mail bag on Sunday.

And what do we got hockey tonight? Little hockey action, sure, little.

Hote, Yeah, tied to too going into this game five.

We'll check that out and have a wonderful, wonderful rest of your Saturday.

Later, Skater.

And I use it, Heybe and I use a four fifty eight Winchester Magnum, which is incidentally an American weapon, and uh uh and we shoot them with that.

Got a murder, Gotta go.