Kubbooms.
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 sol fashion of fairness. He treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the rich pill poppers in the penthouse.
Wow.
The Clearinghouse of Hot takes break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now in the air.
Everyway you have stumbled onto the Fifth Hour with Ben Mahler and Danny G Radio because four hours a night are not enough. Eight days a week, well, not this week, eight days a week. I'll explain why coming up momentarily. But Danny G Radio not with me this weekend. My man Danny G doing some of the production work on this podcast, but he is away from the microphones right now as he is Daddy Gee Radio. Daddy Congratulations to Danny and his wife on the birth of their son
last weekend. The child was born on Saturday. And rather than me tell you secondhand information, We're gonna wait till Danny gets back and he'll give us all the blow by blow details on the birth of his son. We're very excited for Danny Mozeltov to him and his wife there. So congratulations. But we are back in the audio dojo on this Friday. You're probably wondering where I have been.
Maybe not, Maybe you're happy. I haven't been behind the microphones the last couple of days, so I cannot explain what has happened. I did spend the week on the East Coast, and there's something bubbling up, something percolating that I am not allowed to discuss. But hopefully soon I'll be able to tell you what this trip was all about. Some exciting things coming very soon that I want to tell you about, but I can't tell you about now.
It's not for public consumption, so stay tuned. It's a cliffhanger. And today this is someone I wanted to get on the fifth hour for a while. I've wanted to chat with this guy. Haven't tracked him down because I haven't put the effort in. Bad job by me, But we have uncovered the man, the myth, the legend, one of the great personalities in sports media over the years. Here his name is TJ. Simers, a longtime sports columnist at
the Los Angeles Times. He's worked at a bunch of different newspapers over the years, but he was at the LA Times for a generation, most famously as the Page two columnist. You probably saw him on ESPN back in the day. He was a panelist on the show Around the Horn in the early days of that show. If you're in Los Angeles. He hosted a radio program with his daughter, a morning drive radio show for a number of years. So's done a little bit of this, a
little bit of that. But one of my favorite columnists, and I'm not sucking up to them because, unlike so many, especially in the Los Angeles media, that are lap dogs for the teams and the players, TJ was an attack dog and I loved it, and it caused him a lot of heartache. We'll get into that, I'm sure, but before we get in to that part of the story, we must delve into the lawsuit. For the last number
of years, I have seen headlines. You've probably seen these things too if you pay attention to the sports media world. And there were these headlines that TJ. Seimer's had won a lawsuit against the La Times for multiple millions of dollars. So that was the big headline, TJ Simers wins. So then a few months later, a judge or someone in
the court system. I assume a judge would say, well, no, yeah, you don't actually get to keep the money, and then they'd go back and they'd have an other trial, and then TJ would win again, and he'd win a lot of money, and then the same thing would happen. So it's very difficult to win a court case multiple times, but TJ was able to do it. So let's start
with that. TJ. Can you walk us through what happened with this long legal battle that you had you and your legal team there, TJ against one of the major institutions of American media, the La Times. Walk me through what it's been like for you.
Spent ten years of my life in a courtroom and won the first trial one seven million. Then the judge said, you know, let me think about this. Yeah you won, but I'm not going to give you the money. We're going to go to appeals and see what happened. Went to appeals, and the appeals people said, yeah, you won, but let's do another trial to figure out how much
money they should pay you. So we did. We did another trial and we won fifteen million, and the judge said on the very last day he said, you know, instead of giving you the money, I think we're going to do another trial and this, as you can tell, I'm just having lots of fun with this. And we went to a third trial. We won over a million dollars and they paid off and the time, when I say the Times paid off by that point, all in Capital, which owns all these other newspapers register and you know,
just bought They just bought a paper. Well, San Diego Union, which everybody thinks means they're going to put them out of business. Well, they paid us over a million. They still owe us over three million in court costs, which I get half, but we're still waiting on that to be adjudicated further. So it was a mess.
Yeah, And why did it take so long? What did did did the law? Did your lawyers explain that it seems like you won a couple of times? That should be it? Why did they keep going back?
The legal system is a lot like the way the Clippers were won or run. It's just mind body, it's not a good system that we have. I still can't tell you why we won, and effectively felt like at times we lost. I never was fired by the other times, I just quit because I didn't like the leadership there and what they were doing. So when we went to court,
it was very simple. Every time the jury agreed with me, and every time the judge decided to have his own mind, he would tell the jury, you people are the most important people in the whole world. You give us your time and your dedication, and then they would make their judgment and he would go against them. So it's a really screwed up world out there, and I feel badly. I supposedly had the best lawyers in the world out there, and so did the other side. What happens to these
poor people who get the worst lawyers. Yeah, it's just ugly. And seeing them sit around the hallways in the courthouse. It was in La Superior Court. I just felt so badly for some of these people. We felt we were getting screwed, and I can only imagine how badly they take it.
Yeah, and you obviously had a great case. You ended up winning. You beat a major media company three times, right.
Three times?
Yeah, you know how hard that is TJ to do that. I mean, the odds of that.
I know it's hard. The odds of winning probably are not great, but that's how you know. They never the Times never proved a single thing where they had suggested that I had done wrong earlier on. It was it was just it was a case of two editors who had their own agenda. They were later fired by the La Times. But that didn't do me any good, just a you know, a bad taste in my mouth in the career.
Yeah. And you, you had been there for a generation. I mean, you were a rock of the La Times, as so many of the guys were teaj It's got to be odd. I mean you look at all the people you work with there, and good newspaper people who are no longer newspaper people because the business is just upside down.
Yeah, the business is all about dying right now. I mean the people at the La Times are trying to kill the newspaper because it serves them better. They don't have to pay for printing presses, which they're going to have to go to Riverside starting in February to print the paper. They don't have to pay for paper, they don't have to pay for delivery. It's much better for them if they can do a newspaper online and train everybody to do online and then train the advertisers to
pay for it. So people in my profession of my age right now, they're disappearing.
Yeah, it's been crazy the last ten years or so, it's been nuts. But as far as you as a columnist, teacher, I always love your approach to writing the page two column at the Times because you are what I call a rarity. You are the white whale in LA media as far as the newspaper guys, because most of the columnists did not really I don't know that you attacked, but compared to everyone else, you were an absolute pit bull.
Why do you think TJ that we we did not get more of your style of writing as a columnist in LA because a lot of the guys are kind of cheerleaders and they're not you know, they don't they're not as critical as you ended up when you were doing that column all those years. Why do you think that is?
Man? It's dangerous out there. You know in those days are online site the very top ad was from the Angels, so here I would be writing a story about Angriarty and Angry Arty is paying money to advertise across the top of our sports page on the online you're you're messing with powerbrokers. You know, the Dodgers have been cozy with the power brokers in town. It's you know, look at the Lakers are owned by in part by Patrick
Suon Jong, who's the publisher of The Times. You you, if you get tough with people in la in sports, you're going to pay the price. They have a thing now where every day the writers are measured but by what they call conversions. So let's say Dylan or plashke rights their job is to get new subscribers within an hour after their column has posted online or within an hour after their column has been read by somebody. They are even if they pay a dollar for subscription. That
makes plash g or Dylan look good. For the writers who don't get conversions, it's like getting the merits and being the first to be nervous about being laid off. So then you start to ask the question, well, if Clash he writes only about the Dodgers and USC and is he doing it to panders of the editors so he gets conversions, or is he doing it because he's a legit columnist and that's what moves him. Right now, it's tough decisions that everybody has to make to survive.
Yeah, it's it's crazy. I have some great TJ stories. I want to buy you from the past. TJ. So the first one of the first interviews I did with you, first time I chatted with you, you were, I believe, the NFL columnist, if I remember correctly at the times? Is that correct? Did you cover?
That's correct? Is correct?
So this is probably in the nineties. I was doing the Ben and Dave Show, the local show, and we had you on and you did not like the questions we asked. TJ. I remember you. You were so an.
You've got Ben, Ben, You've gotten better. You have a little practice doing this, so I appreciate the fact that you ung in there.
Ahead I did, I did, But it was it was hilarious because we had you on. I think you were covering a Charger game or something because there were no teams in l au were the NFL columnist. But at that time the Rams had left and the Raiders had left.
Why is there a little laughter in your voice when you say there were no teams in LA and you were the NFL column.
It's great, I mean, but we had you on and you got really annoyed. I forget exactly. I don't even remember what we asked you, but you hung up on us TJ, right in the middle of the interview. It was to this day, I still fondly remember how annoyed you were. I'm sure it was Dave. It wasn't me, but whatever happened, I mean you you hung up, but it was great. One of the other stories I wanted to mention was when you first took over page two.
Ye.
I was out with the Dodgers quite a bit in those days, and I believe Davey Johnson I think was the manager at the time, but there was there was a revolt TJ. And I remember because before every game, the manager will come out and speak to the writers in the dugout. I don't know if they still do that anymore, but they'd go down. Davy would come down and speak to the writers, and I remember, like the beat writers were so upset with you because of what you were writing about the dog for.
My own paper, from my own paper.
Exactly, they would they would like boycott. They did. They boycott the manager's interview because you were there and they wouldn't talk to Davy. If I remember correctly, because you were they were that upset with you. Do you remember that?
Oh no, that's not the accurate story. The accurate story is that Davy was so upset with me that he said he would never talk to me as long as he was a manager of the Dodgers.
Okay, so he was gonna do he was.
Gonna interview with the other writers somewhere else or one by one so he didn't have to talk to me. As I wrote the next day, I hope I can wait the two weeks before Davy Johnson's fired. And of course he was, and the Dodgers wouldn't let him pull his uh vision about not talking to me as long as I was there, because when they had a scheduled interview, I would show up and the other writers didn't let me,
turning off the manager and ending their interview sessions. They certainly weren't pleased with that, which shows you what thunderheads they were. They're in the newspaper business. They have to do. They need access. They need to get to a manager. You know, you can't just run and hide because the manager is mad at one of the writers and so forth. You need to hang together. Well, they didn't hang together, and most of them are out of the business right now.
It's a tough business out there. If you're going to ask Davy Johnson why his recent decision made the Dodgers lose all their body language of the writers would lean towards Davy, you know, like, well, we're not with this guy. Well, hey, someone's got to ask him the question. Everybody is such a happy, go lucky jeez. That must have been a tough ball to catch in right field. All I would say is then they issue you a glove. Haven't you learned how to catch the ball? That's what we're there for.
We're there to represent the guy who's laying on the couch going what the hell is wrong with my team? That's our job. Yeah, and right now it's tough to do.
I agree with And I want to run this by a TJ. Because years ago, when MLB started their websites, and that was like the first team that ran their own site, had hired their own writers. I had a guy tell me that this is the future that we you know, we're you know, it's gonna take a while, but eventually the fans are gonna love. They're only gonna want this kind of coverage. You know, that's filtered through
the teams, and here we are. It's been about a generation since that started, and the teams all run their own websites. We're at that point. I was raised where I love the kind of criticism and critique that you bring TJ. But it seems like the younger generation have accepted the kool aid, Like, do you think that'll ever go back?
No? No, I think that's where we are. I mean, you can blame a lot of it on ESPN and look at who they hire to be their the voices of reason, you know what are some of Pablo Torres and and it is real something or other. A lot of young guys who've never spent time in a locker room and they're telling you, the viewer, what to think about sports when they having me met the guy. That's what I always felt as a newspaper people, even as
a columnist, I was out there every day. I wanted to know what Kevin Brown was like personally, you know, I wanted to know what Jeff Kent was like personally. You can't do that now in many respects because they'll try and lock you out of the clubhouse. I mean, the first day I was on the job of the Dodgers, Kevin Brown ordered that I leave the clubhouse and asked Derek Hall to make sure that no Times reporters could
come into the clubhouse. And Derek Hall told him, we can't do that, And Derek Hall then had a problem with Kevin Brown. Derek Hall went on to be the president of the Diamondbacks, and of course Kevin Brown went home to pull a gun out his next door neighbor for throwing leaves in his yard. But it's it's tough to be out there right now. You don't get as much access. If the team tells a writer, you know, someone is not available. Oh okay, thank you, maybe we
can talk tomorrow. What are you talking about? My job today is they go get that sun a bench and talk to them. Yeah, that doesn't happen.
No, it's it's changed so much. And that was always the thing, as you said, you know, if you were the if you were criticizing somebody, you had to go. You had to be out in the locker room. You had to be available if they wanted to confront you or they had an issue with you. And you're right today it's much different now speak I'm made sure.
I made sure I was available every day after I wrote a tough story so that some of the athlete can say to me, you know, I thought that story sucked. I A'm fine with that. I'm fine to vi as the contrary opinion. I might write another column on them next day and Hammerton even more. But you know that's that was the way business this whole. As I was explaining this conversion business at the LA Times, They've discovered if you write slopping nice stuff about a team, they'll
get conversions. People don't want to feel good about the Dodgers or feel good about USC here, so they don't necessarily agree with somebody like myself writing negative stuff unless the team is really bad. Now, I did write good things about people, and what people don't realize is I was closer to most of the owners in town, general managers, even managers players, you know, the Manny Ramimbers of the world.
We'd only talk to me at times. Kobe and I had a relationship where I could go out in the court before a game and I would tell them, you know, you're the worst three point shooter I've ever seen in my life. Let me bring my daughter out here and let her teach you how to shoot three pointers. That night he set the NBA record for most threes. If you go at athletes face to face, that's something they understand.
Every day they spend confronting the guy who's trying to stop them, so they understand a reporter coming and trying to get information from them who's at least straight. We have too many people in the in the in the business who walk up to it, like, let's say, in the in those days, a Kobe would say, oh, you're the best, you're the best, and and an act dumb light when they ask a to tough question, and upstairs, maybe in the media room, they'd be telling that that's
the worst thing. The guy can't do this, the god can't do that. He never say it to his face. I was called Doug Flutie, the Mission Bay Shrimp. That was true. He was by Mission Bay and San Diego and he was a.
Shrim and the whole athlete. Nobody believed in me. It's hard to do that these days, other than social media, because the media is pretty much in the tank. And I there's one guy I had. There was an interaction you had, I happened to be in the Laker locker room. This is when Dwight Howard was on the team before.
This is the first you loved him. And I'm glad you brought that because I want to bring this up because you He was all upset that that day because of something Stephen A or Skip Bayless had said on ESPN, and he was really upset and you were a p analyst on around them, so he he was all upset. You tried to explain to him. I'm paraphrasing your TJ, but you tried to explain to him. Listen, there's not that many people that watched that show, it's okay. And
he was having none of it. Do you remember that day? He was He was really kind of annoyed by the whole situation. You tried to tell him, it's okay, it's not that big a thing, and Dwight was having none of it.
I remember days when everybody was annoyed with me, So they get mixed up. To say that Dwight Howard was annoyed with me one day is a little bit part betch because it was pretty much every day.
Yeah, no, he see, but that day you were very level headed. You like explained to him, listen, it's a TV show. There's not that many people watching, you know, they don't get the greatest ratings or whatever. And he was like so he could not get over the fact they had criticized.
Well, no athlete understands criticism. I mean, I don't know how many athletes have come to me and said, I thought you were my friend. Well no, I mean I mentioned Kobe's name again. But when he had the incident with the young lady in Colorado and everybody was taking sides, was it sexual assault? What was it? I never said a word in print because I wasn't there. I don't know. And one of the very hyph falutant writers at the only time said to me, how come you're not defending Kobe.
You're his friend. Hey, I stand in front of his locker. I don't go to lunch with them, and I'm going to dinner with him and don't go to breakfast. We don't double date. I may know somebody better. I knew Kobe probably as well as anybody in town, because at certain times there we were talking more than most media people and the player, and I did that with a lot of athletes. But we're not friends. We're associates at best. And that's hard for an athlete to understand because they're
not used to criticism. Remember a guy comes up, he's into minors, he maybe gets signed for college or goes straight to the NFL. They've all been stroked and puffed up, and we're the first guys to come along and say, you know, you're not so hot.
Yeah, they don't like get it. And the other TJ story I want to run by you is every time I go to an Angels game, I as a member of the media, and I walk to the pearly gates right near the foulpole there where the press box is. I think of you, TJ. Because in my head I don't even know if this is true or not that Arti Marino got so upset with you and your criticism that he punished the entire media by putting the press box. There's just like makeshift press box which is right near
the right field foul pole. I feel like that's a tribute to you, TJ. Is that a fair take on that or no?
I believe it's a fair take. Me and I argue about this still to this day. Artie and I had a fabulous relationship. We drank beers up beyond center field underneath the stadium there. You know, he brought his daughter on our radio show and everything. But then I wrote one column criticizing is could already be the problem? And
that was it stop talking to me. And when he would see me, he would come out of his owner's box, which was you had to pass the owner's box to get to the press box, and Alreadie would use the fouls language, calling me names, and I'd always yell back at him, Wow, you're so classy, Artie. I saw him at the Marriott with his sidekick. What is it? I keep I'm taking a cal Perry, but that's not the name.
No, but I know who you're talking about.
Yeah, yeah, And he was nice to me and already walked by, and you know, wow, it just Artie is the most sensitive, uh big time guy that I I think I've almost ever dealt with. And I think he had a military background. Boy oh boy. I mean if you you were the enemy and looked at him wrong, God help you. He just uh to this moment, he's just he's stupid, is what he is. If you're in Anaheim and you're trying to sell your team, and that was what it was all about. Billboard guy, you know,
chief baseball Caps cheap beer marketing. You got to sell yourself and he hasn't done that. That's why I'm anxious to see how the Otani thing pans out. I commend him for keeping Otani at this point because I've never understood. I know, plash people the other time is writing you gotta trade him? Who the hell are you? You're not a baseball owner. You don't have any money in the stake. Already is telling the fans, I'm going to try and win it. We haven't won it in so many years?
What is baseball about? Every year? Trying to win it? And you get that close that the Angels are, why would you purposely hurt yourself? And well, prospects you can get prospects for the future. How often do prospects not pan out?
Hardly?
So that's what that's what to me, but should be talked about in sports set of everybody you know, Oh my god, you know, build for the future.
Whose future exactly? And another thing TJ about the I love that you brought the prospects thing up because this drives me nuts. I do the show during the week, and I got people calling up and saying, Oh, you're trade this guy, that guy, just get prospects in return. And as you pointed out, and there's a great quote I stole from Dusty Baker, he said, a prospect is a suspect until proven otherwise.
Absolutely, But we are in.
An era where it's like, no, no, you're just build for the future. Tank. It's it's disgusting. It's the fantasy sports element. And these people TJ many of them believe every minor league player is going to turn out to be the next show Hey o Tani or Mike Trout. They are convinced of it. There is this this neurosis among many fans, and it didn't used to be like that. It's gotten really bad over the last twenty years or so. Great.
That's a great point, by the way, I never thought of that, the fantasy aspect of it, but that's a great point right now. The first of all, people are too wrapped up into their sports teams in many cases, and most of the people you deal with in your background,
a lot of them are just work you know. I mean, your audience is going to be over the top on and they know stats, and they know this and that, and you know, in the third inning of the nights when the do comes out, they know all these stats and the crazy stuff instead of just enjoying the sport and making level headed decisions. Oh, Tani may be the best baseball player of our lifetime. Why what hold on over five more minutes? That's all hold on to them.
I mean, how many chances do you get to have the baseball best baseball player in your lifetime in your own home area. So I commend already and at least trying to do that. I want to see if he makes a run for him. And I mean no one in the world believes that already can and sign it TONI including me, But I'd like to to see him try, because that's what my owner should do if I'm following a baseball team.
Yeah, and I've heard that he thinks that from people I know out there. He thinks he's actually gonna be able to keep him because he likes playing there.
And I'll oh, don't start telling me, Ben what you've heard. You know who you're talking to, unless you're talking to Artie. I don't know, y, no, no, no, I don't throw that out there. Now you're trying to play I've learned the word. You're trying to play troll. Troll everybody.
No, I'm just telling you that's right.
Your atrol, your troll.
Just admit it. Ben, I'm a big trull. But the one thing about Antani that I think is going to be the wave of the future because for a long time baseball teams would not allow guys to pitch and hit. It was very rare. You can only do one, you can't do both. They weren't just talent well, they wouldn't even give him the chance. Like I saw Dave Winfield say he could have done it back in the seventies with the the padres or whatever when he was coming
out of college. But because of Otani, and there's you see these guys in college. You watched the College World Series. There's guys that are this year for LSU. You saw a guy that was a great pitcher could hit the whole thing. I believe that Otani's gonna have a Tiger Woods like effect TJ that we're gonna see guys in the future be given the opportunity. They probably won't be as good as Otani, but to be given the opportunity to do both. Do you buy that or do you not buy that?
Well, they're not going to be given that opportunity at the major league level until after they've done it for some time at another level. So that's one of the built in problems. Otani was in a rare case because he basically was almost implying that that was part of
his deal to come to the Angels. How many people get that kind of leverage, you know, Japanese player every once in a while coming over here, but by and large, they got so much control over you and your property to them that unless you can prove it at another level, and you've got to work your way up. I don't think it's gonna happen.
I got you. I think I think it will. I'll I think it will happen. There'll be some guys get an opportunity. You did a radio show for a while, They're TJ back in the day with your daughter, a very popular show in LA and I love when you did that because you were always like the newspaper guy and all that and came a broadcaster. Did you inlight that? Was it hard? Was it easy? Was it a layup line or was it difficult for you.
It was very, very difficult because we were on from six to nine. We had no six to nine in the morning, so I'd be covering a Dodger game or Laker game the night before and wouldn't get home until after midnight. That's probably what made me so old. I did it with my daughter, who had absolutely no experience. But the Cimer's philosophy was take a risk in life. So she quit her accounting job and did the radio.
But I told her on the air and off the air, I didn't think she worked as hard ad as you needed to do to be good in LA So that ruffled our relationship for a little while. I had Fred Rogan was on with us, and Fred it was a tough guy to deal with. As he would tell you, I was a tough guy to deal with. We didn't always hit it off so and we just needed more experience. We needed you around. Then. We needed somebody who's done
this in their entire life, who understand. I didn't want to call up different people and ask him to come on the show, and you're supposed to have producers for that. I actually enjoyed My daughter and I did a Saturday show or Sunday Sunday Morning show. We would have Jerry Buss and Jeanie Buss on together. We had John Wooden and his daughter nan on together. That's when I had
Arti Marino and his daughter on the air together. That was more fun, more relaxed, and I would do interviews for sometimes forty minutes instead of the typical radio stuff. But it was a lifetime experience, but I wouldn't necessarily sign up to do it again.
Yeah, and you mentioned John wood and you became good friends with Coach Well, I.
Did one of the one of the lovely, unbelievable things that happened in my life. I mean, he was just and he liked it. Because I was here reverend with him. I would only call him the names that he hated. You know, he hated the Wizard of Westwards. So when we did a show at an Okaia Theater, I started off by saying, we've got the Wizard of Westward. Did I told you not to say that? And he was serious, he was mad. So I said, okay, we'll call you Saint John. And he hated being revered like that, just
hated it. He people would literally come to him and Genia flect when they named the post office after him in Tarzana. I was with him before the event started and I said, give me a break here. Now, you tell me you never took a drink your whole life. And he said nope, ever, and then all goes well. One I went to a fraternity party and I said, well, that was during prohibition. You broke the law. And then any name but Federal post Office after you a fallin.
And he loved that. He loved that kind of stuff. He even admitted that he gambled once on a horse race and the horse was named Gary, Indiana, and he won. The horse was like twenty five to one and he won the bet. He liked talking about things that made him normal. That's why they did this. If you let me just ran for one minute here, Ben, I we did, you know, shows at the Nokia Theater when I was
called Nicky. I don't know what it's now, but we did Jerry Weston's our Dinner Speaker, and we had John Wooden and Ben Scully on stage together and me it was live TV. I didn't wouldn't put anything in my ear. I told him, I'll go to commercial when I feel like it. My family was worried that the headline next day day was going to read cybers kills Wooden or killed Scully because they keel over and they were unbelievable. The only reason they agreed to do the show was
if I promised to be irreverend towards them. So I was the irreverend towards them. And the next day I got killed in email for people because I wasn't handling them with reverence and respect. It just frightened me. You know, we did this great thing. We raised a million dollars for Mattel's Children Hospital at u C l A and City of Hope and the Children's Hospital in LA. And Scully did not want any tape of that show safe. He wanted he wanted made me promise I would not
take the show. The show ended and he came to me right away and he said, we got to get a tape of that. That was so much fun, that was so great. Scully had the time of his life. And he had seen wood And earlier in the week who looked like he was. He was sitting in a wheelchair at a coliseum event, and he said to me, how are we going to do this? You know, in his nice way of saying that I had no experience. He thought he was going to have to carry the
whole show. We got there and we brought a kid up on stage who had cancer in his leg and wouldn't absolutely lit up. He got tried to get out of the wheelchair down at his knees to teach the kid how to put his shoes and socks on like he did as basketball players. He was having a moment where he was just pure enjoyment, and to me, it was the greatest thing I can ever say about Scully.
Scully noticed it and took a step back. It's now the John Wooden Show, and he didn't need the spotlight, and he deferred to as many times as he could because he couldn't see what was happening with what and he wheeled Wooden out to the center of the stage. At the end of the show. It was just it was just great stuff.
Yeah, And you were friends with both those guys. And I knew Vin a little bit from the Dodger stuff that I had done, and he was he was. I remember one time I asked Vin, I thought when I did Dodger talk. At first, I thought, well, Vin's probably listening on the way home from you know.
He listened to show tunes exactly.
That's what he told me. I was so devastated. It's like I asked him one time, I said, hey, what do you listen to? You listen to It was very cool. He's like, yeah, listen. Yeah, he listens to the show tunes on the way the way home. But uh, yeah, it's great. And the lesson I guess of that story, TJ, is you treated those guys just like you treat everyone else. You didn't kiss up, you didn't genue flect, and they they loved it. They wanted more, right.
That was the key they did. They lived And you know, with Scully, I made sure that I went to the bathroom in Dodger Stadium before every game because Scully went. So we would stand in the arnals next to each other and I would get a story from Scully. He told a Rocky Bridges story that just had me laughing so hard that I was afraid that I pissed on scully shoes, And you know, I looked down to make
sure that I hadn't caused a problem. But that's why I went to the bathroom before every game, because I would run into Scully and no one else would be in there, so be just the two of us had chance to talk. He was so good, and then you know, we did another show. We did one on Kofax and Torri at the Nokia Theater and I had never known Kofax. I had a four hour breakfast with him the day before. It was my first meeting, and he said, do you ask me any question you want and I'll give you
an answer. I'm so tired of all these people saying things about me. Let's come clean with everything. Oh okay, fine. Asked the first four questions that I got a yes, no, or maybe out of them. He froze the great sandy Kofax pros so I said, the hell with this. I said, you know what they tell me you were a great picture. Henry Aaron owned you, for God's sakes, get three seventy eight off you. He could do anything he wanted. And that opened it up. Kofax started to tell stories, beginning
one about Aaron that made him just so human. It was. It was another just fantastic moment that you could see behind the persana, what really cool guy he is.
That's great. Uh you I've taken a lot of your time. You write a you're doing a blog now. Actually a guy who we both know, Jay Christiansen, who used to work at the La Times. Yeah, great guy, he's a friend of mine. I love Jay. He sent me your column. That's how I found you. You're you're doing a blog, right, You're a couple times a week, I guess, I think.
Uh, he just did one a few minutes ago, and um, so excited to read in the La Times tomorrow how the women's soccer team did not not a word there today and you know you got to do everything by a three pm deadline or you don't make it in the La Times and the effort to kill the paper. Yeah, so I'm poking fun at the Times again.
No, but I love it. And so how can people find out? I'll put it in the description here, But how can people? We'll find a TJ they want to read because you you're doing the same stuff you've always done. It's just just on your own platform there, So how can they?
Yes, it's TJ Page two, TJ t A g E. The number two dot blog Okay, and you just go to that, you just call that up and uh, you know, I usually put hope fun at the La Times. And by the way, I'm not angry at the La Times. I mean they've ruined so many great journalists career because of just what's happening in newspapers. And I did my ordeal in courtroom. I would love to work for the
La Times. I even volunteered to Patrick soon Jung to work for free to of course, you need to have to donate two hundred thousand dollars the Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, but I made that offer. I love newspapers still. I just wish I could find one in the morning.
Yeah, well, that's see, that's the problem to you. If they Times hired you again, people might actually read it, and then that would be a problem.
I don't know if i'd get conversions. Man, you know you touch and go to see if I could get any conversions.
I got you. Well, I've loved talking to TJ. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. And I do read your column when I check it out as often as they can.
Don't go, don't do it. Don't it's so good for about twenty minutes, and now I get starting to blow smoke again. No, I tell you do that with your guests on because you you know, you're just that's your nice you know, host of mentality. That's what it is. I said, I'll hang up and you'll probably you know.
I'll kill you. No, no, yeah, I know that. I seriously I wish you're one of the.
Best at doing that. And that's good. That's that's high praise is coming for me.
Well, thank you. I appreciate it. No, no, I always tell I said, listen, I want more people I love. I'm not sucking up to you. I've told I've told you in the past.
You are to don't don't hang up on you again.
All right, all right, I have a great day. Thank you, TJ.
Take care.