Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Scott Kaplan | ESPN 710 LA Sports Talk Host Reminisces with Sid Ahead of Tomorrow's NYSBA HOF Induction

Transcript

Scott Kaplan | ESPN 710 LA Sports Talk Host Reminisces with Sid Ahead of Tomorrow's NYSBA HOF Induction · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: My next guest, who I love dearly, I can't stand
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: up nice things.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: About, Scott Kaplan. I already have this morning a bunch
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: of times and many other times in the.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: History of this show.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: He's got a horrible governor, too, there, Gavin Newsom, who's also,
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: he's on his way out, though.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Hochul can stick around with a win.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Newsom is going to leave, and it looks like the
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Democrat Becerra, who's garbage, is going to beat my guy,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Steve Hilton. But more importantly, Scott Kaplan was the guy
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: that gave me my first opportunity in radio, believe it
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: or not, almost 30 years ago. Next year will be
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: 30 years that he gave me that shot on internet radio.
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  Speaker 2: We had a couple of ups and downs many years ago,
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  Speaker 2: just like many people in this business. But we are
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: closer than brothers. And I love this guy so much.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: And he's so smart. And he had all the answers
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  Speaker 2: he really did 25 years ago. He's a big star
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: out in California, San Diego, Los Angeles, all over the state.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: My first partner and brother, Scott Kaplan.
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  Speaker 1: Scotty, good morning, buddy. How are you?
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Hello, Sidney.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, very good from the great movie Scream. Hello, Sidney.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: How are you this morning out there in California?
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm doing great, man. I'm so excited for you.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: I honestly have been thinking to myself, though, how the
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: hell did this happen? You know, like, how did you
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: become a Hall of Famer? And then I thought another thing.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: which is like when a football player or a baseball
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: player goes into a Hall of Fame and they've played
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: on multiple teams and you say to them, you say, hey,
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: who are you going in as? And I thought to myself, Sid,
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: there's been many different iterations of Sid Rosenberg in New
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: York radio. And I thought, which Sid Rosenberg is going in?
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  Speaker 3: What hat are you wearing when you're going in? I'm
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: so excited for you guys.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: You know, Scotty, it's not.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: I'm more excited for you than you.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I know, but it's not just New York.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, don't forget, I had that 11-year stint where
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I was at 790 The Ticket, 560 WQAM, and the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: last one, which really enabled me to get back to
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: New York, 640 Sports, and it all started in Fort Lauderdale,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Florida with you. So my career is really kind of
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: split between Florida and New York. Yes, some big stations here, WFAN,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: WNEW with you, 10-10 wins, and now WABC, but there's
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: plenty of Florida love to go around tomorrow as well.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: You know that.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, I do. Listen, Sid, in the late 90s when
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: you and I first started, I mean, the fact of
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: the matter is none of us knew what we were doing.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: We were little kids in the business, right?
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know. You were pretty smart. I'll give you
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the credit, man. Say you don't know what you were doing.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: You were pretty smart, Scott.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you. But I mean, all I was doing
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  Speaker 3: was I was doing the things that I'd heard other
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: people do. You know, I'd heard I hear just as
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: we were rejoining, I heard that. And I know exactly
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: where that comes from. And I listened to Neil Rogers
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: as a kid, you know, down in Miami. And I,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: you know, I was I loved Howard Stern. And I,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: you know, I just I was a young kid who
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: just desperately wanted that microphone. And then when I was
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: given that opportunity, because I really talked my way into it,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: no big surprise. um I just didn't have around me
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  Speaker 3: what I needed because I was not really like us
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  Speaker 3: I didn't know everything I didn't know every player I
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  Speaker 3: didn't know every team I didn't know every coach I
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  Speaker 3: didn't know all the details I just had a lot
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  Speaker 3: of strong opinions but you you knew all the details
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: back then I'm sure you still do but you literally
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: would walk around the office like the mayor of the
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: place And your shirt was wide open and you showed
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  Speaker 3: off your pants and you're walking around to everybody.
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  Speaker 1: Not, Hey, how you doing?
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  Speaker 3: Hey, good to see you. I'm like, who the hell
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  Speaker 3: is this kid? And, and you know, when, when you
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  Speaker 3: and I started to talk, I realized I know some stuff.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: He knows a lot of stuff. So if I could
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  Speaker 3: just spout about the stuff I want to apply it about,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Sid's going to fill in every last detail. And that's
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: where in the earliest of days, Sydney, that's where our
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: partnership began. Yeah.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great. It was a great partnership. It
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  Speaker 2: was great right the whole way through to New York.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: And you're right. We complimented each other very, very nicely.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you were a really good talker. You knew
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  Speaker 2: the business. And I knew the players and the numbers.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: And we could sit down, for example, like we did
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: every year on Radio Row at the Super Bowl.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: And you can schmooze the guy. And then I can say, hey.
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  Speaker 2: I remember when you played Green Bay and you had
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: six catches for 133 off the field.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: The guy goes, how do you know that? I go,
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  Speaker 1: I know all that. And it was just perfect. I mean, we,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: you know, we, I.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Remember was talking about this this week and God, I
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: felt badly bringing it up, but I have to, because
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  Speaker 2: this is such a moment to stay tomorrow. But there
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: was a guy in Florida who you were friendly with
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: and he was a big time program director and his
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: name got rest his soul. He got a very young
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: man was Andrew Ashwood. And when Andrew Ashwood found out
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: that you were going to, embark on your career with me.
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  Speaker 2: He went to you and he said, because we're about
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: to be syndicated about 75 markets across Wisconsin.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: I know exactly where you're going.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Scott, you got to get rid of this guy. This
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  Speaker 2: guy's got to, Thick Brooklyn accent. It ain't going to
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  Speaker 2: work in lacrosse. It ain't going to work in Clarksville.
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  Speaker 2: And God rest his soul, he could not have been
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: more wrong. We would get off the plane. It was
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  Speaker 2: like the Beatles. And these people loved us. And they
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  Speaker 2: loved me with the accent. And by the way, at
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: no point during my career, and I am in New York, right,
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  Speaker 2: so it's kind of easy. But at no point in my.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Career did any of that stuff come back and bite
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  Speaker 1: me in the ass.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: No, no. And I'll tell you something, Sydney, you know,
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Andrew Ashwood, as you said, God rest his soul. He
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: was a great program director.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: He really was.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: He got he got a lot of things right. In
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: this case, he got one thing really, really wrong. And
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: what he what he didn't understand was is, you know, listen,
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: America loved America. Seinfeld. They love Jerry Seinfeld. They love
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: this show. And outside of New York, people were like, boy,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: that Jerry Seinfeld sure is an interesting character. And in
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: New York, in New York, everybody's like, yeah, that's like
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: my neighbor, Jerry, you know, everybody knew him. And so,
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: and so the people that weren't in New York found
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: him interesting. And the people that were in New York
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: found him familiar. And, and I kept saying to Andrew,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think in other parts of
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: the country, they're going to find Sid's accent interesting and funny.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: They're not going to be offended and turned off like, oh,
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: the whole world revolves around New York. So he was
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: wrong on that. But you, you were right about something
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  Speaker 3: you just said. We were so young and we got
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: syndicated into all these markets through Westwood One. And we
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: would go on these tours because we were trying to
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: drum up business because at the time, you know, for
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: everybody who's listening at the time, Jim Rome was the
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: biggest thing going in sports. And Jim Rome, he had
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: this thing called, he was going on these tours and
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  Speaker 3: he would almost like sell out arenas and he would
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  Speaker 3: show up in a certain town and all the star
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: athletes of the town would come because it was like a,
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  Speaker 3: it was a celebration of your community that somebody big
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  Speaker 3: time like him was going.
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  Speaker 1: To show up.
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  Speaker 3: You and me, when we show up in these small towns,
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: cause we were trying to, again, we were trying to
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  Speaker 3: grow and, When we show up in these little towns,
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  Speaker 3: people freaking went crazy.
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  Speaker 2: They were nuts.
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  Speaker 3: Because they felt special. They felt special that we were
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  Speaker 3: leaving South Florida and they were listening to us every day.
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  Speaker 3: And we actually would show up at their little town
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  Speaker 3: and broadcast to them. And we would pack these places.
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  Speaker 3: And we were on our way. And for you, I
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  Speaker 3: just remember this so vividly, that after we went to
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  Speaker 3: our first Super Bowl, this was in Atlanta. Do I
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: have that right? It was our first Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 2: Our first Super Bowl together, you and I, was San Diego.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: It was the Packers and the Broncos. You had gone
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  Speaker 2: the year before to New Orleans with Allison and the
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: crew for Parcells and the Packers.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: But me and you did Brett Favre versus John Elway.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: But then the next year, the next year was Atlanta,
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  Speaker 3: as I recall.
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  Speaker 2: No, the next year, no, the next year, Atlanta played
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  Speaker 2: in the Super Bowl, Dan Reeves' team, but they got
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  Speaker 2: walloped by that same Bronco team, but the game was
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: in Miami.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: See, here we go. I still got the details, Scotty.
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  Speaker 1: You see?
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  Speaker 3: Dude, amazing. Amazing memory. Where were we when we— this is
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: how cheesy.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It was.
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  Speaker 3: It was.
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  Speaker 1: No, you're right. 1999, Atlanta.
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  Speaker 2: We were there for the Rams and Titans. Remember when
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: they tackled Dyson inside the one, Mike A.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Jones? You're right. It was Atlanta, Super Bowl, Rams, and Titans.
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  Speaker 3: Okay. We got back. That Super Bowl ended. We had— this
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: is so funny. Nowadays, you go to these Super Bowls,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: these Radio Rose, everybody's got produced like sets and they've
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: got signage and everything's very professional looking. Back then, it
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: was nothing. We had a guy draw a caricature of
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: the two of us on a piece of poster board.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: And everybody that would come by who would guest with
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: us would sign the poster board. So you and me
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: are sitting there one day and Joe Namath, who we
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: both knew at this point because of our relationship with
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: Joe down in South Florida, um, through the company sports
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: line that we worked for, Joe comes over to sit
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: with us and Sydney, I don't know if you remember this,
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  Speaker 3: I'm getting goosebumps talking about all of a sudden, a
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: crowd of people came around. It's you, it's me, it's
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Joe name. It's one of the biggest stars in the
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: history of the NFL. And again, this is the late nineties.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: And there must've been hundreds of people standing around just
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: listening to us. And in that moment, I could just
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: see from you that how much you loved it. And
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: then when we got back, I just remember thinking to myself, Sydney,
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: calm down, man. Like, we're going to get there. And
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: you were like, no, I want it now. And that
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: attitude of I want it now in 1999 is why
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: you are a Hall of Famer today. Because you wanted
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: it so badly. But then after all the years and
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: different iterations and moving from sports into news talk slash
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: now political talk, it takes so much courage and guts
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: and balls to say the stuff you say with conviction.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: by the way, and to put yourself out there when
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: your opinions may or may not be the most popular.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: It just takes courage, man. So when you combine where
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: you were, which was, I want it now. I actually
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: wanted it yesterday versus where you are today, which is,
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: I'll say what I want to say. I'll say what
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: I think needs to be said. Those are the bookends
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: of what makes you now a freaking Hall of Famer.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Wow, thank you, Scott.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I remember using the word star too back then when
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Tommy and Allison said, this guy, he's been in this
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: thing for 15 minutes. What do you mean he's going
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: to be a star? I remember all those conversations I do.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: And listen, They worked for me, you know, and your
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: career has been every bit as good as mine. You're
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: a tremendous success in California. And you went about things
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: a little differently. But you said to me way back
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: when we were about 90 seconds to go, you said,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: you know, if you ever lose this job and everybody
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: knows my history with drugs and drinking and gambling and
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: all my issues, you said you're going to miss the
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: microphone more than you miss the drugs. And in the
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: many times that I've been fired very publicly over the years,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: you son of a bitch, you are right again. You
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: are right again. Man, did I miss that microphone. I
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: never want to be there again. You know, Scott, I'm
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: going on 11 years here at WABC, 11 years. I
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: ain't never leaving this microphone again until they drag me out.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Of here, if you know what I mean.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the way you got to do it, man.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: I mean, really, like, I literally look at Howard, and
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I look at Don before Howard, and I go, why
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: would these guys continue to do this? Why wake up
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: so early? Why continue to prepare? Why do they do this?
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: And it is like a football coach that can't give
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: up coaching football.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: It just... It's just something that you are. It's something
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: that is normal for you every day. And rather than
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: give it up and go live the good life, like
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: you could. And I'm saying, you know, if you have
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: all the money in the world, it's just, it's just
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: part of what you do, man.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I don't have that.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: If I had Howard's money, I wouldn't be doing this anymore.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: And he's not even good anymore, which is horrible to
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: say because he is the greatest of all time. I'm
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: with you, but he's not even good anymore. Let me
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: just say this. I would not rewrite my career any differently.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: And I really believe in my heart of hearts, I'm
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: not patronizing you, Scotty, that I am where I am
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: today because I started with you. You were just so smart,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: so prescient. You knew this business when you didn't even
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: know the business. That's what I say about Scott. You
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: knew the business when you didn't even know the business.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: And you turned out to be right about just about everything.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: You were a wonderful partner. You were a great friend
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: and a brother to me. And I love you so much.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: So thank you so much, Scott Kaplan.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: Sydney, I love you, man. I'm so proud of you,
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: like I said. And you deserve this honor. And you
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: know what, though? This is not the end. Just because
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: you're going into the Hall of Fame doesn't mean it's over.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: This is just another chapter in the book of Sydney
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: Arthur Rosenberg.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: And in that book, you are in the biggest chapter
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: of all. Scott Coppin, I love you. Thank you so much.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: What a great appearance today. Thank you for the video, too.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Have a great day out there in California today. And
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: tell George Satano he sucks, okay?
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: I won't do that. That's my brother, too.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: No, I love him, too. Good to talk to you, Scotty.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Great job. Great job.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: That is my first partner, one of the most decent
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: and good people you'll ever meet, my friend Scott Kaplan.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: mornings at 6. If you like the podcast, share it
• 13:32
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• 13:36
  Speaker 4: the WABC Radio app.
• 13:38
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• 13:42
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• 13:47
  Speaker 5: See you next time for a new episode so you
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: never have to wonder.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?