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Best of The Ben Maller Show · The Ben Maller Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Maler
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
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  Speaker 1: Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
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  Speaker 1: station for the Benmatlers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
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  Speaker 1: You can find it there or stream us live every
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  Speaker 1: night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Fox Sports Radio.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: As we are united here a united front. Take you
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: all the way through, all the way through the overnight
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  Speaker 1: hours here. And I also want to remind you that
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  Speaker 1: if you're facing production swings or a tough skills gap workforce,
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  Speaker 1: and see how Express can help you hire smarter and faster.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Visit Expresspros dot com today. And so here we are
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: back at it and the story continues to be tabloid fodder.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Tabloid fodder. Our in depth team coverage continues, follow up
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: follow up. As we discussed in a previous episode of
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: the radio show, the Papa Rozzo. The snapshot scene round
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the football world, an active NFL head coach Mike Rabel,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: who was in the Super Bowl this year of the Patriots,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: and the athletic NFL insider and boy is she and
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: insider Diana Russini spotted canoodling poolside Sedona, Arizona, little sunset action.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: They had it all going on. Now both sides claim
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: that it was totally innocent. Totally innocent. Yes, uh, well
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: have you heard the latest on this? Have you been
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: clicking refreshed trying to get updated? No, you're not that
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: into it? All right, Well, I was reading the tableaus,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I was checking it out, so you didn't have to,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: so you did not have to waste your time doing it.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: And now I will spew out what I've learned. So
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Diana Russini's cozy outing with Mike Rabel has activated the bugle.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: The bugle was sounded and the infantry came in. Now
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I say the infantry. It's really just a bunch of
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: internet sluice who have decided to revisit every single thing
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: this woman has said online, everything about Mike Rabel, about
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: her marriage, any train of thought that she had and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: put on social media, and it appears this one very
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: active on social media, very very active on social media,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: and so there's a lot to comb through. It's a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a war zone as the rampages on from
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  Speaker 1: the Internet investigators. So that is a good jumping out point.
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  Speaker 1: Let us discuss the question, have have the Internet gum
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  Speaker 1: shoes cracked the case involving the Patriots coach Mike Rabel
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  Speaker 1: and the get together in Sedona, Arizona with NFL insider
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  Speaker 1: Diana Roussin. So on this one, I've got brisket, easter basket,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and backstroke and we will combine all of these things
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: together and it's going to be a crowd pleaser unless
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  Speaker 1: it's not. So. First of all, to answer the question,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: have the Internet Scooby Doo Gang done their job? Yes,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: one thousand percent. The Web detectives have unlocked the cold case,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: if you will. And now this is not CSI, this
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: is more like Wi Fi than CSI. The Web detectives
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: pulling out all the tools, all the tools there, the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: search in eines, the AI, the magnifying glass, the corkboard,
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  Speaker 1: they had the red string going through old comments on
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the tweet machine like the Zebruder film, frame by frame,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: frame by frame by frame, tireless work. And among the
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  Speaker 1: things they found, you've got Van Van Titans coach Mike
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Rabel recorded doing push ups prior to a game, and
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Diana Russini critiquing Mike Rabel doing push ups, saying awful form.
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  Speaker 1: Awful form that was filed the way. That was Exhibit A.
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  Speaker 1: Then you had comments that she made about her husband,
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  Speaker 1: saying that she married she's married to someone average, so
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  Speaker 1: she doesn't post about that person online very much. That's
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  Speaker 1: Exhibit B. There were a lot of attempts at humor.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: He's just trying to tell jokes, which you know at
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the time's fine whatever. Now you look back in the context,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: you're like, wait, wait a minute. So it's one those
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: on their own you say, well that who cares. You know,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: she's trying to be funny and she's just being self deprecating,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and you just tossed that in the junk dray. But
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: when you put everything together and you put your your
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: corkboard up and you've got your little pins in it,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and you're putting photos and you're connecting the dots and
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: all that, so now you're starting to put together a
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  Speaker 1: pretty hearty meal that's developing. Now, that's say, let's be
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  Speaker 1: clear here, Well, there was a lot of little things
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  Speaker 1: that popped up, and a lot of jokes that popped
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  Speaker 1: up a mile a minute here, it's all circumstantial. It's
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: obviously all circumstantial. You don't have the smoking gun. What
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  Speaker 1: you do have is someone cooking a Texas style brisket
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: in a smoker on a windy day. So there's a
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: lot in the air. There's definitely some smoke there blowing around. However,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: once you see the hand holding the sunset, canoodling, and
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: suddenly the pieces of the cupcake, you know, kind of
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: you think, well, I think there's a bake there. I
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: think there's a little bakery. And you know, the NFL
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  Speaker 1: wants this buried like nuclear waste. They would love for
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: this story to be buried like nuclear waste. Instead, these
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: social media platforms have started a backyard bonfire boom. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: and in the court of public opinion, we're not quite
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: ready to move on. Normally, these things have a short
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: lives maan, so far though, this story is still very
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: much alive now. Secondly, continuing the theme we mentioned this earlier,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: but the Scooby Doo gang on social media, trying their
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: darndas to cook up all kinds of interesting content about
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: these two and getting into the mud, deep into the mud. Well,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: the heavy hitters, have you noticed what I've noticed? Very
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: very quiet? What's up with that? The kings of content,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: the ones that ride in on the I horse. Suddenly
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  Speaker 1: I don't have a lot to say. Question why have
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  Speaker 1: gentlemen such as Adam Schefter and Ian Rappaport and the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: other establishment mainstream pigskin media elites, said Bupkus on the
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  Speaker 1: active NFL head coach. The active NFL head coach was
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: just in the Super Bowl and the insider the reporter
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: drama O rama? Is this a full blown media cover
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: up by the mainstream insiders? Or am I just being
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: too generous? So this appears to be unless I miss something,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: and maybe I did, and you can correct me if
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I'm wrong here, But I didn't see anything here that
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: got my attention. The NFL's version of a blue wall
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: of silence, if you will, in this case, the shield
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: of silence. So these guys are speed eating down the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: insider crowd. They've opened up shop. They're speeding down the highway,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and if you look what's the name of the highway,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: that's the hypocrisy Highway. They're going down the zoom zoom
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  Speaker 1: with the windows tinted and the radio blasting Simon and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Garfuckle's classic Hello Darkness, my old friend. It's the sound
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: of silence, baby. And so many of these dopes preach
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: transparency and suddenly it's a blackout when it's their girl,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Diana Russini. So if this were I don't know, Sean
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: McVay and some rams intern, I believe we'd have push
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: alerts every ten minutes, possibly every five minutes. Instead, crickets.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Crickets is what we've got. Now, you think the League
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: office sent a group text out and tried to put
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the kebash on this somepling along the lines protect the shield,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: protect your sources, or save your career zippy as in
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: zibbit zibbit zibbit zibbit zippit. Yeah. Now, it is more
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: likely than not that the arrest of the NFL media
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: elites got a late Easter basket with a ballgag and
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a handwritten note, don't ever touch this story. Love you,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Park Avenue. Now we get it right. You bite the hand,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: you lose the scoops These are great jobs. These are
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: easy jobs. You're hand fed, hand fed these stuff. It's
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: not like these guys really go out of their way
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  Speaker 1: to dig up the dirt. It's her buddy buddy with
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: agents and coaches and interns at NFL teams and they
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  Speaker 1: get all the stuff. But this is a it's a theater.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: It's not Kabooki theater. It's conflict of interest theater, which
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  Speaker 1: is you know in the Grapevine is right next to
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Kabooki Theater, but it says on the marquee if you
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: look up at the market, it's this conflict of interest theater.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: So you don't torch your sources. You're not supposed to
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: do this. But this is life behind the velvet rope.
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  Speaker 1: Crazy as that is. You get those velvet ropes right
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  Speaker 1: there in the VIP section at the nightclub. No phones,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: no leaks, no snatching. It's kind of like going into
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  Speaker 1: Derek Jeter's home back in the day and he had
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  Speaker 1: the wicker basket where you had to put your phone.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: If you were one of the floozies that was dating Jeter,
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  Speaker 1: you had to put your phone in the wicker basket
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  Speaker 1: and then you could continue on into the home and all.
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  Speaker 1: That's kind of what appear's what, that's what the NFL wants.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: I haven't seen the big cahunah on this one has
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: not dropped yet. The big Kahuna, the nectar of the gods,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: has not dropped. We'll keep an eye out for that. Now,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: final fault, we'll pivot away from that story. I thought
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: this was interesting. From college football and the star of stars,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: this guy was. They said he was ready for the
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: NFL a couple years agout of Columbus Ohio Buck Guys
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who recently said rather surprisingly, Jeremiah
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Smith says that that there were college teams that were
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: convinced they could get him after he had that breakout
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  Speaker 1: freshman campaign for Ohio State. They could get him to
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  Speaker 1: enter the portal by essentially making it rain, making it
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: rain money, money, money falling from the heavens. Said quote,
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  Speaker 1: teams were telling my agent, this is Jeremi Smith, who's
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: going to be eventually here a top pick in the
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: NFL draft. He's still in the wilderness of the college game,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: but he said, teams were telling my agent they had
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: a certain amount of money for me to come there.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Smith said, then he gave the dollar amount. Do you
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: hear how much he claims? The dollar amount was over
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: ten million? He said, over ten million, easy. And then
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: he pumped his chest out and said, but, which tells
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: you the previous sentence was likely imbellish. But that's not
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: how I operate. Quote continues, no reason to go back home,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: not when I am at the best place in the country,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: as good as all the rest. And then the Smith,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: the wide receiver, said, I came to Ohio State for
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: a reason to win championships, develop as a player and
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: a person, and keep building on this legacy. All right,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: So the question here should Ohio State fans be relieved
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: that their star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith rejected the portal
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: or worried that this is the new normal, the new normal.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: So sports sparks a little idea. I would say, buckle up, buckeroo.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: That's how I would handle this buckle. Buckle up, buckeroo,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: because it is the wild wild West. Now President Trump
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: and some other political types are trying to rein that
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: in and then we'll get back to what we had
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: with tons of bureaucracy and red tape and all that.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: We're not there yet we're not there yet. So for now,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: now it is still the wild wild West, and it
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: would have gotten much wilder had this happened. Jeremiah Smith
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: saying ten million dollars dangling in front of him, right
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: in front of his nose, like a carrot to a mule,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: and he says, no, no, no, I'm staying for legacy.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I'm staying for development and all that stuff. Does anyone
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: believe that you would have to suspend disbelief? Come on, now,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I yawn at that. This is not some kind of
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: loyalty test. It is more of a hostage situation. Now,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: is it true that Jeremiah Smith stayed with the Buckeyes
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: because he's already doing the backstroke in Scrooge McDuck's vault
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: filled with nil money from major companies like Adidas and
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Red Bull. Is that possible? He's a walking, talking multinational
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: corporation at this point. And so you got all that
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: endorsement money plus Ohio state. You ask for more money,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: the boosters will come up with some more money. You're
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: good to go. The sugar daddies are line up. They've
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: all got buck Guy's shirts on, tossing shekels at teenagers.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: It's a high stakes craps game, is what it is. Now.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: If you're a fan, I would say, if you're a
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: fan or a booster, do not be relieved because until
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: that legislation goes into play, this is the current geography.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: This is the landscape that we're dealing with. And if
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: you're a really good player, this kid, Jeremiah Smith was
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: like next level. Most college players are not that impactful.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: They may live long and prosper, but they're not that impactful.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: So if you're a stuper duper duper duper star player,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: you are always available. You're always available. You're a permanent
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: free agent. As it stands right now, the auction house
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: is always always open and they are accepting bids, are
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: accepting bits.
• 15:01
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• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Now I know a number you still want to talk about.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: The Mike Vrabel NFL insider Diana Russini meeting canoodling. You know,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: just a quinky dink, you know that kind of thing
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: just happened, end up at the same very small boutique
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: hotel two hours away from Phoenix, two hours away from Phoenix.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: It's just very odd that that happened. But haarlyd this
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: hour is from Pittsburgh, PA, and it ran a gossip
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: website years ago. We had a mantra in the newsroom
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: that today's rumors or tomorrow's news, and turns out that
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: yesterday's rumors are today's news. If you have not heard yet,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: possibly no. Well, we have now learned that rookie shortstop
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Connor Griffin Connor Griffin, and that's Connor Ko, not co
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Connor with K. Connor Griffin and the Pirates have locked
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: up a arranged marriage nine years. The top suspect in
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: baseball getting paid big time money without proving a damn thing.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: How great would that be? How great would that be
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: in your life? You don't actually have to prove that
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: you're good at the job. You just get paid thinking
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: you're going to be good at the job. He has
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: less than a week of service time in the big leagues.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I believe the number was five days. The deal is
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: worth one hundred and forty million. That is the largest
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: contract the Pirates have ever given out, which says a
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: lot about the Pirates, as well as any player in
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: baseball for a rookie season. No one has ever gotten
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: this kind of money, so they've reached an understanding. Now,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: keep in mind, when I was a kid, it was
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: a big deal. I'm a dinosaur. We collected these things
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: called baseball cards, and at some point in my childhood,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: we all thought we were going to get rich because
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: they had rated rookie cards and rookie cards. You got
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: to collect rookie cards. You know, these guys weren't getting paid.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: They were not getting paid, and they used to always
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: be a joke in baseball. A somebody's got to take
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the rookie out. They can't afford eight No, no, the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: rookies buying dinner for the whole team. He's beguiled the pirates,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: So it's good jumping off point, let us discuss the
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: question for the esteem panel. Connor Griffin getting one hundred
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and forty million dollars deal from thes at the age
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: of nineteen. What a great myths for this is? Now
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: is this a bargain or a boondoggle for the buccos?
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Connor Griffin one hundred and forty million dollar deal with pirates?
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Is this a bargain or a boondoggle for the buckos?
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: So I've got al Gore, three sisters, and Alaska Airlines,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and we are going to blend all of these things
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: together and provide you a bitter pill to swallow as
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: we shift into a higher gear. So a we all
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: know from watching our sports. Depending on how old you are,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I assume whether you're young or older than me or
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: around my age. This is a high stakes poker hand
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: played with house money, played with house money that isn't
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: really there, and that is what makes this interesting. Now
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: here's the reality of the situation, based on a minutes
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: long Mallard deliberation. This is not a bargain. Some of
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the bleeding heart baseball bloggers who all love Bruce Springsteen,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: they believe this is such a great deal for the Pirates.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: What it is, I'm gonna sum it up in four words.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: It's a prepaid prophecy, is what it is. It's a
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: pre paid prophecy. And the Pirates looked into the crystal
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: ball and determined that this player is going to be magical.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: That's what they're betting on. The Pirates are not buying
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: beachfront property. This is not a beachfront bungalow. It's not.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: What they're doing is buying the sketch of the beach
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: which is currently in Harrisburg, PA. And they're hoping that
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: former Vice President Al Gore was right with all of
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: his doomsday prophecies and that there'll be great floods and
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Harrisburg will be beachfront property right on the Atlantic Ocean.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: That's what they're hoping. We If Connor Griffin becomes a
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: top ten player in baseball, even a top twenty player
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: in baseball, this deal looks like grand larceny in favor
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: of the Pirates. It does if he's merely good. If
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: he's merely good, what you have done is bought a
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: mystery box from the interweb, and you're gonna unwrap the box.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: What's in the box and it's full of packing peanuts?
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: What woll Now? That's if he's good. If he flames out,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: which does happen, there is a dimension in the multiverse.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: This does not work out, then it becomes Backwater Buffoonery.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Buckos Backwater Buffoonery, a nine year anchor to the bottom
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: of the sea, tied to the franchise that we know
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: already counts pennies like the pirates still run the organization
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: like we're in the Great Depression. That's how they operate
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: there in Pittsburgh, and the early returns very small sample size.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: The guy that just got one hundred and forty million
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: dollars contract, Connor Griffin, is batting a buck sixty seven
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: in a handful of games. So it's boom or bust,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Boom or bust. There is no middle ground. There is
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: no middle ground. It's kind of like betting the over.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: I'm always an under guy because you're winning until you
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: lose when you bet the under. When you bet the over,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: if you end up betting the over on that, Well,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: you bet the over and then they have to go
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: over the number for you to win. You're losing until
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: you end up winning. And so it's kind of like that, right,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: The Pirates are losing until Connor Griffin shows that he's legit. Now. Physically,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: as we've talked about, Griffin is built like Adonis. He's
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: got all the measurables that you would look for if
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: you were a baseball scout and you did your homework,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: you'd say, Okay, this guy's a beefcake. We're ready to go. Still,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: this little problem, I don't know. You have to actually
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: hit the ball consistently, and it's the day to day
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: grind that is always the like occasionally, yeah you can
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: play well and be great, but you got to do
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: it on a daily basis, and so you don't know
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: what you don't know. The other problem I was thinking
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: about when I was coming into the studios. I know,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: we're on in Pittsburgh and we got guys that are
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: fans said, not tons of feedback, not tons of listener
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: reaction from Pittsburgh, but should fans trust the Pirate's talent evaluation?
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Isn't this the same franchise? That has botched countless draft picks.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: The Pirates have been bad for many, many years, which
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: means they've had top ten picks in the draft pretty
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: much every year. And while they certainly have some players
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: that look like they're ready to wreck havoc on baseball,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: it's not like they've done anything. It's not that they've
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: won anything. So why believe that they got this one right?
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Is the question now turning the page. But not far.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: One of the players they absolutely got right in Pittsburgh
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: is cy young winner. Paul Skeens, the pride of Eltoral
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: High School in Orange County. Paul Skeens, who reacted reaction
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: reaction to the nineteen year old Connor Griffin, his teammate.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: I'm getting this massive contract right the riches of Solomon
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: for Connor Griffin. And what did Paul Skeen say? He
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: gave the money quote, we'll cut through the fat here.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I'm going to cut through the fat with our chef's knife.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: And here's the money. Quote Paul Skeen said. Quote he
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: meaning Connor Griffin. He's going to be the face of
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the Pirates for a long time. Close quote. Question should
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Pirates fans be worried? That the cy Young winner. Paul
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Skens is calling Connor Griffin the face of the franchise.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: So you can't see me unless you're watching on the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: YouTube channel at Ben Mallers showing for that. I thank you.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: I am nodding my head, yes, I am nodding my head. Yes.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: And it's both a harmless, benign compliment and it is
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: also very telling, very very telling. As we have to
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: parse the words here, it's quiet distancing. Quiet distancing is
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: what I would say, polite smile masking some frustration there.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Paul Skeins is too smart not to know what that
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: quote Implus, all right, you've been around, you're not that old.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: But he's been in the limelight for a while. He's
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: not a country bumpkin. He knows what that quote implies.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: He knows the market. If you follow the cookie crumbs,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: they lead all the way across the Three Sisters Bridges
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: and straight out of Pittsburgh. The pirates just emptied the
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: piggy bank for Conor Griffin. They just emptied the piggy
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: bank for Conor Griffin. Meanwhile, Paul Skeens is staring at
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: a future payday that is, at least at this point
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: three times what Connor Griffin got. A Griffin at age
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: nineteen got one hundred and forty million dollars. Well, you
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: do the math, and it is very likely, barring some
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: kind of Tommy John operation, that Paul Skins is going
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: to get four hundred million dollars plus when the time
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: comes to sign a mega mega mega mega mega contract.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: So you think he doesn't see the math. It's not personal, right,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: it's not personal. It's just business. That's how it is.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: And it's a pirate's life for me. It's a pirate's
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: life for me. It's the Pittsburgh Ponzie scheme of baseball.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Now what is the Pittsburgh Ponzi scheme of baseball? You develop,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: you showcase, you cash out. Rinse wash repeat, rinse wash repeat. Yes,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: that's how that works. All right, last word here we
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: now head to the men in Blue, not Dodger blue, No, no,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: the men in blue. So we're a few weeks into
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: the baseball season. Few weeks into the baseball season, and
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: the new Automated Ball Strike Challenge System, the ABS is
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: what it's called, has been very liberating for some and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: very upsetting for others, mainly the umpires who are not happy,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: and when the umpires aren't happy, we get to rant
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: about it on the radio. Yeah, so the umpires upset.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: They are said to be quote quietly stewing. I wonder
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: what kind of stew quietly stewing why? Because because of
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: what they feel is the quote nearly impossible standard that
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: they are now being judged by man. That's get the
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the violent out, all right. Question, Why are MLB umpires
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: whining about being judged for accuracy? Isn't that literally the job?
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Isn't that literally the job to be judged on one's accuracy?
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: That's the gig, all right? So the umpire are having
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: a party. It's not a birthday party, it's not a
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: wedding party. It's a pity party because, wait for it,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: they are being judged on accuracy.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: Now.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: I don't like the whole robot invasion and all that,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: but this would be like an Alaskan Airlines pilot whining
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: that the landing has to be right in the middle
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: of the runway. Well that's not fair. Why would you
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: judge me? You mean, I have to land this plane
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of the runway? What is wrong
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: when you I just want to let it doesn't matter.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: I land the plan, I land the play. That's it.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Boo hoo hoo. Their feelings are hurt. Unfortunately, this is
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: not a group therapy session led by blind Sophie. This
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: is not it right. It's major League Baseball under rob manfraud.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: This is a shadow rebellion against the robots. The zebras
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: of baseball think it's a war on stripes, and in
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: many ways it is in that regard. I have noticed, though,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: the players of baseball seem to love the system. Am
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: I wrong on that? Has anyone really complained? That seems
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: like they all like it? So there's certainly some insecurity here,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and I think that would be the word I would
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: use insecurity here. This is like when they added self
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: checkout at Kroger. Some people started panicking, saying, well, wait
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: a minute now. The good news for people that work
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: at grocery stores and self checkout is there's so many
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: criminals out there that steal crap at self checkout that
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: they've a lot of stories. Are starting to get rid
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: of self checkout because people can't stop stealing stuff in
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: certain places, and they're limiting how many items you can
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: put in self checkout because of the criminals, so anyway,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: but eventually everyone is going to completely adapt to this.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: I don't like certain things, but they Baseball in recent
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: years has added the pitch clock, bigger bases, all the
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: other gimmicks, ghost runners, all that crap that Rob Manford
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: shoved up, our hookases and the umpires. A few weeks
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: in and they're still acting like a fussy baby. They're
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: acting like a fussy baby. Now. The replay, it is
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: interesting to node, as the late Vin Sculley would say,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: it is interesting to node that the replays about fifty
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: to fifty. It's about fifty to fifty since Major League
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Baseball's regular season started. Now we don't have the updated
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: numbers from Wednesday, but into Wednesday, there have been six
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty three challenges to date and the calls
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: have been overturned fifty four percent of the time. Now,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the pitchers and catchers when they have challenged, it's fifty
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: nine percent, So that's almost sixty percent compared to the
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: success rate of the batters, which is less than fifty percent,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: which is less than fifty percent. Forty eight percent is
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: less than fifty percent, So that's that.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Here we Go, Here we go, Here we go, Here
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: we go, Here we go, Here we go the third Degree.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: This is one big Ben gets grilled.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Cool.
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: Trevor Lawrence had arguably the best season of his career
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: last year in his first underhead coach Liam Cohen. Cohen
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: said this week that there is quote so much room
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: for Lawrence to continue to improve. Ben, do you think
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: Cohen can unlock Lawrence's full potential?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: I'm skeptical of how much better Trevor Lawrence is going
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: to get. He did play much better than I imagined
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: last year in Jacksonville. They're going to play a tougher
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: schedule this year because they won a bunch of games
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: and they made the playoffs and all that. Last year.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence last season was the nineteen frank quarterback. He
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: can possibly get right around ten. So you can move
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: up a little bit, but not that much. Next.
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: NASCAR Legendal Earnhard Junior posted to social media his support
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: for Kank Nipple to win the NBA Rookie of the Year, saying,
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: no question, he deserves it. Ben, do you think Nipple
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: can win it over Flag.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Cam he winning, Yes, I don't believe he will. Cooper
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Flags had a big finish for the year for the Mavericks.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: I think that pushes him over the top. But I
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: love that Dale Earnhardt junior. Buggety, Buggety, bugget He's going
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: for him next.
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: During Kirk cousins introductory press conference with the Raiders, Cousins
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: that he thinks that the Raiders have the best jersey
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: in pro sports.
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: Ben, do who do you think is the best jersey
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: in prospse?
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: Well?
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: I'm biased here. I love the old Rams jersey when
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: they you know, the Rams Horns back in the day
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: when they played in Anaheim, and the old Houston Oilers
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: loved me blue. The Seahawks had some good jerseys back
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: in the day with the hawk on the shoulder. But
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say the Raiders. That's pretty basic. How did
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: we deal? Coope?
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: You passed this aision?
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: That is a wad put on the bar chicken dinner.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: listen live.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: It's now time for time for Harry. Harry honey Waite
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: ask bad Twitter said us your questions on Twitter now
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: then no way, we go it to ask Ben. Your
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: questions are answers for the rest of the hour. Ben
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: and friends now for the reading of the questions the
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Cooper group.
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: All right, Ben, We're gonna start off with a question
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: from Milkman.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Mike Hi, Milkman.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: He wants to know what board game do you rule at?
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I was, I don't know if it's a board game,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: but Connect Connect four very good at that.
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: That's a very board game.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's my game. I loved. I loved Connect four.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: It was my that was my thing.
• 32:35
  Speaker 6: What about you, Lorena, It's either got to be Trouble
• 32:38
  Speaker 6: or the Game of Life. Those were my two favorites.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Dominating the Game of Life.
• 32:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you have a little van that you drive around
• 32:46
  Speaker 6: and you build a family, you get married.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, cool, Oh you're laughing, Cool, go ahead? Cool?
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: Clue? I dominated Clue? Oh good one yeaheah.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I played you know, I played Clue a couple months back.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: I don't know somebody he played like one time and
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: then that was it. So it's good. All right, what's
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: next year?
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: We should have a mallor Murder mystery party.
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: Sorry that was random.
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: Go okay, Andy and Lina Lakes. I'm just I'm just
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: gonna answer this question real quick. He wants to know
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: if we've heard anything from Angry Bill or Jack the
• 33:18
  Speaker 5: Judge and his wife. Yes, we've heard from Angry Bill. No,
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: we have not heard from Jack the Judge and his wife.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: I did reach out to him and I did not.
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: Hear still nothing, so yeah.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: I've also reached out to Van the one Legged Bamberman.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: I haven't heard from him either. Hopefully youse are all right.
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: Well, this next question is from Rob the goat Man.
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: He wants to know what do you miss most about
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: being a kid.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: You know what I miss is going out. You know,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: I grew up without phones and crap. We just go
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: out in the neighborhood. My mom would be like, all right,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: just come back when the sun goes down, and we'd
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: just go on our bikes. And you know, I grew
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: up in a place with like orange groves and crap,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: and I had so much fun with the kids in
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: the neighborhood causing havoc, just like the freedom of and
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: not having to work and not worry about paying bills
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: and not worried about seven dollars gas or pain insurance
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: and all this other bull crap adults after do what
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: about you, Lorena?
• 34:14
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I might want to start working from home. You know,
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: I miss the actual going to your neighbor's house and
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: like knocking on the door, you know, like, hey, can
• 34:23
  Speaker 6: a Holly come out and play? Like I miss those days.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: That'd be great. Yeah, all right, what about you, Coop?
• 34:30
  Speaker 5: I miss summer break like and I guess that kind
• 34:34
  Speaker 5: of goes along with not working, but I just liked that.
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: Like when that was approaching, You're like, yes, the next
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: like two and a half months, got no responsibility, nothing, Yeah,
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: just whatever I want, stamp late lunchables every day.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: I had it all planned out. You had everything planned
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: out to give it and then yeah, and when you're
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: a kid, two months seems like a long time. Yeah,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: oh yeah, it doesn't seem very long at all, but
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: as a kid, going, oh man, that's a long ass time. Man,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: all right? Was next? Ask Ben? Your questions are answers?
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Hashtag ask Ben on X hashtag asked Ben on X.
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: Donkey sausage would like to know what is your adult
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: drink of choice?
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: My adult drinker, Well, I'm very boring. I love the
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: thing that I love because it doesn't taste like alcohol,
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: but it gets you pretty hammered, just like root beer
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: beer thing. I love that. What about you, Lorena?
• 35:21
  Speaker 6: I gotta go with a filthy martini with blue cheese olives.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: Great bougie Coop, a Gin and tonic, classic drink Gin
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: and tonic. Yes, what's next? What you got? Ask Ben?
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Your questions are answers The Extended Dance Remix.
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: The King Rory would like to know? Have you ever
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: made pasta from scratch before?
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Totally from scratch? No?
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: I have not.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: I'd like to do that. I'd love to get a
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: pasta maker, and I like playing around with the kitchen.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: I have not done that. What about you are? Have
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: you ever made it in the air fryer?
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: No?
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: All right, Coop, my wife has.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: That doesn't count. Then no?
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: There, and There's very little that I have made from
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: a scratch ever.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I'm like making random stuff from schedule? What's next?
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: What do you guys? Ask Ben? Your questions are answers.
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: Alf the Alien Opiner would like to know. Hi, Alf,
• 36:20
  Speaker 5: will you maintain your normal sleep schedule when you visit
• 36:22
  Speaker 5: the Commonwealth.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: No, because I would not see any sunlight if so. No,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna have to flip my schedule. I think,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I'm I think we can go a little earlier than
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: the meet and greet so I can flip my schedule.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: And you know, I got friends up and down the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: East Coast, so I guess see some of those people.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: But I'll be I'll be changing my schedule a little bit,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: not too much, but a little bit. Anybody else changing
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: their schedule.
• 36:46
  Speaker 6: Yah, I'll probably just start sleeping a little earlier in
• 36:49
  Speaker 6: the night. Midnight so I don't know.
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: When I travel. I seem to get on wherever i'm at,
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: like clock pretty pretty quickly.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah there's a yeah, I do too. There you go.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: That's betting.