Our resident “retired” sports cartoonist Mike Ricigliano returns to Koco’s Pub on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour for a Baltimore sports and artist take on state of Ravens and Orioles. And what the hell has happened to his Buffalo Bills this offseason?

The conversation focused on Nestor and Mike informally assessing the current state of the Orioles and Ravens while also touching on local community and music interests.

Team outlook

• Mike said he still follows the Orioles regularly but with less intensity than before, and believes they can still reach the playoffs even if they do not look like a true World Series contender.
• Both discussed the familiar pattern of late-season hope around the Orioles, with Mike describing Baltimore fans as again entering wildcard-race mode.
• On the Ravens, both saw reasons for optimism but noted meaningful uncertainty due to new coaches, younger contributors, and dependence on key veterans and Lamar Jackson.

Open questions

• Can the Orioles sustain a playoff push, or will inconsistency continue to undermine them?
• Will the Ravens adapt quickly enough under new coaching to contend at a Super Bowl level?
• How serious a threat is Cincinnati within the division compared with the rest of the AFC North?

• Contact Roz at the Maryland Lottery to arrange replenishment of Ravens scratch-off tickets once back at the station. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Restart the “Maryland Crab Cake Tour” segment on the AM 1570 show and begin sharing related stories with listeners. (@Nestor Aparicio)
• Use the ribs ordered at Koco’s to make a pulled-pork sandwich by breaking down the meat, toasting Hawaiian rolls, adding Koco’s pulled pork and coleslaw, and enjoying it with beer and ice cream. (@Nestor Aparicio)

Sports media and fan engagement

• Nestor asked Mike whether he still does or misses sports cartooning.
• Mike said he misses drawing commentary on sports but no longer devotes the same energy to daily sports coverage.
• Both reflected on how their relationships with sports have changed over time.

Orioles discussion

• Mike said he watches the Orioles a few times a week and follows them daily through fantasy baseball.
• They discussed Baltimore’s recurring late-season wildcard conversations.
• Mike said he believes the club can still make the playoffs, though he does not see it as a top championship team.

Ravens and AFC outlook

• The conversation shifted to Ravens expectations entering the season.
• Nestor raised concerns about the offensive line, veteran durability, and how quickly the offense will come together.
• Mike said the schedule helps but that the coaching changes and reliance on young players create uncertainty.
• Both identified Cincinnati as the main divisional threat.

Music and local community

• The discussion broadened into concerts, favorite bands, and Nestor’s music storytelling plans.
• Mike shared favorite acts and concert memories, including interest in bluegrass and They Might Be Giants.
• They also highlighted Koco’s, Zeke’s, neighborhood traditions, and local social gatherings.

Nestor Aparicio 0:00
We’re going. We are WNST and 1570 Tass of Baltimore. We’re Baltimore positive, positively giving away our Ravens scratch offs here at Koco’s. I’ll call it for you like a nice little stack. I got to get Roz over the Maryland Lottery to replenish me when we get back at. I you know I don’t have dates. We’re going to be a Costas. We’re going to be a Pizza Johns. We’re going to be a fishmonger’s daughter. We’re going to be at State Fair. That’s what I know of. I know we’re going to be back here. Eric’s in the kitchen. He’s going to come out. By the way, Marcella, we love you and Dad. Marcella can be. She can be here with us today. But they still have their best of Baltimore Award here. But our Koco’s Pub. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland Lottery in conjunction, of course, with GBMC and Farnham and Derma. They are the comfort guys. This guy’s been my comfort partner for 42 some odd years now. Mike Persigliano and I met in early 1984 at the Baltimore News America in Sports First. He is the artist and cartoonist extraordinaire, and also my co-host for the K when we were Koco’s because he lives up the street here in beautiful Norville. You moved by her

Mike Ricigliano 1:00
1980 1985 New York Eastwood Drive. 20 Eastwood Drive. All right. Yeah, we’ve been here 40, whatever that is. 41 years. 41 years. Make

Nestor Aparicio 1:10
my day, punk. Make my day.

Mike Ricigliano 1:11
Yeah, exactly.

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Nestor Aparicio 1:13
All right. So you, you, um, do you do any sports cartooning at all in any way? And I know how much you loved it, and it was a passion. And like, like I’m wondering, when I stop doing radio, will I do radio? Or if I stop doing sports, will I stop doing? Like I’m doing this music thing right now because I’m finding a passion at this point in my life. But like for you, like you did all the sketching. Is there a point after the Ravens winning moves in the Orioles or David Moonstone Comfort you want to? That’s about the only good job I

Mike Ricigliano 1:42
miss drawing a lot. Is maybe doing a weekly commentary on what’s going on, and I could do it. I could put it on Facebook, but I’m lazy retired now, so you know I’m not that ambitious to do it. But if I I was paid to do it, I would do it. I think I I

Nestor Aparicio 2:00
was going to draw. I guess the thing I love having you on the show, and I’ve always loved having you on. You were a caller at one point, and you were the first guest I had on 12 years ago this week when I reinvented everything as a podcast format in my house, and my wife was battling. It was 12 years ago this week or something. Really, not really. 12 years ago this week that I reinvented myself the fifth time, and you’ve seen all these reinventions for me and all this stuff, but there’s a point for sports with me where, like, if I didn’t do this anymore, I would be judicious about what I would watch or how I would react to it or how much interest I would take in whatever team or player or sport or championship. But there’s also a point where, like, when I see poignant things happen in sports, or something that really get the World Cup happening in the summer, right? When I see these things that happen, when the world turned it around a couple years ago and were on the pathway of being good again, there is something about sports that still is intriguing, but not the way it used to be for me, you know, in that way, right? I would be that angry to want to take calls all day. I don’t

Mike Ricigliano 3:05
devote all my energies to it either anymore, you know. And I’m like, I was a faithful ESPN watcher. I don’t really watch ESPN anymore. I don’t have ESPN. I watched that

Nestor Aparicio 3:15
McAfee and Steve, Stephen. They snipped yell at me all day. I’m more, you know. Me too. I’m

Mike Ricigliano 3:21
old school for that too. You know, so yeah, I, I, it’s not, it’s not central for me, but it is, as you said, still fun, and there are still things that get the moment into it. And the other thing I love about sports is community, right? Again, we we gather we gather at Zeke’s on Fridays, right down the road from here. I’ve

Nestor Aparicio 3:47
done the show

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Mike Ricigliano 3:48
there. Yeah, you’ve done the show. You and and I enjoy that group of people. It’s not all sports talk, but sports talk. You watch the game

Nestor Aparicio 3:59
tonight.

Mike Ricigliano 4:00
Feed day, and then we talk. What’s going on?

Nestor Aparicio 4:03
Do you watch game Lestra? Yes. 14 to 13 to one.

Mike Ricigliano 4:06
I did not see the game.

Nestor Aparicio 4:09
Okay, but so you watching three days a week, five days a week, the Orioles? Yeah.

Mike Ricigliano 4:13
Two or three days

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Nestor Aparicio 4:15
a week. Yeah. Okay. Two or three. Okay.

Mike Ricigliano 4:16
And I follow it every day because I’m in some fantasy baseball leagues, and I you know, so I follow it. What’s going on? In fact, the Orioles hit 13 at Zeke. We have a 13 run pool, and so if you hit exactly 13,

Nestor Aparicio 4:29
say that again. Explain, dude, dude. 13. I told Luke this morning about the 13 run pool, and he looked at me like I was a ninja turtle. Really? No. He’s never earned 13 rubles. Fairly

Mike Ricigliano 4:44
common, but anyway, it’s basically

Nestor Aparicio 4:47
you put $1 into a team scores 13 months. You

Mike Ricigliano 4:51
yeah, something like that. Ours is a little different than that, but it’s the same. It’s basically the last team that scores 13 exactly, win or lose in a game. Each month, and had a bigger pub for the winner of the season. The last 13 run score at the end of the season. Everyone gets a team. How

Nestor Aparicio 5:11
much can you win in the lot? A couple 100. A couple 100 budget. Okay. All

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Speaker 1 5:15
right.

Mike Ricigliano 5:15
We don’t make it too crazy.

Nestor Aparicio 5:17
But I mean, it does add. It’s like it’s like a lottery thing where it adds up, it’s it’s like a jackpot because it it acts on right.

Mike Ricigliano 5:25
I mean, not this pool. This pool is my dad. Yes, okay. That I did. I was in one of those too, and it gets it gets. I mean, my

Nestor Aparicio 5:33
dad hit it one time. You know, this is 1980 at the point. Right, he came home with like 300 bucks. It was like a lot of money at the time. Right, it’s like a mixed paycheck or something at the time, and

Mike Ricigliano 5:42
you get a bonus in our league. You get a bonus if your team hits 13 runs on the 13th of the month. You’ve lived

Nestor Aparicio 5:49
your whole life in this goofy thing where you participate in all of these participation things and whatnot. Yeah, of course they make it all more

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Mike Ricigliano 5:59
interesting for me. So, but I, you know, I I love all those. But I, if I

Nestor Aparicio 6:04
made you draw a sports cartoon right now, what would you draw it about? I mean, I I don’t know if your mind works that way anymore, and I’m wondering when I’m done doing this, will my mind wonder like, I wonder what Nestor would say about that Oriole game today, or I wonder what I would say about I don’t probably

Mike Ricigliano 6:20
I would probably draw about this time of year when Orioles fans have to give start start talking about the ring. It’s an annual thing, and that’s what’s so frustrating here. You know, in Baltimore, is that this is a rite of passage. You do know that

Nestor Aparicio 6:38
the Winston Games in Sacramento.

Mike Ricigliano 6:40
I I believe they will. I believe they will. I don’t think they’re a good enough team to go all the way and win a World Series or even get lucky and do that. But I oh thanks. But I I do think they’re they can make the playoffs as easily as any of these other five teams they’re competed with or four or five teams Minnesota you know, whoever’s the other team. So Detroit, none of them are that good. We could play them this week. You know, like I always keep thinking that the Orioles will wake up and will slice the system fall. But we know better than that this year. We know that every time that’s happened, where the rug gets pulled out from under. So I, you know, I call Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown all the way. You know, Charlie Brown. But let’s go up.

Nestor Aparicio 7:34
For six here, it’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland Water. We got the Raven scratch-offs giveaway. We’re at Koco’s. I’m going to be getting the Maryland Crab Cake Tour back out. If you’re listening in in AM 1570, I’ll be telling music stories like the ones I told here earlier today that some folks didn’t know about, didn’t know about jumping on the stage at Smith arrangement, and some of the some people didn’t know these stories about me. Football and we’re there, so give me your your give me your football cartoon with Jesse Minter in the middle of this. What what are you looking for for the Ravens? The

Mike Ricigliano 8:05
Buffalo Bills or the Ravens win the Super Bowl last year. That’s my that’s my

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Nestor Aparicio 8:10
every year every year every

Mike Ricigliano 8:14
year every year I root for both of you. I can’t. I know. I know. You got very

Nestor Aparicio 8:20
Ravens.

Mike Ricigliano 8:21
It’s very frustrating. No, I would say

Nestor Aparicio 8:23
the bottom thing is unbelievable to me because the owner showed to me that he’s clueless. Your owner showed he was clueless. The Durham and Fireman, this stupid. So

Mike Ricigliano 8:33
I was so upset at Phil, and they’re trying to sell these

Nestor Aparicio 8:36
tickets to these people in Western

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Mike Ricigliano 8:38
Europe. And the stadium itself, the new stadium has gotten a lot of mixed feedback. They call it the bedpan in Buffalo because it’s kind of shaped like a bedpan. So that’s not a good nickname for it, dude. It’s not even

Nestor Aparicio 8:51
open yet. People are listening on

Mike Ricigliano 8:53
it. I know. I mean, there’s some constructive few seats that are there. They. I mean, how do you get bad PR when

Nestor Aparicio 9:00
you open a new stadium, $2.2

Mike Ricigliano 9:02
billion. Even the money they only were bought

Nestor Aparicio 9:05
to stadium before the heck.

Mike Ricigliano 9:06
Exactly, and it’s PSLs again, all over again. Like that just is a point of contention with me. So see, these are the things

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Nestor Aparicio 9:14
that even if you love the girls and they’re in your basement and in your bloodline, you got tattoos and you got Zubaz underwear. This is the kind of stuff that’s it’s a little tone deaf, you know. Not a little, it’s a lot tone deaf. And and I feel that from the Ravens and the Olders here in a way that they are so tone deaf that they don’t realize that they don’t smell their own arrogance in a way. It’s

Mike Ricigliano 9:38
a good way to put it. Like this is a stadium that went from 80,000 holding 80,000 to 75,000 to holding 60,000. So that’s the new stadium, new stadium way, I guess, just to make smaller, much more demand. You know, tickets that are on in demand and higher priced tickets. And again, all that does is move the small.

Nestor Aparicio 10:00
Western New York is not that way. Western New York is Parkville, all Parkville, right? Yes. Western New York, every place you go in Western New York is Parkville. Yes, it’s Catonsville.

Mike Ricigliano 10:12
So I’m I’m agreeing with you about their GM that he doesn’t have a clue. That I do think the arc of this game, the Bills, is is south. You know, because of what the way they went about things last last year, and they just basically follow. They

Nestor Aparicio 10:29
feel like less of a contender than me without the license.

Mike Ricigliano 10:32
That’s what that’s the way I feel, honestly. And I was, you know, I I still have Superman at quarter, another a Superman at quarterback, and so that gives him always a great chance to win. I’m

Nestor Aparicio 10:42
the hardball detractor, right? So getting rid of him, addition by subtraction, whatever it is. But this guy’s won nothing yet, Minter, and they have young coaches. They have Lamar on the spot. They have a lot of veteran agent guys, a lot of Ronnie Stanley, Rokun Smith, Mark Andrews, Marlin Humphrey, just down the list, that it’s that much more important that the offensive line be good, Barrett Henry be good, and Stout, another aging guy, and that Lamarck takes to this offense, and that whatever Zay Flowers and Bateman and this Jacoby Lang, whatever it’s going to be offensively, I want to see that put to the test September 13, and the schedule being favorable, very favorable schedule for them, and

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Mike Ricigliano 11:27
that favors a team that’s young, you know, that has a lot that is dependent on a lot of young guys, a lot of new, early, early, until they kind of you know get get get into it a little bit more. So yeah, I I I’m excited to see what’s going to go on. I’m also kind of taking a step back a little bit on saying, you know, new coaches, all new coaches, really, a lot of new coaches, and a lot of young players that, depending on, you know, I’m not going to be. I’ll be surprised if they’re a Super Bowl.

Nestor Aparicio 11:58
Really, I will

Mike Ricigliano 11:59
be. I mean, I know a lot of people. I think in the division,

Nestor Aparicio 12:01
I think Pittsburgh can’t be taken seriously. Cleveland, I absolutely not. Cincinnati. Every time I bring it up, nobody likes to coach the quarterbacks. Brittle this, that defense was just horrific. I still think Cincinnati can be formal.

Mike Ricigliano 12:14
I do too. I mean, the best pair of receivers, maybe the Rams, but I’d say the Bengals, best pair of receivers in the league, best receiving four in the league, I guess. And Burrow, if he is upright, drives everyone crazy, and he drives us crazy. So, you know, like I think that that’s the team we have to be in the division to make it make it happen. So, yeah, I I’m excited. I like the coach. I I’ve liked him so far. I thought that was a coaching change that did need to be made. Unlike Buffalo, that’s that was my take on it. So we’ll see.

Nestor Aparicio 12:54
Michael Sigliano’s here. Did you go see Kate Creole in the coconuts with me back in the day at Hammond? I did not, but I love that group. I know you do. Yeah, I’m starting. I’m starting to get your musical taste. You’ve gone to Bare Naked Ladies with me, my wife’s favorite band, Bare Naked Ladies. I’ve taken you to that. I think I’ve seen maybe the Gooby Dolls or Jim Blossom or something like that with you, maybe at the harbor with Terry come down, maybe outside Pier Six or something. Right. Like, but I, I don’t. You’re a music wing. Do you have a favorite concert that you’ve ever seen? We’re doing music lovers.

Mike Ricigliano 13:27
I love They Might Be Giants. Yes, I’m a big They Might Be Giants fan. But I also love bluegrass.

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Nestor Aparicio 13:34
I know that. I

Mike Ricigliano 13:35
love bluegrass. So you know, my wife and I went to Delfest as we usually do, and and we love Bella Fleck and the Flecktones and Bella Fleck, the bluegrass part of him too. So yeah, best

Nestor Aparicio 13:48
concert. Yeah, you got.

Mike Ricigliano 13:50
I my first concert ever was a Jeff Rotel concert in Buffalo. Yeah, and I I love Jeff Rotel. So the group I would. You do know that’s a flute, right? What’s that? That’s a flute. It’s a flute. Oh, it’s a flute, of course.

Nestor Aparicio 14:05
It’s not rock and roll. It’s a flute.

Mike Ricigliano 14:08
No, of course it’s rock and roll. The guy is tremendous. He plays flute on one foot. You know, come on. Jethro Tull should be in the rock and roll whole. How could they not? They had two of the most iconic albums of all time. You know, a long and thick as a

Nestor Aparicio 14:23
brick, amazing out. I don’t pick on Jethro Tull, but they have been. If Dundalk is the boot of people’s jokes in Baltimore, Jethro Tull is gets the backhand of my music person. Sitting on a pub fish.

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Mike Ricigliano 14:42
Now they’re. great concerts early on. At the Aub, no. Yeah, that the first one was at the Og. Okay, that one I saw was at the Og, and they just had gun hack on, and so

Nestor Aparicio 14:54
you know, I broadcast the soccer game from the odd, and I feel proud of that. You know, I never saw a concert there. But I did see the Sabers there again. Okay, I’ve seen. We went to a Sabers Flyers game. Okay, that’s New Year’s Eve. That’s right, 1987. And

Mike Ricigliano 15:06
you’ve never seen a concert there. I’ve seen Led Zeppelin there. I’ve seen a few. You saw

Nestor Aparicio 15:11
Zeppelin? Yeah, I did the.

Mike Ricigliano 15:13
I did not like that concert, by the way. I did not. That was one of my least favorite concerts. The

Nestor Aparicio 15:19
show is a real friendship. Sorry, I loved you. That’d be like me saying that when you brought Morgana to your house and she kissed me, I didn’t like the kiss. No, no. I’m not saying that.

Mike Ricigliano 15:31
I’m not saying I didn’t love Led Zeppelin. I just didn’t like that concert. It’s just like I love Frank Zappa. That’s another favorite. Frank Zappa. Okay, but I went to go see Frank Zappa on Halloween on Long Island, and it was just the most disappointing concert. Just because I was expecting total insanity at that conference.

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Nestor Aparicio 15:52
You know what? You you give me a category of concerts that disappointed me.

Mike Ricigliano 15:56
Okay,

Nestor Aparicio 15:56
I’m trying to do like this. Lane is going to be so I’m doing 28 of my favorite memory between now and the end of the day, 14 weeks to a week, and these are going to be like big time interactions with famous musicians that I want to tell a story. But then I’m going to do my 35th anniversary, where I’m really going to go through all the 35 favorite concert, 35 favorite in town, out of town experiences, selfies, reviews, stories I wrote, interviews I had, all of that. You know, all

Mike Ricigliano 16:28
the

Nestor Aparicio 16:30
new kids in the block store. Yeah, right. It’s the best. Legendary. If if somebody were to ask you, like, pretend you’re not on my show, pretend you’re on Jeff Grimmer’s show. Yeah. By the way, Jeff was on the show this week. Yeah, you were on his show, right?

Mike Ricigliano 16:42
I was on his show. Not only that, you know, we’ve talked about the USA dummy here. I was on Jeff’s dummy on Rimmer’s show. We we auctioned him off on his show with Chris Thomas. Chris Thomas, Jeff Rimmer, and myself on that. Yeah, great. Well,

Nestor Aparicio 17:00
I’ll I’ll connect. Jeff’s got a book out. He did the show this week. So if they were to ask you about me, I mean, you’re one of my oldest friends in the world, like top 10 friend for sure of knowing a lot about me and seeing me in all different. Your kid’s name made asking. So you have all this. What would you say about my music thing? Because quite frankly, we’re sports buddies. You’re my art buddy. We dine together. We have laughs. But we like you’re not my music buddy at all. Right. You do know. Like I didn’t know you saw Zeppelin, dude. How is it possible? I’ve known you 42 years, and you ripped Led Zeppelin. I haven’t seen them in Buffalo. I mean, that’s tragic for some. I can’t. It

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Mike Ricigliano 17:41
wasn’t that they were bad; it was that they were disappointed. I was expecting this mega enormous show, and it was a lot of, you know, a lot of kind of I don’t know. I think they were all high, high, yeah. It

Nestor Aparicio 17:54
was possible. What else you gonna do? Yeah, so you know what I’m using. People don’t know of me like that unless they do, and then every time, like Shining was here today, incredible musician. Max Weiss was here, incredible musicians. I did not. The music, the legs. I mean, Ron Cassidy’s a huge REM fan, music fan. You’re a music fan. You already mentioned your passion for these shows. It is amazing. I had Raskin on this week. I saw him at the Rush Fantasy. Oh yeah, like we, like this music is the thing where nobody wins, nobody loses. Yeah, you know it just unless you whip Led Zeppelin after they were good that night, most people just be happy to have been there and have the different stuff. But music’s been like this ongoing joyful part of my. I’ve never had a down room music. I’ve never had a bad year with music. I’ve never lost a bet with music. Music always has gotten me joy, sex, friendship, beach. When I feel good, when I feel bad, when I’m high, when I’m low, like music’s that thing for me. You know what I mean? I makes me think. You

Mike Ricigliano 18:57
ask me about what I think about you from music. You’re one of the most enthusiastic music lovers I know. You go, you travel to the ends of the earth to see shows. You know, like I, I’ve never done that. I’ve never gone on.

Nestor Aparicio 19:13
That’s a whole category. I know. I’ve flown

Mike Ricigliano 19:15
exactly, exactly. So you know, I, I appreciate that.

Nestor Aparicio 19:19
Well, I want to tell the story because I haven’t had a forum to do that.

Mike Ricigliano 19:23
You know, I’m telling Dolly Parton.

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Nestor Aparicio 19:25
Yes. Oh wow! So when Dolly died, which was yesterday, by the way, the city’s here where Koco’s. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. Our partners at 400 and Dormada would come for guys 41036777, as well as GBMC keeping me healthy enough that I can go do all of these kinds of stuff. Dobby died, and I was taken aback because my wife was flying back to New Hampshire. She was at the airport. I texted her, and we were in Louisville, Kentucky, 21 years ago from Kentucky, Georgia, 2005. Since there was a really funky place there called Lynn’s Paradise Cafe.

Mike Ricigliano 19:59
Okay.

Nestor Aparicio 20:00
A little bit like Koco’s, but wild. Like more like that paper moon diner.

Mike Ricigliano 20:05
Okay, like a

Nestor Aparicio 20:05
real funky art place. It’s a total art place. You would have loved it. Lynn’s Paradise Cafe. It’s fun. It’s gone. Okay. It’s amazing, amazing place. But she was in an arts community, not unlike Waterville, where next door there was a knickknack shop with funny, you know, coasters and funny weed things and funny old throwback things and just funny things. But it was artsy in there, and they had this beautiful art, and there was Prince and like Sinatra and like famous people. But it was an art. It was an art piece. Yes. And I’ll show you the art because when I looked at it, I shared this on Facebook, and I mean, I got an artist on. Why, why in the world would I share art with an artist? But this is the piece here that that has hung on my bathroom wall for 21 years, and I’ll show you this. Yeah, let me make sure that we can see this. And it’s funny. This piece is on. It’s it’s in my it’s in our bathroom vanity, our double vanity, and it was it hung over our bar where you drank down. Right. She was on the wall and down at the condo all the years because she was blue. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Prince was probably purple. Sinatra’s probably Cyndi Lauper. I remember it was a pop culture like at State Fair when you go to State Fair. There’s pop culture pictures. Yeah. So I I bought this picture and I didn’t know it was Dolly. I kind of thought it was Morgan Fairchild, and I kind of thought it was Debbie Harry. Like it looks a little like Debbie Harry, a little like more like Morgan Fairchild, right? But it is Dolly. Completely Dolly Dolly. Right. So Dolly has been hanging over every time I shave, Dolly’s looking at me. Every time I’m naked, every time I’m doing my hair, which is ample hair, Dolly’s looking at me. Right, brush my teeth, Dolly’s looking at me. And Dolly died, and I never thought of Dolly dying. Right, me either. So Dolly died, and within minutes, the first thing I thought was, I, I know I saw her played the Capitol Center, Kenny Rogers. I know I did. I mean, I was I was a reviewer. I was in like the 10th row. They played in the round. They played underneath of the scoreboard at the Capitol Center in the round because they walked down the aisle like a boxing match. You know what I mean? They they walked into the arena, Kenny Rogers, and I totally remember. And and I looked this up. This happened in November 1988. All right, Dolly toured with Kenny, but Dolly one night showed up. Kenny played, and Dolly did the encore, and that was the night I was there. And I remember Dolly walking out, and they did Island in the Stream. They did like three songs in the encore. Right, and so I saw Dolly perform three songs with Penny Rogers at the cabin center.

Mike Ricigliano 22:45
That’s awesome, you know. Like she’s more than iconic. I mean, she is maybe one person that doesn’t love Dolly Parton. I mean, even if you don’t love country, I don’t love her. I love Dolly. We didn’t appreciate her enough, and I think, and I think as guys that don’t particularly like this president of the White House have to appreciate Dolly even more because much of the trust that she had is apo to what he feels about. So she’s not political. I get

Nestor Aparicio 23:17
fineness.

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Mike Ricigliano 23:19
You know, COVID. Her generosity is. there. Yeah, I love it.

Nestor Aparicio 23:26
Come on, see the talks in music. Yeah, that’s the thing about music. You can go into a lane about they might be Giants or King Prague, the King Pub King, whatever it is.

Mike Ricigliano 23:36
My favorite band of all time is the band. That’s that’s the band I love the most. So I’ve never seen him perform. I have seen Lee Van Helm perform by himself with with his own band, but I that would be my wish if I could see a band concert, which I can’t anymore because one of them is love. I think we’re not.

Nestor Aparicio 23:57
Did you saw Zephyr at the Arts Buffalo? Come on, man! Come on, man! I trade that any day to go see the band. I did a whole segment last year on going to Live Aid in Philly. You know, seeing these famous concerts, and so I’m going to tell some stories. I’m going to do some musical storytelling. If you hear it here today at 157, it’s because it’s our 28th anniversary, and it’s our 20th anniversary because folks like our friends here at Coco’s support us, feed me, fatten me up with some cream and crab soup today, as well as those coconut shrimp that I love. And this is my little thing. Marcella’s not here, and the people that run the place-they’re just too busy to come on right now. They’re a little camera shy. That’s fine. Koco’s is the best. Koco’s the best. And let me tell you this right now. Tell Eric in the kitchen because I know he can hear me. I’m getting some ribs to go. I’m getting a double coleslaw. I’m gonna stop. I’m gonna get me some Hawaiian rolls. I’m gonna take those ribs home, and they’re sticky, icky, icky, icky. And I’m gonna I’m gonna break them down, and I’m gonna toast up the little buns, and I’m gonna put some Koco’s pulled pork with some cold slaw.

Mike Ricigliano 24:57
This is your jam.

Nestor Aparicio 24:58
And I’m gonna do this with a Hawaiian. And I’m gonna feel like I’m gonna get a beer, proper beer, ice cream beer, and that’s what I’m gonna do, right?

Mike Ricigliano 25:08
Of course, that’s the way to do it.

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Nestor Aparicio 25:10
And that’s not to say you shouldn’t come here and get four crab cakes like I did when my wife flew to New Hampshire, and said, you know, you you can, she’s packing them right here. But I can touch the crab cakes from where I are, like literally the hundreds of crab cakes I have in my presence right now at Koco’s. We encourage everybody to order curbside. I’ve been seeing people here taking bags out. You can come sit at the bar. We’ve been

Mike Ricigliano 25:31
thinking about coming. There’s five couples in our neighborhood, including the Therapy’s Nick. I love Nick and Robin. Yeah, so all of us are celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary.

Nestor Aparicio 25:43
You should do that right at that table right there. I was

Mike Ricigliano 25:45
thinking about it. I was really, I was, I’ve been thinking about that. Yeah, I want to, I want to pitch it to the group, but I think it’s our neighborhood place. You should

Nestor Aparicio 25:52
do it on Tuesday. It’s burger night. Do it. Versik is here. He is my co-host with a K. You can find him on the internet anywhere. Comedy and alliteration. You do a lot of alliteration, don’t you? A

Mike Ricigliano 26:03
couple of alliteration in my in my tune trivia stuff. You know, for

Nestor Aparicio 26:07
being an artist, you work. You work in words. I work with

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Mike Ricigliano 26:09
a lot of. I do like trivia, and I do a lot of it on Facebook. If anyone wants to play my trivia on Facebook, just friend me on Facebook, and we have a lot of fun.

Nestor Aparicio 26:19
And make your open offer for Thomas Rhodes, whose Zeke’s coffee is served deliciously right here at Koco’s, because we’re all in the neighborhood in Lauraville. Do your service for not just Zeke’s and all the great things they do there, but your Friday mornings are special. Friday

Mike Ricigliano 26:32
mornings at Zeke’s. Not that we want a million people to show up, but if you love her Zig, it’s a fun. It’s a fun gathering from eight to 10 on Fridays, and we we enjoy it so much. We have all kinds of crazy pools that go on, a lot of fun sports, and a little bit of political discussion. Never know who’s going to show up for it because all my crazy trophies are up on the wall. Because I’m the I’m the trophy maker for me, so I’m very happy that I found this group and I enjoy them very much.

Nestor Aparicio 27:02
And you like coffee?

Mike Ricigliano 27:04
I do not. No, I’m a tea drinker. I’m not a coffee drinker. Really? So I get my big thing of tea at these, and I have a thing where it’s a nervous twitch where I I take the coffee stirrers and I splinter them up, and they they’re the group is fascinated by.

Nestor Aparicio 27:23
Hey, aren’t you doing puppets for Dan Rogers?

Mike Ricigliano 27:26
I’m not doing puppets for him, but I’m doing some slime, cartoon slimes for Dan. Okay. Yeah, I’m I’m psyched to do it for Dan Show. It’s a great, it’s a great show. It’s a great show. Everyone should go to that show. It’s starting up again in December. I guess I

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Nestor Aparicio 27:43
feel like I don’t even need to pimp it because it has its own.

Mike Ricigliano 27:46
It does like

Nestor Aparicio 27:46
it’s so good. It’s among the best things. It’s remarkable. Even

Mike Ricigliano 27:52
even people that have seen it should consider seeing it again because it’s going to add some things and just a couple of pieces of art that are you were in the first one. I was in first one in a photo, and I was the one that told you. Yes, you left it out. There’ll be a few parts here. Yeah, not for that.

Nestor Aparicio 28:11
Man, we love Baltimore. We’re Baltimore positive. I’m going to be celebrating some musical stuff here this week. Luke is going to have an eye on all things Sacramento and over the weekend, as well as Colorado, as well as cuts, you’ll get those first from the WNS in Texas.

Mike Ricigliano 28:23
Baltimore’s best, right here. Just reinvented. Yes, reinvented,

Nestor Aparicio 28:28
baby. All right. Come a long way since sports, since nastiness. Rimmer didn’t show me. You know, Rimmer’s parental, and they get out of me and after all these years. Yes. Rimmer told me it’s time for me to give up the nastiness. Okay. All right. Well, saves man. we’re back for more. My thanks to Marcella, Eric, everybody here for loving me up and feeding me up. We’re Koco’s. all brought to you by friends at the Marble Lottery. Also, GBMC and Fernand Dermer. I hope you guys enjoy all the music conversation. You’ll be hearing your damn 1570 over the next week or two as we get ready for football season right away. Ryan Nestor with WNSD and 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking. Baltimore positive. 28 years later.