Our favorite Editor-In-Chief and social critic Max Weiss of Baltimore Magazine joins Nestor and Ricig at Kocoโs Pub for a pre-October chat about the history and relevance of Orioles baseball in Baltimore. And her essay wondering just how many folks are coming back to Orioles Magic as postseason bunting looms at Camden Yards and the excitement grows.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
baltimore, people, colts, bandwagon fan, team, win, years, baseball, fan, orioles, coco, love, game, max, feel, happened, cello, tickets, essay, ravens
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Mike Ricigliano
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back, WN S T tassel. Baltimore. Baltimore positive I think Iโve got the the Baltimore positive bowtie on here with the 25th anniversary celebratory cupcake. Weโre still pretty crabcakes weโre Cocoโs pub. Itโs all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have Maryland lottery Raven scratch off to give away. This is sort of a lucky space. Your Lara Villa Coco is probably at $100 winner here. About two months ago, we did the show here. And this has been a great thing in my life doing this crab cake tour to bring friends out and laugh a little bit. I always hoped always thought weโd be good at baseball again, at some point, our friends or window nation are here and putting it on as well as our friends at Jiffy Lube. I got three great sponsors, much appreciation for making these kinds of things happen. I hit max to come out about a month and a half ago and you were like up against the anniversary was my anniversary. And it was your big party. Right festival festival. All
00:55
right. Yeah, we were a bit so
Nestor Aparicio 00:57
we were like crazy. And you didnโt make it to Dundalk. And I figured youโll come out at some point. I hit you this week. Youโre here.
01:02
I wasnโt like a no show. I told you I wasnโt coming. I wasnโt just like, I just didnโt you made it sound like
Mike Ricigliano 01:09
I was gonna meet Max then.
Nestor Aparicio 01:10
Max. If you didnโt love me. Yeah, no, you donโt. Youโre never gonna admit that you love me. But you do if you didnโt you wouldnโt. Youโre not just here for the free crabcake maybe you are I mean, maybe you are here for the free crap. Can I? Well, if I really love ya make you bring the cello by the way. Are you have you seen Dan Rodricks? One man show yet? No. All right. December the eighth youโre gonna be my guest that night because Iโm putting him on putting people who need to see it. Yeah, people who need to be there. And a lot of friends of mine. Weโre gonna do that.
01:41
Dan and I are friends. That is the best way back and the best thing Iโve ever seen the ball. He is the man. So sounds fun.
Nestor Aparicio 01:47
Alright, so the editorship of Best of Baltimore collides with my life a friend one of my oldest friends in the world, Michael scileanna. Who lives in a neighborhood here my co host with a K at cocoas. Thatโs gonna be coming here. Yes. Give me your journey with Max because like when I told him cuz you were late addition, receipt was first up because itโs neighborhood. I hit him last week. Heโs like, Iโm common. altra she hit me yesterday and said, no kids, no hobbies, no travel. Iโll be there. She came late for sickness first in and then you said Iโll come I text her sick. Iโm like, Hey, Max Weiss is coming. Heโs like, Oh, I love her. Yeah, so Iโm with you.
Mike Ricigliano 02:25
I just love Max all her movie stuff. You know from yell with Talon Prowl and with with Dan Allen Pro
Nestor Aparicio 02:35
and Iโm going to tell the Allen pro story. Should I tell it great,
02:37
Alan. Whatโs his birthday? either yesterday or today, Uncle Ali?
Nestor Aparicio 02:45
I think he was kidding with me right? Where that party? Come on. We
02:48
What did he say? You told me this. But I forget. What did he say?
Nestor Aparicio 02:51
Iโm gonna tell it again. I donโt know. I lost the last time she doesnโt blush much. No, no.
02:58
Iโm saying right. Now as a disclaimer, Uncle Ali is a sweetheart. So whatever you said he was either joking You deserved it.
Nestor Aparicio 03:04
I am maybe both. I think it was both. Okay. All right. So this is where when Max comes on the show. I won Best of Baltimore for years. I see all the best of Baltimore here. Cocoโs all of mine. I was in that one there. I see it for 9798. So I have all of my things. And it all stopped when I did free the birds. Because Jackie could not like nobody could touch me. Nobody could come near me. Right. So itโs been 17 years.
03:31
accurate, but Okay, good.
Nestor Aparicio 03:32
Now we want three years ago, didnโt we? We want best podcast or something saying
03:37
winning Best opposite had nothing to do.
Nestor Aparicio 03:40
I went, I became a little combustible during that period of time. So all Iโm saying is I havenโt Iโve tried to not win. So I hit her and I say, if I ever win, I canโt complain to you that I havenโt won. I just complained that I havenโt won. I think we won a couple of years ago. Right
03:59
you and Don won Best pod.
Nestor Aparicio 04:00
Thatโs not the same as just me, you know? Well, yeah. Don Don lobbied better. Yeah. Don lobby for things. But But what I would say to you is all these years ago, I ran into uncle alley, and I have one interaction with him. Okay. And I had one Pesta Baltimore in the magazine. You were at City Paper at the time, someone had nothing to do with you had to do with Teitelbaum, or anybody else. So I won. And I was at the party. And I was feeling good about myself said Bo haters. And thereโs Alan Pro. And I think he won for something else, because there are a million things right. And I was excited to meet him. I really was like, I knew who he was. And Iโm a radio guy trying to be him. He had been on radio 40 years at that time. Iโm only 32 now. And this was 25 years ago. This happened like the 98. So I went up to him. I said, Hey, are you Alan Prosser? Yeah. Hey, Iโm Nestor Aparicio. Heโs like, Iโve heard a lot about you. I hear youโre a real. Fill in the blank. Again with an A and ended with a hole. Okay, and I went, I was, like, backed up and Iโm like, Well, maybe they were right. You know, I donโt know, you know, but we didnโt have a drink. We didnโt talk we didnโt like and I wish we had, because like, I had a sense of humor about it. I still do.
05:16
Yeah, that sounds like his sense of humor. Actually. Thatโs part of his he was very blunt. He would say inappropriate things. was like his 500% Sounds like he was teasing you for
Mike Ricigliano 05:29
people that missed him. You know, like he was. Yeah, he was so irreverent. And he was so that Christmas thing he would do that every year. Oh, that just busted. Well, I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 05:38
part of being on the radio was being entertaining. He was a highly entertaining, intelligent, worldly man, right? He didnโt, you know, part of that, like I thought anyway, thatโs what I heard on BHEL.
05:50
To me, Uncle Ali always seemed like a Borscht Belt comedian. If you know what I mean. You know, like an old school
Nestor Aparicio 05:57
Catskills. Catskills style,
06:00
sense of humor. I just started which is not in style anymore. But you know, for a while that was just the funniest. You know,
Nestor Aparicio 06:11
I was just during the era of Andrew Dice Clay so he could say whatever he wanted to me. Iโm on defendable. Right,
06:15
right, right. Yeah, no, I think this. Let me say this. I think this interaction meant more to you than it did to him means right to me. He never said to me, Oh, let me tell you. Like,
Nestor Aparicio 06:31
how was your best of Baltimore party? It was excellent. My wife loved it. My wife went had a great night go this. I was in Ocean City, Mako. And also had I been here. You got to talk to Title Nine of the Barry Manilow concert. Okay. Ah, I mean, I love your party at all. But I mean, thatโs Baltimore lots of things. He wrote those songs and made the whole world sing.
06:52
How is he by the way, Barrett? Heโs like an old man was he was he
Nestor Aparicio 06:55
go I was okay. go drinking with politicians
06:59
because you never refer to a young person as spry. Itโs always an older person. You never say that. 30 year old I
Nestor Aparicio 07:06
got home in time to see Lionel Richie in Earth, Wind and Fire. Earth when the fire is unbelievably great. Lionel was very entertaining. Yeah, I prefer Lionel the musician, not Lionel, the entertainer, okay, I want Lionel to me. And this is a little blasphemous, because I mean, I freaking love Lionel Richie. He kind of makes fun of the songs. Our wants our twice our free time, you know, and Iโm like, thatโs someoneโs wedding song. Like be the like, the like he almost like is tired of Endless Love. Endless Love he does is this sort of goof. And Iโm thinking I used to skate backwards and make out that with girls too. That it Skateland that meant something to me. You know, did you know not not to lie on a rich party? Keep you on Microsoft. Okay. But your concerts are my thing. Yeah. Whatโs your thing at this point? Because like, you do so many things. Right movies. Film is my thing I wrote this Oriole thing this week about bandwagon is my
08:11
thing. Yes. And cello playing is my thing. You know, I got those things. Where did you get the bandwagon thing?
Nestor Aparicio 08:17
Yeah, you donโt like to youโre not a bear poker. I mean, really, youโre not maybe a little bit of a critic, you
08:23
read the essay. The conclusion that I come to is the more the merrier. However, if you stuck with the team through thick and thin through the losing the many many losing seasons. This season is all the sweeter right so thatโs how I ultimately landed like yes, come one come all we welcome you all, but
Nestor Aparicio 08:46
thereโs plenty of room I went to the ballpark last year.
08:50
But but it is there is something special about being an oral fan who was with them through as a friend of mine said thin and thinner. Really was not much thick. But so hereโs whatโs interesting about this essays, I wrote this essay, I kind of thought most people were going to agree with me on it, or at least on the premise of it. And people my age, so like Gen X ers and then boomers, they were all like, totally, totally agree. Like we just have to tolerate the bandwagon fans, the fairweather fans, millennials younger all hated the asset. They were all like donโt gate keep they were thatโs what they were saying. There were like some thatโs part of being 25 Thatโs what I was thinking like somebody was like this is just the fact that you would have a strong opinion youโre not allowed to have that. And youโre not allowed to have the wisdom that you have. Well, I mean gatekeeping was such an interesting like I didnโt see it. I didnโt see it as some sort of elitist thing that I was doing. I just saw it as like itโs eight this the way it goes you know you follow the team. Youโre loyal. Youโre like in it with them. And then all of a sudden out of the woodwork comes these new fans and yes, what We welcome them. But thereโs a little did Steena we know what itโs like. Itโs exactly like when a band that you used to love becomes huge. And you want to boast that you knew them when they were
Nestor Aparicio 10:11
smashing pumpkins matches on Broadway, that sort of thing.
10:15
Right? But this is our generation, you and I, youโre a little younger than me, but weโre roughly the same generation. This notion of kind of integrity or authenticity related to the stuff that we consume this notion of selling out, young people donโt talk about selling out anymore. Our generation talked about selling out, you know, like a band that we loved, got really, really huge. We would say, Oh, they sold if they did, like a read or they did like arenas, or they did Budweiser ads, whatever, young people just donโt think in those terms. You know,
Nestor Aparicio 10:54
if I want to go into work for BHEL, they would have said I sold out, they really wouldnโt.
10:59
But if you ask somebody you know, 35 or younger, what their thoughts about selling out are they would just basically say, Get yours, you know, get your bag get your back, you know, so anyway, it was it was interesting to see the reaction. You can read my essay at dub Baltimore magazine.com And you know, where I reflect on what itโs been like to be an Oreo fan these last several, you know,
Nestor Aparicio 11:23
when you say Who fan like you right from this different place of being a fan. What people like, my last name is Aparicio. I went to the games when I was four. I went my whole life I built an entire life and radio station around my love. Not of the Ravens of the Orioles. You know my love of the Orioles is why I did all of this. My personal thing aside and Peter and free the birds and then not paying a $30,000 bill which made me salty. 1718 years ago, I have things in my closet that are older than any of these people. Yeah, that that are that are. So when I go out here and I see the beer drinking crowd, and I want and I did all that last Thursday and Friday, last Friday because the game wasnโt on TV. I was at the convention center. They have a thing called the nest. They didnโt name it after me. But Iโm claiming that radio stick thing. And I was down there at 645 and I didnโt have tickets for the Adam Jones night. And I had a beer too. And I said to my wife, Iโm gonna come home bring you some food stop somewhere to meet sheโs, sheโs like, You do know if you come home to games not on Apple TV. Right? So I got a ticket and I went around that night. Thursday night I went with her 25,000 people. Friday night I went with her 50,000 people right. And Thursday night. I knew everyone and everyone knew me. I walked around the club. I couldnโt make a move without seeing old friends new friends. Friday night when I was there. I walked the whole stadium I didnโt see 20 people I knew all night. It was a whole different crowd complete. They donโt know No nasty, nasty. Theyโre not from a really from around here. I think a lot. I think a lot of these people drive from long distances for one game long distances meaning like Hagerstown, or Frederick or places where theyโre not really from Laura Ville or from Baltimore. And they love the team too. But I spent Thursday night I want to tell this because Iโve told the story in the air. I was looking for tickets. Thursday night, I went out a friend of mine from Dundalk, who Iโve known my whole life. We grew up together, she had tickets, and that she had season tickets, she has some health issues and some other off the field issues. She had these tickets, and I went and sat with her for a while sheโs had season tickets since 1984. Thatโs the person that youโre, youโre youโre talking about right now. It is like sheโs gone 13 games a year since 1984. And I donโt want to outer Iโm not gonna say her but sheโs having some financial, you know, she was telling me about some of her hardship, right? We were having free soda and popcorn in the little lounge down on the right field side on the club level. And sheโs a beautiful, beautiful person. And she she said to me, I canโt afford the playoff tickets. And Iโm like, oh, like my heart sank. You know, she said, Man, I could barely afford the 13 game package. She says the only thing I do the only thing in my life that I do. The only thing in my life that I do. Thatโs an extravagance at 60 years of age, right is owning the $700 and Orioles tickets a year right for these 13 game packages for two tickets. Right? It takes it makes me choke up a little bit because this is at the heart of why I want them to win. And when people come to me I was at a networking event this morning. I have the Raven Scrooge in the orals you must be hating on me like all I see are these happy freakin people that Iโve loved my whole life. Iโm in it for you at this point like I want them to win. I want to see what you look like what cello song you play Oriole magic on your cello, you know, but this is really about seeing people you know in love who love it. Steve Jeppe I want Steve Jeppe to take a champagne shower at pitcherโs mound, right what I want for Steve Jaffe Of course, I want to see him that happy
15:11
right and that was I love him that Iโm thatโs exactly what I mean. I mean, everybody in Baltimore will be happy if the Orioles letโs just say make the World Series.
Nestor Aparicio 15:22
No donโt come on donโt sell it short. Okay
15:25
when the worldโs Nestor made me do it? Well thereโs a one seat No, no, theyโre great. No,
Nestor Aparicio 15:33
I want to be really disappointed if they donโt win the World Series. Yeah,
Mike Ricigliano 15:36
I will not but I mean, really well I wonโt be I mean I
Nestor Aparicio 15:41
we think theyโre gonna win next year. I mean stop you all that of course no, they are belong they are built yet that theyโre built to have an owner that will pay these people and thatโs a problem. Okay, but thatโs a problem. But thatโs not today. I donโt wanna talk about that today. Lalala Happy, happy, happy molars here. Letโs sell some Baltimore magazine. Iโll just do happy talk. Because but but like there is a point where as Cal Ripken about next year
Mike Ricigliano 16:07
do I think they can win the World Series? I do but I do. I do think that their most formidable competition thereโs going to be the National League teams in the in the World Series. I agree with that. Yeah. So whoever it is Atlanta Dodgers
Nestor Aparicio 16:20
I donโt want to place the second place thing he
Mike Ricigliano 16:24
was suggesting
16:25
thing about the Orioles this year is theyโve just been so consistently good. You know, itโs true. Great teams go through slumps protracted losing streaks I mean to us of weโve had to four game losing
Nestor Aparicio 16:41
this Team Four out of seven games, youโve done some three out of five games
16:46
a resiliency. And that is what I feel like as a fan especially for all of us who are sort of weโre kind of neurotic at this point you because thereโs been so much losing waiting for the other shoe to drop. Right every single time you know that sort of bad max voice in my head was like this. Is it gonna be exposed? They
Nestor Aparicio 17:09
they just I donโt have that voice.
17:11
Iโm so positive I really are you are. But But I but Iโm finally done with that voice. Like I finally realized this team is legit like I
Nestor Aparicio 17:19
was it the moments over on Tuesday that did it for which miracle,
17:23
their worst enemy. And this has been the most entered. I mean, I have watched a lot of baseball in my life. This has to be the most entertaining team I have ever watched in my life. I would say it was after the all star break that I started to really really believe because I was like, sure you can do it before the all star break. But after the all star break, thatโs when the big boys step up. And you know what? We stepped up?
Nestor Aparicio 17:46
We had Dave shine and here at Cocoโs. But two and a half months ago was hot. It was July I think we were here. It was it was all star week, it was all star. It was all star week it was and day sat here and I said Dave, you really think theyโre gonna win, you know? And heโs like, Well, you know, the math works against thatโs pretty good, David, that math works against them. Like, you know, thereโs 32 teams in the NFL, like the thought that weโre gonna have a parade in the next three years for the football or the baseball team in July felt like now, one seed by right I mean, things going right trending in the way where weโre gonna have game ones and game twos. We were going to have a lot of advantages here
Mike Ricigliano 18:28
honestly enough at that at that setting. I went home thinking because I said I said no, I think the Orioles have a good shot to win it in the next three years. And thatโs what I said but I wanted to say and I should have said and why not this year because they at the time they had the best record
Nestor Aparicio 18:45
we didnโt like their pitching we still donโt like the matter Yeah.
18:50
Yeah. The Batista thing is you know that he you think you win the World Series without him? I mean, that would be so you think thereโs no chance heโs coming back
Nestor Aparicio 19:00
and being that effective? Yeah, no, no, I mean, I they bring him in in the seventh inning of the game next week before the playoffs. Every pitch he throws Iโm gonna think Is this the one Is this the one is it you know, I you know, I remember that Dave Trevecca you know, like all stuff that happened you know, Max Weiss is here she is the editor in chief is Editor
19:22
in Chief Editor in Chief I entered the editor as well.
Nestor Aparicio 19:25
No, no, no, I love the chief. I know being a chiefs cool and overseeing as the chief of all things, sports, cartooning and artists work Cocoโs itโs all brought to by the Maryland lottery conjunction with Winter edition at Jiffy Lube. The bandwagon piece that you have I and I donโt kill you about it but where is what am I am I a bandwagon fan? Because I donโt go I donโt give them money. I donโt go to the games. I watched them every night. No, no, I wasnโt watching them at 2020 in the middle of overhead, no put that but at what point what is it? It is a bandwagon fan somebody that literally hasnโt doesnโt own an Oreo hat or somebody that hasnโt pulled it out of their closet in six years or 10 years, or whatever. Because the people arenโt seeing at the stadium. They donโt look like people that discovered baseball in July and just learned the rules. They look like people that have been disinterested for the same reason. All the rest of us were disinterested, because the owners been a jerk. Awful things have happened like Mike Flanagan and the dog go down the list of all of these, and the team is stung. So theyโre, yeah, they need to win people over right? This isnโt that you roll the ball out and weโre the Orioles and you owe us. I saw that last Thursday night when I went down there for the biggest game theyโve ever played in that stadium. And there were 20,000 seats. It was six bucks to get in and nobody wanted to come. And theyโll say well, the cityโs bad. mega city one band on Friday night, said you know Cityโs not bad when Billy Joel comes that said heโs not gonna be bad on a playoff night can be full, right? So I donโt like those excuses about crapping on the city, I want to see them really take the bull by the horns here and do right by fans.
21:01
No, a lot of people said to me, like the team didnโt deserve our fandom. You know, like they didnโt invest in the team. Why should we write? Thatโs what a lot of people said. So to me, you stick with your team. You know, like, if youโre from Baltimore, and you love Baltimore, you love and you love baseball, youโre gonna love the orange. I didnโt become a Phillies fan of her Yankees. So youโre not a bandwagon fan, because you follow the team closely, all of these years and still were invested and still cared. And, you know, like, one thing I wrote in that piece was like, how you start thinking about the playoffs as something that happens to other teams. Like what you think about is like, How well can we do? Can we win half our games? Like the kind of metrics for measuring what makes a glimmer, we left the Red
Nestor Aparicio 21:49
Sox out of the playoffs? It was the greatest thing ever. That was great. They pride that was great, because they stunk for 14 years.
Mike Ricigliano 21:56
Thatโs exactly right. It was it was two things that happened
Nestor Aparicio 22:00
to the end. Dino.
22:01
Dino. Yes. Yeah, that is you nailed it on the head. When youโre a losing team. You find other ways to feel like you won. Right? bobblehead night. Right? Yeah, but seriously, knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs? It was as sweet and as satisfying as the
Nestor Aparicio 22:19
doorman. You know?
Mike Ricigliano 22:23
We could hope for that. But thatโs
22:24
what you know, to me if youโre gonna make the distinction between bandwagon fans, and, you know, true fans, if you will. Itโs moments like that, that sort of make the true fan that you were, like, stoked about these small victories along the way. But again, to the person who says to me, why the heck should I be rooting for this medium, you know, not mediocre, terrible team because they were terrible. For a long time. Itโs hard to argue, you know, like, baseball is part of the fabric of my life. You know, if Iโm home and the game is on, I got the game. What made you love
Nestor Aparicio 22:57
baseball? You didnโt grow up here to watch baseball for I did. I
23:01
was a Yankee fan. I know. Iโm like a recovering Yankee fan. Yeah, I know.
Mike Ricigliano 23:06
Iโm a New Yorker, too.
23:09
Iโm ashamed. Oh, God, I
Nestor Aparicio 23:10
was worse. He was a mess.
Mike Ricigliano 23:11
I mean, my dad, worse but equally, Brooklyn Dodgers fan. You know,
23:16
I combined my love of baseball in a weird way. My dad was not super into baseball. Like most girls who are really into sports. Itโs because of their dad right? Or big brother but but my dad really wasnโt neither was my mom. Neither was my sister, your classically trained musician. I am a classically trained musician that a writer and an artists all those things. I used to like reading fiction about baseball. You know, like when youโre PCT the bat? No, no, like there was a lot of sort of like young adult or young persons fiction. That was about baseball. Of course there was the bad news bears which was this amazing the Walter Matthau why
Nestor Aparicio 23:57
only fiction about baseball was strat thematic baseball that was my fiction. All right. Well, yeah, playing the dice game, you know,
Mike Ricigliano 24:03
with with a math character. What was that? What was his butter maker?
24:08
Right. So good. And the remake? Not nearly as good. You asked her Astrodome wasnโt as good to your original fender, Japan. I came by it. Honestly, I really I just came by it by itโs hard to say. Maybe.
Nestor Aparicio 24:20
But the Oriental thing came way later, right. You came here in the 80s.
24:23
When I moved to Baltimore in 1989. And it was for a few years the way that I did it was Iโm going to root for the Orioles unless theyโre playing the Yankees like that was my first few
Nestor Aparicio 24:38
Where were you in? 96? Well, Jeffrey Mayer reached over Oh, will you lie to me?
24:43
No. Why then I was fully an Oreo fan. You felt that in your heart in my heart. Today, itโs still in rages me. No, because what happened was it was probably about three years of living in Baltimore, and I realized I canโt root for the Yankees over there. the Orioles you know like Iโm from Baltimore. This is my team like this is the team I follow and from that moment on I was like every other good Oriole fan and I hated the Yankees
Nestor Aparicio 25:09
I changed my mind I want to invest the Baltimore now okay. A mess was here sheโs the editor in chief of all things Baltimore both the magazine off do you want to play the role anyway? We have a camera. Yeah, we went all right. And weโre sick is here.
Mike Ricigliano 25:21
Nothing to hold up my bottle here right
Nestor Aparicio 25:24
well received drawls things. So Iโm gonna take a break. Weโll come back I want to talk some more baseball, football. It is colts week here. By the time people listen to this, they wonโt. You know, I collect rockโnโroll belt buckles. Thatโs my thing. Right? So you know, I have a whole tribe 120 rockโnโroll belt buckles from the 70s but I also have a few non sports or non music related belt. I have a Mickey Mouse a Superman from Pacifica. This is not a Pacific belt. This is an official NFL license. My parents got this at Sears Roebuck. 97 Seven Christmas right there. Thatโs thatโs legit. That is thatโs thatโs the real real deal. Thatโs legit and you know this whole like colts thing. I did Indianapolis radio today they asked me about his dummy dummies both the dummies that are not your mamaโs real estate dummies. You missed all of that. Colts angsty right you got here like too late. Here too late.
26:17
I know all about it. Yeah, of course. Yeah. I didnโt feel it in my bones. But yes, that that had happened. And I knew that was a formative. A defining moment. This weekโs
Nestor Aparicio 26:28
been weird for this though. This has been a weird week for me in this way because of the Colts thing and doing nothing but Oreos. I mean, like, nobody wants to talk about the football team right now like that in a weird way. Right?
26:38
I love the Ravens too. But right now, itโs gotta be all about Yeah, I
Nestor Aparicio 26:41
mean, it really is right. I was at a networking event today. Nobody talked about Lamar or the injuries or the or or or or the Baltimore Colts or the Colts, or the horseshoe, or Bob or Sally, or Jim or say Randy or senator. Itโs only two
Mike Ricigliano 26:55
undefeated AFC teams and you know, Miami and the Ravens
Nestor Aparicio 27:00
39 years now on the Colts thing. And we finally have reached the point where when the Colts come to town. Itโs just Indianapolis coming in. Yeah, thatโs like and thatโs, thatโs a good place. I had to. I wrote Iโm a writer like you and Iโm going to ask you to next segment. Because I do want to break about like your writing process. What possesses you in the middle of night to say, Iโm going to write about those damn Oreo bandwagon fans. Like because I was in Indianapolis walking the streets during their Super Bowl. And I for the morning I was walking the city it was beautiful is all lit up. And in my heart changed in the middle of the night like for I started the right at five in the morning at a coffee shop in downtown Indianapolis. And it was in 2011 or 12 Whenever the Super Bowl was there. And we that was one kind of missed the kick. Itโs been Lea itโs a week after that happened. Okay, this is literally this is a week after that happened. We were supposed to be in that Super Bowl right got punched, it was unbelievable. We got over with the parade a year later. 10 years later, we talked about it without crying. But I wrote this long essay about how I needed to give up the hatred. And then my wife got cancer Three years later, a lot of things changed my life. But like I decided that I wasnโt going to be that guy when I see the horror show. You know, I just I had to let that go. Because it was it was it was it was punishing me at that point. Itโs not itโs like the Angeloโs thing or even like what the Ravens like sitting around angry all day about that stuff like that. But the Colts thing my wife would tell you when I got married 20 years ago, Iโd land at the airport, and I would be like Iโd see the horseshoe and see people wearing cold stuffing years. My father and I donโt feel that were to die. Right. I donโt feel that way anymore. So thatโs thatโs the Orioles have lifted that this week.
28:47
Do you think Browns fans still feel that way about us every minute
Nestor Aparicio 28:51
of every day
28:53
now and wear something purple and we had it so much worse than they did right? They stole your shoe right? They stole our her shoe the browns?
Mike Ricigliano 29:03
Were gonna steal it we were gonna call their logo.
29:07
And I assume that the is the browns in the Hall of Fame. Are they under browns?
Nestor Aparicio 29:14
They just had a hiatus. I mean, come on. Thereโs no comparison. She she talked about the Hall of Fame. I told the story twice this week. Yeah. About Steve Ashati grabbing me at the owners meetings in 2006. Yeah, and insisting that I take a walk with Jim or say and discuss the records of the Colts and why our fans had to go itโs still to this day. Iโm looking to things as Massillon, Ohio on it. Go to Canton, Ohio right next to Masterlock right. And you in order to see John Unitas you have to go to the Indianapolis when
Mike Ricigliano 29:47
we did it, probably I did it when I was there, I changed the I put the I put Baltimore over nd when no one was looking and Iโm sure Iโm not the only thing but I didnโt want to sign over it. Yeah, I drew it out. Put Baltimore on it and stuck it on there and I know 1000s of other fans
Nestor Aparicio 30:05
if anybody wants to laugh at me about my sports passion. There is a video on YouTube of me in the actual wing of the Hall of Fame. In the where the bus star in the hallowed room doing a speech on behalf of art modell with his face over my face. Oh my dad inducting him into the Hall of Fame. I inducted art into the Hall of Fame. Well, itโs right there.
30:29
That bothered me to know sir. i That. That was unfair. That was really this
Nestor Aparicio 30:33
is all this bother and all this day? Yeah. Yeah, the Orioles are gonna win the World Series and thereโs gonna be like the Pearl Jam song. Itโs gonna be like the release,
30:42
so youโre not afraid to jinxing it at all you just youโre just not even slightly afraid of jinxing it.
Nestor Aparicio 30:47
What do I have to do with Fuji strike zone?
30:51
Which is unprompted. If you have anything to do, thatโs bad. All right, because itโs a problem.
Nestor Aparicio 30:59
Max is here. She is the editor in chief of Baltimore magazine that has received I live loved him my whole life. He is our co host with a que Cocoโs alternate tastes come by and weโre going to talk some more sports. I do want to talk to him best of Baltimore because weโre at Cocoโs the shrimp are getting cold weโre going to split look. I just want to say that if you ever had fried shrimp with jalapeno raspberry sauce, Iโm not this is the problem. The shrimp are so unbelievable, but nobody gets them because they get the crab cake crab cakes. What Iโm trying to do is tell people that but but this this raspberry jalapeno stuff and some french fries werenโt Cocoโs come on by and laurelville see them visit make sure youโre youโre ordering ahead take it home because they donโt have as much room in here as theyโd love to have and you can certainly ship the crab cakes anywhere in the world. Weโre telling you more about it. So I brought you by the Maryland lottery. This is yours Max hopefully you went you went 100 hours today our friends at window nation I have the wacky hat I wear the wacky hat in the next segment cuz Iโm feeling the wacky i 8866 90 nation for winter nation and our friends at Jiffy Lube our newest sponsor be talking about oil changes where I got my oil changed in America Boulevard. The Baltimore Colts belt buckle is out. 1977 It says on the back of their NFL properties there is
Mike Ricigliano 32:16
nice gives me
Nestor Aparicio 32:17
warm fuzzies when I see the old culture itโs always lovely looking logo. Well itโs like weโre six cartoon hat here. I
Mike Ricigliano 32:23
love the cartoon bird. I know a lot of people.
Nestor Aparicio 32:26
Literally correct is that.
Mike Ricigliano 32:28
I did a cartoon about the about when and when we went the cartoon? Of course I would. Iโm a cartoonist, so of course I did a cartoon about that. All right.
Nestor Aparicio 32:36
Thatโs a championship bird back for more Coco. Stay with us.