In praise of the great Rob Roblin!

The greatest conversation ever from March 2022 with legendary WBAL journalist Rob Roblin at El Guapo on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.

Nestor Aparicio interviews Rob Roblin, a legendary WBAL journalist, for the first time in 31 years. Rob shares his journey from Mississippi to Baltimore, his early career struggles, and his admiration for Vince Bagli. He recounts his experiences covering significant events, including the Preakness and local sports. Rob reflects on his personal life, including the loss of his wife and his six grandchildren. He emphasizes the importance of teamwork, particularly with his long-time videographer Kenny Brown. Rob also discusses his views on race, politics, and his enduring love for Baltimore and its people.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Rob Roblin, Baltimore positive, journalism, Preakness, sports, family, retirement, Mississippi, segregation, self-confidence, Kenny Brown, African American, Baltimore, sports broadcasting, personal stories.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Rob Roblin, Don Mohler

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome back. W N, S T Johnson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive this, if this isn’t one of the top five segments of this year any year and molars always tell me, Well, James Miller would be better than Rob David’s gonna be here later. I got Alan McCallum. Rob Roblin is on my program for the very first time in 31 years. And as much as I love Jane for her journalism,

Don Mohler  00:26

you told me you had a man crush on Rob. You

Nestor Aparicio  00:29

were always my favorite, and Marty bass knows this my friend. You know what I mean? Like in real life, we’re friends. I don’t know you well, but like all those preaknesses that you were out in the infield, and I want to have a margarita to honor you here on a

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Rob Roblin  00:44

program here. Love me some tequila. Well, that’s weird.

Nestor Aparicio  00:49

El Guapo, we’re in Catonsville, Don molar, and I do a Baltimore positive. I am I’m embarrassed that it took us three and a half years of molar and I doing this to finally get you on the program. And we had a plague in the middle of this. We dealt with the Trump president. We had all this happening since we started the show. I am honored that you were spending an hour meeting.

Rob Roblin  01:09

I am I’ve always liked you. My son is a huge fan of you. Yours. That’s gonna make me cry. He really is. Steven. He said, No, no, that’s Frank, okay. And Steve, what did I do now? He says, Many says the truth. He says, what’s going on? You know? Like it’s, there’s no bull. He calls it what it is. And you do, it’s an Ekman thing, yeah, well, man, I loved Ekman. I know. You know who’s gonna win the game, Charlie, whoever gets some most

Don Mohler  01:42

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points, one of my all time buddies in Rob, Rob, and they knew when Rob came out to cover a story in the county or the school system, he had to block in a little extra time because it was going to take

Nestor Aparicio  01:53

us 20 since 1982 here’s my high school guidance counselor, right? And we’ve, I don’t think we’ve ever been apart. I can’t remember even when I left high school, I came back, saw Mr. Mohler, and then he was at Sparrows Point, which is right down the road, and I visited him down there. So we’ve always been each other’s lives. And I went on the radio in 9091 late 91 and all. And Tom was a part of my first huddle on opening day when Sutcliffe pitched at the canyon yards. Dom was doing a show with me that day. So that’s how far back we are. He’s always told me how well he knew you and you guys were like real friends in the real world. And I was always like, Man, I wish I could get problems, but the BL people hated me forever. They would never let you on my show. You were never allowed on my show. Look at this. Look at this. An honor. Rob Roblin here. Oh, I want to picture this man. Look at this. Robert Julio Bermejo, this is an arrow dura silver.

Don Mohler  02:48

And Rob with,

Nestor Aparicio  02:49

well, I’ve always wanted to have a more because I never drank Rob on Preakness day. And I always felt like I should have. I felt like I was a part of what you were doing on Preakness days. So I’m here. How are you? How’s your What are you doing with your real life? Tell them, because he knows what you do.

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Rob Roblin  03:03

You guys, I don’t do anything. I mean, I really don’t. I am retired. I’m a bum. I’m doing what I do. Well, nothing. I watch stupid movies all the time. I’ve got two cats. I’ve got a daughter, names lucky and sly. You know, I love my cats, and I have grandchildren. I have six grandchildren, and I go to games. I go to my Robbie’s 13 little Robbie and Rachel is 10. And I’ve got two new grandsons that are four years old and six, and I’ve got two older ones. One’s graduating from college, from the University of Nebraska, so I lost my wife five and a half years ago, and I was it messed me up, oh say the least, and but I’m so grateful because I didn’t want kids, right? I didn’t want I was married before and had one. My wife says you’re having to did not want. And I’m so grateful, because she was a strong East Baltimore, Greek, American woman, and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever

Don Mohler  04:08

seen, rob you and Mary, Rob, it was a love story. Oh,

Rob Roblin  04:12

man, we drove each other nuts. You’re talking about a love story. And I saw what your wife went through, and I think she is beautiful. Thank you. I tell her okay, and you should you better tell her more than once. And that’s I cry a lot now. I’ll cry over a John Wayne cowboy.

Nestor Aparicio  04:33

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If I lost my wife, it might be eight years next week that my wife was diagnosed, march 20.

Rob Roblin  04:37

Wow, yeah, you know. And see, I’ve beaten cancer, and I’ve had open heart surgery, and I had pneumonia three or four years ago and almost died. So I’m lucky to be

Nestor Aparicio  04:45

you’re going nowhere. You’re gonna stay here drink tequila with me all night, guapo.

Rob Roblin  04:49

You know, I was listening to you guys talk about Baltimore. I love this city, and he’s given me so much. He gave me a reason to live. He gave me my wife. And. Uh, you know how much I love sports, and my sons played basketball at bent low recreation center when they were a kid. I took them down to the west side to play the greatest coach to ever walk on a court, in my opinion, Coach Herman Johnson, you’ve talked about Herman for 30 years. He passed away a little over a year ago, and Coach Herman didn’t just win games. He saved lives. And he saved more lives in this city than anybody I know. And there are kids that are adults now that are walking around doing with great jobs, with educations, doing so well, and they would not be doing that if it wasn’t for Coach Herman, the most honorable man I’ve ever met.

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Nestor Aparicio  05:43

I credit Moeller for all my success.

Don Mohler  05:44

Whoa, I do. But the

Rob Roblin  05:48

molar family, let me tell you something. His mother is my son. Played at Catonsville High School with Brendan. With Brendan. Yeah, Mike’s on Brandon Max, Mike’s son, and we go to the games his mother. The kids loved her. They called her Q tip

Don Mohler  06:05

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because of her white hair. They dedicated a special part of the bleachers when she passed well, your

Nestor Aparicio  06:11

mother was sports

Rob Roblin  06:14

all. Boy, the boys loved her. I loved her. She was that when she passed away. Man, that old town, everybody was

Nestor Aparicio  06:20

first time you guys met

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Don Mohler  06:23

then, well, we knew each other through reporting and through education, but when Steven ended up at

Rob Roblin  06:30

Gainesville, yeah,

Don Mohler  06:33

Rob and I have our moments of getting a little emotional.

Nestor Aparicio  06:36

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Your son was a student at his high school. Yeah, yeah. I’m getting that clear. I’m getting clarity. Okay,

Don Mohler  06:42

yes, yes, and he was the point guard, yeah, oh, he and Brendan were good. Tell, tell Nestor bathroom the night that Brendan dunked for the first Oh, yeah.

Rob Roblin  06:53

He didn’t know. Brendan was unbelievable athlete. And I’m going by what Stephen says. You know, he was fast at light as lightning, but he didn’t look it. When you see him run, you did not think he was that fast, but he said, Dad, every time we do suicides, he’s always laughing everybody. And he won the national championship and lacrosse at Virginia, Virginia, yeah, and sister didn’t do bad people to worked on his basketball game. He would have been a d1 player.

Nestor Aparicio  07:22

She’d be happy. I knew that,

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Don Mohler  07:23

right? She would be very happy. You knew she played a shadow Rob. Rob was afraid. It was my brother that was going to have the heart attack, my friend and Don right? Last game, yeah, I

Rob Roblin  07:35

think it was, but he talked it. I’ve never done that. I’ve never done that either. Six two. So that tells you we can’t

Don Mohler  07:42

have Rob Robin on and you and I have talked off air rob a lot you have, and it always came through in your reporting. You have strong views on the social fabric, yes, who we are and what we ought to be. And I always kid you’re a kid that grew up, I think in Mississippi and Alabama and Alabama, I would hear that child of the South. Well, first, I want to

Nestor Aparicio  08:06

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give you this with, with the beer going right now, and your your tone and like, if people say that about me, they, if they’ve been listening a long time, they know my voice is distinctive. I guess in some way, right? Your voice, it’s like Pearl lives. You’ve got to I want you to sing, have a holly. But that southernness, that sort of comes through you, you

Don Mohler  08:28

know, tell us about the South. You grew up in

Rob Roblin  08:31

Larry medoff and I, you know, where were you born? 1946 Okay, so you’re you’re there. My parents were born, and I was born in Canada, Toronto, Canada. My father was a minister, and he said the Lord called him and told him to go to Mississippi and take a church. I think the Lord got the wrong number. I think he just picked up So at any rate, and I actually remember it, and I was two or three years old, loading up the car and driving to Mississippi, my poor mother moved into a home without running water, without indoor plumbing, and he was a preacher at a small church. We stayed down there, and they both died down there. My mother died when I was 12, my father when I was 16, and I was raised down there, but you see, I was raised by Canadians, so I was never like, right there, there, you know? I was different, you know. And I kind of like that your mom

Nestor Aparicio  09:27

and dad, were you when you showed up down there two years? Oh, so, you know, no life in Canada. Well,

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Rob Roblin  09:33

we go back in the winter, okay? In the summer, we go back to Toronto to visit family, until my mother died, usually once or twice a year, and we’d stop in Chicago or Detroit on the way up or down. I have an aunt that lived in Chicago, and my father’s best friend lived in Detroit.

Nestor Aparicio  09:51

So you saw some things. I saw

Rob Roblin  09:53

rocky Colavito play. Saw alkaline play. You know, how’d you

Nestor Aparicio  09:57

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become such a sports fan down in the south? I played

Rob Roblin  09:59

it. That’s. You did Batman, man, it’s all you did. Play football and basketball. That is the south, right? That is the south. That’s what you do. You got a court, you ran and you played. And so what was the

Don Mohler  10:09

South that Rob Roblin grew up in? I mean, you’re going to school down

Rob Roblin  10:13

there. It’s even

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Don Mohler  10:15

pre integration by far. I

Rob Roblin  10:18

went to high elementary school, middle school, high school, and it was into college before I went to school with an African American. And her name was Elaine Armstrong. She was the first African American to go to the University of Southern Mississippi. That’s where I graduated from, where I went to school. You and Brett Favre, yeah, yeah, but he was long after I went on a trip with Larry down to Mississippi, my stepmother, who died her sleep at 106 years old, she was cremated, and we buried her down there, and we went on a road trip. And I pointed out. I said, you know, you use the word white privilege. I’m gonna point it out. See that African American police officer when I was a kid, there was no such thing. You see that African American lady working there at the front desk at the motel. There was no such thing. There was not

Nestor Aparicio  11:08

you were 12 years old, 1958 right? So this is, that was your 12 years old, 1958 Lower Mississippi, right?

Rob Roblin  11:17

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Yeah. This is in Mississippi and Alabama. No blacks in my school. No African Americans anywhere. I remember in college almost getting in a fist fight, arguing with a guy as to whether or not an African American was a human being or an animal.

Don Mohler  11:33

Well, that’s true. Well, Rob where? Where that? I want to dig down on that a little bit, because how does a ROB Roblin growing up in that South not reflect the values of that South because you didn’t from Jump Street? How does that happen?

Rob Roblin  11:53

I wasn’t taught that way. I was taught that everyone was Eagle equal. My father actually believed in the Bible, and it was just inclusive of everyone. And he actually preached that, and he did that. I remember when I was in the third or fourth grade, he was walking in Tupelo, Mississippi, and he met an African American minister. When they started talking, my father was like,

Nestor Aparicio  12:13

Me Talk with everyone, 5455 right? Yeah. 5455 All right. And

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Rob Roblin  12:17

they were talking about their congregations with the African American minister said, I have a problem, because a lot of people in our congregation can’t read or write, and so we’re trying to get everyone where they can read and write. And he said, but I got a problem. I don’t have enough teachers. When my father said he looked at it as God calling him, he says, I’ll help. I can’t do it every night, but I can help. You would do that? Yeah, of course I will, you know, I’ll teach. And so I remember on Wednesday night prayer meeting, because my father was a Baptist minister, him telling the congregation that he was going to be going with the African American congregation to help teach reading and writing, reading and writing to his members of his congregation. You wouldn’t believe it. They thought he was a devil. Oh, you the N word was thrown out. You ain’t doing it, and you’re not doing it. My father did not back down from anybody before he found God. He ran a floating dice game and did muscle work for the mob in Toronto.

Don Mohler  13:14

He was Nathan Detroit. From 12

Rob Roblin  13:16

years old. He was 641, 85, and he loved fist fighting. He loved it, and he but he would not back down. He said, God called me and I’m going to do it. And he did it, and I said, Oh my god, the Klan is going to come. They’re going to kill us all. You know, the hope it doesn’t get out, and it didn’t, and he did, and we eventually moved to another day, but

Nestor Aparicio  13:37

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teaching young African Americans to read and write would have made you open to having

Rob Roblin  13:44

Vernon Dahmer. I knew his son, his father, got fire, bombed and killed, and his sister had to smell his her father’s flesh burning because he was getting people to vote in Laurel, Mississippi. And this is not uncommon. I went on my lunch break working at Vine brothers Madison store through the Vernon Dahmer case, it was the first all white jury to convict a white of killing an African American in the state of Mississippi.

Nestor Aparicio  14:11

What year was this?

Rob Roblin  14:13

Gosh, I guess I don’t know. 60s. 60s. Okay, 60s.

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Don Mohler  14:17

So how does Rob Roblin, you come up from this. You’re growing up in the segregated south. You end up in college. How does Rob Roblin drift to journalism?

Rob Roblin  14:28

Well, I went to Mardi Gras when I was 19, and I didn’t come home for two years. I ended up in San Francisco. I ended up in Arizona, working for a rock and roll band that later became Alice Cooper. So that tells you what my life was. And then I said, I got to do something. I can’t just be a bomb the rest of my life. I got to work somewhere, and it hit. I wanted to be a rock and roll star, but I had a couple of problems. I couldn’t sing and I couldn’t play. This, all right?

Don Mohler  15:00

I tell people I wanted to play shortstop for the Orioles, but I couldn’t hit a challenge. It’s a challenge.

Rob Roblin  15:07

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So then I said, I’ll be a disc jockey. So I was going to college, and it hit me one day, I’ll be a

Nestor Aparicio  15:13

little Johnny fever in you. Yeah, majored

Rob Roblin  15:18

in radio and television, minored in theater, and got my degree and couldn’t get a job Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi, okay, yes, indeed, yeah. My stepmother went there when it was Mississippi Normal School. She was born in 1906 and my brother went there. He played in the band. My brother was an opera singer, and three octave Irish tenor boys sang at the New Orleans opera house a couple of times. So he was that

Nestor Aparicio  15:44

during the Mardi Gras, than a two year period there No,

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Rob Roblin  15:47

no, no. That was before I had none of that talent at all. But my father gave me something. And you talk about what Coach Herman Did, did when his life and what people do is saw self confidence. And after my mother died, he saw I did not have self confidence, you know, I didn’t like myself. I didn’t think I was good looking, I didn’t think I was smart, I didn’t think I had talent. I didn’t tell him that he saw it, and he saw through sports. He knew I had heart. It wasn’t very good, but I had heart, but you were trying No, and I was nasty, and I had a nasty attitude, and he gave me especially in football. And, you know, I’d never liked fist fighting, and never liked fist fighting, but I loved football playing. I had the helmet on. I didn’t think I could get hurt, and didn’t get hurt. You know, I was 621, 55, and around 100 yard dash and 10 flat. And you could head slap back, then you could cross body block. He could do all kinds of stuff he can’t do now. And he also played every play of every game. I never walked off the court one time, up off the field one time. And I was very good. I mean, I turned out to be real good. And we had a good team, and we had everybody on the team was heavier than me, even the darn quarterback, you know, and but through that, he gave me self confidence, and ironically, going on the road for two years, I ate I got by somehow. I don’t know how, but I had confidence, so being rejected didn’t bother me. And I had a southern accent, and I talk like that when I want to, and that’s how I talked all the time. You don’t get many jobs saying How y’all doing on the radio this morning, we go play a song. What’s your first gig? Little radio station in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but I literally sat on the commode every day for two years reading the newspaper from beginning to end, to get that out of my accent done, you know what you were practicing, your dialect practicing, you know, and I had a high school Peter

Nestor Aparicio  17:53

Piper picked you have an old tape, see you, from the early seven, where you really

Rob Roblin  17:57

got tapes going back, gosh, I got two inch tapes going back to the

Nestor Aparicio  18:02

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70s, my Baltimore accent the early 90s.

Rob Roblin  18:06

Now I use it if I choose, if I choose to, if I choose to, I can have no accent at all, you know. But I’ve learned to have, I call them Colloquium. I give you

Nestor Aparicio  18:16

Burl Ives. You don’t like that? Oh, yeah, the syrupy voice of the South, right? Well,

Rob Roblin  18:25

Charles corral is my hero. All right, am I? And Charles Perrault could read the damn phone book. He could make you cry. Oh no. I mean Charles. And

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Don Mohler  18:33

that’s listen James Earl Jones,

Rob Roblin  18:37

two times. James Earl

Don Mohler  18:38

Jones as someone who has worked unsuccessfully for many years on his own Baltimore accent. It is not easy to lose an accent and

Nestor Aparicio  18:49

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you haven’t lost your No, I have

Rob Roblin  18:52

not. I haven’t, I

Nestor Aparicio  18:54

haven’t. I turn on my

Don Mohler  18:56

believe it, believe it or not, it has gotten better, which tells you how bad it was at one point in time. So, Rob, when do you arrive in

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Rob Roblin  19:05

Baltimore the first time? 1975

Nestor Aparicio  19:08

I told Jane you weren’t here. I don’t remember. I’m 53 I don’t remember life where you weren’t on TV. It was you mustard. Rudy Miller, you know, Hambrick, right? Like, I’m going on this off top my head, and then over 13, well, obviously, Vince, Vince, Vince and Chris Bennett, by the way, oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t tell Jane this molar meets me. Always I get a drink when I tell this story, it’s just gonna be good. All right, we’re having a margarita. I’m in El Guapo Moeller told meets me, and he trying to give me self confidence back in the day, he tells me, you’re going to be the next Chris Thomas. That’s what he told me. He told me, I think that ain’t true. That is true. Yeah, you are. When I was 13 years old, he told me I was going to be the next Chris Thomas. So when I think of the 70s and watching all of you on TV, and probably. Wanting to be Vince, probably more than Chris Thomas, right.

Rob Roblin  20:03

Vince, to me, is the Michelangelo of that style of broadcasting. My hero nine. He did it first. There was a guy in New Orleans, haplodie that did similar, but a New Orleans accent, talks like that. Yeah. You doing down now? But he was drunk half the time. He’s right in the air and and he would go all over the place. But Vince, I would go in the studio and just listen to him and watch

Don Mohler  20:31

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him, and he did it without a

Rob Roblin  20:32

teleprompter. Now, you never know gonna read that teleprompter. Would not use the

Don Mohler  20:36

teleprompter. I mean, that’s remote.

Nestor Aparicio  20:39

What’s the name of that? Left hander Rob

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Rob Roblin  20:44

when I first came the news director was Ron Kershaw. Said, Have you ever done sports? Said, Yeah. He didn’t ask me if I’ve ever done it on TV. I’ve never done it. Coming from Jackson, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland, I’ll tell you anything damn right. And so I came up here, and I remember turning on the TV. They put me up at the Cross Keys, at Cross Keys, and I turned on the TV, and it was Super Bowl weekend, and there’s comes Vince Bagley. I said, Oh my god, I never seen anything like him in my life. I’m out of my league. Man, I called my wife at the time. My ex wife was married before. Man, I got to go back and kiss somebody’s buhani, because I could need to get my job back. I’m out of my league up here. Man, they’re going to fire.

Don Mohler  21:26

It’s funny, you looked at Vince, and you know what’s interesting, Rob, and not to blow smoke up you, because I want to, I want to talk about what Nestor said, the longevity of your career. We had Jane on the longevity of her career, what Vince had. And I think this is what’s true about television. Tell me if you agree, or if you think I’m all wet, is that people can instantly tell who’s real and who’s not. Yeah, so you turned on Vince that night. You said that guy’s the real deal. If I saw him at the 711 tomorrow, same person. He’s going to be the same guy. When people turned on Rob Roblin, they knew Rob Roblin, what you see is what you get.

Rob Roblin  22:07

There’s a storm. He’d run out in it.

Don Mohler  22:11

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The waves come well, how did that evolve? Robbie, let’s talk about that. You’re on the television. So waves coming up over the boardwalk. I mean, well, you know my favorite? I don’t know if you ever saw this Nestor, but when Rob retired, Kevin Kamenetz did a video. And he starts by saying, a traditional video area. He’s in the hallway, and he goes, I want to wish my best. And Rob’s camera man, we’ll have him talk about Kenny shortly retires at same time, Kenny Bram and Kevin is going, I just want, on behalf of everyone in Baltimore County, I want to congratulate Rob Roblin and Kenny brown on a wonderful this just doesn’t seem right, and the screen goes black. And the next thing is Kevin, they photoshopped. The Creative Director, Lauren Watley, brilliant job, puts him in the middle of a thunderstorm with a raincoat and a hat, and Kevin’s going, now this feels much more like and he’s wishing Rob all the well,

Nestor Aparicio  23:12

you mean your weather channel snow, right? I mean I

Rob Roblin  23:16

at Bal over the years, see, I left and came back five times. I can only function in Baltimore. I tell people all the time, I got a big mouth, I got an attitude, and I got a chip on my shoulder. I fit in perfect here.

Nestor Aparicio  23:29

Well, there’s a legendary story about you that I don’t know is true or not, but I hope it’s true, and if it is, it’s awesome. But nonetheless,

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Rob Roblin  23:35

no, no, it’s not true. Don’t disappoint me. Not true. Well,

Don Mohler  23:41

it is true. It is true that during a snowstorm, and I swear to God, he knows, because I called him right away, I literally thought I was going throw up. I was living so hard. You know, it’s hard to come up with something every second Rob goes, now I’m going to interview the dog, am I right? Yeah, you went down and interviewed the dog.

Nestor Aparicio  24:01

Well, he loves animals here. This is your life, Rob Robert, we’re at El Guapo. I’m having a delicious silver Margarita. We got chips, we got salsa. We got Damien o’dease here with guests. We’ve got Alan McCallum coming later. I waited so long to get you on, man, anything. I’m just glad you’re healthy and doing well. I mean, all these years, he’s told me how like this relationship you guys,

Don Mohler  24:23

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Rob’s the best. Rob’s the

Rob Roblin  24:26

best. He’s done so much for my family, my son.

Don Mohler  24:29

Stop, stop, stop. I want to talk about we came over. I was privileged. Dan juris invited me over to your farewell party at the station with all the reporters. And it was, it was such a nice day, and you got up and spoke, and in true Roblin fashion, as opposed to talking about yourself, you talked about your videographer who had been with you forever, Kenny Brown, and you talked about how important he was to you and what teamwork meant. And. For our listeners, share a little bit about your memories of Kenny and what you said that day and how he got you through some tough times. Kenny,

Rob Roblin  25:11

I’ll tell you one story when you have prostate cancer and you have it taken out, you have a problem with incontinence, and I I had a problem right on, and I came back to work and I had a mistake. You needed some care, yeah, and it was on the story, and I said I was in tears, and I got in the car and I said, I I’m very I’m embarrassing myself. I gotta quit. I gotta quit. No, baby, no no, no. Just stay in here. Get yourself together. I’ll go do all the interviews and everything. And he went out and did the whole story, and I sat in there and got, I mean, I was I saw myself, you were shook up, and I was embarrassing. I said, I don’t like to be embarrassed and, and that’s the kind of guy. He is always there when times are tough. Now, let’s talk about the real kitty. Hey, get out there and say that and shut up. We’re down at Ocean City. Man, I’m not going to go out in this weather. Yeah, I’m not going to go out in there. We’re down to the big storm going on from the patio. I ain’t getting wet. You going out there, and that’s where you gotta be, and that’s where you gotta

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Nestor Aparicio  26:22

always forget this man, Robin’s out there in the middle of waves coming over. Hazel, you know, don’t

Rob Roblin  26:30

look right here on my forehead. Yeah, see, you see it? It’s right. It’s like rough, like sand. What happened? Somebody hit head? No, no. It’s from bending over like this, doing live shots in the sand. My head’s actually foreheads actually sand, plastic.

Nestor Aparicio  26:43

Oh, you know, so like a statue, yeah, he put

Rob Roblin  26:47

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me in that. He always said he’s dumb. He’ll do anything I tell him, but everything he had me do, it helped my career. He saved my he said he wrote most of the stuff he had here. Write this. What do you got here? Here? And we he was more important than I. Well, people don’t understand just another pretty face,

Don Mohler  27:08

because those guys are behind. But I and Jane talked about it, yeah, a little bit about the importance of team. And she just wins this huge award, and she gives it away. She talks about it was the team and the the atmosphere. Those of you who were at bl, I mean, the

Nestor Aparicio  27:26

modern era. Her speech last night was about, don’t fire these B, we need staff. We need people. We can’t have a ROB without a Kenny, right? Literally. Well, talk about that last

Rob Roblin  27:36

night. Our company, and I call it, it’s still my company. Hearst, he’s very good about that so far.

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Don Mohler  27:42

Well, Rob, they the affection that that everyone felt for you that night of December the 19th, 2014 when you walk away, you’ve been going years. Yeah, that December 19, I feel like I saw you last. Preakness, December 19, 2014 Donna says goodbye, everyone says goodbye, and you have to sign off. Talk about that moment when you look back on it.

Rob Roblin  28:09

Can you remember that moment? Yeah, I can remember it. I can’t believe how lucky I am. Of all the people I’ve met in my life, I know no one that’s any luckier than I am to have Kenny that taught me, led me, helped me to be at the station. I mean, to be with Jane. I mean, she’s the legendary man. I had a friend of mine, a police officer. I saw Jane Miller the other Jay Miller, the other day I was running. I

Nestor Aparicio  28:43

don’t want her to get me. No, he was coming. Or he know James? No, I didn’t

Don Mohler  28:46

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know. I always tell Jane loves it. You know why this story works? Because it’s 100% true, and your police buddy understand my assistant the famous words was, I told Jane the most feared words in any communication department in the state, when my assistant would walk in and say, Don Jane’s on the phone,

Nestor Aparicio  29:07

I’d say, oh god, that’s just 60

Don Mohler  29:09

minutes, but I would always answer the same way. What did we do now? But you worked with great people.

Rob Roblin  29:15

You had more features than anything else. How did that evolve? How did

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Don Mohler  29:19

Rob become the fun guy.

Rob Roblin  29:21

I He was the fun guy. He was the fun you were the fun guy. I think that, to me, the biggest news story ever in America is what African American people have done since my childhood. They weren’t free to get a job anywhere, right? They weren’t free to go to college anywhere. They weren’t free to walk down the street on the sidewalk without getting beaten. I saw that with my own eyes, and to see how far so many African Americans have come and contributed and helped our society. It’s an amazing story. It’s an amazing story. And instead of looking at Boys. And the fight continues, by the way, yeah, no. And I mean, Baltimore City, I love it. I love it. Yes, rough. Yeah, there’s some rough people. There are some rough edges. Every place has them. But let me tell you something, man, there’s a young cameraman I’m driving through the hood with. I said, You look around here. You see these row houses. You see these people, maybe a little rough on the outside. And let me tell you something, pal, when there was a damn war, that’s who they called and they won it, I said, I love them. I respect them, you know, and they will be there to cover your back. And that’s the way I go to West Baltimore, go down to the wreck right now. That’s my

Don Mohler  30:38

home. Oh, no, you’re curious. You’re as comfortable, you know, you’re a southern boy that’s as comfortable in the city as and I’ve ever met.

Rob Roblin  30:45

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And I’m very prejudiced pro African American people, and I’m really you have a diverse family? Yeah? Well, I have a diverse family too, but I just don’t understand it. We’re all one good, good southern men that are raised, right? And there are a lot down there. No, no, you don’t talk that way about my brother. You don’t use that word around me, pal. No, no, no, no. And there are down there. There’s some wonderful people in the south, but there’s some, you know, like, everywhere there’s bad

Don Mohler  31:13

people with these strong beliefs. Rob, what do you make? I mean, you’re you think a lot about the country and its direction. What do you make of the past few years and the former president and the divisive nature of where we are? What’s your take on that

Rob Roblin  31:32

you don’t want me to get started, you know, and I don’t associate with Are you hopeful or not hopeful? Not, okay, no, not helpful.

Nestor Aparicio  31:44

Though. You know you said you don’t associate. I want you to finish that thought.

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Rob Roblin  31:47

I don’t want I just don’t want to deal with them. If they’re heavy to the far right, I don’t want anything to do with them. You see, when they say things about people of color, those are my best friends. It’s Frank bond. That’s, I take it personal. It’s personal. That’s my grandson. My daughter in law is Nigerian, you know. And I got two grandsons that are children of color, you know. And that’s personal, you know, Jane and I think the same way, you know, we have a lot of Ray Bennett, you know. And if you say anything about Jewish people I got my buddy Larry medoff. Do you know do that around me now, I don’t make a scene, and I’m not gonna get into this fight when

Nestor Aparicio  32:27

I was younger, but you’re not gonna come to my home. Yeah, you’re not gonna, you’re not gonna be my friend. No, I feel similar. I don’t say it much, but I mean, anybody in my world, anybody in my world, that’s an exit strategy in my world, it makes it and it’s, it’s narrowed my world dramatically, right? I talk about Dundalk, I talk about it all the narrowed my world. And it’s, you know, it’s had to,

Rob Roblin  32:50

but they did it, they chose it. So, you know, you know, I told somebody once we chose love, you know, I mean, you’re talking about the far left or the Liberals, how soft they are. You don’t want to push us. Let me tell you what, man, I’ve been on the streets my life. You don’t want to push me. I think I’m not tough. I’m not tough at all. But you don’t want to push any human being. I used to tell my kids all the time, you see the quiet, nice kids in school, don’t push them. Don’t get them angry. If they start getting angry, walk away, because those are the kids that they’ll tell you over and over, leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone, you know. And you don’t, you don’t push nice, nice people, you know. You don’t want to let that go. And I’ve seen it, you know, I’ve

Nestor Aparicio  33:38

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been a part of it as well. But had my hand around her neck one point. So, yeah, I got

Rob Roblin  33:44

Chase. It’s sad, it’s sad, but hopefully, well, I’m not very optimistic, but I’m old. You know, it’s like you’re talking about, I’m go out and get a beer every once in a while, and old folks sitting in there. Do you go downtown? Not really that much. I don’t have any used to I don’t go I’m afraid. I said, Well, I ain’t afraid of nothing.

Don Mohler  34:06

What Nestor said he may have moved to the county. He’s in the city three or four

Nestor Aparicio  34:11

weeks lottery, because they’re

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Rob Roblin  34:13

my partners. I said, I go to city when I want to. I love the city, right?

Nestor Aparicio  34:17

There’s my story down in mama’s on a half shell. We did the show. We did exactly what we’re doing with you, with some dear friends. Then I gave some tickets away, like I did to these people back here. Girl comes up to me at the Chaucer in Highland town on Sunday night and says, good looking girl, young girl. I’m like, she’s I know you, and I’m like, hey, you know me. She said you gave me winning lottery ticket the other day. Rob Roblin is here. We’re talking about all sorts of important things. We’re no guapo. I’m having a margarita. Alan McCallum is on deck. David o’dard, he’s got half a Merryweather post behind us here. You guys have been at this a long time, and thank you for coming by great happiness more often.

Rob Roblin  34:55

Thanks, anytime, anytime. All right, man, like your work. You’re you do you know

Nestor Aparicio  35:04

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your voice is gonna, like, freak me out when I tell Frank.

Don Mohler  35:12

Years. Rob Robin, my

Nestor Aparicio  35:13

man brothers, can we go to the Preakness and drink together? One, yeah, let’s go. If I could go to the Preakness with

Rob Roblin  35:19

you, the hat on. Let’s go

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Don Mohler  35:22

put the hat. I should have worn my Rob Roblin hat today. I didn’t think I’ve still got the one that came and it’s war.

Nestor Aparicio  35:31

I’ve always been jealous of your relationship with Rob I’m gonna steal him from you. I am Nestor weird. Go ahead.

Rob Roblin  35:38

His brother and I together are dangerous.

Nestor Aparicio  35:41

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I saw that.

Don Mohler  35:43

I watched Rob one time. I’m on the other side of the gym, and he’s not happy with the referee, and next thing I know, he’s taken the walk of shame out of the Kingsville high gym. Rob had been asked to leave.

Nestor Aparicio  35:58

What did he say? You can leave

Don Mohler  36:05

stronger than that, ladies and gentlemen. Rob Roblin, on behalf

Nestor Aparicio  36:09

of Maryland lottery, let ourselves play. Also want to give a shout out to Jane’s folks at Goodwill and our folks as well at Goodwill Industries for sponsoring the Maryland crab cake tour. There is a crab cake involved here. This was brought in. This was shipped over from across the street. And you like crab cakes? All right? Man, here we go. Fork up. Yo, go ahead, dig in. All right. Man, we got the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Well, that’s jumbo law. Oh, look at what’s Oh, baby. We are wnsc am 1570 Taos in Baltimore. Look at that. Crab cake. We never stopped talking. That’s good crab cake. Oh, these are snowstorm, or, like a blizzard, or, I don’t know, hurricane, or something. Man, that’s good. You.