Streaming, screaming, ducking, hiding, reporting and opining. Mark Viviano and Luke Jones join Nestor for a spirited chat about Orioles expectations and local media attrition in Baltimore at Faidley’s on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
Nestor Aparicio, Mark Viviano, and Luke Jones discussed Baltimore sports and media dynamics. They highlighted the importance of community engagement, particularly during events like the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Orioles opening day. They debated the challenges of modern media, including the impact of streaming services and the need for accessibility. The conversation also touched on the Justin Tucker situation, emphasizing the importance of thorough investigations. They reflected on the evolving landscape of sports, including the disillusionment in college sports and the need for integrity in media reporting. The segment concluded with a focus on local charities and community support.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Orioles expectations, local media, Baltimore sports, crab cakes, Maryland lottery, Green Hornets, social media, sports radio, opening day, baseball season, Justin Tucker, NFL investigation, college sports, community engagement, food insecurity.
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Mark Viviano, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Taos in Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. I am positively with the very tall and handsome Mark Viviano. We are here at fade Lee seafood in beautiful Lexington market. I’m smelling the crab cakes. I’m smelling the deviled eggs, smelling the french fries, and I’m getting a little hungry. It’s lunchtime. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have the Raven scratch offs. Excuse me, I’m out of season. Magic eight ball scratch offs. The Raven scratch offs for so yesterday, we’re in the home run riches. Right now we’re giving these away down here. This afternoon, we’re going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour all month long, if I don’t lose my voice. Viv is here on behalf of all sorts charities and all sorts of good things in his little league. What’s your little league called the Green terrors? What do they call green? They call green Hornets? Green apart. Green Hornets. That’s funny. I said green terror. Green terror was a he was a cape crusader, wasn’t he was one of the bad guys. A terror, of course, he’s a bad guy. Green Hornet was a good guy. Green,
Mark Viviano 00:54
right? Or lantern, wouldn’t there? Lantern wasn’t there. Remember
Nestor Aparicio 00:57
the Riddler wore green? I remember that he was a bad guy, good guys and bad guys, you’re one of the good guys. Vivid is here. He still likes me once a year. He says, once a year, I’ll come out for you and the crab cakes better be good. Take him home to my wife. He’s doing little league coaching for his nine and seven year old. And are you off the grid? I mean, do you tweet? I don’t. I don’t know my I mean, you Facebook. Truman Show is over for you is
Mark Viviano 01:21
first of all, the only Facebook I ever do is just family, really. And as far as Twitter, I’ve made it a vow, if it’s not positive or originally insightful,
Nestor Aparicio 01:39
I have nothing to add you have no retweets, okay? Not really. I just You done being famous, except for where it’s valuable. It’s
Mark Viviano 01:47
not, it’s not even, it’s not even me even thinking I’m famous. It’s that I just it can be stressful and it’s unnecessary. How things can be read, taken, attacked, pulled apart. It’s like, man, it’s just not worth it.
Nestor Aparicio 02:04
Did you like doing sports radio when you did it?
Mark Viviano 02:06
Yes, loved it. As a matter of fact, I loved it because I
Nestor Aparicio 02:10
did too. I when I took phone calls, I loved it when, well, I didn’t. I stopped, right? I could say when you started doing is around when I hated it. Just so you know, like, no, no, no. Loved it the first, let me say
Mark Viviano 02:19
this, yeah, and I want to say this carefully, out of complete appreciation for everyone who listened. And one of the reasons I find your your process and your shows appealing is that you have good guests and you don’t have call ins. And I don’t want to disparage people who call into shows, but I’m just not that interested. I’d rather hear your guests. I’d rather speak to guests. And I think people like to hear from experts or someone with experience in a certain field, that if we do our job well, we learned something from them.
Nestor Aparicio 03:02
That’s why I bring Luke on. Corrected me three times. I got like, I have a Luke is now my fact checker, you know. So that’s why I keep Luke around and make sure I stay in line. Well,
Mark Viviano 03:12
I There are many reasons to keep Luke around, and Luke is one of the most popular
Nestor Aparicio 03:17
Luke after P or is he hard work? Okay, you’re gonna come in. This is a walk. We just started the segment. Man,
Mark Viviano 03:23
that’s perfect. You’re late. It’s 101, I don’t want
Luke Jones 03:28
to hijack your segment. No, you win Baltimore sports royalty.
Mark Viviano 03:34
This is the guy I have had so much respect for. I don’t know, Nestor, we talk about it a lot. I love Luke too. I mean this guy, I mean, and I know you’re I know I’m speaking to the choir here, to your listeners and to your viewers, but I can say this is a guy who was in the trenches and in the locker rooms. And this guy is just solid. He is just, he is kind hard working, thorough, likable, he’s he’s all the things, and he
Nestor Aparicio 04:06
puts up with me. That’s the fact I mentioned that amazing. That
Mark Viviano 04:10
is the amazing part of this guy. I told him, somehow you have not soiled him.
Nestor Aparicio 04:15
We’re gonna do radio like we do radio these odd hours, at six in the morning, at two at night we’re in Toronto. It’s the alarm. The fire alarm went off at 551 in the morning at the Sheraton in Toronto, did, and I’m like, well, there’s the wake up call, but I don’t know how we’re gonna do radio. This is literally Friday morning. So he and I’ve done a couple 100 nights in hotel rooms over 15 years at Super Bowls spring training. So we have this whole thing, but we’re rarely, rarely in the same room. That’s cool. This is really unusual. Let me say only get together four or five times a year. It’s usually here. It’s the crab cake. No, it’s the ball game two blocks
Mark Viviano 04:53
away. And I’ll just as I’m literally between the two of you guys, I can share this as. A media observer and consumer and former radio guy. What you two guys do as a team is that you are the emotional Heron fire tyrant with cause tyrant
Nestor Aparicio 05:14
this guy, that’s not a nice thing to say. Lester
Mark Viviano 05:19
and this guy, and this guy is just calm, careful, button down, and just, he just, he can just, so in other words, that’s exciting. No, he brings balance. I agree with it. He brings, he brings back, you know, and I can say, when I did it, I was more, I don’t blush much on the radio, you’re making me blush. I was more like Luke when I did it, but it’s always good to have your fire like you’re spitting nails over here. And he’s like, Well, I don’t quite see it that way. I understand what you’re saying, but and then he’ll bring it.
Nestor Aparicio 05:56
He spits nails with me over beers at the craft bar in Toronto. They give him a press credential, you know what I mean? So he’s got to be careful, you know? No,
Mark Viviano 06:04
I think he’s original. I really do listen. All of us will have different conversations when we’re not miked up. All of us can share, you know, different points of view. But listen, it’s still a job, and it’s still there are still there are still ramifications for everything we say and do. And you do well what you do, you’re incredibly good at what you do, and so is this guy, and you do it differently. And that’s the beauty of this medium. It’s good. This is a good thing. This. I’m dishing out compliments here. I’ll
Nestor Aparicio 06:41
take it. Thanks. I appreciate it. Yeah, that’s all very much. So Mar Vivian is here. Luke is on now on the set late, it’s baseball season. I just want, I was gonna say this if you hadn’t walked up, so it’s great time to get you in. I went to opening day in Toronto as a fan. I went to opening day at the Orioles as a fan, and I walked around. You’re in the press box. They moved up left field in Toronto, and I asked you if you walked around the stadium. You’re like, Nah, you know, I did BP, and did, did work, I mean, and we’re all familiar with what that is. And I did concourse listening to fans running into Orio fans and friends of mine in Toronto. And then opening day here is such a special day that I you know, you have your vision of working and putting the pass on and going and doing it in the morning. I have mine of starting here at 1045, in the morning with Chris for my buddy from Towson town torch, and we walked through seven bars and a bunch of different places and into the club level. Opening Day is the greatest day in the city, again, to see people, to see friends, to walk around people I’ll only see on opening day. That’s not the Preakness any you know, it’s not. It’s opening day. And I think that that that inspires me in some way for what the new ownership can do. And I know it’s gonna be a little different tonight down here on Game Two, you know, from a crowd perspective. But it does. I’ll use a little Deepak Chopra on you here, Viv and Luke. It’s pure potentiality, as I would call it. You know, you see the potential again, of what the Orioles can be two years removed from 101 wins in the Angelos thing and but Wes Moore doing the Papa wave that he’s still mad with me about for some reason. And a year removed from David Rubenstein by and the team, and where we are in Angeles death this is they do have their own empty slate of orange that I saw on Monday. I don’t know where it’s going, and then they treated me, and I’ll get into that, but they have a new thing to build from for his kids. He talks about his nine and seven year old kids wanting to come to the games opening day is great in this city. And two days out from that, I experienced it. I went home, my wife said, How did you do today? I’m like, I had the greatest day ever. Look on my timeline. Look at everybody I saw. Look at the people. Where else in one day was I gonna run into that many people who I love, who love me, and share a moment on a 75 degree day, and it was 45 and raining, it wouldn’t have been
Luke Jones 09:04
that. Yeah, it’s funny. I was actually having this conversation with someone in the press box, albeit briefly. It wasn’t an extensive talk, but you think about the ravens and what they mean in this community, what the NFL means. I mean, it’s King in American sports. And then there’s everything else, right? I mean, let’s just call a spade a spade. You call a spade a spade, even as baseball guys. But you think about that, and no matter how much enthusiasm there is for the Ravens every year, with them in the playoffs, playing in January, the home opener for the Ravens still does not have the same vibe as opening day for baseball. It just doesn’t. It’s, you know, it’s that cyclical feeling that you just mentioned. It begins again talking about kids, you know, I was thinking about it in terms of, you know, well, I my niece is getting ready to turn four. Are we going to try to get to her to our first Orioles game this year? And it just has that different feel to it, that different vibe. You know, you sit in the press box and, you know, the sound system is better, you know, they they upgraded the speed. Years, I could actually hear the PA announcer from the press box, which kind of sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher in recent years. But I was thinking about it in those terms of, I could hear that, and now they have the in game DJs. You know, they have the in game MCs. Personally, speaking, that’s not really my cup of tea. At the same time, I’m thinking about it in terms of they’re trying to get younger, they’re trying to get more diverse. If it has more of an NBA feel or an NFL feel or indoor soccer feel, who am I to say that that’s wrong? Because we’ve said for years as older baseball guys, we want the sport to continue to thrive long term. And if that’s the case, then we’ve got to put up with the organization gonna do it. Yeah, same thing with the city connect uniforms, which I’m very much a traditionalist with, you know, home home whites and road grays and maybe one alternate. But now you’re when are they wearing their pajamas? That next week, that’ll be next Saturday, they’re gonna wear their all orange, so the
Nestor Aparicio 10:59
night before, after they give away the Rubenstein bobblehead. I can’t remember what the date is
Luke Jones 11:03
for that. Check it out. But, you know, like you just look at those things, and it is, you know, I was thinking back to going to games with my dad, and how it felt then, and but opening
Nestor Aparicio 11:10
day was special for all. We remember every opening day, right? I mean, you’re an old sign. You probably remember Cardinals opening day in the 70s, Jake, gibbons in the snow. I mean, just any, you know, like anything, right? But I mean, opening day is special. And Viv, you covered it for years and years. I mean, Marty and Don used to have me on on opening day. It’s part of that. The documentary I did where I would come down here and they would set up in the dugout and broadcast from the break at dawn on opening day back in the 90s. I mean, it was, that was part of local television. It was like a snow day for you guys, right? Well, yeah,
Mark Viviano 11:43
and it is. It’s such a spectacle. It really is. And you’ve got all the TV stations, all the radio you’ve got, we would do live shots at 530 in the morning on the in front of the dugout grounds crews out, right? Yeah. Well, and the guy with the food and the lemon. Shaky guy used to come down. Mark the late, great Mark. Yeah, God bless his soul. So, anyway, so yeah, there’s that, and I’ll never forget this. BJ, surhoff, one time he’s he’s at his locker. BJ, I love BJ, but you got to know what you’re getting with BJ, always, he’s a surly dude. If you don’t know him. You’re wondering what’s wrong with this guy. So he’s at his locker. It’s opening day, and the in the locker room is packed with reporters,
Nestor Aparicio 12:27
probably because Bill Clinton’s there that day or something, right? It
8Mark Viviano 12:31
was, it might have been, but anyway, all of that happened too. PJ’s at his locker. He looks around. He goes, You guys will all be gone tomorrow. Let’s get this over with. So for the players, it’s the first of six months in 162 baseball games. For everybody else, the media and the fans, it’s like, Yes, this is awesome. Let’s drink beer and go crazy. And they come back to work tomorrow and BJ is right. There’s like your core of like eight reporters and about 15,000 20,000 fans on a good Tuesday or Wednesday night, whatever, because it’s a long story. It’s a long season. It’s okay. We were talking earlier about these. These games in the NFL has been dealing with this. These games are so accessible, and the TVs at home are so nice to go down to a ballpark anywhere. Now I’m not just talking Baltimore, I told them, St Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee. You look at the stands, they got 81 games. We’ll go to one, especially if there’s a bobblehead or a shirt or something. That’s cool, but it’s easy to stay home. That’s the challenge to get people actually in the seats, and that’s why you see the things you do, not just the rule changes, but the entertainment, all of it giving away. You know, the food has been now been made more affordable, less expensive, because people would complain, I can’t take my kids to a game. They want this many hot dogs and this many, you know, cotton candies and peanuts make it affordable. You know, just, and they’re doing it just to get you in there, because they want customers for generational Monday
Nestor Aparicio 14:14
was a great experience. And, you know, I’m just saying, from, I’m not saying there’s the lines were bad. They had functional issues that they’ve always had, but from being at the ballpark and the vibe of being there and the sound inside the stadium when the you know, when good things happen, we’re in a point for all of our lifetimes. And you spent 30 years in the media here. Team was very good, you know, I mean, like it weren’t a whole lot of reasons to go. And when we start talking about Brooks Robinson and even Cal ripkens, 25 years ago. Now they have a product, and what they do with it will be judged by me. It’ll be judged by you and your community. He’s got a little league with like 160 kids between like eight and 10 playing so like those kids
Mark Viviano 14:55
all about lacrosse. It’s like, where do all these baseball players come from? I. They love baseball. Yeah, they
Luke Jones 15:02
got to keep them. They intend to draw them in. And, you know, I’ve talked so much with Nestor about in market streaming Al, I’m 41 my generation is like the last one, holding on to cable and satellite. And you think about 30 somethings now who have kids, they’re not subscribing to xfinity or direct TV as frequently as our parent, you know, as we did and our parents did, it’s, you know, they they need to cast as wide a net as possible to get those youngsters watching games with their mom or their dad or their uncle and not just playing it on the field, which obviously is amazing, but to actually start following the sport and start well,
Nestor Aparicio 15:42
one of the problems is, you went to the game Thursday and you had the press credential Thursday and Friday. I paid to get in Thursday in Toronto, Friday night. I’m like, I’m six blocks away. Do I want to pay and go to the game or not? And I had a blister on my heel. I knew I was going to spend all day Monday, it’s inside. And I was like, I don’t feel like being at I was at the ballpark 12 hours at skydome on Thursday. And I’m like, well, I’ll just watch the game. And then I’m like, and I went out to happy hour, and I struck up conversation with the bartenders out and Toronto, like, the game’s not on anywhere tonight. And I’m thinking, Oh, the game’s not on in Baltimore either, yeah. Like, you know, and the second game of the year, if you’re out in Baltimore on Friday night, if you’re out anywhere in Toronto, big metropolitan city, the game’s not even on. I mean that that’s really problematic. And if Katie Griggs were standing here, as she should, and talk to me like they should be thinking about that and what they’re doing in restricting the game, because your kids love the game, but if they want it on on Friday night, you don’t want to buy Apple TV, or what if you’re out of state, if they’re streaming, creating fans is the glue. My mom, at the end of her life, had problems with mass and one and mass and two. That’s an easy problem. And what you know? Why the Nationals on tonight, you know, whatever. But just making it so easy. And Luke was watching the game on his laptop. We were in Buffalo. I told him the story about the young man in Buffalo whose father we dined with last week. Luke had the game on at the airport watching it. And I’m like, Man, that’s an incredible picture you’re getting on a stream at an airport, even with my dirty drive. But you know, Luke’s into it and brings it with him. I’d like to think that if I’m driving to Ocean City on a Friday night for a game and my wife’s driving in the car, I can listen to Bal but I’d like to be able to think I can watch the game anywhere I want, anytime I want, on this and not have it be a decision for or like a taxi meter that every time I want to watch the game because I sat in the hotel room On Friday, and I did not watch Friday night’s game. I watched the pitch cast. I had MLB TV on in my hotel room. They were showing me the pirates in the Marlins. I’m in Canada, dude, the hockey games on and the hockey games on and the hockey games on, and the Raptors are on, and college basketball was on. And I’m thinking to myself, If I’m a Toronto in in Toronto. Well, I don’t need a baseball game tonight. You think
Mark Viviano 18:03
about this. And we talked about how there’s 162 of these games that are parsed out over regional sports networks and these other carriers. That’s 162 in the NFL guys. We’ve seen it. They’ve gone to Amazon Prime, they’ve gone to Netflix. They’ve gone to peacock. And I did not watch a playoff game last year that I wanted to watch because I would have to have subscribed to peacock. That’s the NFL. That is the King of Kings here when we’re talking but
Nestor Aparicio 18:36
the consumers are going to talk with their legs.
Mark Viviano 18:38
Well, I did. It was like Thursday night football.
Nestor Aparicio 18:41
He’s about to go in, right? I
Luke Jones 18:44
mean, and this goes right with what bib just said. We have this culture on social media and, you know, we That’s a given of complaining about things, you know, whether it’s justified or not. But all you hear as sports fans over the last decade has been complaining about how bad the Thursday night football product is. Everyone watches it at some point in time, and use you spoke as a consumer, you didn’t watch it. And really, that’s what it boils down.
Nestor Aparicio 19:14
I went to Hollywood casino Saturn. It was eight o’clock, the chiefs in the dolphins, put a playoff game two years ago. I didn’t, I didn’t
Luke Jones 19:20
watch it, but you just, but you just view it through that lens where it’s just look same thing with any establishment, their prices, right? I mean, if it’s too expensive for you, you
Nestor Aparicio 19:31
don’t go there and eat right, and then you may never go back. That’s my point, sure. But my point is, if I had a great time at open, yeah, I want to go back, right? So I keep going. But the
Luke Jones 19:41
problem specifically with streaming and Thursday night football is into this baseballs and, I mean, it’s all the sports. The NBA is getting ready to roll out their new TV deal. There’s a lot of streaming involved with that, as they’re gonna be off TNT and they’re gonna be on other outlets. But the fact of the matter is, if enough people do subscribe to. Right their bottom line and their profit is going to be that is going to make the owners happy. Now we’ve talked about in baseball, they’ve been so short sighted in terms of trying to maximize every penny they can get in the here and now, I think it’s been detrimental. That detrimental to the long term health of the sport, as we’ve talked about baseball being older. But I’d love to sit here and say, Oh yeah, don’t do Apple TV. You know, don’t do peacock. I think it’s naive to think that it won’t be but what they need to do, and this is why I’ve said you need to have an in market streaming option, needs to be something that someone can pay $20 a month and access. You’re seeing it around baseball. It’s 20 to $30 a month. Maybe the Dodgers are 35 you only have to buy the six months. Yeah, you can do that. They all so it’s 120 bucks a scene. Or you can buy it for a full year, and they discount it, and they get, they can get some extra revenue that way. But, you know, figuring out that price, price point that you know, and I say this to you all the time, we have to remember, we cover this as our livelihood. We watch every game because it’s our livelihood, he
Nestor Aparicio 21:00
doesn’t anymore, right?
Luke Jones 21:02
Full disclosure, there are Friday night games I don’t watch because, you know, if they’re on the road and I’m not at the ballpark, I’m probably watching a movie or hanging out with friends or something like that, but you just everything we just mentioned, you have to make it as accessible as possible. You have to cast as wide a net as possible. You have to it shouldn’t disappear from cable and satellite. 70 year old Friday nights. I’m gonna hang out with my friends instead, anytime in my lifetime, I’ve hung out with my friends on Friday night in this city, the game’s been on. Sure, wherever I am, wherever I am the game and I’m successful. So, you know, so, but it’s really, it needs to be there. I mean, the beauty of baseball, and this is what VIV was just talking about a few minutes ago, about how opening day is this extravagant event that means so much to so many different people in this city and other baseball cities around the country, but then the season settles in the day after, and yeah, you’re not going to have everyone glued to the TV that night, and you’re not going to have 45,000 people at the ballpark that night, but it’s always there. You know, it’s comforting. You know, whether your your life is going great, or whether you’ve gone through some tough times, and baseball is just something that’s there. I mean, for a baseball fan, I think that’s, that’s the beauty of the sport, because they do play every day. You know, not to, not to sound overly romantic about it,
Nestor Aparicio 22:19
every time I was going through tough times. I was with Chelsea Yankees fan.
Luke Jones 22:23
But it’s routine. It’s just, it’s there. It’s there if you need if you really need it, if you want to watch it, or you you might not watch it that night, and that’s okay as well, but, but, yeah, you want to have it accessible that way. When people do want to watch it, you’re not making them jump through hoops in order to do it. Van,
Nestor Aparicio 22:39
what do you think of the pitching? Let’s go. Come on. Let’s talk some baseball
Mark Viviano 22:42
here. Nobody has sucker you into it. Nobody says, Nobody does. I think you we concentrate on the local teams. I do this with the Orioles, and I do this with the ravens, and I did it professionally for a number of years. It’s we panic when we look solely at what you have, once you fan out and say, well, pretty much everybody’s dealing with the exact same thing, and it’s going to be about your ability to weather the adversity that that you have, that everybody else has too. How do you adjust to that? What is your minor league feeder system going to bring up to fill the holes when Colton cows are breaks his thumb sliding into first base. What do you got? What do you have when you’ve got numer, numerous pitchers down with shoulder, elbow, whatever, every team’s got it. I mean, the Yankees top two starters are gone. They’re done this year, and they’re Yankees anymore. Well, they went out and got more started, didn’t they? So Gibson, soon maybe. But I again, my point is, your problems are probably just a mirror of everybody else’s. How you gonna deal. We’ll see journalism
Nestor Aparicio 23:54
side of the Justin Tucker thing for you. And I mean, you’ve already said, if you were still with the fan taking phone calls. You’d be taking phone calls. You’d be talking about this. Where are you in Severna Park, out with family sports guy, doing what you do? You do a lot of charity. Do people talk to you about the Justin Tucker thing and on the back end of Ray Rice? And you covered all of that. I’m assuming you were at the press conference. Oh yeah, all of that. Where do you lie on all that a decade later? And you know, seeing what the media’s become, I’ve been thrown out the Tucker thing, how press conferences are handled, how Sashi Brown is doing his song and dance in Florida a couple days ago, and Bucha doesn’t do anything anymore. I mean, the bar has lowered dramatically for 00 tolerance when Ben Cleveland’s out, blowing a, you know, double Deuce and getting signed a couple weeks later, and Tucker’s still on their team right now. I mean, I said to Luke, and this is the first week I’ve turned a little bit they might keep him. They might keep him. I mean, they might weather the storm, as you said earlier, whether you. In it because he’s going to kick for somebody again in this league, he’s not done kick. I
Mark Viviano 25:03
would just say my take on this is, as reporters, commentators, whatever role you have in the media, you have questions, you want answers and you want them now. It’s the third of those that I listed. You want them now that they don’t have an answer now, and I can understand that from their point of view. What is their rush to kick him off the team, if he has come out publicly to say I didn’t do this? Now, the evidence would suggest something untoward happened. The evidence clearly suggests that, but you can’t get rid of him on a suggestion. There has to be a thorough investigation. Is it taking long? Yes. Is it taking longer than many people wish it would? Maybe so, but it’s still got to happen. It’s you got to let this happen. You can’t just your me, I understand there is a vindictive nature of even the hint of him doing this, he should be done with. It’s like you can’t do I understand the emotion, I understand the gravity of the allegation, but you have to let, you have to let them find out exactly what it was, and then move forward. So it’s good to ask questions. It’s good to want answers, but you can’t get them when we want them, because they’re going to tell you when they know. And they may know now, and they’re holding back, I don’t know, but it’s, it’s their entity that they do control it. Do you trust
Nestor Aparicio 26:38
an NFL investigation at this point, I do not a matter of fact, given my circumstance as a media member who was treated the way I was treated, that’s all on the record they were to call me. I don’t know that I trust them to even talk to them. You know what I mean? I based on the Daniel Snyder situation, and based on oral reports and based on John Gray I do not I trust if they found the Jeffrey Epstein files that they would cover it up, I don’t find that they would be forthcoming about anything, because that’s not been my experience with the National
Mark Viviano 27:09
Football. That’s fair to be skeptical, but that’s all we have, right? We have their investigation, unless you like the banner did some hard digging and some that’s real work they did. Now, the allegations out there, there’s not a criminal charge as of now, or anything of that nature. So all we have is that investigation that you don’t trust.
Nestor Aparicio 27:34
I think that’s all we have. You’re saying is what John Harbaugh will say the day. They say Justin Tucker still our kicker, because they can, like everything you’ve just pointed out, they can. There’s no evidence. There’s no this, there’s he said, There’s she said, our investigation turned up, you know, scant actual there’s no Valley. He’s gonna kick for somebody. I mean, I’ve just, I for somebody in the league. He’s not done. And maybe not sure should he be at this point? I don’t even know the the crimes and misdemeanors part of this a decade later. I just know it’s a really sticky circumstance for them, and they haven’t handled these well in the past. And that’s the part where when journalists aren’t invited in, when they’ve taken the tack they’ve taken after Ray Rice with the ownership and leadership. I said to him the other day, I’ve loved the rave. You’ve knew me since the Ravens got here. You knew me before the Ravens got here. I I wanted to love them. I embraced them. I love them. They do things that make it very difficult for me as a journalist, as a fan, as a PSL holder, as a person who’s invested millions of dollars and 1000s of hours in them, you know, they make me ashamed of them sometimes, you know, they really do. I say that out like they make me ashamed of my own book. I wrote a book about their character and their integrity. I stand a little ashamed of that when these things happen, because I do feel like the zero tolerance thing, it’s a front, and I do feel like they wouldn’t have him back to kick even if maybe they knew he did a few bad things, but they weren’t that bad. And immediately,
Mark Viviano 29:04
yeah, I think we’ll find we’re going to find out. And I think your personal experience is different than mine, in terms of, I haven’t run a radio station, been dependent upon a certain I have been dependent upon a certain amount of cooperation and access. I have needed that, but that’s never been questioned based on all
Nestor Aparicio 29:27
of ask is what everybody else gets? He gets access. I don’t. That’s not fair. You got access. I did. That’s not fair. There is no I’ve never asked for anything special. Well,
Mark Viviano 29:37
I that’s I acknowledge your gripe in the situation, I can acknowledge that, and I can see your fight, and I can see your reaction to it, and you voice it very clear that has not been my personal experience. It has not been my professional experience, but I recognize what you’re saying and what you feel and how you doubt and. Distrust and are angry, and you make it very clear, you state your case, you really do.
Nestor Aparicio 30:06
But it’s things like this that do disappoint me, you know, on top of this, oh, they’re sure
Mark Viviano 30:10
everybody has to be disappointed that it’s out there. And
Luke Jones 30:13
I don’t want to get you know, change topics here, but everything that’s going on with the Maryland basketball program, I mean, the word that keeps coming to mind for me, and this is, you know, this, this ties in, because I’ve talked to you a lot about, what do we really put faith isn’t the right word, but in terms of what, what entities in society, what entities in life, do we really invest for a moral compass? Look for something that’s we’re going to invest in? You know, morally, mentally, spiritually, for some
Nestor Aparicio 30:42
something that aligns with our values in our but, I guess, but the
Luke Jones 30:46
word that I’ve come come up with, and you know, this isn’t even Kevin Willard, per se, but just disillusionment. I think about what I used to love about college sports, and let’s be very clear, there was a naivete to that understanding there are millions being made here you have student athletes who are bringing in millions for these schools. Absolutely no problem with them getting their fair share as far as what they generating, but what we’ve come, you know, what it’s become in the opposite direction, where there are no guard rails. I mean, it just college sports to me, and specifically football and basketball. It just feels like minor league basketball and minor league football. Now, where, don’t get me wrong, I love minor league baseball. It’s great to go to a game every now and then. Do I follow it? Do I invest time in it? I don’t. And it just feels like you know, this idea where rosters are going to turn over, a coach is going to leave a power conference school to go to an to go to a big east school where they don’t have to share an IL money with football. I understand why Kevin Willards leaving, how he handled it. I don’t have a whole lot of respect for but just all of that. And this goes with the same thing with the Ravens or any team that acts in a way that disappoints us. We do have to fight that feeling of disillusionment, but also, as I get older, I more selective in what I really put my trust in and what I really look to as something to be a moral compass. Now that doesn’t mean that if someone acts poorly, if an entity behaves poorly, we shouldn’t hold them accountable. But at the same time, I’m also going to recognize I’m not perfect. I can’t recognize that entity to be perfect all the time, and sometimes it’s as simple as I think about being a kid. You know, in hindsight, you know, my biggest heroes were my parents and my grandparents, but at the time, you know, I idolized Cal Ripken. Now I don’t regret that in the way that, you know, you think about a 10 year old. And, you know, I still like to think cow is a very good athletic role model to have. But at the same time, I didn’t know him personally, you know, I didn’t know what he would be doing away from from sports. So, so, you know, I mean, I, I struggle with it, just like you do and but at the same time, I kind of take it for what it is, that it’s entertainment, it’s leisure, it’s a way to spend your disposable income. If you feel that it, if it’s something that is worth it to you, and if an entity doesn’t act in a way that makes it worth it to you, then it’s your choice to to not take part in that anymore. So you know, at some point in time, it’s tough to, you know, to try to hold to a higher standard, but also recognize that it is going to be imperfect, and we’re going to have situations where things aren’t handled perfectly, or maybe individuals who shouldn’t be in positions of power or in power in many walks of life, but I don’t know, like that sense of disillusionment I’m really struggling with in college sports right now. And, you know, I think it, you know, that conversation at least lends itself to what you’re talking about. You know, with
Nestor Aparicio 33:55
Well, yeah, what are our expectations when I did my show, by the way, Lucas here, Mark Vivian, I got to get vivid. Here. We’re at fadelies. He’s got kids to get home. To get home to. I had Papa Joe at Chevalier, who did radio with me at one on one sports. And he was angry during baseball strikes. And he had a voice like this. He wanted to have a fan Bill of Rights, you know. And the fan Bill of Rights, kind of 35 years later, I still hear his voice saying that, and I’m thinking to myself, what, you know, what are, what are we supposed to expect? And the other part is, then, don’t invest in it. And that’s the arrogance of them. If, Hey, you don’t like it, don’t come to the games, right? Or don’t, you don’t like it, don’t watch, right? And that would be true. Nos. Lofgren came on two years ago and said, If the Springsteen tickets are too much, then you just, you’re not going to come. You know, it’s simple as that, and somebody else have to take the ticket. And that’s that. That’s business in America. But the baseball part and the sports part for community, that’s where my Baltimore positive kicks in. My Dundalk kicks in. My dad loved the Orioles because he said Baltimore on it. My dad loved the culture because it said ball. Them were on it, and there was a part of that that they have really lost the short sightedness of the value of community when the Jacksonville Jaguars play half their games on another continent, right? They’re really the Raiders have moved around so much that they’re just a team from outer space without a home, right? That and the Yankees are so large and Duke basketball and some of these entities. You mentioned, EPL soccer. You know what I mean? These Manchester United’s a worldwide, global brand. I don’t know how important they are to the smokestacks of Manchester anymore, right? And that’s part of where it gets out in front of it. We’re giving civic money, by the way, enjoy the press box, dude. By the time vivid gets back to the press box, it’ll be in left field, right they’re gonna be moving to press box.
Mark Viviano 35:42
I haven’t seen the new football one either. The Kevin Byrne little box. It’s up in the corner. I understand that’s okay. These guys are adaptable. I
8Luke Jones 35:50
mean, this was all have to be I remember having a conversation with someone 10 years ago. I said, I mean, this is prime real estate. Like, look, don’t get me wrong, I love sitting here. I’ll be disappointed when it’s moved. I also am not naive enough to recognize that, you know, I’m only a small part of this. Now, you know, that’s not to say there isn’t an important place for media, but we also need to have some self awareness and saying, Yeah, this is their place, that it’s a business for them, and this is prime real estate, and we can still do our job, because the point you were making earlier, even sitting right behind home plate, I still can evaluate how a pitcher is really throwing the ball way better on TV than I can sitting in the press box. So I even sound self contradictory if I’m going to complain about it too much, but I will miss the view, because it’s a beautiful view. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 36:36
last thing I’d say VIB is, what good is the media if they’re not going to answer the questions anyway, they’re going
Mark Viviano 36:41
to answer them on their time, because they control the message now more than ever. And I think that can be a source of the frustration for those of us who want the answers now. They wanted our time. They’re going to control it. I just
Nestor Aparicio 36:52
wanted to be honest. That’s all. That’s really the issue. Well, I want some integrity. That’s been the disappointment for me.
Mark Viviano 36:58
That’s a fair ask. And if, if, when you get the answer, you don’t feel it’s honest, then there’s another question that should follow. And there should be there they should be held accountable if, in fact, that becomes the case, and then that’s that’s our job. That’s our job for the people. They control the message. Yet, oftentimes a message has to pass through your microphone, or used to be my microphone, and then it’s left for us to distill what that is, how true it is, and present it in a manner that may offer more questions. It never ends, and that’s okay. We
Nestor Aparicio 37:31
had a wild thing happen the other day that he and I talked about when they moved the opening day. They moved opening day, back an hour and looks like why do I need to send the text out. Every person that bought a ticket has a digital ticket. They have their email, they have their number, they’re just going to directly hit them and say, if it had been three hours, I would have sent it out, because that drastically would have changed people’s plans. But half an hour, it was kind of like, I think anyone that that’s going to really matter for will know, is going to know, because they have, they’re in touch with their customer, which is good for them. They should be very good. Mark Vivian has got children. He’s got little league. He’s got crab cake. Take home responsibilities here today. Luke Jones is gonna stick around. Ron Cassie will be here for Baltimore magazine. I’m looking forward to having Ron and Luke get together and talk a little baseball as well. If I love you man, you’re, you know, like once in all these years, once a year, same time next year. You know you love me once a year, but I listen to you guys all the time.
Mark Viviano 38:25
Why? Why? Because you’re different. Because
Nestor Aparicio 38:28
looks good. You’re different. I like to sample
Mark Viviano 38:30
nice contrast. You guys are a great contrast. And I especially like Luke, if that matters to you.
Nestor Aparicio 38:38
I knew it, I knew it. I knew it. You like me when I get him. The crowd checks in the mail. Luke’s coming back from them. Is getting out of here. I’m sticking around. It’s all brought to you by the mayor. On the lottery. Have the magic eight ball scratch offs. Have a handful of these. Once these are gone, Roz, send help. We’re going to be at Costas next Friday, honoring the life of Mr. Costas. We’re going to be at the Beaumont the week after that on the 1817 don’t quote me on this. We’re going to be at Cooper’s pub on Wednesday the 23rd don’t quote me on that. And the 30th, I know we’re going to be at Cocos on the 30th as well. Jamie Costello is coming out. I’m getting all the washed up retired, hanging out, playing Little League, hanging with their children. Bring it. You guys worked your ass off. You did all everywhere I was, you were and all those years and more, once they let you in and didn’t let me. So the fact that you’re off being happy when I see you on the internet, and why don’t everybody move to Anne Arundel County, you Jamie, you’re always happy on the internet with your children. It’s
Mark Viviano 39:33
all good children. It’s just a It’s the greatest blessing God has given me. Amen. It’s the best plug all your charities. Tell
Nestor Aparicio 39:39
everybody how they can help you out on Tuesday morning feeding beautiful people. Feeding beautiful people
Mark Viviano 39:43
in Baltimore, all right, st Casimir church in Canton, drop off lunches with Hey, Bologna and cheese sandwich, chips and another baloney.
Nestor Aparicio 39:52
Call it mortadella. Sound better, and we
Mark Viviano 39:56
gather them up, take them to helping up mission and the beans and bread. Uh, the at St John, the evangelist in Severna Park, there is a food pantry there. Hey, if you need it, find food there. If you can donate, donate.
Nestor Aparicio 40:11
Talk about food insecurity all month in February. And it’s such a people give it Christmas, and then they forget. And people need food all year long. These food pantries need help, period. Maryland Food Bank,
Mark Viviano 40:21
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Monday May the 19th. Go to FCA baltimore.com. Get more information. That’s their gala event. Go ahead. Frank Kelly will be there to get everything in case cares. Casey cares. Oh, the case he cares. 5k at the zoo is coming up in August.
Nestor Aparicio 40:38
Zoo, yeah, I’m having the zoo on today. I’m having mike over from the zoo. We’re going to talk about the spring lights,
Mark Viviano 40:44
the place to do it. Man, I saw the leopard. I think the Brigance race is also at the zoo. Don’t quote me, but I think it is. That’s a
Nestor Aparicio 40:52
you take your niece to the zoo yet, dude, I don’t know. No, you have, I have not you’re taking, that’s it. Luke’s taking his niece. Niece is he’s got two little one won’t remember but, but Scarlet will be fine with she afraid animals. Oh, she
Luke Jones 41:04
loves animals. She’s She reminds me of my dad’s mom, who was the biggest animals person ever. We’ll get over
Nestor Aparicio 41:12
to the Maryland Zoo. Viv, you support everything he’s doing. He’s one of the good you’re one of the good ones. Viv,
Mark Viviano 41:19
we’re all good inside. We just got to let it out. Right, right, right. Luke, amen. God bless you, brother.
Nestor Aparicio 41:23
Don’t tell Katie Griggs that I am Nestor. We’re back here at fadelies. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Luke’s going to hang out and have crab cakes. Viv is going to take crab cakes home, and I’m going to be honored to send them back. For more on Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.
