Judge not lest ye be judged unless you’re in the Olympics and judges play a key role every time America looks up to the five rings of justice. Leonard Raskin and Nestor discuss the early part of the Milan Olympic dreams and the Orioles’ winter hopes as spring has sprung in Sarasota for baseball in Baltimore.
Nestor Aparicio and Leonard Raskin discussed the upcoming baseball season, noting the Orioles’ $170 million payroll, a 12% increase from the previous year. They highlighted the $18.5 million contract of a non-young pitcher. The conversation also covered the Super Bowl, praising the Seahawks’ defense and criticizing the Steelers’ coaching choices. They reminisced about meeting Mike McCarthy at an NFL owners meeting. The discussion shifted to the Olympics, debating the legitimacy of judged sports. They concluded with optimism about the Orioles’ season, predicting 90 wins, and discussed the high cost of premium club seats at Orioles games.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Provide regular updates to the audience about WNST text service developments and related baseball/free agency news (keep listeners abreast via the show and tech channels)
Super Bowl Recap and Football Reflections
- Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST AM 1570, mentioning Valentine’s weekend and the upcoming spring training.
- Nestor and Leonard Raskin discuss the Super Bowl, with Nestor praising the Seahawks’ defensive performance and Leonard sharing his experiences with Steelers fans.
- Leonard reflects on Mike McCarthy’s success and the anonymity of Mike McDonald, sharing a personal story about meeting McDonald at an NFL owners’ meeting.
- Nestor recounts a memorable night at an NFL owners’ meeting, where he met various coaches and executives, including Mike McDonald.
Olympic Hockey and Winter Sports
- Nestor and Leonard shift the conversation to the Olympics, discussing the US women’s hockey team’s undefeated run and the men’s team’s first game.
- Leonard mentions the pairing of Tom Wilson with the Canadian Olympic team and the physicality expected in the games.
- Nestor shares his wife’s enthusiasm for hockey and the Olympics, and they discuss the excitement around the US women’s hockey team.
- Leonard expresses his enjoyment of speed skating and the performances of Dutch and Norwegian skaters, mentioning an Olympic record set by a US skater.
Olympic Judging and Personal Opinions
- Nestor and Leonard debate the legitimacy of judged sports in the Olympics, with Nestor arguing that judged sports are not “real” sports.
- Leonard counters that while he doesn’t call judged sports “not a sport,” he believes relying on judges for favorable results is foolish.
- Nestor shares a story about a headline questioning the integrity of Olympic judges, reinforcing his skepticism.
- Leonard and Nestor discuss the broader implications of judged sports, with Leonard suggesting that performance art might be a more accurate term.
Baseball Season and Ticket Prices
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the upcoming baseball season, with Nestor expressing optimism about the Orioles’ prospects.
- Leonard shares his approach to attending baseball games, preferring to go when the team is winning and avoiding giveaway nights.
- Nestor mentions his plans to attend an Orioles game on March 26, noting the average daily temperature for that date.
- Leonard and Nestor discuss the high cost of premium club seats at Orioles games, with Leonard expressing skepticism about the demand for such expensive tickets.
Competition and Marketing Strategies
- Leonard explains that the Orioles’ competition isn’t just other sports teams but also attractions like Disney World and Harley Davidson.
- Nestor shares an anecdote about Katie Griggs, the Orioles’ president, emphasizing her belief that the Orioles’ competition is the couch.
- Leonard and Nestor discuss the challenges of attracting fans to games, with Leonard noting the high cost of attending events like Disney World.
- Nestor mentions the importance of making baseball games accessible and visible, comparing it to the ubiquity of football games on TV.
Orioles’ Chances and Betting Odds
- Nestor and Leonard debate the Orioles’ chances of winning the World Series, with Leonard noting the team’s high payroll and new acquisitions.
- Nestor shares his belief that the Orioles will win 90 games this season, influenced by the addition of a new pitcher.
- Leonard provides betting odds for the Orioles’ wins and World Series chances, noting the long odds but the potential for a significant payout.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the strategy of betting on the Orioles, with Leonard advising caution and Nestor expressing optimism about the team’s prospects.
Financial Advice and Legacy Planning
- Leonard shares his approach to financial planning, emphasizing the importance of protecting, saving, and investing money.
- Nestor humorously advises listeners not to bet on the Orioles to win the World Series, citing the team’s recent streak of losses.
- Leonard explains the importance of transferring wealth to future generations and ensuring a lasting legacy.
- Nestor and Leonard conclude the discussion by reiterating the importance of financial planning and responsible decision-making.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Olympic dreams, Orioles hopes, Super Bowl, Mike McCarthy, financial advice, baseball season, payroll increase, hockey pairing, judging controversy, speed skating, World Baseball Classic, ticket prices, Orioles’ chances, gambling odds, wealth transfer.
8
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Leonard Raskin
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively, getting through a Valentine’s weekend. Let’s see. We got Friday the 13th, Valentine’s weekend, and when we all wake up from this nightmare, we’ve been playing baseball. Next week, spring training time, we’ll have free agency ahead. Luke will keep you abreast of everything going on on the wnst tech service, all brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. We have great sponsors around him. We have new sponsors around him. We have old sponsors around here. And this guy doesn’t even wait for like, tax season. He’s here all the time to help you out with financial advice, some creativity, legal creativity as well. We welcome Leonard Raskin back on our defensive, champion of all things money and the American dream. And Raskin global, of course. And are you dreaming baseball at all yet? I mean, like, I the football thing goes 90 night, like right now for a minute or three, like it does in the summer, where nothing here is going to happen for at least a little bit. And the baseball thing, I mean, 18 and a half million dollars on a pitcher Valentine, one
Leonard Raskin 01:07
season a pitcher that’s not young, that’s not a stud, he’s just a guy.
Nestor Aparicio 01:13
8But I know math, and you know math better than me. You had $150 million payroll become $170 million payroll. I said to Luke, they added 12% to the books to number three story, kind of, sort of, right?
Leonard Raskin 01:27
They got to have it. Look. They got to have it. But before, real quick, before we leave football, the Super Bowl, because we haven’t spoken, I don’t think since Seahawks put on a clinic on defense, they played an amazing game. Look like the old ravens of old. And just just to share, been in some business meetings this week, and I have had some fun with some Steeler fans. I just want to wrap that conversation. A lot of them that I’m talking to are not happy with their choice of a head coach, nor his choice of assistant coaches. So that said, it’ll be fun to watch.
Nestor Aparicio 02:07
He’s won a lot more games than they have. Mike McDonald, McCarthy, McCarthy’s and
Leonard Raskin 02:13
McCarthy, no, you’re absolutely right, yeah, but, but it’ll be fun to see, and kudos since I haven’t had chance to say it on the air to Mr. McDonald, did a heck of a job. Stood in there two years in. And I think one of the things that struck my brain in the think it was the post game ESPN I picked up on they said, This is a guy who just won a Super Bowl that nobody knows who he is. If he sat next to you on a plane, you would, you wouldn’t have a clue. He, he might probably not. I was gonna say he might be able to walk down the street in Seattle and people not know.
8Nestor Aparicio 02:54
I’ve had one conversation in my life with Mike McDonald. It was that infamous night two years ago when he first took the job, when Luke and I when Angelos died, and Luke and I were in Florida doing the Oriole thing, and the NFL owners meetings were there. Luke went to the meetings. They locked me out. But that doesn’t lock me out of the bar or, of course, not, right? So we were in the hotel that I have been in five different times for NFL owners, sure, sure. And I knew the late, it’s Orlando. It’s right on the John Paul, sure, the Ritz Carlton, big thing. It’s two hotels connected, so, yeah, and it’s got a breezeway that, you know, like this beautiful place, right? Stunning. It looks like it’s sort of out of a European cliff and parked on a freeway in the middle of Orlando. So we went to this thing, and there’s a big bar that I’ve been at a million times. And here’s the cool part, Luke and I are hanging it’s 11 o’clock at night because people I saw Jim Harbaugh that night. I saw John Harbaugh that night. Yeah, I saw Eric Decosta and Steve bishati, who was having a glass of wine. And yeah, it’s like they blew me off. But about an hour before that happened, we went into the bar, and there’s all of these people. Troy Aikman was there. Antonio Pierce, I’m giving names here, Sean Payton. There were a lot of coaches, a lot of famous people, all head coaches and general manager types and owners. Mr. Biggs there. Jerry Jones is there. Robert Kraft is there. Like, Spanish is there? Jerry Jones’s kid. I remember seeing him come in with a with a really nice bottle of Cabernet so McDonald’s at the bar, and I’m with Luke. And, like, I know a lot more people than Luke, because I’ve been doing this a lot longer that set of people, sure. And we walked in and Mike McDonald’s my size, he’s five. Yeah, yeah, not a big guy. And amidst this sea of expensive drinks and gold this, and in glass that, and marble this, and few. Amos Troy, Aikman, six, five, looking like he could still play, right? Yep. Luke sees Mike McDonald through the crowd, and they light up, right? I know you, Mike McDonald. Know anybody either, right? And Luke and Mike are like, hey, hey, hey. And next thing you know, we’re at the bar, drinking, talking about doing a radio show in Seattle with Mike McDonald, and that’s how anonymous he was. In the whole room of people nobody knew Luke was the only one who knew him. He only knew Luke because of Baltimore, you know, because he only hasn’t been anywhere else, right? He hasn’t been in other coaching trees. He hasn’t been trying to get a job with anybody else because he’s waiting for John and Jim. He’s never needed a job. He’s never had to hire coaches or like so
Leonard Raskin 05:45
he was, they say he was thinking about, you know, quitting. He didn’t. He wouldn’t get a stick in the sport, you know, he was going to be done. Good for him. Got a Gatorade bath, wins a Super Bowl, gets a ring, says all the right things, and then what? 10 minutes later, loses his offensive coordinator to the Raiders.
Nestor Aparicio 06:04
Well, I mean, that’s what it always is, you know, right? I’m not gonna let him bring a truck here, back all my coaches into it at the end of the year.
Leonard Raskin 06:10
8But they did, they did, and they do, and that’s good for them. So good for him.
Nestor Aparicio 06:16
Should be so lucky is that, you know, Anthony leads them to some place,
Leonard Raskin 06:20
job, or, right two years we’re in the Super Bowl when
Nestor Aparicio 06:24
29 let him turn 30 before you make him a head coach.
8Leonard Raskin 06:27
Declan. There you go. There you go. But in the meantime, football’s over. As I look out my trusty window, I still see many inches of snow and ice on the ground. We haven’t had a warm day yet. However, I am getting ready to well first before I’m going all in on baseball, getting ready for a little Olympic hockey. I hear
Nestor Aparicio 06:51
Kenny, that’s what’s coming. My wife was watching and Finland the other day. Like, literally, yeah, hey. And she’s like, it’s the third period. I’m not going anywhere because, you know, my wife loves There you go. My wife’s two things, hockey and the Olympics. So it doesn’t together.
Leonard Raskin 07:07
The US women. Us women, straight up, won every game, beat the Canadians five. Nothing kind of stunning. But as we speak, the men are taking the ice in their first round game. The Canadian men have taken the ice in their first round game. I think it’s interesting the world, though not the world, the hockey world. Let’s rephrase that, the hockey world is stunned at the pairing on the Canadian team of Tom Wilson on the top line for the Canadian Olympic team.
Nestor Aparicio 07:47
8Well, they want to throw the elbows. What they want to do, they will
Leonard Raskin 07:49
play right? They want to protect they want to protect it in the game, because they know the US is coming and the game’s going to get rugged out there.
Nestor Aparicio 07:57
Well, my wife saw Slovakia and Finland shoving each other around. I’m like, Yeah, been in a fight since the Vikings.
Leonard Raskin 08:04
Man, right. Come on, stop. Come on. They don’t want to fight. Who Are they kidding?
8Nestor Aparicio 08:09
I know your wife to the Olympics chat. Or no,
Leonard Raskin 08:13
no, she’s that’s not a thing. Oh,
Nestor Aparicio 08:15
okay. I thought the ice skating and the thing, yeah,
Leonard Raskin 08:19
8little here and there, a little here and there, but not, not as big as
Nestor Aparicio 08:24
my wife’s got the peacock app, and I’ve been, well, you know, not at all. I have the world’s biggest crush on Lindsay zarniak, so she’s on all day long now, Katherine, tap in like I’m all peacocked out around here, you know,
Leonard Raskin 08:36
there you go. There you go. Well, I’ve watched, I’ve enjoyed the always enjoy the speed skating. You know, played hockey as a little kid. I loved skating. I loved the speed skating and the what is it, the gals from the Netherlands, and the guys Norway, the Norway guys, but the US kid came through and put Olympic record up, and Paulo
Nestor Aparicio 09:01
Ono on the show. I’ve had a few Olympics. You
8Leonard Raskin 09:05
got to think back. You got to think back for us. I’m trying to remember the year. You probably know it. But remember when Eric Hyden, 8488 was in the 80s when he tanked and just, oh, the whole
Nestor Aparicio 09:17
world maybe that might have encountered.
Leonard Raskin 09:20
It was such a sad thing. And then he came back in the next Olympics and kicked ass. I was
Nestor Aparicio 09:26
8talking the other day with Steve Gorman from the black crows and from how Al, how about the 72 Munich Olympics? We’re the same age, right? So, like, that was like the first tragedy of television and Watergate and right? Like when you’re a kid, to Jim McKay not understanding it when you’re a little boy. So even like Nadia Comaneci and yeah, Fleming and Mark Absolutely Jenner and just all of that 70s. And, you know, I feel about Mary Lou we’ve talked, yeah.
Leonard Raskin 09:57
Well, there you go. Well, you know. Know, right? And so we’re watching, I’m gonna enjoy some men’s Olympic hockey. I’m watching the women’s Olympic hockey. And like I said, I love the speed skating. I’m not a figure skating guy much. I’d like to see the US win, because, you know, for for a couple weeks, we can all just be Americans.
Nestor Aparicio 10:15
So I’m gonna go in your side the political fence here and make an argument with you, just to make one. But my wife and I have this household argument that happens every Yeah, go ahead. Olympics happens. Okay, sure, sure, sure. Totally gonna make me a jerk on the radio. It’s fine, I say to my wife, and this is really how I feel. This is not I’ve been saying this forever, yeah, if the sport is judged, yes, it’s not a sport. Well, then, and like, I get into this fight with her, because I I send her a purgative text personally from office, and we work in the same place, but like, I bother her she, she can’t Right, right, right? So I text her, and I literally text her a screenshot. And this is that. This is the headline, all right? Leonard, yep, Olympic judge who cost Madison choc and Evan Bates gold has history of questionable scores. And the subhead is, there’s some serious funny business going on. It’s an SB Nation headline. So it’s Yeah, but I said to my wife, literally,
Leonard Raskin 11:24
everybody except the judges, thought they won.
8Nestor Aparicio 11:28
I screenshot it, and I sent it to my wife, and I said, and you can fight with me and the Internet fight with me if you’re Leonard’s I wrote to her, not a sport. Exclamation point, right? Always the same old ish spelled a little differently, right? So I sent that to her and to me, I’m we’re four days into the Olympic Let’s go. There’s gonna be a headline about judges screwing somebody. Yeah, let’s and that’s been going. It’s not even an inside joke forever, like it is the Olympics. It’s the corruption of the Olympics, and it’s the corruption of anything. It isn’t with a stopwatch or friggin put the ball in the back at an editor, put the puck in it back at a goal.
Leonard Raskin 12:13
I would say it like this. I don’t, so maybe we’re semantics here. I wouldn’t say, I would not say it’s not a sport, but I would say you’re an idiot if you spend your entire life for three minutes and rely on somebody else to tell you if you produce the favorable reason.
Nestor Aparicio 12:32
Greg Lou this jumps off the thing, and he doing a triple Lindy pub. And they’re like, 10, nine, eight. I’m like, Okay, I know you’re scientists and all this, but also like fights that go 15 rounds and we’re gonna 10 round, 10, nine, nine till the man is knocked out. Cool. What? Listen, I have no problem to be in the Olympics. I have no problem my wife likes it. I have no problem that the girls and boys do it. I have no problem that they even themselves to cheat, although I do, I always
Leonard Raskin 13:07
8call it a sport. I wouldn’t say it’s not a sport. I wouldn’t say it’s not a well, maybe it’s performance art. We should change it to that.
Nestor Aparicio 13:14
It’s a judge, it’s a competition, it’s a That’s exactly right. It’s a recital, it’s a dance recital,
Leonard Raskin 13:21
when he’s that high bar with a pole vault, there’s a measure. No, nobody judges how you went over the bar. Thank you. Didn’t go over the bar. Did you grass this? That’s a sport. That’s right. Did you? That’s my point about the speed skating. You were the
Nestor Aparicio 13:38
fast somebody telling me how I did. It’s not it, ain’t it. I’m just saying, I call it what I put in the Olympic day. I’m just saying I’ve done sports for a living for 35 years. And it’s not like, yep, Pete Alonso looked really good at that at bat, or he didn’t hit it exactly
8Leonard Raskin 14:03
measurable results like, well, the
Nestor Aparicio 14:04
referees and the umpires. And I’m like, it doesn’t count. That’s not part of my argument.
Leonard Raskin 14:09
No, that’s not how the score. So now
Nestor Aparicio 14:13
8this is gone. So Kathy
Leonard Raskin 14:16
thinks Kathy would disagree with you that it’s a sport, but what she would say is it’s fixed.
Nestor Aparicio 14:23
Oh, NFL. So, right? I mean,
Leonard Raskin 14:26
well, she does, no, I don’t know. She does okay. She believes, she believes the referees in the NFL are corrupt. She believes that the judging in the Olympics is anti American. Now more than ever. I don’t know if it’s now more than ever. I think it’s just always well,
8Nestor Aparicio 14:41
since 9% of the audience here, of Ravens fans, they think it’s fixed, and the Ravens are always once getting screwed, right? That’s what most NFL fans think.
Leonard Raskin 14:50
But if you went around the country, yes, if you went around the country, wouldn’t that be the way everybody feels correct? So I was at, I was at a conference once, and. The guy, one of the guys leading the conference, was in charge of catering. He was in charge of food service at a senior center and and he said, people were always complaining about the food. They were always complaining about the vegetables. They were always complaining about the, you know, at dinner, the vegetables. So he he got 10 of them. He said, put them in a room, all 10 of them, the you know, the 10 people did a little survey with them. And he said, would you think of the these vegetables? And he said, five of them thought they were undercooked. Five of them thought they were overcooked. He said, None of you complain about the food ever again. So there you go. Everybody thinks the game’s rigged, and everybody thinks it’s rigged against them, which means it’s either not rigged or it’s perfectly rigged, and we’re all just idiots.
Nestor Aparicio 15:50
They all think I suck, and then they put lock and four on, and they come back and they’re like, Oh, you guys are saying the same thing. Maybe we’re not wrong, maybe we’re not right. Letter asking, is here, maybe we’re the judges of this. I hold my card up for you. Sashi. Brad mark, fine, 0.0 Katie Griggs, 0.1 because she smiled at me once. Let her ask baseball season, man, we got to do baseball.
Leonard Raskin 16:16
8I have a no. Dean, blue talk, not deep blue talk. Dina wormer, Team warmer, Mr. Blue. Tarski, 0.0
Nestor Aparicio 16:28
patron, can see that was life. That was
Leonard Raskin 16:31
a sport. That was a sport, and he was judged by perfect grades, perfect average. Where are
Nestor Aparicio 16:38
you on the Orioles, man, are you buying tickets yet? No, all right,
8Leonard Raskin 16:42
opening day. I haven’t gone to opening day since I was much younger, because I don’t want to sit out in the cold on opening day, and sometimes it’s a magnificent, beautiful, perfect day, and I missed it. I’ll survive. I will go. I will go in the summer. I will absolutely go to a number of games. And I hate to say it, but on baseball, I have become a fair weather fan. If they’re winning, I’ll go more. I’m not going for giveaway nights. I’m going to watch team play ball on a nice summer Friday evening or spring Sunday afternoon. I like that. A fall Sunday afternoon, I’ll do that, and until I can’t get a ticket, I’ll just get tickets when I want to go, and when I can’t get tickets, I’ll worry about it. But that hasn’t happened in a long time.
Nestor Aparicio 17:36
You know, I love Buddhism, and I love Buddhist monks, and the Buddhist monks, sure, with a low key literally, a few hours ago as we record this, and I didn’t go because there’s 29 degrees so, you know, I mean, had they come through on a 64 degree day in Annapolis, I probably would have put a jacket on. Not probably, I definitely, I didn’t go because of the weather opening day. I’ve got it on March 26 I have written all your record to my dear friend Dave shining, formerly of the Washington Post. Because everybody’s formerly the Washington Post, they’re all Twinkies. Are coming in on a 42 degree cloudy day, looking to disappoint Kyle Bradish and the a lot. So I have the over under 42 degrees on March. There you go. I mean, I haven’t even done, like, what is the median temperature on right way? I probably could do that in
Leonard Raskin 18:23
my AI. So, so the league is starting earlier and still going longer.
Nestor Aparicio 18:28
8Now, they kind of knock it off at the end of September, because they got so much October. They got to get in, you know, right?
Leonard Raskin 18:34
But I’m just saying, you know, they’re it’s long, and now we’ve got the now, what I do like, I like the World Baseball Classic. I like that the international
Nestor Aparicio 18:44
Venezuela was playing so, you know, I like it, you know.
Leonard Raskin 18:46
And last time the the end of the game, the big game, winning game was the Japanese us, right? And Shohei. Shohei struck out. Help me, Angels in the Outfield. Trout didn’t Is that what happened? Show me, struck out trout. I don’t watch
8Nestor Aparicio 19:09
it as much. And I remember big out the catch with the
Leonard Raskin 19:13
thing that was, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I like, I like the Ryder Cup. I like international competition with teams. It’s good stuff,
Nestor Aparicio 19:22
by the way. Average daily temperature on March 26 in Baltimore, Maryland, approximately 44 to 46 Well, there you go. There’s your
Leonard Raskin 19:30
8I took the under. I took 42 you took the under 42
Nestor Aparicio 19:34
No, no, 42 is the under. If it’s 40 if the average,
Leonard Raskin 19:38
no, I’m saying if you were I took
Nestor Aparicio 19:40
42 take
8Leonard Raskin 19:42
the under. Right? Under, 44 to 46 Okay, 4445
Nestor Aparicio 19:47
46 is a push. Anything over to win, anything under is a down. And keeping in mind that you know, if it’s 45 at game time, it probably was 36 when you went out in the morning to have a beard
Leonard Raskin 19:59
two Darn. Early, too, not early for me to go to a game. You know, no reason used to. I used to be a lot younger, and I used to go,
Nestor Aparicio 20:08
8you manage money for people, right? To get them rich. So when they get well, I just got this in from a buddy of mine, because I let him know about my press application with the order, oh, there you go. So he says it’s $38,000 for one seat in the premium club, which he called a glorified doctor’s office lobby, which was less than ideal. He thought he’s a salesman. He thought that was less than ideal as a product. So as a product, can I can I literally ask you. I mean, I don’t want to you go to some of these events that they lock me out of on courses, and it’s $100 for lunch, and their CEO this and all of that. So you can say hello to Doug and all those guys for me, but that’s where they’re shopping. Last month, I met Katie Griggs. I think I told you this, right? Yeah, met Katie Griggs. I met Mark fine. I met Don Roback. I got out of bed. Mike Tish, thank you. Yeah, really good people. You know, they are, right, yeah, Hunt Valley, they came out and did a breakfast for 250 people, and they’re trying to sell tickets. I mean, that’s what they’re trying
Leonard Raskin 21:11
to they have exactly. They’re trying to get people in like, five or 10
Nestor Aparicio 21:15
grand to put up, their their their thing, and they’re going to try to sell tickets. $38,000 is the price for a season ticket. This is, they don’t talk to me. So I am alleging, I guess, at this point, right? But I’m getting somebody on the inside $38,000 that’s make $76,000 for two seats in the premier club. Buck and a half, if you want four. So you got every game, right?
Leonard Raskin 21:39
38 38,000 Yeah, first season and we got how many games? 162 Yeah. $234 a game,
8Nestor Aparicio 21:50
okay, $234
Leonard Raskin 21:52
a game. I mean, that’s a raven’s price for eight games, not 162 who’s buying these in Baltimore?
Nestor Aparicio 22:03
That That’s why I brought it up with you. You meet affluent people. You meet wealthy people. Yes, you meet people of means, you you’re on golf courses, you’re with charities, you handle a lot of money to anybody like me, like you talk, right? But what I’m saying you’ve lived here your whole life. You’ve lived on the west side of town. I’ve lived on the east side of town. I live on the north side of town. I live downtown. I’ve been in baseball my whole life. My last name zaparicio. I’ve owned a sports entity that they don’t recognize for 35 years, and I all I do is talk to white people, black people, old people, Jewish people, Christian people, non believers. I talk to people every I talk to baseball fans. I’ve been talking to baseball fans here all of my life, professionally, four plus years, all I got. I haven’t met this person yet. I you know what I mean, Baltimore, a couple of businesses, fine, but they’re already buying club seats. They’ve already been buying club seats. If they go to games they want to sit down on the field, like all of that stuff.
Leonard Raskin 22:58
8They press where’s this new? Okay, that’s the area behind home plate press box seats. Yeah, Luke Joe, you know what’s interesting? I mean, I don’t know anybody doing it. It’s it’s interesting because this year, the Ravens came up with this whole new end zone box, field box, you
Nestor Aparicio 23:18
fancy the game from there, by the worst.
Leonard Raskin 23:22
A, but B. I watched all year. I never saw more than three people in the section. It was at the Ravens selling it to it was empty. Ravens selling tickets, one to 50 bucks. But I’m saying I don’t know what they were selling for, but it was empty. So the price point was not sufficient to attract interest.
Nestor Aparicio 23:43
People all get together down in Florida at these at these meetings, comes in from Harvard, and they put something in a computer that says to them, the AI says that we have 2.4 million people the median income. And then Dick Cass would sit out there with with tears in his eyes, saying, We we’re not the upper quartile of top 500 fortune 500 we know the black and Deckers and the Under Armours, and you know, there’s only so many of those titties you can drink from. There’s only so many constellation energies. That’s exactly so many.
8Leonard Raskin 24:12
And the war machine, however many people look I just, I don’t pay to play. I don’t get it. It’s pay to play. And here’s the thing that you got to realize that they’re in competition with everybody. I think one of the things that they think as owners is that their competition is down in DC, the Nationals, or in Philly, you know the Phillies, but it’s not or the Yankees or Red Sox. It’s not. I’ll give you an example I was in. You’re talking about this meeting I was in. So I work with a marketing guy who spent 12 years in the executive team at Disney World, Walt Disney World. He always tells me it’s Walt Disney World, not Disney. World anyway. I don’t know if you’re if you know this, if your listeners know this, to get into disney world right now is almost $200 a day. I went last year. It was 180 bucks, right? $200 a day. Family of four, that’s 800 bucks to walk in. You go for three days, four days, $3,000 you got to get there. You got to stay somewhere, you got to eat and you got to buy every little thing that your little darling and dude want walking around the park. You’re talking about a $10,000 week. That’s what you get away with, and that’s their competition. Because if mom wants to take kids to Disney World, Dad wants to go to the Orioles, guess what? You’re going to Disney World. You’re not getting $38,000 for a press box seat for the season. And you know who else is their competition? Harley Davidson is their competition. I don’t see a lot of people, although you might. I guess you could walking around with sleeves, you know, tattoos, yeah, of the Orioles, but you see Harley Davidson on there, Katie Disney characters
Nestor Aparicio 26:17
on there. I hate to see Katie Griggs speak. And yeah, gone to see Katie Griggs speak, and I shook Katie Griggs hand, and both times she has an elevator speech, it was pretty much same speech, right? Her elevator speech is this. She looks at you with all the conviction of a of a Ivy League grad and says, Yeah, my competition is not the because they asked her about the ravens, right? No, no, competition is not the Ravens. My competition is not the capitals or Maryland or right. Competition is your couch. That’s her that’s her line. That’s true. Her line is getting you off of your couch.
Leonard Raskin 26:56
That is a good game on TV. With more and more technology, I can have a beautiful big screen TV on my patio in the spring, sit home, crack some crabs, watch the game for less than I can go to the game.
Nestor Aparicio 27:14
8It’s $99
Leonard Raskin 27:16
for for your son, who’s over and where is he? Where’s he Where is he going now? Your kid, where’s he? He’s not going anywhere right now. He’s home graduated. He’s graduated from Trinity and waiting for PhD.
Nestor Aparicio 27:27
Yeah, he can. He can suck off of your mass and cable bill this summer. But if he went from somewhere else, it’s $99 to have the games like Luke’s mother, Pennsylvania, or anybody you know who doesn’t have Yeah, it’s $99 for the season. I thought that was really fairly priced and smart. But I also think like it is a decision not so it’s less than $1 a game to have the games right way. That’s great. I think their biggest problem is your son not having the games and not caring about the games. And when it comes time, he’ll say, I’m not buying it for 99 and then the season goes and maybe you give him 20 bucks in July if you start to watch the games or whatever you’re going to do. My thing with them is they’ve tourniqueted When we were kids, they would put some of the games on regular TV. But Brooks, yeah, sure, we got into the soap opera. You know what I mean? Vince McMahon put the wrestling on at four o’clock on Saturday, yeah? So people would watch. He bought an infomercial, right? That’s right, I don’t know where that entry point is for baseball when it’s not ubiquitous, when the game’s not just on in the bar. And we had, I told you about that Apple TV thing in Toronto last year, where the team that was in the World Series, the games weren’t on anywhere in the city, because Apple TV had the second game of the year when I was up a truck, I’m in Toronto, and the game was three blocks away, and I could pay 19 bucks and go down there if I wanted to, but I could not watch the game in Toronto that night.
Leonard Raskin 29:00
Yeah, yeah, crazy. This is how they’re doing it. They they have figured out a model that makes them a lot of money, clearly, and they’re saying, if we get a few people to come and pick up that ticket, we win. Okay, great. You know, lots of businesses have made the decision to raise prices and drive away some people. That’s part of marketing. You attract the people you want and you repel the people you don’t. Why was repelled this week? Oh, well, that’s a that’s a whole, yeah, we’ll take a break on that.
8Nestor Aparicio 29:36
Are you optimistic about them? I mean, just as a fan watching that, do you expect them to be good this year, Luke and I have been debating this and
Leonard Raskin 29:43
irrelevant summer they better be. I mean, look, I think the last season was, was injury, hell, they were hurt big time. So if they’re healthy, they got to be better. And as. Always they’re fighting with the Yankees and the Red Sox. But you can’t, you can’t claim that fighting with the Yankees and Red Sox is an impediment to winning when Tampa wins or Toronto wins. So you can’t say that. Well, Toronto, they all have plenty money. But I’m saying they all have plenty money. And guess what, so does. Mr. David Rubenstein Stein, Mr. Rubenstein has lots of money, and he says he’s not afraid to spend it. He bought Pete Alonso. Pete loves Baltimore. I don’t know if Pete has ever been to Baltimore, but from everything I hear, he loves it here, and he can’t wait to win with these guys, and I hope they do. I would love to go to playoff baseball. I’d love to go to World Series Baseball. I think it’d be fantastic. I’d figure out how to get a ticket if that happens.
Nestor Aparicio 30:45
Nestor, 14th, right now, in payroll, $200 million active, 175 million. All right, let’s go to this route.
Leonard Raskin 30:53
814th, yes, let’s go this route before the season. In what was August? I guess the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots were was it 60 to one or 600
Nestor Aparicio 31:10
to one? It was a lot. The Patriots were way out.
Leonard Raskin 31:14
Both of them were about the same. I don’t know if it was 60 or 600
Nestor Aparicio 31:17
won 10 games last year. The Patriots won three or forward, right, right?
8Leonard Raskin 31:21
But they were both long, long, long shots. So let’s go to the experts. What does Vegas say are the odds for the Orioles to
Nestor Aparicio 31:33
get in last week, and this yes to the soul of a former gambler who worked for me, who would fly to Vegas every weekend in the old days, and walk up and down the strip and say, What do you have the Orioles at, what do you have the Orioles at, well, right here in 86 over at the MGM, they’re 87 over at the park, they’re 89 so you look Well, are you betting the Under or the over? Right? And I said, if it’s 85 I’m taking the over. If it’s, yeah, I’m thinking about it. And since they added the pitcher, well, hang on, part of the nerd stats that baseball has war wins above replace yes, that the new pitcher, they said two wins about he should literally add two wins to them, like, right from that not 18 and a half million dollars should add absolutely to them, right, legitimately, given sure statistical prowess right from AWS, I don’t I said to Luke, at 8586 87 I would have bet the over. I said to Luke the other day, they’ll win 91 games. That’s what I think. Okay, okay. And then they added the pitcher, so now 93 Well, I mean, I just think they’re gonna win 90 games. So I like that. What’s the So, what’s the playoff team? Is what I think
Leonard Raskin 32:56
says the over, under is 85 is that?
Nestor Aparicio 32:59
8Let me see right now, what is the over under on Orioles this year? Let’s see here where it is. Here, over under wins 85 and a half to make you laugh on the fifth, on the fifth of February, that’s, I don’t have today’s. So 85 and a half was a number. 84 and a half is another place. Yahoo, Adam at 84 and a half. So somewhere in there. I mean, go get your odds. All these places are gonna odds. That’s part of the game.
Leonard Raskin 33:31
Doing the same thing here.
Nestor Aparicio 33:34
You got a gambling No, not at all. I don’t the
Leonard Raskin 33:38
odds for 2026 vary by sports book book, but generally the Orioles are between 22 and 25 to one to win the world to win the World Series. Okay, 22 to 25 so if you can get 25 to one and again, let’s be very careful here. I am a financial advisor. I am not a bookie. I don’t gamble, and I’m not advising anyone to do this. Put what
8Nestor Aparicio 34:06
they put on the bottom of the pool car. It’s not an inducement to wager. That’s what this right or not? This is not a recommendation.
Leonard Raskin 34:14
There you go. But 25 to one, if you put 100 bucks, if you had it on the on the Orioles, you could buy the World Series tickets with the money. That’s if, well, that’s to win the World Series. You can’t. It’s too low, right? This was not to make the
Nestor Aparicio 34:30
money with game five, and you lost all the money there. You gotta buy your wife a couch, or whatever.
Leonard Raskin 34:37
8Gotta furnish a living room. Baby got a first. Mama needs a new living room. Have that set Absolutely it’s magnificent. It’s beautiful. What do you call it Trent or Ray? I call it no boys allowed. No Boys Allowed. We have rope. We have a velvet rope across the entrance to the living room. I’m only allowed into. Winds the grandfather clock. It’s think it’s feminine, that’s right, I can’t. I can’t sit on the sofas or the big wing chairs. I don’t, I don’t play the piano. I have nothing to do with that room. House Rules is what I’m understanding. House rules, there’s a red rope, a purple rope, a purple velvet soap.
Nestor Aparicio 35:17
So the over, under is way better a bet for me than thinking they’re gonna win the World Series. So give me the 100 bucks to win. 100 bucks,
Leonard Raskin 35:24
am I gonna win two to one? Right? Yeah, I think that’s only two to 120.
Nestor Aparicio 35:29
To get 100 you got to pick him the VIG, right?
8Leonard Raskin 35:32
So, so you got a shot at making some money if they win the World Series. 10 bucks gets you 250 Well,
Nestor Aparicio 35:39
I’m not betting on them to win the World Series. I mean, either at 24 one, I think about it, it’s not a bad bet, right?
Leonard Raskin 35:45
But, but it’s not as long. My point is not as long as New England was, not as long as Seattle was.
Nestor Aparicio 35:52
8And yet they’re, I perceive them to be, have a better chance to win in the World Series than I would have perceived the patriots to win,
Leonard Raskin 35:58
to get into the Super Bowl, right, or to win it right? They didn’t. Everything went right. Everything went right. Until Imagine
Nestor Aparicio 36:04
if you had the Patriots at 91 the one, and they’re in the Super Bowl, right? And then they show up and can’t play the way they could, right? Crazy, right? Leonard Raskin is here. He is global. Tell me what you do with money. I know you’ve had a rough week around here.
Leonard Raskin 36:16
So yeah, it’s all right. We the first thing, and most important thing is we make sure people protect it. The second thing and biggest for long term success, is teaching you how to save it, and then we talk about how to invest it. We have plans, strategy, logic, history, Nobel Prize winning, research on our side, how to grow wealth, and then ultimately, someday, none of us are here anymore, how to transfer that wealth to those you care about so they can live on, and your legacy can be all the things you ever hoped for, and some money behind to help out making it happen.
8Nestor Aparicio 36:55
Well, you look, if you’re looking to save your money, here’s the Nestor we had Nobel Peace Prize. Who else is advises you, Buffett, but all these guys that advise you, here’s the Nestor advice, go ahead, don’t bet on the Orioles to win the World Series. You would have lost three years in a row. Okay, there you go.
Leonard Raskin 37:10
It’s a long bad streak. But you know what? If you spin that roulette wheel every time and you bet red the 44th time, it might just happen.
Nestor Aparicio 37:20
I’m not betting against them this year. I’m just not betting on them. I get it. And if you made me make a bet at 85 and a half, I would bet the over, right?
Leonard Raskin 37:29
8And if you had the choice to take the Orioles of the field, you take the field all day long. Yes, all day long is 143 years in a row. That’s right. It never fails.
Nestor Aparicio 37:42
I am Nestor. We are wnst am 1570 tassel, Baltimore. We never stop talking, not gambling, just no, never an inducement to wager. Here you know that just it’s for information purposes only. Stay with us. Baltimore, positive.
