WNST and Baltimore Positive founder Nestor Aparicio was invited onto “The You Matter Podcast” by his longtime media friend, Mark “The Blade” Brodinsky. The question: “What can you do to be the very best version of you every day and live the life you were meant to live?” The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you find out why. Let’s find out why! Hear Nestor discuss “Crab Cake Row: A Cup Of Soup Or Bowl” and his road as a local entrepreneur and media leader.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, years, baltimore, week, charity, soup, super bowl, wife, work, ravens, life, sports, nestor, running, feel, play, live, radio, adblock, dude
SPEAKERS
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade”, Nestor J. Aparicio
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 00:03
Okay, welcome to the matter Show podcast. I’m Mark Brodinsky Host of the you matter show. And we do this based on one thing, that the deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated. It’s not just a want, or desire or wish, it’s a craving. You got food, you’ve got shelter, and you have value and appreciation. There are people that die of things like loneliness, can’t live without food can’t live without a roof over your head. And you can’t live without being part of the social tribe and feeling like you make a difference. It’s a concept of the show. I love having guests on here. One of my favorite people that I’ve met over the past probably 20 years, Nestor Aparicio, you know him, if you’ve paid any attention to sports in the past, what three decades plus in this town of Baltimore, that Nestor has made a big impact here. Happy to have him. He’s got a big deal going on in the next few weeks related to Super Bowl week, and always looking to make a difference. I mean, Baltimore positive, right, be more positive is Nasser’s platform. So Nestor, welcome to the matter show. Paid
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:05
Can I call you blade, my people allowed to call you that how many people call you blade mark?
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 01:10
Probably about 10 people mine in my whole life, really opposed
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:15
to saying 10%? Not really. Well, that’s so that’s kind of stunning. Thank you for the kind introduction. And, you know, it’s my 25th anniversary of owning the radio station. And we’re doing this thing called wn st stories of glory, and our friends at the curio and foreign data, which is why I’m wearing the blunt person shirt, sponsor it and they said what, you know, what’s it going to be? And I said, Well, I’m trying to add up the things that were like, The Greatest Hits, you know what I mean? Like the things that people come up to me all these years later, and I guess to your point, I call it love or gratitude. You know, in my in my vernacular, you call it appreciation. That’s nice. My last name is Aparicio. So I appreciate that, because it’s kind of close to my name. But people come up to me. And there’s a commonality, right. I mean, I’m 55 now and I started this when I was 23. I really started it when I was 15. At the news American working with John Steadman, and just a whole bunch of really cool people. Mark Hyman, who runs the journalism Institute down at Maryland right now Merrill center, and just just wonderful people at the news American like less girl, these people that I wanted to the sun, and you know, I think you were channel 13. Around that time, in the late 80s. I tried out for the job, your job by the way, Sam Cabarrus is still upset that he didn’t get the gig I had him on last week in Jacksonville. So you know, my life took a different direction and doing radio and all that, but I’ve been on the air 32 plus years now, Kenny, Albert free plug for him and Mike for all seasons. He just wrote a book. He was my first guy. He’s the one who said Nestor, she’s doing radio with me, we’re gonna do a New York style sports radio show. And I said, I know a lot about sports, or do I know enough I think is way the way I felt about it. And then I got on the air. And I’m like, There’s nothing I know more about is that nothing I’m more equipped to do than talk about Baltimore sports because I’m a guy that goes to the post. I’m a guy that was there when the plane went into the upper deck. I was there when you know, catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer squared off at 74. Like, so. Like the sports side of it was cool. And then it was sort of like your ego kicks in. You’re like, I want to have an audience. And I want to have an audience because I want to walk through Whitemarsh mall with my kid and have somebody come say, Hey, I listened to your show, and I liked your show. And I like what you think about sports and I learned things from you and you make me laugh and but that was the radio sigh 32 years and like the first time somebody recognizes you, you never forget it. And then after that, it was more like how can I build something with this audience and that happened in 1996. I’m running here in 9193 and four I was working with Ed block right away because of my relationship with with Larry Harris at the Baltimore Sun work with AdBlock and Sam LaMantia whose son still cuts my hair when I get my hair cut gentleman’s gentleman get over to chopper road make an appointment or not just walk in and walk ins welcome. And yeah, in the 90s like I did this thing called the nice guy awards to raise money for Adblock and to get out and see people and it’s just funny. I’m on your show today, man because like I’m literally releasing all of this because we’re taping this in January. The Ravens may or may not win the Superbowl by the time people hear this and that’s cool. But I’m going through whiskey Joe’s, the marching in New Orleans Mile High miracle, the bus trip up to Foxborough when we lost and then the woman we won and like free the birds and like all of these 25 memories, and I guess the thing about me doing them and my wife said this morning, we were out doing a yoga class. She’s like, Hey, you’re working on you’re working really hard and these memories of like, well, I feel like it’s sort of like for somebody that just comes in on the outside and says, What are you proudest of? Or what do people come up to you and say, Man That was the greatest day of my life and you made it happen or you were a part of it or you through a trip or you introduced me to someone or you did something that is beyond a herd. Joan, are you talking about Peter Angelos Are you know, like something that I’m proud of, for you the birds, it’s number two. But, but putting all this out it, it really is about, like, people appreciate you, and they come up and it makes you, it makes you feel good. And you know, part of sharing these memories is it means something to them. And it means something to you. And it shows up on your timeline, instead of all the crap. They come on and say, Hey, man, I had a great time with you that day. I’m glad your wife’s alive. I’m glad you’re doing okay. Glad I can still put you on the radio. I’m glad that you know. So I was trying to do something on my 25th anniversary that mirrored our Super Bowl stuff that we had done and do something that’s more charity based because most of those segments Super Bowl week is you know, it’s somebody coming around talking about a charity, right? It’s it’s a celebrity in front of a brand wanting you to buy sponsor for on behalf of wounded warriors or on behalf of sick children or you know, whatever the cause would be. And that’s really we’re my radio station school in the last 10 years and my life’s gone is sort of like telling good stories that might matter might teach you something, but more than that, you’ll appreciate the time you spend listening, I guess. And that’s
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 06:20
it. Like you said, the first time walking through Whitemarsh mall, someone comes up to you and says, Hey, thank you. I’ve listened to your show and made a difference you’re giving back. That’s what you’re doing. It’s not about talking necessarily about controversy. It’s about you diving into something that you love, which is sports growing up in the area, right and just making a difference for other people because you want to provide great value. That’s the whole concept here. Right? It’s valuing appreciate you’re giving back to other people. So they come up to you and say thank you for doing something for me. Yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:48
I’m moving into a different place where, especially after, you know, the guy that ran the country for four years, and God forbid, he runs it again. But I’m feeling like there’s some value in being trusted. And there’s some value in truth and integrity over and over the body of my work. I mean, there are days when I really feel like and I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I know that that movie that were there, he’s on television, his whole life’s out, you know, every single day. So 30 years ago, The Comedian Jim Carrey was in it in the Mary, I can’t think of the name I think of the name of the movie where he was just like the subject of his own television thing. And there are definitely days I feel that way. But all these years later, man, people listen to the station, they Facebook, they tweet, they Instagram, they watch blogs, they listen, because they they feel a sense of I was at the bottom with that guy years ago, I listened to him whenever I went on his road trip. He was nice to me, his wife almost like Oh, whatever they think of me. Good or bad. And I did learn this from Howard Stern way before anybody ever recognize me that they hate you though. Listen longer. It’s really weird, man. They never go away. And in the air of the internet, sometimes I think they I can say this here because no one substance will make it this far into this. But they’re, you know, I thought I wanted the biggest audience possible when I began for ratings. And I mean, come on, you worked in local television, it didn’t matter what you know who your audience was, how many teeth they had, what their hairstyle was, what their thoughts were what their crazy. You see the numbers we did numbers, you know, and like with me, yeah, like as it’s gotten, you know, it’s it’s more streamlined, especially since I’ve gone to Baltimore positive, especially since it’s just not all sport. And really, you mentioned like the negativity of being a sports radio, like I never, I defy you to find a piece of tape where I ever sat here, or met with any employee. I had employees for 1718 years where I employed lots and lots of people. Some of you can hear down the dial some you see on TV these days, but I never told them what to say or how to say it or what restrictions other than and I’ve been sued. I’ve had, you know, crazy stuff with an FCC license. But like, I never sat here and I did work in that environment. Dude, you know, I was nationally syndicated where every Monday morning, they call and say, you know, what, you’re going to stir up this week, you know, and I’m like, how about we just talk about sports, like the way my dad would want to hear it the way I was taught, I don’t need all of that. us versus them. And I don’t need acrimony and conflict, to be the basis of my audience are what I would want them to listen to. And you know why blade? Because I wouldn’t want to listen to it man. And I don’t listen to it. And I can’t listen to it. And I can’t sanction it and my own space and sometimes my place got toiletry because of the people I hired who thought like, I can be Howard Stern. No, you can’t. I thought I could be the grease man. He didn’t have a job the last 25 years was like Do you see that there’s an edge? You know what I mean? For everything. And, you know, in my wife’s illness, we’re coming up on the 10th anniversary on March 20. It’ll be 10 years since she was diagnosed with leukemia the first time the second time. And if you follow the story, go to Jen straw, don’t make me cry. I’m gonna say to you, Geddy Lee said to Alex, like, don’t make me cry. I’ll be no good. I’m crying. But I
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 10:20
was writing a story a decade ago, I remember meeting you and her and your condo. And we we did it on my blog, we we talked about what was going on and share the story and so, so happy that she’s doing well now.
Nestor J. Aparicio 10:32
Well, so we, you know, and then like takes a turn and you just do something different. And, you know, I’ve been forced out by the Ravens thrown out by the Orioles. I’ve been very, very vocal and on the record with every fiber of my integrity and who I am and who I’ve always been speaking the truth about how I was treated by a football franchise that I supported fully, wholly as a citizen as a journalist with accountability for my audience. And the minute they wanted to turn me into a quacking duck is the minute that they threw me out. And, you know, I’m still here, and we’re still doing things and I guess that’s really at the core of what I’m doing in a couple of weeks is that I did 27 Super Bowls. So wow, you know, I don’t need to take so that sounds like okay, I got pictures there. I’m at games. Sometimes I was in get nasty shirt. Sometimes I was in a raven hat. Sometimes I was an oiler jersey, sometimes I was in the upper deck pain they get in sometimes I was in the press box. Sometimes I was putting the press tent and could barely get into the sometimes I was 10 feet from Bruce Springsteen, or, or you know, whatever. But I worked my ass off right? To have a radio station to have a life to have a business to be supported by people to be trusted by people to not be an asshole on the radio, and to be a hater and to be caustic, and to be a fire the coach and bench, the quarterback and play along race lines and all that stuff that callers did that I hose down. You know, I was the grown up as the host, not the instigator in any of this. And a lot of this is really borne out by how bad the baseball owner has been, and how they that my radio station became the place to bitch about how bad they were because they didn’t have a PR department to answer the phone to fix cold hotdogs and warm beer, right? Like and like all of that, that. So it became a place to bitch and I didn’t want it to be that, you know, I wanted it to be better than that. And on our best days, people don’t come up to me and say, Hey, I remember that rant about whatever they come up and say like that, that charity thing at the nice guy awards, or I met Brian Billick in Essex one day with you and you were running around eating crab cakes and you know, or I whatever you know, like they come up with something that is mainly really good and nice and makes you feel appreciated. You feel like oh, I’ve made some impact. That’s why they’re still here. That’s why they walked up to me in the supermarket when I’m getting toilet paper and want to take a selfie with me which just happened by the way Eastern Avenue of shoppers true. Wise markets as my sponsor, but like I had, but it’s happened so but I would say this to you like the Super Bowl thing for me and going out and taking eight employees at one point and getting three hotel rooms and having it be a 25 $30,000 expense to go do it live ISDN lines things you know about to get broadcast going years ago where the bill from the convention center would be four grand, you know for for broadcasting for a week in Miami Beach, and then hotel like all of that that we did to to have Adam Sandler on the show or to have Dan Marino or Joe Montana, whomever Deacon Jones on the show stop at the set. We think that to support Baltimore to be the only Baltimore voice at the Super Bowl where Baltimore was represented, where all of our champions started coming in. Whether it’s Ray Lewis rod Woodson, Trent Dilfer in the beginning all these guys worked in media they were always around goose, God rest his soul. They all those people, Shannon Sharpe every year would come by because like Baltimore matter, we want to Super Bowl early. So I did all these years I got thrown out, you can go read about a chance to Google him and you know, Google my work on that. But I was trying to think of what am I going to do Super Bowl week that is going to fill that place for me, which is it’s the biggest week of the year and you’re taking this away from me and screw up my business and demanding that my employee go instead of me and telling the National Football League that I’m no longer legitimate when I’m in business with the federal government with an FCC license for 25 years now. I need to do something that week that isn’t bitchy are shitty or awful. Or, like, if I need to do something that’s, that’s for me, the moving forward. I can build off of and do something good. Because we didn’t do good work that week. Right? Like every time. Joe Montana, come on, Ben Guiness. He would there would be something they were doing for a fund for football or for something that was charitable. And I thought you know what, I want to do something that week in the crabcake tour. Dude, you’ve been inspirational. You didn’t realize but like The crabcake tour and getting out and talking to people. This all started when you came to my house, and my wife was bald and 80 pounds, and you’re like, I’m trying to serve the world better than just being a producer, channel 13 where we, if it bleeds, it leads, and you know, you were at a point in your life, and the bottom were positive thing came because of people like you and, and I’ll plug even people like Kenro Shawn, who pops up on my Facebook and guys like you that hold up little signs that try to pick people spirits up, you know, like, you matter, right? Like that, right? And so, you know, this conversation started into, then we have played right. And it’s no secret that I had some political aspirations for the city before 2020 And then Brandon won, and we all started wearing masks and stuff was crazy. And in the coming out of that plague in 2021, I thought, what’s something that could bring people together? black people, white people, Republicans, Democrats, Harford County, Baltimore City, East West, nondenominational and I thought every place has a crabcake and I all these pictures, I had a me and Ray Lewis and Brian Billick for 30 years ago Cal Ripken and I had a credit I have a picture, you know, and I thought man crabcakes that’ll hold it together. It’s a conversation starter. It’s like ping pong democracy. You know, Baltimore east west mine’s better. My grandmother made a better one months old Bay MUD salty mines, Jaya, whatever it is. So I thought about this tour and I’ve been doing this very successfully the Maryland lottery, Goodwill when donation Jiffy Lube, I mean, so many Rascon global, so many sponsors, because that’s what it takes to feed me and feed the FCC and the pay rent and the employee loop and pay bills and to have a website and like all of that, but I’ve been so well supported. And through all of it like I haven’t done anything charitable since I mean, since my wife survived the second time. I’m going through like our night heroes when I had Tomlin and Billick and, and hardball down downtown and speaking. That’s number four on the top 25. I did these this morning. So they’re on the top of my head.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 17:05
And you should talk more about that you had people coming out to get checked right to see if they could did it
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:10
swab for the bone marrow registry as my wife I mentioned my wife had leukemia in 2014 15. You gotta Jen strong there goes my hero.org is the organization we’ve worked with LLS where I’m doing stuff for them lately. They inspired me to uh, you LLS people, you came down to cost this and you got me all going back and forth got me all trying on the air back in December. And I called her I’m like you broke me. They were trying to get me to run for visionary the year and I said I’m not worthy, like Alice Cooper. And but it got me going on this idea that I’m doing next month because of all these charities and I go back now and I see the nice guy awards. And I see things I did I have, dude, I have plaques. I have wall hangings, I have statues I have I mean, for doing stuff that was just like yes, yes, yes. Yes. Yes. Leukemia need Yes. And never thinking my wife was gonna have leukemia. My wife’s found stuff that I did for LLS before. Newer, you know, and I’m like, I you know, I remember the jacket I wore that night was that the thing that Michaels ate that, you know, like you remember these things all these years later. And I tried to think about like, using the airways that I have in the same way you use the bandwidth, you have to try to move the world along in a better place. I thought what can I do? That’s cool. What’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen? Play? What’s the coolest charity thing? When you think of the most awesome charity thing you’ve ever seen in your years on the planet? What would you say is number one, what’s a cool charity thing that you
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 18:48
when I was younger? Let’s step back in time because we’re both over 50 years old. But the coolest thing you’d see around Labor Day was a Jewish with Jerry Lewis telethon. That was the specter it is
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:00
my inspiration to There was never a Jerry Lewis telethon. I didn’t watch right. Like literally right. And honestly, I was all and don’t laugh at me and don’t think I’m playing games because I’m not. I was always waiting for Lou Ross, Tony Orlando and Dawn, or Engelbert Humperdinck. And my favorite Of course, I saw Sofia Vergara finger shadow, hoochie coochie coo, which I look come on every year, you know, and Jerry’s doing his act. And I didn’t even know anything about Jerry Lewis, about the clown act and about the 50s and about the drag and about lemon. I don’t know any of that, like at all right. I just know him as a kid on Labor Day weekend, beginning when I was very young, always watching it. And I thought there’s a marathon thing. And you know, people do 100 hours on the air and you lose your mind and all that. I’m not doing that man. I’m doing a marathon. We’re going to call it crabcake row. And we’re calling to crabcake row because radio rose at the Super Bowl. We’ve been thrown off of there. So we’re gonna call crabcake row, inspired by my 28 years of doing a week long marathon broadcast, where we really got to an ice cold convention hall at six in the morning in Miami Beach was 51 outside nine, do you want to let anyone outside 51 inside, in sweat shirts with our nose running under these lights waiting for like Dan Marino to walk by and begging him to come on. So there was 12 hours a day, five days a week. And that’s 60 hours a week of doing that right. And I was freaking worn out. Last thing I want to do on Saturday was Chase Warren Moon around the pool. I just wanted to be let most times by Saturday I was decompressed. Especially as I got older. So what we’re doing this week’s 40 hours, I’m going to do crabcake row, we’re going to be a nine to five and I haven’t been live on the radio since my wife got cancer. We haven’t been live on the radio since September 2014. We’ve been in a podcast format before when the kids didn’t even have a podcast where it’d be 10 years in September that we’ve been not live. We’re going to go live all week. We’re going to stream live all week. And we are going to feature 100 charities. That’s my Jerry Lewis thing, right? Like I want to do 20 charities a day telling their story in a 15 to 20 minute window, the way you would professionally want to say, Tell me about your charity. Tell me your story. Tell me why it matters. Tell me how we can give it have action points for everyone and wrap that around, potentially the Ravens being in the Super Bowl this year, next year, any year. And we really tried to have an overriding charity a lot of years ago, I did AdBlock and again. The whole goal is here to use my airwaves and my bandwidth and people and goodwill and and restaurants and local people. My ask of my restaurants is kind of cool. So my son always has the best ideas. You know, my son’s 39 now, and I called him before Christmas, Dude, I got this idea to do crabcake row. And I like it needs to be charitable. He’s that fun? I’m thinking about this Jerry Lewis thing. And he said, Dad, it’s Super Bowl week, you got to do something with soup. And I said, Well, if we’re gonna do soup, and it is February 5, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth and we’re talking just got cold here this week. I’m in a soup kind of mode. We need to do this for the food bank man because my friend Wayne Ostrowski, I would encourage everyone who’s a good person to Google him Kayo s t r o s ki Wayne Ostrovsky. At a Minneapolis, Minnesota 30 years ago, dreamed up this thing called Taste of the NFL. And every year he would come by radio row with the Super Bowl and talk about hunger and abundance and feeding people. And he built this thing from nothing and turn Nancy Longo from Pierpoint restaurant down. It’s just one of my favorite people. She was every year the chef and there would always be a celebrity there. Marty bass and I were the celebrity sitting in for Ernest Byner at the Superbowl 35 in Tampa. Because Ernest was in the game. He was a coach, he signed up to do it. And then the Ravens made the Superbowl and they didn’t have a celebrity. So poor Marty and I weren’t much of a celebrity then I was just made or Dean for just getting Marty drinks at that time. But so all these years later, I just met with Wayne last week about hunger and about having Carmen del Cueto on my show in the middle of the pandemic on Baltimore positive talking about food insecurity and the importance of it and so we’re going to shed light on that all week and our gimmick our hook. We’re calling it a cup of Super Bowl week a cup of Super Bowl because blade we’re gonna offer you a cup of soup or a bowl of soup when you come in on Monday at fade these at the new Lexington market and they got great Maryland crab, great creamy crab all my places do Tuesday we’re going to be a Costas in Dundalk. Wednesday. We’re going to be a Coco’s in laurelville delicious soups there as well. Thursday we’re going to be over at State Fair in Catonsville. And then on Friday because we the Ravens might be in the Super Bowl, we’re gonna move it to the biggest space we have, which is passing Cockeysville one of my partner’s great folks there, Steve and everybody, Justin. So we’re gonna be live all week. 20 charities a day 100 charities over the week, all to benefit the Maryland Food Bank, if folks come they get a free cup of bowls soup for bringing goods for the Maryland Food Bank and supporting the cause and coming by and I hope everybody makes it by and we’ll have all the crap up if all of them are positive. So it’s
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 24:30
a great it’s a great cause, dude. Yeah. Jerry Lewis telethon takes your way back. But yeah, that was the Super Bowl of all telethons. Right. So I think what you’re doing is great. As I’m hearing you talk to Nestor. I mean, it’s the building blocks of everything that you’ve done, right? It’s experience after experience after experience, story after story after story. And you mentioned a word there. It starts with letter I. And I think it’s honorable that you never wanted to be the instigator, right? But now you’re in a position where you want to make impact. That’s what I hear. Right? It’s impact It’s all with what we all want, especially as you cross over age 50, you start to look back at your life, the things that you’ve done and what do you want to do moving forward? We have a moment where like, it’s really is about giving back about what can we do for humanity, that’s going to make a difference in our zone of genius. Because we know that’s where we shine. And when you shine the light is accepted, you know, by other people, they want to bask in it. And they want to also help to spread that light. And that’s what you’re doing. I mean, you’re doing it again, you’ve done it many times before. But now it’s really like you said a Super Bowl of charity. I’m happy to come by and you know, even say, Hi, I don’t have a charity associated with this. But
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:37
the copper bowl, we get Maryland a cream and this is going to become a very, this is sort of like around Thanksgiving, we’d ask are you pumpkin or your pecan or your apple? What do you want? You know, what do you want? What’s your suit? Man? Would you go to
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 25:49
mine? Yeah. Chicken Noodle.
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:54
If we could going to do crab soup, I know you’ve opened a new can of soup is what you’ve opened for me. You just put me into soup. Because now I’m thinking to myself, maybe this is a chance for my five restaurants to show off with an alternate soup. You know, my wife makes and I’m not used to like bragging on my wife because I had her split pea last night. That’s my number two split pig. Yeah, my wife after Christmas was we, I my wife goes away for Christmas with her family and it comes down with Christmas day and I buy the ham every year and every year because wise gives me the reward points. They don’t care how big the ham is. So I tried to get the biggest ham. My wife’s like it’s just the two of us eat and I’m like no, no, no, no, no, we’re going to do lima bean soup. We’re going to do split pea soup and now my wife caught on to this New Year’s Eve thing with the Black Eyed Peas. I don’t know about do you know about this New Year’s Eve black IPs. Good luck. This is new to me as parents a southern thing. So my wife and I’ve taken some of the ham and cheese you know sort of push that off to the side for this this black IP so I have a lot of soup a lot of flatulence I must add, you know, beginning of the year January. But we have delicious soups and well I will request chicken noodle soup now that I know that that cure Noodle Soup for the Soul guy right Chicken Soup for the Soul guy, right?
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 27:13
I’m a Jewish guy too. Right? That’s my that’s my number one go to right. I’m
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:16
a matzah ball soup fiend if you put me man. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, it is winter. So I want to make sure that there’s a chicken based broth. Get well for your soul soup on everybody’s menu that week. All right, well, we’re not going to limit this to folks that may or may not like cream of crab or Maryland crab.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 27:38
All right. And I’m happy to come in and raise money from Maryland Food Bank, let’s talk about the movement and then see who wants to donate and bring in like I said, cans of soup or whatever they want to donate in terms of cash and your
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:49
charity. So you may be more humane, though, right? Yeah, with Baltimore
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 27:53
Humane Society, too. So there’s nothing wrong with helping animals. Listen.
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:59
The most beautiful creature in the world about four feet outside my door waiting for me. And we saw her in a little cage at at on Nicodemus road at Northwest Baltimore and fell in love with her. Both of our cats came from Baltimore humane. So dude, I plug this kind of fish in the middle of my shows all the time and tell people this is my chance to just jump on it for a week and have everybody who has something that’s important to them, including Baltimore, humane and barks, and our friends at Chesapeake feline rescue and like all the places that they do SPCA, they do good work. I’m just being completely nondenominational to say, come and tell me something good. I’m not Las Vegas at the Superbowl this week, chasing around Snoop Dogg playing catch with Kurt Warner, you know, helping the wounded warriors. I like doing that. But by the way, they put me in the amputee game with Kurt Warner and Snoop Dogg and those guys because I’m missing a finger. So here I got a guy missing a leg from Afghanistan from Wisconsin. I met him on the David Letterman show in New York 12 years ago, every year he invites me on my Facebook friends the whole deal and he says you can get in the game because you’re an amputee and I’m like that’s I felt like a sissy getting in, you know what I mean? But but the super balls meant something to me, you know that blade right? And having to take it away. There’s, there’s a real hole, spiritually finance. I mean, this has been an awful thing that the Baltimore Ravens have done to me and my family, my bed, and I’m not I’m not running from that at all. But we’re going to do something good with it. I’m going to do something good with my time here, left on the planet. My time left, Monday through Friday, Super Bowl week, instead of flying off to wherever Roger Goodell thinks he can make the most money. I’m going to do it here in the community and we’re going to do it for 100 charities and we’ll see how many people can make me cry that that week, you know, let’s, let’s see, you know, that should be the goal. Let’s see how many times if you get me to cry cost me 100 bucks or something, you know what I mean? I gotta give to the charity if you make me cry, you know Now we’re getting somewhere play now you give me ideas for your tip. So make
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 30:17
make Nesta cry. Like, I keep this note on my desk. That’s kinda what we’re talking about to wait when you talk about charities and trying to
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:23
read it out loud. Go ahead, your struggle will be your gift that the world will fall in love with. Wow,
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 30:31
the truth. All right, right. It’s sharing your scars, what people doing when they’re coming in to tell their stories. And they’re telling their stories about themselves, or someone they were associated with, or someone that they know about. It’s, it’s sharing the scars of the people that we meet in life, it’s not always it’s not always the struggle, either the struggle is kind of the wound, the scar is how you overcame that. And actually, by helping other people to overcome their own wounds, we’re creating scars for them that they’ll be able to then be able to share their story with other people, and how community helped change their lives. Because not everybody can do it by themselves. We’re all part of the social tribe. In fact, almost no one can do it themselves, right? You all need, we all need support. So being part of this human race, we all need each other. The whole purpose of this You Matter movement, the whole purpose of things that you’re doing. And I love the fact that you’re always true to yourself, NASA, which is so important to me, because I truly believe that everyone should be exactly who they’re supposed to be. Everybody is a miracle, a masterpiece and a hero. And you should never run away from that. Now,
Nestor J. Aparicio 31:31
it helps me sleep. You know, I sleep well. That’s what I tell people I sleep well telling the truth. So if you see it out of Baltimore positive, you hear it come out of my mouth. And if I if I’m in error, or I’m wrong, I mean, the governor accused me of putting falsities out on the air. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right now, let’s talk. Because like, that doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, like, you know, like, I will put falsities out here. And that’s my brand. And that’s that, you know, like, there’s, there’s no, there’s no negotiation on my integrity, right? Like, there’s just not, and anybody that knows me knows that. And it’s the people who love me love me, because when people hate me hate me more because of it. So I’ve learned.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 32:13
I’m reading I’m reading Elon Musk’s biography written by Walter Isaacson. Right, Love him or hate him. He’s always exactly who he is. And he’s made some pretty big impacts in the world. So it is really when we look back what you’re going to do for other people, that’s going to matter. And you’ve done a lot of that, whether it’s just talking on the radio, which is entertaining, people give them information. And rarely is that going to anyway be vanilla, because drama is actually what attracts people when it comes to storytelling. If you open up a book, or you turn on the radio, and everything’s fine, right, turn the next channel, Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. Nobody would listen. It is about the story has to have certain elements to it. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:52
back in the day, I call myself nasty nasty, right? So you know, search. sure anybody that’s been around, and people see why and I’m like, well, actually microscope Liano, the cartoonist, sports cartoonist from the Baltimore Sun is one of my best friends in the world. His kids, I sent them to bed early one night, I lost the bat. And I had to babysit his rambunctious six and four year old boy when my kid was three or like, now maybe five, seven and eight. It was a nightmare, right? Like we’re talking, you know, I put in the bed early sort of call me nasty nester, and it went with it and somebody wants a, why do you call yourself nasty nester, and I’m like, I call myself nice, you wouldn’t listen, you know. But that was 30 years ago. And you know, here we are all these years later. And the one thing I’ll say about sports, and just my background in that, and my last name is Aparicio. Yes, I’m related to him, like the whole deal. still collecting a little couple of weird baseball cards again in 1964. Like wheedies card that I didn’t even know existed. So I’m an Aparicio guy, I’m a baseball guy. I’m a sports guy. I’m a football guy, colts, ravens, the whole thing. Nothing brings people together like it in a tribal sense. And I’m still waiting my way through what the new media is, you know, like, where criticism is and where accuracy is and where gambling is, and where civic pride is, and where greed and avarice take over where guys are making $50 million a year and, you know, are they going to live in the community? They’re gonna be a part of the community. How much over my lifetime has it mattered for guys like Cal Ripken, who’ve made a life here? versus people who haven’t made a life here? And I think the one thing I take out of all of these years is, man, we’re like in a community very few people leave I can give you a handful of people that move to Florida or Arizona at some point or meta mate that later in life move somewhere but Calvert Hall people stay gundog people stay Woodlawn people stay, we talk. You know, you’re still here. I’m still here. There is a point where I’d like to find out A real place where we take better care of each other. And because that’s the only thing that’s really going to lift the city back up and for whatever Governor Shaffers faults may or may not have been in retrospect, and whatever old politics and old world the things that made the city great again, the things that Lord, the Ravens here, that’s really at the heart of Baltimore positive, say, how can we lift people, you know, how can we make schools better? How can make play safer? How can you know, crime, policing, leadership, money, all of these things that we’ve talked about so much just trying to lift the community, and sports has been like an entree to it in some way. And I don’t know where the rest of my life’s going, I really don’t blade like, that’s one of the reasons that I’m doing this is a night and said to my son, I’m like, I’m gonna meet some really cool people doing this. So that’s why I’m doing it. I want to meet some new cool people and bring the other cool people I brought and the people that aren’t so cool, and they come along to eat, it’s a some block mu, go away, leave me alone like that, that that all happens. But by and large, when I’m out at a barstool somewhere, even if people don’t like something about my politics, or don’t like something they heard me say, on the radio, they usually find something nice to say they usually come up and say something about my wife, or the they’ll find divert, hey, what’s the best crabcake? Or hey, how about Lamar, or, Hey, I’m glad the Orioles have kind of turned that around. We’re one day closer to Angeles not being here. Like, they’ll find something nice to say. And I’m appreciative. And I really am. I mean, I go back to appreciation, people usually find something nice to say, but you do remember the time when a guy threw water in your face or said something nasty to you in front of your wife. Like all that’s happened to me. But it doesn’t happen so much lately, because I’m not focused on doing that I’m focused on 100 charities, and I’m focused on, you know, covered sports better than I’ve ever been able to cover it with the chains off. And in observation of, sort of all that I see. You know, I mean, getting musicians on the show, I’m getting architects on the show, I’m getting civic developers on the show, you know, just people with something that would have, that’s making Baltimore better making our lives better the community better than neighborhoods we live in, you know, it’s, it’s important.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 37:15
It’s positive, right? Baltimore positive and us growing. I mean, I grew up in the city, and I want it to be the best it can be perfection is unattainable. But like you talked about progress, every time we make a little bit of progress, to make the city better, that’s meaningful. It’s little pieces, right? It’s what you do over time a little bit. It’s the compound effect. Things that just build on themselves little by little by little next thing, you turn around, and you’ve got a great city that’s come back from troubled times, whatever city has that again, there’s never going to be perfection. I love what you’re doing. And I love the growth that you’re looking to do and the charitable contribution you’re looking to make. And it’s my platform, not yours. I’m gonna keep you much longer but take away all the organization, everything about the ownership. How great was the Oriole season?
Nestor J. Aparicio 38:01
Well, the movie came out right so look, I was in Arlington, Texas as a media member and the you know, being shoved off to the boys table are my employees clubhouse access was threatened for simply showing up with me. Major League Baseball has integrity gives me a press pass. So that was my walk out was I was there when it all fell apart. Eating some really good nachos. By the way, if that matters in Arlington, when Brooks talked about the nachos when we were kids, they got the best nachos there. I’ll say that not that not so good with football this week in Dallas. But you know for the Orioles in the rebuild and for what Mike Elias has done, if I’m going to talk about it, and you know, the big picture is he’s the genius, right? And they better keep him happy and the ownership disgraceful. I mean, as we sit here last Martin Luther King Day, you know, January 15 2024. So 365 days ago, the owner sat intimidated the media wagged his finger said he was going to open the books and then spent the whole year I mean, he had the governor lie for him in September and like, like I don’t know what to say about it. Other than these young guys can play. Freshmen can play on the I’m sure Couser can play I can’t wait for a holiday to play. Henderson can play like that. You know Rodriguez can pitch like I’m I’m hopeful means we’ll come back I’m you know, hopeful that Marlins will go get a big salary at some point and I’m also hopeful that they’ll have grown ups running the team and I’ve seen no sign dude like I’ve written Dear John letters I wrote Dear John Liu letters back when I didn’t know they hated each other and they were put out documents of all of the dirt that their father never like. This is it’s it’s played it’s batshit I don’t know what to say. But it’s also crazy. They want to honor one game. It’s crazy. They’re gonna be a favor. I don’t know what it is up in Hollywood casino I should fight for You’re that out whether the casinos them before Dylan sees comes to town or like, what they’re going to have to give up in a trade to make that happen because they’re not going to spend money, right. And that’s sort of where all of this is is the Nationals can’t even sell their franchise because the whole thing so entangled with Major League Baseball and dad being sick, and I just think it’s a terrible time for them to have limitations, right? I mean, these NFL teams don’t ever say I don’t have the money. I don’t have the capital, I don’t have the they just go try to win. Even if belcheck is going to worry. These guys are trying to win every one of them. And we see that in the NFL, we see that everybody kind of takes it hard when they don’t win I think we got so you know, in order to losing here, right like that to being awful that like, we can’t have nice things. And at the watchman’s a nice thing gunner Henderson’s a nice thing. But I mean, they had to finish in last place and be horrific to get these guys. So and now like, grown ups need to manage it financially, you know, over the next couple years, they need to grow the game. They need to fight people back that they’ve been jerks to. Because they’ve been charged to almost everybody. I mean, like pretty universal. You know, even people who get entered spend money are like, yeah, it’s been pretty crappy. You know, I spent because of it. I’m a baseball. My last name is Aparicio My God, you know, like, I’d like I don’t want to go to see the baseball games. I mean, live down there for 20 years, and they did everything they could do personally, professionally. unproved, they were unprofessional. They didn’t pay a bill. I mean, I had a $30,000 cut, they didn’t pay their bill. So like, I don’t know what to say 18 years later, they are what they are. It is what it smells like. It is what it appears to be. But they also have a lot of talent. They have a baseball genius. And they won a lot of games last year, and you don’t have to be good people to win. Like, you know, the Kraft family would be a great example of that. So you know, they don’t need to clean up their act to win, they can go stumble into 93 wins this year and get hot in October, if they have the right thing, then the right thing would be health, good fortune and all that but long term. The right thing is like having good people in charge who care about things you live in the community who wants to build something and want to connect with people who want to feel appreciated for the right reasons, not because they think they were born on third and want to convince everybody they had a triple. You know,
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 42:23
I just taught you to softball because I knew if I talked about the Orioles, you’re going to talk about everything else around it. And I’m glad you did. For me though, just talking about the product on the field since 89. I’d never felt that. Again. Since that time. Watching the Orioles play every game was meaningful, every game you’re coming back and it was just a lot it was a lot of fun. And like you said longterm to keep the fun going you’re gonna have to have the right people in place to make
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:46
they sparked the interest now the hot dogs have to be good the parking now they they have accountability that they’ve never been good at play. I mean, I just honestly they just seeing them stumble through the lease, seeing how I was treated. 12 weeks ago, when I flew to Texas to support them and the other branch has been branched. I ain’t kissing their ass and I’m not lying for him. That’s that’s I’m not. That’s the line in the sand that I’m not going to do that with or without a credential. With or without them. They can win 158 games, it won’t change how they’ve treated people and how they still continue to treat people. And I hope that changes and I’m not I’m not going to back down from that if you want to talk about the team on the field. I mean, they they need it does go back to my students the offseason. They’re not playing this week. I don’t have anything to talk about, like your long term signing people. How are you doing on sponsorships? Oh, you’re putting patches on your sleeves. That’s great. So now you have more money? What are you doing with it? How are you getting people back? What about these caravans? Where’s your owner? Where’s your president put them in front of me whenever they come into the crabcake tour? Oh, you will come to my show is it is where smell is the color of my skin my hair? What? Why don’t you come talk to me? Why for you to me? I know a lot about this stuff. I asked fair questions, you know, so there’s all of that. But I you know, the bigger picture really is going to be long term what the it is for both of these franchises to bring people downtown other than heart and soul and give me your money for gambling and give me your money to have when the Ravens got $600 million of civic money. They had some snarky guy in a suit that I’d never seen. It was a great suit, up on a stage that I was banned from as a media member from you know, like PR director is nowhere to be found. And they’re on stage getting $600 million worth of money. They pick who asked the questions like Putin and the guy stands up and says well, we all know that the beer is colder and the hotdogs tastes better inside the perimeter. The perimeter meaning the place we cage you out and make you pay A lot of premium to get in a premium to be there, and then a premium for the hotdog and the beer. And in 2024 We’re selling this to taxpayers, so they should have more accountability, and they should be nicer in general. And I’ve been pointing that out for a long, long time. So awesome,
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 45:16
dude. I mean, you want to be who you are and taught until like, it isn’t. That’s what you’ve always done. So, like I said, I’m not going to keep you much longer. Let’s recap the charity. What’s going on the week of Super Bowl week. Let’s talk about again, what the plate the places you’re going to be. So everyone can make a note of that.
Nestor J. Aparicio 45:34
It’s February 5 through the ninth. So it’s we’re calling it the crab cake row a cup or bowl of soup.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 45:42
Like a cup of soup or bowl.
Nestor J. Aparicio 45:43
Thank you.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 45:44
I love Super Bowl. Right. Right.
Nestor J. Aparicio 45:46
Thank you. Thanks. It’s I’m new to this. I’m so I gotta I gotta work on my stuff. Thanks. Thanks for fixing me. All the information up in Baltimore positive we’re going to be downtown fadeless in Lexington market. The new Lexington market just opened for families just getting in there on February 5. That’s Monday, Tuesday, nine to five. We’ll be live all day. Tuesday. We’re going to be Costas and Dundalk. Wednesday. We’re going to be Coco’s in Laura Ville. Great place. Great neighborhood spot. On Thursday, we’re going to be out of state fair in Catonsville. And then on Friday, we’re going to get Pappus and Cockeysville. And hopefully, you know, the ravens are in the Super Bowl, from my lips to God’s ears, and you and then when we’re taping this and whatever, and if that happens, I think it’ll make it even more impactful. We’re featuring 100 charities that week. If you have a charity is the most important thing. I say this to the end, it’s like what Zeplin say Stairway to Heaven nests at Baltimore positive.com. If you’re like blade, and you’re sitting on Baltimore Humane Society and you’re afraid to reach to me, don’t be afraid to reach me, we still have some space, so reach to me and that’s at Baltimore positive.com And if I can’t fit you in, I’ll put you on the show in April or we’ll do it next year or whatever. But this is sort of an open ended reach to find the first 100 For the week, February 5 that can make it out. And you know, pray for good weather for me played that week. I can’t have a snowstorm in Laura Ville on Wednesday.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 47:04
I’m out. Where’s Laura Ville?
Nestor J. Aparicio 47:06
Laura Ville is Harford road south if you think Alameda east of Alameda east the month Abello so if you just think in like just where Montebello is jester would park. Yeah, it’s in the city. It’s in the city. It’s a Walther Bel Air in Harford road start to narrow down where the parks are herring run Park area, you will find a Laurel Hill and that’s lovely, lovely large.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 47:35
Well speaking a lovely master you are I appreciate you coming on here talking about all the things you’ve done in your life and the things you want to do to give back. And like I said, it’s about impact. And that impact helps other people believe that they matter. You’re making a difference you always have you always will. And appreciate you’re doing that 100 charities as a noble venture I’m sure you’re gonna do it. I have no doubt and I think we should put it out there that I think you should make that your your contest here that if someone makes you cry, you toss another 100 bucks. So the charity, the
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:05
over bet the overall the 100 bet the under on the crime.
Mark Brodinsky “The Blade” 48:10
Thank you, my friend. It’s been a pleasure. Appreciate you coming on here taking some of your valuable time. I’m Mark rudensky. This is the Mater show. Thank you for joining us. We’ll see you next time and remember, you matter. See ya
