Our resident money man Leonard Raskin always encourages Nestor and all of his clients to live their American Dream and enjoy their money. (And save it, too!) The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta had been on our bucket list for more three decades and our host brings his enthusiastic report back from the desert. Anything to avoid discussing the Ravens 1-5 start in a week where Rush announced a 2026 tour, hockey dropped the puck and the MLB playoffs hang the bunting.
Nestor Aparicio and Leonard Raskin discussed various topics, including Nestor’s birthday week, the poor performance of the Baltimore Ravens, and the upcoming MLB playoffs. Nestor shared his experiences attending the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and the Eagles concert in Las Vegas, highlighting the high ticket prices. Leonard recounted his recent conferences in Boston and Orlando, and his excitement about the NHL season. They also touched on the potential retirement of Alex Ovechkin and the challenges faced by the Ravens, including poor play-calling and injuries. Nestor emphasized the need for accountability within the Ravens’ organization.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Nestor to do a tribute for Craig Heist.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Nestor to do something to honor Ed Lauer.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Nestor to go to Costas in Timonium and Pizza Johns in Essex to honor Craig Heist.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Nestor to read his “Dear John Harbaugh” letter and discuss accountability.
Birthday Week and Pumpkin Spice Season
- Nestor Aparicio celebrates his birthday week and prefers to think about it as the onset of pumpkin spice and eggnog season.
- He mentions postponing a crab cake tour due to the poor performance of the Ravens football team.
- Nestor talks about honoring Craig Heist by eating his favorite pizza and inviting Leonard Raskin and others to join.
- He shares a tribute he plans to do for Ed Lauer, who had a heart attack.
Losing Friends and Personal Reflections
- Nestor reflects on losing his dear friend Ed Lauer and mentions a GoFundMe campaign for him.
- He shares a personal story about his wife being diagnosed with leukemia and singing Eagles songs.
- Leonard Raskin joins the conversation, and they discuss the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
- Nestor talks about his bucket list and the importance of fulfilling dreams.
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and Personal Experiences
- Nestor describes his experience at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, including the logistics and the experience of watching the balloons.
- He mentions his birthday and the significance of various historical figures who shared his birthday.
- Nestor discusses the importance of character, integrity, and accountability in relationships and financial planning.
- He shares his strategy for making his radio station work and the importance of fulfilling his bucket list.
Leonard Raskin’s Recent Conferences and Experiences
- Leonard Raskin shares his recent experiences attending conferences in Boston and Orlando, including a keynote speech by Dennis Quaid.
- He describes a family trip to Disney and a visit to Hollywood Studios.
- Leonard talks about watching baseball playoffs and the NHL season opener for the Capitals.
- He mentions the potential retirement of Alex Ovechkin and the upcoming Olympics.
Ravens Football Performance and Coaching Issues
- Leonard and Nestor discuss the poor performance of the Ravens, including turnovers and penalties.
- They critique the play-calling and the decision to run the ball on fourth down.
- Nestor expresses concerns about the defensive line and the pass rush.
- They discuss the untouchable status of John Harbaugh and the lack of accountability within the organization.
Tom Brady’s Commentary and Football Insights
- Nestor praises Tom Brady’s commentary during the NFL games, highlighting his football knowledge and ability to teach the game.
- They discuss the importance of premium plays and the challenges faced by the Ravens’ offense.
- Leonard shares a humorous story about TJ Oshie’s commentary on ESPN.
- They reflect on the impact of football commentators like Brady and Romo on the game.
Hockey and Vegas Golden Knights
- Leonard and Nestor discuss their love for hockey and the Vegas Golden Knights.
- Leonard shares a story about watching a Knights game in Vegas and the experience of hearing the horns.
- They reflect on the transformation of Vegas into a hockey town.
- Nestor shares a personal story about watching a historic hockey game in Vegas with his girlfriend in the 90s.
Rush Concert Ticket Issues
- Leonard shares his frustrating experience trying to buy tickets for the Rush concert at Madison Square Garden.
- He describes the challenges of verifying his Citibank account and the high ticket prices.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the ethics of ticket pricing and the impact on fans.
- Leonard plans to resell his tickets if he can find cheaper options.
Eagles Concert and Ticket Purchasing Strategy
- Nestor shares his experience attending the Eagles concert in Las Vegas and the strategy of buying tickets on StubHub.
- He mentions the high prices of tickets and his decision to pay less than the average price.
- Nestor reflects on the importance of finding a good deal and the impact of ticket gouging.
- He shares a humorous story about his wife’s interest in seeing other shows in Vegas.
Final Thoughts and Reflections
- Nestor and Leonard reflect on the importance of fulfilling personal dreams and the impact of sports and concerts on their lives.
- They discuss the challenges of attending events and the importance of planning and strategy.
- Nestor shares his thoughts on the Ravens’ performance and the need for accountability within the organization.
- They conclude the conversation with a positive outlook on future events and experiences.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens season, MLB playoffs, pumpkin spice, bucket list, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, John Harbaugh, Ed Lauer, GoFundMe, American Dream, Rush concert, ticket prices, Eagles concert, Vegas, hockey, financial planning.
SPEAKERS
Leonard Raskin, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively into the BI week, which it’s my birthday week this week, so it’s also my birthday week. It’s my bi week. It’s birthday. I’m going to be reminded it was Charlie Kirk’s birthday. I’m sure before the segment was over, it’s one in five week around here. But I’m preferring to think about it as the pumpkin spice season. I’m preferring to think about it as the onset of eggnog season. It’s right around the corner. I think I can get apple cider donuts of high quality, and probably some apple cider roots, from what I understand, over Weber cider farm, and I’ve been bucket listing. For crying out loud, this football team sucks. I have postponed a crab cake tour Costas and Timonium, and I’m gonna invite Leonard Raskin and everybody else out to and he’s doing his thing with Costas and Timonium. I have Raven scratch offs that I haven’t given enough away of. I’m going to, I promise you, I’m going to be a Cocos in two weeks. I’m going to be pizza Johns because I’m in the mood, and because we lost Craig heist, and I want to honor him in Essex by eating his favorite pizza. And I’m going to drag Luke and anybody else that knew Craig. I just came up with a tribute I’m going to do for him. And I need to do something for Ed Lauer. So I’m, I’m telling off Leonard. And before we start, okay, I’m good. You have not read my dear John Harbaugh letter yet? I hope you do. We’ll do a piece on the back end of that about accountability. You’re one of my calm sleeties When it comes to knowing that I communicated with King Harbaugh two weeks ago, in various ways. But today I inked the letter, and I hope everyone reads it. I just want to say this to you, and this is behalf of you, handling my wife’s money, my money, us trying to figure out if I die tomorrow, what happens to my kid, and like all this stuff, I’ve been doing the bucket list thing, you know, and you and I’ve been talking about it, and I start, I lost Craig heist over the weekend. I was in Las Vegas in the morning, and I’m tearing up, and my wife’s teared up, and we’re messing a hotel room. I taken a picture for him the night before. I mean, like, it just he was at the top of my timeline, because they Preston saw him at the caps game. And I’m let you talk caps too. So losing friends, my dear, one of my dearest friends, Ed Lauer’s, had a massive heart attack, and you mentioned, you know, we’re doing GoFundMe for him, and all of those things that musicians in Fells Point who lead a life of being a musician in Fells Point, that is love. That is beloved is now struggling, right? And this American Dream thing that you put forth as Raskin global, yep, that when someone tragically dies, when my wife is diagnosed with leukemia the first time the second time, and she’s sitting in this top of the sphere, singing every Eagle song so much, she annoyed the guy next to me. It was body checking me for doing what I tell we people not to do. But she was having so much fun. Put me on a highway, show me a sign, take it to the limit one more time. So we
Leonard Raskin 03:14
did sing. What can you do?
Nestor Aparicio 03:16
We did the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Do you know about this? I do. I do. And they also have go, listen to me. You have wealth, means, friends, travel, points, Marriott, miles.
03:33
No, no, no, you would not I
Nestor Aparicio 03:35
ain’t going. No, no, no, that basket is as big as my smaller than my desk. I hear you, and once I go up, I say, how do you get down? They’re like, it just happens. The Uber driver told me they just land where they land, and owns the balloon. Has to pay the landowner, right? Yep, it’s for trespassing. Sometimes you can land in a prison. You can land in a lake.
Leonard Raskin 03:56
I’ve never, I’ve never had the inkling to go in a balloon. I know a lot of people who that’s part of their bucket listed.
Nestor Aparicio 04:03
I’m telling you, dude, I love what. I’m not going up in it either. I am telling you, gather. Matthew gather, Cath, put it on your list. And here’s the issue, it’s my birthday this week. It’s also Columbus Day. Columbus birthday on Sunday, right? So it’s our birthday. Jim Palmer, I love you. Stacy Keebler, giving a shout out to all of my you know Harry, late Harry Anderson and and the late Dwight Eisenhower all shared my birthday. John Wooden I’m doing a lot of wooden isms. I wrote that dear John Harbaugh letter. Got some wooden isms in there for him on behalf of our birthday. So about character, integrity, accountability, it’s sort of basic. The pillars of tenants are what you should look for in any client friend relationship, certainly your financial, fiduciary irasc and global. So I would just say this, this Albuquerque thing, before we even get started. This was on my original I have somewhere back here. I have my Tony Robbins book from 1994 when I did my original bucket list at a fire. Walk at the Hyatt in Washington, DC, the Grand Hyatt, and I wrote my bucket list and the Albuquerque thing, it just hit. I saw it in some Southwest Airlines magazine. I saw it somewhere on television beautiful, and I wrote it down in 1994 It’s on every list I have. Yeah, I’m a strategist. You know this about me? It’s the only way I can make the lamb radio station work and have Baltimore positive and piss people off the way I do. I wrote it down and it never happened, and I thought it might never happen. And you know why it didn’t happen for years. This is, this is goes back to Chad steel, which I always, you always like when it comes to that I never traveled in October outside of football, right? So I really needed a West Coast game or something that made sense for me to go to Albuquerque, to get to Dallas, to get to Denver, to get to see to go somewhere else, to put it in. And it’s my birthday week. To begin with, my mother was alive. I was always kind of around for that, so I never did it, because it you have to go to Albuquerque. You know, it didn’t involve a girl beer, anything sexy about Albuquerque, and it’s my birthday week in October. I mean, I turned down one of my best friend’s weddings in the world in Julio, Romeo in Mexico to watch Steve Smith catch a pass for the Carolina Panthers and beat the Ravens. Because it’s my the Chico and the Man is my job to talk about sports. So the bucket list thing, I just want to say thank you for that, because, and, and, I guess this is my long winded way of saying, if your wife wants to go to this fear, take her. If you think your wife would like the the balloons, and even though she didn’t really know, like, I took my wife to the Hollywood Bowl, I’ve done like, three or four things with my wife in the last five weeks to make made her like me more.
Leonard Raskin 06:36
Yeah, there you. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. Yeah, that’s a good thing. And then the Ravens play, and then the Ravens play, and then nobody likes anybody
Nestor Aparicio 06:45
go to Albuquerque. Leonard, that’s that’s other than that
Leonard Raskin 06:48
we’ll get actually, I have not seen it in Albuquerque, but I have seen it in in Phoenix, in Scottsdale. How many balloons went up? Oh, hundreds, hundreds. They have a similar thing. It’s crazy. And and then you just watch, and then they disappear. And my question is, where do they go?
Nestor Aparicio 07:06
You know, like I haven’t I said to go to heaven, right?
Leonard Raskin 07:10
Well, I’ve seen too many, one too many YouTube videos with those things coming down, wrong?
Nestor Aparicio 07:16
I haven’t seen any. I’ve watched, damn it. You said it out loud, it’s gonna show up on my algorithm.
Leonard Raskin 07:23
It’s just crazy. I mean, I don’t, I don’t trust the I mean, look, that’s what I’m saying. I was talking to a friend who’s a pilot, friend who’s a pilot. I said, Dude, do you feel all that turbulence? We feel back there? He said, of course, but it’s just a thing. It’s just air. We know it’s just air. It doesn’t matter. And I said to him, I said, I find myself to be a fairly intelligent human being. Here’s something I just don’t understand in the world at all, that is the concept of lift. If the Wright Brothers hadn’t figured this out, nobody would. If it was up to me, no one would fly. I can’t understand how that big metal tube hangs out up there, 35,000 feet. I can’t jump three inches off the ground for five
Nestor Aparicio 08:07
seconds. I thought about that on the way back to Vegas, when the plane was shaking all over the
Leonard Raskin 08:11
place. I just don’t know, get it, but it works, yeah, and the balloon to me, no, it’s just not. It’s not, you know, you blow this hot, burning gas up into the balloon. It rises. I get that. How do you come down? I guess you turn the burning hot air off and you drop like a rock. I’m not interested in dropping like a rock. I don’t know. Well, you know, my bucket list
Nestor Aparicio 08:36
live up to the expectation of being a bucket list for 30 years. You actually do it, and you’re sitting there at 530 in the morning and my wife elbows me. She’s like, this was a really good idea. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever done. So anyway, yeah, I came on a football I let you watch a lot of baseball. You’ve watched a lot of hockey. Just where are you? Give me the Leonard Raskin show on behalf of Raskin global, because I just lived your American dream, and I got nothing left on my bucket list, other than Royal Albert Hall, and I’m too much of a cheapskate to deal with London
Leonard Raskin 09:08
right now. Well, there you go. So, so my my week was a conference in Boston, Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Fly from Boston to Orlando for another conference all about finance and the American dream, and living your American dream, fulfilling on your financial future. Fantastic conference. Dennis Quaid was keynote speaker, art laffer, fine, brilliant economist, some brain scientists talking about how our brains are wired and why we do weird and strange and crazy things, some really funny, good stuff, and just a really good meeting,
Nestor Aparicio 09:49
we always TED talk. You know, Ted Talks inspire all of us, right?
Leonard Raskin 09:53
The wife and son came out and did, came down and did three days at Disney. We spent Saturday at Holly. Wood studios checking out the rise of the resistance and Mickey and Minnie on a runaway train. It was kind of cute, and ate some good food, saw some old friends, hung out with a friend who works for Disney. Hadn’t seen him in probably, I don’t know, 1012, years, maybe, maybe longer. So got a chance to have some break some bread with a friend that was beautiful, and watch a little baseball did watch a little baseball playoffs? Wow, some good games in the playoffs of 15, I think it was 15 innings, 13 innings long game, Seattle winning.
Nestor Aparicio 10:32
My wife and I were in Vegas wandering around, and we found ourselves, you know, glued to the Phillies in the Dodgers. Yeah, everybody on our airplane was glued to it, and just, yeah, I mean, I felt the presence
Leonard Raskin 10:44
of baseball. And then, of course, my gig, the NHL, opened up caps two on the road. Beat both of the New York teams on the road. That was a nice start. Lost the opener at home, but, but you know, coming back, ovechkins, you told me a veteran was going to come back and look, he’s a hat trick away from 900 goals, which is just silly. I think he’ll I think it’s his last year of his contract. I’d be really surprised if he plays another year. I think this will be the end. He’ll say that’s enough. But I guess depends on the year, if he has 20 goals or if he has 44 again, who knows, but Putin will make him play a year over there. Oh, he’s going to play in Russia. When he goes back, sure, it’s, it’s, he’s king of the country. Why the hell not? He’s king of the country. Or next year, though, I think this year they stop mid season, February, I think it is for the Olympics. No doubt he’ll be playing for the Russian team in the Olympics. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t. So the whole whole league shutting down for the Olympics for the break. They’re letting the players play for their countries, so that’ll be cool to watch. And we flew home early Sunday morning because we had full intention of going to watch the ravens and the Rams, which could have been a good football game if we hadn’t turned the ball over three times and committed many lousy, stupid penalties that killed drives right in the middle of success. We ripped defeat from the jaws of victory, and once more, lost a game that we this was a game, oddly enough, that they could have won even as beat up and battered as they are.
Nestor Aparicio 12:18
Some would say, if they started Tyler Huntley or, you know,
Leonard Raskin 12:29
line too. It’s a terrible play call. It’s a terrible play call. One team in the league can do it because they practice it non stop. Great. Good for them. It’s an ugly play, and we stink at it, so why even try it? You got Derek Henry, who runs, who’s bullying them and killing them, and the lions killing them. And you decide, we’ll give it to him on third down, maybe or fourth down, we’ll give it to him on fourth down. Just pathetic. We first to go from the one and you lose two yards. That’s just bush league. That’s bad. I don’t know who’s calling the plays, but if monkey calling the play, if that was monkey and calling that those plays, four plays that he called, that’s terrible selection. I don’t care who the quarterback is, who the running back is, you got three running backs. You got Hill, you got Henry and you got Mitchell. Yeah, Mitchell. And if the three of them can’t get a yard, then none of them should be playing in the NFL. I mean, you push on the
Nestor Aparicio 13:26
defensive line is an issue. Stanley went out of the game again, and that’s a that should be the biggest red flag about all of us. Even though we’re, we’re and I said to Luke, are you convinced Lamar is going to play into it? You know? Because they’ve
Leonard Raskin 13:38
after the after the buy,
Nestor Aparicio 13:40
okay, that’s what they say, but it’s a hamster, you know, like they’re convinced, they’ve convinced the fan base that he’s gonna play. They need him to play. He’s gonna be a save you. I mean, it’s over. Roque wants coming slower, from what I understand, but was out running around, not to mention the guys they’ve lost. I mean, the pass rush is such a problem in a general sense, and now they’ve traded their best pass rusher, they’ve lost the other pass rusher, Kyle van Nestor, who’s usually a stand up guy, and they don’t have many of them around there, right out the back door on Sunday. No, they’re wonderful guys are dropping balls in the game and don’t they’re in TV commercials, and they don’t appear after the game like there is no accountability. Hardball is talking about one in five being an incredible opportunity to, you know, do what?
Leonard Raskin 14:30
What else you guys? I don’t know. I don’t I don’t know. What are you gonna say? You’re gonna say, We stink. Our play calling stinks. My coaching staff stinks. I’ve had enough of this. I quit. Well, he says,
Nestor Aparicio 14:41
I mean, listen from fire John Harbaugh and Eric Decosta down through Zack or Chuck Pagano and Todd Monckton and whatever else. I don’t think because of this organization of a firing culture, they don’t do it this way. Yeah, it’s firing culture, like my lead story is, I’m not firing you, John and. No one, and no one’s saying is, and neither is your owner. So let’s get on to, how do we fix it?
Leonard Raskin 15:06
How about Penn State? Oh, that was the lead too, right? Boom, goodbye.
Nestor Aparicio 15:11
Well, reason number one that Steve would never fire John A he’s like a son, and I hope you do read my dear John Harbaugh letter, because
Leonard Raskin 15:17
I’m reading the fee. He’d have to answer for it, $60
Nestor Aparicio 15:21
million at well, that, that’s the excerpt, is then, then Steve would have to sit and have a press conference to tell everybody why I’m hiring Jason Garrett off Sunday night football because I loved him 20 years
Leonard Raskin 15:32
ago. Oh, that would be. How bad would that be? Well, he got, he was the first, you know, he was supposed to be his job, right? I get it, but, but we didn’t get that’s just my little reminder that I know a lot about football,
Nestor Aparicio 15:44
it was 18 years ago. I remember like it was yesterday. I can even tell you Jason Garrett’s wife’s name, because it was all over the internet, because she was looking at houses.
Leonard Raskin 15:53
She was looking because she had, they had the job. But something happened on the right to dance. Jerry, yeah, came in and said, No.
Nestor Aparicio 16:00
Kind of like when the Saudis came in for the comedians, not how much,
Leonard Raskin 16:06
what? Go ahead, and
Nestor Aparicio 16:07
then it’s right after that. Once you take the money, you got to justify it, right?
Leonard Raskin 16:11
So, right? Well, you got to get paid. Got to get paid whenever Mike’s, I’m just
Nestor Aparicio 16:15
saying you fired John. Horribles, laughable that he would throw John Harbaugh over the edge of the bus and tell Chuck pagano he’s the coaches. It’s not. None of that’s happening,
Leonard Raskin 16:24
that’s gonna have I would be shocked. Let’s put it that way. I would be shocked. We could see it. But what if we had three coaches? We’ve had three coaches.
Nestor Aparicio 16:33
John Harbaugh is the safe ease. He’s untouchable, as I wrote, to go, which is part of the problem, as I wrote, that’s the aora of the problem is that they’re all untouchable. They’re
Leonard Raskin 16:44
all on Right, right. So, so you it would have to be a shocker to cut him out, and then you look around and you say, Who could we get? And some young up and coming, brilliant football mind to run the team. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe.
Nestor Aparicio 17:02
Well, they thought it was Zach or now he’s the village idiot, because he has no pass rush, no linebackers, secondary, they can’t cover, and it’s his scheme against five of the eight best quarterbacks in the world that they’ve had to go play. And they’re one in five because of that. Now, now they’re going to get all these neophyte, young quarterbacks, but by the way, Tom Brady, if you’re a guy that takes the game and watches it later, Tom Brady was phenomenal on TV, and Rex Ryan was phenomenal in the pregame as well. And I could do a lot of complaining about the pregame and who’s awful, because most of it’s awful, but I sat on the couch and watched it all day, and Tom Brady, who I was not looking forward to spending the afternoon with, yeah, and my wife came in. My wife doesn’t like Tom Brady, even though she has Tom Brady Jersey. She She came in, she’s like, Oh God, we’re gonna listen to him.
Leonard Raskin 17:53
And knows football. He knows football,
Nestor Aparicio 17:56
Leonard, he’s breaking bro. He’s as brilliant as you think Tom Brady would be, I’m writing down all of the gems that he had, and I presented them to John arbors. He wasn’t watching the best
Leonard Raskin 18:10
line of the day. Was not bad for a PE major.
Nestor Aparicio 18:15
I like that. I like that.
Leonard Raskin 18:19
That was, that was fantastic. So
Nestor Aparicio 18:21
for me with with a guy like Tom Brady, watching a guy like Cooper rush who can’t do it right, or watching a guy like Lamar who does things he can’t do right that he marvels at that Tom Brady calling the game. And I want to lay this on you, because you didn’t you were at the game. And for anybody in my audience it was at the game we left early who didn’t see Tom Brady. Tom Brady, early in the game, went on about Matt Stafford and before the game, Teddy Brewski was sitting with Rex Ryan, who shot upon the entire Raven operation. And why the hell aren’t running the ball? It reminded me when I did the TV show with his father, or when I did the radio show with him. So petty brewski, like, he stopped and he paused. He’s like, I think so much of Matt Stafford that I can’t begin to tell you what I think of Matt staff like. That’s like, he went on like that in the pregame show. And I know I’ve met Matt Stafford. He played for Jim Schwartz. I know about his wife and the in her illness, and his strength and and his wherewithal to go to like so here then they get out looking like it’s 10 in the morning and they don’t want to be out of bed right in the beginning of the game. But Brady says this when Stafford’s coming up to the line. Here’s Brady’s mind. He’s like, now, right now, do my Tom Brady, I eat avocado ice cream now, right now. Matt’s, Matt’s up at the line of scrimmage, and he’s, he’s looking to put the offense into a premium play. He’s looking to see if the safety is beating down right now and whether they’re in two deep or three. And he’s going, so he’s going to get them right now in the best. Play possible. So Brady saying all that as the clocks at 16, 1514, and by the time he gets to six, he’s motioned to back up. He’s got a tight end exactly where he wants him. He’s in a premium play. He snaps the ball, boom, first down. And there’s Tom Brady basically teaching you football, saying he has the ability to put you in a premium play, which is how I kicked everybody’s ass, including Rex and everybody else, is that I would confuse them when they were trying to confuse me, right? And I was smarter than them, and had better players, and I identified not 11 mismatches. One mismatch
Leonard Raskin 20:37
only need to find one, the one
Nestor Aparicio 20:39
the place I need to go when it’s hot, read your hots. It’s tight end. Who’s your hot receiver, who’s hot? Who’s getting one on one, who’s getting man who can win a battle? DeAndre Hopkins, who can I throw the ball up? It’s going to get it. Mark Andrews, in his prime, right? Dennis Pitta Todd, he’d go through all the the right? So I put it to you that premium plays and getting into premium plays that’s really, really tough to beat when you have Leonard. I’ve never watched football like this for six weeks and seen less of a pass rush, and I go back to the sack pack in 75
Leonard Raskin 21:14
Hey, you want to hear another Off, off subject, funny story. TJ oshi of caps lore. OSH, baby, yeah. OSH, babe, that’s right. Mr. Olympic shootout destroyer,
Nestor Aparicio 21:35
wickedly handsome and very funny and very polite, and I’m sorry I didn’t spend more time in the locker with him. Great guy, but, but I did it his locker, yes.
Leonard Raskin 21:46
So he’s now doing commentary at ESPN on the on the Steve Levy, Mark, Messier, TJ Oshie, opening night, I love hockey. Can I tell you? I love hockey? Opening night, they had a triple header, and I was out to dinner. I got back to the hotel, I flipped on the second game, bunch people in the bar, and then I went up to the room, watched the third game, and I think it was first intermission of the third game that he comes on and Steve levy says, Tell everybody what you just said during the last of that period. He said, he said, I gotta tell you guys, in my entire life, I have never watched so much hockey in one day in my entire life, because he’s been playing for years. He’s, I’ve never watched hockey because opening night, every team played, and, you know, they got monitors going in there with every game on, and he’s doing the it’s
Nestor Aparicio 22:58
like, oh, she’s never been in a sports bar, right in Toronto. Specifically,
Leonard Raskin 23:02
he’s got to do the intermission. And he’s never watched
Nestor Aparicio 23:06
walk into a sports bar in Canada, and it’s a white wall, right?
Leonard Raskin 23:10
But I’ve never watched so much hockey in my entire life. The funniest line I was just like I was rolling, and he said, he said, I would do this for free. They don’t even have to pay me. And Messier said, Watch out there. Be careful.
Nestor Aparicio 23:25
So So Steve Levy And I called a hockey game together. We called skip Jack’s game together in 1992 at the beginning of my career, I sat on Mark messier’s lap one time in a Chrysler sedan driving from the igloo back to the Pittsburgh Weston, because it was cold as hell. It was January. It was the all star game, and I was standing alone with my bag, and he said, Get in here. Sit on my lap. That’s your mark, Nestor, right, right. I mean hockey guys, the good old hockey game is the best game you can
Leonard Raskin 23:59
name. You better believe for you too. I really mean time Brady. I agree. I think Brady is, is, you know, two, two guys that I of course watching them play, just one I didn’t like at all. The other I hated, right one, the one I didn’t like at all, Tony Romo. Just watching him play was difficult, and Brady got to hate him. I never liked Aikman, but I don’t mind him. I don’t mind him, but, but to me, Romo and Brady, color is as good as it gets. They’re just phenomenal. What they what they say, what they’re talking about, what they like you said, Teach you football. If Romo was as good a player as he is a commentator. He should have won 10 Super Bowls. The guy sees everything, reads everything, gets everything, and couldn’t get in the end zone from five yards.
Nestor Aparicio 24:50
Meanwhile, Joe Flacco is on his next team. He’s got a helmet.
Leonard Raskin 24:54
Let me tell you something. This was this was what I was saying to my wife, Saturday. It was Saturday. I said to her, you want to hear, you want to hear really wild tomorrow, Joe could be the first guy in like forever, to beat the same team twice in the season, if you in the modern era, yes, in the modern era, if he’d beaten the Packers, that would have been one with the browns, one with the Bengals. And she said, if he does, we should bring him back for later in the season, when we go to Green Bay.
Nestor Aparicio 25:26
Give one more go. He
Leonard Raskin 25:27
could go three shots at him. He could beat him three times, which will never be beaten. And then Joe can just walk off to the sunset, because I don’t know if that’s our last or next to the last game of the year, but then he can just retire a raven, and all will be well in the
Nestor Aparicio 25:41
world, and he still beat the Steelers in the finale if given the opportunity here. Oh my goodness. Larry raskin is here, so I get a couple things for you, because I’m like, I’ve talked one in five, and it’s by week, they’ll still be one in five. We get together next week, and we’ll both be a year older. Happy birthday. That’s right. So, and I’m doing a show it cost us later in a week, and come on out, and I know you’re doing your thing with them as well in a few weeks, for what you do financially and your American dream hockey. Yes, I was in Vegas with my wife to take her to see the Eagles, because we were in Albuquerque, and we put it together and had cheap flights and cheap rooms, right? Because nobody was in Vegas, and I was packed. But I’m kidding. And being in Vegas, we might have stayed at the park MGM, which is right on the plaza where the hockey rink is, yeah, and I had a night in Vegas, you know, right? I mean, right. I mean, sure, with the coping with Barry, oh, yeah, playing the day, right? Like, right. Eight years ago, I have a hockey memory in Vegas that I relived a little bit with my wife, and I didn’t even tell her, but she sort of knows the story my old girlfriend back in the 90s, Robin and I went to Vegas when New York, New York was brand new, and we watched an infamous hockey game in there that lasted all night. It wasn’t our islanders game in 87 that you and I attended. This was the final game six of Dominic hashik and the buffalo sabers get screwed by Mike Madonna and the and the crease stars. His foot was in the crease, right? So that night, I was in the casino at New York, New York, watching that game and playing craps. And there was a piano bar, which is still there, in a steakhouse, il for Neo, which is my favorite Italian restaurant still there. We ate dinner there the other night. I went in there to relive this hockey experience and another hockey experience. And I was at that bar when the Dallas star screwed Buffalo, and buffalo still hasn’t had a parade to this day, and they have to own OJ Simpson, which makes it even worse. And I was in that bar celebrating with a drink after walking out of the arena that didn’t exist in 1998 and the concept of the Vegas golden star, Golden Knights, whatever the hell they’re called, gold nights. And I was back there again and and my wife and I walked down the strip and looked up at the window where I had Caesar salad with the Stanley Cup with Barry Trotz and and Vegas now has taken on. It used to mean different things to me. It used to mean girls and concerts and bars and downtown and friends and birthdays and New Year’s Eve with Hootie and the blue I’ve been a million I lost. I lost hundreds of 1000s of dollars in Vegas investing in a condo. I mean, I’ve had awful experiences and great but it’s somehow it’s taken on this hockey thing to me,
Leonard Raskin 28:35
hockey town. It’s a hockey town. You know, I last time I was in Vegas, the Knights were playing a home game. I don’t remember who they were playing. And I was out to dinner with a group of friends, and couldn’t get to the game. We just we were eating. It was too late. We couldn’t get to the game. We finished eating. I don’t know. It was probably 930 10 o’clock, back to the hotel room. So I flipped on the TV to watch see if the game was on. I figured it’s on. It’s local, it’s got to be on. And it was on, and and I’m watching the game, and all of a sudden I hear the loudest freaking horn I’ve ever heard in my life. And then 10 seconds later, Vegas scored a goal on the TV, and I realized that we’re 10 second delay on the TV, but the horn was them scoring goal, so the rest of the game I watched, and every time the horn would go off, the hockey race, it was right across
Nestor Aparicio 29:36
the street. That would happen with me for 19 years, where I live downtown with the Orioles, the fireworks would go off, right? I’d be watching the pitch getting delivered. I’m like, Oh, he’s gonna hit a home run.
Leonard Raskin 29:46
So they scored. They scored. I didn’t realize what it was until the second goal, and then I realized, oh, that’s Vegas. Had a bomb, boss. It was going on. Something was going on in Vegas. I don’t
Nestor Aparicio 29:57
All right, so I’m trying to do everything. Could do to avoid one and five and all of that. And we’ve made it. We’ve made it to hockey. Okay, you haven’t made it to baseball. And I’m about to tell you that last Thursday, when this Albuquerque trip was in the midst, yes, Getty and the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City that I visited many times. Announced this book signing in Kansas City with Getty. I were talking about I was on Southwest Airlines, and if it wasn’t 600 bucks to change my flight, I would have been in Kansas City at lunchtime out of Vegas to go say hello to Getty. And then the next day, they announced a tour that even my buddy Paul mana didn’t believe when I sent it to him. He’s like, you’re you’re buying an internet rumor. I’m like, Dude, I’m a journalist. I don’t buy internet I am the bullshit detector of all bullshit detection. Me, I couldn’t I was getting ready to get on a plane. I couldn’t believe it. So this wash news is an American dream of white light, a bucket list, a thing like the Albuquerque balloon thing, like an Orioles World Series game, something I thought I would never see in my life. Fast, fast for me, for an
Leonard Raskin 31:10
Oreo drummer, we got a chick drummer coming who’s amazing. Yes, supposed to be amazing. So, so I go online. Oh, did you pick tickets? Wait I go online, because it says Citibank pre sale. Well, I have a Citibank card, so I’m signing up for the pre sale on ticket master, which I did, and then it says you got to put in you got to connect your credit card account to the ticket master account. So when you go online the morning of the 10th, noon on the 10th to buy the tickets, you verify that you’re a Citibank holder. So I put in my Citibank connection, and I’m hooked up, and it says you’re ready, 1145 I get a text. Text says you’re ready. Here’s what you do. You go in the queue at noon. We’ll tell you when it’s your turn, and you can buy seats. Nestor, God is my witness. I’m watching my phone countdown and noon comes, and noon I get a thing on my phone. I’m in the queue. Wasn’t 30 seconds. It says your turn. I go in. I hit the button, how many tickets? I said, eight floor seats to see rush eight tickets. I’ll sell some of those, no problem. I click on the next line and it says activation code. I have no activation code. How do you buy these tickets? I have no code. The code I read down a little further is the first six digits of your Citibank card. I don’t carry my Citibank card. My city bank card is in a safe at the house. I’m in Orlando, Florida. The family, the family is at Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Oh, there is no Citibank card available. So I do, what the smartest people in the world do? I go to your online Yeah, to my Citibank account, which shows me the last four digits of my card, but not the first six, right? So then I go to a statement on the Citibank website, which is all x’s except for the last four digits of the card. So city has big money. Goes around the world city as a robot. Then I ask, How do I get my account number? And it says we are not able to give you your account number online via the robot or via telephone.
Nestor Aparicio 33:55
Well, you need a double authentication for that, so
Leonard Raskin 33:58
I call in to the telephone number. Can we identify you by your social security number or your card number? I say social security number, put it in. Then they ask for the first four digits of the account number, not the last four, the first four. I don’t know why the first four identifies the bank. They know what those are. Then, then they say, I want to speak to a person. It’s the only person I can get to is a fraud person. They want to know my card number. I don’t have my card number. Well, how can we help you? I said I need my card number. I’m sorry, sir, we can’t give you your card number over the phone. So you’re kidding me. So I can’t get tickets to the show and I’m watching on my iPad where I’m connecting
Nestor Aparicio 34:50
you have 15 minutes to
Leonard Raskin 34:52
act as the floor seats are disappearing, dwindling and availability like a. Bad drink night disappearing. So when am I getting home after the Ravens game on Sunday? That’s what I’m getting back to my house to get the Citibank card. So I log in to get the Citibank card. There are not two seats together in Madison Square Garden on four dates anywhere, none.
Nestor Aparicio 35:24
So you were trying to go to New York, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Leonard Raskin 35:27
there’s not two seats together in Madison Square Garden anywhere. So I unlock with the code. And finally, there are two seats on a different date in New York, $2,500 a seat for the floor seats. No, no, I’m not doing that. I mean, I’m all about the American dream, all I’m all about, you know, doing things I love to do.
Nestor Aparicio 35:55
2500 bucks breaks my heart. That rush is involved in scalping its fans, but that’s the ticket.
Leonard Raskin 36:02
2500 bucks. That’s the floor seat. Senator said, This is why your
Nestor Aparicio 36:06
guy, kid, Rock’s challenging Pearl Jam to go after ticket. Master,
Leonard Raskin 36:09
I hear you. 20 rows, 15 rows back. Of course, you got to hope the judges aren’t paid off or corrupt like you know, 2500 so here’s what we do. We go to Seat Geek, we go to StubHub, we look for tickets. Three rows behind that 800 a ticket. Somebody reselling because they were selling for 250 so somebody’s selling them for 803 rows behind the ones that the floor is 2500 if I
Nestor Aparicio 36:38
go online today and they’re $285 to sit on the roof. I just I won’t buy them, and a lot of Rush fans won’t buy them. I saw this spring steam right? And they’ll get right priced or not. And I love Getty. Prices will change this week. Yeah, prices will change. And that would be very unfortunate that that it looks like a cash grab from guys who were in the basement playing and want to go out and make money and be paid fairly and all that. But if I can’t afford to go see rush at this point, after flying to Cleveland or Toronto or LA, if I quack out on the pricing, the way I did on Brian Adams pricing in Toronto two weeks ago,
Leonard Raskin 37:18
just I don’t know what, what’s a fair price, you know, I’ve been to a big concert with with a big name to you, right? Rob, of course, it’s always what it’s worth to me. Always so fair price. You know, I’d probably pay a grand for a floor seat, but 2500 seemed to spit too far for for Madison Square Garden, for me, for
Nestor Aparicio 37:42
going to rush. Well, do you don’t have tickets?
Leonard Raskin 37:44
Then I got two tickets. 800 you’re going, all right, 800 seemed fair to me, as somebody made some money, but I pay a grand. So 800 seemed okay for go to Madison Square Garden,
Nestor Aparicio 37:58
that would not be okay for me, just so you know, and I love rush, probably more than love rush, but just so doesn’t have it doesn’t add that value to me. Here’s,
Leonard Raskin 38:05
here’s my goal, because it’s not until next July.
Nestor Aparicio 38:09
I told my wife, don’t it’s June. Yeah, June 7 is the first night in Inglewood. Until then, relax. I’m not thinking I’m gonna go see these shows. I just want hours to be healthy. I want Getty be, you
Leonard Raskin 38:20
know, like it’ll be and there’ll be some tickets for less money soon. So, so I figure okay, if the floor three rows in front of me selling for 2500 and I got, you know, you go to Seat Geek and it says amazing deals, or awesome deals, or whatever. I got 800 for three rows behind that, if I can get a cheaper ticket reasonably close, I’ll resell those, and I’ll get my 800 at least. I’m not worried about
Nestor Aparicio 38:49
that. By the way, I saw Sir Paul McCartney on a hill in Albuquerque. There you go. I paid $72 for this. How great is that each and it was a great $148 experience for me and my wife, right? How great is including the $20 $16 beers we bought, we even met $16 for 24 ounces. That’s a deal. We thought that’s $8 beer. It’s not that bad. That’s right. Albuquerque pricing is my buddy, Scotty. P says so. And then we went to the Eagles at the sphere. And I mean this with conviction. This is right. This is what a prick I am. Okay, you can tell John Harbor, I don’t hate him, but I hate ticket gouging. We flew without tickets. To this fear my wife’s friend from work, who hadn’t be there with her husband, we hung out and had a drink. It was beautiful, but we did not have tickets. We flew in, and I said to my wife, I’m not into a $700 night with the Eagles. Yeah, I’m into a $400 night. My ceiling was five. Somebody’s
Leonard Raskin 39:45
getting rid of tickets. They can’t so we flew in.
Nestor Aparicio 39:49
We had rooms that cost a couple 100, but, like, we’re Vegas. We didn’t really want to be in Vegas at all. It wasn’t like, a choice. It was like, that’s where the sphere is. We’re gonna go and we’ll have a nice meet. Know, by the way, Chino poblano in the cosmopolitano poblano in the cosmology. Best meal I’ve had this year. And I’ve had a lot of meals this year, all freaking nominal and so good. I went twice so in Vegas, woke up on Friday, and I’ve been monitoring StubHub and seeking, yep, I wound up getting a pair for the Eagles at the sphere that were for me, the perfect seats. They were upstairs in the exact middle, just the way I wanted. I paid less than anybody in the building for those seats. That’s it. I paid far under $500 and a little more than $500 for two tickets to see the Eagles because I wasn’t paying six or seven or eight. I just wasn’t, and my wife knows that. And like, was like, hey, we’ll go see Barry Manilow for 100 bucks instead, or we’ll go. She wanted to see go to a show. Are you familiar this is, this is you have a wife? Yeah, I’ve met her. Okay. Are you familiar with piff the magic dragon. No, I’m not Google it. That’s all I’m going to do at your homework better asking is, here he is asking,
Leonard Raskin 41:10
just, I’ll check it out that
Nestor Aparicio 41:12
and and Google tape face, tape face, tape face. And this is the ish I learned when I’m on vacation with my wife in Las Vegas, and she’s looking Terry fader, who I’d actually heard of, is the ventula quiz. So she’s looking for like B shows, in case I’m too much of a cheapskate, Don Henley’s too much of a prick to let me in go somewhere, you know, we because we were not rolling 838 bucks onto our credit card for Tuesday that were obstructed for the Eagles. You know,
Leonard Raskin 41:38
right? Yeah, wouldn’t do it. I’m with you
Nestor Aparicio 41:41
all alone at the by the way, I was standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, and it was such a fine sight to see my dear John Harbaugh, letter is out there. You know, in the long run, you know, we’ll find out. You know, the dark desert highway ravens are one and five. Luke’s at the ballpark. All things are normal here for bye week, except it’s my birthday and I’m going to eat a lot. We are W NST AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive.
