The old people among us have been hearing all of our lives about how soccer was the biggest sport in the world and that it would soon own the American youth and soul. Well, we’re not quite there but Leonard Raskin and Nestor admit to the World Cup lure and draw and ability to enrapture our country – well, at least until the real football season begins next week.
Nestor Aparicio and Leonard Raskin discussed the World Cup, Baltimore sports, and summer activities. They reminisced about the Baltimore Blast and its cultural impact, noting the shift in public perception of soccer. Leonard shared his experience watching the World Cup final at a conference in Nashville, highlighting the economic benefits of hosting such events. They also talked about the Baltimore Orioles’ recent performance, emphasizing the importance of good pitching and the potential trade moves. Leonard explained his work on financial literacy, promoting a technology that helps people save more by controlling their spending. The conversation concluded with plans for upcoming events and sports seasons.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Have the Ravens scratch-offs ready by Friday for the Maryland Crab Cake Tour stop at Pizza John’s.
World Cup Marathon and Summer Savings
- Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and upcoming events.
- Nestor talks about the Maryland Lottery and GBMC as partners, and mentions Slim Manicotti’s performance.
- Leonard Raskin joins the show, and Nestor reminisces about Slim Manicotti’s music career and his connection to MTV.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the upcoming event at La Scala, where Slim Manicotti will perform.
Soccer Memories and the Baltimore Blast
- Nestor shares his memories of the Baltimore Blast and its impact on the city.
- Leonard Raskin talks about the excitement of indoor soccer and the Blast’s influence on the community.
- Nestor reflects on the cultural significance of the Blast and its role in Baltimore’s sports history.
- Leonard explains how the Blast’s success influenced the local soccer scene and the community’s interest in the sport.
Leonard’s Son and Soccer
- Leonard shares a story about his son Matthew’s reluctance to play soccer due to the running involved.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss their own experiences with soccer and why they didn’t enjoy playing it.
- Leonard talks about the differences between indoor soccer and traditional soccer, and how the Blast’s style of play was more exciting.
- Nestor emphasizes the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S. and its cultural significance.
World Cup Final and Personal Experiences
- Nestor recounts his experience watching the World Cup final at Costa Sinonium and the Orioles game.
- Leonard shares his experience watching the final at a conference in Nashville, despite the challenges of staying focused on the game.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the excitement of the World Cup and the impact of the tournament on the U.S.
- Leonard talks about the economic benefits of hosting the World Cup and the positive impact on the country’s image.
Adam Jones and Soccer’s Cultural Impact
- Nestor shares his interaction with Adam Jones at the All-Star Game and their discussion about soccer.
- Leonard and Nestor discuss the cultural significance of soccer in the U.S. and its growing popularity.
- Nestor reflects on the changes in public perception of soccer over the years.
- Leonard talks about the importance of understanding the rules and players in soccer to appreciate the game.
Orioles’ Performance and Future Plans
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the Orioles’ current performance and the team’s prospects for the rest of the season.
- Leonard expresses interest in the team’s potential moves at the trade deadline and the need for a third baseman.
- Nestor shares his optimism about the team’s pitching and the impact of players like Brandon Young and Grayson Rodriguez.
- Leonard and Nestor talk about the importance of managing the team’s young talent and making strategic moves for the future.
Leonard’s Work on Financial Literacy
- Leonard explains his work with the Currents technology to help people save money more effectively.
- Leonard discusses the challenges of unconscious spending and the importance of saving for the future.
- Nestor shares his own experiences with managing money and the importance of being a cheapskate.
- Leonard talks about the impact of his work on people’s financial stability and their ability to achieve their goals.
Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts
- Nestor mentions upcoming events, including the Ravens’ season start and the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
- Leonard shares his excitement about his conference in Nashville and the opportunity to learn more about financial literacy.
- Nestor and Leonard discuss the importance of saving money and the impact of financial education on people’s lives.
- The show concludes with Nestor expressing optimism about the future of Baltimore sports and the community’s support for local teams.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively a fresh week around here and a fresh life for the Baltimore Orioles. Luke will be chasing them around. Any breaking news happens first on the WNST Tech Service. All brought to you by Coal Roofing and Gordian Energy. And we are back up on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. I will have the Ravens scratch offs by Friday. Roz said so. In the meantime, I have the Maryland Treasures here as we get out and across the bridge, and on Friday we’ll be at Pizza John’s in Essex. All of it brought to you by the Maryland Lottery, GBMC, our partners at Farnham and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. I’ll be comfortable with some Pizza John’s pizza. I think I’m going to get some manicotti on Friday to honor my pal Slim Manicotti, who’s doing a turn on Thursday night. Leonard Raskin’s joining me now, of course, of Raskin Global. He manages money in the American Dream. So I, your ears must be burning down there in Nashville at this conference you’re doing. I had Slim Manicotti on, and you may know Slim without realizing, because you’re like a couple years older than me, and on the MTV, and you like music more than people think you like music. There was a group called Boot Camp locally. Boot Camp. They had one of the original MTV videos, like the 47th ever video on MTV. It was a boot camp video, and they’re a Baltimore band. Tim Camp, of Boot Camp, is the Slim Man, Slim Manicotti. He also is a songwriter with Brian Jack from Child’s Play. He was a roommate of Brian Jack many, many, many moons ago, and he now does like a jazz turn where he said he’s sort of the male Shaday. This music, that’s the music he does, and then he does a Rat Pack thing, and on Thursday night he’s doing a Rat Pack thing down at La Scala from six to nine. Just you know, music, and he’s gonna have me sing Summer Wim with him, you know that kind of thing. Came blowing in from across the sea, linger there to touch her. Ah, there you go. So nonetheless, he’s doing it for Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital.
Leonard Raskin 2:01
Awesome, awesome. So I
Nestor Aparicio 2:02
said, I know a guy. I know a guy that’s used the butter for an amount. So you know, it does take a village, doesn’t it?
Leonard Raskin 2:09
Absolutely, and it is Baltimore, ain’t it? Well, I went to Manicotti
Nestor Aparicio 2:12
at at at Pizza John’s on Friday to honor Slim, and Luke’s been eating. Luke’s been wanting Pizza Johns. Don’t tell anybody, but he ate nothing but pizza last week at Wildwood, and the Orioles haven’t looked. I sent Luke to Wildwood to tell me how to manage my money better so I could give him a month off, and maybe the Orioles will never lose again.
Leonard Raskin 2:31
Right? Didn’t he? Didn’t he walk out saying, you know, sweep the Royals?
Nestor Aparicio 2:35
You heard that segment, and then and
Leonard Raskin 2:37
then All Star break, and then they’d come back and sweep the straws.
Nestor Aparicio 2:43
I was at Costa Sinonium on Sunday afternoon watching the World Cup final and watching the Orioles. They had the Orioles on this team, right? So I’m back and forth, and you know I’m thinking to myself seven in a row. That’s kind of heady, you know. I might even get Leonard and I might even go to the ballpark. Hey, you know
Leonard Raskin 3:01
we might have to end up down there, but then when I go, they lose. So I have to stay home. I have to stay home. I’m I’m the jinx of it. So Luke goes away. Don’t send me to the ballpark. We’re we’re at a good go. Look, Boston’s got 13, right? No reason we can’t get 13. Let’s just keep going.
Nestor Aparicio 3:18
I want to talk baseball with you, but I want to talk soccer and lead with that. Yes, yes. I had Kenny Cooper on the other day, and you can speak to what the blast meant to you or didn’t mean to you and your family. And you know, I’ve told the story that when they came to town, I loved going to Clippers games. At that point, it was going on Skip Jacks. At that point, not sure, but it was getting there in the late ’70s, and the hockey had failed three times, right? And ECHL, all of that. And I mean, I’m 11 years old, 12 years old. The blast came, and my dad went down there probably because Chris Thomas he saw it on TV and the green carpet, and and we knew our way down there. We weren’t afraid of getting on the bus, and my dad wasn’t adverse to something new. My dad liked indoor soccer, and and against all odds, you know, my dad, you know, was the the conservative side of Archie Bunker and Dundalk Steelworker guy, right? Sure. But he and it was it wasn’t because the Colts got stolen because it was before that because they were good before that, right? Before the they sort of moved in when the Colts left town, but like the soccer part of Baltimore is, if you were an immigrant Greek, Italian kids, Highlandtown, Pete Caringi, they played it. Everybody else played baseball, and the Blue Bloods played lacrosse, and you had Blue Bloods on the west side of town, and the Jewish community. I had blue, you know, everywhere. Lacrosse was a was up 83 and your parents had money and went to a private school. Baseball was everything else, and soccer was an immigrant sport, right? Sure. Yeah. Blast happened. There would there would be nobody of our age who would dispute the power of the blast here, correct?
Leonard Raskin 4:54
No, they were huge. What would you say to you?
Nestor Aparicio 4:57
Because your son Matthew doesn’t know from that, right? He doesn’t
Leonard Raskin 4:59
know. The blast, no, right, not even a thing.
Nestor Aparicio 5:02
Would you explain it? How would you explain the blast to your son, Leonard?
Leonard Raskin 5:06
Well, you know, in in junior high, high school, that was when it was starting right there in the in the late 70s or what sold it.
Nestor Aparicio 5:15
What was great about it?
Leonard Raskin 5:17
I just think it was new and different. It was something we had never done, and suddenly we’re in the gym playing indoor soccer in school. It was like it came out of nowhere, and and it was something people wanted to watch. And they were good. They were good. It was
Nestor Aparicio 5:35
exciting. Stands to me. It was exciting.
Leonard Raskin 5:37
They had some good players. It was a good game.
Nestor Aparicio 5:40
It was a good. Not even
Leonard Raskin 5:41
like it is today. It’s it’s it’s different now, isn’t it? It’s a little different this year. Well, the European guys coming
Nestor Aparicio 5:46
over and how good Jungle and Stamankovic at box soccer and the Canadian guys always played that sport at Dominic Mabilio, the late great Dominic Mabilio, and and Dennison Cabral play futsal, you know on the beach, but
Leonard Raskin 6:02
the the scoring is different. It was it was just goals, right? They didn’t have two. They didn’t have twos and three until later, right? Yeah, right. So it was just
Nestor Aparicio 6:11
trying to bastardize the game to make it more exciting to the people
Leonard Raskin 6:15
that went. Right.
Nestor Aparicio 6:16
Well, this is my point. This this is you’ve just you just put your shoe into my into my my poo poo here. Yeah, everybody you knew and I knew, and everybody who ever called-not just this radio station-and it’s been 28 years in a couple of weeks, right? But like, and seven years before that. So I mean, I’ve been on the air 35 years here. Yep. And at any point during the 1994 98 2002 even when the U S was doing well, 2006 even when I was in Germany and the radio station was established and we won a Super Bowl and Angelos had destroyed the Orioles and all the free the birds, all of that. It was always the same story. It’s soccer. It’s boring. Ain’t no soccer’s boring. That that was the perception, and I think that was the reality of me being a high school kid with a notebook covering Oakland Mills or Wild Lake. I even dated a girl that went was a great soccer player at Wild Lake back in the ’80s when I was covering sports. Don’t tell Diana Rossini, but it’s true. My boss knew. But you know, even being out there freezing in soccer, if your kid played soccer in the fricking rain. You’re like, dude. Why don’t you run track? Why don’t you like? Right. It wasn’t exciting or sexy. It wasn’t what the cool kids did. I mean, girls kind of like the soccer players, Victor Carl and Kerry Lockley or Dundalk High. But like, I’m like thinking like in a general. When I was a kid, it wasn’t fun to play soccer. It wasn’t sexy. We played baseball. We we played basketball. We you know football, whatever it was, right? I wrestled. You know, like tennis. I love tennis, right? So there was a funny picture to do. But soccer was so not dropping me off at soccer practice. Leave me out. And I’m telling you, dude, if there’s nothing I don’t take out of the World Cup, boys, girls, young, old, black, white immigrant here. Yeah, yeah. Soccer’s here, and it’s arrived, and that’s what I try to say to Chris. We’ll see. It’s getting, it’s getting bigger.
Leonard Raskin 8:08
It’s getting bigger. There’s no doubt about it. I’ll tell you a funny story. Back in the day, so Matthew’s a little kid. What is he? 456, I don’t know how old he was. Little, little kid, and he’s playing t-ball. What I think he played tee ball at five, so he’s playing t-ball. His best friends play in t-ball, so he’s playing tee ball. And Matthew’s not a runner. Not a runner. So, so he he was hitting last in t-ball. And for those of our listeners that don’t know t ball. Every kid hits, and then the last kid hits a grand slam because all the kids just stand on base. Last kid hits a grand slam, clears the bases, and runs all the way around the bases. And Matthew was last because he was the biggest kid on the team. And he went to the coach the next game, unbeknownst to me at the time, and asked him if he could hit first because he didn’t like running around all the bases. So, end of the season comes, and the coach says, “Hey, Matthew, I’m coaching Rex soccer. You know this at the in the fall. Why don’t you come out and play soccer? You know, your friends are playing soccer. Why don’t you come out and play soccer? And Matthew says, “Isn’t all you do in soccer is run? And he said, Yeah, it’s a lot of running. He said, No,
Nestor Aparicio 9:28
I could pick on Matthew, but I was the same exact kid.
Leonard Raskin 9:31
No, me too. I had no
Nestor Aparicio 9:33
interest in playing soccer. No. So then he said, all he did was kind of run around.
Leonard Raskin 9:37
Right. He said, Why don’t you play? I want to hit the
Nestor Aparicio 9:38
ball. I want a glove. I want to catch. He said, “Why don’t you want to play
Leonard Raskin 9:41
goalie? And he said, “No, then I’ll get hit in the face. And he says, “Well, you’re supposed to block the ball with your hands. He said, “No, and that was the end of his soccer career was over. I never
Nestor Aparicio 9:53
played soccer. I never wanted to run, and I don’t watch. I don’t
Leonard Raskin 9:56
watch it. Indoor soccer was was faster. It was fresher. They scored. It had a different vibe to it.
Nestor Aparicio 10:05
That’s my point. In 1982, that was an easy hook for a 16-year-old Leonard or a 12-year-old Nestor, or what? You know what I mean? Like, like it really caught on here in that way. Absolutely, absolutely. I tried to express that to even to my wife the importance of Kenny Cooper. You know, being from out of town or anybody younger, and and we
Leonard Raskin 10:24
didn’t have hockey, we didn’t have football, so Kenny’s an
Nestor Aparicio 10:29
icon here, right? When those things went away, I would walk around Baltimore with Kenny Cooper, where people our age wouldn’t think of him in the same light as seeing Earl Weaver or Brian. No question,
Leonard Raskin 10:38
no question, no question. It gave the town something to cheer about, and they won. They were so. I guess
Nestor Aparicio 10:45
my point is, your kid didn’t want to play it. I didn’t want to play it. When listen, I love Kenny Cooper and like all that. I wanted to play tennis at that point. 1314, 15. I played tennis. I didn’t want to play soccer. Like, like I wasn’t good at it, and I I stunk at it. It’s like picking up that lacrosse stick. I stunk at it, so I didn’t want to play, you know. And you know, my kids played hoops. My neighbor, we played hoops. We played football, baseball, basketball. I played hockey. I was the weird guy. I had roller skates. We played roller hockey. I played tennis. But like, there were these other things that were peripheral, and soccer sat in the middle of it because every community had it. Everything you could play it. Yes, nobody wanted to play it. Everybody wants to play it. Lots of
Leonard Raskin 11:27
kids played, but they played till they were like 12, and then that was it. You played. You played. Like you said, rec league. You played till you were maybe 1213, It would
Nestor Aparicio 11:38
have been nothing for my dad to put me on the bus to Highland Town, and I could have played with the best kids in in the city if I liked soccer.
Leonard Raskin 11:45
Right, but that’s the thing you had to be really good. There were really good kids, and like you said, they were immigrant kids. I remember. Oh, they played. They played junior high. The way
Nestor Aparicio 11:54
I was really good at baseball because I played every day.
Leonard Raskin 11:56
That’s right. In junior high, I remember a kid who was here from Turkey. It’s like an exchange student or something. He was here from Turkey in in high school, and he wanted him
Nestor Aparicio 12:04
on your team.
Leonard Raskin 12:04
He was phenomenal. Well, you didn’t need anybody else. You just had one guy. Everybody kicked him the ball, and he took off. He was the messy, like Argentina, right? The messy of Randallstown. He just went to town. He was he was amazing. That being
Nestor Aparicio 12:19
said, you just made a reference to me that you’ve not only watched the tournament, you paid attention. You knew Argentina didn’t do much in Messing, like so. Okay, so give me the final day. That’s my whole point. If like a month ago, if I would have told you you were gonna have an illness that was gonna put you down to watch television, but like you watch more than you thought you were going to watch. You know how I feel about the corruption and the orange creep criminal of rapists running the peace award. Like all that’s going. Like what a what a criminal shit show that is in a general sense.
Leonard Raskin 12:54
We had the games here. Brought. I have to bet from an economic standpoint billions of dollars. I think one of the things that that absolutely occurred, and you can you can watch any. I don’t care what news you watch or what what you read or see. People around the world came here to America, Canada, Mexico, and got a feel for this country that they don’t get on the news. People saved up their life savings to come to watch their teams, and fell in love with a culture and a people, and an opportunity to see America with their favorite sport, and loved it. And I had the opportunity to watch a few games. My sister’s a big fan. She she watches all the soccer. The the the I don’t know whatever league is. It’s no secret
Nestor Aparicio 13:46
I like your sister more than you, and she likes me more than she likes you. That’s
Leonard Raskin 13:49
right. That’s right. So she watches all the soccer. So I’m. I thought you’d known
Nestor Aparicio 13:54
that how to watch the game with your sister.
Leonard Raskin 13:55
I’m texting her during some of these games, going, “What the heck is going on here? Like that’s so fake. Why is that a foul? What the hell’s this offsides? You know. So I’m I’m getting all the rules. I’m figuring out this stuff, and then she says to me, “Well, you don’t know the players and the the whole thing, and it’s a different thing to root for the players because it’s like the Olympics and they’re playing for their country. I said, “Okay, who’s winning it all? She said, “I don’t know, France or Spain. So sure enough, here we are. We’re watching the finals, and I’m watching the finals. Okay, so I’m at a conference. I’m in Nashville. I’m supposed to be paying attention. This is some business to help you help my clients understand some great strategies that we’re doing with money, which we do. Okay, fantastic. But somehow they scheduled the beginning of the conference during the final game of the World Cup, like stupid. Anyway, so the good news is this is 2026. We have fabulous internet. We have fabulous technology. I have earbuds. I have an iPad. And I’ve got the game on, and I can still hear what’s going on the conference. Pay attention to anything that matters, although you really can’t. But I was
Nestor Aparicio 15:07
watching, right? Like right, and it was right on the game. I ran into Adam Jones last week. I went to the All Star game last week. By the way, Leonard Raskin is here. He manages money in the American Dream. Raskin Global. You find him on the front of Baltimore Positive. Find him at Raskin global.com He’s at a conference. He’ll be back. They do seminars. They do workshops. They do all sorts of things. You can learn online at Raskin Global. Speaking of managing money,
Leonard Raskin 15:29
yes,
Nestor Aparicio 15:29
I know Adam Jones is probably manages money pretty well, from what I gather. One would hope. You know, he lives in Spain, right? You know this, right?
Leonard Raskin 15:35
Yeah, yeah. Okay,
Nestor Aparicio 15:36
so I am at the All Star Game, and Monday was the workout day. Yes. Tuesday and Wednesday were the semis. So I knew the semi was at 3o’clock Wednesday I was in Richmond, Virginia, seeing the fix in the smithereens. I had a British bar. It was great. It was great until it wasn’t great for them. Tuesday I’m like, I’m going to be on the field at the All Star game. How am I going to watch the all? How am I going to watch France and Spain? Right,
Leonard Raskin 16:04
right.
Nestor Aparicio 16:04
So I went down to the stadium, and this this is a bad news Philly thing. But I stayed in Philly, took the subway. First time I’ve really stayed in Philly as a tourist in 33 years. Like since the last all 30 years, I I have spent all of four hotel nights in my life in Philadelphia ever. I haven’t been on a subway since I was a boy in 1981 when my father took me up to the vet. So like I literally I took subways everywhere in Philadelphia. I got around. I don’t know if they had a
Leonard Raskin 16:32
subway.
Nestor Aparicio 16:34
Isn’t that amazing? And it lets off in front of
Leonard Raskin 16:36
right. It lets
Nestor Aparicio 16:37
off right in front of where you park your car, and you can take that subway anywhere you wanted to.
Leonard Raskin 16:41
Okay.
Nestor Aparicio 16:42
If you wanted to go to dinner with your wife in Philly, if you’re going to an Adele concert or something, you could park your car in South Philly easily for $2 Get on the subway, go to Center City, have a beautiful meal, get back in the subway. And I’m talking like it’s only three miles. Like the subway ride’s not even eight minutes. 10. It’s it’s close, and there’s no traffic, so nonetheless, who knows? That’s why I’m telling you. It’s you go. We all go to Philly, but I was like stuck in Philly for three days. I actually ran into the man who saved my wife’s life, the doctor who saved my wife’s life. Practices at Penn at the game, so I get down there at 250 on the subway. I went to the Fan Fest, the Village Day.
Leonard Raskin 17:20
Sure, sure. I’m like,
Nestor Aparicio 17:21
I’m ready to go to the. I’m gonna go watch the game in that big sports bar thing. It was 103 degrees.
Leonard Raskin 17:27
Yeah, beautiful.
Nestor Aparicio 17:28
All concrete. The bar was closed. They’re like, watch the game outside. I’m like,
Leonard Raskin 17:33
oh my god. So I
Nestor Aparicio 17:34
took my my press pass and I walked into the stadium. I’m like, there’s gonna have to be somewhere.
Leonard Raskin 17:39
Somewhere, somebody’s watching.
Nestor Aparicio 17:40
Where there’s international people, there’s Japanese media, all sorts of Hispanic media. Somebody’s watching have a game on in a suite in a corner. Fox is broadcasting the game, and Fox is broadcasting the game. So I went into the stadium. I’m up, I’m down, I’m on a concourse, I’m everywhere. They’re getting nowhere. They’re they’re making pretzels and pop popping popcorn because it’s 3o’clock I’m missing a freaking game. I I took the I took the elevator down to the clubhouse, and in Philadelphia there’s like a main area where the the elevator lets off. That’s air conditioned, and you go American League, National League field, workers everywhere. I mean, people carrying food and pushing this. It’s the All Star game. It’s 315
Leonard Raskin 18:20
Oh no!
Nestor Aparicio 18:20
I walk in, two clubhouse attendants with the best Philadelphia accents ever, and they’ve been working the Phillies clubhouse forever. I mean, they had the they had the walkie talkies and they’re big, they burly looking guys, the nicest guys ever. I said, “Hey, do you know where we can get the game on? And he says, “Right here, buddy. He grabbed the remote. He hands me the remote. He’s like, on right now, and he turned it up. And I sat there. He gave me a chair. I had I had water. I I met the governor of I met the governor of Pennsylvania. I met the commissioner of baseball. I mean, Barry Bonds walked past me, and you know, like everybody walked past me. Paul Skeens walked past me. So I’m watching the game, and so I got the game. The game ends, and I walk out on the field, and there’s Adam Jones, and I’m like, and I’m like, hey, Spain won, and it and Adam apparently likes me more than he did when he was a player.
Leonard Raskin 19:15
Okay,
Nestor Aparicio 19:16
well, because I was right about everything. Sure, there you go. I wrote the Peter Principles, and I told him this to his face. I’m like, you know, I wrote a book for you the last time you and I did this because at the All Star game in 2013 in New York, he was playing catch right before the All Star game, and I was out on the field with my pass the same spot. I met him on the first base side of the cage this time, and he’s a retired player wearing the MLB gear, sure, sure, with his silver beard going on. And 13 years ago, God, it feels like five minutes ago at the All Star game in New York, my wife was still a blonde and healthy in her original self. He’s playing catch, and he said to me, “Hey, man.” Why does the old man hate you so much? That’s literally what he said to me, talking about Angelos, right? And I said, “Dude, you want me to answer that in 30 seconds? I said, “I’ll write you a book. And I went home and I wrote the Peter Principles. There you go, Adam Jones. That’s a true story, and I told him that. So I saw Adam Jones, and I saw him, and I got closer to him, and he saw me, and this this means a lot to me and to my audience because they don’t know right because I had an interaction with Ruchman that you may or may not have seen that was I saw yeah weird right Adam Jones saw me and said Mister Aparicio he he can’t literally he shook went to shake my hand.
Leonard Raskin 20:44
There you go.
Nestor Aparicio 20:45
And that means a lot to me because I didn’t cover Adam, and it wasn’t always good. And he tweeted this, and I tweeted that, and I said this, and he hit that, and whatever. And in the end, he got cut out. Remember? Absolutely. Right. But in the end, he knows how he would go like like
Leonard Raskin 21:00
a dome,
Nestor Aparicio 21:01
and in the end, Adam Jones knows my heart is good. Adam Jones’ father-in-law, Gene Fugits, been in my home many times for coffee. I’ve known Gene most of my life. We had mutual friends. So he married Gene’s daughter. I don’t know Audie. I’ve never met Audie. She’s beautiful. I’ve seen her TV. Beautiful children, the whole deal. But I don’t know her. But like Adam Jones. So here, here we are on the field, 13 years later. I’m telling about the book I wrote for him. He asked how my wife was doing. He he loves Luke Jones. He loves Luke. I just want to tell you, he’s like, I love Luke. I want you to know, I love Luke. He told me that. He said, Me and Luke, I love Luke. And I said, Well, you would have loved me too if I was around, but I didn’t have the, you know. But I wrote a book for you instead, and I said, “Hey, man, you going to the game? He said, “This is great, Adam. I’m gonna have to kiss some ass, man. I’m gonna have to kiss somebody’s ass to get. And I said to him, “I’m like, you’re not really good at that, are you? He’s like, “No, I’m not good at asking you. So I’m thinking it was 10 grand to get in.
Leonard Raskin 21:58
There you go. You know, and
Nestor Aparicio 21:59
I’m thinking he can afford it. I missed my long Adam Jones Albernaz game way of saying he can afford it, but like it literally is a once in a lifetime thing on the World Cup thing. Absolutely, New
Leonard Raskin 22:11
York right here.
Nestor Aparicio 22:12
This country came to life around soccer, and guys named Raskin and Aparicio who answered phone calls for years and said soccer’s boring, and everybody in your circle, except your sister, but like this, we all sat up and paid attention. And for every Philly Cooper and every Pete Caringi that dedicated their lives to it, I’m I feel the best for for the people who love the sport. That at least I don’t ever have anybody say soccer’s boring anymore. We’ve moved beyond that. It’s still
Leonard Raskin 22:41
somewhat. It’s still somewhat. You know. So I’m watching. Like I said, here’s the thing. I’m watching the game, the final on on the iPad, and conference is over with about I want to say maybe 510 minutes to go in the second half, and and I’m watching
Nestor Aparicio 23:01
it. Say the 80th minute, okay? There you
Leonard Raskin 23:05
go. Just say 80th minute.
Nestor Aparicio 23:07
So I’m trying to help you here,
Leonard Raskin 23:09
right on the pitch with with nil nil and all that cheerio. Okay. So so I’m watching, and well, well played, well
Nestor Aparicio 23:17
played,
Leonard Raskin 23:17
and I don’t have the sound up because I’m paying attention to the conference, and I’m looking at the at the screen, and I’m thinking to myself, “This is just me thinking out loud with with a guy sitting next to me. I’m like, “Has Argentina had a shot in this game? Have they? I don’t mean do they have a shot at the game. I mean, do they have a shot in? Is Messi
Nestor Aparicio 23:38
on the field,
Leonard Raskin 23:39
right? And and I turn the volume up and I realize it’s like 17 to nothing shot chances, and I’m thinking, what are they doing? And now they’re now they’re down a man, so it’s now they’re gonna get slaughtered, and and suddenly I’m watching this, and I’m oh my god! A better
Nestor Aparicio 24:04
team won, and Argentina survived through the tournament. It was a great tournament. The U.S. did well. Spain.
Leonard Raskin 24:10
How about Spain? This I I I don’t know the Spanish team. My my sister tells me they’re really good. Blah blah blah. They gave up one goal the whole tournament.
Nestor Aparicio 24:20
I mean, they’re deep too. They, you know,
Leonard Raskin 24:22
they gave up nothing, and I’m watching, going, no wonder they’re playing offense the whole time. And and Argentina never had the ball.
Nestor Aparicio 24:31
Well, and and didn’t give them a Bravo. They were the best team in the tournament. They were. It was
Leonard Raskin 24:34
incredible. And France was
Nestor Aparicio 24:36
probably the second best team in the tournament, right? Like at a general sense. Yeah. Right. And and England was probably the third best team in the tournament. They got that, and Argentina did a couple. Found the way to win.
Leonard Raskin 24:46
Found the way to win, dude.
Nestor Aparicio 24:47
When it was 83rd minute, all I could think about was Kenny Cooper and Mick Jagger and anyone you’ve ever met who’s British, anyone I’ve ever met who’s British. The the the gal who’s the the commentator who’s in the middle of. All of it. Who’s losing her ish because, like, it’s her country and it means everything to her. It,
Leonard Raskin 25:05
and then Argentina found a way.
Nestor Aparicio 25:07
I’ll drop. I’ll drop the ball on this, and we’ll get the baseball and football and anything else you have. By the way, Leonard Raskin is here. Raskin Global. If the U.S. had won the cup on Sunday, it wouldn’t have meant anything to you and me because we lived it and breathed. No, you’re right. Met everything for if we would have beaten England in the final, it would have crushed their soul, and it wouldn’t have meant anything to us. It’s sort of yeah, we’d have won.
Leonard Raskin 25:28
We’d have won. We’d have been arrogant Americans. See if you told you we could win.
Nestor Aparicio 25:32
It’s sort of like when Miami basketball wins a national championship or something. It’s sort of like who you know Indiana now in football. All of a sudden, it’s like it’s not even your thing, so you know what I mean. It’s not even your your Norway. You go to cross country skiing and win that. So when Norway does well, or when the yeah, but but seeing the there was some fun there was some
Leonard Raskin 25:53
fun things to watch. There were some fun games to watch, and see see Americans loved the bronze medal. Did they give a bronze medal? Whatever it is, the third place game.
Nestor Aparicio 26:05
England beat the snot out of France. They’re
Leonard Raskin 26:07
up. They’re up three nothing. Then it’s three two. Then it’s four something. Then it’s like six four. See, Americans like that because we had a lot of scoring in that game.
Nestor Aparicio 26:18
Hence the indoor game,
Leonard Raskin 26:19
right? Six four. You go. This is this is good. I can watch this. These guys are kicking the ball around. They’re running around. They’re scoring. This is good. This is what soccer should be. And then you watch the final, and it’s. I hope Adam Jones made it
Nestor Aparicio 26:32
to the final. If anybody nil, nil
Leonard Raskin 26:33
forever.
Nestor Aparicio 26:35
Well, you and I didn’t go because it was 10 grand, and I don’t know if you heard Leonard, but I sent Luke off on vacation to Wildwood with his family. He he actually took the vacation a week later than usual this year for some reason with his family. It fell in the middle of the All Star game, which is why I was at Adley Rutschman’s frontage asking him literally softball questions. I was really nice to him, yeah, and literally like trying to get something emotive and positive out of him. I am Baltimore positive. I could have asked him about the team being in last place most of the year, being under 500 the disappointments last year, his average, his straight deadline.
Leonard Raskin 27:15
No,
Nestor Aparicio 27:15
no, I went. I went. You know, I I took the high road, and I’m taking the high road now. But they’ve been undefeated, and we’ve just spent a half an hour talking about a soccer tournament. Seven in a row. Are you interested? More interested?
Leonard Raskin 27:29
I’m interested to see if mr. Elias is going to be a buyer.
Nestor Aparicio 27:34
Going to have to be.
Leonard Raskin 27:35
And what’s he going to buy with? What’s he going to buy? What is he going to buy? I’m thinking. Okay, better than Jack
Nestor Aparicio 27:40
Flaherty, I hope.
Leonard Raskin 27:42
Yeah, well, there you go. What are they going to buy? It’s an interesting question. I look around the team, and I say to myself, if I’m in his position, what position?
Nestor Aparicio 27:51
I got to get a third baseman, man.
Leonard Raskin 27:53
Do I need? And I got to get some
Nestor Aparicio 27:55
bullpen help. No matter. Yeah. Now they’re pitching. Luke came on with these gaudy stats since like may 5 or something. They’ve been incredible. They’re they’re all of their pitching has been outstanding, and that’s not a shocker to me because I thought it. Look, I picked them to win 92 games, so I thought they would be good. I thought the bullpen would be bringing up the rear, and the starting pitching would be better. The starting pitching has come on. It’s just not Bassett and Efflin doing it. It’s Brandon Young, which is even better for them. That’s right. And and the contract for Bradish, 90 million. That’s nice. Money bags went in. They’re opening business.
Leonard Raskin 28:29
They’re ready. They said they’re going to. They’re trying to
Nestor Aparicio 28:32
get you to come down and buy tickets. They’re trying.
Leonard Raskin 28:34
Yes. Well, you know, they’re throwing that money around. They signed Sam Bassio. They signed Bradish.
Nestor Aparicio 28:40
Boz.
Leonard Raskin 28:40
Boz. Yeah. They’ve they’ve. they’ve signed some guys.
Nestor Aparicio 28:43
Alonzo,
Leonard Raskin 28:44
are we going to sign Holiday? Are we going to sign Henderson? Do
Nestor Aparicio 28:48
you want to?
Leonard Raskin 28:49
I don’t know. They have they proven? Have they proven? Well,
Nestor Aparicio 28:54
this is where I am with Luke. It’s like Holiday, Henderson, Ruchman, all three of them. Their value at the trade deadline is less than it would be because they people
Leonard Raskin 29:06
think they have tremendous potential.
Nestor Aparicio 29:08
I hear you, but you would get less for them if you were a seller. If you are a buyer,
Leonard Raskin 29:15
correct.
Nestor Aparicio 29:15
You would if you want to manage chairs and you want to send Holiday somewhere to get a real third and now third baseman back. Yeah, yeah. And but I don’t think you deal off the top of the hand no matter what. And they’re not going to deal. I’m doing Rex Barney talk here. They’re not dealing any of that. But what I’m saying is the value of their players, top to bottom, is less than it was, and that’s problematic at any trading deadline. And Luke would tell you that the the minor league isn’t what it used to be because the minors used to be holiday because they’re here. Kobe Mayo’s trade value. You tell me. You know, casting curses the ball, or I don’t know. But but the minor league guys they have. Do you want to deal off the bottom? For this group, and do you believe that what they have right now, they can get into October and win a World Series? Not win a series, not win a couple games, play some playoff games. Right, right. I’m talking about. Do you think win a series this year? So many of these deals we’re talking about before august 3 would be more of the variety of help me now, help me later. Which is dealings for players would have years trying to shape next year’s roster too. Right,
Leonard Raskin 30:28
right, absolutely. And they’re they’re playing good ball. They’re here. This is this is always strange for me to watch. Pitching’s good, hitting’s decent. It’s not great. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. It’s haphazard. But throwing that ball around the yard
Nestor Aparicio 30:49
is is insane. Anybody that watches baseball league team. Yeah,
Leonard Raskin 30:52
little league. I mean, we we didn’t make those mistakes. We were that was all you practiced was where you throw. Look, Tyler O’Neill. How I’m going to say I give the man credit. Great catch, great throw to the plate, got an out that mattered the most in the 10th inning of the game.
Nestor Aparicio 31:11
He had no idea where the ball was going.
Leonard Raskin 31:12
I was just saying, did he really? Was that was that just blind luck? Just threw it and it was perfect, and then running out a hit that was misplayed by the defense that that let us didn’t let us win but we won the game thinking dude was on fire that night but but they make mistakes they throw they miss cut off men they throw to the wrong base they they throw the ball away it’s dribbling into the dugout. There’s just too many mistakes. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 31:45
sloppy, and you don’t have a chance, right? Right. Even when
Leonard Raskin 31:48
you don’t have time to practice that, I guess in the season. But that’s what spring training is all about. You know, cut three, cut six. You where you throwing the ball. You got to know where that ball is going at all times, and even the infield. It’s like we take an extra hop and we throw the ball into the dugout. You were
Nestor Aparicio 32:06
14, and you were getting these drills when you were 11 years old. That’s right, and you were the best player on the field on whatever field you were throwing the ball. You’d like to think that some point along your baseball life, you get some IQ for it.
Leonard Raskin 32:19
That’s right. That’s right. You got to know where that ball’s going, and you got to know how to get it there. And and they’ve they’ve pulled off some great games lately, and that’s that’s a good thing. It’s fun to watch. Friday night, they strike out 13
Nestor Aparicio 32:32
times. They leave everybody on base. They hit it and they run over and they win. So and that speaks to the Astros and the Royals not being very good either. It also speaks to good
Leonard Raskin 32:40
pitching. Good pitching helps.
Nestor Aparicio 32:42
Yeah, well, always. Tell me what you’re doing with money here these days, and you’re doing something in Nashville right now, right?
Leonard Raskin 32:47
Yeah, doing something in Nashville at a at a conference called Currents. This is the conference we’re at. Currents is a a technology that is upsetting the apple cart of how people spend money, you know, one of the things Nestor that we do, especially here, America, is we earn our money, and we spend our money. It goes into a checking account, we spend it, and what I know when I work with people is they spend unconsciously. We’re bombarded with opportunity and marketing, advertising, and whether we need it or not, want it or not, we’re we’re just habitual spenders. Our our mind and body is not made for the future; it’s made for the here and now. And so we spend. So the money comes in, the money goes out, and people wonder why they don’t have money. So what currents does is it interrupts that that circuit, if you will, and puts a this this is tell us how old we are, a governor on the spending. Remember when you had a governor in the speedometer
Nestor Aparicio 33:59
on
Leonard Raskin 34:00
your car? So it was a it was a notch on the speedometer that that activated when you went too fast, and it did bad things. It like did really bad things, like you had a shock, but not quite. So so what this does is it puts an account between you and your spending, and it says instead of spending, here’s the big key: instead of spending based on your income, and as your income goes up, just spend more, spend more, spend more, spend more, earn more, spend more. It says let all your income flow into an account and spend based on what your spend is. So if you spend 1000 2000 5000 whatever it is, a month, let that be the governor. Let that be the guide, and pour all the money into a funnel that holds the money, and it lets out what you spend. And what’s the difference? Difference is then to spend more, you have to be conscious about spending more, and you become unconscious about saving. And what we see is it causes people to save dramatically more per month, per pay, per year than they’ve ever saved before, and it just interrupts the circuit of spending. And so this is now an app; it’s available on your computer, and we’re working with people to interrupt spending because the U.S. at the best, at the best, we save about four to 5% a year of our income, and we should be saving 15 to 20. So we talk about the American dream. We talk about going to that game. We talk about taking that trip. We talk about buying that car. Whatever it is, educating the kids. You can’t do it when you’re saving two, 3% a year, it’s just impossible. So, how do we get people to the point of saving 1015, 20% Well, it’s really difficult to go from not saving to saving right away. It’s like stop smoking cold turkey, stop eating. You know, it’s really tough.
Nestor Aparicio 36:21
It’s something you have to think about.
Leonard Raskin 36:22
But it’s it’s damn near impossible. Right. But here’s what we can do: when you get a 4% raise, you can save 20% of the raise, and when you get another 4% raise, you can save 50% of that raise. So instead of just spending more constantly, you save more for the future in the future with a control mechanism that makes you do it, and before you know it, you’re saving significant amounts of your overall income. And so, I’m here at a conference to talk with people about how they’re helping people save massive amounts of income that people never saved before, and we’re talking about Nest. Let’s be clear: people that make 50,000 a year, 250 a year, two and a half million a year, don’t think because somebody makes more they save more, because they got the big heard the story for it. They got the
Nestor Aparicio 37:19
budget. That’s
Leonard Raskin 37:20
right. You’ve all heard the story of athletes go broke, entertainers go broke.
Nestor Aparicio 37:26
Dude, I see it all the time because I travel all the time. I went to Philadelphia last week. Somebody up there bought the Major League Baseball package and are staying at the Four Seasons. That’s right, Carlton. That’s somebody else, like my dear pal Michael Bookdall, wound up getting a deal on tickets and bought a couple of tickets for a couple 100 bucks and and and took his brother and had a good time. You know what I mean? There you go. And somebody else paid 20 grand for a junket to be there. Absolutely. And somewhere in, hey man, you bought rush tickets in New York next week for X amount. Yeah, I’m going to get in for Y amount and not YYZ. That’s right. So so yeah, I mean, it is really about people look at me and say, “You do this and that, and I’m like, “Dude, I’m such a cheapskate from Dundonk. You have no idea. And you see me there. Trust me, I did not buy the $500 ticket or even the $200 ticket. Right? I’ll just walk away and go get a slice of pizza, and I could be happy, literally. Yeah,
Leonard Raskin 38:16
people people spend so unconsciously, and they spend. You manage my
Nestor Aparicio 38:19
money. You know, I don’t have absolutely.
Leonard Raskin 38:22
They they just spend so differently, and so the idea is get people to save more so they can do more. That’s what it’s all about. So that’s what I’m here working on: a little Nashville, a little country music hall of fame, a little barbecue, and why not? It’s hot and humid, just like it is in Baltimore.
Nestor Aparicio 38:41
I would give you a Nashville tip or two, but you’re in Nashville, man. Go have a good time, right? Been
Leonard Raskin 38:45
here, been here, done it. It’s beautiful. Enjoy
Nestor Aparicio 38:48
yourself. Leonard Raskin is there to help you with things like saving your money. Obviously, when I put Leonard on the spot about the money stuff, he gives me a little, a good little five-minute lecture of fresh information coming from down in Nashville. He can work with you out of Raskin Global as well, and he’s got plenty of time on his hands because he’s not going to the Orioles games yet. But yeah, we are Philly’s in town next week. They’re going to come down here and take the place over again. Luke’s at the ballpark this week. Next week, Ravens start, and we’ll have some purple conversations as well. I will have some purple lottery tickets from the Maryland Lottery by Friday. We’re at Pizza John’s Friday doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. It is all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery, GBMC, and our partners at Farnin and Dermer. Hey, we got a real baseball season. We got a football season. Rushes coming East Coast this month. Good times ahead. I am Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking. Baltimore positive.
