It took Baltimore nearly 53 years to earn the hosting privilege of the biggest football game that is not the Super Bowl. Bill Cole joins Nestor in celebrating the civic victory of the Ravens hosting the AFC Championship Game for the first time in their 28-year history in the Charm City.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
game, super bowl, years, week, lamar, tickets, win, people, play, halftime, cold, point, football game, talked, taylor swift, baltimore, team, food bank, snow, chiefs
SPEAKERS
Bill Cole, Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:02
We are wn S T am 1570, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive.com. We are around. These are the good days. This is where it’s fun to still be surviving as a little am radio station all these years later and to be booted out of radio row after 28 years and be coming up with fun, new charitable ways to involve the community give back just better than having Terry Bradshaw on the program anyway and heck, this week, I got Joe Flacco Brian Billick. Marvin Lewis, Peter King, Brandon Stokely, Dan Pompe, who was hanging with ro Quan Smith wrote about him for the athletic last week. I’m doing okay, thanks for okay here. But what a week, it’s the AFC Championship game. I’ve put together this incredible charity event with sponsors, friends, local businesses, people like my friend Bill Cole from coal roofing and Gordian energy who is joining us here as part of what we do which is get together and you and I have talked politics, we talked business, we’ve talked pandemics, we’ve talked education, we’ve talked crime, we’ve talked crime, we’ve talked safety, we’ve talked safety, we’ve talked leadership, like for years. We stop everything when a week like this and we talk football because like, I’m
Bill Cole 01:21
just glad. I’m just glad you can talk to Flacco and then he’s not playing right. Like that’s, that’s one good part. Like,
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:30
I have a whole list of questions for him. I don’t do this for Brian or Marvin and Ron and Marvin got a job with the Raiders now working with Antonio Pierce. So like I have Greg Brandon’s doing radio out in Denver, next door neighbor to Peyton Manning. They they’re their best pals. They’re BFFs. Is that right?
Bill Cole 01:47
I don’t know. But there’s gonna be cool cookouts to go to? I’m sure. Yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:51
you know, so I’ll just say this. Where are you in all of this. I mean, we’re in a different place in our lives, right? Because I’ve, I’m doing these 25 stories of glory because of people like you. And I think you’ve been a sponsor, 15 years, maybe a little longer, but I will give you 15 Maybe it’s been a little more or less. You came into my life as an intern for Bob Haney in the building where I do radio it you know, in Towson time ago, a long, long time ago, 25 years ago, you famously talk of whiskey Joe’s and we’re counting down these 25 stores of glory for our 25th anniversary. And we’ll be getting to that later on. By the way, the whiskey Joe’s anniversary is Sunday. It’s a data game. It’s crazy, right? And so, on February 5, I’m doing this thing because Chad’s to Google it. I’ll be writing more about that about why we’re not in Las Vegas. Luke, If we win is going to Las Vegas he’s gonna cover because they let him they don’t like, I don’t know if it’s my skin. My hair.
Bill Cole 02:54
Is that is that if like you’re it’s a well, this Patrick mahomes. Right. It is right. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I kind of feel like I wish it was the bills. But mostly because I have friends that are Bills fans. And I don’t know, I mean, other we played rough the first half. But then we got our stuff together. Because three weeks ago, nobody wanted to play us. And I was kind of worried that we were going to play the team that nobody wanted to play, you know, some hot wildcard team. You know what I mean? But we are the hot team. I don’t know. It’s we decided like two months ago that we were not going to go to the Super Bowl, even if the Ravens went to the Super Bowl. And now I’m sort of regretting that decision.
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:39
Oh, really? Oh,
Bill Cole 03:42
I think it was I just didn’t I don’t think I believed it two months ago. But now. I don’t know, man. Like, I think Lamar is determined. So. And there are enough other determined souls on the football team that they might be able to handle whatever kind of stuff comes their way. Because, you know, goofy stuff does happen, like, Buffalo should have lost, then. Kansas City fumbles, and buffalo is back alive again, you know, just silly things happen in football games. So I don’t know, it was pretty exciting. It was good, good to do what they needed to do. Right? Like, you’re not that excited that they won, because you kind of expected that they should win. But if they lost, it would have been like catastrophic. So not a lot of upside for them in that game. This one’s more like you gotta win this one. And this one will be exciting. Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:37
that’s the thing Luke said. And he and I have been at it for a couple of hours. And I’m going to talk to all these people this week that were involved in the games, and this time of year, and even disappointments like Diwan Edwards and I are friends on Facebook and he was on the O six team, and I saw Peyton Manning on the field and I’m like, Voodoo Doll. What the hell is he? No, don’t touch him. You know what he did? Let’s hear stop that right. And then I think well, you know, don’t you know we did to him there, you know. But, you know, I guess to all of this, there are years where Peyton wins and Peyton loses right? And Tom Brady won a lot more than Peyton or his brother, but as you know, but his brother beat Brady, and he couldn’t, you know, like, Roethlisberger one once right, like Aaron Rodgers one wants Joe Flacco one wants and we don’t talk about him in the same terms. And I’m going to talk to him about that this week, and his legacy and where he is, and I think he still wants to play. I mean, I saw him talk last week on, you know, on lesser podcasts, and I thought, I’m gonna text Joe, and I’m gonna show Joe text me what Tommy wants me. That’s what Joe is, you know? Sure. Um, so for me with this week, and writing it through and how special it is. And thinking back to my childhood, and you know, your father and your family, your grandfather and the kind of family you had a coal roofing and football people, and you have pictures of your father in the 70s back with the Colts and whatnot. I had the same thing. And I think about those games, I was at the Donald croner game. I was at the goes to the post game. I was at the fog bowl game. I was not at the Patriots snow game when they clinched in 75. And then there were no other code games to go to that, you know, that was it. And then the Ravens came do We’ve only played eight playoff games at home and 28 years like all those trips that Indianapolis you took with us out there and Foxborough and Pittsburgh and Denver and Oakland and I’ve got Tennessee, Tennessee, Tennessee, one of our top 25 stories of glory this week as well. We all went down to Nashville and oh nine It was crazy. Having it at home and having them getting healthier. I don’t know where they are with Humphrey or mark Andrews and we’re gonna figure that out this week, but they’re pretty healthy against where the Chiefs got banged up the other night in Buffalo as well. Sure. And I think in the leadership, the coaching, they’re all dancing great. This is getting busted up, whether they win or lose, right? So you better win. And you know, you see what happen with the Bengals you see what happens to the chiefs. I mean, one of the things about the Chiefs coming in here, they’re a little diminished because they won, and you get picked apart when you win and you get picked apart when you’re the best team and you don’t win and their coaches. This is not going to be put together the same way certainly over the salary cap. It does feel like they had the JV last week, no offense at halftime. They weren’t they should have been behind 13 to 10 of the Texas kicker makes the kick right. But it feels at the end the JV this whole thing where they got to avoid burrow, that chargers don’t have a coach or a quarterback that’s upright. The kid in Jacksonville is not ready for primetime yet. You know a lot of things conspired to make this path easier. I mean, including having kicked the lions and the 40, Niners acids, no question that if you add the Las Vegas next week, you’re thinking they’re winning the Super Bowl that this week is the Super Bowl that this mahomes thing is real. It’s in Lamar is head organization.
Bill Cole 08:08
I don’t know if it is I don’t know if it’s in Lamar said he hasn’t won and this is this is the hurdle. I get it, but I don’t feel like like Lamar, I don’t know if he needed to get the contract to like become an adult in the locker room. Like there’s so you know, you’ll watch a lot of the interviews and other people talking about how Lamar wasn’t really vocal and was kind of like, you know, the kid on the team and, and now he’s really come into this role of like, Alright, I am getting paid to win. Like, I’m in charge here. Let’s go. You know, again, he just seems like a definitely a different guy. Like, say what you want about Lamar, there’s questionable decisions over the last year. When after the game. I forget what her name is. I interviewed him. She said, what do you what do you think about playing in the in the AFC Championship game next week? And his answer was, I’m just happy to be there. And like, that’s totally true. Right? That’s like humble, like, hungry. I just think I think he’s in the right headspace. He hasn’t had much adversity, you know, like,
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:24
well, adversity was halftime. And I talked to Luke about that bill. Oh, my bill calls here from cold roofing and Gordian energy. Learn more at Baltimore positive, but like halftime, I’m sitting here and again, I’ve been in that press box my whole life. 30 years. I know that walk from the press box down where the crab cakes are, and they put the salad in the halftime hotdogs out, and I know that Hush, and I’ve been doing this my whole life. And Luke talked about like, like, I know what it looks like when Pat Moriarty and Eric de Costa and Joe Ortiz and George kookiness. I was with him every Sunday on my life every Sunday that they had a halftime buffet I’m peeing in the same bathroom getting coffee from the same coffeemaker like getting ice cream from the same ice cream or whatever weird st tables watching halftime watching out of town scores, elbow seeing the Ashen look on their face when they’re down two touchdowns and Kyle bowlers that go you know, the quarterback like I’ve seen all of it. And maybe 1010 on Saturday looks like it was something right, you know, looked at me at halftime I’m like, boy, you know, like, they had the coverage on TV for me is how I I consumed it. And it’s by people in the field, Buck analyst and Aikman and then they go to, to the to the to the studio, and, like every Scott Van Pelt, like white wall, you know, like, everybody’s like, here we go again. We want Lamar is in the locker room saying, eff this MVP, Super Bowl, you know, where we, you know, like all that and they come out. And it’s like a Hoosiers or something. Right. And I
Bill Cole 11:05
think I think 00 at the half is different adversity, then, you know, you let Pat mahomes Come out and get up to touchdown zone. Yeah. I think that’s different right now. I am very confident our defense, like, almost the what’s the name of that guy? Which corner is that? I never heard of him. Like, that’s just who we are. And believe it or not, they’re they’re like, good. I mean, they’re good. Good. And I don’t know enough. You know, I’m not in the locker room. I don’t know if it’s the coaching, the schemes, the adjustments, the players, you know, how many of those guys are playing well above their perceived the level at this point, you know, like, Wroclaw just makes them that much better. Or, or the combination of Raekwon and Queen and, you know, clowny and vinoy. I mean, you gotta give him some credit, right? Like, those are key pickups. Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:07
Mata PK and Hamilton are
Bill Cole 12:10
awesome. pics, you wouldn’t be
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:13
talking about them if you weren’t talking about ro Quan. And then they have a $20 million quarter that they can’t get on the field and no offense, they don’t miss them to your
Bill Cole 12:21
play. Right. That’s it’s just, and I think that probably, you know, Lamar made comment about that, too, is like, hey, sometimes the defense sometimes it’s the offense, you know, somebody is jumping in the other ones, but to get going. So it’s really fun. You know? I would be lying if I wasn’t nervous with mahomes and the chiefs, right? Like, of course, but that’s so much better than being in the if you don’t beat the Texans, everybody’s going to be like, catastrophically disappointed, because one of them like you said, the JV. So at least this is a real football game. And yes, you look across the other side of the bracket, and you’re like, already beat both of them, pretty handily. Not really afraid at all. Not even that you got to play him again. And they’ll be smarter or better. Me. I don’t I don’t think so. I think this is the week so it’d be fun. Yeah, that’s interesting. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 13:16
mean, to me, it’s almost like poetic that it’s going to be mahomes. If, if he’s going to win, it’s going to go through mahomes mahomes is gonna have to come here because they’ve earned it. Like just just all of it. I mean, I keep writing Purple Rain three in my mind. I’m not writing Purple Rain three, Bill, trust me. I’m not an Eric Acosta right with somebody else this time around. But I’ll be writing a letter to Eric the cost if they win this week. But you know, for me, the Purple Rain three part of this is just hardball, keeping his job where Lamar came in, then turning to Lamar, the fact that it worked in a way that open that the mind of what else could we do with him? If we surrounded him with this, that and the other thing and got a defense, and they’ve had the kicker, right, and if they got the coaching and they’ve drafted Well, I mean, we keep talking about Mata PK, Hamilton, I mean, just the deal for ro Quan Smith in the middle of the season, and to give him what Luke considered to be Wow, that’s a lot of money. For middle linebacker that’s a lot of money and to give Lamar Jackson a lot of money, and they all have a lot of money. Mark Andrews has a lot of money. Ronnie Stanley has a lot of you know what they don’t have winning this football game, that they don’t have that thing where they get to walk around in their neighborhood and February, March April in them for the rest of their lives shine in the ring. The way John Ogden gets to do that and the way you know, I’ve had let’s see, I have Kim herring on this week. Brandon Stokely has got one that says colts on it right now. So, and I always give him a hard time he was on the other side of the mind Hi miracle we forgot that he was on the losing side of the Broncos in that game. And I brought it up with him once and he he got that mortified look when you bring up something that didn’t go well, and I forgot he was involved. I actually said to him like Where were you that days like Nestor is really cool
Bill Cole 15:26
you know, is it is it even conceivable that we are like the number one seed but but it feels like we’re an underdog and no one really thinks we’re going to win the Super Bowl right now
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:37
not people have shad upon Lamar, right to think that he can’t that this style can’t win that every bill Polian you know, I don’t know that Brian Billick really believed you could win a Super Bowl with a mobile quarterback because he would get crushed to everybody’s point he was hurt the last two years, you know, to the wrist, you know, there is some merit to that, that you have to keep them upright. But the same would be said about Peyton Manning after he had his neck fused. They had to keep him upright, right. And the same thing would be said for Joe Flacco we’ve got a guy could dive into him to a whirlybird and didn’t even get a flag last week, so different quarterbacks even get different treatment. But there is a point where Lamar for all of his pocket ability to sense where we’re, you know, his vision to see that he’s got to step on everybody. There’s no defensive lineman that’s going to be able to chase him. And at any point he can get rid of the ball. And if they hit him, they’re getting at least 15 yards. And nobody gets a clean kill shot on him. And he’s just gotten gotten very good at navigating that, that that being said, they tried all that ish against the taxes and the Texas ate their lineup, right? Like the Texans ate their lunch with the Blitz. And then they went to short pass think dunk, run, run, run, run, run. And the Texans never recovered. So they they played three different games on Saturday. They didn’t have three different games five years ago, they didn’t have that at all. Yeah,
Bill Cole 17:06
I think it’s interesting. They have shown again, you know, not in the locker room, I don’t really know. But from the fans perspective, like our ability to adjust at halftime to whatever’s required. Like maybe that’s the secret sauce is the the endless flexibility that the team has defensively and offensively to just totally change on the dime you know, in halftime?
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:35
Well, that’s how fella check one games, right?
Bill Cole 17:38
Yeah, like that. They’re they’re killing us with the tight end, we’ll just drop a little bit deeper row Quan and, and Queen, you know, just get a little deeper on that up, that’s gone, you know, that was 49 or game, like, George kills killing us. And then all of a sudden can’t get a catch in the second half. You know, so. And then oh, by the way, let our defensive line just eat up whoever. I mean, we There were games I’m trying to or which game it was where the other team runs all over us in the first half and then can’t run the ball in the second half. Like there. Maybe that’s the secret sauce. Well, to your point is like, let’s see what they got. And then we can make adjustments. And the other team can’t adjust back in the middle of the second half.
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:19
I you know, I don’t think there’s anybody that would look at the game this week, Billy and say that we don’t have the better players, just where the chiefs are in their journey. And you know, they’re their age and by the way, Taylor Swift come into town. Excited about that?
Bill Cole 18:35
I’m well aware of that. That is clearly the highest Can you give me the data
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:39
about your real life because we don’t talk about your wife life kids, we talk a little bit about your like kids kid, your your parenting of an athlete, like we’ve discussed that. But like you have a Taylor Swift family, right? Sure.
Bill Cole 18:51
So for the last like week trying to explain the concept of divisions inside a conference. Oh, wow. Then we you know, like, like, really to try and break that down. And I got
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:06
to my father taught me that whole night. Like, I don’t know what it’s like, right
Bill Cole 19:11
now. I think you got to see it a little bit. And maybe, you know, the internet makes it a little bit easier now. But yeah, like that was that sports that was like I
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:19
was the kid that put the scoreboard together in the 80s to do the agate. That’s how I learned like that Cleveland was a thing. And I would always say what’s Golden State dead? What? Well, it’s California, but it’s they play in Oakland, but it’s sort of San Francisco and I’m like, oh, Rick, Barry. I you know, like That’s right. Like, that’s how I learned about geography was learning divisions. Right? Literally,
Bill Cole 19:44
it was it was very complicated. It had a Dallas in the
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:48
East Dallas isn’t in East.
Bill Cole 19:51
But for since since Taylor Swift started going to football games. They just couldn’t understand why we weren’t playing the chief said Home. Like, I’m like, because it’s not on the schedule like it just it just like the only way it happens is did it ended up? Oh, and I’m like yesterday, I’m like, it’s happening. What? It’s happening. How’s it happening? Is this the Super Bowl? What is this? Like? The Super Bowl, right? It’s not the Super Bowl, you know, better game than the Super Bowl.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:20
You and I have talked so much on the air off the air before you even did any of this about the Civic role of sports, right? And I’ll be talking about this. They win this football game. We’re doing this in credit, incredible promotion that I sort of dreamed up. It’s my newest thing within the crabcake tour successfully with Maryland lottery window nation. Jiffy Lube, folks, like you’ve landed, Raskin, Dennis, everybody has been a part of it. And I haven’t done anything charitable, like in a big way since the events I did with Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh. And everybody knows I’m sort of running it in a much different way. Employees and what I have to do and on a daily basis, what I’m dreaming of doing at Baltimore positive and none of it is really politically oriented at all, I just, I’m finding my own voice in my own space and sort of my own way to be able to put this thing together. And we’re doing this the Civic turn. And we’re doing a Super Bowl week. And you know, I got to thinking about my dad and, and, and hunger. And I talked to Luke about this because I’ve gotten all these Super Bowls. And when we do radio row, everybody that comes by has a cause they’re all there for something good. And it’s a national show and there’s Denver radios here and Philly’s over here and bought you know like they come around and they do it all but it all has we’re doing this for animals we’re doing this for veterans we’re doing this for inter football players we’re doing this for city fund we’re doing so there’s there’s always been that element of it. And you know, look you can Google the chat steal thing or whatever. And after all these years, I should be in Las Vegas doing the show on Radio row. But since I’m not I put this idea together, wink Ostrowski as a guy from Minneapolis, Minnesota who did this thing called Taste of the NFL for many, many years. It’s the marquee Super Bowl prom, like so there was always a commissioners event, but you had to be inside the league or whatever. But this was the next event that every corporate sponsor wanted a table at because they always had a band like REO Speedwagon or Barenaked Ladies or Brooks and Don or as an all star band one year with with Paul Rogers and the year he was on the show with me with with those Lofgren and like Andrew Zimmer and the chef, all the chefs, celebrity chefs, were involved in it. Big big thing, dude. And the year the Super Bowl was in Indianapolis, they did it at the Indianapolis Food Bank, and the food banks like in the minutes like in Parkville. It’s in the middle of nowhere from downtown wasn’t even like park it was more like, I can’t even begin to tell you go Google wherever the food bank is in Indianapolis. And we all got stuck there. Bill, you talked about wanting to go to Vegas next week for the Super Bowl. We all got stuck in the sticks because there was no cap Saturday like for the Super Bowl. Right for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis trying to get a cab in Whitemarsh. And the games downtown like it was crazy, right? Uber, Uber Ubers. Just like for Uber. So we all get
Bill Cole 23:26
their fair malt there multiple food banks in Indianapolis just so you know,
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:30
they actually did the party at the food bank, right? Every other year, it’s at some big Martins kind of event hall. Bigger than that, like convention halls. Like really, really big spaces. I’m talking three 4000 people, big, big areas, big, beautiful halls, aquariums I mean, they’ve done this event in beautiful spaces. But this particular year, because Indianapolis was smaller, just in general, they don’t. It’s not a golf course. It’s not in California floor, you know, it doesn’t have those kinds of, they expected it to be 10 degrees, right, literally. And it was it was beautiful. That week, by the way, game’s gonna be in the 40s here, which I think we should all pray for this week. So we all get stuck at the Indianapolis Food Bank, dude. And we do there’s 500 people at a charity event beaten ish at each other trying to get every cab that pulls in. And there’s, you know, it’s crazy. And everybody’s drinking, it’s like for somebody wants to get back downtown or just get another party they’re supposed to go to you like all of this is in the you know, place, right? So you can imagine transportation issues, right that night, and we got stuck there. And all I could think about when I was putting this promotion together that we’re doing, and my son came up with the idea that we should do something around soup and feeding people that we’re doing it for the Maryland Food Bank. We’re calling it crabcake row and we’re calling laying in a cup of soup, or bowl. So what we’re doing bill is we’re going to offer you and people like you. And everybody that works at Coal roofing and Gordion energy and every other place in the city. We’re giving them free soup all day. And all five of the locations, we’re going to be broadcasting live from nine to five, we’re going to be featuring 100 local charities that week. And it all just kind of comes in conjunction with this 25 year anniversary and the things we’ve done and my wife’s illness and meeting cool people. And I just want to kind of stir it up, do something cool. I know there’s some great causes out there here locally, that instead of hearing from Hall of Famer Andre Reed, on behalf of a national jeweler, on behalf of they’re giving something away for Valentine’s Day, while you know for a charity, we’re going to do something for you know, people in our busyness and health Thorpe in Catonsville and Dundalk, and Towson and a food pantries all throughout Baltimore through the Maryland food bank, so I’m really happy that you’re participating. Now you are like, you’re backwards, right? You’re gonna be in Vegas, but coming what? What’s your deal?
Bill Cole 26:07
Yeah, I’m gonna go to Vegas before the Superbowl, and then get out of town before it hits. You know, I want to I just want to criticize, because, you know, I love to criticize you. One thing you said, which I think you should reframe. You know, you said, I should be in Las Vegas, for this, you know, for the lead up to the Superbowl? And I guess my, my criticism there is that no, I just totally disagree with that. Like, this is where you’re supposed to be, like, doing this. The week leading into the Superbowl will have such a significant impact on our local community, that there is no comparison to, to your point. Like, I don’t care what Andre read is Hockin. Like,
8Nestor J. Aparicio 26:59
like, That’s not nice, man. He
Bill Cole 27:00
gets great. I’m sure he is. That’s wonderful. And he’s doing his thing. For his people. That’s, that’s awesome. But this is, you know, like, if we try and just find tangible good, like this is it right? Like I, I totally appreciate your ability to dream up ideas, and then to bring them to fruition, you’re very hard headed in that way. And that’s a wonderful trait. So I’m excited to see what this becomes. And honestly, like the legs of it into the future, and just the broadness and the impact it can have like it, it’s a pretty awesome idea. I hope people you know, engage with it, embrace with it, it’s, you know, it’s February, like, come on, who doesn’t want a cup of Maryland crab soup? And you know, and do something good for others around us, like, well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:53
give me if I’m doing a trip, Billy. Right. So like, let’s, let’s, let’s have a shoot interview here, right? People are hitting me and they’re like, are you doing a trip? What time’s the bus leave for Las Vegas, right? Like, you know, how much are the tickets, and then you start adding zeros. And I’ve done all of that from whiskey Joe’s to the March it was a spirit, my soul as the greatest thing I’ve ever done. I think that March was well, I mean, some things were charity and whatever. But to this point, it’s how about this, other than the crowd picking video with Amy at fails, which now it’s 3.2 million views on by the way, if people come to you, the crowd picking guy, that’s who you are. I’m like, No, I’ve done sports radio for 32 years. I’m the crowd picking guy. But the thing I’m that people come up to me the most about, and this is the last 10 years because it happened 10 years. 11 years ago, was that March in New Orleans, people come up to me every day of my life for years after that, everywhere I ever went and will come and say I was in your March I was in your march or look them up now. Now it’s more varied. And I can give you incidents where you’ll you’ll see it, you’ll see it when you come out and close with me. People are gonna come up and the first thing they say to me is I was on your blank trip. Or I went to your blank party, right? So they were in Charlotte and wound up at my thing, or they were all like, oh took 250 people to Charlotte. There were 3000 people in the bar, right? And now maybe they do something with another tail gay party or maybe they’re aged out or maybe they’re PSL down i i can guarantee you a chance deal didn’t threaten their career and their tickets and throw them out. But that’s what happened to me. That’s my story. Everybody has a story about why they’re not there or didn’t go or whatever. And Bill that plays right into this and by the way anybody wants to know about our event. I’ll be pimping the hell out of next couple weeks. We’re gonna be given the lottery tickets free soup doing it for the Maryland Food Bank featuring 100 charities doing it five different places Monday we’re going to be at fails at Lexington market Tuesday. We’re going to be at Costas and Dundalk. Wednesday we’re going to be at cocoas pub in Lawrenceville. Thursday we’re going to be At State Fair in Gainesville, and then Friday, we’re going to be the big haul up at Pappus and Cockeysville. And Billy, when I dream this whole thing up, I thought they would be in the Super Bowl. I thought they could be in the Super Bowl this time. In previous years, I was planning parties and other places and the AFC Championship Game was always going to be in Pittsburgh, or in Foxborough, or some godforsaken place like Oakland. Which we’ve done all of that. This is like from a civic standpoint, dude. Like, this is what it’s about, right? This is why you get a team. This is his biggest event. As you could possibly have Taylor Swift coming in right to your to your point with your daughters. I can keep saying that. But paint man he’s probably coming in with brand new Stokely every Ray Lewis every celebrity every Michael Phelps. Every Adam Jones every. Everybody’s gonna be there except me. It’s fine. I’ve been at all of them. I kind of you know, I’m watching on TV. I’m watching. I’m taking notes and getting my 100 charities together and writing my column. This from the outside looks gonna be there. But like from a civic standpoint. Billy Joel, Beyonce, we lost out on the World Cup. Right Dallas is getting the final now which is crazy. We’re not even getting a game the C’s not getting a game which is crazy. Crazy Crazy. But we’ve had the pope here right? Memorial Stadium World Series you and me right at three I remember that. We’re never getting a Super Bowl. We’re never getting a Final Four. We might get World Series games. They might be cold and awful mate. Maybe from you know, maybe one day but but other than the night that we didn’t get that Angelo’s effed up that just what an awful awful legacy to screw that up. And the send me out the Denver paint man he still throw touchdowns out there that night. And have Keith Urban play down at the harbor for 4000 people crowded around a science center instead of us having that night where we lift our banner. Disgusting. Unforgivable and think all star game 93 All Star game, but that wouldn’t be the same if it came back. It’s not it doesn’t have the same marquee. We’re never getting an MBA. But this is it. Dude, this is this is the biggest event in quote unquote, our lifetime for entertainment or sports in Baltimore. There could never be anything to top it other than another one or another one right? And whatever that celebration when people walk out past the Ray Lewis statue in the Johnny you statue, and like, if that night, you walk out of there going to the Superbowl. It’s as good as it gets. I mean, I in our city, it’s one thing to win in New Orleans. I was there’s one thing of winning Tampa. It’s one thing to win in Oakland and in Foxborough, which was a magical, right, like all of that. But this would be extraordinary. I mean, it kind of like something I haven’t even really thought about haven’t dreamed about it really a long, long time.
Bill Cole 32:51
It certainly would be like that next generations, New Orleans or Tampa. Like maybe New Orleans is kind of a middle ground. But I think about like, my son 21. Like, you know, he was 10 Right, or 12 or whatever, in New Orleans. And so for
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:13
for whiskey Joe sounds like the 58. Colts to him.
Bill Cole 33:16
Right there. Right. Right. Totally. Totally. So it’s, you know, we were we’ve been really lucky, honestly, with the football team. Yeah. I mean, like, they’re good. We’re spoiled. That’s obviously evident when, you know, we don’t go to the games and we can’t sell out anymore. And then you know, it’s like, what is happening? I don’t know, there’s so much crap there. And but now, you know, you get to this point, and it’s like tickets.
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:42
Tickets were giveaways. Last week tickets were under 100 bucks. Anybody could go. And that served them. Well. You know, that the crowd was electric, raucous, crazy, once in a lifetime, felt like they were seeing something special felt like they could contribute to something special. And they did. And that made a difference it made it made it you and I’ve written about that. And that is a failure on the part of their business. Right. To not have it be Michigan where nobody could get in. Do you know how much tickets were to get in Detroit? On Sunday afternoon against Tampa? was a $500 get in for that game? Right? Because that’s how hungry they are. Nobody was giving up a ticket. Everybody was like that 90 year old guy that keeps showing waiting his whole life for them to win the Browns would be the same story and Flacco will tell that story this week and I don’t need them to tell it. I’ve been going out there for 30 years. I’ve seen it. I felt that I was there the day of the drive. You know that right? I went to the drive game. They flashed. I walked out of that stadium dude, you could have heard a rap pitch on Khan walking out of Cleveland stadium the de la vie and it was unbelievable. The
Bill Cole 34:50
during the Houston game I think like Houston is the only team in the NFL to not play it. In a conference championship game, maybe? Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:03
the Oilers did twice, but that’s a different franchise, right? Yeah. The Jaguars and the Panthers. Dave
Bill Cole 35:09
was yeah, whatever it was, it was like the Houston Texans were the only team to have never, you know, realized some level of success. It was kind of a
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:18
sharp no championship game. No. Yeah,
Bill Cole 35:20
it was it was shocking. No, I mean, not. I mean, if they only count since they’ve been the Houston Texans, I guess that’s not that shocking. But well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:29
this is as good as it gets. To my point, it’s a bigger, it’s as big as I don’t really think about even a Travis Kelce is not dating the most famous woman on the planet, like, you know, I mean, which adds to the bigness of it, quite frankly, right? Like, you know, when the stars show up, I mean, quite frankly, dude. And this is not to urinate upon the Stronach family or anything that magma has done or the Preakness. But that’s the difference between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness dog, you know what I mean? That’s the difference between you being in it thing, and it used to be thing. And even when you talk about the all star game, the all star games not cool. The end, when people say V All Star game on the streets of Baltimore, they’re talking at the NBA All Star game, you know, and that has glitz and shine to it in a way that you’re always trying to shine things up. And to be honest with you, ravens games don’t have a lot of shine to a lot of people at a certain price point. At any price point tickets worth $5 for the Rams game. I mean, I take screenshots of all I know what I know what they’re going through. And that side of the football has been exceptional. The side running the business with people like Chad steel and Sashi. Brown has been poor. I mean, having empty seats at this point in the franchise and having tickets under 100 bucks on a 20 degree day. And, quite frankly, if the bills would have managed to get in here, the Bills fans would have taken 20,000 of the seats this week, because they would have paid. And the reason the fan base was what it was the other day. It was it was a different price point. It was a happy hour price point. It really was.
Bill Cole 36:58
Yeah. So you think the vibe will be totally different this week? Because we did I mean, the fans caused half a dozen penalties. I mean, it was those
Nestor J. Aparicio 37:08
fans, the fans in the stands $125 A ticket. I hear you. If they won’t be, it’d be more like people like me and my wife that say, Well, I’m not going to go to the real Super Bowl, because it’s $10,000 a ticket. This 500 bucks feels like a value feels like a bargain. And I get to see my homes and Lamar. It’s a better game. And you know, I get to come home and I get to be a part of the party afterward and walk out of there and high five everybody. I mean, believe me if there’s a time where I’m more angry than I’ve ever been, and I’m pretty angry about the Chad Steele thing, right? This is a week where I should be in my seats with my wife enjoying the game, you know, because we invested 28 years in doing that. Which is one of the reasons of anger that I would not want to be with my wife sitting in our seats that were we’ve sat for 30 years for a game like this right? This is why Bill Parcells would always say this is why you lift all them weights. This is why you bought out in tickets. This is why you paid for the PSLs This is why you went on the road trips. This is why you bought the swag. This is why your Christmas trees purple. This is why you go and get your car decal and you eat purple donuts and you put so you can be a part of this. You know, I’m in a different position than that. I’m planning a charity event that I’m excited about whatever. But this is the reason in your spirit and soul that you want to be a Ravens fan. You want to be at this game, I would think and you wouldn’t sell your tickets off to the gypsies except that the tickets have been sold off to the gypsies because people like Chad steel have treated people like me like ish. And I’m not there and I wish I were and we were invested in being there. I don’t know everybody. I mean, listen, the Wembley, knee, the pricing, the gouging, the city, the politics, the crime, saying that we can on the list about what that’s
Bill Cole 38:55
pretty good. Good list you just ran through. Yeah, I’ve
Nestor J. Aparicio 38:59
been I’ve been doing this a while. There’s reasons people don’t go but last week, it enabled people with less than $100 to bundle up. Wasn’t that it was cold. It was awful. I mean, dude, I had no problem getting six busloads of people to go to Foxborough and pay $650 to sit on a 12 degree day and watch the Ravens play the Patriots rather cool.
Bill Cole 39:24
I try to Yeah, I try to explain to my wife the cold it’s like that is just it adds to the it adds to the the memory to the myth. Like I was at the game when it went you know remember we beat the Texas it was so cool. Remember our beer for you know like that. It’s just part of the story. Like you know, it ain’t that cold. Wind doesn’t get that cold. Well, you know
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:46
what Kansas City last week they showed a guy grabbing a water Adam Rose straight down real maybe? I don’t Yeah, I don’t know. I would say this. I I can tell you a true story. No, I don’t have video this but I have a vivid memory of this. Scotty P for me cheese. Go get the meatballs, and I attended the 1997 NFC Championship game. Okay, so this is Carrie Collins and the Carolina Panthers and Lambeau Field. Brett Farve, it’s the first day that the Packers are going back to the Super Bowl since probably since barnstar. Right? So they’re a big favorite. Carolina’s coming up in their powder blues, and everybody’s freezing their ass off. I saw the section. I was actually in art modells tickets that day, right are bought season tickets for every stadium in the league. He had a pair there. Baker Koppelman and Roy Summerhall for running the tickets, give them my love if you see them, tell them I’m still human and my phone still works. I’m still still walking the earth. They’re allowed to like me, I liked them a lot. And I had two tickets on the 10 yard line with Scotty P there was 18 inches of snow in our seats when we got there, right. Cheese on our heads bundled up. It’s where I bought my snowman suit. The one everybody makes fun of me that black thing that I’ve always worn the Michelin man. I bought that at an outdoor store in Green Bay. I swear to God, I bought it on that trip it zipped up. I still wear it. When it snowed the other day I take a walk. I wear that I wear that snow outfit, so I bought it. temperature gain time that day. I think when I looked it up, it was like eight. It was like next level from the ice bowl between the Milan miracle and we that day we got there. We wanted to get there early like idiots. Right. It’s Lambeau Field. 28 years old. Right? Right, right picture. That picture. You know, we have all that right. And so I went to get french fries, because I was hungry. Right? And I thought the french fries are fried. They’re gonna be better than the hotdog, which is going to be like bologna. It’s gonna be like a cold bologna stick, right? It’s five degrees. I mean, I’m not issuing you man. I mean, like it was Green Bay for real Gotcha. And your Green Bay on January 18. It was awful, right? I got the french fries. And I went over to put the ketchup on. And I gotta catch up. Right. I got my gloves. Right. I remember the gloves. I actually have pictures of them. It looks like a bear. I got up to my seats and it looked down and the French fries. Were completely frozen. Solid, like the potato sticks used to get out a little blue can. Yeah, I’m saying that they dress up a steak or whatever. Like I saw this to cold. I’ve been there. I know what it is. But I also know tickets should have been 50 bucks on Saturday morning. Like there’s something wrong with your franchise. Well, that’s happening. Something’s wrong.
Bill Cole 42:48
Right in 92 I think I’m sitting here trying to make sure it was 92. You know, we didn’t have football. So somebody’s bright idea was to go up to the Philly, which at the time was the vet. And it was so cold. It was I don’t know how cold it was. We were young, right? We were ninth 10th grade. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 43:08
sat through a playoff game there with Jim Everett. I had him on the show that quarterback Jim ever. And he beat the Eagles in Philly on like Christmas Eve and a wildcard game 31 years ago and it was like 38 degrees and raining. It’s the worst thing in the world like cold rain. Awful, awful. And I sat there and didn’t even care one.
Bill Cole 43:32
I just remember. Like, we weren’t we were not real football fans yet. Because we don’t have a team. Right. So like we didn’t, we all played football at Calvert Hall at the time. But like we were so miserable, and we just wanted to leave
Nestor J. Aparicio 43:46
what a novelty you get to go to a game and you’re so miserable when you get there. Well,
Bill Cole 43:51
you know, like, it’s like, I don’t know. I mean, it was an experience. It was fun, whatever. But finally when it was like yes, okay, we can leave now. And we’re we’re running down the ramp and Bob one buddy fell. And you know, like, just like it because it was so cold. And he just messed his chin up. Like he landed his chin on the concrete. But he was so cold. Like, we didn’t even faze him. Like he didn’t you couldn’t even feel your body. It was like two days later when he realized I’ve
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:20
been that way football games. I mean, I don’t plan on being that now that I know what I know about people like Chad steal the run and I eat there’s no, I don’t need to go out and freeze. I’m gonna watch the game this week. I’m going to opine on the game. I know a lot about the game. Luke knows a lot about the game. We love the game. We love the city. I want him to win. And we’re doing an incredible event. beginning of February 5 with partners like Bill Cole from coal roofing and Gordian energy. He takes care of people’s rooms which I’ll get to in a minute. We’re doing a week long celebration of community and charity and people and we’re raising awareness and we’re raising food for the Maryland Food Bank. We are calling it crab cake row, a cup of soup or bowl, we’re giving everyone a cup of soup or bowl for free. If you come out and donate to the Maryland Food Bank as part of stimulating business, get people out. Maybe you have crab cake, maybe it has fun, maybe meet some new people maybe donate to a new cause, maybe get some time to a cause maybe you already give time to a cause and you need me to get my time to a cause to let other people know about it. But nobody listens to the show. But everybody hears Bill Cole, tell me what you’re doing with Ruth because I’m gonna be really honest with you, dude, I left my my joint one well, twice since it snowed. It’s why I haven’t shaved. Like, you know, I mean, like, I’ve been reclusive and putting together this cup of super seriously watching football cold out for the snow like all of that right, bad back just No, I got I got COVID All of that right. And so I left the house to go to yoga. Came back on Sunday. And as we’re driving up, I looked up on my roof. And there’s like nine inches of snow that’s about to melt and about to get rained on and about to wreck my effing life if I don’t know a guy like you. So I know. Like deep down. You don’t want pain for people. You don’t want to come in and find a mess in their business especially. But you saw the Great Wolf Lodge video, right?
Bill Cole 46:18
No, I heard about it. I saw
Nestor J. Aparicio 46:20
the video. As it was happening. It showed up somehow on my timeline, because of Perry Ville and Hollywood casino my whatever. It’s like literally five minutes last Sunday when a flood happened last weekend. Whatever it was they it snowed in the middle of week, maybe? Third I saw this it looked like the Titanic. Like, you know, like literally it looked like the Titanic sinking with the amount of water. And I saw my roof dude. And I said, Oh, I got to talk to Bill about this.
Bill Cole 46:50
Honestly, where we are with the snow and the rain and all that we’re actually in an okay place. I think the most critical part is if you think about it, like where is the water gonna go? Right? It because we are supposed to get rain this week. And I don’t know how much of the snow will have melted by then. So if your drains aren’t clear if your gutters are clogged, I mean that’s you just need the water to be able to get away from the roof. So that’s the biggest thing and then it falls in it refreezes. And it falls and it refreezes. And that’s when it can start to mess stuff up. So, you know, I mean, at this point, all the questions you’ve been asking me for the last six months where I’m like, Yeah, let’s do preventative maintenance. Let’s do inspections. Let’s make sure we catch the small problems before they become big problems. Once there’s six, eight inches of snow on top yet I mean there’s not a lot we’re doing like it’s kind of like
Nestor J. Aparicio 47:52
anybody wants to come shovel my roof. I keep shoveling week you’re shoveling kid of course you were right. Yeah, I
Bill Cole 48:00
guess. Yeah. Maybe two
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:01
to 10 we made money. Oh my god, like that. Not only did we get the day off from school, but I get baseball card money. I would get rollerskating money. I would get money to go to ice hockey games to go see Skipjacks play. Oh my God. That’s what I did with my money. Man. Girls, wrestling magazines. Girls sports, rock and roll. Yeah, maybe save up for some triumph tickets at the Civic Center. That sort of thing. Bill Cole is here he is saving up for the Super Bowl. You’re gonna do Thursday with me? Are you going to punk out and go to Vegas Dog?
Bill Cole 48:33
No, I don’t think so. I’ll be there after the state that speech
Nestor J. Aparicio 48:37
about how I shouldn’t be in Las Vegas when I should be which is Bucha. But nonetheless, you want to make this nice heartwarming story about what a what a mensch I am and doing my cherry Lewis tap dance and my thing that I no doubt. I’m going to turn into a circus. That week. I’m
Bill Cole 48:53
coming back. I’m coming back on Wednesday, and I will be there with you state fair on Thursday. Afternoon. Yes, I will know you’re not well, yes, I will not. I have fifth grade and eighth grade. Girls Basketball travel teams that I need to coach
Nestor J. Aparicio 49:12
you can get other daughters, you can get another wife. You get the other fitness.
Bill Cole 49:15
There’ll be other Super Bowls.
Nestor J. Aparicio 49:19
Man, well, there’s a 25 year old version of Billy Cole say say about that. Just the fact he said that. He
Bill Cole 49:25
wouldn’t have a 13 and a 10 year old
Nestor J. Aparicio 49:31
response responsibilities. I have responsibilities.
Bill Cole 49:34
It’s not even responsibilities. It’s I get more joy in doing that with them than watching the Ravens win or lose like like, there was a time sure where were watching the Ravens win and lose was a big part of my life. But now, man, like the thing that wakes me up in the middle of night is remembering that I need to coach my fifth grade team. You know, we got to bear this so that because I can’t handle when they look lost and they don’t know what to do and I only have like 90 minutes twice a week to prepare them and then it snows that we don’t get any practice for like two weeks and like horrible you know world
Nestor J. Aparicio 50:13
you’re gonna be gathering these girls on the side at six in the morning having them run and drills come on.
Bill Cole 50:18
No, we’re having fun. I like that better.
Nestor J. Aparicio 50:22
I don’t want you to be stage parent. We’d never have that. Bill Cole Cole roofing Gordian energy. He swears He’ll be out on Thursday, the eighth of February with me at State Fair are rocking Cohoes duties. It’s two weeks from now we’re What if we don’t get together next week? We should to promote it more but like could be going to Super Bowl next week. Yeah, I don’t know. Well, you’re going to the cup of Super Bowl so that’s fine. That’s moving for I think they’re
Bill Cole 50:49
rooting for Taylor Swift to be at the Super Bowl. I think that’s all the NFL cares about.
Nestor J. Aparicio 50:53
Oh, conspiracy. Here he goes. Here we go.
Bill Cole 50:56
8Just rooting a rooting interest. Like I don’t know the changes the dynamic. I’m
Nestor J. Aparicio 51:01
already gonna have to win this twice. You’re gonna have to beat the chiefs and be Taylor Swift. I am Nestor looks at and Owings Mills. My God. We have great conversations this week. I mean, Joe Flacco is here. Brian Billick is here of Kim herring. One of my dear friends is here. Lots people the rings are here Peter King stopping by this week, Dan Pompe, so it’s just gonna be like old home week here. Except we’re in the AFC Championship Game On next year. We are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive check out crabcake row we’re coming for you
