Winter sports, Talking Heads and local sports journalism and access

As the Maryland Crab Cake Tour continues to bring together new friends and old souls, Ron Cassie of Baltimore Magazine and longtime sports cartoonist Ricig continue their spirited holiday Koco’s Pub chat with Nestor about winter fun in our state, beer and curling, Talking Heads and the future of sports journalism in Baltimore from three guys who have made a living in the art form.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

movie, talk, years, curling, orioles, baltimore, giving, john, put, press conference, maryland, music, play, day, chair, skiing, ski, sports, experience, journalism

SPEAKERS

Nestor J. Aparicio, Mike Ricigliano, Ron Cassie

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:00

Welcome back, WN st Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive or positively out here. Coco’s in laurelville. We’ve had Danny stopped by former news American guy, three news, American guys in one room. It’s been six has been 38 years. 37 years. Yeah.

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Mike Ricigliano  00:18

Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah. Well, I

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:22

had no scar down telling those stories at my 25th anniversary so right no

Mike Ricigliano  00:26

stories enough. Yeah, nuts is classic and a guy. We

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:31

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were telling him Stedman stories are brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’m giving scratch offs with our friends, a windy nation and my wacky hat 866 90 nation and Jiffy Lube multi care. We’re Coco’s I’ve got my kiss belt buckle off because I discovered kiss in the neighborhood. microcytic Liana received no one was in Mike or Michael by the way. I

Mike Ricigliano  00:48

have a wagon Okay, hold

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:49

on. Put that all geez, here we go with the hair. This is the receipt Grinch hat I’ve

Mike Ricigliano  00:55

had this hat for I’ve had put your headset on. I’ve had this hat for 3030 something years old. See

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Nestor J. Aparicio  01:02

what you gotta fix your your headset here. It’s not gonna work. It’s gonna totally work. It’s gonna work like perfect. Yeah, just fix fix your headset.

Ron Cassie  01:09

There you go. Yeah, so

Mike Ricigliano  01:11

this this this Grinch hat I’ve had for 38 years or so and it gets better with the Ratty it gets the better and

Nestor J. Aparicio  01:18

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it stands up a little bit more on its own, I think is our CO hosts with a K comedian with a K and artists with an A Ron cast. He’s here he is a senior editor at Baltimore magazine where the diners issues you got what some? Would you say you’re doing something next month? It’s gonna be cool like a winter wonderland.

Ron Cassie  01:36

Yeah, well, we’re supposed to get snow this year. If people are happy with the old farmer’s cold as hell, we’ve actually had some flurries the other morning and so yes, we have a big winter wonderland issue coming out for it in January. As it goes apparently next month. You know, where to ski where to sled where ice skate is more places the ice skate the outside you think in Baltimore, not just the Inner Harbor harbor but which is great, but four seasons has a rink White Marsh has a rink and then there’s all the indoor plays. So a great

Nestor J. Aparicio  02:04

black and white picture of the rink and memorial stadiums lot on the Ellerslie Avenue side. Like in 1970s Kind of like I’m like, Oh yeah, they had a rink out there. Yeah. Patterson Park always had a rink

Ron Cassie  02:16

and Baltimore you don’t think obviously we’re not Aspen but you know, there’s a lot of skiing within a short drive. I mean, whether you go to roundtop and everything or elk in Pennsylvania goes to the great places in Virginia, West Virginia, Seven Springs, Wisp, of course the great resort in Maryland. And you know, kind of researching the story came across this, this great story. The first competitive ski race below the Mason Dixon Line was out in Western Maryland where new Germany State Park is a little ski resort. That’s cool 1940s It was called that area referred to as the Maryland Alps. And this is So whisk gets built, like in the early 50s. And it but it’s on the heels of this at New Germany and they literally had like an old Dodge pickup with you know, Moto doing the tow rope. Oh, by the tow rope up and apparently there’s a cording to the stories and you know, the sun everything. There was an attractive woman who worked at the Norwegian Embassy in DC

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03:16

there was

Ron Cassie  03:18

probably if you fell and well and she apparently you know, was the star of the day you know, getting you know, the head of the first the first sanction raised by whatever was the United States ski authority then you’ve we forget like skiing is the United States is a pretty new phenomenon. It didn’t really take off to like the 60s. Really? Yeah, well, that was skiing and Euro thing really was it was really like 1960 Olympics. I want to say 1964 Olympics is when you know the John Claude Kelly’s and stuff kind of capture the American imagination. And that’s really when skiing begins here. Wow. It’s not it doesn’t have not go back to the Civil War like baseball. It’s a really relatively very new. I

Nestor J. Aparicio  04:02

told the people Coco’s had learned stuff because Cassie would start talking about Shut up you know you never

Mike Ricigliano  04:08

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seeing movies like in black and white you know never

Nestor J. Aparicio  04:12

only the Three Stooges didn’t ski that’s that’s a good barometer

Mike Ricigliano  04:15

of the students never ski they did they play football though. They play football.

Ron Cassie  04:20

He’s a little the only gainer was Vicki bod. Oh, sorry. Oh, I

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Mike Ricigliano  04:26

know that might be I could have sang I’m a big stages. Press.

Nestor J. Aparicio  04:35

So if you’ve ever been to Rocky gap, or have you ever been out to whisper Deep Creek, any that yes, you have. I had not been out there till two years ago. And one of these great things about the crab cake tour is that I when I took it on, and the Ravens have thrown me out and Trump’s running the country and we got all these things are happening. We’re in a plague. We’re trying to stimulate local business. The crabcake tour for me, has taken me places in our state that I just now Ever have gone I was not a skier. I’m not an outdoor person. You know what I mean? I chase girls they chase bands I chase sports I chase beaches as a younger person right so I’ve been to a lot of cities but I haven’t been a lot of towns right let’s add a college football environment or something that would bring me there. So I would always go toward Cumberland but like the football game would take me up towards Somerset and toward Breezewood Pittsburgh so falling water as an example Deep Creek Lake rocky gap the city of Cumberland driving through like I fall in love with that area

Ron Cassie  05:32

beautiful Garrett County but a little more history used to be one of the maple syrup like capitals the United States before it all moved to Vermont right they still they still make maple sugar they’re on Gary I bring it to the restaurants the restaurants a little bit you know gather make their boil their own maple sugar, the restaurants you out there have some pancakes for your ski nice to state parks out there to bunch of have, you know rent you free like snow shoes or cross country skis.

Nestor J. Aparicio  06:02

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If people haven’t been swallowed, falls

Mike Ricigliano  06:04

out, you know, shoes skiing nests. Please let me know I really want to come and see that. I really want to see you go snow.

Nestor J. Aparicio  06:13

It’s funny you would bring that up or say on the show. I went with my friend Scott. Okay. wantI three years ago, it was it was nuts. 25 years 1998. We went to Lillehammer, Norway. Wow. We went to we went to Sweden. We went to Amsterdam. We went to Stockholm. We went to Oslo and we went to Lillehammer. We were in Lillehammer when the Nagano Olympics were happening. I went out and I did the the long skis, you know, because cross country skiing is the national sport. Yeah. So we’re in Norway. No kidding. We’re in Oslo in a bar and everyone in the bar is watching skiing as though it’s American football. Sure, like it’s a big deal. So I have done it. And I told my wife I did it There’s pictures of me putting them on. There’s really no pictures of me doing it. Well. I needed from I didn’t make it from here to your house. I mean, that’d be three blocks. I didn’t make it three blocks. You didn’t I mean, I paid the stuff I put it all on. I took a look at it. And I said to Scotty P there’s no way this is doing that. But But one thing that I’ve always loved about winter sports and Ron, you can speak to this because I’ve done I’ve been stick on this for 20 years. Every time the Winter Olympics homes on the curling thing, right. I mean, a broom, a hockey puck ice, you’re basically playing horseshoes kind of sort of you’re playing like you guys are Italian. So it’s like playing it’s like Bochy, right on ice. Beers involve pizza sometimes is involved Canadian pretty Canadian girls, you’ve seen their team.

Mike Ricigliano  07:54

Right? So Talion girl last year. I mean the last Olympics Oh my god. So

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Nestor J. Aparicio  07:59

what are you with great tip. What I’m saying is curling to me is that has more appeal to me than cross country skiing or anything where I could break my neck.

Ron Cassie  08:07

You know, there’s a curling center like a national curling center in Laurel, Maryland. So this is an upcoming issue. We cover maple sugar, hot chocolate sledding, first day hikes, polar bear pikes. A whole little story on the Laurel with photographs. The Laurel curling my holiday

Nestor J. Aparicio  08:20

party this year is you already know it Stan Rodricks. We’re doing it over at the BMA with Dan from my friends. Next year. I’m going to do currently next year that’s a get ready for Christmas type of thing. I’m asking a hot toddy when you’re doing curling right you can have like a like a Irish coffee.

Ron Cassie  08:38

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We make Yeah, that’ll get you out there right away.

Nestor J. Aparicio  08:41

Yeah. You’ve done this.

Ron Cassie  08:43

I have not done the curling would you want to curl? Absolutely. Of course. Yeah. Who would turn you wouldn’t turn down curling Would you ever

Mike Ricigliano  08:49

I if I say I never thought I would but I

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Ron Cassie  08:53

want to go ice fishing on may say you know, I don’t know about that. But curling for sure. Yeah, definitely. Could

Nestor J. Aparicio  09:00

Fly Fishing ice fishing rod cast. He’s here. He’s the Executive Editor, senior something editor of all things. Baltimore magazine. Don’t tell Mike Teitelbaum. He was on the show. And I gave the wrong title. Max is mad at me. I didn’t win best off again. I’m giving her a hard time and you know, you’re not the one to talk to about that. Right.

Ron Cassie  09:18

You know, we have a very secretive process about how all selections are made. I can’t really go into

Nestor J. Aparicio  09:23

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just like elections to secret process.

09:27

So I wrote this stuff down and you said you said talking heads to me right a minute ago. And a month and a half ago. The Talking Heads movie came out right? Stopped? Yeah, it was rereleased for

Nestor J. Aparicio  09:43

Best concert. Okay. So I went the day it opened and I sat in in the DI box you know what DI boxes. D It will maximize because she’s a movie person and I begged her to come down and do this that day. She was going mad See? So this D box See, I go down to a rondo Mills Mall and the movies on the IMAX in there, right? Wow. And I paid the extra $6 to get the chair. And it’s a chair that moves and has special sound and special movements that haptics 56,000 different movements that the movie is made for. So the 40 year old movie that was kind of weird and artsy, and the greatest concert movie ever took it and made it more experiential, with the camera and move it movement. And everything about the movie is like, David Burns sort of weirdness. Right, Baltimore, by the way, bike lane, David Byrne, which is where this all started. So I was I had such a beautiful experience that Friday that I texted all my friends who might want to go, Thomas Dolby, because he’s a music guy and a total nerd about movies. I knew he would love talking it. I put an APB out online and said this was one of the great experiences that I’ve something very unique that I’ve done, kind of like soaring at Epcot, you know, once in a lifetime, sort of weird thing with this movie. We’re SIG and John Allen, another victim of my crabcake tore my friendship, decided to meet me at 11 o’clock on Sunday morning and go to a Rundle Mills, and sit in this special chair on my recommendation. Yeah, and watch. Stop making sense. First time I’ve had you on the show. So I need you to talk about this. I, I gave

Mike Ricigliano  11:26

up my yoga, which I don’t like giving up on Sunday to do this next. By the way. The Nest had talked me into it, I just said I and the reason because Nestor does have a lot of different experiences. And He’s raving about this as one of the greatest. It’s gotta be good. So I took the chance. I was happy. I was so thrilled. I did. I mean, it’s just such an incredible thing. I mean, different than having it home by 100. Right, just having an on a big screen. I’ve only seen it on a small screen, just that by itself would have been amazing for me, but then the whole chair thing and everything else, you know, like we were laughing.

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Nestor J. Aparicio  12:06

It’s like, it’s like a roller coaster. It’s like a roller

Mike Ricigliano  12:09

coaster. You said it goes right with the music. So you’re really feeling the whole thing. You know, like I I appreciate that. You comes

Nestor J. Aparicio  12:18

out on stage and drops the boombox. Yeah,

Ron Cassie  12:21

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and he starts I

Nestor J. Aparicio  12:25

and you’re like, alright, this is kind of cool. And the chairs just kind of swaying, snug, okay. And you start to move a little bit more. Then the second song comes out, and Tina comes out and they got the bass, and it’s kind of a lovely little ditty. And you feel the bass like go, boom, boom, boom, a little bit in you. And then then they roll the drums out for the third song. And Chris Franz comes in. And he hits the hi hat and he hits the snare. And the chair activates. Right? Yeah. And I brought John Allen, who’s a drummer of all drummers Childsplay out on tour right now stone horses and brother actually playing in Nashville tonight. So I love you, John. But John came out and I said to John, like you’re an art. They’re both great artists. You’re an artist. John was always an artist, percussionist musician, like film like music, like the talking heads enough to want to tolerate it and see it. And the two of them were kind of like this was you have to have the chair and the movie has to be made for that. The only other thing that that was ever a threat to do this, my wife almost saw Top Gun and top guns made for that chair for action movies and stuff like that. Right. And my wife didn’t sit in because she thought she might get all nosh. You can turn the haptics down or you can turn it off if you get a little man like

Mike Ricigliano  13:40

it was just too much fun. All the way up to 1111. Right?

Nestor J. Aparicio  13:45

Yes. Back to talking heads. And I know you love that movie, too. Because I commented on my, my Facebook that day. Yeah,

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Ron Cassie  13:52

I love the movie. I you know, psycho killer. I mean, at first, I was like, 1979 it was really like the first. The first albums I bought, like as a teenager that was like my music coming of age like coming of age. not listen to what some of the older brothers are. Because the older brothers were no classic rock. You know, they had all that stuff that that was a little bit early. So we love Zeppelin, of course, but you know, that the talking heads came and the new wave came and stuff out of Manchester in the UK came and Elvis Costello and that was more my music and yeah, I mean, I sometimes even when I’m working or writing, we just put on like the YouTube version of like, stop one track after another right just everything is so good about that. But I’ve seen at the Charles the movie years ago, okay,

Nestor J. Aparicio  14:40

they play back there again. And they do it. Yeah, there were several different versions of the movie. There was a DI box with a chair. There was an IMAX version. There was a 2d 3d for some weird D thing going on with it. So I mean, but that movie is iconic and 40 years later, I had never seen the movie. Scorsese

Ron Cassie  14:57

course has done some great concert films right with it. band and the stones I did like the stones on a lot I really did. But that’s my favorite of all time, no doubt, movies period of

Nestor J. Aparicio  15:08

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my eyes and when I talked to John, I haven’t had John on the show because he’s been out on the road with the band and they’re doing Child’s Play again and a couple of weeks. They had a soundstage where John Waters will be there John Waters wear that hat, by the way. And you know, I think the the part of the movie and the lore of it, and all these years later, and that band having broken up and never done it again. The opening of my mind for it was I seen you two in 3d, the modell family was involved that John modell made that movie that YouTube 3d movie and 3d movies are like about tricks like Adam Clayton shut cutting your head off with the bass and you Doc, because it’s 3d and we’ve all wanted to goofy goggles and going into the movies and done all that this was like a different thing. And I thought restoring movies. Yeah, that have that sort of if you too, did rattling home and made the chair move, right, Bano during you know, bullet the blue sky. So I started to think about music and movement in a different way because of that. And also thinking like one, so many bands are dying, fake kiss is showing up tonight. Right? And lip syncing. And they’re done. Right?

Mike Ricigliano  16:18

Y’all be there for that then? Well, I

Nestor J. Aparicio  16:19

mean, either my musicians are dead or dying or aging out. I want to see you too at the sphere. unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life, like so I’ve had these musical motion visual experiences that lead me to believe and I don’t you know what, that I can wear one of those those experiential iaculis Yeah, right. I could put myself at the summit in Houston for that journey concert that I saw on MTV when I was or the band or Scorsese or stones made an IMAX movie right so I’m thinking the stones are never going to be that good again, right? I mean, they’re touring and God bless and that’s but these iconic music things there’s going to be another level what’s the thing that the that the Frank Zappa, the hologram? They’re doing hologram

Ron Cassie  17:13

will be at Shea Stadium in 1964. And the Beatles cameras something simple right.

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Nestor J. Aparicio  17:16

That’s what I’m saying is the experiential part of there’s an Elvis hologram show I think. And there’s a Frank Zappa hologram show I would go to that. They’re gonna make prints one, right? I mean, it does come down to going to see tribute bands. Right, right. And why I would want to go see a YouTube tribute band or REM tribute band or Smith tribute band. Right, right. You want to you want to feel with that music. And we’re all three of us love music, right? I just think that movie that’s not making sense thing that I experienced is something that for the rest of my life, they’re going to be making our music, whatever our music is from before Jimmy Buffett’s dead, right? Like you want to attend to Jimmy Buffett’s a concert, there’s going to have to be a way to bring that back to life to do it. And that’s going to be the way we experience musically. It’s scary. It’s a little weird. But I think that that’s gonna happen.

Ron Cassie  18:14

You This is a little aside, but no, we’re good. IMAX movies is the Maryland Science Center. Like I’m in nature stuff. Butterfly, the beers. They have great. IMAX 3d appearances for those films, because it’s a little out of them. It’s because it’s small or what exactly it is. But right. It’s totally better than like when I used to go when I’ve seen like action movies in 3d or something like, oh, yeah, that’s the one playing. You know, this is really

Nestor J. Aparicio  18:39

like see industries, people talk and they say, You know what, I mean, I like stopping the movie at home and all that. So to get me out to a theater, it’s got to be something like really nice.

Mike Ricigliano  18:47

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I told a number of people about that experience that I had at that show, so I’m really

Ron Cassie  18:53

disappointed. I was left off that. Yeah, I

Mike Ricigliano  18:55

know. I think you would

Ron Cassie  18:56

have I invited everybody okay, maybe I just invited the

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Nestor J. Aparicio  18:59

world. Well, I invited max so someone bought him a magazine was invited. He’s the film crew like Chad steel. I invited your organization just not you. Speaking to that I want to talk about because we were talking about media and stadiums. And you you’re a media guy who said you’ve worked I don’t think you consider yourself a media guy but you’re you were a critical mean spirited cartoonist when you needed to be you had Ken Rosenthal yelled at Yeah, by Eddie Murray told that story last night yeah, I mean we’re sick like Drew stuff that this be off

Mike Ricigliano  19:28

sports journalism, I mean, sports cartooning, or editorial cartooning.

Ron Cassie  19:33

Journalism really begins when you’re writing stuff that’s gonna make somebody mad. Exactly. That’s public relations. That’s

Mike Ricigliano  19:38

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exactly right. With my people,

19:43

broadcast the Baltimore magazine receive where Coco’s I read last night so Tuesday night today’s Wednesday I don’t want to give away if you’re listening to radio but the Carolina Panthers fired their coach fired Frank right right brings us back to our Oilers. Yeah, story right. The fire Frank right and the owner Pratap are one of the richest men in the world and America makes you the rich man in the world. I think he could buy a shot a couple times over. He’s like a really rich guy, right? He’s new to this whole sports ownership thing. He’s fired three coaches now, right? I mean, they’re working on their fourth guy, they get into him, right? He has a press conference. And the Charlotte Observer, the lead columnist, Mike Preston, of the Charlotte Observer sat in the front row and raised his hand during an hour long press conference, and they refuse to call on it.

Nestor J. Aparicio  20:27

Wow. Well, I mean, that’s where we are now. That’s that’s where we were thrown out doing the crabcake toward cocoas. Or,

Mike Ricigliano  20:36

and it wasn’t an oversight. He just didn’t know they did. They just

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Nestor J. Aparicio  20:42

thought it would be controversial, per se saying that, John, Step A you’re a bad man. You’re a bad man. No questions for you. You’re a bad man.

Ron Cassie  20:49

What do you need to hear from you guys about this? Because I I’ve actually talked about this with Max a little bit when it comes to like our Orioles coverage or events coverage. That they don’t need us anymore. You know that they have their own website throwing writers their own. They put their own videos out there, right. They don’t need they don’t touch their social media or social

Nestor J. Aparicio  21:08

media to cheerleading and yes,

Mike Ricigliano  21:11

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they don’t need they don’t. They don’t need us. They

Ron Cassie  21:14

don’t need us. They can get all the images of Lamar out there or the Facebook, the videos on Twitter, they can get all that stuff out there. It’s a great point. And it’s filmed beautifully. And they had exactly the way they want it exactly the way they want it. So they don’t need the media the way they used to. Like they used to want to put you know, somebody on the cover the front page of the sports section, you come in as spring.

Nestor J. Aparicio  21:34

guys did a big thing with Eric the cost a couple months ago. I read that. Yeah, I

Ron Cassie  21:38

mean, we have a great relationship with the Orioles and the Raiders. I certainly have no complaints. I mean, they really they gave us to press pass to the world did to the playoff games this year. And we you know, being clear, McLaughlin covered those and I have no

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Nestor J. Aparicio  21:52

as opposed to what they did to me. I went to Arlington with my reporter and they refused my reporter access to his clubhouse pass, while sitting us in the back in the kids table in the back having the Texas Rangers PR Director come to me and literally have to apologize. He’s known me for two years who was the Orioles assistant and say, I can’t let you in the locker room. I said it’s your building. You know. So this is what I deal with. When they’re getting eliminated. And I flown 1500 miles

Ron Cassie  22:21

to their county by play guy. That’s they operate and in a different world. They’re not they don’t public, like public officials who have some obligation really mean they ought to they played a publicly funded stadium, they’re getting $600 million. Right?

Nestor J. Aparicio  22:39

That they’re using $600 million. And they’re gonna

Ron Cassie  22:43

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they’re gonna take on the side of the lease. But they should have some obligation to talk to the press. And because they aren’t getting so much public funding, I mean, unbelievable amount of public funding. But they don’t they don’t see it that way. They don’t actually behave that way. And let

Mike Ricigliano  22:59

me ask you guys this, then. Do you think that the public cares? No, that there is not that kind of hard, you know, access to me hard journalism.

Nestor J. Aparicio  23:10

Nobody cares about me. Trust me. I’m now two years like I’ve done this for 30 years on behalf of the people other than people who love me and I’ve had six people since I got here. 12 o’clock, six humans in this room. Come up to me and talk to me about Chad Steele. I’m not I’m not kidding you. Before you were here. I had a former Raven employee who you met when you came in the door who was in 1996 9790 employee now works with Susan G. Komen, who was in the neighborhood buying crabcakes a Coco’s came up to me. It’s all I when I go out one on one people come up to me, and they talk to me about it, but there’s nothing they can do. Right jets deals parading around behind Lamar Jackson on Sunday night football, which I just find amazing that the PR guy puts himself into the shot the whole idea is get out of the shot dude you know, you know when they get out of the shot, that’s what professionalism but so and I speak out but if they can do this to me owning a radio station and having gone to every home and away game and bought tickets, if they do this to me, they do it anybody and everybody knows that

Ron Cassie  24:09

there should be solidarity among in the media, folks. I mean, the river Barbara liquid is governed at the Michael Lasker band in front and then there’s another journalist from the State House reporting and Governor Hogan blocked people from his Facebook page and was you know that that became an issue in court they were challenged that the government can’t block people from the public facing Facebook page. But I think the point about it is a public want that kind of like in depth maybe investigative journalist and the kind of business where a journalist the behind the scenes stuff in sports I think they do I think people get a lot of that through their own social media now if you’re on like oils, Twitter and stuff like that, there’s a lot of debate about player moves among people themselves a lot of that conversation about who you’re gonna sign you’re gonna drop what pitcher not, you know, the free agent signings working or not working midseason trade Isn’t that the team

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Nestor J. Aparicio  25:00

itself has no front face, not even through its own channel. They don’t even have Kevin Brown interview John Angelos or Michael I used to say, what’s the budget this year? Are we really gonna go after a pitcher? What’s the plan here? What are you doing to shortstop and third base?

Ron Cassie  25:14

Dan Connolly got cheated by John Andrews. Unbelievable.

Nestor J. Aparicio  25:17

Yeah. He was invited here today to he’s gonna do a crab cake at some point. But so Connolly gets treated like that I get treated the way I’ve been treated. The guy in in Charlotte goes to the press conference with the owner on Monday. And they don’t know that that happened to me with the Orioles. I mean, the Oreos. I have been the guy like Arnold horshack. That absolutely happened to me at the warehouse. That day, Buck show Walter retired. Today’s book show, Walter was hired, I went and I raised my hand and my arm still hurts from having it up in the air. They just refuse to call on me interesting. And they did this to the Charlotte beat writer, right? And that’s the writer, the columnist of the Charlotte Observer. And if you Google it, I saw it. I’m like, Who is this guy? Like the guy tweeted I had my hand up during the press conference in the front row, but somehow I was not called upon and then wrote a column on how this guy has clowned up the organization by having another firing and season of a head coach is Super Bowl winning head coach you know like you Frank Reich was in Philly special Philadelphia and

Ron Cassie  26:23

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in journalism, you know, this goes across sports all all serious journalism. You know, we talked about it with access journalism is right people are afraid if you reported the banner, the sun or baller magazine, you’re kind of you don’t want to go to follow that line where you get banned and lose access. Because how can you be the be report if you don’t have access to right, and this is where you’re coming in? said

Nestor J. Aparicio  26:43

to me You’re covering locker rooms? Are you really a sports reporter anymore? And I’m like, I don’t know. I mean, I

Ron Cassie  26:49

so. So there’s always that that card being held, whether it’s the governor’s office or the mayor’s office or city council president or the or the Orioles or the ravens, state attorney’s, right. Male movies office, you know, I stopped getting emails from her and getting responses right when she was holding press press conferences. So that question about access journal. The other The flip side is, you know, it’s really worth the access, not the push, if you put your tippy toeing around it afraid of that. You’re not really a journalist because

Nestor J. Aparicio  27:23

he was asked to get a press pass. I’m not a journalist. I’m going to ask you sir Chad’s

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Ron Cassie  27:28

going to Yeah, if you’re going. Not that many serious questions get asked to get answered at press conferences. They all can parry those kinds of questions. Real investigative journalism doesn’t rely on the quote from John Harper. Stay at bat. Does it work? Right? It’s like, it’s like sardines reports with the Bengals two weeks ago on burrow. Right, right. I mean, they just sideline reporters need access to give you the little thing, but that’s not really that valuable of so if you’re really doing the hard hitting business, kind of journalism or behind the scenes journalism, and, you know, I think that that kind of access isn’t as important as, as people think. I think people just as journalists think you’re not really going to get when you tell people at that level, revealing information from a president or even an interview, it’s nice to have, it’s great to be in a locker rooms get to talk to the players, for sure. We get to know them. And that’s why we went to playoffs last year, it was great to meet the guys in the locker room, get a feel for them personally. But if you’re really doing the deep dives into the state of Maryland, stadium authority kind of stuff we were talking about where the sale of the Orioles, it’s not going to be revealed, you know, at a press conference. Well, besides you could watch the press conferences. Anyhow, I

Nestor J. Aparicio  28:40

think to our point in all of this is the optics have changed so dramatically for them and for their accountability and responsibility, that that the owner of the baseball team could try to hoodwink the governor and the Maryland stadium authority into giving $400 million of value to them, where there’s a parity clause. And the fans here say, What time’s the game on ravens favor by three or four? You know what I mean? Like, and I don’t, that’s not good. There still has to be some on the wall, keeping an eye on all this. And one of the reasons that you got jostled by Marilyn Mosby, or I get jostled by the Ravens. It’s because we’re there to ask real questions. You know, I mean, and and as I said, the Westmore when he sat down with me, it cost us last year. I’m not here to kiss your ass. I mean, I like you. You’re my friend. I’ll vote for you. But like when the lights go on, like you’re serving the people. My wife’s a true believer um, we voted for you, you know, answer for this and have accountability for it. You said you want a year ago when you’re running? Same thing with Randy Scott. Same thing with anybody. You know, I know it’s a tough job and I don’t think it’s easy negotiating with the Angelo’s because I think they’re morally bankrupt and I don’t think though, anything they would ever agreed to is really an agreement. My my my 30 year history of them is if they agree to it, you can’t sleep and think that you know you have a an integrity partner, so on Obviously Tom council was going to say that on Friday because he’s gonna say they asked for 600 million we got him 600 million we went and had it all done nobody raised the question and then it wasn’t enough all of

Ron Cassie  30:09

us I think any mic Speaker I think fans are kind of of two minds like we want to just enjoy the ballgame. Sure, right. But then all that stuff last year really became like a little dark cloud in the Silverlight Kevin Brown saying the Kevin Brown and the least stuff all became a little bit of like come on, you know I mean I

Mike Ricigliano  30:32

8

don’t think that the the Oracle stuff was such a runaway and the John

Ron Cassie  30:36

and the Dan Connolly stuff it all became a little bit of like

Nestor J. Aparicio  30:40

when we get you on Mike are sick oh we Okay, well, you’re that that was so festive though. Well, this this is nine and three hat though. I mean, I must say that’s a Ranson nine if it’s better than that bill’s hat you were considering I’ll tell you that that’s

Mike Ricigliano  30:53

right. Yeah, no I I know I forgot what we’re talking about. But anyway the the I think sports radio also is a place is it sounding board? Yeah. So you do know that it’s so fans do have an appetite for that yeah, they want yeah, they want to complain about their team win or lose you know sometimes when you win and you turn on sports radio fans are still right yeah about you know what they did nine

8

Nestor J. Aparicio  31:19

and three and if you put on a poor Brian Harris after these games, it’s you know, whatever things broken it’s so broken and I’m like okay, yeah, and I can’t address it that way. I can’t address it at nine and three and saying hey five tough games coming up. They still have to go out to the West Coast they’re gonna play real quarterbacks for a while you know their without their left tackle playing 100% Right there without their tight end there would have been

Ron Cassie  31:44

you know it’s funny like the to your place remember this like we don’t know Mike Elias and Brandon heights contract Oh,

Nestor J. Aparicio  31:50

I bring that up every day I bring it up every

Ron Cassie  31:55

8

URL levers have a sign a contract right? That was like you know the news? Yeah.

Mike Ricigliano  32:01

How many years eight point

32:03

the thing that ends all of this ordeal prosperity is Michael is saying, John, I can’t I can’t live like everyone else. I can’t be associated with this place. And this place is crazy. And I helped you and we want a little bit but yeah, the one thing Mike Elias hasn’t done we’re going on the baseball with Ron Cassie and microscope recently on overly Yeah, he’s never gone down the hallway and asked for money. So you know, that’s let’s take a break. It’s 338. Take a break. We’ll come we’ll talk baseball. We do that? Sure. I

Nestor J. Aparicio  32:31

did. 53 minutes with Luke last talk

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Mike Ricigliano  32:33

football too. I mean, we have hardly been on that. And it’s it’s a it’s a good season. What happened

32:39

to your bills? We’ll discover that in the next segment. We’re out here. We’re sick is my co host with the K It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’m like almost it was like four ravens scratch offs left. Back to giving you the instant lottery scratch offs. Ross is gonna give me some substantive tickets to give away a little later on. We’re gonna be Hollywood casino on Friday. We’re going to be state fair on Tuesday, supporting Dan Rodricks in his show at gertrudes in the BMA as well all that brought to you by window Nation. I’m gonna wear my funky window nation at during our baits because it’s a little bit like the floppy hat. You’re gonna floppy hats not orange, but it’s good. This kid over here has an orange biologically correct or real Hi. Yeah, that is it’s Hershey chocolate brown right now because he’s worn it for so long. That’s the kind you like Yeah, he got a hold that back in 89 I think at the crown gasoline station and it’s still still coming through. Also our friends at the Jiffy Lube multi care. We love them big appreciation for changing our oil and all that Ron Cassie, we’re SIG hanging out doing overtime. We’re gonna talk Oreos off season. We’re gonna do more talking in the next segment 23 minutes. Then the Orioles have done in the offseason. We’re back for more from Coco’s right after this. Stay with us.