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Best of The Ben Maller Show

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Big Ben talks about the Ravens going from Maxx Crosby to Trey Hendrickson and if that's an upgrade or a downgrade, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal saying it isn't fair to criticize him for leaving Team USA, Maller to the Third Degree, another edition of #AskBen, and more!

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Best of The Ben Maller Show

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The Ben Maller ShowBest of The Ben Maller Show. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Every small business owner has that one moment that could have broken them. But remarkably, it didn't. Hi, I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. And on season three of The Unshakeables, my co-host Kathleen Griffith and I are bringing you more incredible stories of overcoming the impossible. We're really proud to share that The Unshakeables is nominated for Best Branded Podcast at the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Listen to The Unshakeables wherever you get your podcasts and learn more at chase.com-podcast. JPMorgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC copyright 2026 JPMorgan Chase Company. Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That software overload. All in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, HR,

fully integrated, easy to use, and built to grow with your business. Thousands have already made the switch. Why not you? Try Odoo for free at odo.com. That's Odoo.com. The March tournament brings volatility, upsets, and momentum shifts. With weable predictions, you can trade strategic positions on college basketball outcomes. React to matchups and assess probabilities as the tournament unfolds. Whether your bracket is busted, or you're on the way to the top of your leaderboard, bring your strategy to your trades in real time. Get started by downloading the weable app today or visiting weable.com. Event contract trading is speculative and may not be suitable for all investors. Customers should carefully consider the associated risk before investing. Visit weable.com slash disclosures. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local real-time customizable alerts.

Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the app store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mallor Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight from 2-6 Eastern, 11 PM to 3 AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local station for the Ben Mallor Show at Fox Sports Radio.com. You can find it there or stream us live every night on the iHeart Radio app by searching FSR. This is the best of the Ben Mallor Show on Fox Sports Radio. So, our lead this hour we go back to the well one more time in free agency in the NFL players moving around. A lot of musical chairs going on and quite the uproar as the Mojo has been kicked

in Vegas by the Ravens and it is official. I had a dream. Not a good dream, but I had a dream on a previous episode of this show. The dream was that the Ravens were going to totally just screw over the Raiders and the entire NFL here with their master plan and sure enough it has happened. The Ravens were able to complete the horn swaggle of the football world, the people in a lather in an absolute lather over what they did in Baltimore. So, if you've not been following this, you'd love the transaction. This is a humdinger of a story. So, the Ravens we are told agreed to sign free agent defensive and edge rusher trade Hendricks in late of the Cincinnati Ben Gals. So, Hendricks and stays in the division goes

to Baltimore to shady pivot after they snaked their way and they being the Ravens out of the Max Crosby trade with Vegas Hendricks and gets a four-year contract worth up to my favorite term this time of the year is up to it's like when you go clicking around the website it's up to 75% off and then you're like, there's nothing off actually. It's up to, it's not. So, up to 112 million and actually can be worth more than that with incentives the guaranteed money is what you worry about and the guaranteed money 60 million fully guaranteed 60 million fully guaranteed and he got a cartoon-sized Czech trade Hendricks from the business there in Maryland for $20 million as a signing bow slightly more than I got

when I resigned my latest deal here at Fox Sports Radio just a little bit more than I got just a little bit. So, that is a good jumping all point. Let us discuss that. Let's get to the story here and the question the Ravens going from Max Crosby who they had, even though he never played for them and was technically never on the roster they had Max Crosby in the palm of their hand they let Crosby go, they tossed him out to Nevada and now trade Hendrickson is who they've chosen is this an upgrade again going from what you assume was going to be Max Crosby to trade Hendrickson is that an upgrade, downgrade or a lateral move so I've got Starbucks Hollywood remake and floppy disc and we will combine all of these things together and we will hit the sawdust trail is what we're going to do alright so many people say well

this is just a lateral move because they keep the draft and so it's it's not a downgrade not even enough but it's a lateral move so I used the mallard machine here the mallard machine and I typed in all the information there and the arrow on this one is pointing towards downgrade this is actually a downgrade no ifs ands or buts about it the mallard machine is never wrong and you know it you don't pretend you know it the Ravens they had Max Crosby a pocket collapsing run stuffing tarantula of a human being and they got cold feet they got cold feet and they didn't finish it they didn't finish it it's kind of like ordering a coffee and you wanted I'm not coffee drinker

but you wanted Starbucks so you want Starbucks and then you settled for Sunbox there's a place in China ripped off Starbucks they call it Sunbox coffee shop there with the Starbucks logo but instead of Starbucks it's Sunbox looks the same in the cup and there's only a couple of letters off and I'm imagining if you're coffee drinker there would be a lot of disappointment taste like disappointment now Crosby who is well-rounded we talked about this in previous episodes well-rounded defensive player all around dominator and has one one speed one speed and plays all the time and he's being shamed because he's played a lot because the nerds don't like that he's played too much football oh my god a guy wants to play you got Trey Hendrickson now he does not play the run

he treats that like a suggestion to play the run so he will get to the quarterback Trey's also older and here's the irony of this whole episode and why the Ravens are a bunch of blithering idiots well check that the people that believe what the Ravens are saying are blithering idiots because if you look at the medical chart on Trey Hendrickson you look at that and he is essentially being held together by tape Scotch tape and they're worried about Max Crosby which is fine he's coming off an injury I get it however wait until the Ravens see Trey Hendrickson's chronic back issue is hip issue now this is validation it is not a conspiracy theory if it's true so all you know it's a conspiracy theory well no it's been it's true the Ravens just did

the thing that you said what would be the conspiracy well they did it so it's true all right now a lot of reaction we'll turn the page a lot of reaction to the GM there in Baltimore Eric DeCosta is his name Eric DeCosta saying that he wanted both Trey Hendrickson and Crosby at the same time take a look in terms of Trey we came to a point probably after we lost Tyler where as we're trying to find the best way for us to get better as a football team Trey kind of made a lot of sense as a possible guy to look at so we started some discussions with he and his agent thinking that potentially we end up just pointing to us and probably in a way you know, disappoint probably to Trey as well all right so that was the bullcrap on Trey Hendrickson if you believe that

I'd like to sell you a nice waterfront home in Lincoln Nebraska right on the ocean here is DeCosta, Eric DeCosta GM, Baltimore Ravens here this is the one that has gone viral I believe Eric DeCosta he wants you to know what a sob story this whole more upset about this than me, gutted by it, actually. I did regret for me, but we will move on as a football team. And I think there's many, many opportunities for us to grow as a team, to become a better team, to build a roster, and to be the team that we want to be. All right, so this whole thing lasted like 19 minutes. The cost of times got relatively emotional. Didn't sound like it there. As you heard, the sound bite, trying to reach a somber tone. And he attempted multiple times to push back on the narrative that the Ravens had buyers remorse. And that's why they hit the eject button on the trade. Well, we have a long line. Let's play a long one. Why not? We're here. We've got nothing else going on. Here's a longer version of Eric the Costa.

And let's listen. I mean, I understand it. I understand it. We live in that age of skepticism and people question, especially people that don't really know me, or know the Ravens culture and the Ravens organization. So I understand it. As I said, at the beginning, we've got a responsibility. I've got a responsibility to the Ravens, to this community, to our fans, and to Steve Bischotti, to do what we think is best for the club. That's what we always try to do. Every decision we make is based on this idea. Is this the best thing for the Ravens? Very, very challenging. Again, I understand how people might, maybe from the far would feel that way. But nobody's more upset about this than me. I've got it by it, actually. So a big regret for me. But we will move on as a football team. And I think there's many, many opportunities for us to grow as a team, to become a better team, to build a roster, and to be the team that we want to be. Question, is what you just heard? Is this Ravens GM Mike De Costa,

or Eric De Costa? It was my own Mike. I used to work with a guy named Mike De Costa, but Eric De Costa, all right, is the GM there. Having deep regrets over the botched Max Crosby trade is the GM De Costa there. Is this believable, or is this just the team thinking that the fan base is really stupid? So the arrow on this one, the arrow is pointing directly at the Baltimore GM here, who must believe the fan base is feeble minded, and it's possible they are, I don't know, but what a Greek tragedy this is, unless it's not. I mean, we have a little tiny violin out, and crocodile tears, and all that, for Eric De Costa, the GM there. You know what this is? It's another Hollywood remake. Yeah, it's another Hollywood remake in the late great Robin Williams comedy actor Robin Williams,

the classic The Dead Poets Society. They've changed the manuscript and tells the story of an NFL GM who inspires his fans and players through the teachings of the ancient work of Skull Duggery, because this is Skull Duggery. De Costa tried to run the Oki Doke, and it worked, but he got called out on it, right? He also talked both sides of his mouth. He talked about both sides of his mouth. As you heard in the sound bite, he said, we want to do what's best, we have to do what's best for the club. And then on the other hand, he essentially said, nobody was hurt more than me. So that begs the question, if everything was on the up and up here, if everything was kosher, why the Shakespearean tragedy routine? Like, why would you be hurt? I mean, you did everything right? Why the personal regret? Now, this sounds like a guy that got caught at the crime scene, holding a machete covered in blood,

a bloody machete. And you can't see this because we're on radio, but the body language, the body language was screaming louder than a referee that did not realize the microphone was on, and was just, yeah, there was a lot of blinking, there was some rocking back and forth. Those are dead giveaways, nervous energy. Straight out of the FBI handbook to spot a liar. And on the Swindler Spectrum, on the Spinler Spectrum, the Swindler Spectrum, this news conference registered somewhere between used car salesmen and a Barracuda circling the chum bucket. The Ravens DM there is just hoping, hoping that the people that are his customers are so dumb that they will buy this. Enough of them will buy this and that's all you need. All right, now the last word here, we go to Buffalo.

Here we go, Buffalo. The bills did not get trade, Hendricks. And we know that at least unless Hendricks and Bills out of the contract. So they went to the Hail Mary card, Buffalo, did add a name free agent, did make a move here. We are under the understanding here that the Buffalo bills have agreed to terms with linebacker Bradley Chubb. Chubba, love, love, Bradley Chubb, former Dolphin, former Bronco, Bradley Chubb gets three years and 34.5 million to join a defense that is not exactly a well oiled machine in Buffalo. Yeah, so quite, so he stays and another guy staying in the division goes from the Dolphins to the Bills question with defensive and Bradley Chubb coming on board. Did the Bills just buy a lemon or a mango?

What do they buy? All right, so on this one I had on my score card, I wrote down lemon head. It's not you won't get a lemon, they got a lemon. Now is this a 1984 you go with a new paint job? I'm not gonna go that far. However, you look at it, well, the resume, if you only look at the top part of the resume, it looks pretty good, a couple years back. This guy was amazing, Bradley Chubb was an absolute monster masher, a monster mash, a world beat, or all that stuff, right? And he's had multiple major injuries to clean up stuff. The biggest would be, oh my aching knee. Oh my God, my knee, that would be the big one. He's also past 30. Oh my God, a player of 30 in that, in that business, they get a little testy when you get around the age of 30

and you play a position like that. And so you look at this and you're like, well, it's like Buffalo went out and bought a computer. And then you're like, well, is it the brand new laptop? And no, no, no, no, they bought a computer with a floppy disk drive and they're gonna call it cutting edge. And they're gonna pay it, pay the guy, you know, 30 guaranteed or whatever it is, 43 million total. So the performance, I missed a year, came back played last year, was not all that great. So the category, the basket that Bradley Chubb goes into big name, little game at this point, right? The nerds, not that we always care what they say, the point Dexter crowd, they looked at the metrics and the analytics and they didn't like what they saw. The past rush win rate, very important, unless it's not,

that was not good, less than 8%, less than 8%, and he had been in the 20% range. So he's lost a lot, that's 14th percentile. So not a game record with the dolphins last year. And so the theory is, this is another player, we talked about the bills who don't exactly sign free agents and sing Kumbaya when these guys arrive there. And so this, unless proven wrong, you look at Chubb, you're like, the law is there, the law of diminishing returns. And he's now a seven or eight sack guy who's masquerading and living off what he did long ago. And so Buffalo is paying for the ghost of Bradley Chubb. And the real one, the real one is no longer driving on the Autobahn, the real one is driving in a school zone and the speed limit is 25 miles an hour.

And that's it, so we'll see how that goes. Very few people in the history of the world have moved from Miami to Buffalo to live in Buffalo after living in Miami. And Chubb is one of those few. The hearty souls that have done that, and that tells you that nobody else in a warmer climate offered him anywhere close to what the Buffalo bills did or else he would be somewhere else. Be sure to catch live additions of the Ben Mallor Show weekdays at 2 a.m. Eastern, 11 p.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I-Hard Radio app. Stigots here, I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow. And I have brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5 p.m. Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stigots in Company Live, which is available on podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports.

A lot of phone calls. I love you guys at show. It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction. Guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stigots in Company and Stigots in Company Live. So listen to Stigots in Company Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate, and review. Stigots in Company and God bless football. Tellers livelihood depends on it. Do it today. And you can check all of those out on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weather bug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, right at your fingertips, get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time, customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence.

Download the free weather bug app from the app store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Texting privacy policy in terms of conditions posted at TextingTurbs.us. Texting roles you for occurring on a media text marketing message your message daily is my apply or play. Stop, go out, visit I-S-S-A online for details. Tired of the nine to five grind, looking for something different that's flexible, fulfilling, and pays well. How do you like to get paid to work out? Now you can, with I-S-S-A, the global leader in personal fitness certification. There's a huge demand for certified personal trainers right now and once you get I-S-S-A certified, they guarantee you'll get a job. Trainers can make as much as $100 an hour. Yes, I said $100 an hour and with I-S-S-S-A, you can be certified in as little as six weeks. You do everything at your own pace and 100% online. Pursue your passion in specializations like yoga, nutrition or strength training. Get certified and live your life on your terms. Work at a gym, start your own business or a side hustle. Whatever works for you, just don't wait. Get your free personal training evaluation kit today. Get certified in as little as six weeks. And I-S-S-A guarantees you'll get a job.

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Customers should carefully consider the associated risk before investing. Visit webel.com slash disclosures. So our lead this hour is from baseball. Now Team USA did not play on Wednesday night. They did not, but yet still the World Baseball Classic is our lead. And thanks to the help from the Italians, Team USA has advanced into the next round of this man-made global tournament for Major League Baseball. Now one of the big storylines from this hoot nanny involves someone who has already quit the World Baseball Classic. And that would be Detroit Tigers ace, Terrick Scoobal, a man who's on the brink of a gigantic ginormous payday as he's heading into his lame duck year. And he will be a free agent at the end of the season. So Terrick Scoobal has responded

to the many critics who have called him out for quitting on Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, the two-time reigning, Sy Young winner. He made a token appearance at the World Baseball Classic and has already returned to Tigers camp in the grapefruit league, made one start. Now did you hear what he had to say? No, okay, maybe not. Scoobal got up on the bully pulpit, on the bully pulpit and said, it's just not fair in reference to the many who are drinking haterade on behalf of Scoobal. But that's part of the business, quote, continues. It's part of the game. If they know me, though, then they know me on a personal level and they know what my peers think of me, I don't think it's fair to say those things, close quote. Okay, so the old, hey, they know me on a personal level.

How on God's green earth would any fan know a athlete on a personal level? That's so stupid. Like, God, are you a country bumpkin? All right, that's a good jumping off point. Let us discuss the question. Where are you at on the Tigers A's Terex Scoobal, saying that it's just not fair, boo hoo, it's just not fair to criticize him for leaving the World Baseball Classic Team USA squad after one appearance. So my observations, I've got sovereign nation, rhino and Ronald McDonald, and we will combine all of these things together and we are going to move off campus is what we're going to do off the campus of the Malamalicious Soul. Say it with me now. Number one, number one, number one. Number one. So Terex Scoobal sounds like he's living in a bubble.

And it's possible he is. He's very wealthy. He's going to make a lot more money and he just lives insulated from everything and the Tigers have been pretty irrelevant for a while. I know recently they've had some decent teams, but for a long time, the Tigers were just a spam team that people played. So the grumbling is a bit much. The grumbling is a bit much. So leave Tiger Town, let me stamp your passport. I would like to stamp the passport of Terex Scoobal. And we would like to welcome the Detroit Tigers ace to my sovereign nation. I am the Supreme Leader of Realityville. And now as the Supreme Leader and Overlord of Realityville, let me teach you the ins and outs. So it is absolutely fair. In fact, it is more than fair. It is required in fandom. It is required. It is, Scoobal needs a wake up call, right? Need some smelling salts here. And just get a little whiff of reality.

This guy threw 40 pitches. That's it. That's a 40 pitches in his one start. Not exactly an Iron Man. This wasn't a buy-in. And this was part of my argument. I talked about that. I wasn't that into the whole world baseball classic and all that. And I was like, well, this is a great example. This is a guy that just said, hey, it's not that big a deal. If it was that big a deal, you would have pitched more. Now, I get it. I don't think it's that big a deal either. I've been watching. And some of it's been fine, but if you agree, this is a problem that Scoobal doesn't understand. If you agree to paint my house, all right? You agree to paint my house. And you come over, you got your truck, you got your paint, you got all your supplies, everything, all the stuff that you need to paint. You come to my house, okay, I want you to paint my house. All right, I'll paint your house. And you paint the front door of my house. Then you pack up all of your paint, all of your supplies, put it all back in your truck

and drive off into the wild blue yonder. I don't care how busy you are. You didn't do the job. And Scoobal thought, and this is the arrogance of Terrick Scoobal. He thought he could wrap himself in the flag. This is the hubris. I'm gonna wrap myself in the flag, make a token appearance and get pats on the back and way to go. Yeah, I would recommend that Scoobal, while he is lounging in the grapefruit league before the season starts in a couple of weeks, get the reading rainbow. Because you clearly misread the room. You misread the room. And he then has the hootspa, the audacity to blame the tigers. He claims he wanted to pitch more. And he just didn't work out. And he really wanted to do it. And he just wouldn't let me move.

They were the tigers in my age. Yeah. That's what he says. You saw it? He said it. I didn't make that up. Police, come on. Really, like, let me explain something here. And I haven't had many agents. I've had an agent a couple of times. They were terrible. One guy even quit. I'm like, I probably heard the show. But Scott Boris, who is the agent, he works under the client, the agent client relationship. It's not the other way around. The scruple is pretending like he's this damsel in distress. This helpless victim. And only dingleberries would believe that. It's the good cop bad cop. The agent's always, I'll be the bad cop. You be the good cop. Blame me, blame me. I'm the guy, blame me. It was a business decision. Every man, woman and child understands it was a business decision. He wanted to make sure that he could secure the bag. If he was gonna get hurt, he wanted to get hurt

on company time, not on World Baseball Classic time. And so, fine. But just admit it, right? Don't play us for fools. And say, my agent wouldn't let me in the tiger. You let your agent dictate the decision. You could have put your foot down. You chose not to do it. So don't play stupid. All right, now page two, keeping this going though. The question now is it true? Is it true that all the hate online directed at Terrick's School for quitting, for quitting Team USA will actually backfire on the Major League Baseball fans? So I'm gonna nod my head, yes on this. I'm nodding my, you can't see me unless you're watching on YouTube, I'm closing my eyes and nodding my head, yes. Repeatedly, over and over. Okay, it's like a neck massage. Now, as a distant relative of Nostradamus

and friend of Nostradinus will form a friend, former friend until the Super Bowl, we have seen the future. We have seen the future, one of the great Sioux Sayers of our time. So all of that vitriol, all that hater raid, all those nasty posts online, people calling radio shows, you're on American, you're a turn coat, all of that, that is fuel, that is jet fuel. You take that online hate, half a witch is probably bots anyway. It's just bot army over from Mouthova. And okay, so you got bots, you got, there's some real people in there and just let that bake in the sun. Let that get really crusted from the sun and it hardens up, it forms this very thick, unpenetrable, rhino skin, get that rhino skin, and scuba is gonna need it. He's gonna have to fuel that Gulf Stream.

And here's why, because he eventually, after this season, we'll test the free agent market and he'll sign one of those monster, eight year, $640 million contracts with the LA Dodgers. And he'll then be paid out, what, 80 million a year, most of it deferred, last check will come in on the 350th anniversary in 100 years of the United States. And that'll be that. And you know how the Dodgers operate? The criticism that school bulls getting here and all that, that's just a preview of coming attractions. It's a light sprinkle compared to the burn, baby burn, if you end up signing with the Dodgers. Not final point, staying with baseball. So there's still some noise about Mark Dorosa. I wanna get back into this, the nonsense. And the reason I wanna get into this, and it's still got legs, is because of a stunt that Major League Baseball pulled. And I'm a little taken aback by this

because it's been this way for at least 17 or 18 years, if not longer, if not longer, in my book, in my book. So Major League Baseball pulled the clip where Mark Dorosa famously said, prematurely, the team USA had punched its World Baseball Classic quarter-final ticket. And so they pulled that and then surprise, it was back. Now thanks again to the Italians, the USA did advance to the quarter-final. However, Dorosa's team, he rested some people and they looked, some of those guys looked like they may or may not have been hung over, hung over, and went out there and lost to a underman, the team representing Italy. And so that stunt, that stunt by Major League Baseball to try to pull the thing and everything here, that's what everyone started, I'll say, oh my God. This is MLB's website and this is what they did.

So the question, where are you at on Major League Baseballs? Now you see it, now you don't, vanishing act, with Mark Dorosa's clueless comments. So when I saw this, and I'm not a consumer of MLB.com, I very rarely go there. I just, it's not that I hate it. I just, not in my rotation of things to look at. It's kind of been running on fumes. So when I saw this, I was like, well that's like, it's like a frat house prank. And I was like, let's go out and steal Ronald McDonald statue at Mickey D's and we'll put it in the dorm and then we'll take selfies with it. And then when the campus police show up, we'll sneak it back and pretend nothing happened. What an us, what an up, we didn't do it. And now the media, a lot of these media elites are outraged. I can't believe that Major League Baseball, the bastion of baseball journalism would do this

and then delete it and yeah. So I was like, well, is this, is this the great awakening? Are we looking at the great awakening? Is this now where people realize that NFL.com, MLB.com, NBA.com are just PR people? No chance. No chance. This is the great awakening. This is just a blip. MLB media is run by MLB. It's been that way since the very beginning. It's state funded media with a baseball logo on it. It's rainbows and lollipops. What did you think you were going to get at MLB's website, a blizzard and a cocktail of bleach? Come on. When he's not prancing around playing manager in the dugout for Team USA, Mark DeRosa works for MLB Network. Things that make you go, they're all sleeping in the same bed. They're sharing the same pillow. And you're shocked that the coverage is softy, makes soft, and keep in mind that in his state sponsor,

journalism and the blueprint has been around since the late 90s. I was told, I've talked about this in the past. I was told by somebody that worked for a major league baseball team that this was the vision. There was a time when there were a bunch of these things called newspapers and they all had a couple beat riders that covered the hometown team and they were critical and all that. And the people that baseball said, this guy said, this is our plan is we're going to have in 20 years. We are going to have people just feeding out of the palm of our hand. And while the older generation might not buy into it, future generations, that's all they're going to know. And they'll just believe anything we tell them. And sure enough, it's been over 20 years. It's been close to 30 years now. And that conversation, one of the most memorable conversations that I've had, that long-term vision board of major league baseball has become reality. Control the message, massage the fans. And then hope that nobody notices the strings on the puppet. The strings on the puppet.

And for the most part, it's work. We have the younger generation of fans. It's all they know. They've been indoctrinated in that. They don't know any better. So I can't rip them. That's all they know. They like it. Raw, raw team. Way to go. We so exciting. Yeah, that's what they want. That's what they want. So that's what baseball's website gives them. And so anything negative is kind of make it go away. The star player gets caught up in a gambling operation. Just don't talk about it or just downplay. Somebody's doing a line of coke off a strippers act. Ask, just don't bring it up, let's leave it alone. You know, that kind of thing. Be sure to catch live editions of the Ben Mallor Show weekdays at 2 a.m. Eastern, 11 p.m. Pacific. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weather Bug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts in comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time customizable alerts.

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This washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. The March tournament brings volatility, upsets, and momentum shifts. With Webowl predictions, you can trade strategic positions on college basketball outcomes. React to match-ups and assess probabilities as the tournament unfolds. Whether your bracket is busted or you're on the way to the top of your leaderboard, bring your strategy to your trades in real time. Get started by downloading the Webowl app today or visiting Webowl.com. And contract trading is speculative and may not be suitable for all investors. Customers should carefully consider the associated risk before investing. Visit Webowl.com slash disclosures. Like them all. So we have yet to get a decision from Aaron Rodgers on if he wants to continue his career and if he wants to do it in Pittsburgh, but how long do you think the Steelers gonna wait before they start shopping for quarterbacks? They likely know. I'm assuming Rodgers has told them he just hasn't announced anything, but supposedly

gonna talk the Steelers have a Zoom call with Kyler Murray allegedly and all that. But it doesn't really matter. Rodgers wait because they can always find a bad quarterback. I think they'll give him another month or so. Next. With MLB opening day only a couple weeks away, which managers do you think will be starting off the season on the hottest seat? Well, it's teams that are supposed to be good like the Mets and the Phillies. Carlos Mendoza with the Mets and Rob Thompson with the Phillies. Those are the two guys that you'd think would be the hottest seat. And then Joe is spot off from the cheating Astros in the American. Next. It was announced on Tuesday that 76ers start Tyrese Maxi as a tendon injury and will be reevaluated in three weeks. Ben will the 76ers still be in the playoff picture at the time Maxi returns. Well, it's the the playing everyone so kind of like the Fugese playing thing. Coop is what they have. How do we do? I have to win. Thank you very much. I won. I'm a winner. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com. And within the IHARDS radio app search FSR to listen live. It's now time for time for. Hurry hurry hurry. I can pop me. Ask Ben. Twitter. And there's your questions on Twitter now. All right, here we go. It is time now for ask. Man, your questions are answers for the rest of the hour. Don't forget to vote for the Benny Awards. They are active. There's a link on my X-Feed. I think Coop's sending out as well. The 2026 Benny Awards. Biggest award show in all of overnight sports radio. Make sure to vote. All right. The reading of the questions it won't sound like you're reading on ask. Ben, make it make sense. If you don't have Facebook or Twitter or X or whatever, you can email me Ben Mallor producer at gmail.com and I'll send you the link. All right, let's start off with Eek.

I eat in Roseville, Minnesota. He wants to know, would you rather do a jigsaw puzzle or a crossword puzzle? I don't mind both. I'm more into words because of my job. I love words. I love hearing new words and learning new words. So I'm going to go, I play Scrabble a lot on my phone. It's one of my things I, I, I put it around with. So I, I'll go, I'll go a word, a crossword puzzle. Lorraine. Ah, so hard, but I got to go with jigsaw. Jigsaw, yeah, I like the pieces. Okay, congratulations. Coopaloo. Definitely crossword puzzle. Yeah. Okay. Very good. What's next? Ask Ben. Your questions are answers for the rest of the hour. Ferdog would like to know, what is your favorite girl scout cookie? Then he says, thin mints are overrated. Yes, I've always been a thin mint guy. I like the peanut butter chocolate. I don't know what that's called. Tagalongs. Tagalong, those are pretty good.

Or peanut butter patty is depending on which bakery they're in. The lemon, but very controversial take. There's two lemons. One of them's really good. The other one sucks. I miss the old one, the round one with the fluffer, like the, the powder sugar on the outside. But you can still get that some places. There's, you know, big girl scouts really messing around with that. I don't like the girl scout messing with her cookies with, yeah, what about you, Lorraine? I do not expect, um, no, none of them. None? Okay. We do not. I don't like that they usually sell their cookies. Okay. I got a scandal. That's a bad take. The tagalongs are my favorite ones. And then also I like the, I like the lemon aides. Those are the lemon ones with the like frosting. It's almost like a, like a lemon chocolate texture thing on the bottom. You know what I mean? That's like a lemon cream. I don't know. Okay. Generally like lemon cookies. So sure.

Next it's Ask Ben. Your questions are answers for the rest of the hours. The late great Larry King would say lady sideburns would like to know what foul smell do you secretly like? Well, I don't know if it's foul, but I've always loved the smell of gasoline and tires. I love going through auto parts. I hate that smell. Oh, I love it. I could sit there at the Costco gas station sniffing gasoline for hour. I love it. And I love going to an auto parts store. I just feel masculine when I go in there. I feel like a real man, you know, smelling the rubber and the tires. Oh, my God. So good. Lorraine. Skunk. You enjoy the smell of skunk. Like real raw skunk, like the one that's just been freshly hit on the side of the rock. Yeah. That's a good one. Okay. You're cool. Yeah. That's a good one. I also like the smell of gasoline. All right. What is next here? Ask Ben. Your questions are answered. Were you a part of any school clubs? Oh, God no.

No, I mean, I barely, you know, I played football a little bit basketball, but no, what about you, Lorraine? I was in choir, but not like an after school school club. I was in dance too, but that was a good one. I was going to watch you after those choir girls. So what about you, cool? I was in poetry club. You're a poet? You're a poet? Oh, my God. And you guys don't even know it. Next question. Rose is a red virus. I can do poetry better than you. All right. What's that? JT the Wingman wants to know who is your favorite Sesame Street Muppet? Oh, man. I loved probably enough snuff a Luffagus, because he was hardly on Oscar the Grouch, a big fan of Oscar the Grouch as well. What about you, Lorraine? It's got to be Grover. Grover. Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weather Bug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips.

Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time, customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Life gets messy, spills, stains, head accidents, and kid chaos. But with Anabay, cleaning up is easy. Our sofas are fully machine washable, inside and out, so you never have to stress about messes again. Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics, that means fewer stains and more peace of mind. Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers, allowing you to refresh your style any time. Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa effortlessly, perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes, plus their earth-friendly and built to last. That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch.

Upgrade your space today, sofas start at just $699. Visit washablesofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life. That's washablesofas.com. Customers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. I'm U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all seem to be in a rush these days, from work to driving our kids around. But when you're behind the wheel, please, do not speed. A few minutes say by going faster is never worth a risk. So follow the speed limit, enjoy the drive, maybe bring some snacks for the kids and know that along the way, you're getting quality time with your family. Paid for by Nitsa. Hey, it's Jonas Knox. How do you know when a business is running really well? Check out is fast. Customers are happy and everything feels in sync. That's what genius from global payments delivers, flawless operations that hold up even during your busiest rushes.

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