8-9-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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That's shipstation.com slash audio. Dead center of the work week, peeps. Thank you so much for hanging out with us on the hump show, middle show of the work week. I actually have started making Wednesdays my training day. Well, one of them, I also train on the weekends, but I have a half marathon just over six weeks from now. And one of the reasons that I was hesitant to schedule my next half marathon in September is because it can still be real hot and humid.

I don't love running and I really don't love running when it's hot and humid. Last week, though, in my New Jersey neighborhood, we had, and it wasn't just my neighborhood. We had this incredible stretch of four days in which temps were in the 70s and no humidity.

I have no idea what happened. Crazy in August. And while Wednesday is supposed to be in the upper 80s in terms of temp, it's another day with no humidity.

It really is strange. It's very anti August in the Northeast to not have this type of heavy, thick humidity. Then I told myself, you dummy, if you can run in Houston with a thousand percent humidity and temps at 90 degrees, which I did when I was there a couple of weekends ago.

Well, then you can certainly run in New Jersey without making any excuses. So, yeah, Wednesday's become my running day. And so as much as I enjoy getting through this show, the hump show, we call it middle show of the work week, there's there's another big challenge on the horizon. So starting to stretch out a little bit with that half marathon just a few weeks down the road. Now my base training run is about an hour, 15 minutes or so, which is why sometimes when I get to work on a Wednesday evening, I'm pooped.

Actually, it gives you endorphins and you can eat a good meal. Last week, Jay, after running for an hour and 10, I ate pancakes with pure maple syrup. That was my reward for running in the middle of the week because it's tough, right? We have work prep. I've got phone calls generally to get ready for work, and then I go out and I run for an hour and 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and I'm kind of pooped. So I get back in, I eat some dinner, and then I just want to sleep. I just want to take a shower and sleep. So it's kind of tough to come to work after that.

So I'm playing with fire a little bit. If I sound completely out of it tomorrow night, well, then you'll know why because I did the training run. But I need to take advantage of the afternoons and evenings when we don't have humidity because they're so few and far between. Generally, typically in the month of August, I'm not complaining.

I am absolutely not complaining. We've had a few mornings this month already where I've had to wear sweatpants while I'm walking the dog in the morning. That feels more like October than it does early August. It's very weird. I don't know what's going on, but I'll take it. Early last week, I remember we were leaving the show in the morning, and it was, I think, 52 or something.

And I was like, is this really like August 2nd right now? It was cold. I went to my car. I put the heat on for a second. I love it. I absolutely love it. People ask me all the time, what is your favorite season of the year? And I usually say spring because I adore the fresh flowers, the green, the warmer weather kind of poking its way through.

I just love everything about April. But the fall, I also really appreciate. Now, I love snow, so you're never going to get me to say anything bad about the winter. But I dearly love the fall, too, where the temperatures turn crisper and the air is clearer and there's less humidity. So I guess that would make summer my least favorite season.

That's crazy, right? Nobody says summer is their least favorite season, but I love them all. I do adore all four seasons. I find the value in all of them.

I just really like being able to open up my windows and get the fresh air and not have to use the AC. And actually, I may be able to do that in the morning when I get home. So, yes, if I somehow don't sound as connected and clear and clever tomorrow night, well, it's because I'm having to build up these long runs and can't just run on the weekends.

But we're getting too close to a half marathon, so I have to start to build up endurance and resistance. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. What else?

What else do you want to know? You can find us on our show Twitter, After Hours CBS, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence Weekly Staple. The hump show means Ask Amy Anything.

We're just a half hour away now. You'll have a chance to hear your questions asked and answered here on the show. Now Jay and I have a summer version of Ask Amy Anything on our YouTube channel. So there is a, probably once a season, a video version of Ask Amy Anything. We happen to tape this one again on July 4th weekend, so we're wearing our red, white and blue. There's Funfetti cupcakes, all that jazz.

But the questions themselves are not just about July 4th, they're actually about the summertime. So you can check that out on YouTube as well as, oh my gosh, I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the show or not, I can't remember. Producer Jay, did I talk about how Bob's family discovered our YouTube channel? I don't know if, you mentioned that to me, I believe.

I'm not sure if that was on the show. Okay, so Bob's family. I met Bob's family while I was in Houston a week and a half ago. And that included not just his parents and his sons, but also his brothers. He's got two older brothers, so he was the baby of the family. He's the mama's boy, which is great because his mom is awesome. Anyway, his older brother, huge college football fan, I think I said last time on the show that he slipped in a couple of sports questions.

I could see Bob's eyes rolling back in his head like, no, don't do that! Because I generally don't like to talk about sports in family gatherings or really anywhere away from work, right? I mentioned I've got this high schooler I work with at church and every single Sunday morning he walks in and without saying good morning, he just poses a question about the Rangers or the Yankees or whatever else and I'll wait till he finishes. He gets in my face and goes on this rant and I'll say, and good morning to you too, Jordan. Oh wait, no, he's got a twin. Shoot, he's not Jordan. Uh oh, I forgot his name. There's two of them. They're twins.

Anyway, the other one I think is Jordan. I hope he's not listening to this edition of the show. Sorry. Anyway, so this is what happens. Sometimes people get to know me as sports radio host and they forget about anything else.

So I don't like to highlight that when I'm in my personal life. But Bob's older brother wanted to talk about college football and some realignment and whatever else. So I sent, actually the college football conversation we had with Brian Fisher, Jay, I sent that to Bob who then sent it to his older brother so that he could get some of his questions answered. That was part of it. Wait, where was the story going? This was not, what was, tell me, tell me. Bob's family finding, discovering the YouTube channel.

Yes, thank you. Okay, so they now know what I do for a living. Jay, what would I do without you? And they've discovered the YouTube channel.

So his mom thinks the videos are funny, of course. His oldest brother does as well and apparently has decided that we, when we get together for holidays at some point, that there should be a family edition of Chubby Bunny. Great.

Great. That's what I bring to the table. I bring Chubby Bunny to the family gatherings. I'm not sure that's notable.

So they want to play at the next gathering. My lifelong legacy and contribution to Bob's family is Chubby Bunny. I mean, if you're going to be known for something, I guess it's not the worst thing to be known for.

Oh, it's the worst thing to be known for. Because you know me, I bow out after four and a half marshmallows every time. But we don't know what their family does yet and they're new to the game, so they don't even have the experience.

So maybe you have the upper hand in that matchup. So they see me throwing up in a video and then they decide they want it, well, one of them decided they should do it at the family gatherings later in the year. And I'm thinking, oh, no, they're never. Once you see someone upchuck marshmallows, it can't be unseen. At least I don't make noises like that.

No, absolutely not. I just quietly throw up my marshmallows onto a plate and hope that nobody is paying attention. The Chubby Bunny World Championships, is it four of them now, right? There's four of them.

They're all on our YouTube channel. Maybe, never mind, maybe that would be highly entertaining. Good. There you go, Bob.

My contribution to your family, Chubby Bunny World Championships. It should be an annual occurrence because I won't look like the idiot at the table if I don't have noises like that. Would you do it before or after Thanksgiving meal? Would it be before the meal or after the meal? It's a big question. I don't think it can be before because who would want to eat after watching people throw up marshmallows?

Except our current champion, Pat Boyle, who, what did we say? Eleven? He got to ten and a half eleven and then he started eating the marshmallows. Who would want to eat the marshmallows after they nearly make you throw up?

But he did. And so I don't know if I'm on the same page with him. I don't think I could eat after seeing people throw marshmallows up all over the table. But you got a full stomach, Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, and then you're going to play Chubby Bunny. But you're not eating the marshmallows.

I know, but just like... What does that have to do with anything? Just because I feel like the nauseating factor and the claustrophobia will start to settle in. Claustrophobia? You're feeling all fat and stuffy and then you got marshmallows, you can't breathe, they're already feeling full. I don't know. Since when have you ever felt fat and stuffy?

Well, after Thanksgiving if you eat enough. What? Stuffy? Yes. Fat?

How much did you eat the last time you felt fat and stuffy? Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm just saying if you're trying to get marshmallows in your mouth and you're going for 10 or 11 and you're trying to beat Pat's record, I don't know if that's the best optimal conditions to do it when you're mixing all of that food and you're feeling all full.

Well then maybe we shouldn't do it at all. That seems like the best plan. Let's just not do Chubby Bunny at the next family gathering. I don't know.

I think it's out of your hands at this point. So great. Now the family knows that I make a fool of myself for a living. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

Oh, get this segue. The Orioles, the ownership, management, they definitely made fools of themselves. The report finally leaking earlier this week that they had suspended one of their TV play by play announcers, Kevin Brown, for what seems to be a relatively benign minute on a pregame show going back to late July. So Kevin Brown talks about how the team, the Orioles, is making great progress this season. And in doing so, had managed to figure out the key to winning at Tropicana Field. So the game was at the trop. They were playing the Rays. He makes a statement that they've got more victories against the Rays this season at Tropicana Field than they had the last three years combined. Somehow Orioles ownership or management found that to be offensive. And according to both the athletic and awful announcing, he was suspended for those comments, even though he was actually giving the Orioles a compliment and saying they figured it out. They figured out how to play at the trop.

This is a benchmark. This is how you know that's not the same team they've been the last three years. So the media gets wind of it. The baseball world gets wind of it. You've got people like Gary Cohen with the Mets, Michael Kay and John Sterling. The two Yankees broadcast. Jason Benetti with the Chicago White Sox. You've got people all over baseball blasting the Orioles for suspending this young broadcaster Kevin Brown over this comment.

And then to me, the worst part is the fact that they covered it up and denied it when asked directly about it in the last couple days. And yet even after the baseball world offered loud vocal support for Kevin Brown, there was still nothing from the Orioles. And so the fans at Camden Yards on Tuesday night took matters into their own hands.

That's not a loop. They went on and on and on enough that the Astros radio broadcast, the Astros TV broadcast noted it. You know who did not acknowledge? The broadcasters on Masson. According to social media, I don't get Masson in northern New Jersey. That's the Orioles broadcast. Well, it's Orioles and it's Nationals. So it's based in the D.C. area.

I don't get it where I am. But according to the reports on social media, the broadcasters on Masson said nothing about it, even though it had to be bleeding into their broadcast. Now the report.

You guys ready for this? According to the Baltimore Banner, Kevin Brown will be back in the booth starting Friday when the Orioles welcome the Seattle Mariners. Don't know whether or not Orioles ownership or management decided to make this reinstatement, this change because of what's been the round criticism from all over the sports world.

Whether it's because they're feeling the heat of the pushback and the fallout. But according to the Baltimore Banner, Kevin Brown will be back in the booth starting Friday. That's almost three weeks, Jay. It's almost three weeks since they pulled him off the air.

He was part of a series against the Phillies, if I remember correctly, something about a wardrobe issue with another one of the broadcasters. That was also a report from Awful Announcing. Anyone from Baltimore have more insight to add? You can certainly let us know on Twitter, ALawRadio or on our Facebook page. And Rich is listening in Baltimore.

Rich, what do you think? Hey, great to speak with you. I was at the game tonight. Oh, you were? And let me tell you, I'm going to give you the scoop on the whole thing, OK? First, they were very vocal. I sit in center field, so the flag court area where the grand slam went, a bunch of people came up there with signs and the chant started with the wave and it was crazy. Now, at the same time, Amy, I was listening to Madison WBAL, which Kevin Brown is on with Scott Garceau. Normally, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. So they weren't saying a word about it. They were not even commenting about the chants. So locally, you know, because I understand there's a lot of bad feelings about Peter Angelos about mass and especially because he controls both the radio and television here and in D.C., you know, for the Nationals. And, you know, the other thing, too, is you have to remember, he basically drove a Hall of Fame announcer, John Miller, out of Baltimore some years ago because of his commitment with ESPN. And, you know, where John is now. He's not only in the Hall of Fame, he's an announcer, you know. You're still working with the Giants. That's correct.

That is correct. But we've had a Hall of Fame announcer this year like Chuck Thomas was a Hall of Fame announcer. We've had a lot of them. Kevin Brown's exceptional. Melanie Newman, if you know her, unbelievable.

Of course. And, you know, and they use like Jim Palmer for color and all that. And Scott Garceau is an old school bully, BAL guy. But, yeah, they did not make any mention whatsoever of it on the local broadcast. But I got to tell you, it really runs much deeper than most of the nation understands because of what Angelos did many years ago to, you know, to John Miller. But I have to tell you, honestly, we don't understand why this happened and why they would create such negative PR around a team that all it's been the whole season is positive. We don't know where it came from. And I don't understand. There's something deeper here that none of us really understand. I'm curious about your thoughts. Well, it kind of feels like there must be something else because this can't be this can't be reality that the Orioles would grab headlines like this that are so negative and that they would make a move like this that's so dramatic for some seemingly nonsensical reason. And he was making a he was actually making a compliment for the Orioles and providing a benchmark.

But also it here's the part that I kind of get stuck on. If there was something else, then why not acknowledge? Why not let people know or why not make it, you know, a public thing? I don't know. It just it feels like they sat on it as long as they possibly could till it finally leaked because someone didn't like how Kevin Brown was being treated. So someone with the Orioles or with mass and leaked it so that it would get out. And I wonder if it was an indefinite suspension. Rich, would he be back now? Would he be on his way back to the booth if there hadn't been so much pressure?

Right. Well, Rob Long, who is on a morning show, I know you knew Rob Long. He was talking about it all morning to on the morning show. And then they were saying, look, we've listened to the audio. There's nothing he said that was egregious, nothing that was disparaging.

It was a compliment. There's something that none of us understand, but they did announce that indeed he is coming back. But I know you're up in Jersey, Amy, but if you get a chance, you should really come to Baltimore Camden Yards to see what's happened. Oh, I love Camden Yards.

Yes. Oh, what this team has done to the city. And it's going to be a very exciting fall here for us because, you know, we signed our quarterback with the Ravens. They start Saturday and, you know, September and October are going to be very exciting times down Baltimore with, you know, with both the Ravens and the Worlds.

Because for the first time, we're sure of one thing. We are definitely going to be in the playoffs, even if they lost. It goes to every game. They'll be there. But it's been 40 years since we've won a world series. And I remember.

So get down to Baltimore. We will welcome you with open arms anytime. Thank you, Rich. I appreciate that.

Very kind of you. Appreciate listening as well on 105.7 The Fan. Of course, Rob Long is a frequent guest here on the show and he and I are friends. I know he's been offering up his comments, his reaction because he also does work on Masson. And so I don't know if he's torn or not, but definitely check out his Twitter and listen to the show there in Baltimore.

All right. When it comes to postseason baseball, when it comes to October, we're not quite there yet. Still a lot of great races. The Rays, they actually are keeping the Orioles within their sights. Remember, the Rays had been on top of the ALEs for quite a while, but they've had some injuries that have hurt them. And they went through that stretch around the All-Star break where they seemingly couldn't buy two wins in a row. It was rough for Kevin Cash's crew.

And part of that is because they're missing their ace. We've got an update on Shane McClanahan. Oh, Steph Curry. He is living his best life this summer.

Have you noticed anywhere that there's fun to be had? Steph Curry is having it. So we'll get to that as well. It feels like forever since we've talked about anything to do with the NBA or basketball. I guess Anthony Davis getting the contract extension, but we really didn't talk about that a whole ton. We've got football too, but mostly you have just a few minutes left to send your questions for Ask Amy. Anything that comes up following the update at the bottom of the hour. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Two-one. Swing and a drive on the line to deep left field.

Way back there toward the wall. New ball game on Eastside, his twenty-second homer of the year that takes over the team lead. One apiece now in the seventh.

One-oh from Polante. Swing and a ground ball past the mound. Threw into center field. A base hit for Yandi Diaz. Josh Lowe scores. Yandi is four for four on his birthday. And on his birthday, he gives the Rays a two-one lead in the eighth inning.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Yandi Diaz, happy birthday to you. Kind of nice when you show up and show out on your birthday, especially when the Rays are trying to rack up some wins. That's the call there on the Rays radio network. And with the Orioles getting stunned by a late Kyle Tucker grand slam, they lose to Houston. Now you've got the Rays within two games of the lead in the American League East.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yandi batting lead off. But that's not the biggest story. His birthday, he goes four for four. Rays get a win. Maybe taking a back seat to the Shane McClanahan story. Because now it's very unlikely, according to Kevin Cash, that the ace of the Rays will pitch again this year. He's dealing with a left arm injury, some left arm pain and miscomfort. There is the potential for Tommy John surgery, is what we're hearing. So that puts a lot more of the pressure on the rest of the rotation, including Zach Eflin, who just went through another game in which he tossed at least seven innings.

So that's one of the things to love about Eflin. Seven times this year, he's pitched into the seventh or through the seventh. And so he's a guy that can protect the bullpen a little bit and certainly will help now. Because they're going to have to get some longer quality starts from guys without their ace at the front of the rotation. You feel for Mack right now because he's done it up until his last start as well. So just continue to hope that we can keep these guys healthy and somehow find ways to continue to get quality innings. And Zach has done that for the most part all season long. And so it's great for Kevin Cash that he does have a Zach Eflin who can pick up the slack.

And he's going to need that for the rest of the rotation. But gosh, it's hard to lose your ace and not absorb the hit. They already had been scuffling a little bit, going back probably the last six weeks. Because their slide started before the All-Star break and kind of continued around the All-Star break. And they weren't able to come up with the big hits. The runners in scoring position, they couldn't push them across the plate. Kevin Cash has been pretty vocal about the fact that it's been a tough stretch for them. But this makes it even tougher.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Alright, so just to recap. AL East, Orioles lead the Rays by two games. The Blue Jays have faded a little bit. Gosh, it's always hard to lose. But it's even harder to lose when you're talking about a game in which you end up seeing just one run scored the entire night.

Kikuchi hands up the belt, checks first. Another look, the pitch. And it's swung and grounded over the bag at third. Fair ball down the left field line into the corner. Gonzalez hits third.

He's being waved home. Laureano will stay at second with an RBI double. And it's 1-0 Cleveland as Gonzalez scored from first on a double over the bag at third and down into the left field corner. And Laureano's first at bat as a Cleveland Guardian. How about that?

Yeah, how about that? Tom Hamilton on Guardians Radio. Laureano was claimed off waivers earlier this week. And he says he's already learning from his new teammate, Jose Ramirez.

Though Ramirez could potentially be serving a suspension very soon. It never hurts, you know, to listen to one of the greats, you know. So I'm just soaking everything in and learning. It's a learning process the rest of my life. The rest of my life, I like that. Absolutely. Soak it in now.

Use these lessons for the rest of your life. Down goes Anderson! Down goes Anderson! Also the Guardians got a fantastic performance from Tanner Bibby who is a rookie.

And he goes seven scoreless to help them get this 1-0 victory over the Blue Jays. That's intense. See, I feel like we don't get enough of that in Major League Baseball. Those are the games that can be done with the new rules in two hours and ten minutes. I think it's just attributes to my work in between starts. I think that's when this kind of stuff happens.

It's not the actual day. I'm not going to be sitting here all week just kind of be like, okay, I'm just going to work hard when it's my turn. So I think that just during the whole entire week is when all this kind of stuff works itself out. Definitely putting in the work. A lot of times the work is done when no one's watching, when no one's paying attention.

Maybe when no one else is around. And that's what pays dividends. So for the Guardians, a much needed win, but yeah, a tense one. Now there's still four and a half back of the Twins in the AL Central. They've gone through a tough stretch where they've lost seven of their last ten. The Blue Jays, as I say, meanwhile, they're kind of hitting, they're batting.500 these days. And the problem is with the Orioles and the Rays, setting such a strong pace still atop the AL East, you've got to keep pace or you're going to fade back pretty quickly. Now the wildcards, that's a different story, right?

Every team in the AL East is involved in either the pennant, or not the pennant race, the division race at the top or the wildcard races. Now, while we're not quite into the stretch round, we'll still call these the dog days, we are getting closer where teams need to hit the gas pedal and drive it like they stole it. And all gas, no brakes. Wait, I need some more cliches.

Any other ones about pedal to the metal? All razz, no berry. Oh. No. Um, what does that mean? That actually means that they're not doing well. That's the first thing I thought of.

All razz, no berry. Huh. It means like you talk a big game, but you really don't. Oh, gotcha. That does not apply here.

No, it's the opposite. I mean, it's the first thing that came out of your mouth, but it does not apply here. All right, so that's some of the latest in the AL East, but we talked about the Rangers winning eight in a row. The Angels finally getting off the schnide. The Dodgers win again.

Stop me if you've heard this before. They're eight of their last ten now. They're 20 games above 500. And I'm not saying no one can catch them in the NL West, only that we have seen this song and dance before.

That is the case. Braves finally get another win, though. Was it Acuna that left the game early and, yeah, and is having to get checked out. So plenty of time left. Plenty of real estate in Major League Baseball. And yet we can almost see the stretch run upon us. Hey, my favorite story coming from the Tuesday in sports is one we won't get to till next hour. But commanders, players complaining about intensity in practice. And you won't believe who they're complaining about. So that's coming up next hour.

Straight ahead, though. Ask Amy anything. Show Twitter after hours.

CBS also on our Facebook page. Your last couple minutes to be able to send your questions to producer Jay. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Time to ask Amy anything.

Sort of. You know what you don't have to ask me on this edition of the show is how my contacts are doing. Because I'll just tell you right now, they're awful tonight. I'm not sure what's going on. I did wash my hands, as always, before I put them in prior to leaving the house and coming into the office. But they have been blurry almost the entire night.

Gosh, it's pretty bad. I think I've used almost an entire container of rewetting drops. I've taken them out and put them back in.

No, no dice. So as I was teasing Jay earlier this week, he finally started wearing glasses after two years of not being able to see me. I've just been a big old blur on the other side of the double-pane glass, which would explain why sometimes he can't see what I'm saying to him. Now you're a big old blur. I'm not even sure you're in there wearing your glasses. I'm blurry?

No, you are. It's the contacts. I'm about ready to take them out and chuck them and just go without them and see how that goes. That's been bothering you for a few hours now. Yeah, no, since I walked into the office.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Time for Ask Amy anything. All right, we're going to start here. This one comes in from Alan. He wants to know if you were trapped inside of a television show for many years and couldn't get out, what television show would you most want to be trapped in?

But there's a kicker. He says no Star Wars affiliation allowed. No Star Wars. OK, so we want to be some show that I was trapped into and couldn't get out. When I was a kid, I loved growing pains.

So that would be one that I that I adore. But beyond that, Charlie's Angels. I was a huge Charlie's Angels fan. And my mom wouldn't always let me watch it due to the fact that I was young at the time that the reruns were playing.

But there. Well, I don't even know if it was the original because there were different supermodels who were Charlie's Angels. I loved the show.

Charlie's Angels absolutely loved it. So that would be the one or the six million dollar man that was knowing six billion dollars. I can't remember now. These are all shows that it was a million.

These are all shows. The Bionic Woman. Oh, my gosh. Loved her. These are all shows that when I was a kid, we would catch on reruns.

Oh, goodness. Loved it. Well, this next one comes from Yvonne, who wants to know what was your favorite TV show as a kid. And if there wasn't a show, then how about a book? Oh, well, I had tons of books that I would read. I read all the Nancy Drew books, all the Hardy Boys books. I read all the Judy Blume books. I was a voracious reader when I was a kid.

Absolutely love them. I'm trying to think of some other ones that maybe I read all the Little House on the Prairie books. Of course, this is going back to when I was a kid. But my favorite TV show, my brother and I, we loved Scooby Doo when we were growing up.

We never missed Scooby Doo. Joel asks, have you ever been to a NASCAR race? Does he really ask me that? Really?

I guess he must be a new listener to the show. Yes, actually went to my first NASCAR race when I was 12 years old. It was at Pocono. We camped in the infield for the weekend. And I remember that we were coming back from eating. And my mom was so mortified by the debauchery that was taking place in the infield that she was walking my brother and I through the infield with her hands over our eyes.

So we couldn't see what was happening, nakedness and such. People drinking and having a grand old time. So yes, that was when I was 12 years old. We had season tickets to Pocono when I was a kid. I worked at the New Hampshire Speedway in Loudon because it was in my backyard.

I grew up in Concord. I worked at the Loudon Speedway when I was in college. That's where I actually met the original Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Got a photo and an autograph with him. And then when I got out of school, I got my own season tickets to Talladega. So for 10 years, I had tickets to the fall race at Talladega. And we continued to go to Pocono for quite a while after I was out of school.

So yeah, love the different tracks. I worked at Phoenix for a few years. Oh, gosh, going back maybe a decade ago. So a big NASCAR fan.

I wish the races weren't on Sundays in the fall because we would talk more about it. Big Jim asks, did you pass your driver's test on the first try? Of course I did. Of course I did.

What are you talking about? I'm the nerd. I'm a valedictorian.

There's no way I was not going to be prepared for that driving test. So you mentioned it a little earlier in the hour that you're training for a new race and for coming up later in the fall. Half marathon. Half marathon. And Guffoy asks, do you incorporate any swimming into your training? He says, I've heard people say swimming once or twice a week helps you with bringing down runtimes for runners.

I wish I could. I do not pay for a gym anymore. I know that people swim at the Y. I'm not a big fan of community pools just because the rules are tough and you swim laps back and forth. I love to swim. When I go to the beach, I go into the ocean and swim. My mom has a pool, so when I was in Houston, I was swimming circles around Bob.

Poor guy is just standing there. I'm diving in, swimming all around, splashing. I do love, love, love to swim.

Whenever I'm out on a boat on the lake, I enjoy jumping into the water. So, yes, love to swim, but do not do it on a regular basis as part of my training. No. I wish I did, though. Eric wants to know, have you ever skipped school, or did you ever skip school on purpose in high school?

Heck no. I was one of those nerdy, goody-two-shoes kids that had to have perfect attendance. I remember my senior year, I got sick and had to miss one day and was so upset. But, yeah, multiple times during high school, I had perfect attendance. So you missed the perfect attendance because of that one sick day? Yeah, my senior year, I was upset.

Oh, they should have just given it to you. Right. So, Maureen, this one's a little general, just wants to know, what are some of the highlights of your summer been so far? Wow. Well, going to Houston in July was definitely a highlight.

Oh, my goodness. Actually, the fact that I got to go to Houston, see Mom, who's recovering from her foot surgery, do some shopping, hang out with Bob, meet his family. That was all great, so I will include that as one of the highlights. I also did this really cool kayaking trip on July 8th. It was one year since my grandmother had passed away, and a friend invited me out to Long Island to go on a river kayaking tour. We were out for a good four hours. It was awesome.

I got some really cool pictures there. And then later on that evening, we went out to the beach and south shore of Long Island and caught gorgeous pictures of the sunset. What else have I done this summer? I don't think hiking the Grand Canyon counts. Oh, well, the John Williams concert was tremendous. That was bucket list. So, yes, my first trip to Tanglewood. This was just this past weekend. Seeing the iconic conductor and composer, John Williams. I mean, I was mesmerized. And the photos, the videos that I have, I actually still haven't posted those.

What a terrible person I am. Maybe I'll do them on a TVT, a throwback Thursday to last Saturday. Yeah, that was absolutely one of the highlights of my summertime as well.

So I would say a few of those. I've had some friends come to visit me. So that's been fun.

And it's not over yet. I've got a concert this Sunday that I'm going to. Another trip to the beach. Oh, Labor Day weekend back in Houston. Yay. So there's still some fun stuff on the horizon for the summer. It's a pretty damn good summer.

Yeah, it's been good. This one comes from David, who wants to know, what lessons from your sports playing days most apply to your life now? Or do you apply to your life now?

Determination, never giving up, no quitting. Those are definitely lessons that I learned through sports that I have been applying to my life for years. But certainly they apply to my career because the media industry is tough. And when I was first getting into sports radio, there were no other women to be found, no other women that I could connect with, no one to tell me how to do it. And I got fired multiple times.

I got dropped from radio rotations. But I am pretty tenacious, and that tenacity comes from sports. Also, I'd say just toughness, physical toughness, mental toughness. And one of my favorite things about sports, what I miss the most playing college basketball and playing four other sports when I was growing up is the teamwork and the camaraderie. And I know most professional athletes, even college athletes, will say the same thing. What I miss most, it's not so much the wins and the losses, though I love that intensity and the pressure. But I do feel that same pressure and intensity when it comes to doing this job only because of the profile and the platform that we have.

I miss the teamwork of getting out there with a group of other women or sometimes playing coed sports and competing for the same goal, putting aside your individual dreams for a time and competing for the same goal and then being able to share that, the highs, the lows, the wins, the losses, all the extremes that come with sports, the extreme emotions, to share those with other people, I'm not sure there's a better feeling. Nice. And James wants to know, have you ever been on a cruise ship? And he wants to know, if so, where and what ship or company? It was Celebrity Cruises. It was in 2008, I believe, is when I went on a cruise. And I went to Alaska.

It was awesome. With two aunts and an uncle, so there were four of us, we were on, let's see, we were on a ship that left Seattle, went up the outer passage, so a day and a half of open water. Oh, my gosh, one day in which the swells were really high, the boat was rocking, people were getting sick.

You couldn't even stand up straight without holding on to something, and you felt like you were constantly about to fall over. Anyway, so went up the outer passage, stopped in, where did we stop? We stopped in Ketchikan, which is the salmon capital of the world. We stopped in Judo, where I went whitewater rafting on a glacier river. And the best part of it, oh, Sitka, which is the totem pole capital of the world, but my favorite part was going to the Hubbard Glacier. We got within a half mile of the Hubbard Glacier. You could hear the ice popping, cracking, thunderous roars as it would slide into the water, and it's blue. Amazing, I've never seen anything or heard anything like the Hubbard Glacier. Oh, and the bald eagles, oh, my gosh, everywhere. That's amazing.

Seals, seals floating on ice. Oh, and here's some rapid fire. Live in 1969 or 2069? Mmm, 1969. Big Ben, the clock or the quarterback? No, I take it back, 2069, sorry. Big Ben, the clock or the quarterback? Clock, yes. Cornbread or muffins?

I love cornbread. Make a phone call or send a postcard? Oh, no, I talk.

I talk for a living, make a phone call. Nike or Adidas? No. Memes or gifs? I go A6 gel. Memes or gifs? I go gifs. X or threads? Threads. The official Winning Time podcast from HBO is back. I'm Rodney Barnes, executive producer on the show. Magic and the Lakers are back to defend their title. Join me as I break down each new episode with sportswriter Jeff Pearlman and the actors, directors, and key collaborators who brought the 1980s Showtime Lakers to life. It's not about basketball. It's about winning. Listen to HBO's official Winning Time podcast on Sundays after the show airs on Max.