The weekly podcast from The Lynch & Taco Morning Show on 101one WJRR in Orlando. This week, Mike 'The Bull Dog' Bianchi, sports columnist for The Orlando Sentinel and host of 'Open Mike' on AM 740 and FM 96.9 The Game is our special guest. Mike makes a living talking sports, but guess what? He has a hell of a Tom Petty story to share on this week's episode. Check it out!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of
(00:03):
Off the Air, the weekly podcast from the Lynching Taco
Show on one oh one one w j R R.
Or Lando on Pat Lynch Taco Bob, what's up? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ready for the Off the Air Podcast and our special
guest today, Wait, hold.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
On, let me go full screen. Bring him in, Bring
him in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I said this last week. He is Mike the Bulldog,
Bonkey dog in the studio, dog in the house. Offfed up, Yes,
ready to roll. What did nice to actually come in
besides the getting up and driving here apartments?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I like seeing everybody, Yeah, exactly. So I like my family.
I like seeing you guys once every six months or so.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah. How often do you, in general leave the luxury
condo somewhere deep in the bowels of Metro West.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sometimes? Uh, Sometimes I'll go outside and I go, wait
a minute, I haven't been outside like three days.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Are you serious? Hermits? Man the suns? I be going
to get some survival goods. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Sometimes I'll go out to my car, like, man, I
haven't driven my car like in three days.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, dude, you go to the gym each day?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yeah, Well, I have a gym in my com at
the luxury condo complex. Sometimes I'll just walk down there.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
We wouldn't be a luxury condo if he didn't have
an amenity like that. Tell me, yeah, do you guys
have do you have one? Do you live in one
of those new complexes where they've got like the the
gaming room and stuff where there's a pool table and darts. No,
we don't have a big TV screen. If you want
to have the buddies over for poker or watch a game.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well there is.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
There is the clubhouse where you can. Yeah, you could
go rent that if you wanted to know. It has
all sorts of stuff, like does have a pool table?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
A lot of singles in your complex?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
A few?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean being the dog.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
There's yeah, although the dogs a little I'm spoken for now.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
We besides that, prior to being spoken for, did you
have any the singles there that you may have.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Nailed or do you not?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Not at the not at the luxury condo complex, because that.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Way you don't want to, like you don't want to,
you know, ship where you eat kind of No.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, although an adjoining complex. Okay, yeah, that I met
down at. I met down at the right near the
luxury Condo complex is a place you guys have been.
You've done some remotes there.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Teak, Yeah, Teak, Okay, so that's where that's.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's what the dog dog hangs out at.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Teak Dog trolls trolls.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But I can walk to Teak from the luxury condoct
just walk out the back gate.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Some good man, they do. Theirs are awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Mike the Bulldog Beancy. By the way. If you're you're
not familiar with him, he's a long time sports writer figure,
not just here in Central Florida, but in the sports
industry in general. You've been how many years have you
been writing?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I've been. I've been in a sports writing business. I mean,
I would never even be on radio if I want
a sports right. That's the only reason I got hired
because I was a sports columnist of The Sentinel when
the big meatthead Dan Cilio got fired from our radio station.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
You know he used to play for the Miami Hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, yeah, believe me, everybody knows. Everybody's ever met Celia
knows that. I think we told us. He used to
invite Pat to the games.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Hey, you can come to this is when I had
season tickets and he knew I went down there everywhere.
I'm like, dude, just shut up. He's never got me
squat for anything to don't feel compelled to ask if
I want to anyway, So writer, then you your currently columnist,
so you you do opinion, You have strong opinions.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I mean, I grew up in the state of Florida,
like you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I grew up here.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I've been I've never moved out of the state of Florida.
I grew up near Gainesville.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Inter Lock in.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Interlock in Florida's where I grew up, right near Gainesville.
And then yeah, I worked at the Gainesville Sun and
the Placca Daily News.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Did you uh? When did you first get the bug
to uh get in the newspaper business? Was it high school?
Did you? Were you on your house?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I worked at the high school paper and then and
then I when I went to junior they called it
junior college. Yeah, and now they're called state college, right, Okay,
but it was Saint John's River.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
It was a community college in Placa, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I went to u c l A here in Florida. Huh.
University of Congress and Lake Avenue better known as Pop
Beach Junior College. When I went there and now it's
pom Beach State.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I went to val Tech which is now Valencia, which
is now you know, Valencia State.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So anyway, at Polacke at Saint John's River Community College,
I was I was a good high school baseball player
at Interlock in high school. Okay, So I went to
Saint John's and you know, they said, hey, we want
you to come try out for the baseball team at
Saint John's. So I went for my tryout and.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
They didn't They didn't needn't make it.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I didn't make it. So yeah, so I was like, Okay,
if I can't play sports, I'm gonna write about sports.
So I got a job at the at the Placqua
Daily News covering the Saint John's River baseball team.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Did you write shit about him? Since they no?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I can't believe that Placa even has a news.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, Danny Hood was a sports area. He was my
sort of like my mentor.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Is the Placa Daily News still in existence?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
There are a lot of newspapers still aren't in existence.
Damp A Tribute is not in existence anymore, So I
think the Placa Daily News is still in existence. So yeah, wow,
how yeah, I wanted to be a I wanted to
be a baseball player. But then, of course I wasn't
good enough.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So did you did you consider trying somewhere else or
once they said no.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I wasn't that I mean I was. I was good
at Interlocking High School.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
What position did you play?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
All Area second base?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Second base?
Speaker 3 (05:59):
All Area games, Son's second team. So yeah, I was second.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I was All Area.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And years later I got a job at the Gainesville
Son and the guy who named me All Area was
still working there. His name was Bobby Tyler. I go, hey,
you named me to the All Area baseball team. You
know what he told me? He goes yeah, he goes yeah.
That was the year we had a paucity of nominations.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You you just get rejection after rejects.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
It.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I've never seen anybody be asked to try out for
a team. And then told us, so, you know, you're
working up in the North North Florida area for years,
and then what brought you to the Orlando Sentinel.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Well, I was at the Gainesville Son. Then I went
to the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville as a sports columnist,
and then from there I went to the Orlando Sentinel. Uh,
they made me a great offer. Yeah, the Orlando Sentinel.
Did they just call you out of the sports There
was a legendary guy named Van McKenzie.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
He was a sports editor.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
At like the National, remember the National, way back when
it was like a national. So he got a job,
he got a job as a sports enter the Sentinel.
And he always liked me because he grew up in
Florida as well. He always liked me, so he hired
made me a great offer, by the way, and in
sports and sports writing offers, it was like a big
money offer back then.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So yeah, that's sweet.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Did it always stay that or did they slowly chip
away at it? You know how some places will do that, chip.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Away your salary.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
During during COVID, they chipped away at it, no doubt
about it.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah. Yeah, the old everybody needs to take the haircuts. Yeah,
so really quickly. When you went to the Sentinel, do
you remember.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Ed hayes Y Yeah he did the Yeah when I
by the time I was at the Sentinel. He was
an old guy and did like the old guys calm. Yeah,
he was my next door neighbor in my heyday.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hey, he was my next door neighbor. You ride our
bikes binding to go yep. And then of course.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I remember Charlie Reese, don't you that name?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Then of course you got pulled into this business. So
you're doing double duty. You've got your you got your
your column that you were How many you want to
know why I got it? How many columns a week?
Or do you have to churn out? Do they? Do
you have a target number? Or how's that work? Uh? Four? Three, four, five?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
The football season sometimes all write five this time of year,
all write three or four?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Right? Yeah? But then yeah, Phil, everybody listening to If
you're not familiar with Mike Bianchi, it's now. He also
hosts open mic on AM FORM ninety six ninety game.
He does our sports page feature during the show live
each morning at six twenty five here on w j
R R. And and now it's dual roles for you.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Do you want to know why I started doing radio? Because,
first of all, Cilio got fired and Linda Bird, who
was the big boss of the IR media back then
and here in Orlando, and she she knew me from Jacksonville,
and she said, hey, do you want to do radio?
And at first I was like, I don't know, you know,
getting up at three four in the morning to do radio.
(09:07):
I've already got But then it was right at the
time when newspapers started to do the big swoon. Yeah, yeah,
you know, and uh so I was like, man, the
newspaper may go under here soon or something, so I
need a fallback plan. So okay, yeah, I'll do radio.
And of course now I'm still working at the news.
I've been doing two jobs for like fourteen years now.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I remember when when he came over. You remember that,
because who did we have before that?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Silly Greg, Greg, Greg Warman? You had on the show?
We had?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Ly you didn't have Lynn Hoppis. Yeah, sweet, it was
my He used to be the assistant sports editor this Sentinel.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, that was an uncomfortable segment. We just he's nice,
nice guy, but yeah, we didn't he I don't think
he understood us. Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't think
he understood us. When what's he doing now?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He is Lynn Hoppis. He went to ESPN for a while,
then in whatever reason, they parted ways and then now
he's like the he works for the City of Castlebury
doing something.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Oh okay, good for him.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Always blame Lynn Hoppis because again he was the assistant
sports there Lynn Hoppis.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
When I first started at The Sentinel, I got a
I got a call from ESPN all right, and they
wanted me to come. Do you remember the show the
Sports Reporters on the ESPN. Do you remembers they wanted
me to come fill in one day? I think, like,
I don't know, Bill Conlin or somebody was off that
week or it was it was Bob Bryan was off.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Now who was the dude from mikew York Mitch album
Detroit Free Prescot.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
So anyway, yeah, so I go, man, I would love
to I call up Lynn Hoppis and say, hey, man,
I got a chance to be on the Sports repors.
He goes, You've got to cover the Buccaneers this weekend.
And I go, what, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
He didn't see he didn't see the potential bigger pictures.
Yeah he blocked you, he blocked.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
So yeah, hell, I could have been You know, I
might be Steven A.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Smith today.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
If not, thank you, Hoppis. So, and then Hoppis takes
a job with the ESPN A little bit later. Yeah
there you.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Go, Okay, I don't think we need to simmer on
that anymore, because clearly that's still floating around in that
bald ears. So, yeah, Mike, the Bulldogs can't about that.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I'm not really I'll pay my water bellt or something.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Uh, Mike the Bulldog bunkie.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
UH is known by a lot of big sports figures
from interviews and stuff like who was it uh that
would call him out?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Uh? Obama coach, wasn't it? Or who was that whole?
Fine bomb was?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Fine Bomb would call me out all the time? No,
I know fine Bomb would, but it was it was
one of the coaches. And he goes, what Beyoncy something
along those lines.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Well, Spurrier always always calls me out, but in a
in a in a friendly.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Way, man, And that's what I was saying.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
So you've got a name for yourself, and you also
didn't do you pick Uh?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I ever tell you my spurs I spent the night
with Spurrier one time.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
In a hotel room.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, I was. It was when I was at the
Gainesville Sun. I was gonna travel the Booster circuit with
with Spurrier for a couple of days. Yeah, the rock
he was. He was at the height of his powers,
and he was the rock star. So I go on
the Booster club circuit. We were gonna go to Sarasota
one night and we go to Tampa. So we go
(12:50):
to the Sarasota Club and then we get on the
plane and fly up to Tampa and we go into
the Marriotte to check in, and his secretary had made
all the arrangements. Well, they had a room for me,
but they didn't have a room for him, and it
was sold out.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, how many beds?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
There were two beds.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
So he didn't.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
He goes back, Ye, I'm staying with you tonight. I'm
staying with you, all right. So he he's a rooming way.
So we go to the hotel bar, have a couple
of beers, go back up to the hotel spoon.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
No two beds.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
So you know, I'd stripped down to my t shirt
and underwear, crawling bed and from the bathroom. He goes backy,
you're not gonna brush your teeth before you get a bed.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You're not gonna brush your teeth.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, So I had to get up and brush my
teeth because they had bullka respected me.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Less you get in the go gators here on the
comments University of Florida days.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, but with him being well known in the sports
community and with some big name people like Spurrier, and
you've been what's his name's restaurant down South Florida?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
What is it? Don Shula? The most I think you're
thinking when you went down to Jimmy Johnson's place, Jimmy,
did you stay at his house?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
No, I'll visited. Good lord, Yeah, that's that was beautiful
down there.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But so one of the press conferences you were at recently,
didn't somebody walk up to you and say, hey, are
you big cock?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That was at the Final four.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, we gave Mike Bianki the nickname big Cock.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Can you say that on a podcast?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, we just did. Yeah, lord, it was.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I don't want anybody to know about my personal endowment.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That's come on, man, that's a badge of honor. BC.
He his date.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I have Mike in my phone as BC. Oh you're
giving me Remember you're on camera.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You can't tell that story that was. That was a
private story. You guys just airing it all to the
tens of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We talked about everything on here.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Come on, that's awesome. We don't have to use any names.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Embarrassed, I'm blushing.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I never knew when a bold guys blushes his head. Fantastic, Yeah, wow,
where are they like a badge of honor? Man, you're
gonna have to complete strangers.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Coming up to you now, going, yeah, there are Can
I tell the story because we before?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
H you've told it on the air before?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, oh my god? Podcast did okay? Well, yeah, that's cool.
And I haven't got back to him yet.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
That somebody at the final four actually said something to you, Hey,
are you are you?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yes? Are you big?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
A member of the Gator adminute straction? Probably listening to
your show? Are your podcast?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
It's funny? Hey, have you ever, as you know, in
all the columns that you've written over the years, have
you ever pissed someone off within the sports uh industry
to the point where the bridge was burnt and there
was no going back? Or do you end up if
you get something where you strongly feel differently than insert
(16:27):
whatever the subject may be, that you're able to eventually
hash things out between you and Dwight.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Howard would be the closest to that when he was,
you know, when Dwight was on his way out of Orlando,
and you know, forcing his way out, and you know,
uh yeah, I wrote some critical things about Dwight Howard
and he wouldn't you know, I would seem he would
come back to town when he was playing for other teams.
He would never. He wouldn't talk to me. He blocked
me on social media. Really, although of late, you know,
(16:58):
when he got inducted in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame,
I saw him at stan Van Gundy's wife's funeral white
So yeah, so I saw him there and we've talked
since then. So that bridge has finally been mended.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
But probably because he grew and he's aged.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
So yeah, and you know, I think Dwight does realize
he was an a hole.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Oh he definitely back then. So broke my kid's heart.
I mean he didn't know it.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
But the one game that I get to bring my
daughter to and you know, it's her first basketball game ever,
and we're walking up and Dwight sitting in the bench,
I'm like, I guess his butt was sore from his offer.
You remember that butt stuff he had gone on. But
I'm sorry that broke my little daughter's heart.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
So Bob has has an ax to grind and has
held that grudge for for years.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Mike Bionchi aka the Bulldog from ninety six to ninety
game the Orlando Sentinel sports columnists in as A. A. B. C.
By as our guest on the podcast today. If you're
just joining us, I was thinking about this our jobs. Actually,
there's one aspect that's quite similar, and I wanted to
(18:15):
see in reality. When you are going to interview, or
you know, ask questions of a sports figure, how is
it dealing with somebody who has reached a high level
of achievement or are most of them pretty agreeable and
open to wanting to interact with you. I asked this
(18:39):
because on our side of things, we do the same
thing with a lot of folks in the music business,
musicians and band members and whatever. It doesn't always go
so great. You get it, you get excited maybe about
having so and.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So as as.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
A guest, and it just it ends up they end
up being difficult or aloof or off putting or just
aren't into doing this at all. In sports, is it
like that with with these figures or is it generally
pretty agreeable?
Speaker 3 (19:10):
It's in sports. In sports a lot of times, Uh,
the the athletes are. First of all, it's in in
in the league sports, it's mandatory for them to do.
Like musicians, they could talk to whoever they want, whenever
they want, but in sports, like yeah, it's in their
(19:30):
contracts that they have to do media. So so that's
part of their contract. And and you know, and here's
the other thing. I think athletes as opposed to musicians,
like like you cover a concert, or you cover a
football game or a basketball game, you're going in the
(19:51):
locker room talking to the athletes after the game. You're
not going after the concert. Hey, let's go because to
the Garth Brooks concert. After the show, Hey, Garth, why
did you do this?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Do you?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Yeah? Right now?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, So athletes are used to being questioned, you know,
right after games. They're used to it. I think athletes
are just more accustomed.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
To it's just part of the routine.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yeah, part of the interaction with the media. As opposed
to I'm a famous musicians they do it once in
a while, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, it's interesting in music now that the old school
used to be. There were times where you would go
to a concert and if you were part of a
meet and greet, it was after the show. But now
if there even is one, half the time, it's a
package that a fan has to pay for, and it
happens before the show, and if you're lucky, you'll get
(20:42):
a preposed position or chance and a cattle call to
stand next to whoever it is for a quick snapshot,
which they then email you. And you can just tell
that a lot of these artists just they're just doing
it to make extra money.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
They still have like like like back in the good
old days, like if like if you you know, you
guys being the elite rock and roll DJs, that you
areked up? I mean, couldn't you couldn't you like before
the show backstage pass you could go fraternize with the
musicians before the show and stuff back in the good
old days, if it.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Was our show, like for Earthday birthday, of course, I know.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I'm just talking about, like if you could get backstage
passes to a concert.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
It depends on what who the artist is, what level
of pass you have. And some of these artists, you know,
whether or not they're known for a party attitude or whatever.
You may be wandering around back there and never see
anyone because they're locked in their dressing room till they
go on the stage. Other times I've been, you know,
walking around back there where there's like hospitality area, and yeah,
(21:45):
you might run and they might come in for a
few minutes say hey or whatever.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But we sat on stage for Metallica, We sat on
stage for Pearl Jam.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, very amendable. Uh ACDC. He was after they performed
way back when they played the Arena Old Arena. They
came in after the show, which I couldn't believe, the
whole band, the whole band.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, did pictures with all of us and lists van Halen.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
But remember a fantastic Remember I cut a fart. Yeah,
you shut the whole thing down. Yeah, he ended the
It was going great and uh you hugged Malcolm Young
and cut a fart and the guy who was like,
what are you doing here? And they left. I'm like,
way to go, talk up. We got our stuff signed.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
You guys know, when I was in college, I was
I was the music writer at the Gainesville Son.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I was, I'm glad you're going to this because you
have a you have a six degrees of Kevin Bacon types.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Now, no, I was the music writer at the Gainesville Son.
I got to go to him, like like the Grateful
Dead concert, Like I interviewed Peter Frampton one time, one
on one.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
A lot of classic rock stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Huh yeah, I went, yeah, I went to you know.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Rove Tom Petty's cart.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That had nothing to do with working at the gains Welle.
That was just me and my family knowing Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Six degrees type deal. He explained, because you grew up
an interlock in which you know, well, I grew up
in Gainesville.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
I started out and went to elementary school in Gainesville,
but my sisters were older than me, so they actually
went to high school in Gainesville. And my sister and
her soon husband, her her husband was Tom Petty's best
friend at Gainesville High School, Mike Nixon, and uh, Tom
(23:37):
Petty was the best man at my sister's wedding, and
you know, so they they grew up together with Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
That gave me the chills. That's cool, dude.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
And then you know, and then I, you know, as
I grew and that my sister maintained friendship with Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Cross.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Yeah, I got to you know, I met, you know,
I stayed at Tom Petty's house in l A a
few times. My mom was actually Tom Petty's nanny.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Later she would she lived.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
With Tom Petty and his uh ex wife Jane. Yeah,
watch their two daughters. So yeah yeah, and then Tom
yeah and Tom Petty well you guys know the story.
I'm not gonna tell you, Okay. So so Tom here
the way to may he rest in peace. He and
his wife Jane, they came to Gainesville to visit, you know,
(24:30):
because occasionally he come back. Is he still had the
brother who lived there, and I don't remember his mom
was still alive or not. But anyway, he came back
to Gainesville with Jane and and usually it was my
sister that would sort of, you know, show for them around,
you know, so but my sister, Yeah, So my sister
was out of town that day, so somehow he had
(24:52):
my number, so he calls me, he goes, he goes, Hey,
we're staying at the University Center hotel. You want to
you want to, you know, show for us around own tonight.
And I go sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So early form of a designated driver.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, I was a designated driver, so they could and
as they did, they were in the they were in
the back seat with their some sort of controlled substance
that they were putting up their nose. I don't know what.
It was, some sort of controlled substance. So yeah, and so,
(25:26):
but they wanted to get Tom Petty when he was
coming up through the ranks when he was playing for
mud Crutch, which was the band in Gainesville. They would
play at a at a bar in Gainesville called Dubs.
It was a famous bar in Gainesville. So at that
point this was Dubbs was still open and Dub was
still alive. Dub was a big, fat round man and
he used to hire mud Crutch to play there. So
(25:49):
they wanted to go the Dubs to see you know this,
to see Dub and hang so and this was again
he was at the height of his powers then you know,
refugee all that. So we go to Dubs and I'm
driving the Chrysler New Yorker that they rented. Yeah, and
they're in the back seat, Yeah, doing their their blow
(26:11):
and uh so yeah, we walk in the Dubs. And
I used to go to Dubs too, because you know
that was that was sort of our hangout. So I
walk in the Dubs with Tom Petty and all the
girls I knew, Yeah, they see me with Tom Petty
the dog was big time when I Yeah, when I
(26:31):
drove them back to the University Center, I was back
at Dubbs after that.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
You were you were immediately elevated to a whole new level. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Absolutely, we didn't get that. We never knew that whole story.
That's what when you said, well, I've told the story,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
If Yeah, dude, that's rock and roll.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's why we talk about everything like I'm dying to
tell big cock with no made back to uh, back
to Dwight Howard.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Look at you your coffee cup? It was a Dwight
Howard coffee cup. Did you even realize that? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:03):
I was actually looking at this this morning. You see
the old magic uh tumbler?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Hold that up. You can't see in the camera unless
you're hold right for your frame.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
It looks nothing like Dwight Howard, by the way, that
really doesn't. I I was looking although this is that
It looks like isn't that vouch right there?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I think that's Vooch. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
They weren't even on the same team at the same time,
So this is just like stars.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I think it says stars on it. I think
it says magic stars right there. Yeah, pure magic.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Victor Oladipo's on't but you're representing for Dwight.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Dwight if you're listening, Sorry about the butt comments. And
uh and who was your favorite magic player to interact
with over.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
The years, favorite magic player to interact with?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
You've got some real We've got some real characters through here, man.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Uh. Dwight in his early days was really funny and polite.
If you're talking star players, it doesn't even have.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
To be one of the big big nage because I
had some you know, kind of you know, I like Jamir.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Jamir was always great Nelson to deal with. Yeah, Jamir
Nelson was great to deal with. Recently though, Uh were
you were.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
You working there with Shaq when Shaq was No, he
wasn't there for the whole Sentinel demand.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
In fact, one of the running jokes on our show,
like every now and then when you know Shaq leaving
Orlando comes up and people will text in it was
your fault, Bianchi, You're the one who did the Sentinel pole.
And I'm like, first of all, I was not even
in Orlando when Shaq was here in nineteen ninety five.
I had nothing to do with the infamous Sentinel poll.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Dude, I tell you though, because we were here. Yeah,
that pissed off a lot of us. I mean, it
really pissed off a lot of us.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Pissed off shack dude. Although I don't think the poll
was the reason he left, like some people said.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
It certainly helped. It certainly helped.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I think the fifty million, the fifteen million dollar low
ball offer that the the Boss's many was the main Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah, anyway, all right, so, uh the bulldog, you got
anything you want to uh, you want to make known
here while before we wrap this deal up here.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Make no no listen to me every morning six to
nine thirty on FM ninety six nine the Game AM
seven forty h D one oh one point one dash too.
You guys, of course, are one on one point one
dash one.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Free iHeartRadio app anytime as you can listen or way Country.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
You're further out there, you know, like our listeners, and
we have something out in Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Well you can just download that free I tell you what.
And a suggestion if you do use the app, I
hope you all have utilized the new presets option that's
in there. You can lock in you want to lock
in our show. We we'd really appreciate it. One O
one one w j R R Orlando, maybe lock in
this podcast. You can lock in the podcast and it's
there on your dashboard. I haven't locked in. You can
(29:53):
do that. Apple car Play Interacts, Android Auto, It all
interfaces now with the Freeheart Radio app. In the pre
said you got him right there on your dashboard.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, So well right there, see one O one one
w j RS first.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Wow, see that a playlist that's a favorite of years.
Through the app, you can put that in there. You
can set a whole bunch of them. So I take
advantage of me buff in there off your podcast.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
You know who else I got the interview? This is
sort of timely. You know else I got the interview
when I was a music writer at the Sun.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Who the Beach Boys?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Brian Wilson passing away this week?
Speaker 1 (30:28):
So did did you get to talk to him?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
No, this was I don't even think this was later.
I don't even think.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
There were stretches where he was he was.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
I don't even think he was with the band at
this point. I got to talk to Mike Love though.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Okay, that's cool. So's cool. Yeah, loved his shirts. It's
always always smooth Man, all right and the bulldog. Also,
we're appreciative that you take time every morning, weekday morning
to do the sports page here on JR which airs
at six twenty five. If you ever listening live and
we podcast that.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Well, I don't even remember how he came over to
our show at the beginnings.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Maybe Rick said that's what I thought. I thought, because
we we always had Shot doctor too. Have you talked
to Shot lately?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
No, I've been meaning to call him though, been meaning
to call him. Have you heard from me?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I would reach out and occasionally he hit me back,
But the last couple of times I tried, I feel
like I'm getting ghosted a little bit. I reached out.
He didn't even return the text period, really never did. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Then again, remember one time I had a bad prediction
that was not cool.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
That was my dick days. Well, he is the unofficial
mayor there of the Lake Mary area, as you are
the unofficial mayor of the winter Park Maitland area. Yeah,
so I'm sure there's a bit of a friendly rivalry there.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh that could be may oral yeah, uh yeah. You
get reports from uh like uh Pete Peter Tosh who
lists not real Peter Tosh, but that's our nickname. He
sees him around Lake Married, one of the restaurants he's
always at.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Or the car wash or the publics, the usual spots there.
We hoped Shots do them, and he gets to the
gym a lot to him. Shots the man reach out
to him, try to get him on the podcast. What
we hey, good idea? Where is he now?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I never really you guys used the kid that he
would do like a show, dude, he never did.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
It was the funny train wreck.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
The train rack was the best. It was the funniest
show ever.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Because he he didn't know any of the music, none
of the bands. He'd introduce him is like breaking Benjamin
go yes, I'll ben Ben and.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
The boys are and he'd like, I'd like to thank
so and so for stopping by and playing. It was
just a song that was He would actually as if
they were here set up live playing.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Did he picked the music or not?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
He doesn't know any of it. We had to you know,
here's your song.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Shot, because if Shot was picking the music, it'd be
like the Andrew System, the Mills.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It was honestly, it was called the train Wreck. We
would have called it the ship Show, but it was
actually on there.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I used to listen to it on the way home
from fishing, and my fishing partner go.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
What's wrong with this guy? And it was so funny
because we would get people who would who weren't aware
of the joke or in on the joke as to
what it was, and they would hear it on the weekend,
and then come Monday we would have all these emails
and messages and texts about I'm not sure what's going
on on Saturday mornings. But the guy who's he just
really didn't know.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
We would just laugh.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
He said that this happened or this shot would just
make shut up beautiful. Wow. All right, Mike the Bulldog
Bianchi our guests this week for the Off the Air Podcast.
Appreciate you taking the time, Dot and thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Thanks for driving out here too, you know, and sitting
in because we know you had to wait around after
your show.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Don't be a stranger man. All right, we'll catch you
again tomorrow morning, and thank you all for checking out
another new episode of Off the Air with Lynching Taco.
We're clear, we
All right, hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of
(00:03):
Off the Air, the weekly podcast from the Lynching Taco
Show on one oh one one w j R R.
Or Lando on Pat Lynch Taco Bob, what's up? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ready for the Off the Air Podcast and our special
guest today, Wait, hold.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
On, let me go full screen. Bring him in, Bring
him in.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I said this last week. He is Mike the Bulldog,
Bonkey dog in the studio, dog in the house. Offfed up, Yes,
ready to roll. What did nice to actually come in
besides the getting up and driving here apartments?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I like seeing everybody, Yeah, exactly. So I like my family.
I like seeing you guys once every six months or so.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah. How often do you, in general leave the luxury
condo somewhere deep in the bowels of Metro West.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sometimes? Uh, Sometimes I'll go outside and I go, wait
a minute, I haven't been outside like three days.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Are you serious? Hermits? Man the suns? I be going
to get some survival goods. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Sometimes I'll go out to my car, like, man, I
haven't driven my car like in three days.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, dude, you go to the gym each day?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yeah, Well, I have a gym in my com at
the luxury condo complex. Sometimes I'll just walk down there.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
We wouldn't be a luxury condo if he didn't have
an amenity like that. Tell me, yeah, do you guys
have do you have one? Do you live in one
of those new complexes where they've got like the the
gaming room and stuff where there's a pool table and darts. No,
we don't have a big TV screen. If you want
to have the buddies over for poker or watch a game.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well there is.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
There is the clubhouse where you can. Yeah, you could
go rent that if you wanted to know. It has
all sorts of stuff, like does have a pool table?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
A lot of singles in your complex?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
A few?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean being the dog.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
There's yeah, although the dogs a little I'm spoken for now.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
We besides that, prior to being spoken for, did you
have any the singles there that you may have.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Nailed or do you not?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Not at the not at the luxury condo complex, because that.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Way you don't want to, like you don't want to,
you know, ship where you eat kind of No.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, although an adjoining complex. Okay, yeah, that I met
down at. I met down at the right near the
luxury Condo complex is a place you guys have been.
You've done some remotes there.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Teak, Yeah, Teak, Okay, so that's where that's.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
That's what the dog dog hangs out at.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Teak Dog trolls trolls.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But I can walk to Teak from the luxury condoct
just walk out the back gate.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Some good man, they do. Theirs are awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Mike the Bulldog Beancy. By the way. If you're you're
not familiar with him, he's a long time sports writer figure,
not just here in Central Florida, but in the sports
industry in general. You've been how many years have you
been writing?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I've been. I've been in a sports writing business. I mean,
I would never even be on radio if I want
a sports right. That's the only reason I got hired
because I was a sports columnist of The Sentinel when
the big meatthead Dan Cilio got fired from our radio station.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
You know he used to play for the Miami Hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, yeah, believe me, everybody knows. Everybody's ever met Celia
knows that. I think we told us. He used to
invite Pat to the games.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Hey, you can come to this is when I had
season tickets and he knew I went down there everywhere.
I'm like, dude, just shut up. He's never got me
squat for anything to don't feel compelled to ask if
I want to anyway, So writer, then you your currently columnist,
so you you do opinion, You have strong opinions.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I mean, I grew up in the state of Florida,
like you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I grew up here.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I've been I've never moved out of the state of Florida.
I grew up near Gainesville.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Inter Lock in.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Interlock in Florida's where I grew up, right near Gainesville.
And then yeah, I worked at the Gainesville Sun and
the Placca Daily News.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Did you uh? When did you first get the bug
to uh get in the newspaper business? Was it high school?
Did you? Were you on your house?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I worked at the high school paper and then and
then I when I went to junior they called it
junior college. Yeah, and now they're called state college, right, Okay,
but it was Saint John's River.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
It was a community college in Placa, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I went to u c l A here in Florida. Huh.
University of Congress and Lake Avenue better known as Pop
Beach Junior College. When I went there and now it's
pom Beach State.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I went to val Tech which is now Valencia, which
is now you know, Valencia State.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So anyway, at Polacke at Saint John's River Community College,
I was I was a good high school baseball player
at Interlock in high school. Okay, So I went to
Saint John's and you know, they said, hey, we want
you to come try out for the baseball team at
Saint John's. So I went for my tryout and.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
They didn't They didn't needn't make it.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I didn't make it. So yeah, so I was like, Okay,
if I can't play sports, I'm gonna write about sports.
So I got a job at the at the Placqua
Daily News covering the Saint John's River baseball team.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Did you write shit about him? Since they no?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I can't believe that Placa even has a news.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, Danny Hood was a sports area. He was my
sort of like my mentor.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Is the Placa Daily News still in existence?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
There are a lot of newspapers still aren't in existence.
Damp A Tribute is not in existence anymore, So I
think the Placa Daily News is still in existence. So yeah, wow,
how yeah, I wanted to be a I wanted to
be a baseball player. But then, of course I wasn't
good enough.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So did you did you consider trying somewhere else or
once they said no.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I wasn't that I mean I was. I was good
at Interlocking High School.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
What position did you play?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
All Area second base?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Second base?
Speaker 3 (05:59):
All Area games, Son's second team. So yeah, I was second.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I was All Area.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And years later I got a job at the Gainesville
Son and the guy who named me All Area was
still working there. His name was Bobby Tyler. I go, hey,
you named me to the All Area baseball team. You
know what he told me? He goes yeah, he goes yeah.
That was the year we had a paucity of nominations.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You you just get rejection after rejects.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
It.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I've never seen anybody be asked to try out for
a team. And then told us, so, you know, you're
working up in the North North Florida area for years,
and then what brought you to the Orlando Sentinel.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Well, I was at the Gainesville Son. Then I went
to the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville as a sports columnist,
and then from there I went to the Orlando Sentinel. Uh,
they made me a great offer. Yeah, the Orlando Sentinel.
Did they just call you out of the sports There
was a legendary guy named Van McKenzie.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
He was a sports editor.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
At like the National, remember the National, way back when
it was like a national. So he got a job,
he got a job as a sports enter the Sentinel.
And he always liked me because he grew up in
Florida as well. He always liked me, so he hired
made me a great offer, by the way, and in
sports and sports writing offers, it was like a big
money offer back then.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So yeah, that's sweet.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Did it always stay that or did they slowly chip
away at it? You know how some places will do that, chip.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Away your salary.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
During during COVID, they chipped away at it, no doubt
about it.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah. Yeah, the old everybody needs to take the haircuts. Yeah,
so really quickly. When you went to the Sentinel, do
you remember.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Ed hayes Y Yeah he did the Yeah when I
by the time I was at the Sentinel. He was
an old guy and did like the old guys calm. Yeah,
he was my next door neighbor in my heyday.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hey, he was my next door neighbor. You ride our
bikes binding to go yep. And then of course.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I remember Charlie Reese, don't you that name?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Then of course you got pulled into this business. So
you're doing double duty. You've got your you got your
your column that you were How many you want to
know why I got it? How many columns a week?
Or do you have to churn out? Do they? Do
you have a target number? Or how's that work? Uh? Four? Three, four, five?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
The football season sometimes all write five this time of year,
all write three or four?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Right? Yeah? But then yeah, Phil, everybody listening to If
you're not familiar with Mike Bianchi, it's now. He also
hosts open mic on AM FORM ninety six ninety game.
He does our sports page feature during the show live
each morning at six twenty five here on w j
R R. And and now it's dual roles for you.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Do you want to know why I started doing radio? Because,
first of all, Cilio got fired and Linda Bird, who
was the big boss of the IR media back then
and here in Orlando, and she she knew me from Jacksonville,
and she said, hey, do you want to do radio?
And at first I was like, I don't know, you know,
getting up at three four in the morning to do radio.
(09:07):
I've already got But then it was right at the
time when newspapers started to do the big swoon. Yeah, yeah,
you know, and uh so I was like, man, the
newspaper may go under here soon or something, so I
need a fallback plan. So okay, yeah, I'll do radio.
And of course now I'm still working at the news.
I've been doing two jobs for like fourteen years now.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I remember when when he came over. You remember that,
because who did we have before that?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Silly Greg, Greg, Greg Warman? You had on the show?
We had?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Ly you didn't have Lynn Hoppis. Yeah, sweet, it was
my He used to be the assistant sports editor this Sentinel.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, that was an uncomfortable segment. We just he's nice,
nice guy, but yeah, we didn't he I don't think
he understood us. Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't think
he understood us. When what's he doing now?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He is Lynn Hoppis. He went to ESPN for a while,
then in whatever reason, they parted ways and then now
he's like the he works for the City of Castlebury
doing something.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Oh okay, good for him.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Always blame Lynn Hoppis because again he was the assistant
sports there Lynn Hoppis.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
When I first started at The Sentinel, I got a
I got a call from ESPN all right, and they
wanted me to come. Do you remember the show the
Sports Reporters on the ESPN. Do you remembers they wanted
me to come fill in one day? I think, like,
I don't know, Bill Conlin or somebody was off that
week or it was it was Bob Bryan was off.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Now who was the dude from mikew York Mitch album
Detroit Free Prescot.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
So anyway, yeah, so I go, man, I would love
to I call up Lynn Hoppis and say, hey, man,
I got a chance to be on the Sports repors.
He goes, You've got to cover the Buccaneers this weekend.
And I go, what, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
He didn't see he didn't see the potential bigger pictures.
Yeah he blocked you, he blocked.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
So yeah, hell, I could have been You know, I
might be Steven A.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Smith today.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
If not, thank you, Hoppis. So, and then Hoppis takes
a job with the ESPN A little bit later. Yeah
there you.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Go, Okay, I don't think we need to simmer on
that anymore, because clearly that's still floating around in that
bald ears. So, yeah, Mike, the Bulldogs can't about that.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I'm not really I'll pay my water bellt or something.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Uh, Mike the Bulldog bunkie.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
UH is known by a lot of big sports figures
from interviews and stuff like who was it uh that
would call him out?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Uh? Obama coach, wasn't it? Or who was that whole?
Fine bomb was?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Fine Bomb would call me out all the time? No,
I know fine Bomb would, but it was it was
one of the coaches. And he goes, what Beyoncy something
along those lines.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Well, Spurrier always always calls me out, but in a
in a in a friendly.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Way, man, And that's what I was saying.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
So you've got a name for yourself, and you also
didn't do you pick Uh?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I ever tell you my spurs I spent the night
with Spurrier one time.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
In a hotel room.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, I was. It was when I was at the
Gainesville Sun. I was gonna travel the Booster circuit with
with Spurrier for a couple of days. Yeah, the rock
he was. He was at the height of his powers,
and he was the rock star. So I go on
the Booster club circuit. We were gonna go to Sarasota
one night and we go to Tampa. So we go
(12:50):
to the Sarasota Club and then we get on the
plane and fly up to Tampa and we go into
the Marriotte to check in, and his secretary had made
all the arrangements. Well, they had a room for me,
but they didn't have a room for him, and it
was sold out.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, how many beds?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
There were two beds.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
So he didn't.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
He goes back, Ye, I'm staying with you tonight. I'm
staying with you, all right. So he he's a rooming way.
So we go to the hotel bar, have a couple
of beers, go back up to the hotel spoon.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
No two beds.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
So you know, I'd stripped down to my t shirt
and underwear, crawling bed and from the bathroom. He goes backy,
you're not gonna brush your teeth before you get a bed.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You're not gonna brush your teeth.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, So I had to get up and brush my
teeth because they had bullka respected me.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Less you get in the go gators here on the
comments University of Florida days.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, but with him being well known in the sports
community and with some big name people like Spurrier, and
you've been what's his name's restaurant down South Florida?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
What is it? Don Shula? The most I think you're
thinking when you went down to Jimmy Johnson's place, Jimmy,
did you stay at his house?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
No, I'll visited. Good lord, Yeah, that's that was beautiful
down there.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
But so one of the press conferences you were at recently,
didn't somebody walk up to you and say, hey, are
you big cock?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That was at the Final four.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Yeah, we gave Mike Bianki the nickname big Cock.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Can you say that on a podcast?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, we just did. Yeah, lord, it was.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I don't want anybody to know about my personal endowment.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That's come on, man, that's a badge of honor. BC.
He his date.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I have Mike in my phone as BC. Oh you're
giving me Remember you're on camera.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You can't tell that story that was. That was a
private story. You guys just airing it all to the
tens of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We talked about everything on here.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Come on, that's awesome. We don't have to use any names.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Embarrassed, I'm blushing.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I never knew when a bold guys blushes his head. Fantastic, Yeah, wow,
where are they like a badge of honor? Man, you're
gonna have to complete strangers.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Coming up to you now, going, yeah, there are Can
I tell the story because we before?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
H you've told it on the air before?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, oh my god? Podcast did okay? Well, yeah, that's cool.
And I haven't got back to him yet.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
That somebody at the final four actually said something to you, Hey,
are you are you?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yes? Are you big?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
A member of the Gator adminute straction? Probably listening to
your show? Are your podcast?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
It's funny? Hey, have you ever, as you know, in
all the columns that you've written over the years, have
you ever pissed someone off within the sports uh industry
to the point where the bridge was burnt and there
was no going back? Or do you end up if
you get something where you strongly feel differently than insert
(16:27):
whatever the subject may be, that you're able to eventually
hash things out between you and Dwight.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Howard would be the closest to that when he was,
you know, when Dwight was on his way out of Orlando,
and you know, forcing his way out, and you know,
uh yeah, I wrote some critical things about Dwight Howard
and he wouldn't you know, I would seem he would
come back to town when he was playing for other teams.
He would never. He wouldn't talk to me. He blocked
me on social media. Really, although of late, you know,
(16:58):
when he got inducted in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame,
I saw him at stan Van Gundy's wife's funeral white
So yeah, so I saw him there and we've talked
since then. So that bridge has finally been mended.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
But probably because he grew and he's aged.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
So yeah, and you know, I think Dwight does realize
he was an a hole.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Oh he definitely back then. So broke my kid's heart.
I mean he didn't know it.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
But the one game that I get to bring my
daughter to and you know, it's her first basketball game ever,
and we're walking up and Dwight sitting in the bench,
I'm like, I guess his butt was sore from his offer.
You remember that butt stuff he had gone on. But
I'm sorry that broke my little daughter's heart.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
So Bob has has an ax to grind and has
held that grudge for for years.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Mike Bionchi aka the Bulldog from ninety six to ninety
game the Orlando Sentinel sports columnists in as A. A. B. C.
By as our guest on the podcast today. If you're
just joining us, I was thinking about this our jobs. Actually,
there's one aspect that's quite similar, and I wanted to
(18:15):
see in reality. When you are going to interview, or
you know, ask questions of a sports figure, how is
it dealing with somebody who has reached a high level
of achievement or are most of them pretty agreeable and
open to wanting to interact with you. I asked this
(18:39):
because on our side of things, we do the same
thing with a lot of folks in the music business,
musicians and band members and whatever. It doesn't always go
so great. You get it, you get excited maybe about
having so and.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So as as.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
A guest, and it just it ends up they end
up being difficult or aloof or off putting or just
aren't into doing this at all. In sports, is it
like that with with these figures or is it generally
pretty agreeable?
Speaker 3 (19:10):
It's in sports. In sports a lot of times, Uh,
the the athletes are. First of all, it's in in
in the league sports, it's mandatory for them to do.
Like musicians, they could talk to whoever they want, whenever
they want, but in sports, like yeah, it's in their
(19:30):
contracts that they have to do media. So so that's
part of their contract. And and you know, and here's
the other thing. I think athletes as opposed to musicians,
like like you cover a concert, or you cover a
football game or a basketball game, you're going in the
(19:51):
locker room talking to the athletes after the game. You're
not going after the concert. Hey, let's go because to
the Garth Brooks concert. After the show, Hey, Garth, why
did you do this?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Do you?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Yeah? Right now?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Yeah, So athletes are used to being questioned, you know,
right after games. They're used to it. I think athletes
are just more accustomed.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
To it's just part of the routine.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yeah, part of the interaction with the media. As opposed
to I'm a famous musicians they do it once in
a while, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Well, it's interesting in music now that the old school
used to be. There were times where you would go
to a concert and if you were part of a
meet and greet, it was after the show. But now
if there even is one, half the time, it's a
package that a fan has to pay for, and it
happens before the show, and if you're lucky, you'll get
(20:42):
a preposed position or chance and a cattle call to
stand next to whoever it is for a quick snapshot,
which they then email you. And you can just tell
that a lot of these artists just they're just doing
it to make extra money.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
They still have like like like back in the good
old days, like if like if you you know, you
guys being the elite rock and roll DJs, that you
areked up? I mean, couldn't you couldn't you like before
the show backstage pass you could go fraternize with the
musicians before the show and stuff back in the good
old days, if it.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Was our show, like for Earthday birthday, of course, I know.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I'm just talking about, like if you could get backstage
passes to a concert.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
It depends on what who the artist is, what level
of pass you have. And some of these artists, you know,
whether or not they're known for a party attitude or whatever.
You may be wandering around back there and never see
anyone because they're locked in their dressing room till they
go on the stage. Other times I've been, you know,
walking around back there where there's like hospitality area, and yeah,
(21:45):
you might run and they might come in for a
few minutes say hey or whatever.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
But we sat on stage for Metallica, We sat on
stage for Pearl Jam.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, very amendable. Uh ACDC. He was after they performed
way back when they played the Arena Old Arena. They
came in after the show, which I couldn't believe, the
whole band, the whole band.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, did pictures with all of us and lists van Halen.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
But remember a fantastic Remember I cut a fart. Yeah,
you shut the whole thing down. Yeah, he ended the
It was going great and uh you hugged Malcolm Young
and cut a fart and the guy who was like,
what are you doing here? And they left. I'm like,
way to go, talk up. We got our stuff signed.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
You guys know, when I was in college, I was
I was the music writer at the Gainesville Son.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I was, I'm glad you're going to this because you
have a you have a six degrees of Kevin Bacon types.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Now, no, I was the music writer at the Gainesville Son.
I got to go to him, like like the Grateful
Dead concert, Like I interviewed Peter Frampton one time, one
on one.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
A lot of classic rock stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Huh yeah, I went, yeah, I went to you know.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Rove Tom Petty's cart.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That had nothing to do with working at the gains Welle.
That was just me and my family knowing Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Six degrees type deal. He explained, because you grew up
an interlock in which you know, well, I grew up
in Gainesville.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
I started out and went to elementary school in Gainesville,
but my sisters were older than me, so they actually
went to high school in Gainesville. And my sister and
her soon husband, her her husband was Tom Petty's best
friend at Gainesville High School, Mike Nixon, and uh, Tom
(23:37):
Petty was the best man at my sister's wedding, and
you know, so they they grew up together with Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
That gave me the chills. That's cool, dude.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
And then you know, and then I, you know, as
I grew and that my sister maintained friendship with Tom Petty.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Cross.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Yeah, I got to you know, I met, you know,
I stayed at Tom Petty's house in l A a
few times. My mom was actually Tom Petty's nanny.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Later she would she lived.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
With Tom Petty and his uh ex wife Jane. Yeah,
watch their two daughters. So yeah yeah, and then Tom
yeah and Tom Petty well you guys know the story.
I'm not gonna tell you, Okay. So so Tom here
the way to may he rest in peace. He and
his wife Jane, they came to Gainesville to visit, you know,
(24:30):
because occasionally he come back. Is he still had the
brother who lived there, and I don't remember his mom
was still alive or not. But anyway, he came back
to Gainesville with Jane and and usually it was my
sister that would sort of, you know, show for them around,
you know, so but my sister, Yeah, So my sister
was out of town that day, so somehow he had
(24:52):
my number, so he calls me, he goes, he goes, Hey,
we're staying at the University Center hotel. You want to
you want to, you know, show for us around own tonight.
And I go sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So early form of a designated driver.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, I was a designated driver, so they could and
as they did, they were in the they were in
the back seat with their some sort of controlled substance
that they were putting up their nose. I don't know what.
It was, some sort of controlled substance. So yeah, and so,
(25:26):
but they wanted to get Tom Petty when he was
coming up through the ranks when he was playing for
mud Crutch, which was the band in Gainesville. They would
play at a at a bar in Gainesville called Dubs.
It was a famous bar in Gainesville. So at that
point this was Dubbs was still open and Dub was
still alive. Dub was a big, fat round man and
he used to hire mud Crutch to play there. So
(25:49):
they wanted to go the Dubs to see you know this,
to see Dub and hang so and this was again
he was at the height of his powers then you know,
refugee all that. So we go to Dubs and I'm
driving the Chrysler New Yorker that they rented. Yeah, and
they're in the back seat, Yeah, doing their their blow
(26:11):
and uh so yeah, we walk in the Dubs. And
I used to go to Dubs too, because you know
that was that was sort of our hangout. So I
walk in the Dubs with Tom Petty and all the
girls I knew, Yeah, they see me with Tom Petty
the dog was big time when I Yeah, when I
(26:31):
drove them back to the University Center, I was back
at Dubbs after that.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
You were you were immediately elevated to a whole new level. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Absolutely, we didn't get that. We never knew that whole story.
That's what when you said, well, I've told the story,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
If Yeah, dude, that's rock and roll.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's why we talk about everything like I'm dying to
tell big cock with no made back to uh, back
to Dwight Howard.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Look at you your coffee cup? It was a Dwight
Howard coffee cup. Did you even realize that? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:03):
I was actually looking at this this morning. You see
the old magic uh tumbler?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Hold that up. You can't see in the camera unless
you're hold right for your frame.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
It looks nothing like Dwight Howard, by the way, that
really doesn't. I I was looking although this is that
It looks like isn't that vouch right there?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I think that's Vooch. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
They weren't even on the same team at the same time,
So this is just like stars.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I think it says stars on it. I think
it says magic stars right there. Yeah, pure magic.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Victor Oladipo's on't but you're representing for Dwight.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Dwight if you're listening, Sorry about the butt comments. And
uh and who was your favorite magic player to interact
with over.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
The years, favorite magic player to interact with?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
You've got some real We've got some real characters through here, man.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Uh. Dwight in his early days was really funny and polite.
If you're talking star players, it doesn't even have.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
To be one of the big big nage because I
had some you know, kind of you know, I like Jamir.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Jamir was always great Nelson to deal with. Yeah, Jamir
Nelson was great to deal with. Recently though, Uh were
you were.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
You working there with Shaq when Shaq was No, he
wasn't there for the whole Sentinel demand.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
In fact, one of the running jokes on our show,
like every now and then when you know Shaq leaving
Orlando comes up and people will text in it was
your fault, Bianchi, You're the one who did the Sentinel pole.
And I'm like, first of all, I was not even
in Orlando when Shaq was here in nineteen ninety five.
I had nothing to do with the infamous Sentinel poll.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Dude, I tell you though, because we were here. Yeah,
that pissed off a lot of us. I mean, it
really pissed off a lot of us.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Pissed off shack dude. Although I don't think the poll
was the reason he left, like some people said.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
It certainly helped. It certainly helped.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I think the fifty million, the fifteen million dollar low
ball offer that the the Boss's many was the main Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah, anyway, all right, so, uh the bulldog, you got
anything you want to uh, you want to make known
here while before we wrap this deal up here.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Make no no listen to me every morning six to
nine thirty on FM ninety six nine the Game AM
seven forty h D one oh one point one dash too.
You guys, of course, are one on one point one
dash one.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Free iHeartRadio app anytime as you can listen or way Country.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
You're further out there, you know, like our listeners, and
we have something out in Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Well you can just download that free I tell you what.
And a suggestion if you do use the app, I
hope you all have utilized the new presets option that's
in there. You can lock in you want to lock
in our show. We we'd really appreciate it. One O
one one w j R R Orlando, maybe lock in
this podcast. You can lock in the podcast and it's
there on your dashboard. I haven't locked in. You can
(29:53):
do that. Apple car Play Interacts, Android Auto, It all
interfaces now with the Freeheart Radio app. In the pre
said you got him right there on your dashboard.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, So well right there, see one O one one
w j RS first.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Wow, see that a playlist that's a favorite of years.
Through the app, you can put that in there. You
can set a whole bunch of them. So I take
advantage of me buff in there off your podcast.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
You know who else I got the interview? This is
sort of timely. You know else I got the interview
when I was a music writer at the Sun.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Who the Beach Boys?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Brian Wilson passing away this week?
Speaker 1 (30:28):
So did did you get to talk to him?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
No, this was I don't even think this was later.
I don't even think.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
There were stretches where he was he was.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
I don't even think he was with the band at
this point. I got to talk to Mike Love though.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Okay, that's cool. So's cool. Yeah, loved his shirts. It's
always always smooth Man, all right and the bulldog. Also,
we're appreciative that you take time every morning, weekday morning
to do the sports page here on JR which airs
at six twenty five. If you ever listening live and
we podcast that.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Well, I don't even remember how he came over to
our show at the beginnings.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Maybe Rick said that's what I thought. I thought, because
we we always had Shot doctor too. Have you talked
to Shot lately?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
No, I've been meaning to call him though, been meaning
to call him. Have you heard from me?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I would reach out and occasionally he hit me back,
But the last couple of times I tried, I feel
like I'm getting ghosted a little bit. I reached out.
He didn't even return the text period, really never did. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Then again, remember one time I had a bad prediction
that was not cool.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
That was my dick days. Well, he is the unofficial
mayor there of the Lake Mary area, as you are
the unofficial mayor of the winter Park Maitland area. Yeah,
so I'm sure there's a bit of a friendly rivalry there.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh that could be may oral yeah, uh yeah. You
get reports from uh like uh Pete Peter Tosh who
lists not real Peter Tosh, but that's our nickname. He
sees him around Lake Married, one of the restaurants he's
always at.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Or the car wash or the publics, the usual spots there.
We hoped Shots do them, and he gets to the
gym a lot to him. Shots the man reach out
to him, try to get him on the podcast. What
we hey, good idea? Where is he now?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I never really you guys used the kid that he
would do like a show, dude, he never did.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
It was the funny train wreck.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
The train rack was the best. It was the funniest
show ever.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Because he he didn't know any of the music, none
of the bands. He'd introduce him is like breaking Benjamin
go yes, I'll ben Ben and.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
The boys are and he'd like, I'd like to thank
so and so for stopping by and playing. It was
just a song that was He would actually as if
they were here set up live playing.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Did he picked the music or not?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
He doesn't know any of it. We had to you know,
here's your song.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Shot, because if Shot was picking the music, it'd be
like the Andrew System, the Mills.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It was honestly, it was called the train Wreck. We
would have called it the ship Show, but it was
actually on there.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I used to listen to it on the way home
from fishing, and my fishing partner go.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
What's wrong with this guy? And it was so funny
because we would get people who would who weren't aware
of the joke or in on the joke as to
what it was, and they would hear it on the weekend,
and then come Monday we would have all these emails
and messages and texts about I'm not sure what's going
on on Saturday mornings. But the guy who's he just
really didn't know.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
We would just laugh.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
He said that this happened or this shot would just
make shut up beautiful. Wow. All right, Mike the Bulldog
Bianchi our guests this week for the Off the Air Podcast.
Appreciate you taking the time, Dot and thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Thanks for driving out here too, you know, and sitting
in because we know you had to wait around after
your show.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Don't be a stranger man. All right, we'll catch you
again tomorrow morning, and thank you all for checking out
another new episode of Off the Air with Lynching Taco.
We're clear, we
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