Hey, folks. I'm Matt Major. Welcome to Good News
York on this Monday morning. We're running a
skeleton crew. Me and my man, Mike, I'm making
him run the board. So you will note that he's
not to my left. He's actually in the control
desk. Yeah. We don't really have a booth, right?
We need a control booth. Yeah. I mean, we'll
get there. Talking to Mike over in the booth.
But what's going on, buddy? Man, I don't. I don't
know where. You're really discombobulated today.
Thank you for. You're really fucked up. It's
kind of amusing. I know it's going to be very
amusing because, as you know, at this point,
the way my brain works, I am way out of my comfort
zone, which is funny because this is what you
do all day. I know like this is your primary
job is sitting in that particular spot running
shows for people. Yeah. But our show, you're
just completely lost. Yeah, because I have. So
it's. Now am I not only not next to you, but
I'm controlling the switching, see? I'm controlling
the switching. I have all my notes for what we're
going to talk about. I've got my buzzer, my sad
trombone. Got to have these. And my favorite,
your law and order thing that you get. Oh, I
worked on the first try today. Yeah, no, I think
I broke it in. I think it's like one of those
things where... You need to loosen it up like
shoes. Yeah, yeah like you you got to break it
in and then it's like, okay Yeah, like yeah,
that's a good call like Doc Martens. That's fair.
I could see that So I gotta tell you my weekend
was I don't know how well how was your weekend
first? It was fine. I spent it programming Okay,
that sounds boring as shit. What is that? You
know, it's what nerds do when we want to make
computers bend to our will Oh Well, that sounds
way cooler. Yeah. I don't want to get too in
-depth, because I'm actually working on a project
that we're going to make a big announcement for.
And it's one of those deals where, like, I want
to get all the pieces right, rather than being
one of these assholes who teases, something big
coming next. You know? Phil Farta loves when
people do that, by the way. It's great. But I
made a significant, more than expected amount
of progress on a really important part of this.
New project we're gonna launch so that was encouraging.
I guess it's a great good way to spend a weekend
I guess is this uh I was productive if that helps
Yeah, is this something that I that we're in
the loop of or is this like growth mode IT side?
Literally what I gave you when I walked in this
morning, buddy. Oh, yeah Yeah, that thing that
I fucked up within 30 seconds. Yeah, that is
exciting and I'm excited. We also have I Want
to tease a little bit for our growth mode clients.
We're adding some value to being a subscriber
and having your podcast with us. And I'm really
excited about that. I forgot we haven't even
talked about that yet. No. No, we have not. If
you want to, I mean, you're the boss. Go ahead.
Yeah. I mean, honestly, we haven't even really
talked to a lot of our clients about it. But
I'm glad you brought it up, Mike, because it's
something that we've been looking to do for a
while, right? And for some quick background,
we started this growth mode content company.
now eight months ago, we're in August, I don't
know how that happened. And we've been kind of
laying the tracks, so to speak, for a lot of
things that we've had planned from since before
we launched, right? But it's one of those things,
like anything else, you gotta build it first.
And we've had to build literally our infrastructure
here, our software, our systems, our procedures,
get them really dialed in. and then begin making
content for our clients. And that again is something
that we had to just sort of start doing, right?
So we're bringing them in, we're recording podcasts,
we're figuring out what works and what doesn't
work. And now we've got enough of that history
to really kind of hit the ground running with
some strategy. And that's the part that we are
adding as kind of a new value add service. And
that will be a little bit of scripted social
media content. For all of our clients businesses.
Yeah, I love it. So To to expand on that for
those of you watching or listening, you know
with our clients they subscribe Once a month
they come in Which might be twice a month now
They get an epic full episode right and it and
it it airs in its own organic place You have
your own podcast people can subscribe like you
would do Apple Spotify anywhere where there's
podcasts But the real value comes in the social
clips that we do have a strategy for, where we
have a team that cuts these clips up and puts
them out on their social media throughout the
month. And what I love about it is it's not like
we're just cutting up clips and then putting
them out. We're sitting there going, you know,
what works on LinkedIn and Facebook might not
work here on TikTok with this particular... There's
a lot of thought that we do put into it. 100%.
And now, in addition to that... We, you, have
come up with the idea of adding some scripted
stuff that we can shoot with them while they're
here. Not only shooting their podcasts, we can
shoot some teasers for their podcasts, maybe
an intro for their show. Right. And you know,
you've described it really well, Mike. What we've
been doing, what we've been talking about, beating
this drum heavily is this organic content, right?
And that is just exactly what we're doing now.
As much as we're talking about something on deck,
Mike and I don't have a script. Right? We're
just kind of off the cuff talking. Can't tell.
We don't have a script. This is what our clients
do. They come in. They have these natural conversations,
like the ones that you have with normal people
all day long. And that's awesome. And that has
a ton of value. But as we're trying to grow social
media, what can also have a lot of value specifically
there are these things designed to check the
right boxes, right? To tickle the friendlies
on the algorithm. And really get things going
so that people start to get some real traction.
And that's what we're going to do. So when we
say scripted, it's probably not going to be the
type of thing that's like every word, like a
movie, and we do it in 10 takes or those sorts
of things. But it's going to be the idea where
we have a few things that are trending in that
industry and a few things that are video styles
and techniques and hooks that are working for
people in our clients' industries. So that we
can kind of use what works and grab some traction
on some of those and then bring even more attention
To the more organic that doesn't the organic
doesn't necessarily always have that immediate
like hook salacious, whatever It's the thing
that you want to get into once you have a little
bit of idea of who folks are and This will help
promote all of that hundred percent and you know,
you said it well now obviously and I look When
you hear scripted you think okay, we're gonna
pull out this script and okay. Here's where I
go here We're not that intense, like you mentioned.
It's more of like a, kind of like a, what's his
name there? Strong Outline. Yeah, well, Strong
Outline or, what's, I can't, why am I blanking
out on the director that works with Will Ferrell
all the time, those guys? Don't know. Yeah, either
way. It's more of like that, where there's a
script, but you kind of let them, you kind of
let it happen as it's recording. It's open to
interpretation. But, you know, Matt, one thing
I will say, and I'll say it so that you don't
look like you're a complete egomaniac, is that
you're brilliant in many ways in business and
in this lane. But what I love is that every day
that I come into work, you are strategizing or
thinking of some way where we can improve, whether
that is technical -wise, like with our sound
and video. and upgrading equipment, whether it's
how can we add more value to our clients or,
you know what, you know, here's our best view,
you know, here's here's our videos that are performing
best. What did we do with those videos that we
can do? And you don't do anything where you sell
out and you're like, we've got to do this because
we need clicks. You're just trying to improve
us. And I just I appreciate that. And I know
our clients do, too. Well, yeah, that's the name
of the game. And just an entrepreneurship, right?
That's if if it was simple. everybody would do
it, right? There'd be a recipe, you'd make that
recipe, and you'd just let it make money for
you. Unfortunately, that's not how business works.
And especially when we are in a rapidly up -and
-coming industry, that yes, we are kind of leading
the way on it, but we're certainly not the only
ones doing this sort of thing. And if we don't
continue to offer value and continue to get better
at every step of the way, then other people are
gonna... eat our lunch, for lack of a better
term. Yeah. That's the part that always freaks
me out, is, you know, I love what we're doing
here, and we take it day by day, and we're just
doing what we're good at. But unfortunately,
there is, and I don't want to say competition,
because, you know, it's not like we're trying
to beat anybody out, but in any field where you're
some sort of entrepreneur, you're going to have
natural competition, which, in my opinion, is
a good thing in some ways, because it makes you
better. But at the same time, we have to stay
up on it because if someone takes this idea and
does more or does better than we do, like you
said, it's eating our lunch and we're missing
out. So we do it with the intention to better
ourselves and add more for our clients. But yeah,
we have to be front runners in a lot of things.
That's for sure. So hey, enough about us. OK.
I think you've got a couple of topics you want
to talk about. And I got kind of a fun Monday
thing that we haven't quite done here before.
What do you want to do first? Fun Monday thing?
We'll save that for a minute. I've been talking
a lot. What do you got, buddy? I like when you
talk. All right, so what I got is I went to the
return of the blue and red. And what that means
is I took my kids to... Is this a fucking football
thing? It is a fucking football thing. Know I'm
sorry dude, but you're gonna love the video So
I took my kids I've wanted to take my kids to
Highmark Stadium where the Buffalo Bills play
for to experience their first game It's never
lined up because a of all they're too small or
you know it's too intense I don't say is that
what they're gonna. I guess you're gonna call
it the old stadium You know it's funny you asked
that because on on bills radio on WGR. They they
have been posing the question to people When
you when the new stadium is built and it next
year is the first year when when they move over
to the new stadium Are you gonna call it the
Ralph because it used to be called Ralph Wilson?
Rich Stadium because it used to be called Rich
Stadium for the old folks or just the old stadium
So the jury's out on that so I don't know or
care anything about this, but just just now that
we're talking about it Are they gonna tear down
the old one when the new ones ready? So that's
another question. I believe They they haven't
given an official like ruling, but yeah, it's
going to be because it is right across the street.
And, dude, it is fucking massive, like mass.
Yeah. And it wasn't it wasn't a matter of like
it was defective or anything, right? It was a
matter of needing more capacity, a more modern
spot. Honestly, they it was it was a matter of
just the the NFL themselves in general want all
stadiums to be. I see upgraded and modern. And
and when if you can find an owner who has the
money, which the Pekul is due. You know, it's
a bigger deal because for a long time, there
was so many... State of New York kicked in a
billion dollars, but anyway. Yeah. For a long
time, they said that the bills, you know, once
Ralph Wilson dies, they're going to sell the
team, they're going to move to Toronto. And we
were all terrified. And then the Pugulas came
in, who already own the Sabres, bought the bills
and kept them in Buffalo. Building a stadium,
especially a billion dollar stadium like this...
solidifies not only that they're going to be
here, but for a long time. And now we have a
brand new stadium. And, dude, it is wild to me.
Was that really something somebody was going
to worry about? Oh, God. People really thought
the Buffalo Bills were going to move to Toronto.
Yeah, 100 percent. And in fact, it was Donald
Trump before he ran for president. And John Bon
Jovi were the two frontrunners. And if you can
believe this, Donald Trump played dirty and no.
Yeah. I know. It's crazy, right? He's such an
honest guy. Just totally understands the middle
class. But he went around, he hired people to
go around and hand out flyers, like basically
slandering Jon Bon Jovi that if he buys the team,
he's going to run it in the ground. So Jon Bon
Jovi lost. Jon Bon Jovi is a loser. He hasn't
sold a record since 1989. That's the worst Trump
impression anyone has ever done ever. That was
really bad, but I still loved it. I loved it.
It's my life. It's now or never. That's what
John Bon Jovi said. And anyway, so they have
the stadium. I assume they're going to knock
it down, the old one, because they're going to
need parking. So hold on, back up a second. John
Bon Jovi was interested in buying the Bill Stadium,
and then he didn't. Mm -hmm. Has he ever tried
to buy anything else? He is part owner of, I
think it's the Arena Football League, the Philadelphia
somethings. Like, there's a small football league
that he's in ownership of. So he bought the Utica
odd? Yeah, he essentially bought something like
the on center. Yeah, you know the team. Okay.
I just I guess I'd never known Bon Jovi as a
sports dude. That's all no and not many people
do and that's why they're freaked out They're
like, what is he doing? But he knows he's a good
businessman He knows what he's doing. So he was
in the running. Anyway, fast forward they buy
the team. They keep it here now they have a stadium
and Dude, it'd be that is great news But here's
the thing. I wanted to ask you actually I may
have asked you this in the past So the big thing
was, if they're gonna build a new stadium, you
know, the fans were like, we need a dome because
of the weather, right? Well, half of the fans
were like, fuck that. I was kind of on that side.
I was like, no, the best part about football
are the elements and the snow games. And, you
know, others were like, why wouldn't you use
the advantage of now in the January, they can
play in warm weather, blah, blah, blah, blah.
That went back and forth. But I'm asking you,
as an entrepreneur and as a business owner yourself,
you're in Buffalo, New York, and you just...
paid, New York State and the taxpayers are paying
a portion, a majority portion of what it costs
to build the new stadium. Wouldn't you want something
with at least a retractable roof so that you
can bring in revenue during the winter and have
whatever, concerts, expos, things of that nature?
I mean, that makes a lot of sense. Definitely
from a business standpoint. on a football standpoint,
and again, I'm not even a big football guy, so
this might sound funny. No, I like it. I see
Buffalo synonymous with playing in the snow.
I almost feel like that is one of their advantages.
100%. Just like all these Northeast teams, we're
happy to play in the snow. That's our home. That's
where we're comfortable. Right. So you get these
Southerners that, you know, and whether or not,
I don't know, I guess you'd have to talk to an
actual sports expert to tell you whether or not
that really makes a difference when it comes
to these games. Like I said, when I think of
Buffalo Bill's football, I think of bundling
up and freezing your ass off to watch them lose.
And that is what we do. Yeah. And honestly? So
hold on a second, because I just recently saw
something on this new stadium. And it's my understanding
that even though it's not a dome, it's got a
very unique design where the seats are considerably
covered with an overhang. And it's almost designed,
it looks like, at an angle to where the wind
might help a little bit. So even though there's
a giant hole at the very top, the angles kind
of provide a little more protection at least
than you used to have. Does that seem right?
You nailed it. And that was kind of their counter.
Is that their compromise? Exactly. That was their
compromise to play both, which was... By the
way, your endorsement, I think, is better than
anybody's because you don't even watch football.
And for you to be like, I associate the snow.
I mean, you're totally backing it up. I mean,
Buffalo and anything you say. There's snow in
Buffalo right now, I'm pretty sure. Absolutely.
I think they're getting four inches. It's at
least four inches is fine. But anyway, they so
their answer was yes. So I forget the percentage.
But for the sake of conversation, we'll say like
60 percent of. So the overhang goes now over
the lower level. So you do get partial coverage.
It's almost like they gave you a moon roof, you
know? Yes. No, that's a great, great comp. And
so now there's also there's heating on top of
the roof so that the snow melts on the field
is heated so that it'll melt there. I mean, so
there's a lot of just, I mean, look, you're getting
a billion dollar stadium. So there better be.
I'll be honest, though. And again, I haven't
put much thought into this. All other than right
now But you said something that just blanked
my you said, you know, why didn't they put a
retractable roof? Mm -hmm Why the fuck didn't
they put a retractable? That's why I mean look
I mean the easy answer is more money, but at
this point what I mean, here's the thing How
much fucking money can something cost right like
seriously? You're you're going to tell me that
it really takes And I get it, it's a big steel
thing. But we've built big steel things many
times in the past, and I know inflation or whatever.
But I feel like if you took the amount of money
you spent on the Bill Stadium whenever the old
one was built and adjusted it for inflation,
we'd still be nowhere near the cost of today's
stadium. Maybe I'm wrong. Fair, that's fair.
Again, this is, in my head I could be a fucking
idiot, completely wrong. Nobody understands how
much money a billion dollars is. If you got a
dollar every day, from now to the beginning of
the fucking human history, you wouldn't have
a billion dollars. Yeah, people say all the time
when people argue online about the national debt,
or whatever, Doge was saving something, a trillion,
but they only saved a billion, and people don't
realize the space between you know, billion and
trillion and million and billion. People don't
understand scale. But still, like, I'm shocked
to find out that you could spend above a billion
dollars, and that doesn't get you a fucking roof,
like, is in my... Yeah. ...audi. I know. Like,
this is not a difficult concept. I agree. And
then you're right, because then you could use
it, because now what do they do? It literally
just goes completely unused in the winter months,
right? Other than football? Right. I mean, because
that was my thing, more than the elements, because
I was like, OK, a retractable roof, everybody
wins because you leave it open all season for
the games. But now you can have, you know, anything.
Yeah, I'm thinking about the dome here at Syracuse.
Yep, it's there for football. Also championship
basketball and events and movies and massive,
massive concerts and all these things in the
time of year where it would otherwise be covered
in snow. And that's the and that's my only question.
I have no complaints. I love that it's there's
no roof. I think it's great, but I'm just looking
at it. Let me ask you this from a football standpoint.
If they had a retractable roof, would other teams
be able to demand it was closed during games?
No, I believe that that's just up to the team.
I didn't know if maybe that was the thing where
like. If we had, we wouldn't get that advantage
because they would force us to close the roof
all the time sort of thing. No, I think I, I
mean, I would, I can't confirm that this is how
it goes, but I'm fairly a hundred percent sure
it's up to the team and the ownership. Okay.
You don't just waltz in and go, we'd like that
closed. Well, I just didn't know, you know, if
you, if you claim that's like an unfair advantage.
Right. You know? Yeah. I always thought the same
thing in like baseball, how like some, some stadiums
like right field in Yankee stadium is I forget
the yard, the, the, the the measurement. But
I mean, it's a short right field where in other
parks, you know, a home run or room. Yeah. And
a home run in Yankee Stadium would be a pop out.
And I just I always wondered, I'm not saying
I like or dislike, but I just always thought,
why wouldn't they make it the same? I love it
that every park is different. But at the same
time, from a, you know, advantage standpoint,
I just thought maybe it should. So we're effectively
spending billions of dollars on one sport. Yeah.
But anyway, my all all of that to say. Mike's
like, I'm okay with it, because I love that sport.
Yes. I took my kids to the return of the blue
and red. And what that is, is so... It's a long
way to get back. I know, I know. All season long,
or not all season long, in the beginning of,
or end of July, beginning of August, training
camp starts. And that is where the teams finally
come together. They start training. Every team,
most every team, doesn't train. for training
camp at the stadium or in their city. They go
somewhere. I remember when I lived in Tampa,
there was multiple teams. It was real common
to go see them practice down there. One hundred
percent. And that was for different reasons.
But the biggest reason is they want to just be
able to get these players away from home and,
you know, and being together. And they stay in
dorms and you build chemistry. But the bill started
about five years ago where they pick in the middle
is like a two weeks for training camp. And at
the end of the first week, they bring everybody
back to the stadium. And they do a live practice
where you can get free tickets. And it's first
come first serve. And you watch them practice.
And then they do a little scrimmage. But the
best part is you're allowed to bring in stuff
for autographs. You know, the players come to
the side. Josh Allen plays catch with the kids.
They sign footballs. Weren't there like 30 ,000
people there or something? That's about right.
Actually, they set a record for 40 ,000 this
year. So the stadium holds like seventy ones
for practice, dude. That's how insane Bill's
Mafia is. So I wanted to bring my kids to their
first game, but I thought, man, it's a little
intense. The team was good. What are you talking
about? I'll kill you. So so I decided I want
to bring my kids. I want them. Now they're finally
at that age. But more importantly, I want to
take them to their first game. But man, a game
is pretty intense. I'll take them to a preseason
game. So coming up this Saturday, I got us tickets
to a preseason game, which is fairly cheap. It's
six rows up. Great. But then when the return
of the blue and red popped up in my email, I
went, oh, this might be a good way for me to
take the kids. They can go to the stadium because
they're all nervous, break them in. And then
when we go to the game next week, they'll be
like, oh, this is great. This is cake. So we
went, dude, and I have a video. People are asking
me, like, so I still have to post all of the
pictures and video. So you went out to Buffalo
this past weekend. I took my kids, just me and
my two kids. And you're going again next weekend.
And I'm going again next weekend. My wife's coming
next weekend. Okay. But so everyone's like, how
did it go? I'm like, I have a million videos
and pictures, but I feel like this video, this
nine -second clip will sum up exactly how the
day went. Josh Allen really gets you like that.
Yes. Yes a hundred percent That that is that's
the video that is the video I I could not believe
we were that close to because it's first come
first serve that you don't pay for tickets, right?
So did so I so as soon as the gate opened we
darted down and we got second row like 30 yard
line and I was that close to Alan and my god.
Well, it was amazing Anyway, so that was the
majority of my weekend. Did we really just go
through that whole setup to see that three seconds?
Yeah. Awesome. Well, I mean, I was more about
talking about, you know, the weekend in general.
I'm just fucking with you. But it was great.
And I love the Bills. I'm excited. And I'll be
going to the preseason game next week as well.
I wanted to talk about this one story, dude,
because this fucking blows my mind. Did you hear
about high noon recalling the vodka seltzers?
Yeah, they sell so what is all this story is
wild dude, dude As somebody who quit drinking
October 1st, 2020 was my last drink So I am at
this point about five years sober almost if I
broke my goddamn sobriety over a Celsius unintentionally
unintentionally I'd be a millionaire because
I would sue their ass. Yeah What are your thoughts
as a business? Like how do you fuck this up?
Oh, you're, I mean, this is bad. This is real
bad. So for those who don't know, High Noon,
which makes a canned vodka drink. And as you
know, all these beverage companies, they're all
the same thing. They all crank out a million
different drinks. The same facility makes the
Celsius energy drink, right? Correct. Which is
not alcoholic. No, it's an energy drink. It's
actually great. I love it. Same size can. Same
shape same everything is you know canned drinks
are at the factory somebody put the the high
noon's in the Celsius cans or I guess you could
say maybe they labeled the high noon with the
Celsius label whichever way you want to do it
however they put the booze in the can that said
no booze and To me It's just like finding a golden
ticket. I mean right and here's the thing they
didn't just do this and then do a run of them,
and then they get done, and the guy went, oh,
shit, guys. No. These came off the assembly line
and were sent all across the country. Yes. They
were distributed from, usually the shit's regional,
right? Like, oh, this happened at this one facility
in Texas, and the cases made it to two states.
No. Literally across the country. And again,
if you drink a Celsius and get hammered, That's
like a golden look if I now own the high noon
company, you know five years ago I would have
been like you I would have said fuck. Yeah, it's
the golden ticket, baby But as someone who quit
drinking I realize now like holy shit Well, here's
the thing that of course I'm not in that boat.
So that thought wasn't the first one that crossed
my mind You'll never give a look at the wine
slushies. You'll never As I looked at the comments
that was everybody said and I was like I said
I didn't even think about that but holy fuck
You know, yeah, man. I mean Can I ask you this?
And I don't, again, we're talking about a lot
of things I don't know anything about, so this
is a true podcast. Women. Having stopped alcohol,
if you were to accidentally consume it, is that
the same as you kind of falling off the wagon
and you've decided to have a drink? You know,
look. Like if you were to just found yourself
intoxicated, Would that kick it off and go, oh,
shit, I'm going to have 10 more? Or would you
go, I think there's something wrong with me?
I have to be very careful, because everybody
is different who has had an alcohol problem,
or has an alcohol problem, or is an alcoholic.
And how they got out of it. Yeah, so I cannot
speak for everybody else. I know some people
who, if they had one sip, forget it. Now they're
going to rip into all 12. You just break the
seal. I don't think that's me. I think... It
would hit me and I would immediately feel it
and remember everything that comes along with
it and love it but I'd like to believe that I
Have that little switch to go. Whoa, you know
put that shit down. You don't want to go down
this road again Yeah, but but that's the thing
is You don't want to put yourself in that position
to even wonder about it and that and and they
did that I mean, this is a big fuck -up Now,
here's also the thing. I've drank high noons.
I have not drank Celsius. And I think this was
a particular flavor or whatever Celsius, too.
I have it here. How quickly might somebody notice?
Oh, you would notice first sip. You would notice
first sip. So with that in mind, the reality
is it's going to be kind of hard for people to
really. And I feel like when the lawsuits inevitably
come, that'll be the first defense of any lawyer
who goes, Well, you clearly knew this wasn't
the drink you purchased. Yeah. Yes. Someone wrote...
You proceeded to drink 10 of them. You know,
like... That's true. That's actually a good point.
Like, because I heard, like, DWI lawyers are,
like, foaming at the mobsters. They're like,
now we can use this as a defense. But you make
a good point, which is, okay, you took a sip,
you realized it was, you know, it was alcohol.
You didn't have to keep drinking. But then again,
like I said, there are some people who are that
severe. If they have one sip, they can't stop.
I also want to take that with a grain of salt,
like I said, because I've never had that flavor
of Celsius. And I know it's like a light, one
of those borderline water drinks, right? Isn't
that the idea? It's not like a soda, which is
the same. High noon is the same type of deal.
It is. So I don't know. I don't. If you've never
had one of those Celsiuses. and wouldn't know
what to compare, I could see that could be it.
Especially if you're a kid who then buys the
fucking thing from the convenience store. That's
a great point, too. See, that's what I mean.
Those kind of drinks, too, it is... What an awesome
way home. You get out of school, you stop at
Gill's, and you grab a drink out of the cooler,
and you're on the way about three blocks down
the road going... Never felt so good. Yeah, this
is the best day ever. I don't give a shit about
school Wow Yeah, dude, it's but those drinks
too. It's it's not like when you when you when
you pour alcohol into it like You can bury that
alcohol taste fairly well, so you're right. You
know, some people might drink it and not know.
I think you might have... I don't know if you've
ever had a high noon. I feel like you might have
quit before they came to style. I had one, right?
Right before I quit, I tried one, and it was
godawful in my opinion. So it depends on which
flavor you get, but they are, again, one of those
things that's not very strong -flavored no matter
what. So it's almost... even if you're not...
It's something you can just pour down, because
it's not strong of anything. You know what's
crazy, though? It's not as big of a story as
it would have been 10 or 15 years ago, because
people are not drinking like they used to, which
is wild to me. It's weird. I mean, it's great.
We've talked about this before. Yeah. It's good
in general. At the same time, it makes me worry
about society a bit. Yeah, for sure. It's...
It's great health wise and that, but as a society
and as for the bar industry, the restaurant industry,
it's, you know, I think I think it's just the
pandemic kind of made everyone realize, wow,
I'm a fat fucking alcoholic and I need to quit.
And I think that was a big part of it might have
been. But anyway, what else do you think? Let
me ask you this. So see, we're getting on random
topics. Let's do it. In. The past decade maybe
a little bit more the government really especially
in New York I can't speak to other states But
I think similar in other states the government
really got excited about the idea of craft breweries
And they put together all kinds of money and
we saw all kinds of these places pop up all over
the place Most of which have not survived But
I got a wonder like Did Did the government embracing
alcohol make it so cool that it's not fun anymore?
You know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, it's funny
because growing up... It was always this bad
and now it's like, we can't wait to celebrate
the opening of this new bar. Except we don't
call it a bar anymore. It's a craft brewery.
And you can bring a frisbee and your dog. Newsflash,
it's a fucking bar. They literally make the shit
right there. Some breweries, it's been in the
news lately, some breweries are now banning children,
and that's a big controversy. Not enough. You
agree with it? I also strongly believe that that
has killed the bar industry, or at least the
craft. So here's what we did, right? We replaced
regular hole -in -the -wall bars with upscale
craft breweries where a single beer cost as much
as a 12 -pack used to cost. And then we said,
hey, by the way, bring your fucking little kids
here. So people did. And now, legitimate alcoholics,
which I'm sorry, were the bread and butter of
the neighborhood bar, won't step foot in that
place. Because the cost of two drinks is as much
as they spent drinking for a whole week back
in the day. I bartended for over 10 years. They
want to go, they want to put some blues on the
jukebox, shoot some whiskey, maybe play pool,
and not have to... They're there to get away
from kids and loud noises. You ever see some
of those guys, remember back in the day in some
of the valley bars, maybe like Pete's or Crossways,
there was always a couple of dudes that were
sitting there at the bar staring at their beer,
can of beer, cheapest one they had at the bar,
$1 .50 cans, whatever the fuck. If you were to
say hello, they would look at you like they wanted
to rip your fucking head off. All they wanted
to do, even though they wanted to do it in public,
was sit there and be left alone and just drink
until closing time. You could not be more correct,
my friend. I worked at the greatest dive bar
in the world. It is still there, and I will stand
by this. It is called the Creaker, formerly the
Fall Creek House. It is a neighborhood bar in
Ithaca, in the middle of a neighborhood. It is
the most, some of the craziest, most amazing
nights of my life were spent there. Five years
I bartended there, but I also frequented it there.
You walk in, it's a place that you'd be like,
this is shady as fuck, but it's not. And here's
what was great about it. On any given day, you
could walk in and there would be Cornell grad
students sitting next to old veterans who are
alcoholics and their livers hanging out of their
belly button. and then you're sitting there,
and all of a sudden, someone, like, pulls in
on a bike and skids out and hits the wall. Like,
there are no rules there other than just don't
be rude to the bartender or the owner. I mean,
it was just amazing. And that is exactly what
it would be. I remember when I first started
working there, I'd come in there with my spiked
hair, and there'd be old guys sitting there putting
salt in their beer, and they'd look at me like,
who's this fucking freak? You know, and I'd win
them over, eventually. Not all, but most. And
it... I miss that. We need it. Yeah. We need
it. Well, now those guys who are buying $1 .50
cans have to spend $14 .95 for a sip of craft
beer. Yeah. Yeah. And all IPAs. And then they're
like, hey, how come nobody drinks anymore? Yeah.
Can't imagine why. Yeah. And like, did you ever
notice? Also, you can get a DWI if you look at
the 12 -pack from three aisles away at Wegmans.
You know what else? I used to talk about this
in one of my stand -up bits. I need to breathalyze
you. Which was, like, the names of beers now
are fucking ridiculous. Like, I did a stand -up
show at a brewery, a craft brewery. I was there.
Yeah, that was one of them I did. Yes, you were
there at one of them. But this is a different
one. And the name of the beer was, there were
1 ,000 tiny Michael Jacksons, which, okay, do
you know what Michael Jackson did? Do you really
want to drink that? And then, but they would
always have these names like, can I get a pint
of the, let me get a pint of the stagnant piss,
please. You know what I mean? Like, the names
are just way too, like whatever happened to just,
you know, hazy IPA or. Listen man, if you're
gonna name shit weird, be a pothead. Strains
of weed are made for bizarre names. If you're
gonna drink beer, you just need to drink beer.
Yeah, isn't it? Isn't it funny, too, how when
we grew up, it was like if you got caught drinking
underage, it was, oh, boys will be boys. But
if you got caught with one marijuana cigarette,
a joint, you need to stop hanging out with your
friends. You need to go to drug counseling. You're
going to be a loser. And we found out now. Fast
forward 2025. It is the exact opposite. Mistake
one thousand three hundred and seventy four caused
by boomers. You know it. We know it you can basically
say hey remember when our boomer parents made
us do X and There you there's everything Don't
just remember turning turning on the interior
light in a car was like what are you doing turn
it off? We're gonna die. I'm gonna get arrested.
Yeah, we're gonna get arrested Don't sit too
close to the television. You'll go blind. Yep
I didn't go blind. I went blind from doing something.
It's something else All right. Anyway real quick
Coming up this week. I wanted to tell you We
have one guest coming on Wednesday Chad 45 minutes
in and you're gonna do the deep teas now. Yeah
He's coming in. He did an amazing thing. He owns
an HVAC company and he really took care of a
community center I can't wait for that and also
Possibly we got Vinny P coming in Who is the
guy? Vinny P. Remember the guy from the Metallica?
Nope. Let me show you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let me show you. Well, here's Chad. That's the
HVAC guy. My man. Yeah, he's coming in Wednesday.
Good buddy of mine. He's from Syracuse. He did
an amazing thing for that woman in the community
center. We're going to talk about that. But we're
also going to... Where did it go? There it is.
Remember this? Oh, yeah, Metallica kid dude.
So the photographer that posted this looking
for the kid, if you were if you didn't hear or
see the show, this kid basically got a picture
with Metallica because the gentleman who made
this original post is the actual original photographer.
I didn't realize that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The
guy that made the post looking for that kid is
the original Glees here on the Facebook. So long,
long story short, Metallica was at a hockey game
and. This photographer was there taking pictures
for the hockey game and he saw Mattel. Better
yet, just go watch the clip. We already talked
about it. Okay, fine. We follow up on this show.
Okay, watch the clip. But anyway, my point is
the fucking guy, the photographer saw our clip
and contacted me through LinkedIn and said, dude,
thank you so much. And I said, listen, why don't
you come on the show? And he said, I'd love to.
So we're going to have him on this week as well.
I love when Mike's going and I just throw a wrench
in it and he gets all... Extra flustered and
it's just funny. I don't get I didn't get your
mother fuck. Um, it's like that time I told you
to stop interviewing the monster guy What when
what was that you remember? It's a gay rock about
it. Well, yeah mid interview. You're like, alright,
that's enough But I okay well to be fair you're
going on to way more than I had ever planned
me I just wanted to hear what was on the cans.
And you're like, so, bro, tell me about your
life story. And he's like, well, when I was a
boy, I'm like, nobody cares. It all started in
1982. I didn't even feel like standing there
to let him finish his sentence. That's how bored
I was. I know. I mean, nobody going to watch
that video. I know. Yeah. You got anything else?
Yeah, real quick. OK, cool. This is pretty cool.
They're doing a, where is it here? What is it?
It's here somewhere. It's here somewhere. They're
doing a movie in the park. I didn't pull it up.
Where the hell is it? Oh, it's in the printer.
I never went and got it from the printer. But
basically, somewhere in Syracuse, because I don't
have the story in front of me, they're showing
Rookie of the Year at the Mets Stadium. That's
what it is. So Syracuse Mets, we love them. We've
been there. We shot an episode there. They're
going to be showing Rookie of the Year, which
is one of my favorite... Baseball movies of all
time as a kid coming up in the next few weeks
They're gonna be showing a movie there and that
got me thinking like that one of those deals
where it's like after the game So you come watch
the game and then yeah the movie. Yeah, that's
pretty cool. And I was just like sitting there
thinking like What what would be your ideal plate?
Like what movie would it be and where would you
want to watch it? like for example like a bad
a bad one would be like watching Titanic on a
cruise ship or like okay standing in the middle
of a fire and watching backdraft or Flying somewhere
and you're watching snakes on a plane, but like
that was the one I was gonna Yeah, or maybe you
go to Dallas and you're like, let's watch Debbie
does Dallas I have had it with these motherfucking
snakes on this motherfucking plane Yeah, so I
don't know like maybe maybe you could watch Shawshank
in that prison where they shot it because that's
actually you can go there and they do tours Or
maybe I don't know maybe you want to watch a
league of their own at the double -day field
in Cooperstown where they shot it I don't know
But I just like the idea that you're going to
watch a baseball movie at a baseball park. Yeah,
that's great. We love the Syracuse Mets. That's
cool. Yeah. What do you got? Let's finish it
off with what, I don't know, you said you had
some? So I'm, you know, chronically online. And
when you do that, you spend a little time on
the old Reddit. Boy, that is a shithole, right?
You think? Anyway. It's almost as bad as X. There
is one of the most popular subreddits is called,
Am I the Asshole? And if you're not familiar,
this is a section where folks pose a story, a
situation, and they ask the audience, ask the
readers, are they the asshole in this story?
And people either vote yes or no. Interestingly
enough, as I was scrolling through these, the
vast majority is not the asshole. So I feel like
as snarky as people on the internet are, I feel
like people might go out of their way to post
these stories that make them look good, so they'll
always come out. I don't know. Sure. But anyway.
Am I the asshole for taking walks on my lunch
break? Starts out, few years ago I started a
job that was more office based than previous
jobs. Because of that I was moving less, gaining
some weight, got very out of shape. I'm not overweight,
but I'm carrying a little more fat than I used
to. And I can tell my cardio ability has gone
down. I get a one hour. paid lunch every day.
A lot of my coworkers eat at their desk, do a
little work, maybe answering an email, but mostly
eating. I personally go to my car and eat, and
then I do laps around the parking garage before
I go back in. Walk, she doesn't do laps in the
car around the parking garage, just to be clear.
I'm never gone for more than the hour that I
have for my lunch, and I'm back on time. Recently,
I did my normal routine, grabbed my lunch, went
to my car, ate it, started to walk, happened
to run into a coworker during my walk. He was
out there because he forgot something he needed
from his car. He stopped me and asked what I
was doing. I told him I ate my lunch and now
I'm going for a walk before lunch break is over.
He didn't like that idea. He said that lunch
break is for eating, not walking, and that when
I'm done eating, I should go back to work. I
told him that we're given an hour for lunch,
so I want to use all of it in the best way I
can. I think he told other people because I then
began receiving comments before I go on break
that I didn't receive before. I don't think I
was wrong. I'm entitled to my break. All my work
gets done on time, and I take about the same
amount of time every day, so it's expected when
I won't be available. I may come back for a few
urgent emails, but I've never had an emergency
when I was gone. Talked to my parents about it.
They both said that they work through their lunch,
and I shouldn't be out walking, but also they're
older and raised in a different time, so don't
know if I should trust their judgment. So, am
I the asshole for taking a walk on my lunch break?
Absolutely not. In my opinion. You are correct.
That is the correct answer. It's the dumbest
fucking thing I've ever heard. Here's a problem
we have. This is classic American boomer work
mindset. You're going where I'm going. This is
one of the, probably the biggest issue that I
take with our American society. I believe this
idea is uniquely American. And it's something
that I try to talk about on a very regular basis.
This idea that you are who you make money for.
This idea you meet somebody and, oh, hey, what
do you do for a living? That's the first thing
we ask, because in a capitalistic society, we
constantly have to do stratification. We've got
to put things in categories. So when we meet
someone, what do you do? Because we have to go,
OK, they make this much money. Yeah. And it's
all, you know, how much money do you make for
somebody else? That's the wildest part about
all of this. And, you know, you'll hear, you
might have remembered people our parents' age
and their generation talk about what's the worst
thing that you could say about somebody? They
don't have a job. Yep. They're lazy. He don't
work. He ain't worth a shit. Ironically, that
extends to, like, not even just having a job.
but they also expect you to literally kill yourself
at the job. As you can see in this story here,
these people, how dare you might take your lunch
break and not continue to be productive. If you
work more than 40 hours a week, whoa, you are
a real man. You are a real citizen. That's that
mentality. And it bothers me too with the trickle
-down economics is part of that, where it's like,
if you work, 40 to 60 hours a week some day and
you save some day you'll be rich you don't end
up rich because we don't pay living wages first
of all fucking scam and trickle down economics
doesn't work but it's it's that mindset where
it's you got to pull yourself up by the bootstraps
and you got to work 40 hours at least 40 hours
a week Monday through Friday you can't have three
days off it is such an outdated mentality and
I am not for for people not working that is not
what it's about but there's a way I studied this
in college and we talked about it on one of my
clips where I, you know, other countries, like
you have us work four days a week, we get three,
three days off. You know what that does? That
gives me an extra day with my family, which makes
me happier, which makes my kids happier because
their dad's around more. And you pay me a living
wage so I can afford to have healthcare and pay
my rent or my mortgage. You know, it doesn't
have to be 40 to 60 hours a week where you bust
your ass. We can all work very hard and give
people a work -life balance. It's not rocket
science. That's it. And, you know, like I said,
it's just this whole mindset. And I really want
to break that because it's insane. I'll go so
far as to say, now, here's the thing. I'm an
entrepreneur. I'm a businessman. I'm an employer.
I employ people and I pay them good wages. And
there's a lot of things that I need them to do
at the same time. If you tell me that there's
some guy down the street who's lazy, and he's
just getting food stamps, and he's not working,
I have zero fucking problem with that person
whatsoever. I don't care how hard you work. I
don't. I don't care, like, you gotta work this
hard in order to earn welfare. I don't care.
If you're a human being, you deserve basics,
which to me includes food, healthcare, and shelter.
Healthcare is not a luxury. It's a fucking human
right. The fact that it's 2025, And we're too
worried about the name of the Gulf of America
or Gulf of Mexico instead of giving people affordable
or free health care is fucking mind blowing to
me. It is. And that's as close as politics as
we'll get on this show. I know we're not about
that, but you know. No, no, that's that's it.
And like I said, I just like any time I see these
this work mindset, I really like to say something
about it. Me too. The reality is it's so baked
into our culture that most people don't even
realize. that it is an idea that is not natural.
You know what I mean? It's one of these things
that isn't planted. And what I would love folks
to do, even if you disagree with me, you know,
like, oh, people need to work their ass off in
order to earn a fucking cookie. Okay. All I would
ask of you, though, is just to ponder for a second
who that thought most benefits and who might
have planted that seed. When you go, when you
look at somebody and you judge him, by how hard
he works and how much money he makes for me.
I'm the business owner. Somebody looks at you
and goes, what do you do for a living, Mike?
And you go, oh, I'm a podcast producer. Oh, OK.
Well, you're in a salary for that. That's respectable,
right? It's nonsense. It's nonsense. I couldn't
agree more. It's all about what benefits me.
Right. It's the business owner the corporations
that are telling you that you have to work so
hard so that you can benefit them You're never
gonna make more than them, you know, and I just
they're also the one that benefit from this idea
of you putting down your co -worker Yeah, right.
So what if I took hey that day Danny's a lazy
fuck sure is and you know what? We could all
make more you could make more money if your if
your co -worker wasn't so lazy smells like so
why don't you diarrhea? We're getting a little
crazier But you know what I mean? Like, that's
that whole thing. It's not even a matter of putting
down you specifically, but it's getting you to
ride the other guy to make him work harder for
me. Yep. And like I said on that clip before,
and we've talked about it, and you live it, which
is incredible to me, is that there are employers
in other countries where they, I mean, we're
talking industries like factory industry, you
know, manufacturing. where, you know, if you're
not open five days a week, you're not manufacturing
on that fifth day. But here's the thing, these
people get four, they work four days a week,
they get like four weeks vacation, they have
three days off. What people don't understand
is that serves the employer too because these
people are more rested. They're healthy because
they have health insurance. They will stay and
be more loyal because they have it so good. We've
been trained to think the opposite. And it's
mind blowing to me that we can't adopt this new
mentality of we can still work our asses off,
but it doesn't have to be five days a week. It
doesn't have to be 40 plus hours. It can still
be done by allowing you to spend time with your
families. Look at how many fucked up people there
are because they had terrible childhoods because
their parents were busting their ass poor or
working too hard and weren't around. I mean,
I could do it. You hit the nail on the head.
So this is the last thing I'll say about this.
This whole idea again. I'm a business owner.
I benefit from you working hard for me but Also,
I benefit from you not getting burned out and
that's the part that's crazy. You can go. All
right Yeah, Matt, you don't you don't care about
you think you know from a moral standpoint You
just want everything to be nice and everybody
to be great. No guys, you don't understand This
is a selfish standpoint what I'm advocating is
the best for my business if we have a society
where But keep in mind, people seem to forget
that we live in a consumer driven economy. You
know what that means? Yeah. That means consumers
who are consumers, workers are the ones fueling
everything. I might have the coolest T -shirt.
I might have the hottest product on the market.
But if nobody can fucking buy it, it's worthless.
Exactly. But when those people have more money
and have more time to go ahead and buy those
things, that's what boosts my business. Give
workers money treat them. Well, they will last
longer. You're in business. They will be more
loyal and You'll have a better business. That's
the wildest part about all this shit If you treat
people well, it will come back to you in a positive
way. I'll take it quickly I'll take it a step
farther where it's you know It's it's about thinking
outside of the box and thinking of things from
the reverse side like for example Clearly, we
have a ton of problems at the border. We have
for as long as the border has been there, right?
And everyone thinks we got to shut the border.
We've got to leave it open for certain people
and we go back and forth. How about we take it
a step further and think outside of the box in
that same way? How about we send troops or whoever
it may be to the places where everybody is fleeing
from and help them peacefully solve the issues
there so that people aren't fleeing from their
and illegally crossing. In other words, go to
the problem and see if you can resolve the problem
there. If everyone's running from somewhere,
there must be something going on where there's
smoke, there's fire. So instead of shutting off
the border or partially opening it or dealing
with all this bullshit, why don't we start going
to some of these places and seeing if we can
make a difference? I mean, I don't know. Maybe
I'm a libtard. I don't know. I love it. I love
it because he's dead on. I am dead on. Here's
the thing. Again, we're not this isn't a political
show, but the reality is The majority of these
refugees came from countries where our policies
shifted and made their countries not so great.
And you can't treat everybody like they are the
cartel. You cannot blanket statement the whole
like, well, people that come here, they all steal
our jobs and they all commit crime. And it's
like, what about the families that are just trying
to come here for opportunity? You know, and maybe
they're doing it the wrong way, but it's it's
We make it out to be like they're all these villainous
people These are human beings and some of them
are villainous and they should be treated like
they're villainous But you can't treat the people
next to them who are not doing the same thing
in the same way It's just it's discretion. That's
what we need discretion. The last thing I'll
say on this is This is the reason there's foreign
aid yeah, a lot of people get better to say why
we're sending all that money over to wherever
And don't get me wrong, there's lots of times
where it is a waste, but there's lots of other
times where we're doing it to keep their shit
there. So they don't come here. So they don't
bring us their problems. Dude, and to bring it
full circle, I'm glad you said that. It's that
same mentality of what we talk about. International
aid is a part of defense. It's the same thing
we were talking about with the job, which was
what? Well, if I give them four weeks vacation
and I only make them work four days a week, they
they're more loyal. Things are better for everybody.
Yes. Same thing. If we send for an aid so they
can keep their shit together, it helps everybody.
But see, a lot of the mindset in politics is
I don't care unless it directly affects me. Right.
I don't know what empathy is. OK, I don't know.
What is this? Bad news? Are we? I don't know.
Fired up news. We're going on a. Danny doesn't
show up because he's sick. And look what happens.
He's normally the one that's like. Just cuts
us off. Yeah, it's because he's lazy. The guy
shut up. He doesn't fucking work. Yeah, he's
not here. Fucking guy, Tana paid sick day. Fucking
piece of shit. How dare he? I bet she's on a
walk. Yeah. I love you, man. Oh, man, this has
been Good News York, guys. Lots of other adventures,
I'm sure, will find us this week. Stay tuned.
We've got so much more fun stuff going on. And
before we go, it is Good News York brought to
you by ads on the go. Get ads on the go dot com.
Our buddy Zach, we love you, man, and thanks
for all you do. And also keep an eye out for
our man, Zach, driving around in the ads on the
go truck, because we just updated our ads. Nice.
Have you seen it? Have you been driving around
and seen it yet? Because I have not. I have,
but I haven't seen our latest because we literally
just sent them over. But you should see some
ads for all the different things we do here at
Growth Mode Tech. I love it. on the side of that
awesome video truck. Absolutely. All right. I
think we're done. I think we're done. Good News
York, Monday edition. We'll be back tomorrow.
We'll see you then. Peace out.