115: Babe Ruth Diet with Ryan Sickler | Soder Podcast | EP 113

Summary

Soder Podcast Episode 115: "Babe Ruth Diet with Ryan Sickler"

Host: Dan Soder
Guest: Ryan Sickler
Release Date: January 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

Dan Soder welcomes comedian and podcast host Ryan Sickler for a wide-ranging, funny, and nostalgic conversation focused on sports fandom (especially football and Baltimore), old-school athletes and their infamous habits (notably, Babe Ruth’s legendary diet), and how cultural attitudes toward sports, coaching, comedy, and vices have changed over the decades. Jokes and storytelling are abundant as the pair swap memories about growing up around sports, the Baltimore Ravens and Colts, dipping tobacco, childhood pranks, Little League coaches, and the enduring lore of professional wrestling.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. The Trauma and Lore of Pro Football in Baltimore

• Baltimore Colts’ Midnight Move to Indianapolis

  • Ryan recounts almost being a ball boy for the '84 Colts, only to watch the team vanish overnight:

    "My dad wakes us up in the middle of the night. He's like, you ain't gonna believe this. We all go downstairs crying, watching the Colts drive out of town." (02:21)

  • The move left a deep wound in Baltimore, which still lingers:

    "Robert Ursay still hated in Baltimore. You can go to bars and there’s still up there about that. It ran deep." (06:02)

• The Ravens Rise and Football’s Baltimore DNA

  • The city’s love for football endures, demonstrated by hosting teams at every level—NFL, USFL, CFL.
  • “Baltimore is the greatest football town in the world. Every team that has come has gone to the pinnacle. Everything.” (13:18)
  • The emotional complexity of losing and regaining a team, and the unique "started from scratch" approach with the Ravens:

    “What I like about that is Modell said, ‘I value this city and this storied franchise enough. I'm going to start a new team.’ Your legacy will live.” (07:49)

• Rivalries and Justification

  • Dan and Ryan riff on Baltimore’s pride, gritty and justified fandom:

    “You’ve got that mid Atlantic attitude of like we’re port, we work at the docks. Everyone’s drunk and fighting each other. We need a team to cheer on…” (09:10)

• Unique Football Culture in Baltimore

  • Marching band lore: “When the Colts moved out of town in the middle of the night, they went and stole their band uniforms and hid them in a funeral parlor for years. And then slowly but surely, the band would still perform around the city.” (06:17)

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II. Babe Ruth’s Insane Diet & Athlete Culture

• Babe Ruth’s Daily Menu

  • Dan reads through Babe Ruth’s supposed daily eating and drinking habits, which astound both comics:
    • Pint of whiskey with ginger ale for breakfast, steak, fried eggs, potatoes, pot of coffee
    • Lunch: Two porterhouse steaks, two heads of lettuce with blue cheese, more fried potatoes
    • Snack: Four hot dogs, four cokes (18:32)
  • “The liquid amount alone would make me sick.” (18:32, Ryan)
  • “That was just breakfast. That was at 8am. This is four hours later…” (19:02, Dan)
  • “How much was Babe Ruth pissing?” (20:49, Dan)
  • “That sounds like his blood was like tree sap.” (20:57, Dan)

• Modern Athletes vs. Old School

  • “Babe Ruth ruled. All these guys now are on different kinds of probiotics and all this stuff, baby.” (19:51, Dan)
  • “If that’s real, they should pay one athlete to do that and see what their numbers are at the end of the season.” (19:51, Ryan)
  • Shohei Ohtani's name gets floated: “They should make Shohei do that. He’s the only guy that could do it.” (20:03, Dan)

• Body Size & Nutrition Back in the Day

  • Debates on Babe Ruth's actual weight:

    "Look, that man right there is not 215 pounds." (24:19, Ryan)
    "That's like 250 plus inflation... no way he weighed 215." (21:34, Dan)

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III. Disappearing Sports Characters & Comic Nostalgia

• End of the Big Personality in Sports

  • “Where is that, dude? We need funny players.” (27:12, Dan)
  • “There’s no characters anymore.” (27:34, Ryan)
  • Both reminisce about players like Tony Siragusa, Art Donovan—colorful, local guys who would crush beers and still light up the field (25:20–30:49).

• Old School Coaching and Sports Life

  • Tales of Little League coaches smoking during games, and coaching from outside the chain-link fence with a cigarette (40:02–41:51).
  • Discussions of coaching dreams:

    “I want to be a bench coach, a baseball bench coach for like a high school semi-pros... just want to sit there, eat my sunflower seeds, and then yell at an umpire or something.” (31:26, Ryan)

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IV. Vices: Dipping, Smoking, and Growing Up Rough

• All About Dip and Chewing Tobacco

  • Detailed stories of trying dip too early, epic vomiting, and the Snapple bottle and Mountain Dew can as spit cups (33:20–35:36).
  • “I got so sick from it, obviously, immediately I'm diarrhea, I'm throwing up, all this. And I'm like, why would you give that to us? And he's like, that's why.” (37:35, Ryan on his father’s approach)

• Childhood Mischief & School Antics

  • Passing the DARE “fake drugs tray” back up with a real joint snuck on it:

    “Somebody put a joint on it. It went back with more drugs. This cop was pissed.” (51:14–51:59, Ryan)

• How Society Treated Smoking

  • “My Aunt Marguerite didn't give a sh*t... She’s lighting up back there [in the car], you don’t ask nothing.” (42:36, Ryan)
  • Smoking sections on planes and in restaurants—“It still blows my mind.” (43:00, Dan)

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V. Professional Wrestling, Comedy, and Cultural Change

• Wrestling as Working-Class Entertainment

  • Comparing early wrestling business to early stand-up:

    “There was a time when it wasn’t profitable where you had to do it... It was like a weird thing. You were almost ashamed to tell people.” (47:11, Dan)

  • The protectiveness of “coming up the right way” in both comedy and wrestling, and the tension with social media stars (48:06–48:55).

• Memorable Wrestling Trivia

  • The birth of the Million Dollar Man character:

    “Vince McMahon was on a flight... kept giving money until the guy was like, all right, and just put out a cigarette. ... Everybody’s got a price for the Million Dollar Man.” (43:07–43:36, Dan)

  • Old stories about Bob Backlund, Iron Sheik, Haku, Andre the Giant, and the bruised world of 70s/80s pro wrestling (44:04–46:29).

• Comedians Reminiscing on the “After Prom" Grinds

  • Stories of doing comedy shows for high schoolers at 2:45am “after proms,” drinking and bombing—“All these kids wanted to do was finger and jerk each other off.” (49:44, Dan)

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VI. Substance Use and Modern Health

• Revelations About Health and Weed

  • Ryan shares that, after a health scare and on doctor’s instructions, he has to be on blood thinners for life, but:

    "If you're going to take anything, cannabis is the thing that we recommend. Do not vape, do not take any tobacco products.” (55:05, Ryan's doctors)

• Joking About Old Age Appetites

  • Dan and Ryan riff on their end-of-life “plans”—Ryan dreams about eating himself to death instead of experimenting with heroin (56:04–56:31).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Seeing the Colts Drive Away:

  "We all go downstairs crying, watching the Colts drive out of town." —Ryan Sickler (02:21)

• On the Unbeatable Baltimore Football Record:

  “Every team that has come has gone to the pinnacle everything.” —Ryan Sickler (13:18)

• On Babe Ruth’s Breakfast:

  “Breakfast. Pint of whiskey mixed with ginger ale.” —Dan Soder (18:03)
  “The liquid amount alone would make me sick.” —Ryan Sickler (18:32)

• On Smoking and Parenting:

  “My Aunt Marguerite didn’t give a sh*t... lighting up back there. You don’t ask nothing.” —Ryan Sickler (42:36)

• On the Disappearance of Characters:

  "Where is that, dude? We need funny players." —Dan Soder (27:12)
  "There’s no characters anymore." —Ryan Sickler (27:34)

• On “After Prom” Comedy Gigs:

  “All these kids wanted to do was finger and jerk each other off, and then we're sitting there going, like, dating. Am I right?” —Dan Soder (49:44)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Highlight | |--------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:06–04:05 | The Baltimore Colts’ midnight move and local trauma | | 06:17–07:02 | The band that wouldn’t die: Baltimore’s hidden marching band | | 11:47–13:18 | Sickler’s argument for Baltimore as football's best city | | 17:11–20:49 | Breakdown and reactions to Babe Ruth’s epic diet | | 24:19–25:20 | Debating Babe Ruth’s true weight and body type | | 27:12–27:39 | Lamenting the loss of funny, big-personality athletes | | 31:26–31:55 | Dreaming about being a bench coach for high school baseball | | 33:26–35:36 | Tobacco stories: dip, spit bottles, and accidental sips | | 51:14–52:01 | The DARE mishap: passing a real joint on the fake drugs tray | | 55:05 | Ryan’s doctors endorse weed but not tobacco | | 56:04–56:31 | Gallows humor: eating and vices as "endgame plans" |

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Closing Thoughts

The episode is a laugh-out-loud blend of sports nostalgia, deep Baltimore pride, the myriad changes in sports and society, and a heavy dose of comedic reflection. Soder and Sickler’s rapport brings out wry truths about growing up as misfits obsessed with sports, the loss of innocence (and innocence’s replacements), why Baltimore’s football legacy is underrated, and the crazy, mythic lives of athletes past and present. The discussion closes on a hopeful note for the Ravens, a salute to Sickler’s new special, and sage advice about loyalty and letting things play out to the end.

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Transcript

[Dan Soder]

Hey, everybody. I want to thank you for coming and seeing me on the Golden Retriever of Comedy tour. We've announced the second leg. It starts up in February, February 13th in Orlando, then February 14th in Tampa. Going to be in Buffalo. February 28th, Boston, March 6th, Philly, March 7th. Go to dansoder.com the whole second leg, all the way through April is on sale. All [e-mail].

[Ryan Sickler]

Do the way back.

[Dan Soder]

Pause this. Go watch his special. Come back.

[Ryan Sickler]

Please.

[Dan Soder]

Welcome back. I always am interested with friends of mine that are sports fans that are also that I know. Friends of mine that are also fans of the same team that know each other. You were, you know, you're in New York, so you did Stavis. Do you guys text about the Ravens

[Ryan Sickler]

only not this year.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, you guys are. Lamar's out now.

[Ryan Sickler]

We talk very little bit about it. But I, I told him, like, there's no reason Ronnie is not calling our draft pick next year.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

I told him that last year.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You 100 should be doing our.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, yeah. That should be the thing.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right?

[Dan Soder]

They all. A lot of times for non sports fans, the NFL draft, what they've been doing recently in years is they have a celebrity fan of the team come and do a draft pick on usually night one. Or do they still do Goodell doing the round one and then the celebrity does round two?

[Ryan Sickler]

It's a good question. I feel like this year I didn't see Goodell do all of them. I feel like this year they usually

[Dan Soder]

Goodell does like the top 10 because that's the sweet. He wants that. He wants the strongest hit.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

So they give, they give Goodell greens on the, on the, on the draft and then they bring in the celebrity and Stav is big enough. He could be Ronnie the character.

[Ryan Sickler]

No doubt.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm lobbying for it.

[Dan Soder]

Dude. You got.

[Ryan Sickler]

I understand how big of a football fan is. I, I told this story in an album and on this is not happening. But I was legitimately supposed to be one of the ball boys for the 1984 Baltimore Colts.

[Dan Soder]

Crazy. The team that left. The team that left and became the Indianapolis Colts. That would have been how. How much worse of a drug problem you would have had if you were a ball boy for a team that left, you would have been even dead.

[Ryan Sickler]

This is, you know, before ebay and all that stuff back then. And you could just go to the practice and you, like the players would throw the ball with you on the side.

[Dan Soder]

And yeah, they were only also making like.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right. 60,000 and they're working to use car dealership in the off season.

[Dan Soder]

Or pro wrestling. Yeah, yeah. Or they're in a local wrestling.

[Ryan Sickler]

And Raymond Butler was playing catch with me on the sideline and he said, you know, we're already in season, but how do you feel about being a ball boy? And I was like, oh my God, I'd love to. And after that practice, my dad talks to him and all and we're. I'm gonna be one of the ball boys for the 84 Colts. And then a few months later, my dad wakes us up in the middle of the night. He's like, you ain't gonna believe this. We all go downstairs crying, watching the Colts drive out of town.

[Dan Soder]

And it was literally the middle of the night. Right.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you guys storm too? It was all so dramatic.

[Dan Soder]

Did you guys really watch him drive out of town?

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that a real. Yeah, they were all on news. It's all. Still.

[Dan Soder]

So they filmed them.

[Ryan Sickler]

They. Here's the thing. They knew.

[Dan Soder]

They knew.

[Ryan Sickler]

They knew. They knew the whole time. Because Ursay at the time was a drunk and he would get on flights, he was going to talk to Arizona and everybody and then the media would meet him when he'd come off the flight. Cigar. And I text about this all the time.

[Dan Soder]

Now hold on real quick because I need to know. Even as a sports fan, I need to figure this out. I'm a little cloudy on this entire thing because I do know. All I know is that 84, I was a 1 years old, 41 ish, 42. Yeah. I. All I heard was, oh, Baltimore left in the. The Colts left Baltimore in the middle of the night to move to Indianapolis. And you think they're using that to be dramatic? I didn't think they left middle of

[Ryan Sickler]

the night, everywhere in the snowstorm, it's a little more dramatic.

[Dan Soder]

But here's my question about. Because you say Ursay, are we talking Jim Ursay who just passed away or we're talking about his father.

[Ryan Sickler]

His dad. His dad, Jim Mercy was a little kid. This, this is 84.

[Dan Soder]

84. So he's a. He's a young kid.

[Ryan Sickler]

Because Jimmer, when you're born 84.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, I was born 83.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay. So they're leaving.

[Dan Soder]

They're leaving. Like while I'm.

[Ryan Sickler]

You've only known him as the Indianapolis.

[Dan Soder]

That's it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right.

[Dan Soder]

But Jim Ursay, the son that just recently died when was awesome. He would just do drugs and party and play guitar. He would like he had this band. He would go around with guitars and show them off Right. He like bought Jimi Hendrix's guitar. And he's like, you want to see Jimmy? He would do what I would do if I were the son of a football owner.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you. And you had a Super bowl under Peyton Manning.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know what I mean?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And you have Johnny Unitis says hello to you. Like all these classic.

[Ryan Sickler]

He had a hard row because this is the guy who was a child when his dad did this.

[Dan Soder]

Sure.

[Ryan Sickler]

But it's the family business, man. Where.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Just like the models, like, we're going here now and you're going and you're context.

[Dan Soder]

The models owned the Cleveland Browns who left for Baltimore. So Baltimore got a team back in the same way they lost the team. It's that same man. You lose a man the same way, you get him. If you're. If you're cheating on the side, guess what? They're going to cheat on the side. And Baltimore was like, let me get some of that. And art model.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I didn't want. When nobody wanted Cleveland, I threw a whole joke about it's like getting somebody's like, you know, used titties. Like old beat up ugly titties, new titties, they go.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, they're from the side from the 90s where you could see the ripple in the back.

[Ryan Sickler]

Not some f. You're not your ex. Ex wife's titties.

[Dan Soder]

It reminds me of the Simpsons when Homer's friends with that Bond villain and he gives him an NFL team and he goes, the Denver Broncos. And it's the Denver Bron goes on his patio. So back to then. So ursay Jim or say's dad who likes the sauce.

[Ryan Sickler]

Robert Say still hate in Baltimore. You can go to bars and there's still up there about that. It ran deep.

[Dan Soder]

Dude, that's. I mean, that is impressive.

[Ryan Sickler]

Have you ever seen the band that wouldn't die, the 30 for 30?

[Dan Soder]

No.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, so there's a 30 for 30 called the band that wouldn't die. And it's the Baltimore Colts marching band. They were the only team in the NFL had this marching band at the time. Well, when the Colts moved out of town in the middle of the night, they went and stole their band uniforms and they hid them in a funeral parlor for years. And then slowly but surely, the band would still perform around the city.

[Dan Soder]

They would get on like a ghost band.

[Ryan Sickler]

They were just a Baltimore Colts marching band.

[Dan Soder]

And they're just like, show up parades, do parades. Okay.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like, you know what I mean? Appropriate.

[Dan Soder]

Oh my God, here they come. Tuesday at 3pm I swear to God, it's the Colts marching man coming outside my place.

[Ryan Sickler]

But then the models move Cleveland to Baltimore, which I was not a fan of either, because that is exactly what happened to us.

[Dan Soder]

Meanwhile, you guys do have empathy for for Cleveland.

[Ryan Sickler]

I've got empathy for Cleveland, but then I don't because of what happened. So we go from 84 to 96 without a football team. We're a storied franchise, storied city, everything. But we watch Jacksonville get a team. We watched Charlotte Carolina get a team. We watched the Rams move cities two times. We watch Oakland go up and down,

[Dan Soder]

watch the Cardinals, St. Louis go to Arizona.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're watching all of this and we're like, where the our team?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then Modell decides to move Cleveland to Baltimore. Now, what I do, I know he's hated in Cleveland was that 96, 96 is when we become the Ravens. But what I like about that is Modell said, look, I value this city and this storied franchise enough. I'm going to start a new team.

[Dan Soder]

Yep.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm going to start new records. Your legacy will live. Jamal Lewis is never going to beat a Jim Brown record. But the way I would see Eddie George on the Titans beating an Earl Campbell on the Hoyers Oilers. Because you're doing the history of it like no.

[Dan Soder]

That you did they here's my question to that. I I thought I remembered at first that they were going by Brown's records and stuff. When the team was new. They started from scratch because this is what's crazy. And for non sports fans, if you're still following what once that team left Cleveland and went to Baltimore became the Ravens. Years later, the NFL gave Cleveland another team that was the Browns again.

[Ryan Sickler]

Three years.

[Dan Soder]

Three years later, 1999 team that didn't do yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

The entire and still hasn't and has still had zeros in their win column multiple times has top five first round. They should be a goddamn juggernaut at this point. And they just

[Dan Soder]

so you've got and by the way, the Baltimore Cleveland rivalry

[Ryan Sickler]

is great super bowl since we've come.

[Dan Soder]

I know one of them was over us. Let's pump the brakes now you but you guys, the Baltimore Ravens are one of those organizations where you have cool unis. You've always had cool unis, cool color scheme, purple and black rules. And Baltimore is a city where you're like you feel justification. You've got that mid Atlantic attitude of like we're port, we work at the docks. Everyone's drunk and fighting each Other we need a team to cheer on and

[Ryan Sickler]

you need a team like that. And we were a defensive minded team was the right choice for the city of Baltimore.

[Dan Soder]

Were you? So were you immediately. So this is just you we're talking about. Ryan Sickler, the fan of football in Baltimore. You understand you're getting the Browns. Are you. You're mad that it's the Browns but what about when they tell you it's the Ravens?

[Ryan Sickler]

That's, that's when they came in. It changes. That's when it changes.

[Dan Soder]

They came in to go look at me, I'm sexy. They go, oh I had a summer away.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, think about it. People also like are you going to still root for the Colts? And I'm like that's like rooting for an ex wife to hit the lotto. We're not doing that.

[Dan Soder]

There was a time when doing that when the 49ers got rid of Candlestick park there was a rumor that they might go to Los Angeles and I had to really have the moment where I'd go. I couldn't be a Niners fan. Santa Clara south enough it's. That's tough. That's 40 minutes south but you go to LA, you put the LA in the red and gold. We're done, we're done. Good luck. God bless. That would be. Did you think about other teams to go to?

[Ryan Sickler]

This is the thing the, the blessing of this if you're a sports fan is okay now I'm not just a Colts fan now. I'm a football fan. So right away I find Steve Largent and Greg Craig and I love the Seahawks. I find Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana shout out. I find Asia. Well we already knew him from Maryland but icky Wood I thought Walter Payton bec ball fan and I was fan I wouldn't I wasn't a die hard of anything. I like the Raiders for a little bit but I really like the Giants when they had hostedler Dave Megat when they won the super bowl he took over for Phil Sims when he got hurt. That was a great team that year Blue when they won those old Giants. Great team those Giants.

[Dan Soder]

The ones that say Giants on the side. What are you doing New York? Go back to that seriously with Scaboo and Jackson dark go back to the old school says Giants on the side.

[Ryan Sickler]

But I'll say I want to say this because you're a knowledgeable football guy for sure sports fan. I, I know I'm biased but Baltimore is the greatest football city town. Listen to me. I'm gonna back it up with stats in history. All right? Not Green Bay, not all these other storied franchises. Let me back it up with some stats first. And then. That's not even close. It's so easy. Are you ready? When we first get in the league, we're the Baltimore Colts. Super Bowls aren't invented yet.

[Dan Soder]

Yet, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're playing with championships.

[Dan Soder]

They weren't even letting black guys touch. You guys are just doing white dudes with spaceman haircuts. You're going like. Well, we run it. We call it that. We call it the tough tee. And that's what happens when you run straight at them. So we're gonna run the tough tee. We're running right on them.

[Ryan Sickler]

58. We win the championship, which is the Super Bowl. Then the greatest game ever played. They call it the overtime with Alan Amechi. Sudden death against the Giants. That is what catapulted. Is that Frank Gifford, he was on that team.

[Dan Soder]

He's on the Giants team.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes, he was.

[Dan Soder]

Shout out Kathy Lee.

[Ryan Sickler]

That catapulted the NFL into the juggernaut it is today. That's when everybody's like, oh, this is an awesome thing now. We then go on to win. Well, we lose Super Bowl 3 against Joe Namath and his guarantee. Yeah, we win Super Bowl 5. So we've got championships and Super Bowls and Super Bowls. As the Baltimore Colts, they leave now in the interim. You ready for this?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

We get a USFL team. Philadelphia Stars moved to Baltimore. Baltimore Stars. Guess what? We won the USL USFL championship. Hold on, hold on. I'm gonna get to the best. One last. We got a semi pro team called the Baltimore Bears Championship.

[Dan Soder]

Okay. We get the Ravens two Super Bowls 2000 and 2012.

[Ryan Sickler]

In between all of that, they won't give us a team. Like we said, we're watching them go. Everywhere else, they give us a CFL team or the. Oh, yeah, bro. The Baltimore Stallions. I interned.

[Dan Soder]

And a Canadian football league.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're the only American team to ever win the Gray cup in the history of the Gray cup, the Baltimore Stallions. Baltimore is the greatest football town in the world. Every team that has come has gone to the pinnacle everything.

[Dan Soder]

Like, we're about to enter a hall with like a bunch of trophies and stuff, and you go, and now the proof of everything I just said. Yeah, I. Okay.

[Ryan Sickler]

CFL style. We want.

[Dan Soder]

You guys are a football town. But here's what's crazy how. What is Baltimore high school football like? Because I think that makes a judgment on a town more than anything. Well, because you go to Ohio.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

With like Pittsburgh kids or like out like the Philadelphia area where you get south New Jersey and you get Philly, but then you go to Texas outside of Dallas and you get, I mean, Texas high school football, but then Florida high school football. I mean, it's, it's crazy because I think high school football to me cements what more of a football town is because it's the kids. It's like the kids that live there are playing. I don't know, because pro. I mean, you guys have the chips. That is a crazy stat.

[Ryan Sickler]

And that's right. That is every level that has come in. We have won. Not just had. Had a team, we've won the top.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Football town. You guys might be that.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, but you're right. So I'll say this Baltimore is a football town. No, but Maryland as a state. Yes. There's a lot of good schools like the Matha.

[Dan Soder]

Well, you guys also go to Big Ten.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's all the money. That's so I'm from Baltimore.

[Dan Soder]

Sure.

[Ryan Sickler]

But Maryland's only this big. Yeah, but the money is close to D.C. yeah. Everybody I meet other than Stavi is from. Whenever they say I'm from Maryland, I go where it's always right outside of D.C. i'm like, you people had money. You're in the Rockville, Montgomery County. That's where the good high school players come from.

[Dan Soder]

Do you? Yeah, because they can get coaches that were like in college, their premier schools. And then they get fat kids who are smart.

[Ryan Sickler]

And University of Maryland.

[Dan Soder]

That's the key.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's market.

[Dan Soder]

A lot of high school teams have fat kids. No, no, no. You need smart fat kids.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're right.

[Dan Soder]

Who know how to pull.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right.

[Dan Soder]

Who know how to set up a screen. No, wait a second. They need. You need to have fats that show patients. No, no, no, don't immediately.

[Ryan Sickler]

You got to have dancers.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. And that's only rich white high school. That's the only place you're gonna get that. Because the facts and the facts in lower income neighborhoods, fat people lower. They need that food they're eating because they have to eat McDonald's.

[Ryan Sickler]

Point. Good point.

[Dan Soder]

These kids are having protein shakes at the rich white high schools, doing drills, learning how to walk backwards. But yeah, it is. Do you take. When you tell someone you're from Maryland and you're from Baltimore and then you meet someone and they go, oh, I'm from Baltimore and you do that game where you find out how far away from Baltimore they are. Does Anyone ever apologize or has anyone ever like taken the, like I guess the accountability and gone like I'm not really from Baltimore. Like when you zero in on it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, I don't know. I don't really give a about it that much. I don't like.

[Dan Soder]

I'm always interested.

[Ryan Sickler]

People do that. Look, you're not from Baltimore. You're from 15 minutes outside you're Baltimore county right across.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, that's a younger thing to do.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean my birth certificate has West Baltimore specifically.

[Dan Soder]

So what's up?

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm born in St. Agnes Hospital, directly next to. Which is no longer there now, Cardinal Gibbons High School, where Babe Ruth played his ball.

[Dan Soder]

So where are you at now?

[Ryan Sickler]

Demolished the school, had a statue. I'm in there. Demolished the school. Really gone now. Yeah. I had no idea.

[Dan Soder]

He's from Baltimore.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. So Babe Ruse from Baltimore, center field of Camden Yards. Shout out.

[Dan Soder]

One of the most classic ballparks in major league baseball.

[Ryan Sickler]

His dad used to have a pub called Bambino's Pub in. In that area. And there's a little thing in there for it. And I think there's a bar out behind it now called Bambino.

[Dan Soder]

Why does that make me feel so good to know that family members of athletes back then were exploiting them too?

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, doesn't it make sense why he's probably was an alcoholic too.

[Dan Soder]

Did you ever follow his diet? No. Did you see what he did? Can you bring up it? Is it. It's uncomfortable? It doesn't sound. It doesn't sound like a lot of those diets to go like can you believe you consumed that and you're like, yeah, that's crazy if he did.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then he's going out performing like

[Dan Soder]

that dude, he's a pitcher and a hitter. I was saying Shohei Otani is the closest we got.

[Ryan Sickler]

So I say it all the time too. Go ahead.

[Dan Soder]

This is what the Internet says. Babe Ruth was known for his legendary appetite, unconventional diet. Here's a glimpse into his typical daily intake. Again, this is off the Internet daily. Always have to take this with a grain of salt. It might not be true. Breakfast. Breakfast. Pint of whiskey mixed with ginger ale.

[Ryan Sickler]

Wait, that's how it starts.

[Dan Soder]

So it starts.

[Ryan Sickler]

A pint.

[Dan Soder]

A pint for breakfast. That does me in. I have a pint and a couple breaths of air.

[Ryan Sickler]

You think you could hit a 90 mile an hour fastball even eight hours later?

[Dan Soder]

Maybe that's the trick though.

[Ryan Sickler]

Maybe.

[Dan Soder]

Maybe it slows down, makes that ball a beach ball. Pint of whiskey mixed with ginger Ale for the stomach, a steak, four fried eggs, fried potatoes, and a pot of coffee to balance out that whiskey.

[Ryan Sickler]

The liquid amount alone would make me sick.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, dude, I'm good all day.

[Ryan Sickler]

Put them out alone.

[Dan Soder]

Lunch. We're at lunch. That was just breakfast. That was at 8am this is four hours later. Two porterhouse steaks, two heads of lettuce with blue cheese dressing, and two platefuls of fried potatoes. Afternoon snack snack, four hot dogs and four Coca Colas. A hot dog and a Coke.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're not even at batting practice.

[Dan Soder]

He's not even at the stadium.

[Ryan Sickler]

He's on his way.

[Dan Soder]

He hasn't put on his weird socks yet and his fucking wool baseball uniform. Dinner, same as lunch. Just to remind you. That's two porterhouse steaks, two heads of lettuce with blue cheese dressing and two platefuls of fried potatoes. That's. You run that back twice. Late night snack, four hot dogs and four Coca Colas. That feels AI. Other dietary habits. Reportedly consumed over 10 calories. Enjoyed sweets, including chocolate, ice cream and apple pie. Drank large amounts of beer and whiskey. Smoked cigarettes heavily. Babe Ruth ruled. All these guys now are on like different kind of like probiotics and all this stuff, baby.

[Ryan Sickler]

If that's real, they should pay one athlete to do that and see what their numbers are at the end of the season.

[Dan Soder]

You still think you can hit.284? Yeah, that's great. They should make sh do that.

[Ryan Sickler]

They should make sure the only guy that could do it.

[Dan Soder]

They go. They go show. Hey. 10 Ks, three home runs in the NLCS.

[Ryan Sickler]

You throw up on the mound. I couldn't move it.

[Dan Soder]

His. His interpreter would be like, Mr. Otani say you want him to eat the same as a baby roof. Yes, we want him to live by that diet and play baseball. He says, that is impossible, dude. Trying to do that and then go against. But also, I don't think I could

[Ryan Sickler]

do that on a food competition day.

[Dan Soder]

No, that's like man versus food. Fried eggs in fried potatoes is enough for me for most of the day, let alone a steak, a pot of coffee. How much was Babe Ruth pissing?

[Ryan Sickler]

And the Cokes and the call. And the whiskey too. Don't forget the pint of whiskey.

[Dan Soder]

You're putting cigarettes on breakfast and nothing

[Ryan Sickler]

the rest of the day.

[Dan Soder]

That sounds like his blood was like tree sack. I tell you, that's crazy. Oh, the. He was over.

[Ryan Sickler]

No way. A man like that.

[Dan Soder]

That's like 250 plus inflation. That's like a 20, 25, 480. There's no 215. That's.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's a high school kid today.

[Dan Soder]

Borderline. That's like no 215. There's no way he weighed 215 or that's what the caloric intake of real food was. This is before they made science food. So it actually was beef. It really was.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

They go now that it really is hard to gain weight now. You don't understand that all that happened. I was there with the babe. Babe, can I have an egg? No. If you're hungry around the babe and you're like, dude, this is ridiculous. The four hot dogs, four cokes is legitimately enough for a day for me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. All that syrup and sugar just fill you. Oh, God.

[Dan Soder]

And then him just juicy.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then shot and play ball.

[Dan Soder]

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[Ryan Sickler]

Look, that man right there is not £215.

[Dan Soder]

That's £250.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to say 280.

[Dan Soder]

Look at that. That's a big boy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Big boy.

[Dan Soder]

And also, let's be real, no disrespect, the pitching back then was weak, as you're throwing like 89, but it's hanging over home plate, I imagine. What if you sent Vlad Guerrero Jr. Back to the, like when he was playing? When Was that? The 20s?

[Ryan Sickler]

Vlad Grail Jr. 100 home runs.

[Dan Soder]

I can't believe this. This man's superhuman. Jesus Christ. What are we doing? Oh, my God, I'm so nervous. That's like that old Shane joke where he was like, they were so good at baseball. They knocked that accent off us. Holy. It's my favorite turn when Shane goes from doing that voice to going, holy. See how far he hit that? Yeah, dude. They were like, that's crazy. Just to sit there and to consume that much. I mean, you guys had a guy that. I love that. I just watched a 30 for 30 about Tony Saragusa.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And he was kind of a little bit like that. The Goose was like.

[Ryan Sickler]

He was a throwback for sure.

[Dan Soder]

Eat a sandwich, drink a big soda, and then go beat the out of people.

[Ryan Sickler]

He had my favorite line. It was the year. It was 2000, when we had the greatest defense in the history of defense.

[Dan Soder]

People in Chicago are getting real mad at you right now.

[Ryan Sickler]

All they want to. We get 165 points in the regular season and only one touchdown in all the postseason. That touchdown scored in the super bowl was a kick return. Special teams, not the defense.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, yeah. Cause I mean, I just watched that 30 for 30 and they go over it and it's funny watching Ray Lewis before Goose died, and it's like him and Goose talking, and they're like, man, that t fat. That was. Was that Marvin Lewis was your d.

[Ryan Sickler]

Coordinator Bill Belichick in the middle, it

[Dan Soder]

was, how bad does it suck to be Brian Billick? And you have a name close to Belichick.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, also that. And remember, he was the offensive guru in Minnesota with Culpepper, Randy Moss, and. And. Oh, come on. Ryan said, carter, Moss, Carter, Moss, Carter, and Dante Culpepper. And all they did was throw the ball. And now he's coming to a team where he's like, I can't do. We didn't score a touchdown for. We didn't score for a touchdown for three. Five games and still won, like, two of them off rd. Like, that's stupid.

[Dan Soder]

Shout out. Trent Dilfer.

[Ryan Sickler]

But Goose, he. During the AFC championship against the Raiders, he tackled Rich Gannon, and they accused him of, you know, putting all his body weight on him, popping down on that shoulder, and it took Gannon out of the game. And then we ended up beating him. They scored three points.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And he was crying about it later. And then they interviewed Goose about it and said, did you hear that stuff Gannon saying about it? He said, you know what? You don't know what my wife said. She said, what's he complaining about? I take that weight twice a week.

[Dan Soder]

That's great. That is great. That is great. Where is that, dude? Where is. We need funny players.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Here's the problem is we don't have. There are some guys that are kind of funny, but those are like, we need to, like, there's no character. How you doing, kid?

[Ryan Sickler]

There's no characters anymore.

[Dan Soder]

There seemed to be a lot more of that, but that's also us getting old.

[Ryan Sickler]

It is, but I also think the league is like, watch what you say. Watch what you do.

[Dan Soder]

A lot of podcasts now.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes.

[Dan Soder]

So people are like, anything can ruin

[Ryan Sickler]

you now for those guys.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

But we had him and Sam Adams. He was a throwback for sure. Goose, and, like, he's a guy that would drink a bunch of beer. And the guy before, like, a radio

[Dan Soder]

show where you're just getting hammered. In Baltimore, those guys used to have local radio shows before podcasts, before they could get money, before everybody knew a way to sell somebody money. Or before draft gambling apps were paying every athlete to start a podcast. They had to do, like, local radio. And they had to be like. But some guys, like Goose flourished.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's right.

[Dan Soder]

Because they would have a radio guy with them. So they'd go, like, all right, we're back. And we're live at fucking Dirty Denny's Segura. You know, the Goose is Here, Tom's. And then he'd be funny, and then the radio guy would handle it, telling you.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, we had a guy like him before on the Colts, too, named Art Donovan. You remember Artie Donovan? No, dude, number 70. Art Donovan was Goose. Before Goose. It was that guy, the big dude. That. And he was the greatest storyteller. Letterman would have him on all the time.

[Dan Soder]

Really?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. Letterman loved Art Donovan because.

[Dan Soder]

Was he a boxer? Was he in a bunch of movies?

[Ryan Sickler]

He was not a boxer. He's from Brooklyn originally. But he was a Baltimore cult hall of Famer.

[Dan Soder]

All right, I'm trying to think of the guy from Texas with the mustache. That was the boyfriend.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah. Randall Tex Cobb. Yes. Yeah. No, not him.

[Dan Soder]

Okay. This Letterman always had random tough guys on and.

[Ryan Sickler]

And already was, for sure. But he was a great. Like, you listen to him tell us. He was just a phenomenal storyteller, and Letterman loved it. He could sit and listen to him all night. So I was lucky. Our varsity club, senior year, we had our little whatever party or something at his. Art Donovan's country club. And he came and spoke, and he didn't give a. That we were 17 or whatever. He's this and that. He's telling old stories.

[Dan Soder]

You know what's better than boys? Nothing. And if you're into. Well, that's just fine. I'm okay. I'll grow to agree with it.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's guys and girls in there. But he would drink a case of beer just like Babe Ruth a day. Yeah, that was his thing. He's one of those guys and not get up.

[Dan Soder]

I know.

[Ryan Sickler]

I drink a case of it a day. But he was built. You're not built like that. He's built like.

[Dan Soder]

You know what it is, though? It really is. Like, we go. Their mental health was so bad, they were doing this. Everybody was a pre. Their. Their sexual oppression, blah, blah, blah. And you go. They also were having three martinis at lunch and coming back and flying through that afternoon block. They didn't have phones to sit and scroll. They sat there smoking cigarettes, going, like, we'll do a merger. I'm pretty banged up. The guys would just get drunk at lunch.

[Ryan Sickler]

But he was great. So he's a Hall of Famer. And I. I like to get little mini helmet autographs.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, those are awesome.

[Ryan Sickler]

So he would sit. You got one up there?

[Dan Soder]

I got 901 up there.

[Ryan Sickler]

He would sit in a local bar right outside the stadium every game. So before a game one time I went in, went to the back, saw him. He signed the helmet for me. Talked to him for a little bit, and then I went over to the game like, that's. Those guys are gone.

[Dan Soder]

I'll tell you right now.

[Ryan Sickler]

These guys are gone.

[Dan Soder]

How great of a life that is. If I did comedy until I was, like, 60 and then I just, like, hung outside of comedy clubs selling tickets, signing ticket stubs, people buying your drinks. I know. Thank you very much. Yeah, I was a real. Yeah, real silly guy back then. Enjoyed the show. And then if I open, like, Dan's. Dan's. Laughs and I just went, like. Like to restaurants and shook hands. Yeah, I would do the retired athlete thing. I'd open a car dealership if I was popular enough.

[Ryan Sickler]

You want to know what I want to do?

[Dan Soder]

We got to get out, people got to get out of comedy and open up restaurants.

[Ryan Sickler]

I want to be a bench coach, a baseball bench coach for, like, a high school semi. Pros, bro.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

I just want to sit there, eat my sunflower back and forth, ask them some, and then be like, all right, let me get out. Yell at an umpire or something.

[Dan Soder]

I want to talk about a swing being too low and have a. Just a barrel, a double bubble behind me, just with a large way.

[Ryan Sickler]

You hustle a lot of that. You know what I mean?

[Dan Soder]

Spitting too much. Where you go, there's no spit left in his mouth. Yeah, I'll.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'll manage if, like, the manager gets thrown out of the game. You know, that kind of. I'm like, you guys are on your own, man.

[Dan Soder]

What I love. Katie loves baseball. It's like, her favorite sport. So we watch, like, she's gotten me back into it big time. Like, big time. We watch day baseball. I'm sad it's ending with the World Series. I'm, like, sad it's ending, but I watch that, and I go, I would love that. Just a giant cheek, a cha mixed with double bubble and just spitting. Talking to my friends going, what the was that? Like, if list came back to the dugout and I go, what are you swinging at that? What is that? You're better than that. That premise has got nothing on it. What are you doing? Or he smokes one and you, like, do a high five. Want a punchline? Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I would love to get a crown put on me after I come

[Dan Soder]

off a sword with notebooks stacked on it like one of those turnover swords. You're like, dude, sport, culture, and comedy, great.

[Ryan Sickler]

It would change everything.

[Dan Soder]

All the ones that are just clout chasing, you go, I do a joke. Yeah, I loved it.

[Ryan Sickler]

So much as a kid, I would take a piece of bread, right? I take, like, a piece of wonder bread, and I put it in the microwave for like, 10 seconds just to

[Dan Soder]

get it warm and the out of it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Then I was. Then I would feel the pasta of it, and I'd roll it up and I. That's what I would put in my mouth as you. Yeah, because bread will stay in there all day long.

[Dan Soder]

What?

[Ryan Sickler]

Staying there all day long, man. I'm not. My dad gave me tobacco.

[Dan Soder]

Did you.

[Ryan Sickler]

Have you ever done snuff or tobacco? You've done it.

[Dan Soder]

I mean, I dipped. I dipped when I was in high school when I played football. I do. Because I smoked cigarettes already by then. And so I was addicted to Nick.

[Ryan Sickler]

Never accidentally sipped a dipper.

[Dan Soder]

Dude. The worst was we played Grand Junction Central, which is on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. It was my junior year, and I was like backup outside linebacker, kickoff team, special teamer, and backup will backer. So we, like. It's a trip. We, like, have to drive through the mountains. You have to drive through the Rockies. But I was dipping, and I had, like, three cans of Kodiak. And then I. And we're in the hotel the night before, and I had a Powerade bottle. It was like, watch tv. And I was dipping. And our coach, Coach Anderson, came into the hotel room, and I was like. And I just, like, held it to my lips or I'd go like. Like, fake drink it, but it was spit. So I'm like. Like when he was just in the peripheral, so he was like, oh, sort of's drinking his drink. I'd be like. Like that or whatever. But then he was talking to me for a while, and I had a mini dip in. So you could. I probably knew. And then, like, after a while, I was like, huh? And he walked out, and it was just like a giant. I didn't like. It was. It was hot. Nate dipped. Nate and Shane are my two friends that dipped the longest. Where, like, I would get into a car, Nate would have, like, a Diamond Mountain Dew bottle. Like, he'd be like, where's your spots at tonight? And be like. Like that. Or Shane on the road, he'd, like, pack a lip.

[Ryan Sickler]

Snapple was the one everybody used in my day with a live mouth.

[Dan Soder]

Great. My friend's mom drank his spit. My buddies. Oh, my buddy's older brother Andy used to dip, and he put it in a Mountain Dew can that. He did it, and it was heavy, and it was on his thing, and she was like, vacuuming his room. And she. Oh, sip of it. And she threw up. It, like, caused a problem, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

My dad gave it to me.

[Dan Soder]

Young dip. Yeah. What kind of dip?

[Ryan Sickler]

Copenhagen. So we had. I would do. This is how dumb it was. I would do a skull band at the pouch.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

I would have some either Hawking or

[Dan Soder]

Kodiak Cody shout out. It had fiberglass in it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

I don't know. A lot of people knew that it had a little fiber. Like, that's how you give you a little cut.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Put it in your bloodstream.

[Ryan Sickler]

100.

[Dan Soder]

Oh.

[Ryan Sickler]

And I was like, how old are you? I mean, we're in elementary school.

[Dan Soder]

That is way too early elementary school. I was gonna give him a pass if it was middle school, but here, why? If we're being honest with each other, I genuinely regret not learning another language. I genuinely think I should have. Should know two to three languages. I think the world would be a much better place if you knew what other people were saying instead of relying on interpreters or captions. Try it out with Babbel. Babbel is all about small steps, big wins and progress that you can track and feel. They do, like, little tiny lessons. You can fit them right in. Easy to remember, just 10 minutes a day. It's the only way that I was like, maybe I'll start learning Spanish because I should know it. I've worked in restaurants since I was 14. All I know is, like, kitchen Spanish, which is just the curse words that my friends have taught me. Probably not in good faith. Probably just being like, this giant wero will go out there and curse. But how about I actually start learning Spanish Because Babbel lets you practice real life conversation. Step by step, no stress. Gonna build the confidence to speak up. And then, you know, finally maybe learn, you know, more progressively. But I'm saying, make fast lasting progress. Battle. They backed it with science. People much smarter than me were like, this is probably the right way to learn a foreign language. And you're like, yeah, this is. I'm stupid. I need it to be laid out. But here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get 55% off your Babel subscription at babel.com forward/soder. Get up to 55 off at babel.com forward slash Soder, spelled B, A, B, B, E, L.com forward slash. Spanish rules and restrictions may apply.

[Ryan Sickler]

I got so sick from it, Obviously, immediately I'm diarrhea. I'm throwing up all this. And I'm like, why would you give that to Us. And he's like, that's why. So he told me, he said, I watched my uncle one time, his uncle used to chew red man with a plug.

[Dan Soder]

So red. Red is ch. So you put a pl. Do is the more you chew on it, the more juice, tobacco juice it squeezes out. Those are the guys that get the big spits.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Cuz they're. When it's cha. You're like. And they. A lot of times in the major leagues in baseball, beach nut, they'll do beach nut or they'll do red man mixed with bubble gum. And they're the. And the MLB is trying to stop that. But you could see dude like Rafy D. Rafy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, does he mixes it? He still does.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, he's on the Giants now.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

When I see a new guy on the Giants, I go, rafy's got a cheek in. But I'll be like, it'll spit like six times. And you're like, well, that's chalk. There's only something that can produce that much liquid.

[Ryan Sickler]

But he watched his uncle fall asleep in a chair and swallow it.

[Dan Soder]

Ah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And he said he just puked everywhere and everything. And then he's. Then he's like, I did this. And it made me sick to this day, the smell of it.

[Dan Soder]

So you never went back after?

[Ryan Sickler]

Never. It worked. My brother didn't either. I mean, I was like. I mean as a father now my daughter's 11, she's in fifth grade. I can't imagine giving my kid dip.

[Dan Soder]

Make her throw up.

[Ryan Sickler]

But it worked. I can't stand winter fresh or any of that anymore.

[Dan Soder]

My mom was gonna make me do the. When she caught me smoking, she was gonna make me do the pack of cigarettes thing. But I didn't have a pack on me. Kept it outside in the garden.

[Ryan Sickler]

Where you smoke a whole pack?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. In front of her to like make me sick. But she was like, where are your cigarettes? I was like, I don't have any on me. I did. They were in the back in a. In an Eminem Minis container in the rocks to the left of the porch. You missed it, you stupid mom. But that would have me up because my friend had to do it. He still smoked. I loved smoking, dude. The second I started smoking, I was like this.

[Ryan Sickler]

I could never do it. I could take a three foot bong hit, but I can't take a little of a. Of a cigarette. It will. Not only will it me up, I'll feel it the next day. I'll feel it in my skin, my Lungs.

[Dan Soder]

I could have a cigarette burning in my corner. Look. I could look back in the day, smoke. Get my eye, my nose, take it out. That looks good. All right.

[Ryan Sickler]

That was my little leak.

[Dan Soder]

I loved it, dude. I put a cigarette in. Let it bounce a little bit while you're talking.

[Ryan Sickler]

If I could smoke a joint and coach Little League, I would do it all day long.

[Dan Soder]

Shout out my friend Johnny's dad, Johnny Senior. Who is the man? Black dude with a rat tail.

[Ryan Sickler]

Nah, guy rules.

[Dan Soder]

Had a cool ass voice, too. Johnny's dad was the man with a rat tail. And he was. He'd be like, johnny, the way you talk. But he was a Little League coach. Johnny was a nasty athlete. He was my friend from, like, kindergarten. He was like, nasty. Any sport he played, they talked him into playing football. Freshman year, he was on varsity, like by sophomore year, starting, like they.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like that kid. That kid, he could flip too, couldn't he? Was he a kid in your school? He could do a flip?

[Dan Soder]

I'm pretty sure he could. But he was modest, so he. I don't think he would, like. He'd get embarrassed if you're like, Johnny, he's. You just. But he'd ball out. But he was incredible. Baseball, soccer, basketball, football, anything he played, he was great. Yet. But his dad was a Little League coach in the Little League, whatever. They were the Royals, I think. And we were on. I was on the Reds. But I would watch. I was friends with Johnny. So, like, if we were playing at different times and I'd go watch his game, his dad would be on the chain link fence with a Newport outside coaching the team. Johnny, Johnny, you better swing at that. And then he'd be smoking. I was like, dude, Johnny's in your

[Ryan Sickler]

room coaching from just the other side of the chain. I don't want the smoke getting in there.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, not for the kids. And you come back here. But I remember him leaning against the fence watching Johnny just rip a triple the left. It was awesome, dude. Dad's like that. That just smoked and didn't give a coach 100.

[Ryan Sickler]

We had a guy named Al, we were the Braves. And he would smoke during the games, during practice, and he would get down to show you how to bunt. I would still laugh at this all the time. He's showing you how to bump. But the cigarettes right here, he's bouncing and it's, you know, the smoke's burning your eyes and you're like. And he's like, what's going? Why can't you see? I'm like, Cuz you're so. Cigarette is burning my eyes, dude. He get around you and stuff. Never take it out. He wouldn't put it down.

[Dan Soder]

He's like, even offended if he does. He goes, fine for your allergies. And you go, you're burning my eyes. You're going to r. Yeah, dude. They. My dad would like, smoke. My dad would smoke a cigarette on the. He worked at a liquor store in Mill Valley and we. My grandma lived in Greenbra, so we'd have to drive every morning like 6am to go to it. And he'd get in the car and light up a cigarette and he wouldn't roll down the window for like a minute. Like, he'd be like, a couple things. And I would be like. And he'd be like, oh, yeah. And you're like, oh, I'm sorry, is my fucking clean lungs a problem for you?

[Ryan Sickler]

Also, this tells me that when you do this by yourself, you don't roll the windows down.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, he lives a month. I mean, that boy. That boy Gary lived quick and loose. But I think everyone did back then. Everybody.

[Ryan Sickler]

My Aunt Marguerite didn't give a. We get in the station wagon. It's my dad, my grandma, my three brothers. She gets in. She doesn't ask. Ask.

[Dan Soder]

No, just.

[Ryan Sickler]

She's lighting up back there. You don't ask nothing.

[Dan Soder]

Light up.

[Ryan Sickler]

She had the little case, the little leather one with the thing that would go like this, you know, and you undo it. And she had our little. And we're like, I'm sitting next to you, right?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. Restaurants, restaurants, smoking or non smoking people. But can you believe these non smokers?

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm old enough that people smoked on planes. It blowed. That one blows me away.

[Dan Soder]

It still blows my mind.

[Ryan Sickler]

That blows me. When you're on a tube and there's a smoking section.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, they call it. Do you know that Bruce Pritchard, the Brother Love from wwf, tells the story of. That's how they got the character of the Million dollar man, Ted DiBiase.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you mean?

[Dan Soder]

Vince McMahon was on a flight and a guy a couple rows behind him was smoking a cigarette. And Vince McMahon went, hey, can you put that cigarette out? And the guy was like, nah, man. He's like, how about a hundred dollars? And the guy's like, no. He's like, how about 200? The guy's like, I'm good, man. He's in first class. He's like, I'm good. And then Vince, like, kept giving money until the guy was like, all right. And just put Out a cigarette.

[Ryan Sickler]

Everybody's got a price then.

[Dan Soder]

Everybody's got a price. I think that's what Vince said to Bruce. And they made the Million Dollar Man. Everybody's got a price for the Million Dollar Man. And it turns out he was right. He's just a Billion dollar man now. He just changed that. And it still works. Character still works. Except now he's got to be a snarky nerd that's on steroids, man.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm. I grew up watching wrestling too. I still watch it. I go back. Listen, I love. Just the other night I went on. I go to a lot of YouTube now. 2. 2 things I've done. The other night, I went and watched a super cut of all the general lead jumps.

[Dan Soder]

Great. From Dukes of Hat.

[Ryan Sickler]

Just the jumps great. Nothing else great. Just jump after jump of the. Of that charger.

[Dan Soder]

Great.

[Ryan Sickler]

One after the other. It's fantastic. It's like 20 minute super cut of just one after the other. And every now and then a little whale and I'll get in there. We'll be right back. Now it'll get a little one in there. But every now and then it really

[Dan Soder]

is a cum shot compilation.

[Ryan Sickler]

So great. It's a. I was just. I was like, somebody had to put this.

[Dan Soder]

You go, look at that hill. He's about to bust. Yeah. You go ball the general E. Bo. He's buzzing in the air.

[Ryan Sickler]

So I watched that and I watched. And it's shorter than I remember it being. Hogan beat the chic for the belt.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, that's quick. Msg. They put the belt on it.

[Ryan Sickler]

I remember it.

[Dan Soder]

They knew they were going to launch Hogan pretty quick.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

And Shiki was like a good. He took the belt off Backlin. That was the problem. How do you get the belt off Bob Backlin and put it on Hulk Hogan? You have the iron chic. Do it. And Iran people did not like at the time.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. So I was really into the history of that, too. So I found out Bob Backlin wouldn't give that belt up to anybody.

[Dan Soder]

He was a legit tough guy.

[Ryan Sickler]

That wasn't a real wrestler. When they brought the chic in, they're like, I mean, wasn't he a bodyguard for like. He was.

[Dan Soder]

She went to the Olympics.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what they said. Backlin had no problem handing it over to him. But it wasn't gonna be like a yahoo.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. That was the end of the. That was the end of the real tough guy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Where they kind of like, if you had the belt and you were out at night at a bar, someone might test you. And if you lose that belt, you're not.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah. The Bruno San Martinos and back.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. They would go to bars, and guys would be like, oh, you're the heavyweight champ. I'm gonna test you. And if they. And if they would have to beat the. Out of guys. That's why they say the most dangerous guy that ever wrestled was Haku, who was.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right?

[Dan Soder]

Yeah, they said he would.

[Ryan Sickler]

He was like a street fighter.

[Dan Soder]

He would, like, look for it. He would, like. He would go to bars. Like hotel bars.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Yes.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

But he was just a. And he's like, he's great. His sons are in the WWE right now, Tongaloa and Tama Tonga. But they're. Dude, they talk about Haku like you. You want to. Around. Haku will beat your ass.

[Ryan Sickler]

We talk about all the time. We were supposed to go see my brother and I got in trouble. To this day, again, I don't know what we did, but we were supposed to go see Andre the Giant wrestle Killer Khan in a steel cage at the Baltimore Civic Center.

[Dan Soder]

Great.

[Ryan Sickler]

And we did something.

[Dan Soder]

You want to talk about smoking inside?

[Ryan Sickler]

And my dad said, we're not going. And we're like, whatever. Dad's gonna let us go. He's like, you go inside, you sit in that chair. You go inside, you sit in that chair. And we sat there all day.

[Dan Soder]

No, we kept thinking, like, he's gonna

[Ryan Sickler]

do it, because he always would. That time he did.

[Dan Soder]

Oh, no.

[Ryan Sickler]

But were you going to see other ones at that time? He didn't do it. And they also. One time. And I had to look it up because I couldn't remember if I made this up or not. But they. When I was a kid, the high school I eventually went to, they came and wrestled at the high school. And then we look it up, and I guess they did go and they did. It was in. On the Internet. But I guess they would do these exhibitions, like Snuka and Snooka was there. Jimmy supervised that.

[Dan Soder]

What's interesting about wrestling is it's very similar to comedy and it's very similar to pro football. What we've been talking about was there was a time when it wasn't profitable where you had to do it because you were doing it because, like, it was like, a little clickish. It was. It was like a weird thing. Like, I try to explain to younger comedians now, guys in their early 20s and that when I started doing comedy, you were almost ashamed to tell people. You were like, I do Stand up comedy. And people be like, what? And now you go like, I do stand up comedy. And they go, so do I. And I also blog and I write.

[Ryan Sickler]

And you go, I'm the reason you didn't get that weekend

[Dan Soder]

because I review soaps with my poodle. But that's what wrestling would be like.

[Ryan Sickler]

And a little like, you're taking the gig wherever then.

[Dan Soder]

But they're working the road. They're doing it for five bucks a night. They're just wrestling whenever they can wrestle because they just want to do this.

[Ryan Sickler]

So some promoter was out there being like, we'll find high school. We'll do whatever.

[Dan Soder]

And also if you play football, at the time it was like in Paper Lions, the George Plimpton book. But the guy that was the dad in Webster, forget what his name.

[Ryan Sickler]

George Papadopoulos.

[Dan Soder]

George Papadopoulos.

[Ryan Sickler]

Papadopoulos.

[Dan Soder]

He would Vikings, Lions, Lions. Because he was in Paper Lions. He would go wrestle in the off season because that's what they were doing. And so then these guys. What's interesting about it is wrestlers became possessive of it the way comedians did back. We're going through what wrestlers went through. They're still kind of going through it. Because you got a guy like Logan Paul who's unbelievable in the ring, but didn't come the the right way, didn't come up the right way. And you got people struggling with that, which there are guys that are like streamers and then they're funny and they can do stand up. If it works, it works. But they were like, really protect. Because they used to have to go do high school gyms the way we

[Ryan Sickler]

had to do after prom shows on American Legions. And American Legions, dude.

[Dan Soder]

But that's same with us.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like, I remember I was on bowling alleys. American Legions. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

Someone. I forget who we were hanging out with, but we were at a show and Katie was with. With me and someone was like soda. And I used to do after problems and Katie's like, the. Is an after prom.

[Ryan Sickler]

I never heard this. You would go do that at a prom?

[Dan Soder]

Well, dude, it's. It's a New York thing. I didn't say.

[Ryan Sickler]

I've never even heard that from anyone.

[Dan Soder]

So what would happen is Caroline's. This I knew specifically of Caroline's back when it was in Times Square. High schoolers would hire them to do an after prom comedy show. So at one in the morning there would be a comedy show with like me, Joe List, Aaron Berg and a couple like whoever was Caroline's or at the Caroline.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay, okay.

[Dan Soder]

And These kids would come in and they get sodas. Their after part, it was horrible. All these kids wanted to do was finger and jerk each other off. And then we're sitting there going, like, dating. Am I right? So I used to get blackout drunk, and then I would do it like it was like a DARE speech. Caroline's would pay you. They'd pay you, like, maybe a hundred bucks. And you'd go on at like 2:45 in the morning. So I wasn't stopping my drinking for some pip squeak. So I would get drunk. I remember buying at the Duane Reade across the street, from which I think it's still there in Times Square. I'd go buy two Corona 40s because they would close by the time I'd be done. And I'd go to that green room, I'd smoke inside, and I'd drink those 40s. And then I'd come game Alcoholic intake before and after prom. And I go up there and I go, you guys don't. You don't know. I remember doing my Russian joke one time. This girl goes, that's racist. And I was like, shut the up.

[Ryan Sickler]

You just said there, dude, you made me have a flashback. So I remember when DARE came to our high school. I graduate 91, so this would have been 90 because there's a year ahead.

[Dan Soder]

They went to the high school.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, they came to our high school.

[Dan Soder]

That's too late.

[Ryan Sickler]

Came to.

[Dan Soder]

You gotta get them in elementary school.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like, well, I'm. I'm 52. Dare. I don't know when Dare came about, but this would have been late 80s, because I'm telling you, early 90s.

[Dan Soder]

Early 90s. I'm in fifth grade, around 92, 93.

[Ryan Sickler]

Coming to my high school.

[Dan Soder]

But they're coming to my elementary school because they're testing it in the waters to see who responds the best. High school. I would have by the time. If they would have came to my high school, I would have been like.

[Ryan Sickler]

So they sent a tray to pass around the auditorium with, like, fake drugs. What pills? And look like glued to the thing in Baltimore. This is this point. We're out in Carroll county, okay? The tray goes back up. Somebody put a joint on it. It went back with more drugs. This cop was pissed. It went back to him with more drugs on it. Like, there's your therapy.

[Dan Soder]

As he's getting it, he goes, pretty. Pretty intense stuff. Who put that in there? Who put that in there?

[Ryan Sickler]

Shot. Will never forget that. I was like, that's ballsy.

[Dan Soder]

Who the put that in there? Smelling that joint. Sons of also, I need to talk to you after.

[Ryan Sickler]

His whole. I won't forget this either. His whole Scared Straight speech. So they would take. This is right before prom. So they would take a car that they said was kids died in from drinking, driving. They would throw that right on the lawn at the front of the school. You know, you drive by and that. It's like, three kids died in that car, drinking and driving for prom. You're like, what? My buddy at the junkyard gave you all that.

[Dan Soder]

So funny. That's such an east coast thing where they go. My dad works at the junkyard.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's where I grew up, in a junkyard. That's where I got this car right here. My buddy's dad owned the junkyard. So we grew up in this junkyard. But the other thing they would do, too, this guy, he came in and he gave a whole speech about how a drunk driver hit him on duty and he was in such peril that. That if they put him with. They gave him any kind of pain meds or put him out, they were afraid he wasn't going to wake up. He tells this whole horrific story about the surgery he has to have with no medication. State trooper. Yeah.

[Dan Soder]

What are you, in the Civil War?

[Ryan Sickler]

And we're all just like, what the. And then he passes the drugs around and it goes back up with one more. And he's just.

[Dan Soder]

That's so funny. I had to be awake during surgery. And you want to play jokes? It's so funny because my mom would, like. She worked in insurance all the time, so she'd talk about work, but she worked specifically in medical malpractice. So I would learn about, like, doctors and stuff and, like, what they were doing up. So if that would happen, I'd go, well, you can't find a decent anesthesiologist. Like, this guy's full of. I go, first off, no insured anesthesiologist. Not being able to put anyone out. That's the whole point of the thing. Yeah, dude. They always. They would make stuff up where they'd be like. And then they died. But I would go stay with my dad, who at the time I was in Dare, was living in. That was already. I was already up in Lake County. So I'm already watching that are, like, drinking and on death. And I'm going like, this ain't how it is at all. I prefer if he smoked weed. You'd be. Calm down.

[Ryan Sickler]

I tell him, look, after what happened to me in the hospital, which is what my Special is all about live and alive. Go watch it. The one thing they told me that I, because I was like, I guess it's the end of marijuana. And they're like, no. And I was like, oh, yeah, you guys are cancer doctors.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And they're like, so what they said, and I want to make this very clear, they put, I have to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life and everything. So they're like, look, you should stop drinking. You should just stop drinking anyway. And I wasn't a huge drinker. I'm the type of guy that could have a six pack in the fridge for months.

[Dan Soder]

God bless you.

[Ryan Sickler]

I know, but I'm not saying it like I'm better than anybody. I have smoked a small forest.

[Dan Soder]

Sure. Okay.

[Ryan Sickler]

I'm not. That's just the one that works for my body, works for my mind. But they said, we prefer you to smoke or ingest nothing. Obviously, we want you to always say

[Dan Soder]

we prefer for you not to ingest.

[Ryan Sickler]

And these were the cardiologists, the pulmonologist, everything. We prefer nothing. However, if you're going to take anything, cannabis is the thing that we recommend. Do not vape, do not take any tobacco products.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do not take anything with your blood and your lungs. And I'm like, they're like, you can smoke with the clots in your lungs. I'm like, what? Like, it's not going to make anything any worse. Cannabis is not going to make it worse again.

[Dan Soder]

You just up my intake.

[Ryan Sickler]

You shouldn't. And we don't want you to, bro.

[Dan Soder]

Come to my next episode. I go, sickler said, this is making me be surgeon said, stickler surgeon said that I won't have blood clots if I smoke this much weed. That's absolutely misappropriate. It is a thing where, like, I kind of realize when I do it too much. But man, oh man, the drinking stuff for me is like, I, I, it would have been fun to rip. It would have been fun to have Babe, Babe. Roots diet. You see that? And you go, but what's funny about living in 2025 is we look at that diet. We go, well, no, but in the 20s they go, well, if he's got the appetite for it, it must be healthy. No, Four hot dogs and four Cokes, you go, you fat fox.

[Ryan Sickler]

I think that's what I'm doing. I, I always joked about, like, if I make it into my 80s and stuff, I do want to try heroin. I do want to try these different things.

[Dan Soder]

But now the amount of friends I've lost because of it. Yes.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right. It's gotta be good.

[Dan Soder]

I'm gonna check in with it.

[Ryan Sickler]

But now I think I just want to eat myself into death.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And I mean, the.

[Dan Soder]

The sh.

[Ryan Sickler]

Like the sandwiches that are made out of pizza dough, and they just all the shot. That's where I'm going.

[Dan Soder]

Yeah. We'll be a drug. Oh, dude.

[Ryan Sickler]

And I'm Babe Ruth, and it's from my age into whatever.

[Dan Soder]

When I get indigestion, that's when I'll take the heroin. You have to understand, it's a. It's a little bit of a column, a little bit of column B. We put it all together. The special is out now on YouTube. Go watch it. Click pause on this. Then go watch Ryan Sickler's new special. Listen to the honeydew. Listen to the way back machine. You're the man. I hope you're Ravens turn it around. And if they fire Harbaugh, Zach Orr's

[Ryan Sickler]

got to go first. Our D coordinator's got to go first.

[Dan Soder]

And if maybe Harbaugh don't get fired mid season.

[Ryan Sickler]

All right, this is what. Let me just say this.

[Dan Soder]

He's done too much.

[Ryan Sickler]

The man has won us a Super bowl, and he's done too much. If he's gonna go, he deserves to go down with the ship.

[Dan Soder]

You're right.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's his job. Because also, what kind of message does that send to the next coach? Oh, here comes Dan Soder. Wait, I want to go coach for a team that. That guy did all that, and they just dumped him in the middle of one bad seat.

[Dan Soder]

Treat your man right, even if you

[Ryan Sickler]

don't treat him right. Let the go down with the ship. Yeah, and then we can build a new ship.

[Dan Soder]

Exactly. I think a lot of us need that advice in our regular life.

[Ryan Sickler]

There it is.

[Dan Soder]

But you rule, Sickler.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you, brother.

[Dan Soder]

Goodbye.