 Hey everybody, welcome back to another edition of Yes! We're Here! It's the Michael K&I and Eagle show. We're excited as we move forward to continue to talk to each other more than we have in our entire life. Michael, I want to be honest right out of the gate here. I'm wearing cologne for some reason. It was as if I was getting ready for a date. I have no idea why I put on cologne, but I wanted to smell my best for you. The beautiful thing is that with the genius of Zoom, I can actually smell you. The second part is I wasn't sure we were going to get past the pilot stage. We did our first episode. You don't know how people are going to react to it. So the question of episode two was very much a factor and somehow we graduated to the second episode. My dad was a comedic actor, stand-up comedian, musician, and he actually did pilot season in LA when I was a young kid. I was eight or nine years old and he appeared in two pilots that aired on network television. Neither got picked up, but I think to myself my life would have changed dramatically if either the Lorenzo music show who was Carlton the doorman in Rota. He was on that and there was another show called Return to Nempton with McLean Stevenson post-mash. Neither got picked up and I remained in Queens where I grew up in Forest Hills and we didn't move to Hollywood and my life would have been completely different. So that strikes a chord with me, pilot season. But it's interesting, I don't even know if you know it, but minutes after we recorded the pilot, network executives picked it up so run it was just amazing. So I'm pretty pleased. American network executives or just going to go international? Flip or the whole gang, they picked it up. People might not know that about your dad. Your dad was famous as the Xerox guy? Yeah, so he ended up having a lot of success in commercials. He ended up booking 50 commercials over the course of his career. The biggest one was the Xerox commercial where he played Brother Dominic. It's a miracle. He looked up to the sky. It was the first commercial that used a religious figure. So it was very groundbreaking. 1977 aired during the Super Bowl. He ended up winning a Clio award for it and they did a number of spots and eventually he worked for Xerox wearing the monk suit traveling around the country. Yes, this put me through college traveling around the country visiting Kinko's large corporations character and ended up doing in upwards of 200 appearances a year for Xerox over a long period of time. He appeared in many other commercials. Fliceman's margarine and he did, there was a suntan lotion and he did Samsonite, Gillette, Hunt's tomato ketchup. You name it. He went up for it. He booked it. He was on a hot streak for about five years or whatever he went up for. He got. So there's a step curry of commercials. He was the step curry before his time of commercials. Yes. Now because your dad did that part of the business, did you ever think about going into acting? I didn't think about going into acting but my dad was a stand-up comedian, Michael. My mom was a singer and she opened for him, did the borscht belt, concord, grossingers, Neville Falls view and there was a stretch of time. I was about six where I would do a little five minute act at the end of their act. Wow. Yeah. I did impressions. I would do Howard Cosell interviewing Muhammad Ali, WC fields. This was very topical humor and oftentimes did it in front of a thousand people at the concord and they would put me in a little handsome suit as they called it. I look back now and I wonder why it was a handsome suit. I'm not sure that I qualified as that handsome. I was cute but handsome maybe not and I did shtick for about five minutes. I did it for about four or five months and then I quit the business. It probably should have been an E true Hollywood story. Wow. But it turns out great. It really does because look at you. Your background is beautiful home, beautiful shells and I insist on everywhere I go. Which is odd. I mean it's a big ego thing with me but I carry it wherever I go. Yeah. I didn't even know your name before our interview and now it's plastered. The Michael K show. I did see something on the internet Michael and the internet has been a fun tool for all of us during these times. You narrating your son Charlie's home run in your home. Fantastic. Thank you. And the funny thing is that he I think I told you this on Monday. He has memorized all my calls like on YouTube and like he wants me to recreate them for him. And if I get one word wrong who go nope start again. But today we changed it up because that got such positive reaction people said takes our minds off stuff. Today I passed the baton to Callie and I had her make the call. Welcome back to Yankee Stadium after two and a half innings. No score leading off of the Yankees in the bottom of the third inning is Charlie K. And here for the play by play is Callie K. So we want to join up in the dynasties of the Alberts and the Eagles and the Brennamans and the Bucks. You know Callie might be next in the boot. I love it. Is Charlie a basketball fan or just a baseball guy. Well today for some reason out of the blue he picked up a bass boy said all right I want you to do the play by play of LeBron James Duncan. Whoa. And I said I'll have to talk to you because you know it's you or my brain that's going to do that. I can't. Well did you say greens think today. I did. I did. That was that was awesome. Mike who is a very close friend of yours and a very close friend of mine and just one of the best people in not just the industry but in the world did a little vignette for the NBA and he nailed it as usual with the perfect ender bang. Hey everyone man do I miss NBA basketball and I know you do too and I can't wait to get back to a packed arena where we watch our extraordinary players do extraordinary things. Well we have to play our role and I know you're tired of hearing this but wash your hands. I mean wash your hands 20 seconds lots of soap lather up and don't be touching your eyes your nose and your mouth but most importantly practice social distancing. It's not just some phrase it's our way of life right now and we have to practice it. So please do your part and we'll get back to doing what we love to do and that's watch NBA basketball and for me it's call NBA basketball NBA together. Bang but now you know I'm a doubtful person and I've known Mike over yeah over 40 years. Yeah I texted him I said there's no way that was one take there's no way and he because he's so honest because if it was me I would say oh yeah I nailed it. Yeah he said it was actually the second take the first take I hit the shot but I stumbled on a word and I just wanted to make it right. So for those that don't say telling you what you have to do wash your hands and then he turns around on a basketball court and hits like what would you say 15 footer. Yeah easy so it wasn't a layup and he says bang it was great. But kind of a humble brag that he would mention that he made the shot in the first take but stumbled on a word most would say I missed the shot I nailed the the voiced portion but Mike needed to make sure you knew that he made the shot. Well I would disagree with you on one thing it wasn't a humble brag it was a brag nothing humble about it it was there it was a brag really was. Now do you and your buddy play by play together in the house since you're. No no we haven't been doing it and to be honest I'd like to maybe get a shot out there if I only if you're comfortable with it. Could I do some play by play right now but I involve Charlie my son is older so to reenact something for him would would feel odd I think would actually appreciate it if you're cool with it. I'm very cool with it yeah. So you could loop in the video later. I have no idea but I'm sure Kevin's okay yeah all right here we go. Ten seconds left nets down by two Din Whitty to inbound gets it in for Charlie K K on the outside zigzag move oh beautiful fake by K he fires got it for three Charlie K puts the nets up by one and K is not human. I've heard that before that was great that was great he's gonna love that and now Kevin Sullivan has a lot of work out of him. You've got to send some video in that's that's really okay yeah because I'm really good at this stuff you saw how I was setting up to to do our second show the first one that's been picked up um what are you doing I mean how are you keeping your days busy? Michael I've really committed myself to to Russian literature really it's such a passion project no that's not true I just thought that would sound impressive I don't know anything about Russian literature I don't know much about American literature so we can maybe clip that and they can send that all around the internet right. Iron Eagle is heavily into Russian literature what have I been doing? Not a lot I will say that I've been married 27 years Michael 27 years this summer and I've had conversations over the last 10 days with my wife that I've never had before I don't know if this is happening in your household as well I've asked her questions that I never thought I would ever ask including how many squares did you use just now how many? This is going to ruin a lot of marriages this self-quarantine yeah it's like when baseball players say you know I want to retire to spend more time with my family and then their wives go we don't want you here. We like this setup for us and that's why you guys either return from retirement or end up becoming like near professional golfers that's for sure yeah now tomorrow iron was supposed to be opening day yeah and uh I was supposed to be in Baltimore and uh I'll tell you about opening day to me it sounds corny you always hear baseball announcer saying Kenny Singleton on opening day I was going to do the game with Kenny and David Cohn and Meredith and Kenny always walks up to people on opening day and goes happy new year because it has that feel to it yeah is the opener and basketball have that same feel? Yeah there's that that high school reunion feel to it where everybody's getting back together I had one moment at my high school reunion which was a bit humbling just as an aside I think it was my my 20 year reunion I want to say graduated high school in 1986 and certainly was in the workforce at this point doing football on television basketball on television and a variety of other roles and a gentleman came up to me at the high school reunion by the name of Jack Woo and I knew him in high school and he he said to me iron great to see you he said I got to tell you in high school everybody thought you were going to be a big star one day and I said oh Jack thank you thank you so much he says what do you do now? Now I have a similar story tell me so I went to Bronx science and we have a 25 year reunion and I was the inky announcer by then and so I walked in I wasn't the most popular kid in high school I had my group of friends but I wasn't like big man on campus by any stretch not not even close this guy walked up to me and he goes of all the people in our class you're the one that I had thought had the least chance and I shot back I said well of all the people in our senior class I knew you'd be an ass so I nailed it it was almost a brawl good times you want to give a name or we want to leave that anonymous he knows who he is so to answer your question yes when the NBA season starts there is that that feeling of anticipation and I think probably like you that sense of routine that you get into you juggle the daily radio show with the Yankee games and one doesn't feel complete without the other when you really get into the the thick of the season you understand better than anybody else how to handle it how to deal with your time commitments and the fact of the matter is you're not you're not dealing with that right now it's a very odd feeling I'm sure for you it's very odd it's very odd you know you almost feel like you know you don't have a full time job I just have one full time job I'm used to two and it's weird you know you do the radio show and usually I get off the radio show at 6 30 and then Don and Peter handle the last half hour and I went upstairs and I take the open and I do the game now I I go outside and I do fake play by play with Charlie so it's a little different it is a little bit different scary um did your son always want to be a broadcaster I would say it came to him probably 13 years old for me it was younger I was seven or eight when I really had an understanding of what I wanted to focus in on and was this after the handsome suit although I did wear it around the house occasionally it may need to talk to a psychiatrist about that but yeah I I knew early on and the best part for me Michael because my parents were in the entertainment field when I told them at an early age what my goals were they did not bat an eyelash I mentioned to them that I wanted to be a sportscaster at a very young age and both of them said to me well that's what you'll do there was no awesome moment of trepidation they empowered me to think that I could achieve it even at seven or eight years old so in my mind as I was growing up I just decided this is what I was going to do for a living even though I didn't really do anything about it until I got to college but the the seat had been planted that this was attainable because my parents were very open to it I never got the resistance that you've got to do something more conventional and it shows you how powerful that could be especially in your formative years when you don't know any better you're a ball of clay and I just felt at a young age that I had a confidence that I would be able to do it what about for you when did it that it hit you when I was nine years old I articulated to my mom and dad I wanted to be the announcer for the Yankees and you know they weren't in the entertainment business but they didn't say you can't do that yeah they said okay but make sure you have a fallback because there are so many people that want to do jobs like that make sure you study make sure you read so there's something else you can do in the business which is I still tell kids that ask me advice you know make sure you can write you can do you know you do advertising you can do PR stuff like that don't you put all your eggs in one basket because you might be unemployed I mean there are a lot of people that you know would really like to chloroform us and put us into a closet and take our jobs so these these are gold these jobs that we have we're very fortunate but dad parents that don't automatically say no way that's crazy because I didn't just say I wanted to be an announcer I narrowed it in I wanted to be the Yankee announcer yeah the brewer announcer wouldn't work the cardinal announcer it was the Yankee announcer so it had to be the right time and the right everything had to fall into order which it did but they never said don't don't do it which I think is really important and was your backup doing it for computers there weren't computers when I was not anyway we have to do our our public service announcement every time we end one of these shows and that's please wash your hands please stay home please do social distancing please don't ignore your wife by asking her how many squares all of these things are important and be vigilant it's one thing to say it it's another thing to do it what I found certainly using Purell and washing my hands more often than I ever have in my life it's become a conscious part of my day I never thought I would get to the point with with my marriage where I would ask my wife whether or not she was going to shower today that that never dawned on me that that would be part of our conversation but it has been and that's important say it out loud make sure that that you're on top of this because it's important right now and for us to get to where we want to be as a society we've we've got to be the best versions of ourselves right now and also to circle back just because we're in our homes and around our families do what I did today splash on a little cologne let's not get hurt anybody here by the chest that works yeah I and it's been it's been a blast as always I can't wait for the third episode of the series whoo I mean the ratings are are rising Michael I think we're gonna get picked up for for episode three yeah I'm excited thank you bye everybody see you