Jim Rome
Appearances
Shawn Ryan Show
#179 Paul Saladino - The FDA Approved Poison You Eat Every Day
Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because you're not playing me. With rapid fire takes. Y'all went from the Super Bowl straight to the toilet bowl. He's not over the NFL. The NFL is over him. Scorching debates. All the good, all the bad, all the ups, all the downs. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Sorry for what I said because it was appropriate when I said it, but I can't say it anymore, dude.
Shawn Ryan Show
#179 Paul Saladino - The FDA Approved Poison You Eat Every Day
You are killing the game. The Jim Rome Show podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
Shawn Ryan Show
#187 Doug Collins - United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
NBA veteran Jim Jackson takes you on the court. You get a chance to dig into my 14-year career in the NBA. And also get the input from the people that will be joining. Charles Barkley. I'm excited to be on your podcast, man. It's an honor. Spike Lee. Entrepreneur. Filmmaker. Academy Award winner. Knicks fans. Now you see. I got you.
Shawn Ryan Show
#187 Doug Collins - United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
But also how sports brings life, passion, music, all of this together. The Jim Jackson Show. Part of the Rich Eisen Podcast Network. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
Shawn Ryan Show
#180 Major James Capers Jr. - Vietnam Marine Commando Silver Star Recipient
Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because you're not playing me. With rapid fire takes. Y'all went from the Super Bowl straight to the toilet bowl. He's not over the NFL. The NFL is over him. Scorching debates. All the good, all the bad, all the ups, all the downs. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Sorry for what I said because it was appropriate when I said it, but I can't say it anymore, dude.
Shawn Ryan Show
#180 Major James Capers Jr. - Vietnam Marine Commando Silver Star Recipient
You are killing the game. The Jim Rome Show podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
Shawn Ryan Show
#180 Major James Capers Jr. - Vietnam Marine Commando Silver Star Recipient
Damn, I mean.
Shawn Ryan Show
#180 Major James Capers Jr. - Vietnam Marine Commando Silver Star Recipient
Yeah, kill them.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So it was that thing that you might have done construction. I tried to go into sales. I was terrible at that. I have had an immense gratitude for all of this ever since.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Thank you. Thank you. Who knows that I can even do this, but yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Pretty much. I was always a try hard. I was never exceptional at anything except effort. except effort. The only advantage I had, here's my advantage, I knew that I had no advantages. And don't get me wrong, I was an upper middle class kid, suburban kid from the valley in Los Angeles, from a family that owned a small business. I did not come up through the mud. Let's be real.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But what I did understand was that there was nothing significant about me. I knew nobody in the business, really. I knew one person. I knew nobody in the business. I did not play the game beyond tennis in high school. I never thought that I had a good voice or a good look. I didn't think that I was really physically imposing. Nothing special.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
about you nothing nothing you don't think anything as an entertainer a broadcasting talent there is nothing special about nothing but but i was alert so i got to school and i went to the radio station and i started to work and compete and i would see my peers and i'm like holy crap that dude is way better than me that guy is way better than me that gal is way sharper than me whoa whoa whoa whoa
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
i i think that they do know me listen here's the thing i i think that there was this misnomer that on the way up well first of all if we backtrack i've done this a very long time so on the way up there was this notion of man that's a bad guy that's a bad guy he's that he's this he's the other and i can remember when i first got into it and keep in mind this was way back before there was the internet there was social media
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
this is your obsession, but if you can't beat the people in your own room, I did the math. I wasn't even a J school. I went to a UC school, which is just theory. Like there was no TV station there. I'm like, if everybody else around the nation has the same dream on their various campuses and everybody in the workplace, they're not giving back their jobs. the hell are you going to make it?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I think at this point I'm sort of creative because I'm starting to formulate in my mind, hey, here's my thing. I figured this out. how are you going to get a job? How are you going to get a show? Why you? Why you? Why you? And initially, I could not answer that. But at the same time, I was formulating content ideas. Like, well, what if you did get a show? What would you do?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
What would that show be? So I had to figure out the first thing. It was kind of like a three-pronged thing. I was working on my mindset because I knew it was a brutal, brutal business with a lot of rejection. I thought that was the only edge I could get if I was like... if I had more grind, if I wanted it worse. I worked on my mind. I worked on the answer of how are you going to get a show?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And then I worked on what would the show be? And I was already tracking all these things from the second I walked into the dormitory my freshman year of college. That much I knew. Because dude, you know what I wanted to be? I wanted to be a pro athlete. And incredibly enough, I figured that out in Little League. Not long thereafter, that was never gonna happen. So how do you stay in sports?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm like you, like dude, we were obsessed with sports.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Not the bravado, maybe a bit of a mouth, but definitely a nerd who wore it on his chest. Like I was the guy that went to high school. It was kind of a weird thing. Growing up in LA, I had three heroes, three sports heroes as an LA sports kid. And I got my love of sports from my Boston father. My first idol in the world. I'm dating myself now. I'm old enough to be your pop almost.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Gail Goodrich of the LA Lakers was my idol, my first idol. My second idol, almost simultaneously, was Terry Bradshaw because that was the Stewards Run, 75, 76. My first real recollection of a sporting event where I just got hooked was the Immaculate Reception, 1972. So I'm a Laker fan, I'm a Steeler fan, and I'm an LA Dodger fan. So I was obsessed.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So I was the guy that would wear the Steeler gear on Fridays, and everybody at school would be like, hey, Rome, you suck, you suck. And I'd catch a lot of heat on Mondays when they lost. Like weird stuff. Like, I mean, I'm so lame now, but I didn't want to go to school because I knew the abuse I was going to take, but I wore it on the sleeve. So kind of a nerd with kind of a mouth.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Not one of the cool kids, but man, I didn't try to hide it. I was obsessed with sports.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And my family and friends would see this and they would see people either really love me or really want to fight me and they would say great offense. I'm like, hey, listen, this is what we signed up for. This is the way this is going to go. This is a show. This is the way I really am for better or for worse. However, I understand that I need to give them a show. It's got to be authentic.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Okay, a little wistful, and I'll explain that to you in a minute. If your whole thing is like, hey, man, I know your deal, Rome. I know why you want it so badly. You were bullied your whole life. Not true. I will tell you a really interesting story, though. I saw a kid, and And it was years after when I kind of made it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I don't remember exactly what it was, but we were on the tennis team together. He's like, man, it is good to see you, bro. I'm so proud of you. And he was a good kid. He's like, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. He's like, man, I wonder what all those other guys would think now. I'm like, what guys?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
He's like, you know, all the guys that talked a lot of shit to you and were taking advantage of you. I'm like, and I mean this truly, truly. I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. He's like, he looked at me kind of sideways. I'm like, no, really. I don't know what you're talking about. I would own it if I did. So I don't have that story about, man, that dork got worked.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
That dork got bullied. Now, I will own this. Not the cool kid, for sure. Very small group of friends. Didn't get the girl. But I... I would love to give you a really clear answer. I think it was just kind of a combination of things that all added up to, I had something to prove and I was gonna get mine. And I wanted to be proud of me and be like, yo man, I'm all right.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Things worked out pretty well. How do you like me now? But I can't point to that one thing. That one childhood trauma I cannot point to.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
that I can be better than I've been. I want to prove that my best work is in front of me and not behind me. I want to prove that I still got it, that I still have that fire in my gut. It really is about me. And then it's about business. Let's be pragmatic. I need an audience. I need sponsors. I need partners. But I'm not trying to beat you. I'm not trying to beat him or her. I'm trying to win.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm trying to prove me right. And those... I'm not out against the haters. You know what I mean? I'm not, they're going to do, haters going to hate. I'm trying to prove to myself that I can still do this. Honestly, I'm not trying to dominate anything but my process and show that, hey man, I can still go hard. I can still go hard.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It's got to be real. I'm not talking out my ass. But I'll tell you what I don't do. I don't come home and talk smack to my wife. I'm not on 24 and 7. I understand the job. So do they really know me? I think if you listen to me every single day in the car for 30 years and radio is such a one-on-one medium, of course they think they know me. But do you really, really know me?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I still think the reason that I'm here before you right now is not that, and I'll tell you why. If it were that, it would have got away from me and I would have been about that and not my process and not the standard. I do the same things that I've always done. I wasn't puffed up, but I was hungry and I had a real chip on my shoulder, a real chip, and I wanted to win. But it was not out of ego.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It was just out of pride and craft and performance. And I can do this and I earn this. And then you have to understand, there were certain points where the thing changed a little bit, right? Like I came up fast. No, okay, I didn't. It took me a while.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I was in Santa Barbara for three and a half years trying to get out, resumes, phone calls, everything, trying desperately to bust out of a small market. It was scary. I thought maybe it might not happen. But finally I got the call, and then things happened quickly when I got to San Diego. Got on the air, got the call from ESPN2, got on the TV show on Talk2, booking A-list guests. It was all great.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
How old are you? 1994, so 30, 29, 30. So tracking pretty well. But ready for this, feeling like you're ready for this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It seemed... I was still green, but again, I was doing stuff that had not been done before, and I had a belief in myself and my process. And an audience. And an audience. And I was, look, ESPN found me. They found me in California. I was making enough noise in California. And again, they did want to set up a studio in California.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Certainly on the way up, certainly on the way up. But I think your thing about, hey man, I watched you when you were young. You were different. I was not looking to conquer the world, but I was looking to win and I was looking to, I was trying to do the best I possibly could, honestly. I really was day to day, do the best show. Here's the thing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I learned this at the dinner table growing up in a family that owned a small business. I heard this every single night. Take care of the business, the business will take care of you. Take care of the business, the business will take care of you. And I told the staff, take care of that show. Take care of that show and the show will take care of you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And to your thing, last thing about me being puffed up and having this bravado, here is my thing. I did convince myself of this. I was still looking for separation. I was still trying to ask myself, how are you different? How are you different? You're really not that different. All right, well, here's how you're going to be different. You're going to be bold. You're going to be aggressive as hell.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
You're going to push the envelope. And you're going to do smart interviews, tough interviews. And you're going to talk some junk, man. And you're going to stand your ground. And you're going to be right there. So I think that's kind of where that energy and that vibe and that bravado came from. I thought that I had to be that guy to make it, to make it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Do you really, really know what's going on in here? What makes me tick? Probably not.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yeah, obviously a little more mature, obviously would not have called Everett Chris a fifth time. You know, you and I've talked about that in the past, but that that that was just different. It was a very different time. And the format was a little bit different. And we get older and we evolve. I used to make the joke like, I don't know if I told you this last time we talked, but I said that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I used to think when I was 30, man, believe me, the last thing this world needs is a 50-year-old smack talker. Nobody's listening to that. And yet here I am, 60, still talking a little bit of junk, you know? But I am also really cognizant of I don't want to lose MPH. I don't want people to say, yeah, man, you know what? I hadn't heard Rome for a little bit. And I checked him out. Dude, bad show.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Lazy. He doesn't look the part. He doesn't sound the part. I don't want to be that guy stumbling around in the backfield damaging legacy. I don't want to be that guy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
No matter what. All right, so let me say this. I appreciate you saying that. Here's the one thing that if you were to say, well, what do they not know about you that maybe they should know about you? Or what do people not know about you that you would like them to know? That I'm not that smart and that it's hard work. And I've always worked this way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Going back to that thing I said about if I'm wistful about anything, all right? So I'm not lonely. The pursuit of this is not lonely. I'm a little wistful about this. My son, Jake, our older son, once said to me, hey, dad, I get that you're not like other dads, it's okay. Which I interpreted to be, it's kind of a drag that you're not like other dads.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And what he meant by that is, I get up at 4.30, I go to work, I grind out, I come home, I get my cardio in, we have dinner. Now when the kids played ball, they played high school baseball and travel ball and all that, I never ever missed anything. But Dan, I'd go into that home office and I'd grind every single night. every single night.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So we weren't, we never went out during the week unless it was business related. And that was not that nine to five life. And I think that, you know, my son, I think would look at other dads and be like, hey man, how come we can't do stuff like that? Well, dad's gotta work. So is that selfish? Is that wrong? And then I would say, yeah, but, but look at the house that you're living in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Look at the neighborhood you're living in. Look at the schools, the public schools, the best schools in the country that we're sending you to. And then his response was something because he's such a great kid. I never asked for that big house. I never needed that nice car. And I don't want to oversell it because we're like this. We have two kids that are amazing. And I set a great example.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And believe me, the kid, the kid's all about the grind. Jake, we talk business. I set a really good example for him. But if I'm a little wistful about anything in this whole thing is...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
that commitment that that's what it took for me to achieve what i achieved and still be in the game right now and i'm still working like that and to be honest i don't know that everybody around me who works with me understands that even like you know the world's changed like why for who for what because this is what i've always done and then when i'm done i'll be done
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
No, I want to be clear about I understand that the world's changed. I'm not that guy. I'm not like, yo, man, I'm not Gran Torino. You know, I'm like, get the hell off my lawn. I understand the world has changed. But what I do understand, it's not even from the 20s. I go back even a few years. You know, I'll give you an example. I don't want to give you that example.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
The rules of engagement have changed. There are boundaries. I'm willing to pay a greater price than maybe some others are. And I am cognizant of this is the way the world is right now. And yeah, I'm the old guy who's still grinding and still loving it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yeah, that was, like I said, it did not land well. Luckily, again, like I said, they're funny. The kids are different. So we have two kids. One's 23.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Fair. And yes, that's why I would be wistful. Now, I just don't want to misrepresent. That's a true story. That happened. I don't want to misrepresent it in the sense that now he has my grind. He's proud of me. Because now he understands. Now that he's in the business, he works for a production company. He's not on the sports side. He's more on the news side.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yeah, no, I think you understand that. What you do, and I admire that a lot, what you do is different than what I do. I've always been, like I'm the last of the Mohicans in the sense that I'm still a single voice. I'm still a single host-driven program, and not because I have some kind of ego or because I need, hey, believe me, I would love to get away from me. I kind of get sick of me.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
He wants to be kind of a documentary guy. But now he works those days. Now the conversation is, yo, Pop, I work as hard as you. I'm like, yo, Junior, first of all, super proud of you. Super proud of you. You don't work quite as hard as me. And you sure as bleep haven't done it for 40 years. But yes, you learned your grind from your old man. And I really appreciate it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But to your point, yes, because I went to that office at home every bleeping night and stayed up late and got up early and did it again because that was my only separation from people like you. Everybody else. This is the point. This is what they don't get. Rome is a smartass, man. He shows up. He cracks open the mic. He talks some shit. He does a pretty good interview. Then he goes home.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Man, I wish. I wish. I wish that's how that was. But that's never been how that's been. So that's the only thing. And, dude, I'm not being a martyr. I get it, man. I am so lucky. Part of me is like, wait a minute. I've lived a whole life talking sports and interviewing athletes. They pay me to do this? That's a joke, man. I hope they never find out.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But I was going to make sure they never found out by paying that price. and doing the work.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I think that I am not, I'm not a hack. I'm not a hack. I'm not without talent. I'm not, I had a plan. I had a plan and I had a vision, but I got real lucky with timing, of course. I know that. I was born at the right time. You know, a lot of these athletes that we talk to, guys that are like my age are like, damn, man, look at the money. I'm like, you can't help when you were born.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I got in at the right time. However, I had a plan and I'd been thinking about that plan and it was a bold plan and I was not afraid to execute the plan when I got the opportunity for the plan. So I am not without talent, but I was... strategic. And I know there were people more talented than me that abandoned the fight before I did. I figured out it was a war of attrition.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And if I can outlast them, I can stay in the game. And if I get my shot, I can win. So I'm just saying to you, yes, I have some talent. I'm not a hack. But believe me, I came up with people in local markets that had far more talent than abandoned the fight. And I know they were looking at me like, I know I'm better than that guy. I know I'm smarter than that guy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
To which I would say, you're right. Except you abandoned the fight and I stayed in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I would love to get away from me, but this is kind of the way I've always done it. Now, that doesn't mean it's the way I'm always going to do it, but this is the way I came up. To your point about the audience, Like your show, for instance, you have an ensemble. You have lots of people around you. My ensemble is actually the audience.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Great question. I think at least on the way up, at least on the way up, again, the self-awareness, but what I recognized, and I think you'll understand this, I was gonna do it differently and not do it differently just to be different. I just recognized something on the way up There was only WFAN and there was some major markets that had some major shows, but there was almost no content.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So I grew up in LA and I'm listening to like Dodger talk. It would just be post-game talk. And it would be something along the lines of, hey, what do you think's gonna happen in the next homestand? Great show, I'll take your answer off the air. And I'm like, man, that's whack, that's boring. What kind of show is that? Not very interesting.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Exactly. Well, and it'd just be some dude flexing his knowledge of the pitching staff with a giant voice. I'm like, that's, that's not a very interesting show. That's not me and my guys get around. We talk shit. We just, we, if I ever get a radio show, I'm going to make sure it's entertaining. I'm going to make sure that, that it's a show.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So if there was another thing that I was good at, I think that I, for whatever reason, I just started doing something that had never been done. You know, I've even heard you give me credit for this, that my whole thing was I was declarative. Like, here is my take. Here is my opinion. What is yours? What is yours? Let's do a show here. Let's do a show.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I have this culture and I have this ride and die audience with me. Not everybody loves me, but they listen. But I'm telling you, one of the most gratifying things of all is Dude, I've got guys that have been with me 30 years. I mean, 30 years. I can document this. When I first started in local radio in San Diego, they started to call and they're still calling.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I don't know who actually started it. I was on the West Coast, so I didn't hear those guys, but I had obvious respect for those guys because it was FAN.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Believe me, one of my goals was to get a job at FAN until one day I was sitting over the ticker tape, the old AP machine, when I was in Santa Barbara, and I'm reading it, reading it, reading it, and then it comes across, 690 AM, San Diego, going all sports, and then I went full press. All I did was try to get a job at that radio station to get my shot.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But I also had this weird thing that I did back in the day, not so much now, but we had a thing called the glossary where I would just see things a certain way and we would just drop names. That's where the Chris Everthing came on. You know, the Knicks were the bricks and things that seem really lame now were very cutting edge at the time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
That was the whole point. I had something called the huge call of the day where I knew that not every call was good, but I was trying to get them to compete. And then the winner would either win something, but they would get their call played back at the end of the day. I was trying to cultivate an audience of competition and help me create the content.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Look, I was not looking for you to do any of the heavy lifting, but I just knew, I knew that you could always count on my consistency and my crew's consistency, but damn. How dominant would this product be if I could get them to bring their game up as well? And they didn't all do that, but they kind of embraced the culture.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Oh, hey, man, I've always said, give me an A or give me an F. Give me an A or give me an F. I don't want a C. A C does nothing for me. Give me an A or give me an F. An F is an A.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Oh, no, that was fascinating. I'm as proud of that as almost anything we've ever done. The short version of syndicated radio is this. I started on 690 AM. This was a 50,000 watt blowtorch in San Diego. The guy who owned that radio station at that time owned the biggest radio network in America, but before deregulation, there was like 19 stations.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Now, on the one hand, from a business standpoint, you don't want to age out that way. I need to find a younger audience, which is part of the reason why I made the move into streaming and fast channels and things like that. But it's, how do you maintain an audience like that? I have a lot of pride in the fact that you have to earn their trust and get them to come back every single day.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
The guy who owned the station was John Lynch Sr., the father of John Lynch, the GM of the 49ers. John Lynch comes to me one day and says, Jim, I think, because now I'm a star on this station. Jim, I think your show would work. And I think it would work outside of this market. I want to syndicate your show. So there is no ESPN. There is no Fox. There is no CBS. There's no network.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
We built that thing door to door. We went door to door. We started with four stations that were, I think, already in his group that he made carry the show. We had a guy. There was under contract who had lived either in Kansas City or Houston, a radio vet named Brian Purdy, who was a great guy. And Purdy was under contract, but was not working. And John Lynch said, you got to work. I'm paying you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Go clear stations. Purdy would go around the country banging on doors and try to sell the station. And we went from four to six to nine to 12 to 15. And every time we added a station, it was beautiful, man. It was like this hazing process. And the existing stations would try out the new station. And every day was different, man. It was incredible.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Point of the story is I've had this nationally syndicated network now for 30 years, but we built this thing brick by brick.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Possibly. There aren't many. I understood the business because I always treated it like a business because I grew up in a family business and I was not an idiot talent that let it get away from me and always treated it as such. I understood the business. As an example, when I was coming up, I'd look in the parking lot. All the nice cars were driven by the sales reps, not the talent.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Like talent's like, hey man, none of these people exist without me. When I kind of inverted it and understood that, no, we don't exist without them. They need to sell the show. They're the ones with the nice exotic whips, not us. We're grinding. So I always understood that. What was really interesting on the way up business-wise
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
When I started to make it, when I was in local radio, man, they'd make me endorse everything. And I would just, I'm like, I would never use that. And they're like, you really? Just do it. And I really resented it. Like, I'm like, they made me, they used my voice on everything. So when I finally got enough leverage, I went into the GM's office one day. I'm like, hey, you know what? Guess what?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And man, they're rabid. They're rabid.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm never doing another commercial again the rest of my career, ever, ever. That's how we solve that problem. Now we no longer have to worry about what I will and won't do. I'm doing nothing because I had a hammer at that point. Finally, finally. And then... Premier Radio Networks bought my show. That's how we kind of built the thing out after we started to syndicate.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And there's a guy who's my manager, who's an icon of the business, Craig Kitchen. And he approached me totally differently. And he's had enormous clients, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck. He's built some incredible businesses. He ran Clear Channel back in the day. He sits me down and he goes, hey, Jim, Now that we have an agreement, great to have you. Listen, can we talk about commercials?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm like, yeah. He's like, no, I know where you stand on this. Let me explain to you how this could benefit your brand and your business if you have these brand partnerships. And he didn't jam it down my throat and bang me over the head with it. And then I understood. So yeah, I've always understood kind of the business and never thought that I was more important. It's business, man.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It's the show is business. I understand this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Dude, I'm shocked at how much you like me, Dan. What's up? um i'm impressed and i admire that you're what i mean i mean it's not not being flipped like i i really really respect and admire you and and i really respect you saying that thank you i i don't know Longevity. Longevity. I do have that. There are bigger shows. There are bigger platforms. There are people with bigger followings.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm just worried about me. I'm just worried about my show, my people, making that show better.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But at the same time, I know that you want that to be a thing and I would own it, but I'll give you an example. This birthday that I just hit. So the kids come in, my wife Janet, who... A whole different deal. I married the best person I ever met. Full stop. I married, I'm looking you in the eye, I married the best person I ever met. She was in the business.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
When I met her, she made way more money than me. She was way more successful than me. She actually tried to fire me when I first met her because she was a VP of human resources. She throws this party because she'd never heard anything like me.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
could have stopped doing any of it 10 years ago and uh or you couldn't not really well not the way you're built both yeah exactly exactly i i don't want to stop doing it because here's my thing i'm not one of those guys who's like that athlete that man they're gonna rip that jersey off my back i'm not they're gonna have to rip that jersey off my back if you were the guy if you were the grim reaper and you came to me today and said hey yo rome you've had a pretty good run but
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Because that same station, all of the corporate executives had a say in programming. It was really bizarre, like accounting, HR. They would sit around this conference room table and talk about the product because the corporate flagship station for this national group was all in San Diego. And I show up out of nowhere and I'm just talking junk.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Exactly. The generations are so interesting. Again, my father, I got a whole father thing to tell you too if you want that story, but I'm in this because of my father. He loves sports and passed it on to me. My son, who at that one day said to me, I'm not sure, you're not like all the other dads, but for this birthday last weekend, My wife rents a house in the desert.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
One son, Jake, comes in from Wisconsin. Our other son, Logan, comes in from Boulder. And we're all hanging out. It's awesome. It's awesome. I'm more proud. Here's what I'm most proud of in my entire life. my entire life. And I credit my wife almost exclusively for this because luckily I did well enough that she was able to quit her job, which she loved and was good at. And she was beloved.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Everybody loves my wife. She's amazing. But she wanted to stay home and raise her kids because that's how she was brought up. And she wanted to be there and be active in everything. And she was president of everything. and was involved in every part of their lives. And there's no way these kids would be what they are without my wife. So there is no resentment, man. I love these boys.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
They're great dudes. The thing that I'm most proud of in my whole life, and I get this a lot, Jim, Your boys are great. They look you in the eye. They have conversations with you. They're respectful. They're not entitled. They're great kids. They're great dudes. They're charismatic. What an amazing job you guys did. I'm like, well, what an amazing job Janet did. And I had to bad cop them.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Somebody had to discipline them. But that I'm most, most proud of. So I would say to you, dude, if I was really, really regretful and man, I wish I could change that, I would own that. But just a little wistful. But if you sat with these boys, they would say to you, we love pop.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And so when I see your success- I disagree with that on one level, because you don't have kids, you don't understand this, but one of the other joys of my life, and this I do miss, Those kids playing high school baseball. And you would have been present. You would not have been on your phone. You would not have been making your phone calls. You would not have been working your sources.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
We pretty much don't give a damn what you have to say about anything anymore. I'd be like, hey, Dan, it's been a hell of a run. Believe me, I did way better than I would have ever thought that I would have ever done. If I walked off, if I walked out of here today and never, ever appeared on any show ever again, I won. I did better than I would have thought.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
If you had kids, and whatever it is they did, even if it was not baseball. Baseball was great because I love baseball. But whatever it is, you would love those kids so much, I disagree with you. You would be locked in. Now, once that event was over, man, you would get back to work. You would get back to work, but I disagree. You would not. I understand, maniacal.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
You would have been locked in, and we still miss those days, man. And I'm not even talking about big-time baseball. I'm talking about Irvine baseball, where we were okay. But, man, oh, my God. Watching my kids play baseball was better than almost any day I've ever had at work. It was awesome. You would have felt the same way and you would have been present. I know you would have been.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Well, I don't think I was mature enough then, right? Okay, we were older parents too. I will say that. My wife and I are definitely older parents. So we got a lot of that maniacal stuff and whatever else we did, we got out of our systems. So we were financially more secure and I was established professionally. Fair question by you. So we were a little bit older when we had kids.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So by the time we had them, we were ready to be focused.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I wish I had been, and my wife disagrees. We talk about this all the time because everybody in the world says, if I had known then what I know now, what I would have given. And you know, I'm really amazed. I talk to a lot of young athletes like you do, and it's the mindset, you know, because they're groomed early on.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Like, so I think they're more present and they're more locked in and all the cliches. They are where their feet are and they understand the standard is the standard. My regret is that I did work so hard, so long, that I was not more intentional or focused in the moment at what was going on to appreciate it, to slow the clock down.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And then I looked up and I'm like, there's almost 10 unaccounted four years. Didn't we live in that neighborhood for nine years? What the hell happened in those nine years? I'll tell you what happened. I got up early. I went to work. I kept my head down. I was present for the family when I came home. But then I went to work, and then I did it. And I just, that was my process.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So to answer your question, well, then why are you still doing it? Because it's hard. It's hard. I like it. I want to see where I still fit in. I want to see how do I still win. I want to see how can I solve this particular puzzle. Yeah, you were the guy. You were one of the first ones in. You got really lucky with timing. But now it's hard, man. Now everybody who's got... This has got to show.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Like, damn, there goes 10 years. Damn, now I'm 40. Now I'm 50. Now I'm 60. That's my only regret, that I didn't have a better appreciation and understanding every single day while I was in it because I was always moving on to the next show, the next thing. Because, you know, this, on a daily show, you go back to zero every single day.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Now that you know this, why don't you? I'm in the process.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And you have a beast to feed. You got to feed that beast every single day. You have this beast you have to feed. You have a whole staff. You have a whole thing. You have a whole, people are invested in you. Lots of people are invested in you. So how do you feed the beast, but at the same time, take a step back and enjoy what it is you've created? It's hard, right?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It's funny, I talked to Trevor Hoffman. You know what's funny about it? It's like you were ahead of me on this, but now that we stream the show, We had not done that. So now everybody sees me. And I talked to Trevor Hoffman the other day, because the Padres and Dodgers. And I used to talk to Trevor when he was in it. And he roaming me the other day.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
You know, somebody roaming me at 60 is kind of funny, right?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And I was there. And I was in San Diego. But to your point, I always thought the dynamic was incredible. When I came in, everybody I interviewed, I was younger then. Everybody I interviewed was older than me. And then I was older than a lot of them. And then I interviewed guys over the course of their entire Hall of Fame careers, which I always thought was amazing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Then I started interviewing guys' kids. Like a guy that I was really, really good with for years was Howie Long. And we didn't start off good. He was one of those guys that heard me on the radio. Didn't get it. Oh no, he threatened to kick my ass. And I remember Janet being terrified. because I was gonna interview Howie in person at a remote. And she's like, he's going to break your face.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm like, maybe, maybe. She's like, what is the matter with you? I'm like, I don't know, it is what it is, we'll find out. But then Howie and I, he was funny. I'll never forget, Howie's like, yeah, you're bigger than I thought you were. Like, ooh, roasted. It was really funny, you know? But he was such a good dude. But then when I would talk to him, he would talk about his kids.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And they were kids. He's like, yeah, bro, let me tell you something. I got a nine-year-old who'd beat your ass right now and come to find out probably whether it was Kyle or Chris, they would have, you know? But my point is, I interviewed guys. I was the youngest, your point is. And then I would interview their kids. I want to stay in it long enough to interview grandkids, man.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Somebody needs to get pregnant so I can interview a grandkid.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Now I'm competing with everybody in the world. You know, back in the day when you first heard about me, there weren't very many of us doing it. I had a pretty captive audience. Now I'm in a firefight to be seen and heard. And how do I do that without compromising who I am? And how do I reinvent and evolve? It's still really interesting to me. And I still love the grind. And you know what?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
You know this, but it doesn't make it easy, and I don't have the answer, but you know this, so you're five years ahead of me. And what I love about my 23-year-old, he knows this already, although he's grinding. So he's watched this and probably learned the dos and don'ts. You know, the sooner we figure this out, the better.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But I would argue that, and I think you're a more talented person than me, but we didn't get here. You and I are not sitting down having this conversation in Hollywood, if not for our process and our standard. And is it a blessing and a curse? Yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
yes the chip on your shoulder i still don't understand though because i haven't had i didn't have one of those so when you keep saying why i've had since i was x years old chip on my shoulder you know what you know what it's my favorite question ever and i have a side hustle to my side hustle called the reinvention project where i talk to really high achievers because i i'm trying to learn and
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And it's my favorite question. There's a guy named Ed Milet who's a really good friend of mine who's huge in that space. And we talked about it on his podcast. Nature or nurture? Nature or nurture? I do not know the answer to that. Nature or nurture? Are you pre-wired to be like this? Are you built to be like this? Or frankly, you...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I didn't come up through the mud, but I've talked to a lot of athletes that overcame a lot of adversity. There's no way they would have the chip or the hunger had they not come up the way they did. So nature or nurture, I don't know the clean answer, but I think it's both. I don't really know where it came from. For a while it went away and now I'm trying desperately to get it back.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Put it this way, I'll give you something. This is something. You think that it makes you miserable. Some of the happiest times of my life was when I was in college fighting hard and winning and my self-esteem had never been higher because I was all in and making good choices and doing the right things. I don't think that's unhealthy. In fact, I felt damn good, man. I felt great.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So I'm constantly trying like, hey, man, can I flip that switch? Can I go back to being that guy? Probably not. I don't have that same energy. But could I be that guy? I did the funniest thing. I did the commencement speech for my son when he graduated the J school in Wisconsin. And I worked that thing hard. I worked that thing hard. I took great pride in that. I'm looking over the kids.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Frankly, I still want it. I love it. There are people that rely on me that work for me. And I still want to set an example for my kids. And I want them to be proud of me. And I want my friends to be proud of me, too. And I want to be proud of me. And I have something to prove to myself.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Can it get in there? No, my wife, no. My wife, though, she did. That was her proudest day ever because her husband was doing a commencement address to her son's college graduation. So she was waterworks. But man, I wanted, I wanted. And the guy who ran the J school knew who I was.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
and my son's real careful about, he doesn't tell anybody who his old man is because he wants to be his own guy, which I really respect, unless maybe it benefits him and he'll drop that name. Like, you know what he did?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
He's been doing this thing with Donald Driver, because he's in Wisconsin, and he's done several shoots with Donald Driver and he wouldn't tell him who I am, and he finally dropped it on him the other day, and they had kind of a good moment. Point is, dude, here's how the speech went. Every kid in the audience was either hungover, drunk, wanting to get drunk, and wondering who the old man was.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Hey, Jake, who's your old man, and what's he doing up there? And every parent was like, go Rome, go Rome, because they all knew who I was, and they wanted their kids to get the message. You know? So did you crush it? Did you crush the commencement speech? I thought that I did pretty well, but I don't know. Those kids didn't, they're not, okay.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
A number of them came up afterwards, like really good speech. That's what I needed to hear. But I think most of them went running for the bars. But the parents loved it. If you ask them, I crushed it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Dude, don't you dare let me walk here and think that I did not appreciate that or that I was mocking you. Dude, I have such immense respect for you. And in a life where everybody was going well out of their lane to crush me, you are one of the guys who has defended me and supported me and said, look, I understand what that guy's about. I understand what price that guy paid.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Dan, I'm not leaving this room if you think that. I appreciate you so much.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I am not in any way disregarding what you did, what this represents, and what you said. Don't you think that? Because if you think that, we need to continue this until you don't think this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm not great at that. No, no, you are great at what you do. And I deem this an immense compliment that you wanted to spend time with me. And I really appreciate your support because there are a lot of people that were not in any hurry to give me any credit. And by the way, when you don't have this business, people don't give each other credit. And I do more so now than ever before because I...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
We're older, man. I know what it takes. And there's enough for everybody. There's enough for everybody.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So I need you to know. I got it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Thank you, sir. Yes. I want you to know that. I don't want you to think that I did not appreciate that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I, it's just how I am. I don't know. I don't feel, I don't feel like it's anything out of the ordinary. You know what I mean? No, it's unusual.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I think there are people, I think there are people in other walks of life that work much harder than me. There are maniacs that get up. If I get up at four 30, there are maniacs who get up at two 30 and they, and they lift and they do crazy things. I, I don't know. I just, this was my way of staying in the game. Hey, man, it got me to this desk.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It was really loving. If it is, you could talk some shit. It was really loving. You can insult me some more. No, but it was over the top. He's got some stuff to say to me, probably.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
You know why? Ridiculous. You know why? Because we're a couple of dudes that have done it for a long time. Do we have to apologize for that?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
All right, so take some shots, man. Talk some shit.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
It's a good question. I've thought about this a lot. I don't know. I always had, I just knew, man. I had something, I had a chip on my shoulder from a very early age. So where did that come from? I don't know. I've never really sat in therapy, but probably not one of the cool kids in school. Maybe didn't get the girl. Maybe, I don't know. I don't know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Like my father, and I know you're really good on family. My father was a Boston guy who... who had a small business, worked very hard, and he and I would talk, and not always connect, loved him, but didn't always connect, but he would say to me, man, you should really relax. I don't know how to tell you how to relax, but this drive, like, I don't really get it. And he worked hard.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So I don't even know why he would say things like that, but he would say, I don't get it, but you didn't get it from me. So I don't know what it was. I just knew that I was kind of neurotic and kind of psychotic and knew exactly what it was that I wanted and was paranoid that I wasn't going to get it. So I was willing to pay a price.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I negotiated with myself early on that I was willing to do whatever it took to get it without being immoral or unethical, but I would go the extra mile and it didn't seem like work, it was more painful for me not to do it than to actually do it. In other words, I went to UC Santa Barbara, I would do internships where I'd get up at four o'clock in the morning. Everybody else is just,
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Shit can. You know, like it was a party school and I got mine, but it was a party school. But I had no qualms about getting up at four o'clock to work for free before morning classes. And in fact, was terrified that if I didn't do it, somebody else would. And then when I did do it, man, it was like a drug. I'm like, wow. I'm getting ahead. I'm winning. I'm feeding that thing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And I just had that chip, and I just wanted it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Okay, to be fair, to be fair, it's not by myself. I mean, I'm on the air by myself, but I've always been extremely well-produced. I have a good staff. I don't have an enormous staff, but I've always had kind of, like, elite fans. fighting warriors like you. There's a culture to it. There's a culture to it. And there's a whole side conversation about how the world has changed. You know what I mean?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
But I've always, we go hard. We go hard. So it's not, it's four hours now, but when I first started, it was five hours. It was 7 p.m. to 12 midnight. And you can't even imagine the tweakers and the kooks and the nuts that would call me at night, man. That was wild. But that was my first big break. So I was on for five hours.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And you don't rate at night because you get preempted by games and nobody's listening at night. And this was on a radio station in San Diego. And then the first ratings book came back. And there was nobody rated at night. And I had like this huge number. huge number that wiped out everybody. And everybody was like, holy crap, what's going on here?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
So they quickly moved me to a day part, four hours from five to four hours. And then everybody said, never work during the day, man. That guy, what he does at night will never work during the day. And it worked during the day. And then he started building the thing out. So I went five hours to four hours to three hours. I'm like, man, I got this thing wired.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm going to get down to two hours, then get down to one hour. Then I'm going to get down to like Paul Harvey, 15 minutes. And then the Rome minute, but
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
when I get down to the Rome minute I want to be paid the same amount of money that I'm getting for the three hours but I stalled out at three and now I'm back up to four so that's a long answer to I haven't always done four but I did three for a long time but I've always been well produced and had a good crew around me and I work hard
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Dude, have you never had a cup of coffee? Do you... I mean, we have some help, and I do it legitimately. Listen, like you did construction, right? So you understand, we understand how lucky we are to do this. See, that's the other thing, man. People... Okay, here's what people don't get about me. Maybe now I've kind of... My whole thing's funny, right? I was the jerk. I'll never forget.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
There was an article written about me in LA Magazine years and years ago. I was kind of naive, and this guy pitched it like, yeah, I just want to hang out in Rome. I want to follow Rome around. And this was when I was on my way up, and things were happening fast, spinning fast.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And I'm with this guy, and I'm hanging out with this guy, and we do this whole interview, and I let him follow me around for three days. And I'm like, that went pretty well. And then I open up the article, and the headline just screams, the jerk. And then it was pretty clear that not everybody likes me very much.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
The funny thing is now that I'm at this point in my life, now I'm just kind of the OG. And now I'm not that guy that everybody hates because they've moved on to other things.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yeah, you're right. Well, exactly. Well, okay. But like, just as you probably pivoted, I'll get back, I'll get back to the construction angle in a minute. But just as you pivoted, probably at some point, I could do that. I could go there. Like, I'm pretty cognizant of the landscape, which is why I went off of linear cable and try to take this shot. And I'm not, I love this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yeah, no, I appreciate this. I think you're right. Now, I'm not an L.A. guy technically. I'm an L.A. native, grew up in Los Angeles, got the big break in San Diego, and then came back to L.A. I've lived in Orange County for about 25 years now, so that's why I had to brave the element. But you know what? For this opportunity, for this place, happy to do it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Now that I'm on the other side of this, I'm not wedging in my pitch like people do to you and I when they talk to us. But this is why I made this decision to go to X and to go to the Fast Channel because people are now consuming their content in very different ways. And I had to be real. I was not changing with the landscape.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I was busting my ass doing that show, that hard thing you were talking about, but I was not changing and recognizing that the world had changed. I had kids that didn't even watch TV. They never watched TV. I mean, that was their TV. So we did that. And yeah, I ultimately made that thing. But the point about I'm not saying things to say things, I'm not aggregating. No, you're right.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
I'm not doing that. Now, I could. I could. But the thing is, I want to sleep well at night. I want to look in the mirror. I want to respect myself. My thing always was, have a take, don't suck. Have a take, don't suck. My thing was never, hey, you know what?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Say something that you don't really believe that you know will get you viral reaction and clicks and people will talk about you and you will provoke and you will incite. I just wanted to say things that were on my mind that I meant that I could defend and that I could back up and elevate a conversation. So I still do what I've always done. But I recognize what's going on out there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And by the way, I'm not judging. That works for people. That works for people. That's just not the way I do it. And really quickly, back to construction.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Yes, thank you. This is why one of the reasons I go hard and have always gone hard, I did get out of the business for a minute. And it went badly, badly. I went in, I had a bad experience my senior year in high school or in college where I worked for a radio station for nine months for free, happy to do it. And then the news director says to me, I got good news for you, son.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
We got you a paying job. And I'm like, man, Not only am I on a commercial radio station, not the college station, but a commercial station paid. Hell yes. My time. He goes, all you have to do is cut a demo tape, play it for the owner. He signs off and we are gold, baby. I'm like, you got it. I knock out this tape. I give it to the owner.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And the owner goes back to the news director, my boss, and goes, I hate this kid. I hate him. He's not on my station. And I'm like, I already am on your station for free once a week. And I'm like, that's a bad experience. I can't control my destiny. I don't like that because I have a family business to fall back on. So I go to my same father. I'm like, hey, dad, I'm going to come to work for you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
And he looks at me and he says, hey, son, the hell you are. I'm like, what? He's like, you're not working here. I'm like, what father doesn't want their son to be a legacy and follow in their footsteps? He said, me. You never once expressed any interest in this business. You cannot work here. I'm like, wow. because I was young and dumb. I just, I'm like big house, nice car, president.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
That's what I want. That's what I want when that's never what I wanted. So I wore him down. I got into it. He fired me. I went into sales. I couldn't sell anything. Dude, I was miserable. Cold calling, terrible products, terrible territories. And finally one boss said to me, she's like, man, you are terrible at sales. All you ever talk about is radio. If I were you, I'd go back and do that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Jim Rome
Happy for the invite, and I appreciate you, dude. Appreciate you.