The Markets and the Movies

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Crystal clear coverage of The Drew Mariani Show is made possible in part by Charity Mobile. charitymobile.com.

The issues that matter most, right here. The Drew Mariani Show.

SPEAKER_2 (0:12)

On relevant radio.

Ed Morrissey (0:16)

Welcome back, everyone. I'm Ed Morrissey of hotair.com. Filling in for Drew today and taking your calls at 888-914-9149-888-914.

9149 What a great show we've had so far. William Hahn, by the way, that book is again, not to Caesar, but to Peter. angelicopress.com. Could have done an hour with William. Probably could do two hours with William. What a great conversation we were having. I want to thank him for being with us. Also, I want to remind people once again about the Nativity sets that are now available.

The contest, I should say, for the Nativity sets. There's no better way to spread the Christmas spirit than with a Nativity scene, which is why Relevant Radio is giving away 100 hand-painted sets. Enter for your chance to win one of these beautiful Nativity sets until Sunday, October 18th at Midnight Central, and share this chance with your friends and family too. Let them know about this. Get them involved. Each set is valued at over $500, and you can enter now at relevantradio.com/nativity. That's relevantradio.com/nativity. Joining us now is my good friend, Peter Grandich from petergrandich.com. Peter, it's always great to talk to you, and I am sorry to hear though about the passing of Mike Ditka, and I understand that you got a chance to talk with him a little bit at one point.

Peter Grandich (1:47)

Yeah, he was probably of, I don't know, a couple of hundred professional athletes I met during my 20 years working with them. I spent an evening with him and Joe Kleko that was so memorable. Within 15 minutes of meeting him, he was treating me like we were friends for 40 years, and the stories, and just the all around. And then at the end, he hands me a card with his cell number on the back and says, if there's anything I could ever do for you, just give me a call. I mean, he could have just politely said, great night. And I would have called it just a phenomenal night. I just think, you know, some of that toughness that we saw on the field of maven coaching was a man that had a big heart down deep. And that's what I learned later on from people. So of course, you know, he lived a good life, and we're always sad when people go on. But Mike Ditka was from the old school. They're not, trust me, they don't make him like him anymore.

Ed Morrissey (2:40)

No, they certainly don't. I mean, you hear legendary a lot, but for Mike Ditka, I think it kind of applies. And I'm so glad that he was such a gracious person in person because he had a tough guy persona, right? I mean, he was tough as nails when he was a player. He was maybe even tougher as a coach.

Peter Grandich (2:59)

I'll just tell you this. I spent, sorry to interrupt, I spent 13 years with the New York Giants, and most of those years, Tom Coughlin was the coach. And on the outside, you are talking about tough as nail, no-nonsense guy. But those who had a chance to see him on the other side, you couldn't find a more gracious and caring guy. But these guys came to work. They came to not fool around. To them, football was a business and an important thing in their lives, and that's how they led it. But outside of that, they returned to what the good lord had made them be.

So sometimes I think some of the more younger players, of course I'm not involved with the athletes anymore, they could spend a day or two with a Coughlin or Ditka, and it would help their career. They don't know it, but it would.

Ed Morrissey (3:46)

I think you're absolutely correct. Maybe the rest of us wouldn't mind spending a day or two with a Ditka or a Coughlin and learning a few things from them too. It's sort of an old school approach, I guess you could say, to certainly football, but really to living life, right? You work hard, you work hard and you be responsible and you serve your community and you maintain your humanity, I guess, is probably the way I would put it, based on the story that you're telling about Mike Ditka, is this is a guy who never really let go of who he actually was, right? He didn't get too wrapped up in the celebrity and that sort of thing.