WIBC Traffic Beast Matt Bair!

**Nigel** (0:00)
Hammer and Nigel.

**Matt Bair** (0:01)
Do you believe these characters?

**Nigel** (0:03)
They're weirdos.
Ha ha ha ha, yeah! My name is Nigel, Jason Hammer, right over there, joined by a very special in-studio guest.

**Jason Hammer** (0:15)
We've had some difficulties with the YouTube cameras today, okay? Allison's camera's been a little hit and miss, but I feel confident saying we're about to get a spike in numbers by the ladies of Indianapolis.

**Nigel** (0:26)
The ladies.

**Jason Hammer** (0:27)
Matt Bair and his medium size shirt have just sat down next to us. How are you, my friend?

**Matt Bair** (0:33)
Ladies, guys, come on into the YouTube chat.

**Jason Hammer** (0:36)
Yeah, we're that's a guy, but we love him.

**Nigel** (0:39)
Whoever the hell you are, whoever the hell you are.

**Jason Hammer** (0:44)
Normally, you join us on Friday, but we're on the road tomorrow.
C&C Lounge down in Greenwood. And sometimes it's difficult to have these conversations face to face in studio when we're on location. So we want to talk to you today because it's a very special anniversary for you, Matthew.

**Matt Bair** (1:03)
Yeah, it is. This is bigger than my birthday, bigger than most holidays. Saturday, I'm going to celebrate my five year sobriety birthday.

**Nigel** (1:12)
There we go, buddy.

**Jason Hammer** (1:13)
There we go. Congratulations, Matt.

**Nigel** (1:16)
You said you weren't going to mention that exactly.
What changed in terms of, you know, telling us what year it was, how many years it's been? Why did that change?

**Jason Hammer** (1:26)
Well, the same thing whole co-host asked without knowing it.
Sorry, I don't know what we were going to bring it up. Now I feel bad.

**Nigel** (1:34)
No, no, you're fine.

**Matt Bair** (1:35)
Well, be honest, I had a fifth this morning, guys.

**Jason Hammer** (1:38)
So thanks.

**Matt Bair** (1:41)
It's the same thing that got me sober to begin with other people. And I talked about it. And there was a consensus kind of that, you know, it don't have to put it on social media. But when I come on here and talk to you guys, the evidence is just in the different messages that it does help people. So for me to say, yeah, on Saturday, I have five years of sobriety, that's hopefully going to help somebody maybe motivate somebody else into sobriety. And there is a responsibility there. I kid you not, I didn't do this because of me.
I did this because of other people. Some of them work at this radio station. I'm looking at three of them right now. And it's because of other people that, you know, really much I am alive today. And, you know, it's kind of hard for me to talk about this part of it. I mean, I remember how I just left work that one day. And, you know, I had a bottle of my bag and I was half gone. And my whole thing on the radio doing traffic, which is I think is the best gig.
My display shift, you know, and I've got a thought I could itemize a list of why it's such a great gig. And I remember leaving and I always said the words are going to come because I would come in here with a 0.1 something blood alcohol level in the mornings. In the evenings too. I always, I always had a blood alcohol level. I mean, I always carried one because I had to keep my hands from shaking. And I always said the words are going to come. This was my thought process. You don't come down.

**Jason Hammer** (3:27)
You're a pro. You're not even there. You can get through it.

**Matt Bair** (3:30)
Damn it, Hammer. That's that's that's there's some truth to that. There was some real arrogance there. It's like you've been doing radio all your life. You know, traffic roads, Indianapolis, just as good as anybody, if not better. And then one day the words didn't come.
And then another day the words didn't come. And then it just kept going on and on until finally it got so bad. I I finished a report at three o'clock hour and I just grabbed my bag, got upset by to everybody and left.

**Jason Hammer** (3:58)
There were times on this program we knew like the hotline would ring.
Our bosses would be like, something's wrong with Matt. But Matt, what I think is amazing, it would have been easy for those same bosses to just fire you on the spot. I didn't do that.

**Matt Bair** (4:16)
Yeah, I know that and it's something that I can't process that in my head so much because I don't know if I would have been as compassionate or in this case, altruistic because you're sacrificing this show, this radio station by keeping me on. It's a huge gamble with a guy that's an alcoholic.