Christa Ramey (00:00):
I think that it was in that moment that I knew that I wanted to be an attorney. I wanted to put bad guys away. I was going to be a district attorney, and I worked in the DA's office in law school, but they weren't hiring DAs. So I was going to have to be a law clerk for a period of time after. And I was already working for a plaintiffs firm, a personal injury firm, a well-established, Rose, Klein & Marias big firm. We were holding really terrible people accountable for the crap they did. And some of it was criminal.
Bob Simon (00:36):
Do you feel like a lot of the attributes you said about your aunt, mentoring a lot of folks, an entrepreneur, sounds a lot like you, Christa?
Christa Ramey (00:43):
I would like to think that if she was here and I moved out here and went on this path that I've gone on, that we would've seen each other a lot, that we would've been thick as thieves.
Bob Simon (01:03):
Welcome to this episode of Bourbon of Proof, where we interview those who have been successful at law and life, and we do it over a series of a lot of alcohol. A lot of high proof too. We have a very good surprise for our guest. And of course, I'm joined by my co-host and one of my best friends in life, my bonded brother, my brother in bond, Mauro Fiore.
Mauro Fiore (01:23):
Hello, hello. Nice to see you, Christa.
Christa Ramey (01:25):
Nice to see you guys.
Bob Simon (01:26):
You guys have known each other for a long time.
Mauro Fiore (01:27):
A long time.
Bob Simon (01:28):
So this is going to be a very good episode.
Mauro Fiore (01:29):
A long time.
Bob Simon (01:30):
And of course, thank you to Charles Liu and Tom Hardy letting us hijack their bar. We're here at Bike Shed in downtown Los Angeles, and we're going to get this started off very nice, Christa. So first one I selected for you, we're going to go straight into the booze. This is Heaven's Door, which is a straight rye whiskey finished in bogs bottles. I don't know. These are wine bottles in France, but you like wine, so it's fine.
Christa Ramey (01:55):
I do, I do.
Bob Simon (01:57):
But I like this because it's a straight rye. And let me pour this for you first, and I'll tell you why I selected this.
Mauro Fiore (02:02):
Heaven's Door is in Louisville, right? We visited Heaven's Door.
Bob Simon (02:06):
They have one in Louisville, but it's actually from, I think, Indiana.
Mauro Fiore (02:10):
Oh, we went to Angel's Envy when we were in... Same similar bottle.
Bob Simon (02:12):
Similar bottle. Angel's Envy rye is one of the best ones. So you know you're going to remember these notes because this is a straight rye whiskey. And this is 46% alcohol. Ooh, on that table. So cheers. We'll try the first one.
Mauro Fiore (02:25):
Straight rye.
Bob Simon (02:26):
Straight rye. So Christa, a lot of people know you as a leader in the industry.
Mauro Fiore (02:34):
Very nice.
Bob Simon (02:35):
I know. Very nice. Leader in the industry and help a lot of people out with consumer advocacy, but a lot of people don't know how you got started and why you became a lawyer. So we're going to start out, I just want to go right to that. So I chose Heaven's Door to talk about your aunt who is in heaven right now, and about what happened to her and how it inspired you. And I don't know if Mauro knows the story, but I want to talk about it.
Mauro Fiore (02:57):
I've heard varies versions of it.
Christa Ramey (03:02):
First of all, that's so sweet. And I think that a lot of us have origin stories about why we become lawyers, at least some of the better lawyers do. And we're like, "Oh, I couldn't get into med school, so I'm going to go to law school." But when I was 16 years old, I found out some devastating news when I came home from school one day that my aunt was murdered. She was shot in her home by someone she let into her house at 5:00 AM, and she was executed. She was shot through the screen door and then a bullet to the back of the head. And there's no easy way to tell that story.
(03:36):
And I kind of tell it fast because sometimes it's better just to pull the bandaid off. But I remember going through that experience and all of the emotions that come with it. Her murder has never been solved. And it was in that period of time when I knew that I thought the death penalty was wrong because I wanted to kill the person that did this to my aunt. And to have those kinds of feelings of rage and anger in you is not acceptable. And I drew on my faith. I'm Greek Orthodox. I drew on my family and we have just been waiting for justice for her.
Mauro Fiore (04:15):
How many years?
Christa Ramey (04:16):
It's been almost 40. 37 years.
Mauro Fiore (04:21):
And where was this? In what city?
Christa Ramey (04:22):
So she was in San Diego. She moved out to California from Michigan when she was in her early twenties. Former beauty queen, Miss Grand Rapids. We lived in Texas and she was an entrepreneur. She was a strong woman, community leader, a Soroptimist, mentored other women entrepreneurs. And they think that it was a love triangle. My family knows who did it. We are certain we know who did it, but there was no DNA. The shell casings were taken, nothing left behind. And I think that it was in that moment that I knew that I wanted to be an attorney. I wanted to put bad guys away, and I was going to be a district attorney.
Bob Simon (05:05):
Which you did.
Christa Ramey (05:06):
And I worked in the DA's office in law school, but they weren't hiring DAs. So I was going to have to be a law clerk for a period of time after. And I was already working for a plaintiff's firm, a personal injury firm, a well-established, Rose, Klein & Marias, big firm. And we were holding really terrible people accountable for the crap they did. And some of it was criminal.
Bob Simon (05:30):
Do you feel like a lot of the attributes you said about your aunt, mentoring a lot of folks, an entrepreneur, sounds a lot like you, Christa.
Christa Ramey (05:37):
I would like to think that if she was here and I moved out here and went on this path that I've gone on, that we would've seen each other a lot, that we would've been thick as thieves. She was special to me and I, even though she died so many years ago. I mean, I was young, I remember her vividly. I remember her smile, I remember her smell. I remember how she would lean into conversations. She was someone that you would really just connect with when you were talking with her. A gift that not very many people have that ability to make those kinds of connections. She would've been a good lawyer.
Bob Simon (06:12):
And this was San Diego many years ago.
Christa Ramey (06:14):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (06:14):
We've seen a lot in the news, Mauro, I don't know if you're following, but it's a cold case that people are opening back up. At least it's getting publicity. I think it's got to be due to you because you've been out in the media a lot. I see you on court TV and these other things.
Christa Ramey (06:26):
It was random. We got contacted, my daughter got contacted by a girl that went to school at University of South Carolina where my daughter went, looking for, she makes the connection like, "Hey, we have a lot of mutual friends. By the way, I am a reporter in San Diego, and I noticed that you're one of only three friends of a man on Facebook that I'm looking for. His name's Mike Haggai. That's my dad." She goes, "I think you might be his step-granddaughter."
Bob Simon (06:55):
Wow.
Christa Ramey (06:58):
And I was like, "Don't send the reporter to my dad. Don't, because he will not pick up the phone." And I immediately knew, reporter from San Diego? That's about my aunt. And they're doing these stories after 2020 on Friday nights where they're talking about these old cases and a lot of them are getting solved because they need to be talked about. And when they're pushed out there and talked about, that's how crimes get solved on these cold cases is because the person that did this, she's not the only person that knows. She had to have told someone, or she hired it done. And it's a lot to live with. I can't imagine living with something like that. So we're hoping that they'll feel the weight of whatever guilt or conscious that they might have left and call in a tip.
Bob Simon (07:50):
This one's to unsolved murder and to justice.
Mauro Fiore (07:54):
To justice.
Christa Ramey (07:55):
I like that one. That's a good one.
Bob Simon (07:59):
So this one was actually sourced by a fellow Greek. This is Nico, one of our good friends from Booze Outlet. So we source a lot of alcohol from here. He sources very hard to find bottles. So we sent him on a mission to find ones that tell a story for our guests. And this one was special from Nico.
Christa Ramey (08:15):
I love it.
Bob Simon (08:16):
Yeah. So thank you to Booze Outlet for that one.
Christa Ramey (08:18):
Thanks, Nico.
Bob Simon (08:19):
Very tasty.
Christa Ramey (08:20):
It is. I like it. I like a good rye.
Bob Simon (08:22):
Me too. I think it's the only rye that we have here, but we'll get into that. Mauro, how long have you known Christa?
Mauro Fiore (08:28):
Over 20 years for sure.
Christa Ramey (08:30):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (08:30):
Long time. Because I've been bouncing around the town a little while. Bouncing around LA as a lawyer for 26 years now, I've been a lawyer. And so I've known Christa a long time. When I first met her, I mean, I know you worked for Rose, Klein and then you worked at Alder's office and in between you were at some other places. So she's worked for a lot of friends of mine over the years, and then she had her own office for a long time. So yeah, I mean, I've ran across Christa so many times and then we're both very active in CALA. She's going to be CALA president here.
Bob Simon (09:04):
CALA President.
Mauro Fiore (09:05):
And so I've been on committees with her and so many things over the years. So we're old friends.
Bob Simon (09:10):
And for those of you who are watching or listening, so CALA is our consumer bar, it's our trial bar in Los Angeles, which I believe is the biggest membership bar for trial for the country.
Christa Ramey (09:18):
For the country.
Mauro Fiore (09:19):
We have about 3,500 members.
Bob Simon (09:22):
And Mauro and I are on the board. Christa's now on the e-board. She's going to be president.
Christa Ramey (09:28):
Three years.
Bob Simon (09:29):
So Christa was actually the first person I met in CALA. She had a new lawyer's thing when 11755 Wilshire Boulevard suite, 1120, Michaels Office. You came to Phil Michaels office and held a new lawyers' thing. And I was a first-year lawyer and I came.
Mauro Fiore (09:43):
You worked for Phil Michaels too?
Bob Simon (09:44):
No, I was working in that building as a young lawyer and I was interested to hear more from stuff. And you were the first person I met.
Christa Ramey (09:51):
I remember meeting you when you were a baby lawyer doing my mock trial that I used to do in the Santa Monica courthouse.
Bob Simon (09:57):
Yes, that's right.
Christa Ramey (09:57):
I'm like, "This kid's got talent."
Bob Simon (09:59):
Oh God, you've just dovetailed right into my next selection for you. Okay.
Christa Ramey (10:05):
Oh, god. Okay.
Bob Simon (10:11):
So when I came to do that, you invited me to come judge mock trial in Santa Monica. I was actually trying a case in Van Nuys at the time, and it was a sex abuse case and it was a case for a young girl who was 15 that was being essentially trafficked through a series of companies where there were night janitors and they would take her around. And I was trying the case with Aviary Sec up at Van Nuys and I came down on a Thursday night to judge that because we were dark on Friday, came down to judge that competition for you.
Christa Ramey (10:46):
Didn't you all win?
Bob Simon (10:48):
We won.
Christa Ramey (10:48):
Street Fighter for that, right?
Bob Simon (10:49):
We won Street Fighter for the year for that, for California.
Christa Ramey (10:52):
I remember that case.
Bob Simon (10:53):
Very sad. But that girl, I mean, it's the most positive story you ever... I mean, and this is where I selected this for you because this, it's funny you mentioned that this wasn't even scripted, but this one is an Orphan Barrel. So this one, every year they do something different. And this is Forger's Keep. So they do these intricate, it's like artwork. And Orphan Barrel every year takes one or two barrels and they select what's called an Orphan Barrel, one's that other people gave up on. They nurture them, they care for them, they advocate for them, they turn it into art. And every year it's something different.
Christa Ramey (11:25):
I love that.
Bob Simon (11:26):
And this was, I think 2006 is when they did this one. Yeah, this is an older one. No, it's bottled in 2006. But this was a couple of years ago. But it's different from that thing we're having right here because this one is actually, they ship this one out to Scotland. So this is done in Edinburgh, this one.
Christa Ramey (11:41):
Oh, wow.
Bob Simon (11:42):
But they do a bourbon and they do a scotch. But this is the different flavor for this. But now Christa, since I've done that case, you have always been a champion for those folks that never had a voice, your aunt. But for sex abuse cases and the sex trapping and what you're doing, what you're going to talk about now, but to Christa.
Christa Ramey (12:00):
Cheers.
Bob Simon (12:06):
Totally different taste.
Christa Ramey (12:07):
I like that one.
Bob Simon (12:09):
Yeah. Different taste for it.
Christa Ramey (12:10):
Feels a little bit like a scotch.
Bob Simon (12:12):
It does. It's like a scotch.
Mauro Fiore (12:13):
It has a little bit of that Islay kind of peaty flavor.
Christa Ramey (12:17):
It does. That's what I'm tasting.
Mauro Fiore (12:18):
Yeah. It's got the Islay, which is good.
Christa Ramey (12:20):
I wonder if they can help themselves in Scotland, to do that.
Bob Simon (12:25):
Is that Islay, is that how you pronounce it? I've always wondered.
Mauro Fiore (12:27):
I think it is. Islay or Highlands is the ones that have the peat kind of the campfire flavor.
Bob Simon (12:33):
Okay, I'll take your word for it.
Mauro Fiore (12:35):
This has got a little bit of the campfire in it.
Christa Ramey (12:36):
It does.
Bob Simon (12:37):
So Christa, you're known for getting big school bullying cases, sex abuse cases. So kind walk us through where your passion is now and the kind of cases that you're litigating and trying.
Christa Ramey (12:47):
Yeah. I think that we've all known people that have been hurt or who have suffered at the hands of another, whether it's a fight or a bully or abused, whether it's physically or sexually. And there's some things that have happened in my past and to people that I love. And then just experiences with my own children and what they endured. And not even to the extent of anything like the clients I represent. But I remember back in 2013, some laws were changing that Governor Brown signed into law to amend the education code, to add cyber bullying to-
Bob Simon (13:24):
Wow, this was 2013?
Christa Ramey (13:26):
Not until 2013 cyber bullying was added as something that schools had to look out for, realizing that that plays a role on how kids enjoy their right to get it an education and to enjoy their school campuses.
Bob Simon (13:40):
But it sounds so strange that 2013, it sounds like it wasn't too long ago, though it was.
Christa Ramey (13:46):
10 years.
Bob Simon (13:47):
In the world of technology.
Christa Ramey (13:48):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (13:49):
But California seems to be at the forefront of developing and having, because a lot of states still don't have these laws for cyber bullying.
Christa Ramey (13:56):
No. And a lot of them are tricky. There's laws that protect media companies. Everyone hears about Section 230.
Bob Simon (14:05):
So tell us about Section 230. The tech bro?
Christa Ramey (14:08):
Well, anyone that listens to President Trump talk.
Bob Simon (14:12):
Yeah, right wing media knows what that is.
Christa Ramey (14:14):
Because there's immunities that are given to Facebook and Instagram and there's been carve outs recently for specific types of cases where you can go after. Human sex trafficking is one of those areas where there's been a carve out and particularly like sex abuse and whatnot, but there's other areas that's not. And the bullying online could be so prolific, it can cause such lasting damage on a child. You look at suicide rates and how they jumped after in the late 2000s and into the teens. I mean suicide rates, teens and teens cutting themselves and feeling ashamed about who they are and their bodies and their images. There's a lot more work that needs to be done. I like that we're doing these carve-outs to get out of the immunity area. I don't think that there should, no one should ever get immunity. You do something wrong, you should be held accountable.
Bob Simon (15:12):
And that's where, and Christy, you do a lot of work to actually lobby and create new law for victims, survivors. And it just shows the dedication for, we have a very strong presence in California to dictate these things. Other states don't really have those things. And to actually have a cyber bullying law to have carve-outs for even arbitration and things, you're at those tables.
Christa Ramey (15:34):
I enjoy being at those tables too. Last year we had a little bit of a defeat in one of the areas that I was working on, which was hazing. But we're going back at it again this year. I like that I'm being called upon to do it. It's kind of nice to go to testify in Sacramento and explain to the legislators why we do need to sue people from time to time. When you think about it, we would not have seat belts in our cars if it wasn't for people like us.
Bob Simon (15:59):
I know.
Mauro Fiore (16:01):
Hazing meaning if someone wants to join a fraternity or something like that?
Christa Ramey (16:06):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (16:10):
Yeah, I'm old, older. I mean, I remember what we used to do just in high school in the locker room.
Christa Ramey (16:16):
I'm sure.
Mauro Fiore (16:16):
I tell my wife the stuff we would do to the freshman football players in my high school and she says, "You should be in prison." But I mean, it was okay. I don't know if it was okay, but no one gave a shit.
Christa Ramey (16:33):
Kids are dying. Kids weren't dying when you hazed them.
Mauro Fiore (16:36):
Nobody gave a shit in the 80s.
Christa Ramey (16:36):
Boys will be boys.
Bob Simon (16:37):
But you didn't have the internet there. Imagine having a video be posted of all this stuff that was going on and the humiliation.
Mauro Fiore (16:42):
It was so bad.
Bob Simon (16:43):
But I think about it, my dad was a football player. He played at Pitt and stuff, and he always told me, "Stick up for these other kids." And when I was playing football, you would see the hazing stuff and I'd be like, "Guys, come on. Why would you do that to somebody?" But I still remember as a young kid when I'd be getting bullied and usually my dad would just go kick their dad's ass. That was his remedy. But that's a core memory for you. That's something you remember.
Christa Ramey (17:05):
It is. It is a core memory. And I remember a whole cheer incident happening with my daughter. And in the bigger picture, it was not that bad. But at that time it was just everything to her. And I remember going to this meeting with all the parents and the principal and Kathleen raises her hand. She's like, "Call my stepmom. She's a lawyer." And I'm like, "Oh my God, I better say something really good right now." But we were trying to protect these kids because they were getting bullied by some of the other girls on the team and it could get out of control. And you post that online, that lives with a kid for a long time. So all kidding aside, I know that there is a lot of that mentality still though about boys will be boys.
Mauro Fiore (17:46):
Yeah, I say that at my house and my wife just wants to punch me in the face.
Christa Ramey (17:51):
I like your wife, by the way.
Bob Simon (17:51):
Who doesn't?
Christa Ramey (17:53):
Smart woman.
Mauro Fiore (17:53):
She's not interested. I say, "Boys will be boys," she says, "What are you talking about?" But she's a lot younger than me and she has a different view of it than my old. I'm a kid of the 70s and 80s and it was a different world.
Christa Ramey (18:08):
I don't think we're that far off in age.
Mauro Fiore (18:09):
No, we're a similar age.
Christa Ramey (18:10):
This is the young one here.
Mauro Fiore (18:12):
Yes.
Christa Ramey (18:12):
The boy genius.
Bob Simon (18:14):
Just a wee baby.
Christa Ramey (18:17):
Not a baby.
Bob Simon (18:19):
Got a lot gray. No, but I think Christa and I have been collaborating a lot, talking for the new things about being able to hold who we call the people that set the stage for these actors, these bad actors. We have big tech who, I mean, we see a lot of people preying on young women on Facebook. This is how they groom people. And then we see hotels and motels setting the same stage for these predators through sex trafficking and things. I know you're passionate about this, so I just wanted you to, with our listeners and viewers, kind of take the stage a little bit for you yourself and educate how things that are going on, how we can help prevent it.
Christa Ramey (18:54):
Well, I mean a lot of it, the hotels you mentioned, and some of these hotels are chains that we would stay in. Marriotts, Hiltons. Some of them are Motel Sixes. And during the pandemic it was really bad because no one was really watching. These hotels were empty. And this is something that we got involved with with Rotary International where I do a lot of volunteer work 15 years ago, 10 years ago with the human trafficking and just even just bring about awareness to it. But I think that people look at sex workers and they think that this was some kind of choice that they made.
(19:32):
We need to stop saying that they're consenting to this. They are not consenting to this. They have been trafficked. They have literally been trafficked, they have been taken and they have been forced into basically what is human slavery. And we have to figure out ways to stop the practices. And the way to do it is to put people like Motel Six that are helping them out of business. And that is how you get real true systemic change, is when you go after the actors that are enabling. Putting one pimp out of business isn't going to do anybody any good. You have to go after the money that is being made and that is being made by big time corporations in our country, and including media companies.
Bob Simon (20:16):
Medias, banks, hotels. We are hearing a lot of stories.
Mauro Fiore (20:21):
I've been reading in the data journal about all the guys from all these porn sites that were advertising on Craigslist for girls to do modeling. And then they come and they drug them and film movies and put them online and some of the girls are underage. I mean, it's been crazy. It is a crazy business.
Bob Simon (20:38):
And that's what the eye-opening thing, that's why I picked Orphan's Barrel, is because a lot of people, women that are trafficked are usually orphans, foster kids, people that don't have a support system around them. That's why I think it's such if anybody's watching or listening, if you just help foster kids or help kids that are orphans and give them a support group or have somebody to call or talk to, they prey on kids that don't have that system. Right? Or people.
Christa Ramey (21:04):
When foster kids turn 18, we dump them.
Bob Simon (21:07):
I know. Literally a trash bag. "Go get your stuff."
Christa Ramey (21:10):
And if they're still in high school, it doesn't matter. The system, you turned 18 in November of your senior year in high school, you're done. We will no longer provide this foster home for you. You're on your own. Good luck.
Bob Simon (21:25):
So if they turn 18 in October, November of their senior year, they're homeless the rest of the high school year. It's crazy.
Christa Ramey (21:31):
There needs to be some sort of effort to, I remember one of our friends, Jim DeSimone had an organization that he did volunteer work for many years ago. And it was about the foster system where it's post foster care and where you put these children into, where you get them into a group home or help them. The government needs to help take care of these kids. Their parents are either in prison or dead or drug addicts or something terrible.
Bob Simon (22:04):
60% of people trafficked were in foster care. 80% of people in prison touched foster care. And 70%, so seven out of 10 women that aged out of foster care at 18, get pregnant by the time they're 21. And guess what happens? Right back in the system.
Christa Ramey (22:21):
If we actually cared about children really, as someone who advocates for them regularly, we would care for them not just before they're born but all the way through until they're an adult. So that is societal change that you need to make happen. And how do you do that? That's through what we were talking about a little bit ago with through the legislature, through elected officials, through making sure that we're supporting people that are running for office that actually care.
Bob Simon (22:46):
And that's where lobbying, there's some stuff in California, they're helping pay for college for foster kids. These are things where people talk about, "Oh my God, you burn so much cash, you give so much back." You can actually do a lot of good and change society for the better if you put it in the right place. And these are things that you've been able to help create.
Christa Ramey (23:06):
I think that I'm making steps to help. I don't know that I'm that great. I want to make steps to help. I want to continue to help and I'll do everything I can. I mean, that's why I think I've niched my law practice into where it is where it's just about kids and adult survivors. So I'm just talking about bullying, abuse, sexual assault, trafficking.
Bob Simon (23:29):
And that's like I had a conversation with Brett Schreiber, a good friend of mine. I mean, he put it so succinctly. He's like, "All of us, we made a lot of money being car crash lawyers and injured labor lawyers." He's like, "But now if you reach a certain point, you're focused on legacy. What are you going to do to actually change the world?"
Christa Ramey (23:49):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (23:49):
And what you're doing now can change the world.
Christa Ramey (23:49):
And that brings me back to my aunt. Because I've got to think about the footprint we're leaving and why did I go to law school? I went to law school to put bad guys away. So if I can put a bad guy out of business...
Bob Simon (24:04):
That's right.
Christa Ramey (24:04):
I'll take that. Right?
Bob Simon (24:06):
So we're going to-
Mauro Fiore (24:06):
Drink to that.
Bob Simon (24:07):
We're going to drink to that. We're going to close that.
Mauro Fiore (24:09):
I talked to Brett Schreiber the other day.
Christa Ramey (24:11):
He's a good guy.
Bob Simon (24:11):
Oh, he's the smartest guy.
Mauro Fiore (24:13):
I called him up and he said, "Hey, what's up Mauro? I'm so busy right now, but I'll answer for you because you're Mauro." Thank God I have that. In some circles, people will answer for me.
Christa Ramey (24:25):
I think I take your calls.
Mauro Fiore (24:26):
I was like, "Brett," I had a question about something going on. And he's like, "I'm studying for the Hawaii bar exam." I said, "You're studying for the Hawaii bar exam?" I said, "Man, my brain doesn't work like that anymore. Are you sure you know what you're doing?" He's like, "Yeah, man. I want do these Hawaii fire cases. I want to help these people." And you know Brett, it's not because he's over there because he needs the money or anything.
Bob Simon (24:51):
No, he doesn't need the money.
Mauro Fiore (24:52):
It's because he's there because he wants to help people.
Bob Simon (24:53):
But he's a perfect example of people that are in our circle that want to change the world. He's talked to me about-
Mauro Fiore (24:58):
Yeah, no, he's there to help people.
Bob Simon (24:59):
They opened an office in Mississippi just to...
Christa Ramey (25:01):
For civil rights cases.
Bob Simon (25:02):
For civil rights cases. To change the election that he thinks they can change Mississippi for the better and help people. That's the type of people that you need to be around.
Christa Ramey (25:11):
I think I can change my home state, Texas, maybe a little bit. Switch it up.
Bob Simon (25:15):
We're going to transition to another state.
Christa Ramey (25:16):
Oh, Texas.
Bob Simon (25:17):
Which has been changed. No, we're not getting back to your roots.
Christa Ramey (25:19):
Oh, no?
Bob Simon (25:19):
We're going to the dogs.
Christa Ramey (25:21):
The dogs.
Bob Simon (25:22):
We're going straight to Georgia, because Christa Ramey is a very big Georgia Bulldog fan. And we're going to hear the story and why. And this is a very, this is 120 plus proof. We're going to end this with straight fire.
Mauro Fiore (25:38):
This is fire 120 proof?
Bob Simon (25:40):
We've had a lot more on this show thus far.
Mauro Fiore (25:42):
This will light your tongue on fire.
Bob Simon (25:43):
The highest we ever had was 134 proof.
Mauro Fiore (25:45):
I remember that one.
Christa Ramey (25:46):
Butter my tongue and call me a biscuit.
Mauro Fiore (25:50):
Speaking of Atlanta, I'm going to be in Atlanta for a week here coming up. I'm going to the Masters.
Bob Simon (25:55):
Wait, we're doing the Bourbon approved tour in Atlanta. When are you going to the Masters?
Mauro Fiore (25:59):
I'm going with Rob May.
Bob Simon (26:00):
Oh, my God. This guy.
Mauro Fiore (26:01):
April 17, 18, 19. I'm going to the Masters with Rob and Garrett.
Christa Ramey (26:04):
I am so freaking jealous of those.
Mauro Fiore (26:06):
With the Big Tuna. Yes, so we're going to the Masters and we're going to rage in Buckhead and-
Christa Ramey (26:12):
Eat your pimento cheese sandwich and drink.
Bob Simon (26:13):
Oh, I love pimento cheese.
Mauro Fiore (26:14):
And then I guess we're going to take a private jet and fly to Augusta on Sunday morning and see this Augusta, the finals and the Masters. You know, good stuff.
Christa Ramey (26:23):
My husband has walked the course. He hasn't played the course. Friend of his from undergrad, one of his fraternity brothers, Teek from University of Georgia.
Mauro Fiore (26:31):
Because I think that Augusta's far from Atlanta.
Bob Simon (26:33):
Well, this smells good, guys.
Christa Ramey (26:34):
I can't wait.
Bob Simon (26:35):
Okay, so I'm going to set the stage here. So this came from a former guest on the show. Ali Salimi sent this to me from Atlanta.
Mauro Fiore (26:42):
I remember Ali.
Bob Simon (26:42):
Ali's awesome. He looks like my Persian twin. Have you ever seen him? He does. So this is from the Old Fourth Distillery, which is a single barrel, handcrafted bourbon. Again, this is now 100. Well...
Mauro Fiore (26:52):
Cast strength too, which means they don't dilute it or anything, just however it comes out of the barrel is how they bottle.
Bob Simon (26:58):
So this is about 120 proof. We round up a little bit, but this is a store pick, which, if anybody's watching, if you want to look, they have a little sticker on the back that looks like this. People do a store pick, put a little sticker on things. It means that that place hand selected that barrel. It's one barrel that they had. I always take a store pick of anything. If you see it, it's amazing. It means somebody actually knows what they're doing, tasted it, liked it. This is cast strength. And again, different. We are going around the country here and around the world with Scotland. But this going to be different.
Christa Ramey (27:28):
I didn't know they distilled bourbon in Georgia.
Bob Simon (27:31):
I did not know this either. So I'm excited.
Mauro Fiore (27:32):
I think they have distilleries everywhere.
Christa Ramey (27:34):
Go dogs.
Bob Simon (27:34):
Go dogs.
Mauro Fiore (27:40):
You know, for 120 proof, it's pretty smooth.
Bob Simon (27:42):
It's smooth.
Christa Ramey (27:42):
I was going to say the same thing. And this is the first time I ever drink any brown liquor without ice.
Bob Simon (27:48):
And I'm usually ice in everything.
Christa Ramey (27:51):
It's more Scotch. Scotch you don't drink with ice.
Mauro Fiore (27:53):
I like to drink it neat.
Bob Simon (27:54):
Really?
Mauro Fiore (27:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Bob Simon (27:57):
But that's how I hydrate. That's how you stay hydrated. Put ice in it.
Christa Ramey (27:59):
You have to get your water.
Bob Simon (28:00):
Yeah, you have to get your water from something. They say eight glasses of water a day or four round ice cubes in your whiskey.
Christa Ramey (28:07):
The sphere ice cubes?
Mauro Fiore (28:08):
Okay, I can deal with that.
Bob Simon (28:09):
I mean, that's what my grandpa told me.
Mauro Fiore (28:11):
Oh, sounds like something Randy told you.
Bob Simon (28:13):
Randy might have. I might have got the memories confused.
Mauro Fiore (28:19):
Randy is Bob's drunk friend, by the way.
Bob Simon (28:22):
He's an expert with this.
Christa Ramey (28:23):
I don't know.
Mauro Fiore (28:24):
He's the best.
Christa Ramey (28:24):
I don't know that I know this person.
Bob Simon (28:25):
Oh, Randy's one of my best friends. He's a Texan. He's out of Beaumont, Texas. He lives down the street from me and he's a whiskey connoisseur and he's 6'5, 6'6. You think?
Christa Ramey (28:34):
You have a lot of Texan connections. And I think that it's weird, by the way, because-
Bob Simon (28:38):
Oh, I love Texas.
Christa Ramey (28:40):
I'm from Dallas and you're from Pittsburgh. And when I was a kid, my dad told me never to trust anyone from Pittsburgh or anyone that loves the Steelers.
Bob Simon (28:50):
And we told the same from people, the Cowboys. Because it was always Tony Dorsett coming up, playing.
Christa Ramey (28:55):
Might as well tie it back to Tony Dorsett.
Bob Simon (28:55):
Yep, that's what it was.
Christa Ramey (28:57):
Best running back ever.
Bob Simon (28:58):
So my dad in college, because Tony Dorsett played at Pitt.
Christa Ramey (29:01):
That's right, he did.
Bob Simon (29:02):
So my dad was playing for Pitt. Tony Dorsett was on that team. My dad was defensive man and they were not allowed to touch Tony Dorsett.
Christa Ramey (29:10):
Steelers have had some good dogs that come there.
Bob Simon (29:12):
Very good dogs. Hines Ward, one of my favorite players of all time.
Christa Ramey (29:19):
I was just going to say Hines Ward, damn good dog.
Bob Simon (29:20):
We had a lot.
Mauro Fiore (29:20):
He had a short career, Hines Ward.
Bob Simon (29:22):
No, he had a long career.
Mauro Fiore (29:23):
He was good.
Christa Ramey (29:23):
Really?
Bob Simon (29:24):
You don't remember because he blocked a lot of the end of his career and he coached the wide receivers. But he was awesome. He caught a touchdown.
Christa Ramey (29:32):
[inaudible 00:29:32] or something? No?
Bob Simon (29:34):
No, no. He caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl against the... Was it the Seahawks? It might have been against you guys. No, it was Seahawks. Who threw the pass?
Christa Ramey (29:42):
Wait. Oh, God. I wasn't paying close enough attention to the question.
Mauro Fiore (29:48):
Not Roethlisberger.
Bob Simon (29:49):
But Roethlisberger was the quarterback. Who threw the touchdown to Hines Ward in the Super Bowl?
Christa Ramey (29:54):
So it was an interception?
Mauro Fiore (29:56):
The bus.
Christa Ramey (29:58):
I don't know.
Bob Simon (29:59):
Okay. Oh, God.
Christa Ramey (30:00):
My husband would answer this.
Bob Simon (30:02):
Clue. This person played quarterback at Indiana University
Mauro Fiore (30:06):
Indiana?
Bob Simon (30:07):
And he was our wide receiver punt returner. And he threw a touchdown to Hines Ward.
Mauro Fiore (30:11):
I don't know enough about Pittsburgh.
Bob Simon (30:13):
Antwaan Randle El. Do you remember that guy?
Mauro Fiore (30:15):
I do remember him.
Bob Simon (30:17):
He threw perfect spiral.
Mauro Fiore (30:18):
As Bob has been.
Christa Ramey (30:19):
I could go into Cowboy history, I could get into Georgia Bulldog history, but I can't go in a Pittsburgh history like that.
Bob Simon (30:23):
Well, it's all interconnected because they are the greatest team of all time. So anyway, I digress.
Christa Ramey (30:28):
They have the same number of rings as the Cowboys.
Bob Simon (30:30):
No, they don't. Steelers have more. Steelers have six. You have five.
Mauro Fiore (30:33):
I always say my Dallas connection is always that I am friends with Rhett Miller, the lead singer of the Old 97s, the greatest rock and roll band ever out of Dallas, Texas. And some people, I tell them, "Hey, I know Rhett Miller." They're like, "Oh, I love the Old 97s." And some people say, "I've never heard of him."
Christa Ramey (30:48):
You know so much about music.
Bob Simon (30:50):
Mauro knows the most shit about Hollywood and music than anybody you've ever met in your life.
Christa Ramey (30:52):
I randomly run into Mauro at concerts regularly.
Mauro Fiore (30:55):
That's right.
Bob Simon (30:56):
Oh, yeah. You guys sent me a funny picture one time together.
Christa Ramey (31:00):
You went to Spain the next day or something.
Mauro Fiore (31:00):
I went to see Jason Isbell last year at the Greek Theater and I told my wife.
Christa Ramey (31:05):
This is connected to Georgia, by the way.
Mauro Fiore (31:06):
And I told my wife, I said, "I don't give a fuck how much it costs. I'm going to sit in the fucking front row."
Christa Ramey (31:11):
I sat the second row. Mauro was in front of me.
Mauro Fiore (31:12):
I was sitting in the front row standing right next to the guy's microphone stand because Jason Isbell to me is a God. And whoever doesn't like Jason Isbell can get lost.
Christa Ramey (31:21):
His music is so amazing.
Mauro Fiore (31:22):
And you know who was sitting right behind me? Her.
Bob Simon (31:25):
We're boarding an international flight the next day and he sends me this picture. I was like, "Why the fuck are you out, dude?" My wife's doing her skincare ritual. I'm preparing my liver for this trip, and he's with you.
Mauro Fiore (31:36):
Front row center at the Greek with Jason Isbell.
Christa Ramey (31:37):
I'm the row behind him though. I'm not in the front row. I'm the second row.
Mauro Fiore (31:40):
How did this come to be?
Bob Simon (31:41):
It's so good.
Christa Ramey (31:42):
But we ran into each into at music festivals.
Mauro Fiore (31:44):
Yeah, I've seen you at the beach.
Christa Ramey (31:45):
The Beach Life.
Mauro Fiore (31:46):
Beach Life Festival in Zanando. I went to go see for that one specifically, I went to see, I think it was-
Bob Simon (31:54):
Boney Moroney?
Mauro Fiore (31:55):
No.
Christa Ramey (31:56):
Oh...
Mauro Fiore (31:56):
Wilco.
Christa Ramey (31:59):
Yes. That's who we went to see is Wilco. And you know who else was there was bringing it back to Texas was, oh God, Willie Nelson's son. What's his first name?
Mauro Fiore (32:08):
Willie Nelson's son?
Christa Ramey (32:08):
Very handsome.
Mauro Fiore (32:11):
Yeah, The Promise of the Real is his name, of the kid. The name of his man is called The Promise of the Real.
Christa Ramey (32:16):
He's definitely inherited the talent from his father. But the best guitar player to me, known to man that ever lived is from Dallas. And that's Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Bob Simon (32:28):
Oh, wow.
Christa Ramey (32:28):
My husband when we were kids, I was too young because I couldn't get into bars then. But when he was playing bars on Greenville Avenue.
Bob Simon (32:34):
You couldn't get into a bar in Texas? Come on.
Christa Ramey (32:36):
Well, this is the early 80s. I was like 10.
Bob Simon (32:36):
It's fine.
Mauro Fiore (32:40):
I've been to the, what's it? The Majestic Theater on Greenville Avenue.
Christa Ramey (32:42):
Nice.
Bob Simon (32:43):
Why does he like... This is stupid. By the way, this liquor that makes my tongue numb. You guys feeling that yet?
Christa Ramey (32:51):
Oh, my God.
Bob Simon (32:51):
He just chugged it.
Mauro Fiore (32:53):
The Grand Theater.
Christa Ramey (32:54):
He's he chugged every box.
Mauro Fiore (32:55):
The grand theater on Greenville.
Christa Ramey (32:58):
I've never been.
Mauro Fiore (32:58):
But the best is Deep Ellum.
Christa Ramey (32:58):
Deep Ellum is the best.
Mauro Fiore (33:01):
You got to go to the Gypsy Tea Room, Deep Ellum, and see some fucking rock and roll.
Christa Ramey (33:05):
There's bars there that no longer exist I went to in the 80s, the Stark Room being one of them, which Stevie Nicks was the part owner of. That place was cool. You felt like she owned it. It was like there was women dancing in cages. Everything was like these long, beautiful lace curtains hanging down. The dance floor was amazing.
Mauro Fiore (33:20):
And the other thing about Dallas is they have the world's greatest record store in Dallas called Good Records in Dallas, the world's greatest record store.
Bob Simon (33:27):
This guy didn't even look at show notes, by the way.
Mauro Fiore (33:29):
The world's greatest record store.
Bob Simon (33:31):
He's riffing off to records.
Christa Ramey (33:33):
We need to go. We need to get you and my husband into doing a trivia night where music is the...
Bob Simon (33:38):
Oh, God.
Christa Ramey (33:40):
Baseball, baseball. My husband is a baseballer.
Bob Simon (33:41):
I'll do the college football section of that.
Christa Ramey (33:44):
I can help with football. Growing up from Texas, football I know.
Bob Simon (33:47):
But this is why I chose this one for you from, this is in Atlanta. Very hot, high proof. I love this.
Mauro Fiore (33:54):
When I was a kid, I just remember Herschel Walker played for the Bulldogs and he was the baddest.
Christa Ramey (33:58):
Let's not talk about Herschel Walker.
Bob Simon (33:58):
Where did Herschel Walker, where did he go play out of college?
Mauro Fiore (34:03):
He played for the Cowboys.
Christa Ramey (34:05):
He did play for the Cowboys.
Bob Simon (34:05):
No, he did not. Where did he go out of college?
Christa Ramey (34:06):
No, no College. He went to like the...
Mauro Fiore (34:08):
Oh, he played in the USFL.
Bob Simon (34:08):
He did.
Mauro Fiore (34:08):
For The Washington Generals.
Bob Simon (34:12):
And who was part of the USFL at the time?
Mauro Fiore (34:16):
Donald Trump.
Bob Simon (34:17):
That's right. Why do you think they're attached at the hip?
Christa Ramey (34:19):
That's how they know each other.
Mauro Fiore (34:19):
Donald Trump owned the New Jersey... I can't remember the name of the team.
Bob Simon (34:25):
Which went BK.
Mauro Fiore (34:27):
Yeah.
Christa Ramey (34:28):
Imagine that.
Mauro Fiore (34:29):
But still to this day, Steve Young collects a million dollars a year.
Bob Simon (34:33):
Yes, he does. Oh, do you know this story?
Mauro Fiore (34:34):
Because Donald Trump signed Steve Young out of college for 100 million dollars in order to show what a big deal the USFL was signed. Steve Young to a 100 million dollar contract.
Christa Ramey (34:47):
What a bad businessman. How did we elect him as president?
Mauro Fiore (34:47):
But it was a million dollars a year. Every January 1st, Steve Young got a million dollars for 100 years. So to this day, Steve Young's still collecting a million dollars a year.
Bob Simon (34:54):
He had an annuity. Yeah, the annuity is they thought if they put the money aside, they could collect the interest to pay it off in perpetuity. And so the Outlaws, so in Major League baseball, which has a monopoly essentially, but they have an antitrust role, they got rid of the Bobby Bonilla rule, which he did that in Major league baseball.
Mauro Fiore (35:12):
Bobby Bo to this day still gets paid millions of dollars.
Bob Simon (35:15):
A million dollars a year. He signed a contract with the Mets in like 1991.
Mauro Fiore (35:20):
And he's still getting paid.
Bob Simon (35:21):
Yep. Because they did this annuity deal. They're like, "Dude, you can't do this anymore."
Christa Ramey (35:24):
Thank God. But I think that these deals they make-
Bob Simon (35:28):
We're in baseball, by the way.
Christa Ramey (35:29):
We're in baseball. I don't know. We went from football to baseball. It's a natural progression. I'm a girl from Texas, so I like sports, so I'm good.
Mauro Fiore (35:35):
You know Fiore Legal is the official sponsor of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Dodgers single-A team.
Bob Simon (35:40):
Oh, that's right. He does a lot of cool giveaways, like records on fire.
Mauro Fiore (35:43):
Every year I throw out the first pitch and it's usually pretty bad.
Christa Ramey (35:47):
I'm going to the first gate opening day.
Bob Simon (35:50):
We should do an opening day there.
Christa Ramey (35:52):
A party there.
Mauro Fiore (35:52):
With the Quakes, Rancho Cucamonga?
Bob Simon (35:54):
If anybody wants to look up Mauro Fiore stats in fast-pitched baseball. We played on a team together. If you go to LABL.
Mauro Fiore (36:00):
Fastest.
Christa Ramey (36:03):
Did you do this with Joe Barrett?
Bob Simon (36:04):
Joe Barrett's in that league. He's on one of the other teams.
Mauro Fiore (36:05):
We were in a league where they threw gas [inaudible 00:36:08]. I threw like 80 miles an hour. Bob, tell them.
Bob Simon (36:11):
So if you go to LABL-
Christa Ramey (36:12):
You threw an 80 mile an hour?
Bob Simon (36:12):
No other people did. Mauro was throwing 40 mile per hour curveballs.
Mauro Fiore (36:16):
I was a junk pitcher.
Christa Ramey (36:18):
Those are hard to hit.
Mauro Fiore (36:19):
But tell them about my stats.
Bob Simon (36:21):
LABL.org. If you go there, you can look up lifetime stats and I looked up, like these were over 10 years. I still bat with the wood bat.
Mauro Fiore (36:29):
Wood bats.
Bob Simon (36:30):
I was still batting 300, but my stolen bases would go from 20 a year to five to zero. But at the end of my career I was having pinch runners. That was the only basis for me.
Christa Ramey (36:41):
Is that a thing?
Bob Simon (36:44):
In this league, there's a couple rules.
Christa Ramey (36:46):
Because you're older.
Bob Simon (36:46):
Yeah, there's a couple rules. We have a 25 and up rule.
Christa Ramey (36:48):
Your knees are not as good as they used to be.
Bob Simon (36:50):
And I was catching. So we were the 25 and up rule. And the rule was you have to be removed from pros three years, one rule. Two years, you get-
Mauro Fiore (36:59):
People would bring like Jose Canseco.
Christa Ramey (37:00):
I was going to say, is their pros actually in the league?
Mauro Fiore (37:02):
Yeah, Jose Canseco was on the team.
Bob Simon (37:04):
Both Canseco's played in the rule, played in the league, but Ozzy, his other twin beat up the umpire and then went after his girlfriend. He got thrown out of the league. It was a whole thing.
Christa Ramey (37:14):
Well, baseball players don't have a good reputation for sexual assault.
Mauro Fiore (37:18):
Back to the most important part, to my stats.
Bob Simon (37:20):
So Mauro's stat...
Christa Ramey (37:20):
There's a situation there too.
Bob Simon (37:22):
Mauro will bat the weirdest 300 average you've ever seen in your life where he will get up the plate and they'll throw whatever pitch, he'll swing and fall on the ground. And these guys are throwing 80, 90 miles per hour and out of nowhere he'll hit the other one like a rocket over the shortstop's head. He'd get a runner, by the way. He would trot the first and say, "Runner."
Mauro Fiore (37:42):
Yeah, I'd get a pinch runner.
Bob Simon (37:43):
And then the runners would-
Mauro Fiore (37:44):
Remember that guy from the Mariners who could never get me out.
Bob Simon (37:47):
There was a left. He's a scientist.
Mauro Fiore (37:48):
And a guy who threw hard.
Bob Simon (37:51):
He did.
Mauro Fiore (37:51):
But he could never get me out. This guy from this team that we played against.
Christa Ramey (37:55):
This is like poker skills.
Mauro Fiore (37:56):
It was amazing.
Christa Ramey (37:58):
Or pool shark skills when you go in.
Mauro Fiore (38:00):
I was like eight for eight against that guy in one season, it was amazing.
Bob Simon (38:03):
But it was weird because the guy I did not face well against him, but Mauro would come up. They had a meeting at the mound.
Mauro Fiore (38:09):
Yeah, they'd have their meeting.
Christa Ramey (38:10):
About you?
Mauro Fiore (38:10):
The whole team would meet because they could not get this guy. For whatever reason, I'd just see the ball come off his hand.
Christa Ramey (38:15):
And you know how it's going to go?
Mauro Fiore (38:18):
And I knew I just saw the ball and I would just destroy this guy.
Christa Ramey (38:21):
Because you throw the junk curveballs too.
Bob Simon (38:24):
Mauro has a weird pitching motion. He pitched. We were up 10 runs and he almost surrendered all of the run.
Mauro Fiore (38:28):
No, listen. Listen Christa, this is bullshit.
Bob Simon (38:31):
It's true.
Mauro Fiore (38:31):
We were up like eight runs. Bob put me in-
Bob Simon (38:33):
We were up more than eight.
Mauro Fiore (38:34):
Bob put me into-
Christa Ramey (38:36):
But first of all, I can't even believe Mauro's an athlete.
Mauro Fiore (38:36):
Listen, Bob put me into-
Bob Simon (38:37):
Wait, look at his calves. We'll go off camera. I want to show his calves would look like somebody put softballs in his fucking [inaudible 00:38:45]
Mauro Fiore (38:46):
I was a first baseman. I played first base in left field, but Bob put me into pitch, but I had a couple of breaking balls. So I put in the pitch. So we're up like eight runs.
Bob Simon (38:56):
More than eight. Like 15.
Mauro Fiore (38:57):
And then suddenly our team completely, our entire defense just fell apart.
Bob Simon (39:02):
I mean, I did commit two errors because I was laughing so hard.
Mauro Fiore (39:04):
Every ground ball I could have got out of the inning, it's over. Every ground ball, Bob throws it into the parking lot. Okay? So then another ball to the shortstop, another thing easy third out. The guy throws it into the fucking bucket. These guys committed like 25 errors.
Bob Simon (39:20):
Now that I've retired from the league, I will tell you officially we did not drink during the game, but we did. We had a couple Puerto Ricans on the team. What was it, Ramis?
Christa Ramey (39:30):
All makes sense now.
Mauro Fiore (39:30):
Aramis.
Bob Simon (39:32):
He would come in, we would drink, he would bring a bottle of whiskey and chew.
Mauro Fiore (39:35):
We had several guys on our team who didn't speak one word of English. I can tell you that. Not one word.
Bob Simon (39:40):
We had an interpreter. We had a mound meeting, we'd have an interpreter.
Mauro Fiore (39:43):
We had some Puerto Ricans on the team.
Christa Ramey (39:45):
How did all these lawyers get involved in this league?
Mauro Fiore (39:47):
It was Bob's team.
Bob Simon (39:48):
So it was my team. And eventually we were like, so when we started were the LA Squires and we were all these lawyers. We came for the nights, we defact, whatever. So it was all these lawyers. And then we were like, you know what? They're making fun of us all the time because this is mostly a Spanish-speaking league. So we changed our name too. [foreign language 00:40:08].
Mauro Fiore (40:08):
We had a mustache on our helmet. That was our logo.
Bob Simon (40:16):
We did. It was wood bat league. When we left the league, most of the team did not speak English anymore. It was awesome. We had so much fun.
Mauro Fiore (40:25):
Yeah, we had Puerto Ricans, Mexicans. I don't know, we had that one actor kid.
Bob Simon (40:31):
We had a few actors.
Mauro Fiore (40:32):
Yeah, Bob had some friends that were actors.
Christa Ramey (40:33):
Who's the Sandlot guy that comes to all of our-
Mauro Fiore (40:35):
Oh God, that's my friend.
Bob Simon (40:36):
I just saw him in Miami.
Christa Ramey (40:40):
Oh my God, I love that guy. It was so funny.
Bob Simon (40:40):
It's Patrick.
Mauro Fiore (40:40):
Listen, it's so funny.
Christa Ramey (40:41):
Yes. He shows up to a California-
Mauro Fiore (40:43):
Well, the guy's my friend. So like, it's the weirdest thing. The guy was like-
Bob Simon (40:47):
He's the catcher from The Sandlot.
Mauro Fiore (40:48):
He's a director now.
Christa Ramey (40:49):
My kid's favorite movie ever.
Mauro Fiore (40:51):
No, he's a director now. He's not an actor anymore. He directs.
Christa Ramey (40:54):
He was a little kid in that movie.
Mauro Fiore (40:55):
But unfortunately for him, he's like 47 years old and looks exactly the same as he did-
Christa Ramey (41:01):
He looks like a child.
Mauro Fiore (41:03):
... When he was 12. He looks exactly the same.
Christa Ramey (41:04):
So Mauro, he was at a board meeting right after COVID when we were doing the board meetings in the hotel rooms. Or the hotel rooms? The hotel conference rooms. And I'm sitting up because this is my first year as secretary. So I'm up at this podium at the stage. I'm looking across the room and I text my husband. I'm like, "I think the guy from The Sandlot is here. Look behind you." And he's like, "Oh my god." My husband's geeking out. "We need to get a selfie with him."
Mauro Fiore (41:32):
He runs an SEO company for lawyers. So you'll see him at every convention.
Christa Ramey (41:37):
And I do.
Mauro Fiore (41:37):
His real name is Patrick Renna, and he's the nicest guy. He's the nicest guy in the world. But I play golf with him. I hang out with him. We'll go play golf and we'll be at some random golf course and it's like people will be like, "Dude, it's the great Ham Beano." And he's like, "Yeah, what's up?" And he takes pictures with everyone. He's really nice about it.
Bob Simon (41:58):
So whenever we were in Miami for a conference and I was at the back, I was at the bar actually, because I don't like to sit down. I like to see the crowd.
Christa Ramey (42:06):
You don't need to talk to people.
Bob Simon (42:07):
Exactly. And I was like, it's the Great Ham Beano. And I was like, this is Mauro's friend. So I text Mauro, I was like, "Mauro, your buddy's here." He's like, "Watch this." He puts us on a group chat and he's like, "Patrick, look behind you at the bar." And he looks back, it was like out of a movie. I was like, "Hi." [inaudible 00:42:24]. He knows everyone.
Christa Ramey (42:24):
He's the Dos Equis ads, "The most interesting man in the world." Is that quite possibly Mauro?
Bob Simon (42:31):
No, actually it's Jason Sanchez, which will be an interview very quickly.
Mauro Fiore (42:34):
Actually, the guy who was the most interesting man in the world is a guy named Jonathan Goldstein.
Bob Simon (42:37):
It is. That's the guy's name.
Mauro Fiore (42:39):
And he's the coolest guy in the world. He used to hang out at Dantanas.
Christa Ramey (42:41):
Is it the actual?
Mauro Fiore (42:42):
Yeah, the real guy is named Jonathan Goldstein.
Christa Ramey (42:43):
I actually know him. Which actually might make you the most interesting guy in the world.
Mauro Fiore (42:46):
I used to hang out with him at Dantanas in Hollywood. And we'd get drunk and maybe once in a while there'd be drugs. But I mean, I can't really tell all those stories. I can't tell all those stories.
Bob Simon (42:57):
Okay, we're going to defact out of the most interesting man in the world as we interviewed the most interesting woman in the world who's helped and mentored a lot of-
Christa Ramey (43:04):
Do you notice that Georgia thing never had anything to do with me at all?
Bob Simon (43:07):
I know. I wanted to give him the story.
Mauro Fiore (43:09):
Why are you a Bulldogs fan? Because if you're from Georgia-
Bob Simon (43:10):
That was the question.
Mauro Fiore (43:11):
If you're from Dallas.
Christa Ramey (43:12):
I don't know. I got to taken over.
Mauro Fiore (43:13):
If you're from Dallas.
Bob Simon (43:14):
But this year, the year of 2024, it was played where in the final four, Georgia did not make it, but Texas did. And Georgia was the better team. How do you feel about that and why?
Christa Ramey (43:25):
Well, I actually have a lot of feelings. So I was initially upset about Florida State, who, by the way, our friend Brett Schreiber, who we were just talking about, went to Florida State.
Mauro Fiore (43:36):
[inaudible 00:43:38].
Christa Ramey (43:37):
But my nephew was the quarterback for Florida State. Drew Weatherford. But I might be the most interesting man in the world. You don't know. I was like, they did everything you were supposed to do. Florida State did everything you're supposed to do.
Bob Simon (43:56):
Except for one thing.
Christa Ramey (43:56):
No.
Bob Simon (43:57):
Somebody got hurt. It was dumb.
Christa Ramey (43:59):
But this is why they did everything. Because he got hurt and they still won. So they said, "We're going to take injuries into account." And after he got injured, they continued to win. And that is why Florida State should abandon the four, top four. I would've not been pissed about Georgia not making it if Florida State made it, but when you want to talk about who was the best football team, Georgia could have beat any one of them. And my dad, who's a Michigan guy, I'm sorry, Georgia would've killed Michigan. I'm very glad that Michigan won. If my dad ever sees this, I'm sorry, Dad, I love you. And Michigan should win. Go blue, but...
Bob Simon (44:37):
Georgia would've kicked their butt.
Christa Ramey (44:38):
Georgia would've won. So I'm excited about next year when we're moving to the 12 team playoff and actual real, who is good and who is the best and who should be there?
Bob Simon (44:49):
College football is just corrupt.
Christa Ramey (44:50):
No, it's not.
Bob Simon (44:51):
No. The NILs make it better because players can actually make money. Actually, I'm a big fan of it. Okay.
Christa Ramey (44:55):
I know. I am too.
Bob Simon (44:56):
Okay, so we're going to end this episode. So Christa, at the end of every episode, we do one. So we chose very distinct flavors. These are all very, very different. And I would thank Nico for sourcing this bottle, which I cannot find. There are three distinct tastes. And I got to ask you, Christa Ramey, don't think about... The story could be part of it. What's your bourbon of proof?
Christa Ramey (45:19):
And it doesn't have anything to do with this story, but maybe it does, but it doesn't. But it's this one.
Bob Simon (45:23):
Yeah.
Christa Ramey (45:23):
And this one is too peaty. It's more like scotch, which I like, but I'm not a big fan of scotch. This one is, it's burning the roof in my mouth.
Bob Simon (45:33):
It is.
Mauro Fiore (45:33):
Boy, this is hot.
Christa Ramey (45:35):
This is so enjoyable.
Mauro Fiore (45:36):
120 proof is hot.
Bob Simon (45:36):
I love this one.
Christa Ramey (45:37):
I love the story.
Bob Simon (45:38):
I love this one.
Christa Ramey (45:39):
I love the story behind all of them though. I mean, I love the story. I love that. I love that you picked out something that meant something about me for all of that. So it's very sensitive.
Bob Simon (45:50):
Yeah, we started the show with that one. But I want to thank-
Christa Ramey (45:52):
But this is good.
Bob Simon (45:52):
Christa, thank you for coming on, being a champion for those that have entered heaven's door, that are orphans of those that have been forgotten, or those that are still a Georgia Bulldog fan.
Christa Ramey (46:03):
Go dogs. Oh, that was my husband, by the way. He's the bulldog.
Bob Simon (46:08):
But you've been an amazing guest and if anybody wants to reach Christa Ramey, just literally type in her name into Google. She's an advocate for all of us. So Christa, thank you for coming. Last cheers.
Christa Ramey (46:19):
Cheers. Mauro.
Bob Simon (46:20):
This is to Mauro not falling asleep.
Christa Ramey (46:22):
Oh, I see a lot of pictures of that video everywhere on the internet. Google Mauro Fiore.
