The Josh Innes Show - WBC vs. NBA Finals Part 3

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

I'd like to offer some life advice. Now, you may ask yourself how a mess of a human like myself has anything to offer. Well, I've got some insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I love learning how to do new shit. You know, that's a pat, like, and would I like to learn how to paint? Maybe. Would I like to learn how to draw? Maybe. Like, I am a big believer in learning to do as many things as possible and being a well-versed, well-rounded human being. I'm a huge believer in that.

Again, if there's anything you can take from this. And I don't think that any of you actually listen to this and take my life advice is serious. If you do, please send me an email, Joshena's show at gmail.com, or send me a DM on Instagram or whatever. Let me know that my life musings, you know, that you find them helpful, that you find my advice to be helpful to you. Maybe you do. But I believe in being a well-rounded person. I love to have knowledge. It bothers me when there are people who don't want to have knowledge. Like I'll be sitting here and I forgot what we were talking about the other day.

Oh, no, it was. We're sitting here talking about the, um, this story about Afro-Man and how Afro-Man, like the cops had raided his house and he was he made rap songs about it and they were funny little rap songs and he was being sued by the police department in the small town for defamation and one of the songs was called um it was called lemon pound cake because one of the cops that busted in they had him on video in afromance house and in the house the guys like got his gun pulled he's looking around trying to find whatever the shit is they're looking for and the cop this fat little cop like stops and looks at this pound cake that's in a cake presentation apparatus, whatever you would call it, like the glass case that you would see a cake, right?

And part of one of the songs, it was called Lemon Pound Cake, was he sang about how this cop looked like he really wanted a slice of that Lemon Pound Cake, his mama's Lemon Pound Cake. So the song is like, it was set to the tune sort of under the boardwalk. So lemon pound cake, pound cake. So it was set to the tune of under the boardwalk. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health. From the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup

that provides a clear picture of your health today. And may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. When WestJet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere,

and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to West Jetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. So, I'm trying to remember who sings that. I'm sitting in here with James.

And he goes, what's saw, who sings that? I forgot who he asked who sings that? He goes, who is that? Is that under the boardwalk? Is that such and such? And I'm like, no, I think that's the drifters. And I go look that up, but I think it's the drifters. And he goes, yep, it's the drifters.

He's amazed by this. Again, it's not the most, now I sound like Trump. He said, that's amazing. He said, how did you know that? That's amazing. And I said, I don't know, I'm cognitively there. But I'm like, how do you know that? I'm like, I don't know.

I just have a wealth of useless knowledge. Like I just, I have a bunch of useless knowledge. None of it is really helpful in life. But I like to have that knowledge because I like to know things. It gives me some sort of gratification. Like I feel better about myself knowing that I know things. Does that really matter? Yeah, not really.

Like, does it really matter that, you know, that Josh knows that the drifters sang under the boardwalk? Not really, but I like to know things. And that would be advice that I would give you. If you listen to this, and a lot of you are adult people that aren't going to need advice from a 39-year-old guy who had it big and had a whole bunch of shit and now, you know, doesn't make as much money as he used to. And, you know, perhaps you could view him as a guy that's, you know, missed his opportunity, whatever. Like, I can understand it if you don't want to take any advice I give you. Or maybe the fact that I have lived and learned and all this shit, you know, maybe you look at that and go, you know, hey, I actually.

would take advice from you because this guy's fucking lived it. He's lived in 10 different towns and he's bounced from place to place and he's had failures and had successes. And who knows? Maybe you hear this and go, yeah, maybe I take your advice even more so. Maybe there is something to be said about that. You know, everybody's got the book where the guy tells you about how he was super successful. Hey, here's a book about how I failed. And, you know, maybe I could be the guy that you should follow. But my advice, and I continue to offer this advice to people, and to me it's the most important advice there is. Is no things.

Have knowledge. Read. Be the guy. That sounds ridiculous to be like the know-it-all Cliff Clavin type. But there is something to be said about being the know-it-all Cliff Clavin. There is something to be said about possessing knowledge. Read. Be educated.

And when I say educated, I don't mean, hey, you can pass a standardized test and you got a 30 on the ACT. Who gives a fuck? Anybody can study. Like there were classes designed for you to study just to kind of pass the ACT or the SAT. That means you knew anything. It doesn't mean you possess any knowledge. It doesn't mean you retained any of it. It just means you were able to bullshit your way through a test. Who cares? But real knowledge. Read. When I walk my dog during the day, Ross and I, like yesterday, we walked over five miles. A lot of times we'll walk five, six, seven, eight miles. Multiple times a day will probably amass seven, eight miles of walking a day,

depending on the weather. And I love to walk with Ross. I love to walk. And that's where I listen to a lot of shit. And I'll use the, um, whatever the fucking book app is. And I will, um, and I'll just download different books, not like fucking fiction books, who gives a shit? Like I'm not here to listen to pride and prejudice.

I don't give a fuck. But I like to listen to things that can teach me something. I enjoy that more than podcasts. So like I've been listening to books about, you know, TV and, you know, like I was listening to a book about, you know, the history of NBC late night and, you know, must see TV, all this shit, you know. And I like to just learn. Now, I have the luxury that a lot of people don't. Like, a lot of people can't just sit around, you know, after 10 o'clock in the morning and just listen to shit. You know, I can.

I have that luxury because my job is over basically at 10 o'clock. and I go walk my dog and we spend hours outside and like I have that luxury. I guess that's the one tradeoff of having no money and having the job that doesn't pay me much anymore is that I can just kind of go out and, you know, live a little bit and, you know, have experiences with my dog. And I listen to a lot of shit. And I'm a big believer. And look, I have a lot of failures in life and I have a lot of things that you might consider, you know, bad stuff about me or whatever. and I'm not telling you that I'm perfect in the way I approach things in life and there's a lot of things I could do differently and all that. But one thing I will tell you is this.

Have knowledge. Be the guy that knows a lot, knows at least a little about a lot of shit. You know, because that means you can talk with anybody. I feel like I could walk into any setting at any point and have at least some knowledge about it. Like I could actually walk into a. television ratings type of discussion with actual TV people and have real knowledge about it. Not knowledge that Clay Travis gave me on the internet, but I can actually have knowledge about it. Because I listen to enough things and I want to learn about it.

Have a passion for knowledge. Want to know things. Have a passion for that kind of stuff. That would be my biggest advice I could offer you. You may not take that advice. You may not care. You may listen to this and go, Josh, fuck off. What do you know?

I was actually having a discussion with one of my big bosses here. And, you know, he's talking about how good he thinks I am. And he's like, I think you're fantastic. And he said, you know one thing that we have that a lot of people don't have? And I'm like, well, what is that? He said, well, we have you. And there aren't a lot of yous out there. And that resonated with me.

I'm like, that's one of the nicer things somebody's ever told me. That's very cool. And I said, yeah, and I think I could go be successful. and I think I still have one more run of being a real success. Like I think I possess enough knowledge now and I've learned enough about my own bullshit where I think that I can, I've learned enough where I could make something and really do one more. I have a run in me. I'm not done yet.

You know, I've made some mistakes. I mean, look, think about this. I was left for dead after, I wasn't left for dead after Philly. I got fired in Philly, but a lot of people wanted to hire me. I mean, I was hot after Philly. And I got paid the most money I've ever been paid in my life to go back to Houston. And that was a fucked up situation. And a lot of it was my fault.

Fucked up. Cool. But I was left for dead after that. Remember, IHeart was the biggest company out there and still is. Odyssey, who eventually is now in charge of WIP and everything, that was the second largest. So the two biggest employers of radio talent in the country, what became Odyssey, which was CBS when I was there, and then they merged and with like entercom or whatever and became Odyssey. The guy that ran Odyssey from what I was told, a guy named David Field, I think,

and like I don't know how true this is, but like that guy legitimately disliked me and thought I was terrible based on what happened in Philadelphia. That guy ran that company. Think I was going to get a job there? And then I heart where I had just been fired in one of their biggest markets and was a total terrorist. The whole thing was a bad situation. I was left for dead.

And then, oh, by the way, the Rona happened, left for dead. So at that time, I'm, what is that, I'm 35 at that time, however old I am. What year was that? 2019 when I got fired. So I guess I would have been 32 going on 33 when I got fired in Houston. And I'm left for dead, right? I'm done. And then we used to talk about it on the pot about buttering the bread.

That was jilly's whole bit. Like you got to butter the bread. Don't be afraid. do you know go out and butter the bread. So I butter the bread. I'm doing this shit with the guys on 975. And that's when I get a call from my old boss in Houston. I'm still living in Houston at the time.

But I get a call from Eddie, my old boss, the guy that ran the whole market, you know. And he said, hey, what's going on, man? I'm just checking in. My best friend, one of my best friends runs the Nashville cluster for Iheart. and I told him and I think you'd be really fucking good. And remember, this is early 20-21. This has been about two years

since I got fired from there and there's been the Rona in the middle and everything. He calls. Now, mind you, we were, like, it was a terrorist situation when I was in Houston. Like, it was not a good in there. Although they did offer me a new contract

before they fired me and some other shit happened, but whatever. And he says, hey, I recommended you for the job because I think you're really fucking good. My buddy Dan Endem is going to call you.

You're going to call you. And I think they want to hire you there. I told them they should hire you there. Okay, cool. Mind you, I was left for dead. Like I, you know the story. I've told the story a thousand times. But the story about how, you know, the night Therona really broke, I was on the radio, on CBS Sports Radio, thought this might be my opportunity to get my foot back in the door.

You know, national broadcast, quote unquote, but it's not like a ton of people were listening. But, you know, national broadcast, whatever. And the world stopped that day. Like, that was just how my luck was in that stretch. The world ends on the day that I'm, like, getting my opportunity to get back on the radio. So, again, I'm left for dead. Like, you know, any job I tried to get, you know, I couldn't get it. And then I get the Nashville gig.

I get that Nashville gig. I'm there for two years. I get offered a very nice raise to stay. Like, I was making more money in Nashville than I am here. But, and I got offered a nice raise, like a 30-something percent raise, and I had money coming in from other stations. Like, I was set to make, you know, a good amount of money. More work than I'd have to do in St. Louis, but, you know, the money. It was fine.

I lived in Nashville. Better place to live than St. Louis. But I said, fuck it. I'm going to St. Louis. And we all said, Josh, if you fuck Eyehart here, there's a very good possibility you are never going to get back in again. So you better be making the right decision. I said, fuck it. I think this is a great situation in St. Louis.

It's going to work. It didn't. So at that point, keep in mind where I was. I had fucked over I heart. Now, I'd gotten fired at I heart and then fucked over I hearts. So that was probably off the table. Odyssey still hates me from Philadelphia. And I just got fired at this other radio company and they're a smaller company and they sure is fucking going to pick up the phone and call me to go to Chicago or Minneapolis.

Because I just got whacked in St. Louis. The only place I hadn't worked, I guess, was cumulus in some of the other smaller ones. But like, you know, I'm done. I'm left for dead. and I'm out of a job from August, I guess it would have been of 2024 until July of 2025. So I'll have worked for a year. Door dashing. Left for dead. I'm thinking it's over, right?

Like I call a couple places. I came close to getting a job on a soft talk station in Kansas City, and that's it. And then I'm resurrected again. And why do I tell you all this? I've been left for dead, like radio left for dead multiple times. and if you get left for dead multiple times enough and keep being resurrected by a place that's fired you multiple times, you start to kind of, even though you fuck around and tell you'll make jokes about yourself, you start to believe that maybe I am pretty good at this and I've been giving these opportunities.

And I finally hit that point where I'm appreciative of the opportunities because not too many of them come around anymore, especially in this industry. And I think I've learned enough to know what I want. and how to act and all that. Like there's very little drama around me. I know that's hard to believe because I'm just walking drama. But this goes back to the conversation I was having with my boss about it. I was like, you know, there's very few you out there.

There are very few people that are like you. You are a special talent and you're a game changer type of person, you know. And but I was explaining to him that I think I'm an asset because I've learned. And he goes, well, what have you learned exactly? like what shit did you do and what wouldn't you do now? I'm like, listen, man. Like, I have a goal. And I would really love, like, and I've told him this even though we're in Detroit.

And if Detroit becomes a place that I am for a thousand years, great, you know. But like, I'm passionate about certain places and going back to the smoking meat of it all. You know, I want to get back to smoking meat. I want to get back to something that's closer to home to Louisiana and be around my family as I get older. You know, like I kind of value that now, which is bizarre. I'm 39 years old, and I finally kind of value the idea of being able to drive to home and see my mom, see my family. I don't even feel like I know my family, other than my dad. I feel like I know my dad.

I only see my dad when he's driving through a town on one of his little excursions, but I talk to my dad pretty frequently. I don't feel like I know anybody in my family. And there's like an element of that that I find to be kind of sad, you know? And I'd like to change that. And I'm like, I know what I want. Like I'm 39. I want to have one more run at success. I think I can.

I'm still a young guy. I'm not ancient. But like that's so I tried to explain that to him. Like I'm not looking to fuck shit up because I'm not 30, 25, 30 anymore just out there flying by the seat of my pants, not giving a shit. Kind of tired of moving. Kind of tired of going places. I want to set up shop.

I want to spend Sunday smoking meat and listening to 90s country or yacht rock and drinking bush lattes and playing with my dog. That's what I want to do. That's like the passion that I have. When we talk about passion. Like I don't golf. I mean, I can, but like, not to brag. But I can.

But like my passion is doing radio, entertaining people. If they are entertained, who knows? Self-deprecation, also passion. And smoking meat. Like, that's what I want to do. And I know that. So now my mind is singularly focused on getting to that world.

I told you, there's a buddy of mine that I follow on social media and we're buddies, you know, and I see his videos of his house in Dallas and he's got a pool and he's got nice smokers and he's got some cash and he's on the radio and he's got a pretty wife and he's got kids and I don't want kids or anything like that, but I sure shit would like a pool. But I look at that and I'm like, fuck, dude, that's the life I'd like to lead. And you say, well, Josh, what is this matter? Like, why are you telling me all this? And it kind of goes to the point about why, if you listen to advice I offer, like, I think I'm someone who's learned a little bit about life along the way, right? And like, I don't know, like, I just, I view things differently than I used to. I'm not as much of a lunatic as I used to be.

It doesn't mean I don't have my moments. And it doesn't mean that when I get on the air, I'm some sort of bland fuck. I think I'm a pretty interesting guy. But I know where I want to be and what I want to do. Thus, I'm not as dangerous to these people. more, which is a good thing because I think it opens the doors for me to get somewhere and elevate a lot of things. It would elevate this, this podcast. It would elevate a lot of things. So I don't know how I got there. I guess it all stems from this. And I don't know how it went

from being angry about social media to half an hour later talking about this. But it is one of those things where, like, if you listen to me and you listen to this podcast, in my mind, maybe you don't give a shit about what I have to say. And you're like, Josh, what do you know? You're a dip shit. But maybe you listen to this and go, that's a guy that's lived it and been up and down and up and down and up and down. So maybe he learns something along the way. And if that's what you take from that, cool. That's very nice.

Anyway, more to come. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988, Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada.

Thank you.