Episode #2091- Hammer and Nigel Full Show

What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less, with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota. Let's go places. Hammer and Nigel. Do you believe these characters are weirdos? Hey, now, it is the Hammer and Nigel show. Running it back today is the Hammer and Hammer show as Big Nige is out. And Chris Hammer filling in for Big Nige. How's it going? Now, Chris, you've got a lot of... Responsibility is when you fill in for Nigel. You have to do very little. You have to sleep on the job and then take about five to six weeks off after two days. Do you think you can pull that off? I already feel like I'm pulling more weight just by being in the building in the first place. Right. I think I'm feeling the Nigel role a little bit better right now. Shots fired from the boy. All right. I think we're ready. I don't think we have to wait anymore. Producer Kurt, hit me with some legal stuff. Crime, punishment, judges, legal stuff. Going to keep it here and ending. So you guys remember. Gabe Whitley, right? Honest Gabe? Honest Gabe, that little portly, you know what, that is a convicted felon, a failed 7th District congressional candidate because, correct me if I'm wrong, he lost to a dead woman. That is correct, yes. He went to federal prison for lying about his quote-unquote donors. It's pretty much universally believed. He's got these fake accounts all over social media. And the thing that used to drive me nuts, Chris. People would fall for some of these fake accounts. The Hoosier Inquirer. Well, they're reporting this. They're reporting that. No, the Hoosier Inquirer is Gabe Whitley in one of his aliases sitting somewhere in a basement eating Cheetos and not being thin. That's what the Hoosier Inquirer was. There's so many of those accounts out there on social media that you can just tell around by either the person themselves or it's one of their biggest supporters. And it's just... just blatant lies that come out there. And they present themselves as this like honest news site. And then you read it and there's like several spelling errors in their article. And you're like, all right, sure. And it's frustrating when somebody you like or you view in high regard share some of that crap. Right. Like, oh, come on. What do you get doing? You're sharing the Hoosier inquirer. Stop it. Well, anyway, that's Gabe Whitley.

Earlier today, he pled guilty to a level six felony intimidation charge. Now, this was filed by our very own Abdul. Now, if you remember, Gabe Whitley hated. Abdul with the passion of a million fires. And he put some posts out on social media referencing shooting him like a pig. He put Abdul's home address out there, I believe, calls for law enforcement to raid Abdul's home. You can read all about it in the court filings, the police report. And Abdul's posted about this today at Indy Politics. But today, honest Gabe pled guilty to that level six felony from all the threats to Abdul. And here's the kicker. He can't go on social media. Judge Linda Brown accepted the plea and Gabe Whitley is expected to be released from custody later today. And as a result of the plea and the sentence imposed, no online platforms and a no contact order with Abdul and his family. That's interesting. I'm thinking about this. How are they going to enforce this no social media stuff? Like if he's if he's creating fake accounts, is there like something that they could put on his phone to know when he's opened up Instagram or whatever Twitter's called now X? Like how is that going to be enforced is what I'm curious to learn about? Right. There's a lot of. rules and laws to get put into place, but they're never enforced. Right. Like the no turn on reds here downtown. Right. Okay. Great. I appreciate what you're trying to do. But nobody abides by that sign. Nobody does. Nobody does. And you're right. Gabe Whitley, who's already got a ton, what we believe to be, a ton of alias accounts out there. I asked Abdul, do you honestly believe that he's not going to have any sort of... burner account or is he going to try to be slick and pull a fast one and find some way to get online? Right. Abdul's under the belief and maybe he's heard something that we don't have access to because he's involved here. He's under the belief that it's not going to happen. Another question of mine has, it says he can't go on social media. Is there any, like, clause in here that says he can't tell someone else to post on social media for him? That's not on there. I think you start getting into some violations of First Amendment there. But, listen, for what it's worth, it sounds like the Hoosier Inquirer will not be posting anytime soon. And that was my favorite thing.

When he was getting ready to go to federal, you know what prison the first time around the board, he told everybody, oh, the Hoosier Enquirer, they're going to be posting all the time. Crickets, since he got locked up. Crickets. And now, according to this judge's ruling, he's not allowed to have any sort of online platform. We'll see how that goes. More legal stuff here. Some moron. Try to climb up the monument on Christmas Eve. Now, Chris, I know you were working a little bit. I can't remember if you were downtown because you also work in our promotions team here. That's correct. Did you see the idiot climbing the monument? I did not. I did not work Christmas Eve. I worked the day before, unfortunately. But I drive by the monument all the time, and I was reading this story. How do he climb up on the monument? There's not really a lot of ways to climb up that. It's like a straight up tall building. We saw some of these numb nuts do that during the mostly peaceful riots that were taking place downtown. There was somebody up there climbing up, riding graffiti. But this guy climbed up there to the point to where police and rescue squads, first responders had to come. And at this point, there was a crowd that was around too. So imagine it's Christmas Eve, you're downtown, you're hearing the Christmas music. Maybe you're going to watch one of these shows, you know, Yuletide or something like that. Right. And then you see a moron climbing up the monument about to fall. So let's be honest, raise your hand. If you see a moron that's doing that, raise your hand if you're rooting for him to fall. All right, Kurt's hands up, Chris's hands up, my hand is up. I think that's a frush, I believe. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. I mean, that's what we got going on here. Don't climb up the monument. And this dude was just whacked out. Once they got him on the ground, he was taken into custody. On his person, they found. A manila envelope containing a plant-like substance, a flat metal screwdriver, broken glass fragments, material used for a tourniquet, a glass vial, one empty pen cartridge, which commonly used for drug use, I believe. folded card consistent with the way narcotics are prepared. So this guy was like Charlie Sheen and his prime climbing up the monument was hanging on by like a hand. It was almost like the promo poster for cliffhanger with Stallone. And luckily... The authorities were able to get him down without too much of an incident, but Druggy McDrugface is now facing multiple charges here, including one count of cocaine possession, which in itself is a level six felony. We mentioned this yesterday. This is exciting, and we owe you guys a lot of thank yous. Our charity bowling event, Red, White, and Bowl, presented by Jack Daniels on Friday, January 16th.

Sold out, baby. Sold out. We're going to have some competitive bowlers. Chris, I think you fall into that category. We're going to have some people just there to drink the beer and eat the pizza. I think I fall into that category. And a little birdie told me that next week we may. Have your last chance at some tickets. It's sold out now. Everything we do sells out, by the way. You guys are awesome. The best listeners in all of radio. We sell out everything we do. And it's usually pretty quick because you guys are such badasses. We're going to raise a lot of money for Hoosier veterans in need. We're going to drink some beer. We're going to bowl. We're going to have some pizza. We're going to give away some prizes. And if you did not get your ticket, Next week, again, can't confirm officially, but a little birdie told me there may be some last minute tickets. So thank you so much for selling out another awesome event from The Hammer and Nigel show. Matt Baer standing by, Matt, I know a lot of people still on vacation so the roads don't seem as busy. Is that the case? You're listening to The Hammer and Nigel show. It's New Year's Eve, Eve, here on The Hammer and Nigel show. I'm Jason Hammer. Big Nige is out. Chris Hammer is filling in. How's you going? And in studio from the WIBC Newsroom, Jonette Cruz. No. Johnette, we were talking during the break here in addition to being... an amazing multifaceted journalist here at WIBC. You teach like a hip hop dance class, right? I do, yes. I used to professionally dance basically my entire life and I went on tour with multiple groups and did all that stuff. Who'd you go on tour with? Name names. Oh gosh. It's going to date me. I'm older than you are. Don't give me that crap. Okay. Do you know who Black Street is? Yeah, no diggity. Yeah, I went on tour with that. Do I know who Black Street is? Teddy Riley? Come on. Yes, I was 18, 19. It was before social media, before we had the cell phones. I don't have anything from my time being their backup dancer. But I went on tour with them for about a year and a half. So when you're like at a wedding and somebody puts on no diggity now, do you feel like, okay, it's PTSD. It's game time. I got to go out there and put on the show. I literally don't remember what I even danced to back then. It's all a blur. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Right now, your local Toyota dealer has great deals available on some of the most reliable trucks on the market, like the off-road ready Tacoma, rugged, full-sized tundra, and legendary forerunner, each with the space, tech, and features to handle it all, from the work site to the trails. It means driving for less, with efficient hybrid options available. extending your overall driving range and delivering great MPGs, meaning bigger savings at the pump without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. The Tacoma and Tundra are ranked number one and number two in resale value over all vehicles, according to Kelly Boo Book, which can mean thousands more than average right back in your pocket when it's time to trade in. That's Toyota affordability. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. Shop Toyota.com or your local dealer for deals and details.

Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2026 model year. For more information, visit Kelly Blue Books, KB.com. Toyota brand average resale value is 53% versus the average vehicle at 45%. Toyota, let's go places. So yesterday we did the biggest stories in Indiana for 2025. Today, I challenged you to find the biggest stories in all of America for 2025. Yes. I have to tell you, I had a little bit of a hard time. There's so many things that happened this year. Once I started kind of backtracking and seeing all the big news that happened throughout the United States, I was like, oh my gosh, how am I going to like whittle all this down to five? So again, I went a chronological order. And of course, we had to start with the inauguration of President Trump. Okay, so we're going chronological order here. These aren't like your one through five rank. This is chronological. Chronological, yeah. So I started in January. So January, here we are, January 20th, as he was sworn in as of 47th. president of the United States. And I thought that was obviously a really big deal considering where we were the past few years. And that was a major change. And it seemed like the inauguration went a little smoother than his first one. You had like some actual bands that wanted to perform. You didn't have Sean Spicer up there going, it was the biggest gathering in the history of humanity. Like it seemed like you went a little smoother. Yes, absolutely. And then we fast forward to March where I think things started to get a little dicey when it came to the topic of immigration. I think March is when it really first started to hit and that's when the whole Salvadorian prison came up. And then I still really started to like hammer in on lots of deportations and all that. And I actually just recently looked at the Homeland Security website. And as of September, they have deported two million people or have self deported in total. The self deportations are amazing to me. So you've got a group of people here saying, all right, if it means I'm going to have a chance to maybe come back. I will do it the right way here. I think that's fascinating. I think that's the goal. This is what you're looking for, right? Absolutely. Yes. So I think that was a big deal. Honestly, I think it still carries over because even now, I think some of that immigration stuff is carrying over through everything that's happening in Minnesota with the whole fraud happening there. So then we went through March. And then here we go with May. And we have the 14th Pope, Pope Leo. An American Pope. An American Pope from Chicago. Although, he's a white socks fan. I knew Chris was going to go there. I'm not going to get behind this guy right here. He's like, that's a negative. The only person that could fix the white socks is the Lord. So they're going to need all the help they can get over there. Right, right. That's something because if you go back and watch like video of the White Sox World Series run from a number of years ago. One of the shots shows him in the crowd. Like the Pope was there. Divine intervention was on the south side of Chicago. There you go. I just hope he doesn't park the Pope Mobile down there because somebody's going to steal it or it'll be on blocks by the time he gets out there to see it again. Right. So yeah, I thought that was a big deal, especially in the newsroom. We were just getting like play by play of everything happening with him when that was all happening. And then obviously I want to fast forward. This is a number four heading into September, Charlie Kirk's assassination, which just completely.

I felt like the world just literally stopped. This was what it sounded like on our program. This is the audio of when we made the official announcement that Charlie had passed. Now, we had been getting tips for about 15 minutes from unverified sources. He's dead. He's passed away. No, he's on life support. As you know, Jonnet, there are so much. So much coming in. And a lot of it's wrong when stories break right out of the gate. So you... Gotta be right. You have to nail it. And we found out when President Trump put something on social media. And this was from the Hammer and Nigel show that day. Nige, we had been seeing drips and drabs of information coming to us the last 30. So minutes. We wanted to make sure we had a reliable source here. I feel like this is about as good as you're going to get. President Trump writes on truth social, quote. The great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead. No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by all, especially me, and now he's no longer with us. Melania and my sympathies go out to his beautiful wife, Erica, and family. Charlie, we love you. The shooter is still at large. And that was live coverage from when we saw the post by President Trump announcing the death of Charlie Kirk. And at the time, like Nigel points out, we didn't know who the shooter was. Somebody had been taken into custody and pictures were taken, but it wasn't the guy. And now we know that the suspect, Tyler Robinson, would be found a couple days later. Yeah. It was just a crazy time. As you know, like we were in the newsroom just like floored. And then again, just getting all the information in and kind of like, you're in this space of like, is this really happening right now? I think everybody remembers where they were when they saw or first heard about this story. I was at you, Indy. I just got done with the class. I was working on a project. And the way I found out about it is all the videos of it that were being shared on Twitter that were just disturbing and horrible. Very disturbing. And you know, my son, he's going to be 16 this weekend. And he saw it at school. And at the time did not have a phone. Yeah, there are some very up close shots that just break your heart. I feel like that's probably the biggest story of 2025. But what else do you have that rounds out your list here? Last one rounds out. I just, I think this towards the end of the year with elections coming on, just everything the lovely mayor elect over in New York City, Zohran Mamdani. I mean, that's a, I think that's a big deal. A Democrat who is a socialist is completely turning what politics are going to look like in New York City. Yeah, it's going to be an experiment for sure. Yes, absolutely. You know, it's never worked anywhere else. Now, any socialist will tell you, well, I do a different type of socialism. Okay. It's never worked anywhere else, but you do you. We'll find out. According to socialists, nobody in the history of humanity has ever done socialism correct, apparently is what I'm learning from all these people. It's not that it fails all the time. It's nobody's done it properly. It's just not done it correctly. Excellent. Interesting. Jonette, tomorrow we will be talking about celebrity deaths and the biggest pop culture entertainment stories of 2025. That'll be fun. If somebody wants to follow you on social media or challenge you to a hip hop dance contest, how can they find you? All of my handles is just the Johnette Cruz. I'm everywhere on social media. Come find me and connect with me. Who would be better in your dance class?

Chris Hammer, who is 21 years old, but he's like a 50-year-old. Or me? He's like a 50-year-old. Oh, he's the oldest 21-year-old you've ever seen in your life. I am horrible at dancing. You do not want to see me out there. I have to say you have a couple shots of tequila and you'll do perfect. I'll be like Elaine out there doing the little kicks. Jonette, thank you. You're welcome. It's The Hammer and Nigel show. You're listening to the annual show. More fraud investigation in Minnesota. You may have heard our news anchor Johnette's crews talking about this a little bit earlier. Fed's continuing their work in Minnesota trying to get to the bottom of this massive. And the word massive, I don't even think does this justice when you're talking about up to billions of dollars, Chris. Right. Massive fraud. Now, you knew two things were going to happen here. Number one, Governor Old Balls, Tim Walz, is going to do everything in his power to stay in power. There are people wanting him to resign and disgrace over this, but... Since when does disgrace ever bother Tim Walz? He's not going anywhere. A Democrat's corruption? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say. And you knew certain factions of the national news media would try to make this sound like it's not that big of a deal. Oh, what's a couple billion dollars between friends and taxpayers? Which brings us to CNN. CNN News Night and their host Abby Phillip, who I've made the claim since Don LaMond, Don Lemon was unceremoniously canned at CNN. Abby has taken the torch of the dumbest person on television. Because you've got to remember, Joy Reid doesn't have a gig anymore. Don doesn't have a televised gig anymore. I think it's Abby. I really do. I think she has taken that moniker. She doesn't feel like it's that big of a deal. And look, just because conservatives are finding out there's millions and billions of dollars in fraud taking place and have been for a long time, doesn't mean it's some sort of cover up. The idea that this has not been investigated is completely bunk. That is not true. It not only has it been reported, it is being investigated as the Trump DOJ is actually trying to point out tonight. Just because conservatives are finding out about something for the first time doesn't make it new and doesn't make it some kind of cover up. Oh, just because you're finding out billions of dollars have been screwed for the taxpayers. Oh, there's no cover up. This is just your average everyday billion dollar scheme. Oh, yeah. Like every state happens. I mean, what is... I'd be curious. What would her stance on this? Would she still have this same stance if this was, let's say, Florida or Texas that this was happening in? Do you think she would still have this same stance that it's not that big of a deal? Oh, she would want Ron DeSantis to resign in disgrace. They would have mobile trucks outside of Ron DeSantis's house or down in Texas outside of Governor Greg Abbott's house. You'd have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez down there. Jasmine Crockett calling him hot wheels doing all types of ridiculous things. You're absolutely right. That's a great point.

promise you, the dumbest woman on television, Abby Phillip, would feel a little differently if it were a red state. But here's the thing, Chris. We can't be naive about this. This type of thing is probably happening in every state. Now, I know Governor Braun has been coming out saying, hey, we're cracking down. We're looking for this. Better not do it in Indiana. But you know this is happening elsewhere. Oh, yeah. California, New York, even maybe the flyover states. I mean, this was happening in Minnesota. Now, granted, it's a bit of a liberal zoo up there. When you look at who their AG is, Keith Ellison, and then you get into your mayor, that little weenie, Jacob Frey. And now look who your governor is. Old Balls Tim Walz. I mean, it's like the canteena scene and Star Wars up in Minnesota. These are the freaks we're dealing with. But it's happening everywhere. Oh, yeah. I mean, really? You mean to tell me that the government is corrupt? No. Our government wouldn't do that to us, would they? Again, my shocked face. Speaking of CNN, I think the only reason to watch that network is... when Scott Jennings comes in. Again, Scott Jennings comes in there, and it's almost like in Major League where Ricky Vaughn comes out of the bullpen and wild things blaring in the background, because he knows he's walking into the jungle. It's going to be a panel of about five people, and they're all going to agree with each other, and he's going to be the one true conservative. And listen, I will give CNN this, and Niger and I mention this quite often. When MSNBC wants to bring on a Republican, who do they bring on? They bring on Liz Cheney. They bring on Kenzinger. They bring on, you know, Megan McCain. They don't bring on somebody that has Trump ideals, right? Right. If you look at CNN, I think they realize, hey, we got to do something to get people to start watching again. I mean... MSNBC, their ratings, they're not even called MSNBC anymore, right? It's MS now. It'll be MSNBC to me. It's still Deer Creek and it's still MSNBC. But again, it's just a move that they're doing to start. But, hey, look, this is a new thing. No, it's not. You're still the same old MSNBC you've always been. At least the CNN's credit, they realize their product sucks and at least they're trying to change it. Reminds me of that scene in Tommy Boy, where they put the guaranteed sticker on the box, but all you're really getting is a guaranteed piece of. Well, I think you guys know how that goes. But Scott Jennings went off on liberal commentator Emma Viglin after she claimed that... Israel invaded Gaza just like Russia did Ukraine. Israel's our ally. Not a single word in your speech for the atrocities that were committed on October the 7th. We should cut off arms tomorrow. Not a single word for the idea that Israel has every right to defend itself. Not a single word for the fact that Hamas right now is killing people inside of God, their own people.

You seem to lay it all at the feet of Israel, a democratic ally in your own country. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on RAV4, Grand Highlander, Camry, and Corolla with the features and style you deserve. It means driving for less with hybrid and plug-in hybrid options across the lineup, delivering great MPGs. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your car will hold its value for years to come. ShopToyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Negative word for the terrorists who raped and murder and kidnapped. Excuse me. Betzellem, Israeli human rights groups says their community genocide. You still don't. Scott Jennings is so good. So good at what he does. And I love seeing like the reaction for these guys when someone actually tries to fight them on. They just sit there with that same stupid shocked look on their face that someone's actually talking back to them. They sit there almost like offended that someone would even think to say that against them. Because for years they've had no opposition on this panel. It's just been them agreeing with each other now. They got to actually defend their claims, which shocker are pretty stupid. Now this commentator that Jennings was going toe to toe with Emma, she's a little younger. And this is something that I've noticed with like your generation, Chris. Again, you're 21. There's a lot of people your age that feel like they want to talk politics, but they don't really know what they're talking about. There's a lot of people that feel like Hamas are the innocent victims in this whole Israeli thing because... Again, not picking on you, but your generation, we had the story yesterday. You get a lot of your news from TikTok. You get it more from TikTok than you do YouTube or Facebook or anywhere else. And the chances are, if you're getting it from Chinese-ran TikTok, it's probably not going to be something that's very pro-American. No, and that's exactly what I was going to say. I mean, no disrespect. I think my generation's quite frankly stupid, some of the stuff we say out here. And they get their news from TikTok. They get their news from these people. They have no idea what they're talking about whatsoever. And they act like it's legitimate claims. And then they go out and act like they know everything about the world and how the world works because random Johnny over here said so on TikTok. Right. And like on your college campus, you'll see. gaze for Palestine. And I know with every fiber of your being, you want to go up to these people and say, that's like chickens for KFC. Right. Are you serious? Can we talk? Do you even understand what would happen if you went over there with this sign that you have right now? Like you have to see this crap a lot, right? Even like some professors that I can tell there that are on the left-leaning spectrum, even they think that was stupid. That was the exact quote that one of them said. He's like, you know, I bet I get that this is a complicated topic, but saying gays. for Palestine is like saying, well, chickens for KFC. You're supporting the people that want to kill you. That's stupid. It's the Hammer and Nigel show. Coming up a little bit later on.

Collar roulette for the first time in the new studio. We'll do a little collar roulette later on. And also, as we get closer and closer to a new year, we've been looking back at 2025. And I've tasked Chris with taking a look at the biggest sports stories in Indiana. So that's coming up a little bit later on. And speaking of sports, I want your thoughts on this, Chris. Once again, Hall of Fame finalists for the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. They announced the list of finalists. Reggie Wayne back on the list. Adam Venetary back on the list. Good. That's awesome. Adam Venetary should have been in the Hall of Fame last year. I mean, if you're going to put kickers in the Hall of Fame, he's the goat. of kickers. He's the greatest kicker of all time. Right. And it's ridiculous that he was not a first ballot hall of famer last year. That's absolutely ridiculous. It's a position on the field. Right. And he has had some of the biggest moments of anybody. Game winning Super Bowl kicks, won a Super Bowl for two different teams. One of the most money clutch dudes of all time. Right. And you're right. I get quarterbacks and receivers and running backs. Get all the attention. All right. Fine. But a kicker. is a position on the field. And if you're going to put some in the Hall of Fame, he should have been a first ballot. Right. And Reggie Wayne on here is, I believe this is what, the seventh year in a row that he's on there. And I hope he gets in. I think he deserves it, but he's been up against some pretty good classes in the past. It's tough for receivers. Unless you're like a generational, like Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald type, it's tough. They usually make those receivers wait for a little while. So again, crossing our fingers, I think they both belong, but Adam Venetary especially, the greatest kicker in the history of the NFL. Dateline, British Columbia, Canada. There was an armed standoff outside of a house. And the feds were there. The SWAT team was there. And then some townie. showed up wearing a Batman costume and was trying to help the SWAT team and walked up to the officers. Now, they told him, this is a crime scene. You need to get the hell out of here, but Batman didn't go anywhere. Batman doesn't listen to the rules, right? No, no, he does not. Ultimately, the standoff ended peacefully. Maybe that's because he saw Batman outside. I don't know. Hey, if I'm in a standoff and I see Batman outside, I'm giving it up. I'm not taking my chances with Batman. It's going to peacefully end when I see a dude standing out there with like the hard-ass fed dudes who are all in their walkie-talkies and they're blaring the music and they got the speakers. There's the big armored vehicle. And here's some fat dude dressed up like Batman with his hands on his hip.

It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on RAV-4, Grand Highlander, Camry, and Corolla, with the features and style you deserve. It means driving for less with hybrid and plug-in hybrid options across the lineup, delivering great MPGs. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your car will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. On the streets, okay. We're making progress here. Now, we could, in theory, get this number under 100 homicides per year, like we had not that long ago if, and this is where you were leading to earlier, Chris, if you had competent people instead of activist judges, activist prosecutors, and mayors who wants to throw the police department under the bus. Now... With Joe Hogsett, he gives the police money, but then he throws them under the bus at the same time. So honestly, if you're looking at the hierarchy of people who are a pain in the ass to law abiding citizens here, I think it goes Ryan Mears one, activist judges, two, and then Joe Hogsett comes in at a distant third. And I can't believe I'm in a position to say Joe Hogsett's not the worst here, but the judges and the prosecutor. If you could get just competent people. competent people who put the activism to the side, you could in Indianapolis get these numbers under 100. And that's without trying to change the way you classify homicides. Because I know Boss Hawkset tried to do that earlier in the year. Oh, yes. And again, it can easily be done. It's just a question of are the citizens of Indianapolis willing to accept that their party? It's not working right now. You look at these numbers. The citizens aren't, and neither are the business community. The Indie Chamber. endorsed Joe Hogsett for mayor, the last election. Now, mind you, Joe Hogsett was nowhere to be found when these buildings were having Molotov cocktails thrown in, bricks thrown through, and were looted out, and some were set on fire. He let these stores be thrown to the wolves, and the business community endorsed Joe Hogsett. That's Indianapolis. That's ridiculous. That's what you need to know about Indianapolis. Tomorrow night, New Year's Eve, 350 National Guard troops have been deployed in New Orleans. Now, if you remember, it was just over a year ago, almost a year to the date, that there was a big, deadly explosion that took place on Bourbon Street, and it caused a delay. in, I think it was Notre Dame and Georgia playing in the Sugar Bowl. Yeah, there's a big Sugar Bowl game that was going on down there. A lot of people out, a lot of people at bars, and then just horrible act that happened down there. Seemed like there was a real failure.

somewhere in local law enforcement. And again, I'm very pro police. You guys know this, but they did not have very good layout and plans for what was happening for New Orleans. The streets that were supposed to be blocked weren't. They didn't have the proper guardrails up. People were getting ran over. Like, it was a mess. It was really bad. Which was really surprising me, considering how popular Bourbon Street is, especially on a holiday like New Year's Eve where it's almost tradition for people to go out to the bars and stuff around there. It's really surprising that they wouldn't have it down to a science of how to keep that place safe. Yeah, the car being able to drive where it was, no excuse for that. And you appreciate what we do here in Indy a little more because we host big events too. Now, New Orleans... This is one of the biggest party cities in America. Right. But you've got to be able to protect the people. When we have the greatest one-day sporting event in the world every year, the Indianapolis 500-mile race. 350,000 people go in, 350,000 people, for the most part, come out. There's some drunkards that are passed out in the snake bid, but that's not a public safety issue, right? Our police, our organizers, state police, IMPD, they do a great job. I don't know what happened down in New Orleans last year, but this year, 350 national guard troops have been deployed. Before we hit a traffic hit with Matt Baer here. Dateline Pittsburgh, a guy near Pittsburgh facing criminal charges after he tried to strangle a guy who would not stop singing Christmas carols. He's facing several charges, including aggravated assault. Now, Kurt Gerald's who's filling in for producer Allison today, I kind of feel like, just based off of the body language I saw from you, I feel like you might be with me on this one saying, I don't condone what happened here. But I understand. I'm not saying what he did is right, but I understand. Now, Clark Griswold Jr. over here, Mr. Christmas, like if my wife is the crazy Christmas lady, along with the coupons, this is Clark Griswold Jr. over here. Walk me through your thoughts. I'm also kind of with this guy, even as someone who was a big Christmas person, but the story says they wouldn't stop singing Christmas carols. After a while, it would get really annoying if you just stay on my front porch singing at the top of your lungs after you're supposed to leave. Like, at some point, you've got to leave. And if you're not, then, well, I'm going to come out and take care of the situation. And I don't care where you're at. Imagine being picked up in an Uber and your drivers just constantly, deck the halls with boughs of her. That would drive you insane. Oh, it would. It totally would.

So, again, I don't condone strangling people, but I get it. In my mind, I'm at my wits end. I'm stressed out, fighting with my old lady. I got job problems. Then I've got somebody singing Slay Ride for the next 20 minutes. I won't shut the hell up. I get it. I get it. It depends upon what the meaning of the word is. Is this anything? All right, let's rock and roll. Is this anything brought to you by Indiana Unclaimed, a program presented by the Attorney General's Office here in Indiana? The Attorney General's Office reuniting Hoosiers with over $1 million in unclaimed property every single week, fast, easy, and free to search at Indianaunclaimed.gov. Chris Hammer, who's filling in for Big Nige, he's going to play the game. Have you gone to Indianaunclaimed.gov and searched your name? Do you have any money laying out there? I need to do that. It's something I always hear about, but I need to go see that. I mean, I don't think I would, but it don't hurt to try. So I'll definitely get on that sometime soon. Check it out. Don't wait. Indianaunclaimed.gov. All right, 41% of Americans. Say Taco Bell is their favorite drunk dining hangout. So if you've been overserved, it's late in the night, or maybe it's during the day, maybe you go hard in the paint. Taco Bell, according to 41% of Americans, say that is the favorite and premier drunk dining spot, followed by McDonald's, and then Waffle House. And on average, we consume an extra 775 calories after a heavy night of drinking. Is this anything? I guess this is something because I, for the most part, agree with this list right here. When I have functions with my friends and it's late, we're hungry, mainly because I also think that's on the list because these are the only things that are open late at night when people tend to be out of it like that. Right. Denny's Waffle House Taco Bell. If you live in like a college campus, that was like LaBombas back in the day. The burritos as big as your head. I don't know if they're still around, but holy Lord, they hit the spot when you were hammered. Oh, yeah. And I agree that. For now, I think Taco Bell is that for us because out of all the fast food spots out there, it's probably the most.

cheap option out there considering fast food has gotten a lot more expensive in recent days. Right. But Taco Bell, when you're drunk, does hit the spot right there. I can't confirm from past experiences there. And in terms of like Waffle House, I think Waffle House and Denny's are interchangeable. That's more for like the day after, I feel like. Oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. Fighting words let's just occur. Compare Denny's the Waffle House. We don't like that. Waffle Home is always there when you need it after a long night out. Don't ever compare it to Denny's. Okay. Okay. Fighting words. I see it. The YouTube chat says, White Castle. What happened to White Castle? The ultimate is an underrated option right there. It is. And I don't know if I've ever. had a drunk dining experience in White Castle. It's usually burgers to go. Right. Now, I've had a fancy dining experience on Valentine's Day in White Castle where they do like the table cover and the candle and then you eat all the food and the rest of the night. Nobody wants to have sex. I have done that experience before, but I don't know if I've had the Harold and Kumar like experience. which it's impossible to watch that movie and not want White Castle at the end of it. Just makes you want to crave case. And this brings us to great moments in Taco Bell history because Taco Bell was named America's favorite drunk dining spot. I believe this is in Philadelphia where there was a dispute about somebody cutting in the drive-thru line. Are when are you guys going to move? Somebody cutting in front of somebody taking advantage of the situation. No, I'm not. I'm calling the police because what you did is... Oh my God, it's Taco Bell. It's Taco Bell. Like, everyone's going to eat. But how should just go cut in front of somebody? It's not worth your energy.

And I'm willing to bet the staff at that Taco Bell, that probably wasn't even the top five craziest things they saw that night. Oh, no, there's definitely, no, they've seen crazier things. But anytime I see this clip, it just cracks me up. And I love the people behind mid argument that are just laying on their horns. That makes it so much better. Like they know nobody's going to go anywhere, but it just adds to the atmosphere of just the constant horn honking at this lady who's calling the cops over someone cutting in line at the Taco Bell drive-thru. Great moments in Taco Bell history. This is where somebody had a big, massive order, and they were causing a backup in the drive-through line. So one lovely young lady decided to be the investigative journalist and find out what was going on. And then she became the town crier and alerted everybody else of what was happening. Oh my god. Yo, the reason this line is so motherfucker long, because this motherfucker ordered $300 with a taco! They didn't get Taco Bell no heads up! $300 worth of tacos! That's like a hundred dollars! Great moments in Taco Bell history. It's The Hammer and Nigel show. You're listening to The Hammer and Nigel show. Again, New Year's Eve, Eve, here on The Hammer and Nigel show. I'm Jason Hammer. Chris Hammer filling in for Nigel. How's it going? I challenged the boy here with coming up with the biggest sports stories of the year in Indiana. Because all week on this program, we've been taking a look back. Jonette Cruz from the newsroom. She's been doing a series each day at 320. She'll be back tomorrow for the year and review. Look at. Celebrity deaths and pop culture and all that type of stuff. Entertainment. We've talked about the biggest stories in Indiana. We've talked about the biggest stories nationally. But let's keep it in the Hoosier State here, Chris. The biggest sport stories. this past year. Oh, it was a great year for sports in Indiana this past year. A lot of great stuff happened. The big thing that I think is the biggest thing that happened this year, and it's up for debate, but I think the biggest thing that happened this year was the Pacers NBA Finals run. Not a lot of people remember that January 1st, the start of the year, Pacers kind of started off really slow. this year. They didn't really start turning it around until January hit and the New Year hit. So this time of January, people are like, well, I hope the Pacers can just make the playoffs. And they ended up going all the way to the NBA finals. And we got that great matchup against the New York Knicks and the Eastern Conference finals that brings back a lot of old memories from the old rivalry. But man, Halliburton hitting that shot against the Knicks. That was just the best thing ever. He's in the lane. He nearly lost it. He backs up and unloads a three.

No, that did not happen. It hit the back of the rim. It popped high into the... and it dropped gently through the net. Mark Boyle on the Pacer Radio Network. I believe that we were in Nashville when this game had it because me and you were going to see ACDC during the time of this game. And we got back to the hotel to see how the Pacers made this comeback. And we see the ball hits the brick, goes up, everyone thinks the game's over, comes right back down. You guys didn't see this live? No. We were at Nissan Stadium watching ACDC. Fair. Fair. But that's also the same day that Jim Ursae passed away. Oh, yeah, that's right. So my phone's getting blown up all night long. First, it was, you know, the Ursa news. Did you see this? Is this real? Is this, you know, legitimate? Because sometimes, even if somebody's got a blue checkmark on Twitter, it doesn't mean anything. But my phone blew up for that. And then later, it became the Pacers game and the Halliburton shot. That's right. I remember we were at that concert and I think I learned at the Ursaid news because I have the notifications from the ESPN app on and that's really the first credible... notification that I got that Jim Mersey had passed away. And I was kind of a busy day for the sports story in Indiana. Sad to see Jim go was such a nice guy for the Colts. But moving on some more happy news and football news in the state of Indiana. Some people would argue that this may be the biggest story. Is this IU Rose Bowl number one overall ranked run that they're going on right now? And the reason I put the Pacers over is because IU was really good like last year. Well, so was the Pacers. But the whole year. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on RAV-4, Grand Highlander, Camry, and Corolla, with the features and style you deserve. It means driving for less, with hybrid and plug-in hybrid options across the lineup, delivering great MPGs. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your car will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Here, IU was just... dominant, and we've never really seen that from an IU football team. Now, people have grown up... They were the more physical team in pretty much every game. They played a more physical game than Ohio State in a Big Ten championship game. Now, I use football team. Not their basketball team, their football team played a more physical game than Ohio State. But there was a moment when we thought that it could all derail. They had to go to Penn State to play, which is a tough environment to play. And they'd fired their coach at this point, and...

The wheels were kind of falling off, but this was the one big game Penn State still had scheduled, you know, circled on their schedule to say, hey, we can still do this. We were a preseason top five team here, and they gave the Hoosiers all they wanted. Oh, boy, they did. And it took a miracle last minute comeback from the Hoosiers to get that game done. Mendoza in the backfield, back to throw, pressure comes again, throws it to the end of it. And a catch is made. Is it a touchdown? Touchdown! Unbelievable! Omar Cooper with a grab, and he put his foot down. It's a score for Indiana. That's Fish on the IU Radio Network. And I hear everybody say that was the Heisman moment for Mendoza, right? That was his Heisman moment. How about that catch? Right. Like Omar Cooper being able to drag that foot in bounds after a ridiculously difficult catch. I still don't know how he did that. Like he was up in the air and it's like he just extended his leg down to get it in there. That was an amazing moment for the Hoosiers right there. And they're in the Rose Bowl now. How many people thought you'd see Indiana football in a Rose Bowl game? It's sometime this century right now. Favorite against Alabama. Right. The Crimson Tie. If you had told me. even two years ago that IU football is going to be a better team than Alabama. I would have laughed at your face. The second losingest record in the history of college football is IU. And now they're the number one team in the country. And coming up here in just about eight minutes, we'll have another round of Alabama jokes. So make sure you stick around for that. What else we got on the list? Month of May this year was definitely interesting. Indy 500 comes around every year. But it was a it was. really hyped up this year. It was the first year that Fox TV had the broadcasting rights for, and they were really making this a big thing. But the thing that stood out to me is it was cold this year at the Indy 500. Me and you were both there. And you got to fire the cannon to open up the Speedway that day. I was there out there that morning when they fired off the cannon. And man, it was cold. Like I've never had to wear like, in my lifetime had to wear like a hoodie and sweatpants to the Indy 500. But this year that changed. And it wasn't a great. Now, you're Mr. Racing. You love all types of auto sport. Why wasn't it a great race? Man, these indie cars with the hybrid unit, it was really kind of weighing them down this year. But the weather also really didn't help. If it was just cold, that would have been great. But there was an off and on sprinkle all day that was making everything moist. And man, the weather was just horrible. This year. And I've got some friends that this year was their first Indy 500 they went to. And I've had to tell them it's normally not like this for the weather. You got to go another year. This is unseasonable. Normally you get like the most bitching farmers tan sunburn. Right. You'll see people just drunk and passed out in the infield. It was cold. It was really cold. I believe I saw somewhere that said in the modern era of the Indy 500. This was a third coldest race on record. Only like 92 and 97 were colder. So yeah, it was it was. 62 right now would seem great. But for late May, that was freezing out there. And the wind was howling and it was raining. Oh, yeah. Just when you think you're going green, there was a delay for rain and it was a cold rain. Yeah. What else was on the list? We got WWE bringing the Royal Rumble to Indianapolis. I believe that's part of a deal where WWE is bringing like the main three pay-per-views to Indianapolis. So the first year of that was this year. So that took place. And I believe late January like it always does here.

Now, you and I have a theory that if you go to a WWE event and you see somebody wearing one of those novelty championship belts, you're able to challenge them and try to steal the belt. Oh, yeah, especially if I've got the novelty money in the bank briefcase. I'm catching in my novelty money in the bank briefcase for your novelty belt. And you need to have a guy in a referee jersey that can run down there and be able to give you a one, two, three. Yes, yes, totally. I don't care if it's a woman or a kid or anybody. If you're going to walk around with the strap, you better be prepared to defend it. And I don't even care if it's the WWE event because, you know, Tyrese Hallibur and big WWE guy, Pacers fans, where Pacers' WWE belts to Pacers game. You're wearing it. I'm going to challenge you. I don't care where it's at. Money in the bank. When WrestleMania comes into town and you and Nige don't take advantage of this with a novelty briefcase and dressing somebody up in a referee costume and running around downtown doing this, I'm going to be very disappointed. Yeah, that needs to happen. So I forgot. We were there for that one. And it was the John Cena farewell tour. But I have a feeling this is going to be like one of those kiss farewell tours. You'll be back. You'll see him at a rumble here in about five years. All right. Anything else? We had Purdue basketball. We hit on IU. So we'll make the Purdue fans happy. They were number one in the country for a little bit there. and then immediately lost it. Yeah, Iowa State, who's really good, by the way, went into Mackey and just beat the brakes off of Purdue. They did. But hat tipped at Matt Painter. Like, I know he hasn't won the big one, but they're good every year. They are. That program is good every year. It's what IU basketball used to be like. Now, Purdue is like that good. But I you want a few banners back in the day. Right. I'm so tired of hearing these Purdue fans go, those banners and assembly are dusty. Well, at least they have banners. You guys don't have anything at all. Sounded like Cowboys fans. And the trained people, and Kurt, I'll put you in this category. You train people. Uh-huh. They have some banner up in Mackey Arena where they celebrate some sort of championship like before the West was wild and before like glaciers, you know, had moved in. Still counts. No, it does not. If it's not NCAA, then it does not count. If it's not the March Madness Tournament, it does not count. I'm sorry. Yeah, it does. It does. Train people. Train people's crazy. No, I think we'll be, I think we're going to hang one this year. I got to feel, Braden Smith is one of the best players in the country. I think when we get to March, Purdue will lock in. I got a good feeling this year for some reason. They were number one seed a couple years ago and lost to a 16 seed. Yeah, it happens. That's the beauty of March Madness.

You sound like Charlie Brown getting ready to kick the football with Lucy holding it. I know it's always been the exact same thing, but this year's going to be different. This Colts quarterback's going to do good this year. It's the Hammer and Nigel show. So The Hoosiers. Taking on the Crimson Tide, New Year's Day, Pasadena, the Rose Bowl. IU arrived out to Pasadena. I believe yesterday, a lot of the fans are going out there now. Man, enjoy it because this type of stuff doesn't happen all the time. Oh, no. Especially for like the IU football program. Right. We were talking about this earlier, one of the most losing programs in the history. But since Coach Sig walked in there with a little swagger, he's changed the game. And the transfer portal helps. I use spending some money. And they're the number one seed in this whole thing. And they're favorite over Alabama by a touchdown on New Year's Day. So what we've been doing every single day leading up to the game, Alabama jokes. That's right. We're going to make fun of those toothless hillbillies. And there's not a damn thing they're going to say it's going to make me stop. Let's go. In Alabama. Since so many family members are hooking up with each other, they don't have a family tree, they have a family wreath. Give it to me, Chris, let's go. There you go. As a Tennessee fan, you know I've got one on standby at any given moment. What do you get when you put 100 Alabama Crimson Tide fans in one room? A full set of teeth. Hey-oh! Let's go. I love it. I love it. If you want some betting tips, if you will, the new sports betting podcast is out, totally free. The Degenerates Next Store. I host it. Rob Kendall's a part of it. And we work with two professional. Sportsbetters, two pro handicappers here in Indy, Kenny Britt of KB Sports, David Stephanoff of Follow, NeverFade.com. We all have plays on the IU and Alabama game, plus NFL, big weekend for playoff implications. The Steelers and Ravens is our game of the week. Free plays on that. So anywhere you get your podcast, check it out the Degenerates next door. A new study found the age when you officially turn into your parents. For women, it's 33. For the average man, it's 34. Now, let me just say this. As somebody who was 48.

When I see these commercials, and I can't remember the company that it's for, but it's the old guy and his job is to make sure these younger people aren't turning into their parents, you know, social things like you don't have to yell somebody's name out at a Starbucks. Yeah, I think it's like one of those insurance companies that does. Yes. I defend what those people are doing all the time. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get a good selfie of the people or hanging out with L.L. Cool J. trying to get a good selfie. I have no problem with that. Like, I find myself citing with the people that are supposedly being mocked all the time. You know, I hear you on that. And I'm looking at this study. They say it's 34. I feel like that's only going to go down. Like, I'm a junior in college or three years moved from graduating from high school. But I have cookouts in my backyard. I'm playing cornhole. My friends are wearing the white New Balance shoes when they come over here. You listen to Guns N'Roses and ACDC. All your friends hate getting into your car because you're going to have the playlist of like Nige and I. Oh, yeah. But what I have noticed is it's starting to change a little bit. They start to like listen to that more now that they've graduated from high school and have been a few years removed from that. So, yeah, I feel like we're already there. I feel like we already are have turned into our parents with stuff that we do. Dateline Colorado, police in Colorado, pulled over a guy because he had a broken taillight and he replaced it with a red Gatorade bottle. So the taillight was out. He takes a red Gatorade bottle, like puts it on there, tapes it on there, just so it looks red. And here's the kicker. This guy did not get a ticket. So you got a dude going around here with a freaking Gatorade bottle taped to his car. You don't know when he's turning. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on RAV4, Grand Highlander, Camry, and Corolla with the features and style you deserve. It means driving for less with hybrid and plug-in hybrid options across the lineup, delivering great MPGs. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your car will hold its value for years to come. Shop Toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. I don't know when he's breaking, but I do just a little quick at a school zone, and I get a ticket, which I had to pay a couple months ago. It stinks. All right, do not go anywhere. We got a busy. Busy 5 o'clock hour on the way. Update on this ridiculous weather. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in the news. We'll have some fun with that. We've got a couple different reasons to drink. And caller roulette for the first time in the news studio. That's all coming up. Do not go anywhere. This is the Hammer and Nigel show. Hammer and Nigel. Do you believe these characters are weirdos. So let's rock. Again, it's been colder, but it just feels like frigid and ridiculous because 48 hours ago, I was taking the trash out wearing shorts.

And it was 60 degrees. And the next day, it was in the 20s again. And here we are again. Right now, temperatures in the 20s, low at 15. You heard the weather at the top of the hour there from Steve Indiana. No real relief coming up until early next week. Tomorrow, New Year's Eve, low of 18. Thursday, New Year's Day, low of 17. But Monday and Tuesday next week, if you can kind of hang on and get there, Monday, high of 48, Tuesday, maybe a little rain, but we're back in the 50s. That's great. That's great to hear. I mean, this right now is just horrible compared to what we had, what, just yesterday? 70 degrees? Well, that was two days ago. Yesterday was asked to. That's right. Two days ago was 60 degrees. Yesterday cold. And again, we've been through polar vortex. We've been through sub-zero temperatures. We've been through blizzards. Squalls. We've been through squalls. But. this just coming off of like a 60 degree day feels colder. And I know it's just all mental, right? It's the same reason why I can't swallow pills. I have to chew everything up. I know that it's mental. But when you have 60 something, like 65 almost, right? And the next morning. You know, like everything's frozen outside. It just chills you to the bone a little bit more. Oh, yeah. Weather is totally mental, mental. Like going back to our conversation about the Indy 500 this past year, you know, we'll take 65. And that's shorts and t-shirt weather for us right now in December. But late May, early June, and if it's 65, that's cold. Like, I'm wearing a hoodie. I'm wearing sweatpants in June if it's 65 degrees. And you can always tell, like... who lives in what part of the country, right? So if you go to like the airport, for an example, and you see somebody just walking around with like, Just a hoodie, and that's it. They're probably from Wisconsin, where this doesn't bother them. It doesn't feel cold. It might be from Minnesota. Maybe they're running from fraud. I don't know. But then you get down to Florida, and let's say that it's only 66 or 67. There are people bundled up like the polar vortex is coming in. We were down there, I think it was a number of years ago, but it was in January. We just wanted to get away from the cold weather. We were on the beach when it was like 65 degrees in like, you know, swim trunks. We go to eat and there's these people wearing like full on coats and stock hats and it's 67, 68 degrees. The locals don't know how to handle it, but if you live in a colder area, you think everybody below you is a wussy or something that rhymes with it.

Let's talk about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here. She is scheduled to introduce Zohran Mamdani at the big New Year's Day inauguration. So, Chris, I'll defer to you on this one. Is this the new Democrat? power couple. Two socialists from New York, even though Zohran Mamdani's at the local level, you have to believe he's got his sights set on something higher than being the mayor. All of a sudden people are digging socialism in New York. Is this the power couple? Well, that's the thing that you said, digging socialism in New York. Like, if you're going to be a power couple, I think you've got to be like these national players. And right now, even though despite what TikTok and Instagram will tell you, I don't think that the country as a whole is willing to elect a socialist to any national office. So I'm going to say no just for that reason above. And I think even the Democratic Party knows that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I think even if they ran Zohran Mamdani, I don't think they can win a general in the country. They can win a primary. They can win a primary. Because Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's got the funding. She is a fundraising machine. Now, she may be what the kids call a moron, but she brings in big bucks. She's a fundraising machine. And she's active on social media. She'll get all the young little white liberal girls that live in Westfield to think that socialism's great. Right. But you can't win a general like that. No. I mean, if money bought elections, then we should have a Mike Bloomberg presidency in 2020. He ran ads all over the place. It was all over social media, but no one cared about him. Speaking of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she went on some stream. I think this was a TikTok conversation she did and was ripping. The borders are Tom Homan. Every time you see Tom Homan on Fox News, every time you see these law enforcement officials doing flashy television interviews, understand that they are taking attention and focus and real dollars and real resources away from actual drug enforcement, trafficking enforcement, actually going after and actually trying to investigate really harmful activity that is happening. So that was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, shots fired, if you will, at the Bordersar, Tom Homan. And I said earlier, and I'll stand by this. Case could be made for Marco Rubio, and maybe it's the better answer. But it's hard pressed to find somebody that's been better at their job than Tom Homan that Trump has appointed. And if her whole argument is that he single-handly is taking money away from actually patrolling the border and patrolling drugs, why did we have that story earlier that overdoses are down in the country? She needs to make that make sense for me real quick.

Well, this story got back to Tom Homan. And Tom was on Fox. I believe he was on Laura Ingram's program. And let's hear what the borders are has to say about the socialist sweetheart. Look, I tell you pleasure in the fact I can live in her mind rent free every day. That means I'm over the target. That means I'm making a difference. Bottom line is she needs to look at the data. I says, we've already arrested more criminal illegal aliens in six weeks. than Biden administration did in the year. The border is sealed. 96% declined in illegal immigration. And when 96% less people are coming across that border, how many children aren't dying? How many women aren't being sex traffic? How many no-suspected terrorists aren't getting into country? How many pounds of fat and all isn't getting into kill Americans? This administration some more for the safety and security in New York than she's ever done or ever will do. So then we're going to keep doing what we do. I'm not running popularity contest. If she don't like me, I'll wear that as a badge of honor. That means I'm doing the right thing. Now that, kids, is what we call a de-pantsing. A depancing from Tom Homan, the border czar. If you're looking for a reason to drink tonight. Happy 41st birthday to LeBron James. LeBron James, 41 years old. Listen, I will say this. Great basketball player. Kind of a dumb guy. Habitual liar. Dumb guy, but phenomenal talent on the basketball court. Now, I'm a Jim Jordan guy. You're not going to tell me that. LeBron is the goat when there was a dude that used to wear number 23 for the Chicago Bulls. But LeBron is in the conversation as a basketball player. Right. But boy, when he tries to talk about social issues, he's a habitual liar and a dummy, which brings us to a segment we call talking politics with LeBron James. And now. and Nigel present talking politics with LeBron James. You live and work in a state in which the majority of voters voted for the current president. How do you reconcile having called that choice a mistake that many of those people are also Cavaliers fans? Well, I mean, that's a great question. At the end of the day, like I said, you can... Uh-huh. I don't think a lot of people was educated. Quote, I don't think a lot of people was educated. Okay. And then there was that one incident, well, maybe incident a strong word. LeBron wanted to look smart standing at his locker. So he had a Malcolm X book, right? He wanted to show everybody that he was edgy and he's reading up on Malcolm X and fight the power. Well, a reporter asked him about it. And Chris, listen to this answer. It sounds like he had a book report due the next day and did not read a single page of it.

So you're holding the autobiography of Malcolm X, along with Alex Haley. I don't know how far you are into the boat, but what's your biggest takeaway so far? There we go. I kind of started a couple days ago. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah? But I've read a lot of notes over the years. It's my first. I'm actually reading this from start to finish. Uh-huh. But just a very, very smart man. Uh-huh. Very, very, very smart man. And basically... His words in the 60s. Oh, yeah? And what's going on is actually what's going on today still. What the hell did you just say? It sounded like a male Kamala Harris there with that word salad. This sounded exactly what I sounded like in fifth grade when you're right. I had a book report, dude, I didn't read it. I got up there and said, well, you see, there's this man named Gatsby and he was great. Great. You had full Rodney Dangerfield, and I love it. If you need another reason to drink tonight, Tiger Woods, 50. Tiger Woods is now officially old enough to be on the seniors tour in the PGA. Man. I mean, growing up, I had all those games on the Wii, like the Tiger Woods, like All-Stars video game, man. He's 50 now? 50. Wow. And look, Tiger's body has been through some stuff, right? Like his body started to break down. Well, it kind of started after his wife took some golf clubs up against him when she busted him cheating. That'll do it. That'll do it. But, yeah, had his body not broken down, I feel like he probably could have broken that Jack Nicholas record, I don't think he's going to get there now. No. But before we hit a traffic break with Matt Bear, great moments in Tiger Woods history. This is back when Tiger returned. to The Masters, right? He took some time off. He'd gotten beat up by his ex-wife for running around with all these waitresses, and he finally came back, and the fine folks at CBS asked me to write the promo. The Masters, it's a tradition unlike any other. And this year, Tiger Woods is back, doing all the things that made him a champion. He's staying healthy. He's making putts, and he's fornicating with as many women as he possibly can. Here, here. All types of women. Short women, tall women, thin women, fat women, white women, black women. Uh-huh. Illegal women. Oh! And we're not just talking about high-end women. No. We're talking about chicks that work at Kroger and waitresses from Denny's. The Masters. Only on CBS. I thought that was a great promo, but they never invited me back. Matt Bear, what's going on? Are you really okay with me? Are you okay? Everything's going to be okay. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm pretty fucking far from okay. Are you okay with this? On the Hammer and Nigel. Oh, yeah!

Brought to you by Window Nation. Window Nation's end of the year sale. Your chance to save big with 50% off all window styles plus 0% financing for five years. Sale in soon. Visit WindowNation.com to get started. Chris Hammer, I'll run these stories by you. Let's do it. You tell me if you're all right with any of these. Cool. And Nightclub in Miami. tried to do this stunt last week where they had a female employee and her underpants ride a horse onto the dance floor. But the horse bucked her off and ran out of the club, and the club just had its business license revoked. And now the owners could be looking at an animal cruelty investigation. Are you okay with any of this? You know what? I'm okay with the horse. Good for the horse. You know what? Good for him for having some self-respect there. Just threw her off and left. I love that for the horse. And in what situation would a nightclub need to be doing this with the horse? I mean, in my experiences, nightclubs aren't necessarily that big of spaces. So how are we getting a whole horse in there? Now, Miami nightclubs are a different animal. But... Do you need to have the woman in her underpants? And I can't believe I'm the one saying this. Because more often than not, if a woman wants to be in her underpants, I'll take a look. But is somebody going to see her, like, ride that horse onto the busy dance floor and go, well, they could at least put her in her underwear. I mean, she's fully clothed. What are we doing here? None of this makes any sense to me. And I feel like the horse. had this planned out because he knew where the exit was. It wasn't like he was just a bull in a china shop, you know, like running around, trying to find somewhere to go. No, the horse bucked off this broad inner panties and made a beeline for the door and got out. So I feel like the horse knew exactly what was going to happen and this was his moment. Oh, yeah, that's a self-aware horse right there. He knows his value. He knows what he's worth. That's below him. He has no time for that. All right, let's keep it in the nightclub industry. Are you okay with this? Some drunk guy tried to do a backflip over a woman's table at a bar in Georgia last week. But he crashed through it and landed on the woman's head. She had to go to the hospital. And now the police are trying to track down the idiot that did the drunken backflip that didn't land all the way. Are you all right with this? You mean to tell me a drunk guy didn't land a backflip? Really? In Georgia. I'm shocked. No, I'm not okay with this. This has got to be probably some Georgia frat guy who said, quote, famous words, hold my beer. And then nothing good proceeds to happen after that. We've got a lady in the hospital now. And now you're running from the law. So congratulations. I hope your horrible backflip attempt was worth it. And if they catch this guy and they bring him in, is he going to have any street cred? Because he's going to be in jail at some point. And everybody's going to be sitting next to each other. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart.

Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less, with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shoptojota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Bro, what did you do? I punched the guy. What did you do? I stabbed a dude. What did you do? I failed at a backflip. Like, that's the guy that's going to become the prison girlfriend, right? Totally. He's the one that's going to be very subservient to the others. Are you okay with this? According to a new study, stress is contagious. So if you're spending time with people who are stressed out, According to the new study, it's going to mess with your brain and make you more stressed out as well. I mean, I'm okay with this because I feel like I already knew that. I mean, if you just spend time around with people who are stressed out, the way they talk to you, the way they're talking, yeah, it's going to make me more stressed out. I already knew that. Do we really need to have a study to say that? I feel like that was common information. We've known about buzz kills for a long time. Debbie Downers, right? Last one. A 34-year-old woman in New Mexico failed a drug test last month when she tested positive for meth. So she decided that she didn't want to give up meth. So what she would do is put a fake prescription label on a pill bottle and tried to convince her probation officer that it was medicinal prescribed meth. The probation officer did not buy it. She's now facing charges. Well, I believe it was Michael Jim Jordan that once said you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Jim Jordan Gretzky could be 6, 7, I don't know. Michael Scott said that actually. Michael Scott said that as well on the office, right? I'm not even mad at her. No, she tried it. Prescription meth. It says it right here on the bottle. I don't know what your problem is. If she lived in Oregon, she may have got away with it, honestly. Right. All right, for the first time, we're going to try to do caller roulette. This is where you call in to 239-93. I have no idea what you want to talk about. Chris has no idea what you're going to talk about. Kurt's just going to get your name, and we are going to fly blind, okay? Hopefully the phones work, but 239, 93, 93, that's the number. 239, 93. If you want to talk about the year in review, if you want to talk about fraud in Minneapolis, if you want to talk about the Colts or anything in between, Sidney Sweeney, anything goes, just keep it brief. and keep it radio clean. 239, 93, caller roulette coming up right after Jake. You'll listen to the Hammer and Nigel show. It's been a little bit, but it's time for a little caller roulette. Now, again,

This is where I have no idea what these people on hold want to talk about. No idea at all. Responsible shows normally have their producer. Talk to whoever's calling in. Find out what they want. Coach them up a little bit. Tell them all the important things. Turn your radio down. We don't do any of that crap. We just put a bunch of people on hold and we're going to just throw caution into the wind here. This really is a bad idea if you think about it. We're risking our number one rated program for a bunch of people that we have no idea what they're going to say. Now, if you're on hold... Do us a favor. Turn your radio down and keep it brief. Other than that, let's light this candle. Up first, we're going to go to Cody. Cody, welcome to The Hammer and Nigel show. What's up? Hey, guys. First off, love your show. I want to talk about the roads in Indiana and the absolute crap quality that they are. We have the fifth highest gas tax in the nation as of July 2025, and I just made the drive from Illinois into Indiana, and the roads are absolute garbage. What are we doing with the money that we're supposed to be allocating towards roads? Oh, that's a great, great question. Thank you, Cody. A lot of the money... makes its way into a thing called the general fund. Now, not all of it. I know like the sports betting money and some of the lottery money makes its way into the general fund. Now, they will tell you, they being the lawmakers, that the general fund is designed for whatever project is needed, street repair or fixing infrastructure. But what it really becomes is a... Pet Slush Fund for the high-ranking Republicans. So if you're a mover and shaker in the Indiana Senate and the swine barn needs fixed at your local county fair, you get to go to the general fund. And you're right. We are overtaxed like a mother in this state. It's not even close. And that's what makes me sick when these school districts put their hands out. Well, these children, they're going to starve to death. They're all going to be shot in the hallway if you get any sort of tax relief. They're all full of crap. Because heaven forbid you actually run a budget in the year 2025. Right. You may have to make cuts like families have to make cuts. So, Cody, great call. Yeah, we should have better roads. But the way we're taxed in Indiana, but it's a mess. It's a hot mess. You're absolutely right. Let me take regular Jeff on four. Regular Jeff, my man. Hey, what the heck's up, Pamer? Hey, how are you doing? I'm sorry. Hey, look, you guys, normally I can hear the show's still going on while I'm on hold.

But I am not on, I'm on hold, but okay. So I got a question for you, Hammer, without natural. I want you to go with your heart or your head. Who do you think is going to win the Indiana Alabama game? Now listen, use your head on one answer and your heart on the other. Well, my heart will say anybody in the world over Alabama. That's my heart. Exactly. My head pick, you'll be able to find for free on the Degenerates Next Door podcast. I do have a pick on a side. Now, some of the pro handicappers that we work with, they've got to play on the game total, the over-under. I'm on a side. So if you want to find out who I've picked... And I believe another pro handicapper has my same pick. Degenerates next door. It's been, you know, shared on our social media. Find it anywhere you get your podcasts. I've got a free play on that as well as the big NFL Steelers and Ravens game. So thank you for that. And as for not being able to hear when you're on hold, I don't know. I'm just happy the phones are working right now. What do you want me to do? Ian is up next. Ian Rock and Roll. Hey, I just want to ask a question on what your stance is on ICE, people detained by ICE, because there's a lot of hardworking, you know, people out there who are, you know, in jail that don't have a chance to come work in the United States. And I just wanted to know what the stance on that was. Well, if you came to the United States illegally... I feel like then you should be at some point asked to leave. It's hard to get into this country. And if you want to have a conversation about should we make the process a little faster, with the rise of AI, with the way we can look into backgrounds and all the technology, if you want to tell me there has to be a faster way for legitimate good people to become naturalized citizens or citizens rather of the United States, I'll listen to that. Okay, fine. But talk to the people who have done it legally. It's a long process, and it ticks them off when people just walk across and cut the corner. And look, not everybody walking across the border is a drug dealer. They're not all selling fentanyl. I get it. But there are rules. There are regulations. You have to keep these rules and regulations in place, or you don't have a country and you don't have a border. Now, if you're telling me, I've got a room full of 10 people that have all come across the border. Five of them are human traffickers. Three of them are drug dealers. And two of them are just people that want to start a better life in America. I do feel like there should be a pecking order, right? Get the criminals out first. But the real reality is... You kind of committed a crime when you entered the country illegally. So I'm not going to shed a bunch of tears for those saying, well, we didn't do anything wrong. Well, kind of, kind of did. But again, separate conversation. If you want to have a talk about with the rise of technology and AI, should it be?

quicker to get good immigrants into the United States. I'll have that conversation. All right. Let's go to line three. David is standing by. David, what's up? Hey, how are you guys today? You're doing a great job. Thank you. So I just wondered if our mayor and the traffic engineers got together and had a double or triple kegher to figure out how to screw up Michigan and New York Street. They've created more accidents and more people struck by vehicles than you could imagine. Yeah, well, if you're asking if our mayor here in Indy was involved in any sort of alcohol-induced decision-making, I'm going to err on the side of probably. Probably that's how it works. It's a mess. You're right. And I say this not because I'm trying to be over the top or a smart ass. You look at downtown. We look like Detroit. We look like everything we used to make fun of. A bunch of construction that is... Going on forever that's never done. Horrible road conditions. Homeless people everywhere you go. We've become what we used to make fun of in Indianapolis. We've become Detroit. Yeah. Trying to drive downtown in itself is just horrible now, especially if you're going anywhere remotely close to the 5 o'clock hour just because of all of this construction on, I believe it's like 69 south over here. That split being under construction. And it's been under construction forever. And it's making everything horrible, just trying to get in and out of downtown right now. And I feel for some of the businesses, right? Because they probably thought there might be a little construction, but like Tom's watch bar. Now, I don't know the Tom watchbar people, but I'm willing to bet when they agreed to open up their bar right there, they probably didn't think that the main street where all of their foot traffic was going to be coming in would be closed for like two and a half years. Like, that sucks. I guarantee they were probably told it was going to be, oh, yeah, we'll have it done within a couple months. And then here we are almost two years later, streets are still close. But government-funded hotel, hot damn, that thing's going up like a rocket ship. Everything else, Detroit. Let's go to line number two. Steve is standing by. Steve, what's up, man? Hey, I was listening to the show and the guy that... I called in about the roads, kind of tripped my trigger a little bit. That's an overstatement. But I'm 58 years old, and my family's from down around Lake Cumberland, Kentucky. My parents raised me up here. So we've made that drive on I-65 South many, many times. And I was just telling my daughter, who's 17, I was like, seems like well over 35 years this stretch of road has always been under work. And she said, why do you think that is, Dad? And I said, well. I'm a little close to politics on some level. I'm surprised they invite me back to the party because I feel like in that fist fight at the Black Panther Party. Right. But, you know, I said, you know, there's got to be some kind of mismanagement. Like, is it a jobs program? Does it make unemployment numbers look better? Does it keep voters happier if we've always got good paying jobs in the works with road workers? And nothing against them.

You go into Kentucky, the roads have been pristine for 25 years. Same thing you go north. It's the same thing. So I just wanted to come and empathize on that note. And that's something that I've always felt. And your platform seemed to be, you know, a good place for me to second that motion. Steve, I appreciate that, brother. Thank you so much. And the thing that bothers me is that now politicians aren't held accountable for the way they've handled the roads. Like in the past, You would expect if it's an election year, the incumbent, if it's an incumbent mayor, boy, he's going to really make sure the roads are clean and patched up and infrastructure is good because that's what happens in an election year. We're lucky if our mayor in Indianapolis is even sober and awake. That's what the bar is at right now. And don't forget. He's still very much being questioned about sexual harassment things taking place in his office. He's a dumpster fire of a man. He's a dumpster fire of a human being, but he keeps getting elected with 60% of the vote. Right. And it's all over the state. I love we experienced when we went to a Cubs and Reds game this past year. You drive just to any other state as soon as you hit the border to Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky. Bumpy Road, Bumpy Road, smooth. No construction. Right. When we came back, the first thing that greeted us into Indiana, it wasn't a welcome to Indiana sign. It was a road construction ahead for the next seven-so miles in horrible road conditions. And it was the awful welcome to Indiana sign too. Yeah, the new one sucks. I hate the new one. Yeah. Bring back the crossroads of America. Because that's what we are. I'm with Andrew Ireland on this one. That is the goat of Indiana welcome signs. The stupid blue one that Holcomb made sucks. All right. Do we have Charles standing by for the last one? Charles, you get the final word in 2025 on caller roulette. Go ahead, Charles. Yeah, I forget, you got that delayed effect to you get all your equipment going. You're on, like he was mentioned, oh, I see what's happening. Wait, but I didn't turn the radio off because you can't hear you guys when you're on hold. There it goes again. Hold on a second here. I'm happy. Yeah. All right. Thank you, Charles. And that puts a bow tie on caller roulette in 2025. I knew that's how we were going to go out. I absolutely just knew it. When I saw that Charles was going to be in the mix here, I thought, all right, I'm going to give my guy a chance here. And I like Charles. Charles has got a lot of energy. But. If I come to you, I don't need a lecture on what's not working. I'm aware, right? I've been yelling and fighting behind the scenes. We're well aware. And I hate that that's the way we're going to go out. Is there anybody else on hold, Kurt? Is there anybody else? Can we just take one live? Let's take one live. It's ringing. I can't go out like that. All right, just pick it up. Welcome to The Hammer and Nigel show. You are live on the air. Who is this?

My name is Matt. Matt, my man, Matt. All right, we're going to try to give you the final word on caller roulette. Go ahead. Well, first of all, I wanted to talk about the Rose Bowl. Being born and raised in Oklahoma, I am really disappointed that the Sooners let up and let Alabama end. But my daughter and my money went to Bloomington for four years. So I am all in Indiana Hoosiers. There you go. There you go. Now that is how you put a cap on collar roulette for 2025. It's The Hammer and Nigel show. It's the Hammer and Nigel show. I'm Jason Hammer. Chris Hammer. I was going in for Big Nige here. Chris, according to a new study, 60% of Americans complain that there aren't enough hours in the day. The average person says they need about 28 hours a day. And in that same study, 34% say they'd spend those extra hours cleaning the house and doing chores. Right. Do you buy any of this? No, I don't buy any of that because even if, let's just say there were 28 hours in the day, you do the same study. Someone would say, oh, well, I need 32 hours in the day to get everything. It's the argument for the college football playoff. Exactly, exactly. No matter how many teams or no matter how many hours are in the day, you're always going to feel like you need more because somebody's going to be unhappy. Right. 100%. But if you did have an extra four hours a day, what would you do? Sleep or what? I guess sleep? I mean, probably still the same stuff I do now. I mean, I feel like there's a perfect amount of time of the day to get everything done. Maybe take some trash out in your house maybe once in a while, maybe? I don't know about that. But yeah, I don't either. Here's a question. If you're at a nightclub and... There's a robot bartender, right? Almost like a kiosk where you can type in your instructions and it makes you a cocktail right there. When you go to pay and it asks for a tip, do you tip the robot bartender? No. Because this is a big debate. Some chicks sharing a video on TikTok right now. And after this woman got her cocktail made on the touchscreen. It says there's a 10% service charge and asking for a tip. So somebody's going to get a tip even though they did absolutely no work in making the drink at all. No. I wouldn't even say someone. It's a robot. Where's the money going to then? I have no idea. You're wrong. I'm tipping the robot. I've seen I robot. I'm tipping the robot. Maybe 25%. I'm just saying when it happens, you guys are done for I'm good. I tip the robot. I was at somewhere. I forget where it was, but I was somewhere where it was a ball game of some sort. And I go to this concession stand. And it's one of those where you grab the food that you want and you set it on the thing and it scans it and you pay for it. Nobody hands you anything. Nobody makes you anything. It's just all there. Paid for everything. And the kiosk is asking for a tip.

Who's getting a tip? I grabbed everything. I got everything I want. Was there a charity group that was like in charge of it? No. Because sometimes I get guilted. Like if I know it's like the so-and-so Little League out of, you know, wherever. No, I didn't say any of that. It was just, it wanted me to leave a tip even though I did all the work and getting everything I wanted. Yeah. Yeah. And I hate like. at restaurants too, like at Subway. I know they're making the sandwich in front of you, but that's kind of what you get paid to do. Right. Like when you get a job at Subway, you kind of feel like making sandwiches is probably part of your job description. That was my lunch today and I kind of got guilted into pressing the little 10%. I saw something online that makes perfect sense to me here. If you have to order your food standing up, you're not getting a tip. If you have to order your food standing up, you're not getting a tip. Put that on a t-shirt. Put that on a t-shirt. We've got another hour to go. Come on back. What is Toyota affordability? It's buying smart. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available today on Tacoma, Tundra, and Forerunner with the space and features for any adventure. It means driving for less with available hybrid options, delivering great MPGs without sacrificing power. And it means trading for more. Toyota is known for building long-lasting vehicles, meaning your truck will hold its value for years to come. Shoptojota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places.