speaker-0: You're definitely gonna benefit from today's episode of the Pro Talk Podcast. Why? Because we're talking to somebody who's been there, done that, and doing that. and as a bonus, we're also gonna find out what's the toughest thing to do in the world of sports. So without any further ado, I'm gonna welcome today's guest, Mr. Eddie Gonzalez. Eddie G, what's up?

speaker-1: Hey Rob, good to see you. Thanks for having me.

speaker-0: Well, I'm glad you're here. It I think the only thing that would make this more appropriate since you grew up in Rome, Georgia, and I moved to Rome, Georgia and junior highs if we were sitting at Schroeder's sharing a nice meal together.

speaker-1: Yeah, long live Floyd County. Love it.

speaker-0: Yeah. Been back there lately?

speaker-1: My mother's still there. So yeah, I go back quite often and Schroeder is still there, along with El Zarape, two my longtime favorites.

speaker-0: Yeah, we actually took my mother out last Saturday night to Schroeder, so it was great. Like it always is. So in our discussion today, we're wanting to talk about what's healthy for kids in sports and should they do travel ball, should they do year round? We're talking about kids' injuries and we want kids to have a healthy environment. So most people that I know know you, but not everybody knows who Eddie Gonzalez is. So just a little bit about your background. You played at a very high level, probably one of the best high schools, Baylor High School, correct?

speaker-1: Baylor School, yep. Chattanooga, yep.

speaker-0: Okay, one of the top tennis schools in the country. Then you played division one at NC State and you were team captain and also two time MVP. Now did you play professionally in Germany? Is that what I've read?

speaker-1: Yeah, I went over to France and Germany out of college and then I've been back a few times for some of the club tennis. and so yeah, enjoyed the European experience. But yeah, you're right. Played at NC State and loved every minute of it.

speaker-0: Go Wolfpack, it's it's a great place. so after you graduated, you decided to stay in tennis, the world of sports. You were the USTA's first sales and market

speaker-1: Yeah, so I was fortunate to get hired by USJ Southern. John Callan was the executive director and saw an opportunity to bring on a a staffer to help with marketing and sales and promotion. So I was hired by USJ Southern to do that. And kind of when you look back, that is something that I'm proud of. Is that now all 17 sections have a director of sales and marketing? So I was the first case study and I'm glad it was successful because then it helped really create a path for other sections to have the same position and have an impact in those respective sections.

speaker-0: how many years were you at the USTA?

speaker-1: Did that for I did that for eight years. and then and then I went to work on the sports media and marketing side. I worked for a company called Athlon Sports out of Nashville, did that for about 15 years and was VP of sales. and that was really print media, print publications, and then we were at that cusp of evolving into the digital space at the time. But I stayed involved as a USTA volunteer because that's really the backboard backbone of the USTA is having volunteers that can help and volunteer. And I had elevated being on the board of USG Southern, and at that point we made the decision to buy the pro tennis tournament in Indianapolis and move it to Atlanta. And Bill Oaks was our first tournament director, and that was in two thousand and 10 at Atlanta Athletic Club. And then Bill had an opportunity to to help start the Winston-Salem Open. So he he left. And then we brought in a fellow named Bob Bryant to run it for two years. And then he had an opportunity to leave to go to the Indianapolis 500 and run their foundation, which is a really big job. And so here I was, you know, very happy, very successful at Athlon Sports as VP of sales, but I was on the board of USTA. And we needed a new tournament director. And so I said, you know what? I said, I think this might be the right time at the right place for me. I mean, there were at the time there were only 10 ATP tour events in the United States. And so I said you know, and I was very passionate about making sure that pro tennis in Atlanta was successful. Because one of the things I think we'd all heard is that at in Atlanta, people play tennis. They don't watch tennis. And I never bought that. that approach. And so I did that for ten years and very proud of what we built. So did that from thirteen to twenty-three and had a wonderful experience of building that event and seeing Isner win it multiple times, seeing Nick Kyrgios win it, seeing Alex Diemanauer win it, seeing Ben Shelton grow, seeing Yannick Center lose first round in Atlanta. So Just a lot of really cool, fun stories on the pro side when you look back.

speaker-0: Now, when you decided, hey, I want to step up and be tournament director, was that excitement or nervousness or a combination?

speaker-1: It was all of the above, but again, I just I felt like I was the right person at the right time, you know, for that position. And and funny enough, John Callan is the one that hired me again. So he he hired me two different times and and so yeah, we we really built that term at their Atlantic station. It was the BBT Atlanta Open, and then we transitioned the name when Sun Trust and BBT merged and became the Truest Atlanta Open. And then my last year, we parted ways with Truest and we were just the Atlanta Open. And interesting enough, even without a title partner, that was our best year financially. but again very proud of where it was and where we left it and Breaks my heart that it's gone, but that's not because it wasn't successful. It's just the ATP tour is a global tour. And all these 1000s have gone from nine days to 12 days. So it really shrunk, you know, the calendar in unfortunate Atlanta and Newport, Rhode Island, the only grass court term in the United States is gone. And there's a couple others. And so anyway, but me and the team very proud of what we did there.

speaker-0: Well, I th I thought it was a great event and I know a lot of people, a lot of clients, people I teach would talk about, did you see that match last night after after their day of tennis, they would go watch it and so forth. And you mentioned that we don't watch tenn or people would say that we don't watch tennis. Well we have to play our match first and then we go. 'Cause I know they weren't supporting Davis Cup, but they Tom Gorman said in the paper, Don't worry, they'll be here. Give it a couple of hours when they finish their match, they'll show up. And people did show up.

speaker-1: Yeah, well, we we learned that we were never gonna get Feder Nadal Djokovic. Okay, look, that's just a given. but we had a young crop of American players and we were kicking off the summer US Open Series and our time in Atlantic Station was a great venue. I mean, having the hotel right there, the players all walk well, I mean, most tournaments around the world, players have to drive. 15 minutes to get to the practice side or 15 minutes to get to the main venue and then 15, 20 minutes back to the hotel. We had it all right there. And so you know, you would see players in the evening at Yard House or Atlantic Grill or other places, or Venus Williams one time eating a public sub right outside the public's deli room right there. And cause we had you know, some women's exhibitions and So Atlantic Station was such a great man. The parking was so easy to get in and out of Atlantic Station. And and then we learned that also the evenings in Atlanta, even though it's July, we would my last two years we've sold out every evening session. And you know, we had again, my last year we did a women's exo on the Monday night. So Coco Golf played Sophia Kennan to a sold-out crowd. Tuesday night was our college night that always did really well. Wednesday night we'd have Isner play. Thursday night was Demon Hour. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday was our quarter semis and finals. And so we figured out kind of the secret sauce and and yeah. So a lot of fun.

speaker-0: You know, I I think back when you said that you were going for the position, I remember before it was publicly announced, you changed your Facebook profile. You're in a suit and you're standing by the umpire's chair. I think you had a walkie talkie in your hand and a couple of tennis buddies are like, What's up with Eddie G? What's all s what's all this about? And I remember at the US Open, I think before it's publicly announced, you and your wife were sitting on the front row of Maybe Arthur Ashe Stadium. Yeah. And half the time I'm watching you and your wife just sit there calmly like Eddie G scored some big seats. And then you find out that you're a tournament director.

speaker-1: Well, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

speaker-0: You go. She did a great job. And you know, it's it's crazy that as a tennis pro, you know, we all get in the phone and complain to each other when it rains. And I've felt so much pain for you during these afternoon thunderstorms because they'll pop up. But the good news is in an hour later it's dry again. So how many gray hairs did that tournament give you over the course of your ten years with rain?

speaker-1: You know, you work all year. You work fifty weeks out of the year to get ready for two weeks, you know, a 10-day event. And the one thing that we learned as a team is you control what you can control. You're never gonna control who wins or loses on the court. So don't base anything on that. You're never gonna win against Mother Nature. every I mean before the US Open had the retractable roofs, the open would have issues. They had to move the finals to Monday on more than one occasion. And think about the ramifications of that with their TV contract and the NFL football games on Sunday and moving, you know, so and we always said we wanted to be that mini US Open. And I say that because I've been blessed to go to a lot of different sporting events from Super Bowls to Final Fours to Masters. But I say the greatest annual sporting event is the US Open. And it's not because of the tennis, yes, but it's the night matches and the restaurants and the shops and the people watching and the men's and the women and those skyline views. And so I felt like we had all that in Atlanta, Atlantic Station. So let's be a mini version of that. With the heat and the rain, you just you just deal with it. And but we also learned the very important thing is you got to communicate. And as social media grew during the 10 years that I led the team. We really had to make sure on all of our social media channels and our website, we were letting people know. Cause guess what? Atlantic Station could be dry and in Buckhead it's raining or in Alpharetta, you know, so it's different pockets or vice versa. Maybe you're driving down from Alpharetta, but yet we're in the middle of a rainstorm. And so, hey, as a heads up, we're in a rain delay. Go into yard house, have yourself a cocktail, and we'll let you know when we're done. And That was also a nice thing. We had a lot we had a lot of different opportunities for people to enjoy themselves until the matches, you know, got playing and you just deal with it. You know, you y y it was stressful at the time, but you always work through it and yeah.

speaker-0: Well, clients tell me, Hey, it's not your fault, coach, that it rained. You feel like that. you had all that around you, so that definitely helped and and I never thought about that, that, you know, hey, the match will be on an hour. You had the social media ways to communicate with the public and the fans that you you know, a lot of places don't.

speaker-1: Well, the Atlantic Station retailers loved it when you had a rain delay. So whether it was Dill Earth's there or the Nike store or all the restaurants and so rain delays were welcome with the Atlantic Station retail community.

speaker-0: I bet. Well, y I wanted to mention that you're part of your business accolades, it's it's very impressive and you well deserve was it the Southern tennis hall of fame or southern what is that that you were part of the Hall of Fame?

speaker-1: Yeah, so USJ Southern section has a Bible one C three charity side, the Southern Tennis Foundation, and that's who has the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame. And so yeah, last year I was deeply honored to go into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame with so many of my mentors and just legends and you know, you think about the best players in the South from

speaker-0: Okay.

speaker-1: The Roscoe Tanners of the world. I mean, to you know, Al Parker, you know, these are people that were just great players, but then also great administrators. I mean, you know, Gordon Smith is in the Hall of Fame. He's from Rome, Georgia, played at Georgia, didn't have a pro career, but ended up leading the USTA as the CEO for 12 years. I mean, a tremendous mentor for me. And the Hall of Fame now is called his name, the Lucy Garvin Hall of Fame. Lucy Garvin from Greenville, South Carolina, past president USTA, obviously a past president of Southern, tremendous mentor for me and and learning the USTA. And so yeah, I went in last year and I actually went in with Ben Shelton's father, Brian. So he and I were, you know, contemporaries, competing against each other. He played at Georgia Tech, I played at NC State. He obviously went on and had a great career. And now his son is, you know. having a even better career. So thank you. But yeah, tremendous honor to go in last year.

speaker-0: Well, if you give me a second here to toot your horn because it's well deserved, I saw it was about two and a half minute YouTube clip. You were in your nice tie. I think might have been the day of your induction, but in that interview, they started talking about the Atlanta Open that you were director of, and you immediately talked about what a great team that you had. And I thought, wow, that's impressive. And you're a team player and I know you and you mentioned that you said It wasn't so much that we had great tennis players, but you mentioned John Isner, who's a great tennis player. He's an even better human being. And you said you mentioned you wanted to throw a a party and have a tennis match break out. You're talking about the Atlanta Open when you said that. You also mentioned that you wanted to make everyone feel great and that you wanted it to be Atlanta's US Open as well as give kids an avenue to Be around professional players and give them an opportunity to dream. I thought that was awesome. And you said that marketing 101 is really word of mouth. And I took so much from your two minute and 42 second interview. What a great team player you are. And I was like, man, that would have been fun to work on Eddie G's staff because it's not Eddie G the big boss tournament director. This is our Atlanta team. And I remember you in your championship trophy presentations, how you mentioned the team all the time. I thought that was awesome.

speaker-1: Well, yeah, you can't do it alone. I mean, yes, you you default to being the face of the tournament. I mean, just because you're the tournament director, but behind the scenes, just yeah, there's so many people that you need, you know, from the administrative side to the security side to the op side to the volunteers. and we all worked hard and we all had a great time and just very rewarding when you see these folks come through the turnstiles and have a great time. And yes, Being somebody who played junior tennis, played college tennis, wasn't good enough to make a career on the pro side, but pro tennis is a big part of the ecosystem. And guess what? Francis Tiafo, Tommy Paul, Riley O'Pelka, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Chris Eubanks, all those guys, John Isner, they all love playing in the U.S. And that provides when they were kids, you know, they had an opportunity to go watch pro tennis and be an inspiration to them. No different than going to a Braves game, Hawks game, Falcons game. But being able to see pro tennis up close and personal is just again, we wanted to be an opportunity to motivate our youth and whether it's to play high school tennis or college tennis or heaven forbid, good enough to play pro tennis one day.

speaker-0: Yeah. But and then the kids would I've seen kids autographs on the shirt, on the hat, and a couple of times ask the kid who's that and the kids like, I don't know, he's a professional, but I talked to him at the BB and T still a big deal for the kid to talk to a professional, get an autograph.

speaker-1: Agreed. Yeah, agreed.

speaker-0: Well, I I wanted to ask this question about, we're talking about you said that you would try anything, that certain disruptors in sports are powerful. This is going on in in the Atlanta tennis league, the Alta League now. I'm not a fan of it from a players or coaching standpoint, the third set breaker. but I don't want to debate about whether we should do a ten point breaker in Alta instead of a third set. But do you think I was talking to Perry Nilsson a few weeks ago how he loves no ad scoring and it's the excitement of playing division one tennis. The score's deuce, it's a sudden death point. From a T V perspective, would you like pro tennis to be no ad, knowing that fourteen points max and we're having to change over versus a a twelve point deuce game, endless rallies that we don't know when our next commercial is. Do you think no ad might be the future of tennis? For speeding up play and also for advertising?

speaker-1: Well, you know, you say about being a disruptor, and you know such a big part of me is a traditionalist and you know, the history of the game. But I also realize that we don't go around in horse and buggy anymore. And so i y when there's an opportunity to embrace technology or embrace change, you might as well try it. And You know, we did some things. We were the we really pushed for the we were the first term of the US to really embrace and use the electronic line colony. Okay. And I felt like you got two guys playing and seven people out there on the court. plus the chair umpire. And I said, you know what? And if we have this technology, you know, it's people are like, Where are you going to put those people out of jobs? And I was like, Well

speaker-2: still

speaker-1: feel like there's an opportunity for those folks, whether it's at the challenger level or college level or you know junior level, I still felt like there are opportunities. And another neat thing we did was we were the first tournament to use digital signage around the court. Typically, you know, you see that a lot at the NBA was really the first to use that where you're you know just around the a takeover and it's just branding and it's building excitement and break point, set point, match point. ace, you know, just these things, and you can have brand integration into it. And and I was also strategically went over the first two years for the ATP next gen finals over in Milan when it was the top eight young players and they were playing on a singles court, no doubles line. It was fast forward a four and it was no ad scoring and it was three out of five and no officials Coaching was allowed. Things that traditionalists, you know, would be like, what the heck is going on? But it was a chance to test it. Yeah. and so long-winded answer to to your question. I mean, the ATP tour is already doing that in doubles. So the doubles tour is two out of three with a match point breaker for the third on the tour level. And you know through research that a doubles match now is going to be 72 to 74 minutes. That's how long an average doubles match. Now, granted, you're playing on clay, it could be a little longer. You're playing in the heat and people taking extra breaks, it could be a little longer. But so when you're trying to when you're trying to create a schedule of play for the day, those are things that are important to know from a data perspective. How long is that doubles match going to be? when do we start? The singles. And then that's when Tennis Channel or ESPN wants to pick up the TV coverage. And as much as you and I love doubles, there's still this perception from a TV perspective that the fans don't want it. But I think we're seeing more and more doubles play. But the the the no ad scoring helps really keep it within a time frame. And that's why all the majors now went to the breakers in the fifth. I mean, even Wimbledon, the most traditional. tournament in the world had to go to the breaker because of the the Isner effects. You know. And so I'm open to trying things and seeing if they work. And if they work, try to build on it. If they don't, you know what? We gave it a try.

speaker-0: Right. Yeah. But the it's funny the traditionalist argument that I've said, Okay, you and I are playing a match and you're you lost the first set, you and your partner changed size or whatever, you win the second set, and then my partner and I go, we gotta play a breaker now. We don't have the whole set to to make adjustments. And so on the Atlanta side they're trying to shorten massage shorten the matches, but you can't really measure deuce. So my alternative would be, well, just play the third set, no ad. Well, people say, well, that's different than the first two sets. And that's my point exactly. Like the third set's a breaker. That's not even a full set. If we just did three sets, no ad, that's an hour and a half. And then we're all done. But I don't know. you know, you're more in tune with the money side of it. Do you think T V would prefer singles to be no ad?

speaker-1: think TV definitely wants to know when the match is going to start and when it's going to end. So and and that's no different than when what baseball's doing now with you know you can only throw it over twice as a pitcher with a runner on base and having the ABS one challenge. you know so you know extra innings now runner starts at second base. the NFL is very concerned about NFL games going over three hours. They're a while they were three and a half They've really condensed those now. so it's not just tennis, but yes, T V wants to know when it's when something's gonna start and when it's gonna end because of all the programming you do before and and after that.

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: And we also have to we also have to read the room. my kids, 25 and 27, attention span isn't the same what it was when you and I were growing up. Just because there's more distractions with again social media and other things. So the the attention span for the younger demo isn't to sit down and watch a singles match for four hours. As much as you and I would do that, we could sit there and you wouldn't love everything, but But the the next generation of fans, because you have to keep evolving and making sure that you're you're adjusting with who your audience is.

speaker-0: Yeah. I think that would be the aspect that okay sitting around the water cooler on Monday talking about the sudden death break point. That that point right there. How cool was that sudden death point instead of a four or five deuce game back and forth. So yeah, I understand that with younger kids. Speaking of younger kids, I wanna go back to your early days. You started out playing tennis at age eleven. Did you play other sports before tennis?

speaker-1: played everything till 14, maybe 15. And then what really gravitated me to tennis was I mean, I love the team aspect, but I also love the fact that I got all the credit and I got all the blame. And so if you're in a baseball game, you go four for four and you lose the game because your catcher drops a ball in the ninth inning, then you know, you know, it's just yeah. So But you know, so I I I love the fact that I could only blame myself or give myself all the credit. But then I I I love doubles. I love having a teammate. You know, I've had a lot of success at the college and, you know, senior level playing with some good players and, you know, winning national titles and what have you. So you know, and then, you know, I I love when we have the little you know, Alta. I love Alton being on a team. I love the pro league. You know, love going over to Germany and playing in Bundesliga and being on a team over there, you know, the camaraderie with that. So but that's what that's what attracted me to tennis. And back then you didn't have much of the team stuff until you got to, you know, high school and in college and love the NC State experience and Wolfpack Nation and And that

speaker-0: Yeah. Now what age did you start playing tournaments?

speaker-1: play some local tournaments at a twelve, thirteen, and I think fourteen. Maybe I started traveling a little bit for some tournaments.

speaker-0: Okay. Now when you said you played baseball in other sports, did you ever have travel ball or

speaker-1: You know, there wasn't really travel ball then. I mean, you would play in a local league and there might be an all star thing. And then you're, you know, I can remember baseball or basketball being an all star at, you know, twelve years old and the big big thing was going from Rome to Cartersville. I mean, you know, you didn't go f you didn't go far to play maybe the Bartow County All Stars or you know, the And you know, baseball, you may play the Dalton All-Star. So it wasn't like today where now you got perfect game and you know, you got Lake Point and people coming from all over the country to play in those things.

speaker-0: Yeah. Did you get trophies for anything besides first or second place?

speaker-1: No. No. I mean, you know, well, outside of tennis, no. I mean, tennis, you would get a fifth place trophy if you won the backdraw. If you won consolation, you know, third and fourth. If you had a third and fourth, it'd usually be something there. I think I have a couple of fifth place trophies for winning backdrop.

speaker-0: Okay. Use them as a doorstop, right? Yeah. Who were your early coaching mentors? Could be tennis or any other sports

speaker-1: Well, you know, I yes, we all have mentors when you're an athlete. you know, my first you know, Jaleel Riaz and Craig Jones who were at Coosa Country Club really were good mentors, role models. There was a fella named Steve Grissett who owned just tennis, who was the tennis store across from the city courts where I'd pack a lunch and get dropped off at the city courts and I'd have a game in the morning and then go over to just tennis and eat my sandwich and play ping pong with Steve Grissett and he taught me how to string rackets and you know and go do that. And then going to Baylor, my coach Park Lockrow was very instrumental in discipline and having a purpose for practice. He instilled in me to that I that I do today is the stretching component, how important it is. I I still to this day, I'll stretch 30 minutes every day before whether I'm playing tennis or not. And I gotta have a cool down period afterwards to stretch. And I think that's helped me maintain my flexibility and you know, being in good shape. So Park Locker was a a big influence. And then going to NC State, my coach was Crawford Henry, and Crawford Henry is in the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame and the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame and the Tulane Tennis Hall of Fame and the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. So he and you know had a win over Roy Emerson on the tour when he played. It was one in the world. And Crawford was really good about helping me strategy wise with matches. And basically it's Eddie, don't ever change a winning game. If you're serving your left handed Eddie, serve it down the T on the dew side, hit the volley over the ad side of the backhand, and then hit the next volley over the forehand for the winner. How's that doesn't take much thinking? You know, or if you're Eddie with your lefty serve out wide, serve it wide, you got the whole court, you know, take it over the dew side. And if they can run over there, then you got the whole court over after that. So just dumbing down strategy and don't ever change a winning game.

speaker-0: And it worked. That's great. It is the open court.

speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. It's not that difficult. Yeah.

speaker-0: Yeah. Well part of why I like talking to people like you with a a successful background, not just in business but in sports. I like to find out something that was really difficult. For instance, like what was your worst defeat? It could be any sport growing up.

speaker-1: Have to go back though and give two other mentors on the business side. I mean, I talked about John Callan. John Cann Callan was a tremendous mentor who took a chance on me two different times. And John was fortuitous enough that when he hired me the first time, he also created a marketing committee made up of volunteers. And the chairman of that marketing committee was Mike Tinky. Mike Tinky played at Auburn from Macon, Georgia. He was running two resorts over in Hiltonhead at the time, Shipyard and Port Royal Plantation. And he took me underneath his wing and taught me a lot on the business side of things that you can just never repay those sort of folks. so wanted to make sure I shared that with you, those two individuals. my senior year in high school, state tournament. I'm up six two five four forty love serving, triple match point, and I lost the match.

speaker-0: man.

speaker-1: 254 40 Love Serving 267560. So I just was all of a sudden in the blink of an eye, you you know, you you have a match one and you don't finish it. And you know, there there's a saying that God won't give you more than you can handle. And and you you have the opportunity to learn from situations and you learn in sports that You have to run through the finish line. You don't get to the finish line and stop. You know, you don't get to the ninth inning and the game's over. You don't get, you know, so I learned a valuable lesson at that point in time of of finishing, you know, finishing. And so things like that stick with you. There there's also a saying in tennis that You don't always remember your wins, but you never forget your losses. And it's too bad because tennis is, you know, tennis, it's an A or an F. If you win, it's an A. If you lose, it's an F. And that's really not the case because you can play really well and just lose to a better player, or you can play really bad one day because you're just not very good and you still win. And so being able to learn from those situations is you know, i invaluable.

speaker-0: Yeah. Well I think we all have those that slipped away and had a few sleepless nights thinking, If I would have done this, maybe had been different. So so you don't have PTSD about that. what was your greatest victory as a kid?

speaker-2: you

speaker-1: so greatest victory as a kid. I think the one win, and we still laugh about this now because he and I are still really good friends. I'm playing really one of my first tournaments outside of Rome, Georgia. There's a big junior tournament at Clemston, South Carolina, and Clemston's University Courts in the fourteen and unders. And here I'm a kid from Rome, Georgia. And I gotta play this kid from Morrow, Georgia, who is a really good player, ranked high in the South. And his name is Jay Bailey. Jay Bailey and I had a 8-6 in the third set match that I won in the 14s. And fast forward, we both turned 60 this year. We just went golfing together three weeks ago. And you know, it's so that win though.

speaker-0: No can.

speaker-1: kind of gave me the confidence to know that I could play on a southern slash national basis. And, you know, Jay went on and played D one at Southwest Louisiana, had a wonderful career. Very successful now in in residential real estate here in Atlanta. And I'm sure he would give junior tennis and the competitiveness a lot of credo for why he's so successful in in business. But but yeah, lifelong friend Big win over Jay Bailey in the fourteens and

speaker-0: There you go. Yeah. Small world, right? Jay's a great guy. and and I can vouch for it that Gonzalez and Bailey together, you guys have won a lot of doubles together.

speaker-1: Yeah. We have did yeah, we did. We did. Yeah. A lot of fun playing with him.

speaker-0: Yeah, I started thinking about how many f mutual friends we have, but we didn't really cross paths because you went to Baylor and but I was buddies with a lot of your Darlington buddies. Like we I went to church with Will House.

speaker-1: Okay. Wow. That's a good name from the past. Dear yeah. Good friend growing up. A non tennis friend. That was a there was a good non tennis friend. Yeah. Yeah.

speaker-0: There you go. All right. Now I want to get to part you know, when we're talking earlier about kids and their sports, you have raised two kids and quite successfully, you and your wife. your wife was an athlete too, is that correct?

speaker-1: She played at North played tennis at Northern Kentucky, University of Northern Kentucky that at the time was D two. They're now D one. she's from Louisville, played, you know, junior tennis through there. And I tell people she's she's got the looks and the athleticism in the family. So I'm lucky I married her.

speaker-0: Okay. Well, I I'm with you. I it's good to marry up, isn't it? Exactly.

speaker-1: Yeah. 30 years later. Still going strong. We met at a tennis tournament. Yeah. We met. I was working for USGA Southern as this young employee with John Callan. And I was at the USGA Southern Sectional League Championship. So this is where all these people that are now our age were there playing on their teams at the at the Southern Sectionals, and I was there helping run the event, and she

speaker-2: you

speaker-1: was sent there by Wild Dunes Resort, which is where she was working with Purse Matt, because they were a sponsor of the event. And she was there to give away a trip to Wild Dunes at the social. And we were by far the youngest people there. So we gravitated to each other and the rest is history.

speaker-0: it's good work. So tell us about your kids if you don't mind. Now you when your your kids were younger, they started playing sports. What was the first sport your kids played? Your daughter's older, correct?

speaker-1: Yeah. Daughter's 27, son 25. my wife will joke that she's the only non-lefty in the family. So both my kids are left-handed. Okay. and it's funny because our daughter Gabriella, who is older, I think our son would see her pick things up with her left hand or whatever. So I think he did, but now he's, you know, as an adult, he's the more natural lefty. But so When I saw they're both lefties, I said, the one thing I'm gonna make sure I'm involved in is teaching them the mechanics of a serve how to throw. and there's a direct correlation. If you have a good serve, you probably can throw a football or a baseball, just the mechanics. And that's why serving for guys is a lot easier for girls because girls don't grow up usually playing those other sports. so any tennis pros out there, young females. Get a nerf football and just, you know, start the lesson or the sessions, just throw in the Nerf football for five or ten minutes and they'll love it. And so we did a lot of that. And then but my wife and I grew up playing other sports and we didn't want them to be, you know, seven, eight, nine-year-old specialists in a sport. So we had them do everything. I mean, they played soccer and basketball and baseball. I mean, the only sport we wouldn't allow our son is football, just Just because we didn't want to risk the the injury. But our I mean, our daughter, they they both went to Mount Vernon, a nice small school in Sandy Springs, Mount Vernon, the Mustangs. And our daughter led hered in five sports in high school. And so, yes, she played tennis, but she played basketball, she swam. she was on the softball team and she was on the golf team. And and that small school needed people wouldn't like going to a bigger high school. And so that was really good for her. And even our son would, you know, play not necessarily other high school sports, but he played baseball and tennis up until he was 16. And and he would play in the church league basketball games and say, you know, basketball is such a good complimentary sport for tennis just because of the footwork and the conditioning and But yeah, he he went out to the winter nationals in the sixteen under winter nationals and he won a go ball. He won the national championship in doubles with a guy named Garrett Johns, who was all American at Duke, who's now playing the tour and was a good buddy. And some of the people they beat along the way, I think they beat Brandon Nakoshima in the semifinals, who's you know, top thirty in the world right now. And so But that was a point of time that Truss had to make a decision of going to, you know, a sport full time. And, you know, again, 15 slash sixteen, because he would play he would basically play tennis from end of July, once his travel baseball ended, until February. And he had that window there. And then February, he would go all in on

speaker-2: you

speaker-1: Baseball, because that's when the high school season would start, go through May, and then the travel season would kind of go through the end of July. I mean, he would show up, he played Kalamazoo two years, basically having two weeks to prepare. so he was never at his peak in August. But come December, when the Winter Nationals rolled around, that's when he was playing his best tennis. And luckily for him, he was able to win to get the points he needed to maintain his ranking to get into those tournaments when he took off at those other times. and then our daughter just, you know, tennis was always her best sport. Again, being a lefty, good serve, good forehand. And it her earned her an invitation to go to UNC Charlotte. She went to UNC Charlotte for two years, was a lady 49er. And then they had a coaching change. And then she transferred as a walk-on back home to Georgia Tech and played for Rodney Harmon. And they were like four or five in the country. I mean, they were really good. And that was that was the nineteen and then twenty was COVID. And then, you know, that was just a really tough year for all sports, but big proponents of our kids playing. multiple sports and we do feel like that helped both of them become better athletes, more rounded. and yeah, I'm not saying that's the right decision for everybody. It was the right decision for my kids.

speaker-0: Yeah. You know, it's it's interesting because when you see somebody doing another activity like you, hey, go go golf for a couple of months or a month and then come back and play tennis, you kinda missed it. And that's what's really frustrating. You said you've seen just through the the buddies of your son how many Tommy John injuries. It's just crazy.

speaker-1: Yeah, I think there's been a well, I don't think, I know there's been a trend in all sports to specialize early on. Again, whether it's golf, basketball, baseball, football, tennis. And look in baseball, you're not even playing on a sixty ninety field until you're fourteen years old. So, you know, you're playing on smaller dimension fields, which is part of the progression. And, you know, that's what the US Chase tried to do with kind of the red ball, green balls have that progression. So you don't know if somebody's going to be a good baseball player at eleven. you don't know if you there's going to be a good tennis player at eleven. You might have a suspicion. I'm on the male side. Females mature earlier than males. And sometimes you can see that Mira Andreva at a younger age. I mean, I I mean I'll never forget Chanda Rubin, who was such a great player coming from Louisiana, but you kind of knew at 12 for her that she had something special. Guys, you don't. And that's why guys develop later and may not even you know reach puberty till 17, 18 years old. Your body's just gonna change. I mean, some of the biggest kids on the baseball team at 11 years old. We're not the biggest kids at 18. So so I I I don't I just I have to throw caution to specializing. And and again, as you said, you've seen it in baseball now where it's become the norm for pitchers. There's only so many throws you got in that arm. And I just hate to see how it's become so acceptable now to have a Tommy John surgery when Tom Glavin never had Tommy John. Greg Maddox, you know, those guys, and they pitched for 20 years, and but they weren't taken, you know, you those guys now show up at spring training in February after they've been working out all off season. Where there used to be where those guys showed up at spring training to get in shape. You don't do that anymore. And you know, you're working all

speaker-0: Get in shape, yeah.

speaker-1: You know, so you're ready to hit the go button come February ninth when catchers of pitchers show up. That just that's just so much strain and stress on the arm and there's other things you can do to develop the body without having to pitch at max v low all the time.

speaker-0: Yeah. And then I think we're guilty of showing what the VLO is. Well that has nothing to do with your control. And then the kids are strike. Right. Yeah.

speaker-1: Got us. Gotta throw strikes and and and tennis too. I just don't think it's healthy for kids to be playing tennis year round eight, nine, ten, eleven. You know, maybe again females at twelve, thirteen, fourteen if they're really but still there's other sports that are gonna compliment the females and then the guys, yeah. I just you're not how you win as a male tennis player at fourteen is not the same way you're gonna Win at seventeen or eighteen and probably not the same way you're gonna win at twenty-two or twenty-three. Right. And then when you get to be our age, all of a sudden, you better have a good drop shot. You get to be our age. So you and the drop shots become an even bigger shot on tour that you see now with, you know, Alpha Raz and what have you. But on senior tennis, yeah, those that have the good drop shots that keep those players off the baseline are usually the best ones.

speaker-0: Nice little weapon. But you mentioned something a few minutes ago that tennis is an A or an F. How's that psychologically for the kid who didn't win the tournament? Yeah, you won three rounds and you got to the finals, but you didn't win. There's a lot of losing that goes on. That c to me is scary for a young kid.

speaker-1: You know, one of the people I really got to know during my time leading the Atlanta Open was Patrick McEnroe, because you know, Patrick was doing commentary and he came to the tournament and I had him give a talk one time at a a sponsor lunch. I'll never forget, he said, you know, I played the tour, ATP tour 10 years. And in 10 years, I lost every week but one. So He won one title, which again for Patrick McEnroe, that's a big deal to say you won one ATP tour event. But the mindset is Marcus Baghdadis, you again, Australian Open Finalist. I said, Marcos, if you want to stick around for a couple of days, you know, I can help, you know, provide some practice for you. And, you know, maybe you just want to chill, want to do some sightseeing. He's like, Eddie, when I lose in the city, I want to leave as soon as I can. Yeah. I want to just kind of clear that loss and And move on to the next city. And, you know, in his case it was always the guys would always have to DC from here. So they get to DC a little bit earlier. But that is, look, that's a tough mindset that there's only one person that's gonna be standing at the end of the of the week. I mean that the the the Polish girl had the great run to the finals of the French Open, you know, coming through qualifying, getting all the way to the finals, but yet there's still gonna be that just that bad taste in her mouth at the end of Such a great three week run at the you know, at the France and the same for Capalli, who had a great run to get to the finals and then lose to Zverev. But yeah. It it is tough. It is it's it's tough and you gotta f flush those things, you know. That's why you know, I always liked that you and I love baseball and you know, baseball if you're successful three times out of ten, you're gonna go to the Hall of Fame. Those guys Those guys who can flush those A Bs and forget about it. You're you're O for three with three strikeouts. You got one more bat and you get a double or a home run or whatever to help your team win. You're ending that game on a high note. so you gotta flush those things. Look, it's easy for us to sit here and say it, but it's not always the easiest thing to do.

speaker-0: Yeah, that is tough.

speaker-2: you

speaker-1: Well, again, what we talked about earlier. You're talking about three games, and that means you need everybody on the team's gotta pitch. Everybody's gotta be able to Yeah. Yeah, because you can't keep throwing the same person and you also gotta make sure that the catcher isn't sitting there behind home plate for three game, you know. So you better have two, maybe three catchers. So but I will say the good thing about those tournaments, and again, it wasn't that long ago. I was right in the middle of all that with my son, is that those games are usually an

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: Usually there's a time limit on the games, as well as six innings. So it's either six innings, time limit, or even a run rule. So if one team's getting crushed, right, they'll end the game in the fourth inning if it's 18 to one. Yeah. but but yes, there's been times where Trust would finish a game at 11:30 at night and had an 8 a.m. game. I'm like, you know, in my business, my world from the tennis world, it's about scheduling and making sure the players have ample rest. That was Totally unfair, but if you're running the tournament and the show's gotta go on, it's like and those things are big money makers for those organizers. Those are the big those teams are paying seven, eight hundred bucks, a thousand bucks a team. Yeah. And there's you know, there's a hundred teams in those things. So yeah, I I I don't know that I have an answer or if I'm telling you what, but other than I know Exactly what you're saying.

speaker-0: Yeah. Well, like I think you might have just hit it that the organizers are the ones that maybe we need to talk to because they're putting the the pressure on the kids. We're holding a tournament. Well, that makes good business sense, but I'm not sure if that's the best development for young kids or even high school kids. You know, they might need a a break. So let's get to something really fun. You did something that I think we would all like to do called the toughest thing to do in sports. Or what was your exact title? Was that it?

speaker-1: Yeah, just toughest thing to do in sports. And you know, it came about because I'd always heard that, you know, hitting a ninety mile an hour fastball is the toughest to the thing to do in sports. And and I but I always felt like being a tennis player, returning 120, 130 in a mile an hour serve. And then if you're gonna see Isner or Shelton or Kyrios, 140, 150. Mile an hour serve, well, you got to get it over net and inside some lines. Where in baseball, a little dribbler and they can't get you, you're on base, that's a hit. Or if you square up the barrel and you hit it 400 feet, that's a good so you can't do that in tennis. You can't hit a dribbler or whatever that. So you got to get so I it prompted me to say, All right, well, what are the toughest things to do in sports? And while my body will still allow me to do stuff, I kind of put the challenge out there and You know, with Tress, my son, we went to we went to Georgia Tech and

speaker-0: There you go.

speaker-1: All right, how's that? All right, good. Sorry about that. I always

speaker-0: Good. Good, no problem. You're saying you and your son you and your son went to Georgia Tech.

speaker-1: Yeah, you know, so he still has, you know, in the off season he goes down there and works out, hits in the cages. And so I went down there with him and he put in some ninety mile an hour fastballs into the machine to see how I could do. And much to my surprise, I was able to put all three, you know, at least I put barrel on the on the ball. And so I said, All right, what's the next thing then? So then two buddies he he and another buddy, we We went over the Georgia Tech Indoor Football Facility and I tried to kick a 30 yard field goal just a little longer than an extra point. And I really thought before I did that that that would be one of the easier things for me, just because I my legs are strong being a tennis player and I know how to kick a soccer ball. Now, granted, I didn't have a T and the Gry, you know, I'm making all these excuses now, but that was tough. So all of a sudden I'm thinking, man, these X, you know, these kickers that are kicking game winning field goals with the pressure on, and you got to get the right snap. And these guys trying. I said, that is tough. That's a tough thing to do. And then and then the NBA three point average is, I think, between 35 and 38 percent. So, you know, you just NBA three, and that's a long shot. So I I went out and Was able to make one out of three with my son trying to block it. So and then from there from there all of a sudden a buddy of mine who works with the the Atlanta Vibe, the the women's indoor volley invite you guys out and give it a try. And that was

speaker-0: you you guys reached some somebody from the pro volleyball reached out to you, said

speaker-1: Yeah, so got some friends over there and they're like, Hey, you want to come see if you can return a spike from one of the players? And I I'm drawing a blank on her name, but she was four time All American at Kentucky. She was MVP of the league last year. They lost in the championship game last year. Brought me out and new appreciation for what male and female volleyball players do when they're digging out a ball. I mean, those those Those spikes are coming at you at 90, 95 miles an hour. Crazy. And and then and then I've got a tennis friend, Tim Noonan, you know, played at played tennis at Notre Dame, part of the you know, the management group for UTA, Universal Tennis Academy. He plays in this adult hockey league. So he had me come out and try to do a a penalty puck shot and I'd say on a scale of one to ten, I'm a four skating. But when you throw on the skates and you've got to and you've got to try to control the the skating, gotta control the puck, gotta control your stick and shoot the puck was very eye opening as well. And you just, you know, doing those things, you just have a deep appreciation of other sports. I mean, You know, I did a go, you know, the the average green in regulation from a hundred and sixty-five yards is sixty six percent. But you know what? You and me hitting a a hundred and sixty five yard shot without people in the stands and the T V cameras and a caddy and it's different. You know, it's just different. So so I've had some fun with that. There may be a couple that I you know think about still doing, but really enjoy doing it and new Newfound appreciation for other sports.

speaker-0: You had Nick Curios throw some bombs your way up in Madison Square Garden of all places. Yeah.

speaker-1: Yeah. So I was involved with that really fun exhibition last December with Sabalenka playing Osaka and then Nick played Tommy Paul. And Nick is, you know, I got to know Nick here in Atlanta, and Nick and I are friends, and he said, okay, I'll get I'll give a bomb. He hit one on the deuce side, and that was a fast indoor court to just jam me, you know, right on my left hip on my forehand side. And then he tried to go down the T on the ad side to my backhand and I was able to get the racket out and put it back in play. So

speaker-0: go. Well, I like him. He's a fellow Celtic fan, so he seems like a fun guy from what the Labor Cup reputation was that he was a very good team player.

speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. You know, we're all guilty of judging people inside the lines or the ropes or the court. And and I was blessed to get to know a lot of these young men outside the lines. And Nick has got a heart of gold. And yes, he is. And I'll tell you that he never would say no when I asked him to do something kid related, whether it was the high school day with kids clinics or special needs population and doing a clinic, he would be, I'm there for you, mate. And don't even tell me how long. So great. Yeah. So you kind of got to get to know these folks. On the flip side, he would probably have been miserable if I'd asked him to go talk at a corporate luncheon reception, you know, but with with kids, heart of gold and Really like Nick and he's great for our sport. I hope he's able to get healthy, even if he's just playing doubles, 'cause he's got such a great personality.

speaker-0: And pretty good talent too. Yeah, we we went back and forth. Did you see the sports science that Fox Sports did with Steve Finley? Kind of the similar challenge about returning a baseball serve in baseball. I the one thing they they missed out, they talked about that the drag effect with the tennis ball, the felt after what's hit, slowed it down and that you had less time returning or hitting a major league baseball because there's no drag effect because of the the baseball.

speaker-1: Yeah.

speaker-0: But what they didn't talk about was a hundred and twenty mile an hour serve. When it hits the service line, you are returning serve from eighteen feet away. That hundred and twenty mile an hour serve is now eighty nine. So eighteen feet, eighty nine miles an hour versus sixty feet six inches, that baseball is slowing down. So, like you said, you know, what what is what constitutes a hit? A dribbler that the guy beats out or Just tapping a serve and it goes over the net. So it's one of those undefinable arguments, I guess. Yeah.

speaker-1: Exactly. Exactly.

speaker-0: Well, wrapping up here real quick. Who's the toughest tennis player you've ever played against?

speaker-1: Tim Wilkinson played Dr. Dirt when he was twenty-one in the world. And, you know, he had that great US Open get in the quarterfinals. One year he beat Yannick Noah got to the quarterfinals. And I played him that summer. He was twenty-one in the world. And I'll just never forget that he didn't have a weakness. You know, you still you just feel like as a tennis player, you can always find somebody's weakness. He was a lefty, one-handed backhand. I thought I could maybe attack the backhand. But he had such a good lob off the backhand side that, you know, it was like, all right, I'm gonna come and attack that thing. He was putting it right where he wanted to over my, you know, right shoulder. And and then just yeah, just so solid. Didn't take a point off either. Every point was match point. And so you just learn when you're gonna play at that next level that they're better. And Every point is in play. When NC State beat UNC at UNC, and I I won the singles match to really kind of clinch it, but we'd lost to UNC like eight years in a row and we broke the string while I was there. So that was pretty gratifying.

speaker-0: That's huge. What of all the sporting events you've attended, you've seen a lot of great athletes. Is there one athlete that sticks out more than any other?

speaker-1: I mean, Joker at what he's doing at his age. I mean, how can you, you know, how can you argue that? I mean, him to get to the semifinals of all four last year. and he didn't even play a warm up event in two of beforehand. I mean, I so right now I gotta say Joker. It'll be interesting to see how Serena does at Wimbledon. So I'm not sure when you know, whether this will be out before or after, but I think it's exciting to see what she's gonna do.

speaker-0: Yeah, forty four, why not? Give it shot. All right. Who's your favorite all time athlete?

speaker-1: Yeah. Favorite all time athlete. so that's a good question. I mean, my favorite tennis player growing up was Jimmy Connors. So that was my guy being a lefty, just kind of bully the backcourt, could come to net. And then when McEnroe came along, I kind of took his serving volley game with Jimmy's backcourt game and really liked to be, you know, the best of those two. but you know, we grew up during that bird you know, magic air on those two guys were phenomenal. And so bird and magic were always special to me.

speaker-0: Yeah, good times, good intensity watching those games on CBS too. Yeah. What's the most favorite sporting event that you've ever been to? I know you've been to a bunch of different things.

speaker-1: Well, I mentioned earlier the US Open. I just think it should be on everybody's bucket list. just again, New York City, night matches, people watching restaurant shops, great, you know, great tennis. My my wife and I have been to the Kentucky Derby the last two years and I will say the Derby 'cause most people you don't grow up as a horse racing fan. You know, that's but

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: You know, that fastest two minutes in sports is what their motto is and I agree with it and it's a great event.

speaker-0: Well I was gonna ask you this past year, I wanted to know where you could get a purple suit like the one you were wearing. That was awesome.

speaker-1: You got it dressed to impress. I was so lucky to get that and it was so perfect. Yeah. That was a great suit to wear to the derby. we're horses. Those are

speaker-0: Okay.

speaker-1: little little horsies, yeah. If you're forty regular, you can borrow it.

speaker-0: In your happy Okay. I don't think I don't know when unless I'm going to the Derby. So you hadn't sold it yet, huh? my goodness. All right. Who inspires you? Is there somebody that you look up to?

speaker-1: Well, we talked about the mentors earlier. I mean, I was so blessed to have so many mentors just on the playing side. And then as my you know, as my career evolved on the business side. But look, you always have to give credit to your parents. I mean, you know, my parents were very supportive. They never put they weren't tennis players. They didn't really play sports, but they just encouraged me to always chase your dreams. And and that's that's really what you want, you know, your mentors to be. Parents included is encouraged, you know, dream big. As the song goes, you got a dream, chase it, 'cause the dream won't chase you back.

speaker-0: Right. I like that. That's good. All right, what kind of music do you like? And then you can tell me your favorite band.

speaker-1: I like a lot of stuff. You know, Zach, how can you go wrong with Zach Brown? And then I went and watched the Michael Jackson movie that just came out and it brought back memories of my MJ, who was just one of a kind. And then back in my college days and to this day, I loved in excess. Love in excess. So that's kind of a little bit of a yeah. So those are

speaker-2: me.

speaker-0: So if if you if you couldn't if you weren't allowed to play a sport, what instrument would you play?

speaker-1: I'd probably want to be the lead singer.

speaker-0: Nice.

speaker-1: Don't need to play an instrument there. I'm not musically talented enough, but I think I would be a good showman.

speaker-0: Okay. All right. NEG up front, baby. Get the ba get Ryan Blake on drums, man.

speaker-1: A good exactly. So you don't need a good voice. As long as you have good good good yeah, people that can play the instruments behind you, all of a sudden you sound a lot better.

speaker-0: The circle of friends we have, we could put a group together. That'd be fun. All right. Couple more questions real quick. If you could only watch one sport forever on TV, only allowed to watch one sport, what would it be?

speaker-1: Yeah. On T V. Well, it wouldn't be tennis, because I think tennis is much better live than on TV. I think golf live is a bad product. I think golf on TV is a really good product because you get to see, you know, when you're there, you only get to see the groups coming by every eight to ten minutes. And you can't you're either watching them putt off the tee, you can't watch them do both. When you're sitting at home, you can watch multiple players at multiple shots from multiple different books. So I think that the The golf is great. I would say I'm sorry, I gotta go to golf and baseball.

speaker-0: Okay. There you go. It's all about what could happen. Keep your mind engaged. Good. All right, last question for you, Mr. Eddie G. All right, we're not going to talk about the greatest of all time, but if you could pick one tennis player on their favorite surface, who would it be to save your life? They have to win the match to save your life. Who would it be?

speaker-1: That's easy. Rod Laver.

speaker-0: On

speaker-1: Well grass. Well he won he he won, you know, he won the Grand Slam twice in sixty two and sixty nine, but in in the both of those years, three of the four were on grass. Yeah. So Rod Rod Labor on on grass, or Serena in her prime on grass.

speaker-0: Right. Okay. There you go. Well, you know, speaking of tennis, this could be your next project that I can't find another sport. Let's just take from nineteen seventy on or l sixty nine when Laver last played. It's like the technological advances, the extremes from a wood racket to what we're using today. And then we talk about when Sampras and Agassiz were going out that the technology of strings. I don't know of any other sport that's had so many advances and changes.

speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, you know, golf might say the driver or the ball. I mean, the ball is now going further. the driver has, you know, but similar to tennis, again, we're using a different racket, different string, different balls. But yeah, that definitely impacts how much spin you can hit, how hard you can swing. So Agree with

speaker-0: Yeah. Well Eddie G I'll let you get running and you can recharge that phone. But I appreciate your time. This has been a lot of fun and and I think some parents will get some good nuggets from your wisdom and and and some of the things you've done in sports have been a lot of fun to watch.

speaker-1: Keep keep going with the pro talk. You got something going here. So proud of you. So it's good. Good. Keep it going. Yeah.

speaker-0: A couple of things you mentioned. I I really respect how your business it was always a team for your business. And then you said why not try it? I think that's something people get scared to change sometimes. the power of finishing. I love that. I might have to use that on my on my lessons with my men tomorrow morning. And

speaker-1: I don't stop at the finish line. You gotta run through the finish line.

speaker-0: Strong, right? There you go. You always talked about the power to dream big, so that's pretty huge. So so Eddie G, thanks a lot for your time and your wisdom and I appreciate your friendship as well.

speaker-1: You got it, Rob. Enjoy. That was fun. See ya on the court soon.

speaker-0: Yes, sir. So for you out there, if you like this episode, make sure you pass it on to some friends and please push that subscription bell. And so till next time, make the most of your time and hang tough.