Jason Corley: Welcome everybody to the Travel Dads podcast brought to you by Bardstown, Bourbon and Green River Whiskey. I am your host, Jason Corley, alongside Jacob Moreno. Folks, I want to welcome right now, man, I don't even know. I was thinking about this earlier today. How do I introduce you? Because you're my first. You are the reason why we are where we are. You are the reason why my son has been mentored and molded by the coach that he's had now going into his fourth year. So Michael Karens, not only are you the head coach of the, it, did I get it right? Is it 16U this year? 16U, correct. Yeah, 2028 grads. So 2028 grads national team, is, was trying to tell Jacob before this, just an absolute bunch of dogs. I have known this group. I think I was trying to remember this, Mike, but I think, didn't I film you guys when you guys were 12? 12. Yeah. And that's really when we, we explored at 12. That's we took off. Okay. What was your guys's first year? But first of all, folks, he's also the director of player development for the Ohio. Hit Dogs organization. And I was also telling Jacob too, that I think you're kind of the only reason that that organization has made it through the turmoil of the last 24 months. You stuck with it. You saw light at the end of the tunnel and then you kind of what fostered and brought ⁓ branding, correct? Correct. Yes. Brand knows what new kind of president of operations. ⁓ Runs the A to Zs. does a great job. First year for him. So obviously, you know, learning curves with him as well, but he's knocking out the park, doing a great job. Nice. Okay. So player development, tell everybody what that does, what that is. What is your... Besides giving every lesson at that place. So that's a bulk of it. Making sure... Starts with the coaches, right? So we do a lot of onboarding, a lot of coach the coaches. You how do we do A to Z in coaching? ⁓ keep it simple, making sure these guys, this new group of coaches, we got a lot of first year coaches, second year coaches, making sure they're given the tools they need, making sure they have every opportunity at their hands and making sure they're not skipping or missing anything as well. So start with them and then kind of trickle into helping run first couple for their practices and then go from there. And then from there, it trickles into the players ⁓ who needs lessons, who wants help developed that type of role. So it's been a blast and... As you can see, I'm still here today, pulling a late night here. The facility is in full force tonight, so every cage is full and the field is full. Are you upstairs? I am upstairs. Yes. I can't tell you how hot this room gets. if you see me sweating in about 30 minutes. We felt that. Yeah. In there, I know what you're dealing with. Okay. So we're saying, so we're saying you helping the coaches, what do you, you know, as you're, I guess, teaching them what you, what you are expecting, how... Do you sit in every once in a while and watch practices or make sure they're running it? I mean, not necessarily running it the way you want, but what you've taught them? Definitely. it kind of starts with trials, right? we, years past, we've learned that say there's a 10-year trial, the 10-year coach shows up and there's a hundred kids. So it's hard to take care of everything. So it starts with trials. So myself, Brandon, we attend the trials. We speak to the parents. and kind of the topic of the day, we start the expectations and tryouts. We want to make sure both the coaches and the parents are on the same page as far as what we're trying to accomplish. then depending on the roster, if it's an elite national level roster, or if it's going to be more of a local Ohio state type team, then we'll go from there with expectations. it just kind of starts from there and yeah, helping them on board. And then from there, are they filling the agenda? Do they have their... schedule set up, know, team snap, whatever tool they decide to use, just making sure they get everything accomplished. Not skipping anything. Cause you know, if you start those first couple of dominoes and they're not hitting each other, you know, right from the start, you got a little mess there. So yeah. So when you guys are bringing a team in, you're not just bringing a group of kids in, you're also, you're also making sure that the fit is right with the coach because let, I mean, in travel ball nowadays, the organizations, they don't bring in. Not very rarely do they bring in just a coach and then he go build a team from scratch. It's usually a coach with a handful of kids that he's bringing from a previous team. So you're not just interviewing the kids to make sure they're fit. You're interviewing him first, right? No doubt. that's again, lessons learned, right? Everyone's been doing this for countless years now. And that's, that's one of those things that's, it's kind of the, you know, United we stand type thing, make sure the personality is jived and For you too, sometimes it's not a fit for them. Yeah, 100 % correct. That's exactly correct. that we realized there's, you know, back before Hit Dogs got here, there was, know, Bo Jackson, was Ohio League, there were some other clubs here in town. But, you know, since we've come to town, VAs come in, T3, a lot of big groups have come into town and now there's options. So we've got to make sure we're, you know, doing everything at, you know, top level, make sure we're luring in the right people as well to help row the boat with us. Because if we're not, you know, there are other options out there. Yeah. So, okay. Go ahead. Go ahead, Jacob. you say, say you're watching and you you start getting necessarily complaints, but emails from parents that a coach isn't, you know, meeting the standards that was set by you and Brandon. What do you guys, do you talk to the coach or do you like not necessarily step in and take like, I know taking the team would be a lot because you have your own team already. But would you like just like try to mentor him or see what's going on? Because you know, some parents could just. Some players may not just like to coach and just be like, I'm going to complain, complain, complain. And hopefully they kick him out. And that's at every sport, every, you know, every level, you know, that that's going to happen. There's going to be differences of opinion or different, you know, ideas of how to develop or whatever the matter may be. So yeah, trying to be that Rosetta Stone, guess, being the voice of the parent and voice of the coach and, you know, fact find what's, what's the root cause, what is really going on here and, and attack it as a Like I said earlier, we're all united here. If we can all continue to row the boat, even if we have our differences, we're going to accomplish a lot of good things. So it's one of those, let's get on the same page and go from there. Well, listen, enough of this stuff of what you do on a daily basis. And for those that don't know, this is not like, he works up about seven jobs. And this is just what I do. But we don't need to get into all of the other stuff, but I do. The reason why we wanted to have you on tonight is because I feel like as everybody is on the doorstep to the season, the season is about to kick off for most of the age groups of that nine to 13 age group. lot of the older kids have already started it. They're playing in the fall or they maybe did a Vegas tournament over the winter, stuff like that. But for the majority of parents out there, they're about to unleash on their season. And so many of them, Mike, are new to this whole world of travel ball. They have spent their time in T-ball. They went through the rigors of coach pitch, and then they went to their local rec, and it wasn't what they hoped it would be because little Billy is, he's the next best thing. So they reached out and they wanted to get him into travel ball. I want to talk to you about expectations. I want to talk to you about realistic expectations, not just as a parent, but as a coach of what you expect from these kids. So my question to you is this, as somebody that's coming in new, just blank slate, coming in new, what kind of expectations do you want them to have with a program like yours? Yeah. So I'm big on, like ⁓ kind of like already said at tryouts, just you're opening the door right there. You're giving them your cell phone number so they can text and ask questions or call or. Email, whatever it takes to communicate, but open the door for communications right away. Because if you start the whole, I'm talking to these four parents, we're going to divide immediately. That just doesn't fly at any sport, any level, any situation. So making sure, the communication route's there. Do we know where we're going with anything when needed and giving them an outlet to talk. It's kind of neat. Daughter played high level club soccer. So she was top 10 program in the country. you know, from age eight through graduation and now she's playing some, some, you know, she's playing D1 soccer now. We got to live it as parents on the soccer side and then transition into the coach slash parent side of here in baseball as well. So knowing your expectations from day one, I thought her soccer club did a tremendous job outlining here's the schedule, here's your uniform package, that's it. So there's no, it's, you know, it's not an argument, it's not a debate, it's not a, what are your two cents? They set the tone. we set the tone. What lessons did you pick up or what? What things did you watch in? that was, she was with Ohio premier, right? the ECL. Okay. She was with Ohio premier and she played in the ECL, which for those of you that don't know, the ECL is the highest level of travel soccer in the entire country. Like not in the Midwest, in the entire country. And I just, I know this from my own daughter's life of travel soccer, but Bailey was on a completely different level. And when I say this, did you Did you watch them do anything that you have integrated into your own practices in baseball? Yeah, 100%. Her first coach in the club situation, Becky Brewery, amazing person. She pulled the parents aside, you get a letter of their expectations and she did a great job outlining it. She basically said, you know, we're going to develop, we're going to learn how to pass, shoot, defend, you know, the basics. And we're going to master those basics. What year was this? This was eight, nine, 10, like the young age. Okay. If they're working on a certain thing during game and they lose, it doesn't matter. You're developing during these games. So we carry that over here. You know, if you can't receive the ball the right way, you can't feel the right way. If you can't hit, you're never going to move on to the next level. So was kind of the intro that, you know, first grade, if you're not doing right, left, field, throw, shuffle, internet stuff in the right order, you're at a loss. You're going to be behind immediately. So we made sure on our team fundamentals first. So it was just... You know, if we lose because we're doing something the right way, you know, fine. That's just the way it's going to be. What are the differences between expectations of, let's say we call it here on the podcast, we refer to them as regional teams and national teams. Okay. And you've heard me say this before. I have kids on both spectrums. So therefore I have two different levels of expectation. Also there are four years difference. So that kind of weeds itself out in itself, but what are your... What can expectations be differently for a parent who's coming in on a regional team compared to a parent who's coming in to a national level team? What are those expectations and what are the differences? Yeah, there's... it's... I don't want say night and day, but it can be night and day. When you're looking, say, more at the regional, the state level, that type of stuff, your expectations are you're still kind of learning the game. You're getting more familiar with who you are as a player. You know, your development probably was on a slower pace or maybe even your size or skill were on a different pace as the rest of the kids. And that's fine. That is completely fine. That is what every parent and player need to learn immediately. You know, you're eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 years old. If you haven't got there yet, that's a good thing. Like you don't want to peak at 11 or 12, but the parents need to recognize that. You need to realize, hey, my expectations for this level, say it's a state level or whatever. are this, you know, we're here in the development process. Some kids are here, you know, some kids are here and that's okay. That's, that's the best part about this whole process is there's a fit for you for your age and whatnot. You know, if you try to go jump in the deep end and you know, you can't swim yet, you're, you're going to fail and then you're going to have some other different issues. So know your, know your level, know your process and trust it. And that's, that's the neat thing about baseball and sports is there's an opportunity for each. skill set right now. I think the expectations as far as the local level is continue to grow at that level, try to get better, obviously. But no, like I said, if you jump in the deep end and you you can drown pretty quick. As, and I know Jacob, I know you have something you want to ask, but I want to do this before I forget. I don't have this written down, but as, as weird as this sounds too, the expectations too probably differ because on the national level, there's less of an expectation from a coach of be at practice every week and then where as on the regional level that is less pressure, there's way more expectations to be at every single development opportunity. Am I right? This episode is brought to you by Bardstown Bourbon. If you appreciate craftsmanship and doing things the right way, that's what Bardstown Bourbon is about. They're not just making bourbon, they're pushing the standard forward. Smooth, bold, layered with flavor. Whether you're winding down after a long week, or celebrating in a big win, it just fits. Bardstown-Burbin, modern flavor, timeless craftsmanship. 100 % agree. like examples are team right now. It sounds crazy, but it's ⁓ true. Our Robster is from the Midwest. So kind of similar to what Coach Hammond was saying last week. ⁓ You can't make it. It's four hours to take batting practice and hit and field grounders in the car is a waste of time for everybody. 100 % speaking of schoolwork at that age is... More important. Yes. And when you're young, you know, get other parents looking at you like, you just did what? You drove, you know, three hours to do what? So it's true. And again, know where you're at, know where your family's at and do the right thing for you guys at that time. I will say the expectations on the development side are a little different as well. I feel like you can develop the fundamentals of fielding or hitting or throwing anywhere, at any level. the development in game play takes off. Like once you're at the national level or a higher end level per se, you you start to see kids that are elite on the mound and you, that becomes common knowledge to you. So the guy that is playing the local or the regular or the rec who may be a great athlete, great hitter, great everything, he's not seeing that a level pitcher all weekend, every weekend, all summer. And that, that's where the difference in the trajectories start. So the quicker you can develop, at a younger age and see these A plus plus dudes on the mound and fielding a hundred mile an hour ground ball is different than fielding a 55 mile an hour ground ball. There's just different levels of play and that to me, that is a part of development as well as facing the best. That is why my wife and I made the decision when the kids were eight, we're gonna get them in the most elite level of play we can because they've got to face the speed, they've got to face the adversity, they've got to lose. You know, I remember our 12-year team, when we put together this 12-year team, was, they were dudes. It was 12 dudes, it's not 13 dudes, it's just dudes. And we hit all 13, that's how good they were. We didn't have to sit anybody. But I remember our first meeting, getting ready to start the season, I told everyone, we're gonna lose one third of our games. Dude, they looked at me like I was an idiot. Whether you're sitting around with friends or relaxing after a long day, raise the glass to good conversation and even better company, Green River Whiskey. I'm like, look at the roster. Like you have no idea what you're talking about. This is not the right coach for our guys, but yeah, I set the schedule according to our skillset. You were the one that had the expectations and you were going to put them against the best in order. Yeah. We're going to play East Cobb. every two weeks. We're going to go to Georgia, we're going to go to Florida. going to take our lumps so we can learn. I remember our first trip that year, 12 year year, we go down to East Cobb. East Cobb run rules us. I don't think we got a hit. We looked ridiculous. We were dropping fly balls. Stuff that we're normally good at, but we were just all struck. When you walk into East Cobb's complex, you feel the echoes. You heard it from him too. It's not just- Yeah, we just talked about it last week. had our top 10 and it's mine. I was telling Jacob, know, like you guys have gotten or you're getting ready to play at like Lake Point and some of these other places that are also Mecca's. But for our age, East Cobb is, East Cobb is heaven for baseball. No doubt about it. Honestly, is. How you can get awestruck. Yeah. To date myself, I think I was 14. We went to East Cobb. We were probably 75 and 0. The team was awesome. Every kid on my team played professional baseball. That's how stacked we were. We get down there. Ryan Kolesko, Corey Patterson, back to back home runs to start the game. And I've never given up a home run and I'm like, what the hell? You know, what this, what's, it was next level down there and it was, it was, it's awesome. And that's kind of, I always go back to that reference point. Like that's what the kids need to see. They need to see the best. need to learn how to compete with the best and, and eventually learn how to beat the best or, you know, you're just not going to transition into that. So I do have a question. You know, we were talking about the regional team and the national team. If you had a regional team that you've been coaching eight, nine, 10, say 11, you know, once you get to 12, do you push the expectation of them to start training? Let's say they're not a national team, but you know, you've been with the program, you know, you know, you, you know how things roll. Do you start pushing them and as to train as national level kids, even though they're a regional team? Because, you know, some kids grow late. Some kids might, you know, 13, 14, 15 end up on a national team, might be the national team that is there now or might be another national team from somewhere around the country. Yeah. They, hopefully the parents have done their due diligence and found some amazing coaches who will train them that way at any level. What's going to happen is, and what we're seeing now with high school trials going through and going, you know, being at this age, Kubrick is real. So the kid that was just smaller. You know, who couldn't even swing the 28 inch bat or the 30 inch bat when we're 10, 11, 12. You know, but he had a good swing. had a good throwing motion, all that stuff. Now the dude's 6'2", 200 pounds, he's good as hell. So it is one of those things, like you need to be doing the training and the failing and all that fun stuff, no matter what your level is. And I will say there's probably two different types of local and regional teams, right? There's the team that's a local traditional, know, rec team, but then there's also, there's some elite. great teams that are local regional that they just don't want to travel to Georgia. They don't want to go to Florida. They don't want to do the Texas, the Houston and next week in March. Those are great players. And that's the other thing you see when you get to 14, 13, 14, you know, there's some really great regional teams. They just don't have that national setting to pull from. When you go play at a Jupiter, you don't have five teams from five different states to take your best players to go to Jupiter or that type of setup. there's It's just different terminology, I think, for most. Do you think that is holding, like say, like you just said, they don't want to travel as a team. Do you think some of them kids that are good and going to end up playing national, do you think they end up getting almost like screwed by not, you know, playing the national? Right. Screwed is hard word, definitely- Not screwed, but- You're going to be behind. Yes. You're going to be behind. That's a better word, yes. So my boys coming out of eighth grade, going into high school, going into high school trials, you know, we've seen 90, we've seen 90 quite a bit. You we've faced, we faced Hammond and Carter Schauss and you those guys, they're dudes. Like they're the top players in the country. And you know, that's what you want to face. That's the development piece that's gotta happen. So then when you get to your high school trial, it's your freshman year, you see a senior throwing 89, you're like, yeah, that's, that's common knowledge. is, we just spent two summers in a row dealing with that. ⁓ I think a lot of our boys did a great job making varsity last year as freshmen because we've had that phase of the development. So yes, you may not get the experiences in the competition when you're staying here. Like here in Columbus, a lot of teams will stay local. They'll play in Dayton, at Action Sports or Jennings or locally. There's great teams, there's great players throughout it. You're going to face some dudes, everyone's well, but when you go to East Cobb, you're facing every dude in Georgia or Florida or wherever their team's made up of. It's almost like a wake up call when they finally get to leave the state and you go, you know, like you said, face a dude that's a freshman, sophomore, 90 plus, you know what I mean? And they're like, holy, holy shit. We've never, we've never seen this before. I, I'm a firm believer in it. That's the wave of development. I think that maybe gets left behind or looked up, looked past. Cause you know, the, you hear development, you're like, my fundamentals are really good when I feel the ball. That's, that is a great development, but. If you don't put that in play at the elite level, then you might be, um, might be behind a little bit. Yep. No, it's funny you said that with tryouts because my youngest son, mainly the one that plays with HUD, he's just got the team manager at the varsity where he goes to school. And he would say to, he's like, dad, there's some of these kids that, you know, he's like, we had the machine at 80, 85 and he goes, they can't touch it. Yeah. It's real. And he goes, and then I asked him, said, what do you think you can get in there? He goes, Oh, I know I can't, but there again, it's the development and training of we put the machine up that high and let them go at it. I mean, they're going to fail baseball game of failure. They're going to fail. Not hit it every time, but I mean, I always just want them to see it coming off that, you know, coming that fast. he knows. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. that's, that's, that is why we go ahead, go ahead and strive. That's why we strive to make our boys uncomfortable. I'm one of my daughter's coaches when she was 10. We need to get comfortable being uncomfortable and that that stuck with me. So we bring in PBR scouts. Just What's that I said Scott's been preaching that for years Mm-hmm. Yes, and that it's it's true and like just our practices. I will bring in PBR scouts I will bring in pro scouts just to keep the boys on their toes, know Just to not go through the motions We we want to show off and do high level everything and the neat thing about our group as they do every rep is this game speed but you know that Keeping that kind of guy looking at you or watching you whole time is one of those things, learning how to be uncomfortable the whole time you're performing it. We started showcases, practices for showcases when they were 10. I mean, we would host our own showcases and bring kids in and just to get the common knowledge of you get these five ground balls, you get the VELOs and all that stuff. We've been practicing these same camp setups. for years. Common knowledge to me is everything. If you're not the most educated person in room, you're going to be behind. So we've preached that from day one. ⁓ So Mike, we talked about things that parents should expect and things that it's okay for them to expect in a program and developing and all those other kinds of things. Let's talk about a few things that parents should not expect. And I've got four bullet points here. that I shared with you and I want to get your response to them and have you elaborate on them a little bit. And one of them is this, expect guaranteed positions. What is your take? that is such a, that is such a common thing with you guys, is it not? Yeah, honestly. Coaches will, will use that card to get you on the roster and then figure it out from there. But it's, it's, it's, it's the worst because you're again, you're setting your expectation as this and from, you know, Game two, you're still on the bench or you're playing right field or catching or you're not in the position your coach told you you're going to be in. You're already like, what the heck is going on here? And then the parents start talking and it's total chaos from day one, or day two probably. Right. So you're right. Guaranteeing a position is tough and probably shouldn't be done. But then again, you get a guy like Jacob Rochelle who comes to try out and you're like, dude, you're playing center field and hitting third. Well, that you're like, yeah. Homeboys playing center. Yeah, we're good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the, the Willie vanachek. Willie, your third and your batting third. So that's just how it is. That's how it will always be. And I don't give a shit what the analytics say. I don't care how bad you're struggling this month. You're still going be there. Yeah. So it'll be a third bet. When we print our, you our scorecards out, his name's already laminated in there when, you know, when we get off the printer. it's that one's stairs. Yeah. Yeah, I would say that, HUD went through HUD, HUD goes through that with Scott, even though HUD went through a season where Scott was like, I'm going to teach him a lesson. And Scott had him bat in ninth for what was it? Jacob for it was probably like half the season. Yeah. And HUD was just like, this is, this just isn't going to work. This shit isn't going to fly. And he's been back ever since. But yes, I know how much has, ⁓ how much is Grady? How much has he rotated throughout your lineup over the years? Just curiosity. This has nothing to do with what we're talking about, but I'm just curious now. Yeah. So he probably from age eight through 14, he's either two hole or four hole. then this last year it was four or five. So we've. was going to say that's a big two hole buddy. Yeah. Well, he wasn't always that big. The difference was Jackson Von Der Star would hit a double off the fence and then Grady would hit a home run or double off the fence. So it was two nothing and three pitches. But no, the. getting more guys on base that, you know, the game's changed a little strategy, a difference, but we've got such a lineup this year that we've, we're, we're, we're kind of loaded. So we're going to rotate. We'll line up. We'll get to you guys. ⁓ We're going to rotate the lineup part of it, but yeah, for the four or five. About that. You guys have got, you guys have got a lot of eyeballs already on your boys at 16U. So we're going to get to there. How do parents or how can parents deal with the expectations of expecting equal innings at high levels. You know, my kid's only getting two innings during, you know, come Sunday, championship Sunday, my kid is not getting as many innings as, how do you, as a head of an organization, how do you manage that and those parents' expectations? Yep. It's the absolute hardest thing coaches and orgs have to deal with. Cause there's, everybody's right. So that's the tricky part. I feel like the player is competitive, the parents are competitive, they want to play. They're paying for it. They want to play. All of that is 100 % right. 100 % right. To travel to Georgia and not play a lot is frustrating. get it. Everyone wants to compete because most of these kids are here because they're dogs. They're tough. They want to play. But you get into the bracket player, big tournaments and you bat nine instead of 12, that can add some frustration. yeah, knowing, again, level setting expectations. Here's what we're going to do. you know, then it's, then the blueprint's out there. So you can always reference that blueprint or that contract that you give to every player noting, you know, Hey, when we go to these tournaments or have some legit games or situations, you know, playing time is going to get cut. And I'll be honest at this level, parents probably should know that. The newer guys entering it, they either learn, adapt, or they're at another club. They drown. Yeah. That's that's so I'm big on adapt or die. And that's that is one of those things. So you either adapt or in this situation, you maybe move on to another club. And that's okay, too, because at any age you need to play. Even freshmen in college, you need to go to college. You're going to play. You know, sitting is not developing. You know, finding that right fit. Then if this team is not the fit, then this team is. And just get on the field. So piggybacking off that question, do you take... So you said, okay, going into bracket play, you're going to hit nine. Obviously, do you take in consideration the way the kids played in pool or do you kind of have a a template of who you're gonna play or you know what I mean? What kids were you know, what kids are definitely staying on the field no matter what? Yeah, we've we've seen it all over the place and I think what kind of kept our team together Honestly, what kept us together a big time from age 12 on is maybe through Maybe 14 or 15. We played everybody We just played everybody. We rotated positions, we rotated batting. And if we lost in the semifinals, that's fine. Again, I wanted everyone to feel the heat of playing in a lead eight or playing in a final four situation or a championship situation. That's developing. I was big on my coaches, Coach Hayes Wilcox and Matt Alex had to throw them out there. We were big on getting everyone playing time, especially when we were younger. We made the mistake a couple of times of maybe not playing one or two players. You know, I still... and sick to my stomach for doing that. Other coaches, we'll be playing East Cobb and they'll bat nine. They'll have nine other dudes in the night that I've gotten bat an eyelash. That's baseball to them. I lose sleep at night if we don't play. Didn't play everybody at those ages. But now it's common knowledge of baseball. You've got to win. You've got to win or you lose players. That's the other thing. Now that you're older and you're an elite level, you've got to win or you will lose your best players. Oh yeah, because now you're competing against the big organizations. Trust me, there's people watching. Yeah. watching you guys. Yeah, we've had a set number of Pro Scouts agents, They're like, you know, we need to see these guys. So I get it. Quick question. How do you manage the expectations of parents coming from, let's just say in your area, you know, they come from the Hilliard recreational division. come from the Dublin Recreate, whatever, whatever municipality that they belong to. And they decide that this is the year that little Billy is going to take the step forward and join, you know, a nationally recognized travel baseball program. How do you meet the expectations that your magic wand? Yeah, that's It's phenomenal. Phenomenal question. it is. And now, like I said, that there's more competition here in town. Now you're showing that your wand's better than SBA or better than Bo Jackson or some of these other larger national brands that are here in town. it's one of those, the facility. I mean, the facility helps. Sure. You're going to develop here and I always show everyone that your first year goes well, year two, you're a dude. Like you develop so much after 12 months and the reps, the common knowledge, the practicing with older kids. We do a great job here and we do this at trials as well. If there's a nine-year trial, we'll have our 16 new guys there, kind of like a big brother personality or mentality. And like my son Holden, Wilcox, Parker Alex, Chase Whitey, a bunch of guys on our team, we'll jump in the nine-year practice. They'll help out. So it's, that's one of those family vibes that I think other clubs potentially may be missing. This is open 24-7. 365 and there's it's filled always unless it's August and it's 115 degrees in here. Well, it's it's it's filled and Like I said, the neat thing about it is is that vibe and the other thing is having that Opportunity to practice when you can so the neat thing about our club is We want you to play football or soccer or wrestle if you can't make your set practice you go jump in another team's practice That's open and that's what other clubs kind of miss is you're missing, know, if I'm going to lead wrestler. Open door policy. Yes. If I'm going to lead wrestler, I'm going to wrestle. But if I still want to get my practice in, I can just call a 10-year coach or 12-year coach or whatever, whoever will let me in the practice and I'll still get my time in. Yeah. is no bullshit people, because I can tell you for fact, I mean, because my family has done it. My Hudson has jumped into Coach Karen's practices in years past. Those boys have opened him with open arms. I know that some of your boys have drove up to Michigan during different situations where the times didn't add up. So they would drive to Michigan and practice with other teams in Michigan. One or two of them, you know, we'd be in Yip Solani, Jacob, and we'd see Ohio Hit Dogs roll up two or three at a time. And they would jump into one of Scott's practices just to get reps in on a Sunday afternoon. And it goes as far as, you know, every Saturday, Hud comes down and practices and he helps out with the little eight-year-olds. So it all works itself out. And I will say this, one of the coolest things that coach that you do, and I'm giving you the credit for it. I don't know where you got it from or how you developed it, or if you did it on your own, but coach Karens has always had this thing where the older boys, it is their responsibility. When you, if you walk into that Ohio hit dogs facility and an older boy doesn't greet you and give you a fist bump or give you a dab you up, they're going to get their ass chewed out because it's the older boys. that all these little kids look up to. It's the older boys who are on all the posters inside the building all over the place. it's the little kids. Dude, I'm telling you. And Mike rules that very, very well. I'm not going to say with an iron fist, but pretty close to an iron fist as in like boys, know what I mean? How many little ones did you dab up today? How many little ones did you? And that I didn't, I never saw that until your group. That's the culture we've tried to instill here. And I know Brandon Oswald, who's taking over, he's big on it as well. And that's what we grew up with. Brandon and I grew up together playing with each other and we had probably the best coaches you could possibly get. And I think both of us just decided we're going to pay it forward and we're going to try to recreate that culture. It took us a little while to get it going here. It's a buy-in, but... It's awesome. And like if we're giving a lesson of a lesson, that's a non-hit dog, I make them go introduce themselves to everyone that walks by. So little things like that, break the ice, get confidence and comfortable. One of our big beliefs is you don't learn how to fail if you're not confident. If you're confident, you can go out there and fail and you know, you just get right back on the horse. Who cares? Or not even fall off the horse, just stay who cares and move on to the next opportunity. Yeah, that's the biggest thing to me is creating a culture of family and and relaxed and fun here because it's, you know, we've got ping pong tables. We'll have ping pong contest. We'll play dodge ball. We'll do all that stuff here to break the ice and get stuff going. Yeah. Jacob, do you have something? Just so when you get another player should not the expectation, have you ever just, they think they have a stud and they join and then, you know, they're saying high school kids. Have you ever had parents expecting like scholarship issues or? conversations and where they think their kid's going to play. I don't even ever had parents come up to you and you've had those kinds of conversations. Yes, those, yes, definitely. And those typically take care of themselves over time. It's just one of those, when the phone doesn't ring, the phone doesn't ring, bud. The phone doesn't ring, the phone doesn't ring, and you're going to be given an opportunity to shine and do your thing. if you're not, the coach is at the college level, pro level. They're well-versed. They see talent, they see good people. They're very observant and they're there because they're who they are. that kind of weeds itself out. So we haven't had to deal with it too much. But as far as the platform, we've got recruiting coordinators, two of the best recruiting guys that work with us. And we have a presentation, we have a slideshow. We go through the whole process with parents. We make sure they understand it. We give them the do's and don'ts on social media, the do's and don'ts reaching out to colleges. We've put together a pretty good playbook for these guys. It's just up to them to navigate it. Because it's there. It's there. You have to do it. And if you go adrift, then trust me, it's noticed. At what age do you start showing, do you start with the slideshow or having those real conversations with the players? It's funny. And how has that changed over the years? Yeah, I just going say, I'll start with the changes. This used to have to be an eighth grade thing. I mean, you had to know this stuff. immediately. You know, when I was playing, we could commit, were in seventh or eighth grade. I mean, it was just out of control, you know, when I was coming through. And clearly, they can still do that shit in the Dominican. whatever. international is different. I'm hoping... I don't give a shit. Something like that comes into play. I'm hoping something governs that better. But yeah, because that's an unfair playing field, to be honest. a wild west. Yeah, it really is. So yeah, the common knowledge is seventh and eighth grade. But now it's kind of sophomore year-ish. Making sure you're doing the right thing. Obviously when you're freshman, know, what you put on social media is, you can't get a scholarship at 16 or 15, but you can sure as hell not get one. You can lose one, yeah. So there's, there's, ⁓ you who you are as a person needs to be on display the right way, always. When do you guys start to see, when do you guys start to see eyeballs? At what age are you guys starting to see eyeballs show up? ⁓ It should be your sophomore year. ⁓ Maybe it's creeping towards the end of your sophomore year, your summer going into junior year, that type of stuff. Because colleges can start talking to you in August. We had a great opportunity to play up with our older team, our seventh new team, the past two years. So our top dudes in our age in the fall would go to West Virginia University or Kentucky's or Indiana's and that type of stuff. Or Ohio State, we would be able to get eyes on us young. ⁓ a lot of the boys on our roster have pretty high rankings. the followings for these guys started a lot younger than probably most just because of that. ⁓ the Paul Bunyan following is there. So I think we started earlier than most, but I think for a long time. I tell all my boys that. How do you create a Paul Bunyan? You've got to sell yourself the right way. You've got to become a Paul Bunyan. That's why we don't... play in just Jennings parks or action sports tournaments. We will play in those, but if you're not building a Paul Bunyan nationwide, it's going to be hard to sell yourself to colleges down the road. again, that's another thing. Create a Paul Bunyan how best you can. A good, ethical, great kid Paul Bunyan, a wrong direction Paul Bunyan. So when do parents realistically, when can they expect? those kind of shifts in schedule and in tournament planning, can parents expect those kind of things to start to take place at what age? Like when you say that, you're not, are you building a, it's different for you guys and it's different for HUD's team. I get that. Those are not the norm, but the norm, when do you take that nine-year team and start to build that Paul Bunyan, you know, allure and start to start to branch out because it's all funny. It's all funny games. If you kick everybody's ass in Columbus, it was right. that's, that's where our new kind of business format we have in Ohio. It's kind of checks itself out. It's awesome. So like Brandon Oswald's age group, there's 24 kids, right. And every year they say, they say sift out the who's going to what tournaments and eventually they'll get to that right now. It's, it's, you know, every kid's, ⁓ you know, rotating who plays and that fun stuff. to me, when the diamonds get bigger, every time they get bigger, you should evaluate what level you're at. ⁓ create that Paul Bunyan as soon as possible. When you look at guys like Carter Schauss, for example, he was a dude in sixth grade. Like everyone knew he was a dude. He is a dude. So that Paul Bunyan started when he was very young and he's done a great job continuing to build and build and build. And we got like a Jacob Groschel. who just exploded when he joined our team. he went from, who the hell is Jakob? Everyone called him Jakob. Like literally everyone Ohio thought his name was Jakob. And then he got on our team and it was like, do that Jacob kick and rake. And then half the Ohios like, who's Jacob? But Jakob, know, Jakob can play too. So it's funny that, you know, it's just everyone, you know, they're, they pop when they pop type deal. But, ⁓ you know, Paul Bunyan to me is that's, I like to say that all the time to the boys. You've got to create your own Paul Bunyan. Put the right stuff on social media and the weight room. you are the best in the world at something, put that on social media. Whatever is going to get some type of following for you, do it. If it's a positive thing, take advantage of it. If you're a 4.0 student, hammer that. That's awesome. That's a great thing. Listen, man, I've been in the social media world since the archery days back before Instagram was even a thing. And I'm telling you, I've told... I told my daughter this and you can, you can, you can respect this. The girls are different when it comes to the social media thing. I don't feel like they're as ego driven as the boys are. You know what mean? The boys are definitely different, but I've always told, I'm like, listen, man, if you don't sell yourself, ain't nobody going to sell you for you. You always tell me that. I've told you that I've told Jacob and the boy and the parents on my team, like y'all can get annoyed as much as you want at how much I post, but I'm ain't nobody else going to make the post about them. Ain't nobody else gonna say jack shit about my kids unless I do. So, and I gotta, I'm competing with eight billion people in the world. So, you know, I've never had an issue with that. I've never had an issue with kids putting themselves out there. And that is a beautiful thing what you just said. Man, if you're in, if you've got a list of AP classes that you're kicking ass in, do hammer that. Hammer that. Like, because a college coach, Maybe like, well, yeah, well, you know what? Your footwork's not great, but I'll tell you what, if he's that smart, I can teach him. A hundred percent. That's exactly right. And that's, you know, if you hit a ball, 105, post it. There's, whatever, whatever you possess, you know, let's, let's attack it. It's, it's a neat thing. And I'll be honest, the other reason we go south, the other reason we decided to go national was that reason you, you, you've got to become to me, you know, a Paul Bunyan. You go hit a home run like Miles Bessenbach did down in East Cobb. He hit a ball into the parking lot. just nuked it with a wood bat. There were 47,000 views on that video. there's, you know, that creates a namesake. So it's that's the type of stuff that's, know, at these kids' fingertips. They just have to take advantage of it. ⁓ you have any kind of an issue? Because one thing that I love, Jay, don't know. Mike, do you know who Cody Hendrix is from Texas? Yeah. From the blog. OK. So Cody does an amazing job of creating a Paul Bunyan for his nine-year-old kids. Like that is like the kind of thing that as a parent, like those are my expectations. Like I don't care if my kid bats ninth on your team. I want to be part of the expectations that you're setting because that's on you, bud. he's not, there's, and I don't, is it Wes Eldridge who's got his son is an eight-year-old or a nine-year-old? He's doing the exact same thing that he's cop. created these allures that, well shit, they ain't even played nothing yet and they're the best teams in the country because they're creating this Paul Bunyan effect. Right. And like I said, I say it all the time to the boys and it's got to be obviously the right way and not come across as too much about myself. like I said, doing it the right way is a good thing. Like if Grady and Holden Wilcox are here helping that 9U team, a video of them helping the 9U kids is kind of cool. So it shows they're good person and that type of stuff. So it's funny because... Brantley's the type of kid I let, so I run his Instagram, but he has it on his phone. And every time he trains, it's videos, whether it's catching, fielding, hitting, and he's like, I'm going to post this, I'm going to post it. And I always sound like, bro, why? To me, I've always been the one to hold back, but maybe I'm doing it wrong. You know what I mean? I don't want it to come off as, I think my kid's better than yours, or, but I guess if you guys are saying it like that, then maybe I should. To a point, like doing it the right way, not obnoxious, like look at me type stuff, but... No, think there's a big difference, but you know, Jacob, there's a big difference between a 16 year old kid posting exit VLOs and a 12 year old kid posting exit VLOs. Nobody gives a shit about the exit VLO of a 12 year old, but they do care about the 16 because he's right, like he's on the doorstep of all of those numbers mattering. Our numbers at 12 year old don't matter. you could post... What if it's an accomplishment for the 12 year old? He's been trying to reach a number. As long as it's authentic and as long as it's a personal, you know, how do I say this, Mike, as long as that's a right? Yeah. You're hitting goals. That's yeah. Yeah. You know, they want to hit 75 by the end of their 12 you year, you know I mean? And they get it right to me. That's go back to Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan was awesome because of the cherry tree nonsense when he was a kid. So it is one of those things like Or if you guys remember Joey baseball from years past, like nationwide, everyone knew the guys. There's, there's pros to it. Obviously there's cons to people are going to be like, was this guy, know, this guy's here again. You know, like I said, if you transition that when you're in your recruiting ages, you can, you can do some wonderful things as far as getting in front of coaches. Mike, it also does something too, where, you know, if the kid's not comfortable doing it, then that's a completely different story. But there's a, there's a lot of kids that have zero. problem with you putting those those expectations on them. You know, like let's just say for instance, I just I'm not going to speak for anybody else's kids while speak for mine. it's a ton of shit about Brooks and HUD and it really isn't anything other than there's two reasons why I do this a because they're going to do it themselves. They're not going to because they don't want to come across as having some sort of an ego. You know, I mean, you know that dad is super proud of him. So dad's going to do it. There's another reason why I do that. Okay. We play on a national team. Not everybody gets to know that we're putting in any work. Okay. There are, there are kids on national teams across this country that don't even post that they threw a baseball throughout the winter and we show up to the first tournament and you don't have any idea if their shoes fit. Yeah. So there's, there's a, there's, there's a, there's a give on taking all of it, but I think that if it's done authentically, you can't hide authenticity through, through those posts. The world is too smart. It is 2020-26 and we can spot fake it faster than anybody else. So if it's an authentic post of development and working and loving this game and just putting time in, nobody gives a shit. They want to see it. cares. Am I right? Okay, so just real quickly, before we get into the whole, before we get into the whole Cooperstown thing that I want to talk to you about and we switch gears. I want to ask you this because I added this and I don't know if you even have it on your notes, but I threw this in there at the end and that is this. got my glasses on to read it or else I won't be able to because I, for some reason I did it in italics. If, if we as parents are alright, if we have parents have heard anything preached over and over, it is this development over wins and losses, development over wins and losses. What does that realistically mean? And is that just an easy out after making, after getting somebody's checkbook to join a team? Do you, do you, following where that's coming from? You hear coaches nonstop preach and preach and preach, know, well, we're about development. We're about development. We don't care about the wins and losses. We don't care about the wins and losses. Okay. Is explain that because I don't, my kid doesn't want to, my kid doesn't want to play if he doesn't win. Right. 100 % I get it. And, I will say perfect examples here is Ohio is Brandon Oswald's nine new program when he's kind of put together, he's kind of built, you know, 24 kids, you know, he's put out an amazing. kind of agenda for the boys and for the families to see and they stick to it. You know, there's a, there's a process and it's going to be a couple year process. And if you're committed to him, he's committed to you and everyone is rowing the boat together. And they're doing a great job developing. And the neat thing about it is, know, he's lost games, like say in the state tournament here, you know, to gym city or one of the PAL programs that are, are pretty good at the younger ages. You know, they'll lose those games, but they're doing the right thing. They're playing everybody there. developing here all year round. And it's a neat thing to see where these kids started from back in eight to where they are now. I can't tell you how incredible these kids have gotten both in confidence just coming out of their shell. the common knowledge of something makes you more confident. These kids just exploded with that piece of it. And now they're physically stronger. I think they're going to be an incredible roster moving forward. And I'm excited to see them continue this development process because it's what we did. It's exactly. what we did and he's just doing it with our larger group of players. It works. I watched it with, like we talked about earlier, my daughter's Ohio premier team. They would lose games when they were seven, eight, nine ⁓ to make sure they were developing. Example for soccer, the goalie, they weren't allowed to kick the ball in midfield. had to... roll it out to the defender and work the ball up. On occasion, you're going to turn that over when you're eight and nine and give up goals. that's part of it. the coaches or the parents were sitting on the sidelines going, what the hell? How many goals can we literally give up doing this ⁓ stupid stuff? Just punt the ball. So it's one of those, you lose, but you learn. Conor McGregor, I think he's borderline genius, borderline total jack wagon. But dude's genius. He said it best. You lose and you learn. That's part of the process of developing is learning and losing from it. And why did you learn? I ask every lesson, every kid on my team, why? 500 times. We get to the root cause and then we work backwards from the root cause. You know, why did I roll over? Well, you know, cause I went this, like this coach. Yeah, but why did that happen? Like we get all the way back to the root cause at an early age. it's, once you configure that process, how do you develop? And it's, I see the growth. You, like I said, from the Eliswell's team and that. to me is should be an expectation for all parents is that's the development you want. Like anyone can feel a ground ball, but are you growing these kids learning and losing? it's kind of funny, Kentucky's head coach, Coach Mijon, he was talking about helicopter parents and how helicopter parents hover around and I like helicopter parents. means they're a vested. You're a girl soccer, by the way. Yeah, yeah. To me, a helicopter parent is they're the most vested diehard fan of their kid ever. I love it. I love helicopter parents. But he was talking about lawn mower parents. Have you guys ever heard that term? No. No. I've never it. I've never heard it until we went down there. And he's like, lawn mower parents, they're four feet in front of their kid, smoothing out the grass, no weeds, no imperfections, making it the easiest path ever for these kids. And I took that to heart. So I've started using that everywhere I go. And these kids got to stumble. They got to figure out how to lose. They got to trip. They got to trip. Yeah, they got to follow, they got to cheer up, they got to scrape their knees and learn. That's how you learn. And he hit the nail so on the head and I can't wait to tell him that I just told that story by the way. Hey, what kind of advice can you give parents? Let's say, let's say Joe Bagadonis from Oklahoma. He just signed his kid up to play for the Ohio Hit Dogs. And he's been coaching his kid from T-ball. All the way up now, they're going into their 11-year season and now they've made the jump into a program like yours. And now Joe Baggot Donors from Oklahoma has to sit in a lawn chair and watch. You as a dad have had to take your coaching hat off and put your dad hat on with Bailey and Grady. What kind of advice can you give a parent who is dealing with that and the expectations that they have thinking that this is going to run how they have been running their own programs? Oh, dude, that was tough. So my first year of doing this for Grady last year, I'll you an example of when he made varsity last year. Sitting on the other side of that chain link fence, dude, that was so hard. I've never been pacing for the first time, not being into control and realizing that that chain link fence, Grady can still see my facial expressions and hear me. I'm like, I'm going to have to sit in center field this year because I learned a lot about myself last year as a parent. It's real. I think as a coach, need to realize that's guys learning also. And maybe just have an awesome conversation about it and say, know, like, hey, you know, I'm in the driver's seat now, you know, you can let go of the old crap handle. And, you know, we've got this, you know, if you have any advice or suggestions, happy to hear it. But let's, let's do it at the time, right time and place and just realize, you know, we're all learning, you know, these new situations and these opportunities that we've kind of created. it's, it's one of those, you know, let's figure it out together and not be divisive. And that's the ink. Another thing that's kind of helped our squad is, you know, we've, and maybe the growth trajectory of our club here is, you know, let's figure it out together. Let's make sure we're all pulling the rope the same direction. Cause if we're not, you know, we're, some of us are going to be at different clubs next year or, or just completely unhappy. But if they're all pulling the rope the same way, that's a testament to you is there, you know, you had expectations of all of them to pull the rope to one way. Now they are. I mean, it's a testament to you that you're doing the right thing as a coach. Yeah, it's not difficult. It's very difficult and know, players leave for different reasons, families leave for different reasons and you know, it's hard to not take it personal. But like we were talking about earlier, you got to learn from those situations, those losses and try to make the next situation better and kind of go from there. It's not easy. That's for sure. Because I mean, there's thousand people in this facility with a thousand different ideas of what should happen. it's if you can just... start the communication of let's learn from each other. How do we get here? What are your thoughts? Here's my thoughts. Here's, you know, I'm the coach. Here's how we'll go with it. What are your thoughts type deal? I'm completely okay with that. Some guys just shut the door and I'm the coach. If you don't like it, kick rocks. That's tough one. That is. Yeah. Okay. So let's get into the meat and the potatoes of this thing now before we let you go. again, that wasn't the meat and potatoes. I know. This is more like dessert. This is more like dessert. I know. I just want a couple more minutes, but I want to ask you a couple things that I think that a lot of people are going to be tuning in and turning the radio up a little bit louder right now. And that is, is what kind of expectations can we have with Cooperstown, New York this year? Please give us an idea of, because as of right now, unless Jesus Christ decides to come to resurrection in center field. I'm not sure what I'm paying for pal. okay, this is nuts. It's expensive, right? Like you look at the sticker shock and you're like, dude, we could go play and I have to have other events. Camp because I can't afford a hotel. Yes. No, that's exactly right. Like we could literally go to Hawaii and play the Hawaii rainbows in for cheaper. But no, it's it's honestly, people say this and you don't believe them. You read it online, you don't believe them. You go experience it and then you're that guy. going online talking about it, but it is the greatest week I've ever had. ⁓ What is it about it? So we were talking about walking into East Cobb, right? You feel the aura as soon as you walk in. There's ghosts of four generations of baseball players walking in there. You get that vibe. Blowing through the pine trees. Yep. You get that vibe. Once you get through that All-Star Village ⁓ sign, it's almost like a weight off your shoulder. Everyone is there to have a great time. You know, want to compete and win. You know, you want to do all those things. But this has literally got a, you know, a different feel to it, a different vibe to it. It's kind of like that, you know, you walk into old Yankee Stadium vibe. It's amazing how everyone just immediately relaxes. Every kid from every team is within like, it almost feels like you're in like the same room. It's kind of, that was obnoxious, gonna lie to you, but there's a thousand kids running around and everyone's best friends. Like there was no... Blemishes the entire week. It was awesome. So it's you know, you go from that and then the facilities are top-notch you're playing on the nicest fields and I'll be honest the short home run fences were awesome, right? You read about it you hear about it. You're like dude, that's cheesy. That's not baseball. You still play great baseball It's awesome, but every single kid on our roster hit a home run. I remember you was awesome. It was absolutely awesome. We've got kids that are you know 62 pounds Yeah. We've never hit a home run. They're hitting home runs, jumping up and down. Wasn't that, wasn't that Cam Martin's first home run? Yeah, he hit three. His third one, he flipped his bat. Like he was like, I do this, I do this crap all time. He came home and it was awesome. I think HUD was his first pin he gave. He gave HUD a pin at the Grand Park that very next weekend. And it was like, it was all over. Yeah. And I just remember hearing, you know, Cam hit three home runs. Cam hit three home runs. And Cam is the size of HUD. But it was great. The food was great. got the opportunity to stand me three meals, right? Yeah. They're legit good, too. You hear cafeteria food, you're getting that Mexican crap pizza that you got in third grade elementary school. you're like, that's not real pizza. But you get there and it's gourmet, everything. They got a great chef staff. like I said, the field's great. The competition's great. The scheduling and communication were great. So there was literally nothing to worry about up there. Is there a lot of back and forth? Hotel back to the facility, hotel back to So the parent side is a little different. So you've got to find... Yeah, I don't give a about the side. got it made. I'm talking about us. Yeah, so the parents... So I thought the players had the best times of their lives. Dude, it was like spring break for these parents. They were like, on. We can go run a house without our kids? Yes. We're in. And it was. think every family will say the same thing. mean, they got ⁓ one family rented a house and we had to cook out. We were lucky enough to be the one seed, so we got to buy one day going into the playoffs. So we went to the lake house. Kids got on boats and pontoons and swim in the lake. It was phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. And I would say if you asked every family and player, they would all say the same thing. It was great. The thing you have to do, this is, make a promise to me that you will do this. parents set the tone for the trip. There are contests for the players. Like when you first get there, there's a tour, you go around the field with your banner and whatnot. But the parents have a contest in the outfield dressing up. So you can have a theme, Hawaiian theme or something like that. And the parents can win awards. It's one of those things like the parents set the tone and ours just crushed it. So not only did we win every single, you know, player and team contest to start the thing, but our parents won as well. they, you know, it was just, it was hilarious to see the costumes and I'll send you guys pictures of what these guys dress up as. But that's, that's what made the week is the parents bought in and, um, and did it and definitely go to obviously the hall of fame and see Dome day stadium and that stuff. It's, it's amazing. The week that we're going. I guess one of the problems that we're running into with the price of everything is the week that we're going is actually Hall of Fame week. that's why you think. Yeah. yeah. So here's what you're to have. You're going to pay a premium, but you're going to see guys like Ken Griffey or Mike Schmidt walking down the street at Cooperstown. Like you're going ⁓ to see Hall of Famers everywhere, like at the diner and stuff like that and autograph sessions. And so you're going to have a premium dollar like I said but you're have a premium visit as well because you know guys like that will hang around the hall and sign autographs and so you may get a better opportunity to do something we had. Okay. A little more unique I should say. Yeah. Okay. All right. So I need to you're saying that I need to adjust my expectations and change my attitude is what you're trying to say. Buy in. Buy in right now. It's it be the best the best week of your life. I'm bought in. ⁓ yeah. It's funny too when you're... I've got to tell a story. We got there and the coaches stay in the bunk with the players. The third day I woke up at like five in the morning and I can't see and I'm like, what is going on? So I like forced my eyes open. I got mono and like my eyes small shot. I had to go to the hospital and get shots and IVs and everything like that. And it was crazy, but that was the sick kid at camp that ruined the vibe for one day. So it was pretty funny, but ⁓ I got some funny stories about that, but we'll do that offline. Wow. Wow. So how'd you guys do when you guys went? You know what we hit a boatload of home runs I don't even know how many it was 40 or 50 or some home runs We just went off like it was it was neat to see we were the overall one seed out of I think 45 or 46 teams Going into the weekend. We won our first game or two got to the I think maybe final four You know, we we went to the lake house that day kids were exhausted. We did not we no showed and Couple boys were real tired and injured and Grady, I think I started Grady and he threw like four pitches because his arm was sore. we ran out of arms and the team we were playing that day was elite as well. Yeah. And I think they hit six on runs. they Cooperstown'd us with some long ball. So it was great. How does that work then at the end? Like, you know, each group, for those of you that are listening that don't understand, Cooperstown is, this tournament is all summer. It's all spring into the summer. And your team gets scheduled to go and play during a certain block of time during the year. And you said how many teams were there when you were there? Forty some? There were a lot. think 46, if I remember. This is every week. It starts in May and it's every week throughout the entire year. And it's just for the 12 year olds throughout the country. This is no other age groups. So what happens when you win, like if you win your week, what happens? Anything? Do you come back? You can come back. So they... I don't know if they still do this, but at the time, you won your week, there's like a tournament of champions, but I don't know that they still do that. I think they did away with it because it was just too expensive for most of these teams to come back twice. I think they did away with it. But it was amazing. And if you lose, you have the option of staying the rest of the week or the couple of days or however, or you can just head home. it's up to you guys. man, it was... It was awesome. And I think if you had an open spot on your team, Grady would volunteer to go because it was awesome. Well, we only have two coaches and I don't know of either one of them that actually wants to stay in the dorm so Grady could come as a coach and stay in the dorm. That's awful. That was the best week we've had and we've played in every tournament you can think of. times and I wanted you to say it out loud on the podcast too. And we've played in everything. The U-Trip national thing down in Vero and East Cobb. The Texas's the Fort Myers all those we've done it all and that was the best week we've had for sure. Okay. Okay. I mean, Jacob, there's the to live up to the hype is it's going to be a tall order. mean, I'm a ⁓ yeah. I put it on the side. It was exciting. Man. Man. Can't wait to go to that. No, we're especially or Jacob. Did you hear me? Yeah. I want to say it's June teens that week of June 18th or June 20th. Sorry. June 20th and on. So you're a month before we go. don't go until July 20th. We don't go until July 24th. I think it is. But that's when, that's when the travel summer's over. That's, you know what mean? Mike, when you guys went, what time of year did you guys go? I think it was end of June. Okay. Yeah. The weather was perfect. It was, it was great. I know a lot of them said if you get into July, August, it can get hot. Um, it was still cool at night. they, you know, the, will point out the AC units weren't exactly the best. Everyone thought I faked going to the hospital so I can get some air conditioning for a couple hours. But... Brantley's not going to be soaked with that if that's the case. You better bring a lot of fans and some fresheners for the room because those boys stink after four days. So what was the latest game you guys played? Because I've seen some start at one in the morning with the rain delay. You get your games in. you get your games in. So it's... You know, if you're starting at 1230 in the morning, you're starting at 1230 in the morning. Holy shit. Okay. But it's, but it's awesome as well though, cause it's one of those situations that kids will never do anywhere else. I think I watched last year. There was a championship game that didn't start till two 15 in the morning because of a delay. Yeah, I believe it. I actually have one fun story I'm to tell you. Uh, we're playing a team from Salt Lake city and we had already hit like six or seven home runs that game and uh, Landon Arnold. I don't know if you know who Landon Arnold is. I've heard that. He might be actually Paul Bunyan reincarnated. So 12 year year, he's got like 25 home runs that year. The fence, we're playing on the shortest fence. It's like 175 all the way around. He hit a ball to the moon. It went 400 feet. And one of the moms from Salt Lake's like, oh, it's these 175 foot fences. And the husband's like, Doreen, that went 400 feet. So it's just funny to the melting pot you get out there. Oh, sure. Sure, sure, sure. OK. Well, listen, in closing, And again, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What are, what are your expectations then going in this year for your group? You know, you got, you've got a seasoned, a travel ball veteran seasoned group and you've got a lot of dudes. What are your expectations going in this year for Grady and his team? Yeah, it's, it's become tricky for our group. So I'd say majority of these kids are going to play some good level D1 baseball or get drafted. It's kind of how to modify. our plans a little bit. So normally you go play in five tournaments, right? You just, get your, you get your tournament schedule and you go. So we've had to modify a little bit to accommodate colleges a little bit to get the boys in front of the colleges. So we're doing a lot of Tuesday, Wednesday, team camps at universities. We're going kind of six or seven days a week at times. So instead of playing in five tournaments, we'll play in three, maybe four in the summer and then team camps. So we're going to focus our, our dollars, our energy, our time. getting these guys in front of colleges. we've gone that route and I think it'll pay off. It's the right approach for our group. And my expectations is when coaches can start calling in August that a lot of these guys are, if not all, we'll start getting some calls right away. And hopefully day one, that happens for everybody. And if it doesn't happen, it's not because we didn't try on the exposure side. So I know every single one of these kids says their metrics have just gone through the roof. They're diehard junkies in the weight room. and the track and it's been awesome to see there. I've got multiple guys who run a six, six or better who hit the ball 105 miles an hour. mean, that's, you don't get that very often. And that's just a testament to these guys work ethics and kind of that iron sharpens iron group that we have. And it's always been that way, but you know, we've been able to bring in some amazing guys from Cincinnati, Molar, Miles Bessonbach and Caleb Williams. They just, they help, you know, push each other and it's such a fun environment. ⁓ for Grady specifically, you know, he just found out he's on varsity again. So try out for announced today. So he's, he's back back in varsity. And from there, I think, you know, he wants, wants to be around a sub seven and the 60 and he's done everything he can to, ⁓ to do that. And, you know, he's got his list of colleges to get in front of. we're, we're attacking, you know, one, one step in the process at the time, like we said, it's been a blast and he's a Bishop Watterson. No. ⁓ It's kind of funny. My daughter went to Bishop Watterson. And, ⁓ isn't that where Jack goes? Isn't that where Ethan Rafferty goes? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And they've, I think they've won 10 state championships the last two years. it's like the perennial, like what power house program here in central Ohio. we, we sent Grady to Dublin Jerome and Bailey's like, yeah, it's cause he, know, they love me more. We, we love the program at Dublin Jerome and they do a fantastic job. And not that Watterson does it, but Jerome is. right in our backyard. he wakes up, he drives two minutes, he's at the school and Bailey had to drive 55 minutes to school. there's a big difference in commitment and he wanted to do the Jerome vibe, the division one vibe for high school. So he's kicking butt and we're proud of him, that's for sure. Will you guys be doing the WWBA in Jupiter? Yeah, correct. Yeah, we signed up for the fall one. I actually just signed up for the fall one and I've put our name in for Jupiter bid. So we'll see if we can get into. the actual Jupiter bid. I've got a good roster accumulated waiting to hear back on that one. Yeah. So looking forward to that. Who wins versus you and Hammond? We've played them once. We had a neat opportunity to play them in a championship game a couple years back. We learned a lot that game. They beat us, I don't know the score. was either 13-3 or 14-3. They beat us pretty good. We were completely out of pitching. And that's one thing I learned was pitching dominates the older you get and then the weight room. were strong. They were big. They were tall. We weren't and that was neat to see and then the boys took that to heart. It was a great lesson learned. We lost and we learned from it and you know, the boys got in the weight room immediately after that. And was neat to see, neat to face, you know, Carter Schaus and see, you know, Flip Waters hit a ball off the fence and you know, all those guys were just elite when we played them. Their pitching staff's legit. Like they've, they've got arms for days. So it'll be fun to see them play and I don't know if, I don't know if we're playing in any events together. I don't know if we'll find that out. How long is that? Actually, no. I take that back. We'll be in the prep baseball World Series together. We will be in one event, I think, together. And maybe the ABC and Grand Park. I think we're in maybe two events together. So it'd be fun to play them. I know that. And I know all the boys know each other. We've been working together or against each other for I don't know how long. So that's a great group. It's fun to play other well-coached teams and people who do it for the right reason. So they're awesome. group to be a part of is Bailey going to stay at it and played Akron or is she going to enter the portal? No, she's there. She broke her foot the day before the season started last year. Okay. She, she redshirted. Um, she's back at it. They play university of Pittsburgh. Yep. Um, on Saturday. So her first real taste of playing and they're jumping straight into an ACC game. Um, it's going to be fun to see, um, her on the field and I can't wait because it's gonna be weather. Emma still playing Emma King? Is she still playing? I'm a King. Yeah. Yeah, she is. She's with a team in Michigan right now though. She's, she's different group, but yes. Okay. So she transferred out. Cause she played with Jayden. She played with Jayden. I'm sorry. Different person. She is still playing. Okay. I know a different, name. yes, but yes, still playing. Yes. Okay. Tremendous athletes and just gifted kids. It's, it's been a blessing to watch these girls grow up. They're studs. Dude, the Akron girls soccer team are, dude, they're just, they're They've, it's been fun. Their program is the best program that Akron has. soccer's real up there. Yeah. Yeah. Right there. So facilities are amazing. Yep. Listen, Mike, I cannot thank you enough for coming on. know we've had our struggles, but I hope the conversation brought shed a little bit of light to some parents on just kind of ease in maybe some, some nerves as things are starting to kick off and maybe things aren't looking exactly the way that they Anticipated them to look maybe things just, ⁓ I don't, I don't know. There's just a lot of things that as a parent, can go into a program, especially something as well known as a hit dogs program. And you can have a lot of expectations. You can have a lot. You can see things through rose colored glasses in July when you went through tryouts and things just, things just take shape differently throughout the winter and expectations are met and some are not. And I just, wanted to bring some of those things to light because I know that even for myself, you know, I have to, I have to reel in certain expectations coming from, you know, a 12 year old in a Michigan program and an, an eight year old in an Ohio. The expectations I as a parent have got to change them. And I'm not going to say lower them because that's not what I'm doing, but they're different. They're just different expectations. And I just, I knew that if anybody had been through this. as a coach and as a parent with two athletes of two different genders in two different sports, you were the perfect one to ask these questions to. So I appreciate it so much, man, for coming on. Thank you. I hope we can. hope you guys are great. Yeah, I hope we can get you on later in the year as the phone starts ringing and you can give us an update. You know, I'd love to have like just a 15 minute, you know, podcast with you on an update of of of who's calling these boys and where they going. Yeah, because. I know for me and for Jacob, you know, Jacob's a lot closer with the Michigan group and I'm a whole lot closer with the Karen's group. just am. We've spent a lot time. So it's just, it's interesting. I love, I love, absolutely love the success that these boys get. that is why that is, those are the expectations that I have. I mean, into the program is, is I get to see the success of the sixteens and the fifties and then the seventeens. And those are the expectations of, okay, let's do it. Let's all you gotta do is follow his lead. Watch Grady. Just if you, if you do what Grady does, that's the roadmap. like forget, block out all of the noise of what you hear and the things that you're reading on the walls and all the different quotes. Just go watch what, just go watch what that kid does and follow him. That's, that's what I love about it. So thank you for opening up yourself tonight. Thank you for doing it from the facility. I've seen balls being thrown back and forth over there. this last hour so thank you brother i really really appreciate him yeah you guys are awesome i appreciate this opportunity okay buddy we will stay in touch and i'll let you know when we get ready to air this thing ladies and gentlemen michael carrens thank you guys all right yeah man see you that was a good conversation dude that was that was a good conversation yeah that was a good conversation you know that was my first time meeting him and yeah that blows my mind that you've never known that you didn't know him before He said we've shake. We shook hands in Grand Park, but he thinks it was in passing. It probably was. could have been. I have very, I mean, yeah, I'm, I can only remember maybe once or twice ever seeing him at a tournament that we were at. Yeah. For whatever reason, I have no idea which kind of is kind of crazy considering, I guess it's not because their, their age would have never been a time frame as us. Cause we were always with the, you know, nines, tens and 11s it seems like, but Yeah, Mike is just a wealth of knowledge and I really wanted to get his perspective on how, you know, like his expectations as a dad compared to, you know, a coach. As a coach. I happen to watch, you know, Grady playing varsity baseball and he's not his coach anymore. Like. Yeah. You know what mean? So that was interesting. I think it's probably, I should have asked him this and shame on me for not asking him this, but it's probably put into perspective a lot of things that he's had to deal with with parents, with him coaching the national team. know, he may have been giving people, you know, a hard time when in reality he's like, well, shit, I get it now. You know I mean? Over the last few years, he's understood a little bit more of what we're going through. Yeah. And I also wonder if it's almost like a Like a calm for him because his son's obviously getting into playing college baseball. Some bitch said he was, had to go to center field this year now. I don't think it's calm. Well, no, no, but I'm saying a calm for him is son being coached by somebody else because in a couple of years, he won't be his coach anyways, going off to college. You know what I mean? It's almost like, and it's almost like I'm letting him go be taught and coached by somebody new. Yeah. I would, I would assume. And this is just assumption, but I would assume it's probably, I don't know if it's calm at all, because if you've had everything under control, seriously, like if you've had everything under control because you've been the control factor, the coach since the kid was eight years old and all of a sudden at the most critical time of his life, you have, you don't have any control. But he does. ⁓ But he does. He doesn't, he's not coaching, he's not coaching his varsity. I don't think varsity baseball is as much as a big deal as travel is. Then why did he switch schools? He wanted to go play D1 school. wanted to go play D1 better competition. Okay. All right. What is your, what is your, do you think that high school bat, you don't think high school? I don't think high school sports do anything anymore for you college wise. I'm starting to lean that way. That's why I I just asked you that because I'm starting to lean that way. I mean, you see basketball, a lot of these guys, AAU, soccer, travel soccer. The only one really matters is probably football. Yeah. Cause that, that I would say that's the only thing that can matter. even high I don't know, man. We have a couple of programs here in Toledo that do have tribal football, and they travel to Atlanta or Florida to play. But- Yeah, but isn't that just seven on seven? No, no, no. It's just tackle football. Okay. This is 11 on 11 tackle football, but I don't think high school is as critical as it used to be anymore. Yeah. I mean, with all these, you know, with all these things going on, like you said earlier, like the, was that? The WWBA? The WWBA. You know, you got the ABC, you got the ABC in Grand Park, the PBR World Series. And I heard a different perspective too the other day. think it was on Twitter. Where was it at? I can't remember, but one of the guys was like, he was like, why do you think high school baseball matters? He's like, when high school baseball season is going on, So was college. So he's coming to scout you. Nobody, the assistant coach is not leaving, know, the, the assistant coach for LSU is not leaving the game to head up to John Glenn high school in Ohio. ⁓ and, and, and he's not going to miss the series against Kentucky because he wants like, that's just so like just. break it down in its simplest form. He's probably right. Like you're absolutely right. Like it's, you know, these college coaches are going to go watch these kids in the fall. think high school matters more. You're trying to win your school's a state championship. Yeah. Teamwork, leadership, that kind of stuff. But here we go. Here we go with the team. Now you're playing with buddies. Yeah. Now you're playing with buddies. Now you're playing with get what I'm saying? Like guys you go to school with, when you know, you you plan your travel team that that's where business is. The business is gonna get phone calls. Yeah. Yup. That's the party end. This is the business end. Yeah. Travel baseball is business attire. High school baseball is casual. Like, yeah. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. There's somebody out there that is going to, can, you know, give us a better point of view than go ahead and call in and whatnot. But I don't think high school baseball really matters anymore. Yeah. Um, Hey, listen, man, in closing, I want to get your, get your perspective before we, before we sign off. What, what are your expectations this year for, for you guys and for, Brantley and for your team? What are your expectations? Well, our expectations team wise is go out there and develop and get better, but also win. Like this, team we're on, they win, they win, but sometimes it, I've, we've, we've watched them. They've ran into, you know, they hit like a brick wall. You know, hopefully this year we can get over the brick wall and win more, you know, win against teams that we should be. You know what I mean? Sure. And then as for Brantley, I hate saying this, but my mentality for him, and I have not told him this, is be selfish. Sure. Sure. Like to be selfish. Go out there and do what you're going to do. You know what I mean? Yeah. And which is don't think there's any... No, I don't... See, you're so self-conscious of what you think other people think. when you say shit and it's not true. Like I did not take what you just said as being egotistical, arrogant or selfish in any way, shape or form. I take it as you're, listen man, you're at 12 you, this is a cutthroat year, I would say. Like this is where the cream starts to really, really rise to the top. And this is where parents have to really, really start to make decisions financially. Is this really what we're gonna keep doing? Because nothing seems to change or listen man, This is like you took a jump this year where however far you want to take this baby, we're going to take it with you. So I don't think there's anything wrong with what you just said there as a dad. And I think you need to let your guard down a little bit that people are not, people are not going to beat you up for, for saying that because you're just saying what, what everybody else is thinking. Like I want HUD to go be selfish. I want him to steal as many bags as he can. I want HUD to emphasize, you know, and show off his speed again this year. I want her to go out and not make a single error the entire year. that realistic? Probably not. But I mean, those are the expectations, but there's nothing wrong with that, man. So I agree with that. Like go be, go be selfish and go set yourself apart. That's my biggest thing is I, the reason I say go be selfish is because I watched him have an injury halfway through the year last year that put him out for six months. Yeah. Yeah. You know, once he got cleared again, you know, the time he's put in the gym, he's working out like with this trainer and stuff. Like a part of me is like, go be selfish, man. Like you lost half a year last year. Go, go do it. Go be selfish. Like somebody says something that I me handle that. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, nobody's, yeah, there's nothing, you know, I would say, I would say, and this is just my perspective and I'm only going to say this because you're my best friend and Brantley is like a son to me, but I would, I would. Those are expectations that if I was coach, would want, Brantley, go get it. Like, go be selfish. Go take this. You want it? Go take it. Like, go be selfish. Go take this team over. And him and I, you know, well, we've all, you know, at the dinner table had conversations, like you said, like the cream of the crop starts to rise. And I've told him, go set yourself apart. It's okay. It's all right. Go set yourself apart. You know, if you feel like you're... going to be able to set yourself apart, go. You know, keep the gas, you know, keep the, your foot on the gas pedal all the way down. Yeah. Yeah. And if they can keep up, they can keep up. If not, then yeah. if we're not going to something out, we might have to move on. Yeah. And if, if you, if you go in after it and being selfish and you trying to, to take, to take something, you know, to take leadership and to take a role on this team. Um, if it doesn't, if it doesn't go over well and it doesn't mesh, guess what? It's not the only. This isn't the only program. You're only going be 13. You're only going to be 13. You got a whole, you got three more years before they can even start talking to you. So you have plenty of time to pivot. So, okay, cool. And what about you? What's, know, you have two in different regions. Like, so for HUD, what are you, what are your expectations for HUD? My expectations for this year for the national team are, I just want to be competitive. I don't want to get boat raced. You know, we've been competitive, you know this because you've been on the team. We've been competitive every year we've been in there. You know, the only time we really ever run out of gas is at the big events because we don't carry a lot of kids on our team. So we don't carry a lot of extra arms and we run out of gas. But we all know that. So our expectations are set before we go into these things. This year, I just want everybody, the time, the days of... of vacation are over for us. Does that make sense? know, these are, everybody on board? These are, I need, I need, my expectations are, is I want everybody to take it as serious as we do. I want everybody, I want everybody on the roster. I want all the families, I want all the parents and I want all the coaches to give a hundred percent. If you can tell me at the end of the season, you gave me a hundred percent, then that's all, that's the expectation I have because this is every year we keep doing this. It is more and more of a financial burden and it is, you know, this, you know, is better than anybody does. So with this comes a lot of sacrifices that some other families don't have to make. I just want expectations are to be competitive and leave it all out there. I don't want to leave any tournament where, you know, I don't want kids showing up five minutes before we take the field, which I think all that's solved itself. think those things have been. You know, I think those weeds have been pulled, but those are my expectations. do not expect to win. Are you talking about me? No. Well, we drove together, so that was never an issue. Yeah. No, I'm just, you know, I'm talking about how it can, you know, you know how it can go. And I don't need to expand on that. No, no. But as far as it was like, I don't, you know, I don't expect us to win everything because we're also very realistic and we know how, you know, there are There are 15 teams in this country that are buying families and kids left and right, and you're not going to compete with those teams on a week, on a weekend basis. You're just not going to. And that's fine because our kids at 12U, they know that. So they already know that the chips are stacked against them and anything, any damage they do against those teams is, is not going to go over well on the other side. Brooks's expectations are, I expect, I expect us to grow this year. to get to a more, I want. I heard Mike say there's 24 kids on your team. Yeah, I heard that too. I only know of 20. how does that work? There's two teams. an orange team and a blue team. Okay. Okay. That's what I was confused. Cause he said they were going to rotate. like, hold on. I've mentioned this before in the past. Like let's say we have an upper Arlington tournament. Okay. He's going to take. three kids in this team and three kids in this team and mesh them together this week. The following week, he's going to rotate them. These kids are never going to play together on the same team until it's a big event. A major tournament where he will then separate the A team and the B team for that specific thing. I'm not a fan of this process. I'm not a fan of this methodology, but I am supportive of it because he is the coach and I will follow his lead. I better, my expectations are I better see how this is going to work out and grow and grow. And, you're going to then take, cause every year the cream rises farther and farther. I haven't talked about, well, as this cream rises, I want to see, I have expectations of then you taken this top layer of the cream coming over here and next year you've got yourself a 10U national level team to start building your Paul Bunyan. Because right now the team that they have, they're not building any Paul Bunyan. They're not building Mickey Mouse. They're just building. know what I mean? Yeah. mean, but remember man, gotta crawl before you walk. Percent, a hundred percent. But I'm just saying, but for my son and Brooks, I expect him to be in a situation where they can start building that Paul Bunyan. Yep. I get it. mean, there's a 10 that's two years behind HUD when HUD's... So, but anyways, so other than that, yeah, we leave for Florida on Thursday. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we're driving. So we're leaving for Florida on Thursday and then we come home and I don't know what the plan is. I'm trying to talk Scott into bringing our team down to Georgia because we're already going to be there and he wants to pick a tournament up. So why would you not come to Georgia when he's already going to be there? He's a little worried about being able to juggle the 212 teams. I told him You don't need juggle shit. We'll take care of our team. You know, you go with you guys and we will take care of our Dominic said yesterday on the phone. Thomas is like, bro. He's like me, Adam and you will coach the kids. I'm like, I know that's what I said. And then you hear you are saying, no, you take Scott. He's a national head coach. You guys can go with that. You guys. He is not going to hear that. Nobody wants him. Nobody wants him in Georgia. But no, I just told him, I'm like, you know, I'm like, if you want to pick up another tournament, pick that one up. Pick that one up. We're going to be there. So our hotel and everything's already, like we've already paid for it. So just do, you're already going to be there, Scott. So, you know, I don't know. I don't know if he's going to or not. I hope he does. I know that Dominic wants to, he's all for it. I'm sure Pat Robinette would be all for it. Any of the, any of the families from Michigan would be all for it because they get to go to Georgia again. So, but I think he was also worried about that being our fourth trip to East Cobb this year. And I'm just like, yeah, that doesn't bother anybody. Yeah. It's not, it's not Grand Park. It's not Grand Park in March. So, know, and you don't really have any other options for good baseball. So we're hoping that we can talk him into that. But yeah. So other than that, man, we just, know we waited an extra day to put this one out, but that's because we had to work with Mike and his schedule. Obviously he's a very, very busy man. So we apologize to you guys for that. We are going to try to stay on schedule though of the Sundays and Wednesdays recording and getting them out. Just so you guys know, so you guys can expect that. Get some accountability and. ⁓ going forward. yeah. then in Florida, I'm obviously taking the gear. I'm not sure how we're going to do this. I don't know if I'm going to have to record a podcast alone with a couple of parents down there or how this is going to work, but clearly I'm going to have to do a podcast in Florida. So I'm not really sure. You know what I mean? Like, don't, I don't know if we can do that with you. on the phone, on the computer, but then other people on the couch. I'm not sure. I mean, it should be like this. I know, but then that means all of us have to be huddled in like this on top of really, because you just move left. If it's going be you and somebody else, one left and one on the right. Yeah, we'll figure it out and we'll figure it out. Yeah, we'll figure it out. I'm not sure. We'll have to maybe do a test run or something. I'll have to get Brooks and Hud in here and do a test run and put microphones on them and headphones on them and... see how we can do it. But plus we got to make sure too that our schedules line up when we're in Florida and you're at work or whatever. You know what mean? Yeah. Or what you guys are. Do you guys have any scrimmages or anything while we're in Florida or nothing? Okay. All right. So cool. Well, hopefully we can get it. Yeah. Hopefully we can make it work, especially if it's in the evening. You know what mean? After dinner. The evening's work good for me. You know that. Yep. So. ⁓ But other than that, man, that's it, man. I, ⁓ I gotta get up early in the morning. Tomorrow's a big day and it's Friday and, ⁓ then we got to go. ⁓ are you off? Yeah, I'm off. I had doctor's appointment in the morning. I just took the whole day off. Okay. Well, I'm to be in Perrysburg. I'm going to meet Jeff in Perrysburg. What time? 10 o'clock. If I'm out of my appointment, I'll call you. Okay. Well, I mean, I'll be, I mean, yeah, let's at least get lunch or something. Yeah, we can get lunch. Yep. That's fine. How far are you from Perrysburg? 10 minutes. That's what I thought. You know, he's driving down bootlegging booze. I'm getting booze too. If you, I, if you, if you're going to meet us, make sure you come get the booze after your appointment though. will. I will. And then, um, yeah, good to everybody. Good luck to everybody playing this weekend, the Houston at IT. Yeah. Who's Robinette playing with this weekend? Do you know? I think they're with USA prime. Okay. Down go down to or no? No, no, they got basketball. He's going up to practice on Saturday. So, okay. No, the only one that I know of that went down was Andrew, but I don't know who with. Yeah, I don't know. I have no idea. Yeah, but I'm happy for him. Like go get some. Yeah, me too. Ball out, kid. Ball out. Go up, ball out. But so, man, let's get out of here. Let's sign off. I will talk to after a while. I got, I think I got my work cut out for me on this one. Yeah, you do. This probably might not be out till Sunday morning. I don't know. All right, man. Love you. See you. Bye.