Ever wonder what life is like growing up on a dairy farm in Manitowoc, rising before dawn, and learning the tough life lessons that come with it? Experience that and more as Nick Brandl shares his compelling journey from a dairy farm boy to an engaging broadcaster, navigating the world of sports with grit and gumption. Nick not only talks about his early love for golf but also takes us through his high school years to his exciting foray into broadcasting, shedding light on the challenges faced and the lessons learned along the way.
Nick's story doesn't end there. He takes us on a ride through his basketball coaching years. Picture this: you're coaching a struggling team, trying to groom raw talent into future stars. Sounds challenging, right? Now throw in managing team dynamics and managing parental expectations into the mix, and you've got yourself quite the Herculean task. But Nick, with his signature humor and patience, shares how he turned these challenges into opportunities and learning experiences not just for his team, but for himself as well.
As we wrap up, Nick takes an unexpected turn and delves into his transition from teaching to comedy. His tales from the coaching and teaching trenches, sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor, will leave you both inspired and entertained. But wait, there's more! Nick also talks about his views on leaving a positive legacy, his thoughts on tattoos, hats, future plans, and even gives us a sneak peek into his upcoming stand-up comedy show. Join us for this heartening, humorous, and humbling conversation with Nick Brandl, a man whose life journey truly transcends boundaries.
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https://www.facebook.com/appletontattoo
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920 Hat Co. Links
https://920hatco.com/
https://www.instagram.com/920hatco/
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Ever wonder what life is like growing up on a dairy farm in Manitowoc, rising before dawn, and learning the tough life lessons that come with it? Experience that and more as Nick Brandl shares his compelling journey from a dairy farm boy to an engaging broadcaster, navigating the world of sports with grit and gumption. Nick not only talks about his early love for golf but also takes us through his high school years to his exciting foray into broadcasting, shedding light on the challenges faced and the lessons learned along the way.
Nick's story doesn't end there. He takes us on a ride through his basketball coaching years. Picture this: you're coaching a struggling team, trying to groom raw talent into future stars. Sounds challenging, right? Now throw in managing team dynamics and managing parental expectations into the mix, and you've got yourself quite the Herculean task. But Nick, with his signature humor and patience, shares how he turned these challenges into opportunities and learning experiences not just for his team, but for himself as well.
As we wrap up, Nick takes an unexpected turn and delves into his transition from teaching to comedy. His tales from the coaching and teaching trenches, sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor, will leave you both inspired and entertained. But wait, there's more! Nick also talks about his views on leaving a positive legacy, his thoughts on tattoos, hats, future plans, and even gives us a sneak peek into his upcoming stand-up comedy show. Join us for this heartening, humorous, and humbling conversation with Nick Brandl, a man whose life journey truly transcends boundaries.
Appleton Tattoo Links
https://www.facebook.com/appletontattoo
https://www.instagram.com/mark_appletontattoo/
920 Hat Co. Links
https://920hatco.com/
https://www.instagram.com/920hatco/
https://www.facebook.com/920HatCo
There's a sweet song. So, everybody, we're back. I haven't had an episode in a while, so I apologize, but I did have one's coming out on Sunday. Drew Nix, you can move that all you want, go ahead. Drew Nix of the Red Clay Strays, that'll be on Sunday, and then I'm gonna have your episode out Monday. I'm gonna do like an episode blitz Sunday. There's gonna be an episode, then Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, all right.
Speaker 1:I think that'll be the end, because then we got tournaments coming up Everybody. I am speaking to a good friend of mine. Comedian announcer right. Announcer yeah, you are doing? Is that the official way to say it? Are you a sports caster?
Speaker 2:You can call it a public address announcer. I've done radio as well in the area. It's just everything.
Speaker 1:You're a man of many faces. You're a coach, you're a teacher, you are a good friend. You are a contributor to the community. I mean we go out a lot. When we were in the, in the commie club, we went out a lot. So you contribute to the community quite a bit.
Speaker 2:Definitely did that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so we supported Oshkosh quite a bit, but his name is Nick Brandl. Everybody I used to have, I used to have the clapping button. I got rid of the clapping button though, but it's been a while. We haven't, we haven't. We haven't been face to face, I think, in maybe a couple of years. Yeah, Easily.
Speaker 1:But you still look like Nick Brandl, I still do. You still look like Nick and Nick get old Nick from the comedy club man. So where you come from I'm not too unfamiliar with because Christina's cousin was. She lived in Calinersville, recently passed away, but over the Manitowoc area. But now you're not from Manitowoc, it's a town outside of Manitowoc, right.
Speaker 2:Well, the address is technically Manitowoc but it's. I was like 500 yards from going to Valder's. Oh, right on the line was yeah, so I had the longest drive. The bus ride was terrible.
Speaker 1:The bus ride. I had to have been to. Well, you know, you had a lot of scenery, a lot of cornfields things like that.
Speaker 2:I saw enough of that, but you lived on a farm?
Speaker 1:right, I did. You grew up on a farm, so you weren't you weren't just a kid that was hanging out doing nothing. Your dad put you guys to work right 100%. So what kind of was it? A milk farm.
Speaker 2:It was a dairy farm, yeah, dairy farm.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow, okay. So you're up at 3, 4 am up in dad sometimes, or all the time, was that your summer?
Speaker 2:Summers were pretty full with that, yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, Like it was yeah, it was just.
Speaker 2:You know, like you tell people, there's one of the bits in comedy I have Kids in second grade would be gone for a week and I'm like, are they dead? It's like no, they went on vacation. I'm like I don't know what that means. You know, we don't know.
Speaker 1:We don't not now, we definitely don't. But you guys are a whole different, not knowing what that means. Yeah, Cause there's something going on. Yeah, Something going on. If you guys didn't have something going on the farm, typically there's something family-wise going on. I mean, I would assume you know you guys got birthday parties and all that other stuff when you're young. If you had time, for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, even if there was time for that. It was just kind of weird because, like my, my, my grandpa on my dad's side, and like a bunch of his brothers and sisters, and then my mom's family, we I want to say there was 90% of us in like a two and a half mile radius.
Speaker 1:So you're quasi Amish, yeah, quasi.
Speaker 2:Amish. I'm not going to call it a commune or anything, but no, we lived all so close to each other, so even then there wasn't reason to like travel to go.
Speaker 1:Right, and it was. Who knows, your uncle probably fixed the wagon wheels on the other side Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, if it, if it was anything, it was, you know the holidays and stuff and we'd all get together and you know the sheep's head table would be going and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But how sweet is that, though. You got everybody kind of right in a tight little area, yeah, you know, like especially having your cousins close by, I mean. So you weren't necessarily I get for lack of a better term like lonely as a kid. Right, you had, you had cousins coming over or friends, friends still coming over, things like that. But you obviously got into sports, right, and yeah was there time for you to be in sports?
Speaker 2:There was time, because my dad was also on the volunteer fire department for one of the small oh man Okay, and they had their little youth baseball, for you know all the ones that were around there. So I, you know that's where I started out. I mean, I watched all the time and you know brewers, packers, stuff like that, and my birthday was around the home opener for the Packers and season tickets and stuff. So you know all of that stuff started early.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But as far as like organized stuff, baseball was probably the first one where I started in, like you know, second or third grade.
Speaker 1:Nice, okay, well, and we were young enough to where I mean it's see, like in my, my brain instantly went to like travel ball. Yeah, like instantly, cause that's what we know now, that's what you see. Yeah, these kids walking out the $400 gear package and $600 shoes and stuff like that. But we had teams that stuck around town. I'm sure they still do now. I mean, kakana's got a decent youth program that goes on, but that's really unless you were playing for Marcos you know, back in the day, remember that name, I do.
Speaker 1:Marcos and teams like that. I mean those. Maybe those teams would go out of state once in a while, but those guys all just went around the Fox Valley, yeah, whereas O Y B stayed right in Oshkosh. You know stuff like that. What did you guys have up by you? It was just the fire department, was that that kind of thing?
Speaker 2:That's what it was kind of based around.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So you had a place that had a you know a picnic during the summer, you know a firefighters picnic, whether it was Newton, newton or Valder's or white law or anything like that. Those were, you know, reedsville. Those were the teams that we, you know, would go and play Cleveland. That's why I learned of Cleveland, wisconsin, before I learned to Cleveland, ohio. That's where that started.
Speaker 1:Oh man, yeah, ours is cleaner, though, yeah, cleveland's cleaner, I can attest to that, that's for sure. But when, when you started, um, getting into baseball, where, where you ever were, you ever to a point where you're getting to the, you know, like travel ball, like we talked about, did you wind up doing that type of baseball?
Speaker 2:I didn't do any of that and, like even as it got to high school. You know I played all my baseball during the summer because spring, once I got to high school, I was more involved in golf.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, okay, so well, I see I knew you do. I would say I know you're doing now. I didn't know you did back in high school. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So when did that? That started like freshman year.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, when, when I was in junior high cause it was a you know a guy my sister was dating. At the time she was in college at UW, a man at Twalk and you know he lived in two rivers and then one day he's like oh, I'm going golfing. Yeah, he's like you want to come along. I'm like I've never done it before. It's you know, I've watched it on TV. It looks kind of boring.
Speaker 1:Watching it is very boring yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, until you get to your age now.
Speaker 1:Now I'm like, oh, sunday.
Speaker 2:Sit down. I'm like I'm pretty cliner and he and he took me out to this course in two rivers that I don't think exists anymore, but um yeah we golfed and he's like that was actually pretty good, like you're sure that's your first time golfing. I'm like, yeah, it's it doesn't seem to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it's easier baseball Baseball's moving. Yeah, right, just sitting there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just by physics.
Speaker 2:It should be easier, right.
Speaker 1:Right, it should be it should be so nice. So now that was a good juxtapose for sports, because golf was in a different time of season than baseball was right.
Speaker 2:In the high school. They were both in spring.
Speaker 1:Oh were they? Yeah. So I kind of had to like make a choice and I'm like, yeah, I don't know I get to miss more school for golf.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, free golf.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know plus, it's free golf.
Speaker 1:I played for the golf team in Oshkosh and that was tell you what, at North we had Muny, his Muny passes, yeah, and that's gone, that's way gone.
Speaker 2:No, that's, that's a whole. We'll probably get to that eventually in this podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure you will. Oh, I'm sure we will.
Speaker 2:So now you're getting my blood pressure up.
Speaker 1:So we wound up leaving off with with golf here. Where did where did that wind up taking? Did you play that all through high school then?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I played golf all through high school.
Speaker 1:Letter, did you four year letter?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and then Oshkosh University, UWO, had a men's golf team, but they stopped then in like 94. And I graduated high school in 96. There wasn't a men's golf team to go to there and like I got, like you know, and this is, think about recruiting now and think about recruiting in like 1995. Oh my God, I mean I got. I got a few letters from like division two schools I remember. One was like Eastern New Mexico state.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, no, no, I mean. I'm not going to do that. Imagine what the courses were like there, ew no way.
Speaker 2:Just dry, just yellow, all the time.
Speaker 1:Rocks and road runners going around. Yeah, no, no thanks.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I mean, you know, as far as collegiate sports note go, I wasn't, you know, that wasn't going to be in the cards for anything. Yeah, um, you know. And then all of a sudden, a week into college, that turns into broadcasting, getting involved in sports that way.
Speaker 1:So did you? Was that something that you had interest in, though, like when you were younger as far as you know, like broadcasting or not, even not even that, but I guess entertainment in general, because that obviously we're going to lead into that a little more, but anything like that spark your interest in high school?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that was always fun. I remember at county stadium the brewers. I mean you could, you and a buddy could go and do like an inning. Yeah, you could call an inning. Yeah, Really, they tape it for you. Yeah, it was like way up in left field, up in the corner, and you have a VHS recording and you just call the game. For I don't know, what it was. But and I'm like, oh, I did that once in high school and it was pretty fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And when I was going to go into you at UWO, I was going to do journalism.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, I was going to print journalism.
Speaker 2:Yep, um, and then one day, um, I was in, I had a class in a building and there was a sign up thing to do the football game. Okay, we were doing a football game on TV this weekend for the Titan TV and I'm like I didn't know we had a television station here. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:So I signed up, um, and you know, freshman, I have no idea what's going on and we get there, there's a meeting the day before and they're like, okay, this person's doing this, this person's doing this, you're going to meet at this time to go. Um, and they're like, you know, if you can be there at seven in the morning, we're going to get the cables going and do all that kind of stuff and all the grunt work and that and then you can just sort of learn the ropes and everything.
Speaker 1:This is. This is enough for me right here. Yeah, it's a magic. Call them those cables no thanks.
Speaker 2:So, um, the morning of so Saturday morning, there's the game at Titan stadium and we get there early and all of a sudden, at like 10 o'clock, the producer who was doing this was, like you know, on the phone with someone and like, so you're not going to make it, what's going to get? You know, you said you were going to be here, bob. I'm going, oh man, and it was the guy that was going to do the sideline reporting. Oh, they had a camera and they had the microphone down there. Damn, yeah. So she comes to me and it's like have you ever, do you have any experience doing anything like this camera stuff? I'm like, yeah, of course I've done that, I could do that.
Speaker 1:Total lie, yeah, so that's awesome.
Speaker 2:We go down there and they're like okay, this is what it's going to do. They give me these sheets and it's like here's your. You know, this is what we're going to do. So they'll tell you. The person the camera says okay, in a minute we're coming to you with this.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I can definitely do that. Yeah, I can go get a shirt and tie. I got a button down shirt and like a Mickey Mouse tie. You just got that later on that's the only tie I had back in my door. That's awesome. I'm like all right there it is. So. They did that a couple of times and you know, after the game there was like interviews with a friend.
Speaker 1:You know some of the players and and she was like wow, you did a great job.
Speaker 2:We, you know, we do this.
Speaker 1:You just handled all of it, like you just talked to all the guys. Yeah, huh. It was just like oh, you know so in your head where you just thinking like well, I watched, you know what's it, whoever on any on any Monday night, you know game? Yeah, was that kind of what you're basing what you did off of, or I just went with it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause it's just sort of, you know, you're, you're on the field and you're you're looking at this stuff. You have a different view of what they have way up in the press box. Yeah, you can hear coaches on the sidelines. Right, you know when they, when they go to the field and say you know, down to so and so for this. And oh yeah, defensive coordinator yeah, it helps.
Speaker 1:Your smart too, you know like it helps that you pick up on. You know those things as far as. So here's, here's the, here's the deal like it. That makes it so amazing to be able to just do that. You're retaining all that information. And then, number one I can imagine you at the end of the game, going through a whole game, and you can roll a dex in the back of your brain at some point. Oh, I remember when coach Schmidt said this and blah, blah, blah, and like you can pull that up. Yeah, so you were able to just do that. Just this free, free fire right there. First try.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, because I mean they went, you know there's half time they go into well it's. It's a smaller locker. It was a smaller locker room then underneath the stands at Titan stadium, yep, and they, they came back and the head coach was Ron Cardo, who was a legend there and was like drafted by the 49ers and stuff. Yeah, you know, he doesn't know who. The crap. I am Right, and as he's walking by and I'm like I said we're not going to be live, but can I ask you a couple of questions? He's just like, uh, sure, you know, and I'm like, okay. So you know, brian Tomlack, you know early interception, but you went back to the passing, you know, yeah, and then they came back down and I'm like, okay, doesn't seem too hard.
Speaker 1:So did you understand the plays back then too, like where you kind of so are you a statistician?
Speaker 2:Oh, don't, even, don't, don't even start getting into that now. I am a numbers geek beyond all.
Speaker 1:It's just funny because there's the one guy that I talked about. Like we have like a sitter on the table. He's Wisconsin grappler, he's from Indiana, but he deals with like rankings, yeah, so he's like a numbers and stats guy too. So, like he can he may not be able to remember every single, but he can remember certain matches from, like you know, 20 years ago, like no, no, I remember this and like, yeah, but he can pull random information up that there's just numbers and numbers and numbers, whereas you're able to to break something down like it during an interview, as far as like a play, because you understand all that and you understood it at that point already too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Numbers and stats like that, this is great how this is all tying in. You go back to. You know, like when I was growing up, you know I had an older. My cousin, Chris was two years older than me. He's not a sports guy, you know. He was more into, like you know, cars and stuff like that. And he was a little in the sports, but you know, whenever we would hang out, I'm like you want to throw, do you want to you?
Speaker 2:know, so I would literally like I'd be outside. I would like I play a football game with myself. Okay, okay, I have a notebook and I'd write down stats and stuff and I'd do that Wow I would throw the ball. I would throw a tennis ball up against the bar.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know and like okay, hit this way is this many times and I caught it this way, this way, this way, yeah.
Speaker 2:Or I would just make up stats for like a season or something, you know, wow, and I still have some of those notebooks and you know, that's where. That's where that started and that really helped when I got into coaching. Yes, very much so. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, so you got into. You got into the, the announcing thing in college, yeah, which then led to cause what was? What were you originally going to college for?
Speaker 2:It was going to be journalism.
Speaker 1:Okay yeah, journalism written journalism right.
Speaker 2:And then I switched it to the radio TV film.
Speaker 1:What did that must have just felt natural. I mean, yeah, after doing comedy with you and stuff like that, like it's just, it just seems more natural for you to speak than it is to write. I mean, I don't get me wrong, it's not that you can't write or anything like that, but it's more of the flow and, like what you're, you know what you're into. So when you started your, you know your college career out with doing, announcing and and doing whatever. I mean, obviously, I know the whole crew of you guys hung out together and had a great college. I would say experience, yeah, as far as the group of friends you had, you guys were. You're pretty, pretty regular with each other and you still talk to each other.
Speaker 1:What was what? What type of experiences did you have going into college as as that type of career Cause we actually had a young man on here, lucas Peters, who was looking at doing the same kind of thing, yeah, and he did a great job with his interview. But what, what were you looking for? To? What were you looking to get out of it Once you like? Were your goals to be on I'm going to be on NBC or did you have a more individualistic goal, like I want to start my own thing and do this.
Speaker 2:You know I'm everyone is always looking at. Oh, you know I want to go to. You know ESPN or Fox Sports like that, and you go. You know we would go to like like one. You know we did. We did help to broadcast a Sunday night baseball game at the old metrodome through ESPN. We got to go there and you know, do that Nice. You talk to people, yeah, and you get to talk to the play by play guys. And you know, working at radio stations down in Milwaukee and stuff and doing that.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know they'll just tell you like you could. You know you could be at a huge university like that and you could be the number one person doing that all four years. You are so far behind where you need to be to do like national level stuff, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2:That's just like sports. Yeah, you could get to, you know, I mean you could graduate, you could go to a local radio station and you could do you know the high school stuff that's going around here, and I mean you could make a good living and do that kind of stuff. For all of a sudden someone sees you and then you go to. You know Milwaukee and you know you can do it that way. So my aspirations were just you know, I want to get as much experience as I can. I want to have as much fun as I can. I want to do as many different sports as I can. Yeah, build up that resume. I want to do radio as well, as you know TV stuff. Yeah, yeah, for sure, and you know, see where that takes me.
Speaker 1:And then coaching came along. So that was. We're just going to kind of roll into that a little bit. So when you were, when you were in school, you weren't, obviously you weren't doing intramurals or anything like that. Nope, you're trying, you guys are, you're doing your school thing, you guys are having fun. What type of interactions were you getting Like? What was your oddest type of broadcast and what type of sport or event? What was the oddest thing that you did while you were in college?
Speaker 2:Oh boy, we did.
Speaker 1:Look at Lucas, pay attention.
Speaker 2:The one that kind of threw us off a little bit was we did a swim meet.
Speaker 1:Okay, oh yeah. I mean, obviously we get the sport, but it's like, yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:And and it's just not announcing it's so much different with, like, the cameras and stuff, because I mean they could do a football game with one, two, three, you know four cameras maybe. Yeah, you could do it that way. You know swimming, you have to have. You know there's eight lanes the one that's going to point down, that sees everything, but when you're doing like the introductions and stuff and doing that, so you have to alternate you know there's more cameras that are involved and to announce and make it exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I don't know, right, you know, I don't know the athletes, I don't know.
Speaker 1:You almost had to bounce, like the entire time, from athlete to athlete, to athlete to athlete to, kind of because one might be ahead and the other one's going to do this, because that would still that'd be exhausting. Yeah, that would be extremely exhausting.
Speaker 2:And if and if you don't do homework beforehand, be you know, hopefully they have the, the heat sheets out. So you know, okay, and in this lane is this kid from River Falls. Yeah, and you know, and you can pronunciations and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:That's crazy Shit, that's that's. I mean that that's taxing when you think about it. Like if you just if you sat around and waited for action, you'd be waiting forever, mm, hmm. But to make the action is a lot of work in that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a lot of work.
Speaker 2:And then there's then there's a flip side of that, where the toughest one I've ever had to do on radio was a hockey game.
Speaker 1:Really High school hockey game it's fast paced. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You miss a number. You know you get a little bit behind. You know sometimes you're skipping passes here and there.
Speaker 1:You know, forget that one you know he passed it there.
Speaker 2:You know, let's do a hug Hug.
Speaker 1:Hug, hug, yeah, yeah, all over the place. Man, that's, that's crazy. So, as, as you're growing through some of that and I don't say going, I say growing through some of it because I mean, obviously you're learning lessons as you go along you guys are still in college. Where, where were some of the things where you noticed, um, because you're, you're seeing new things, what were some things that you took away, that you're like I'm, I'm never going to do that again, or I'm, or not even again, I'm never going to do that Like that's, they're not going to catch me doing that. Um, oh boy, um, I think Pearl Jam called it the, the uh, creation of no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, probably criticism of teams, coaches, decisions, that kind of stuff. Okay, so the game happens on Sure Saturday and then Monday we're back in the radio station. You know doing, you know and you're. You got to be careful with that kind of stuff, cause you might you might not think they're listening.
Speaker 1:Oh sure, yeah, yeah, you got some personalities.
Speaker 2:Like you know, uwo early on the football team, my first three years they're offensively they could score. Defensively was kind of rough, but they couldn't kick extra points. Oh really, I remember one game they gave up like they had a great soccer team.
Speaker 1:How do they not have them?
Speaker 2:Well, they gave up in all divisions record number of rushing yards in a game to River Falls.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think they gave up something near like five or 600 rushing yards in the game.
Speaker 1:Like River Falls. I'm just, we're just going to run, run, run, run run, run and um.
Speaker 2:both teams scored seven touchdowns and UWO lost 49 to 45 because they missed extra points.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, yeah, that's horrible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we, you know that happened week after week and one time, you know, we got on the air on Monday and we're like, oh man, it's just so rough to call this game and it's like, yeah, what we need to do is we need to have some sort of like giveaway or something where we get someone to come out there, just pick someone out of the stands to come and kick an extra point, because it's not, and one of the assistant coaches happened to be like listening.
Speaker 1:During the game.
Speaker 2:No, like during the Monday broadcast on the radio when we're like going over the game from the weekend and criticizing everything and then all of a sudden we're getting like emails and they're talking to professors and stuff and I'm like my God, I'm 19 years old.
Speaker 1:What are you doing? You were in so deep, yeah, you're in so deep, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean in interviews and stuff like that. You have to find that medium of you know asking a question that can make them angry or hey. You know, big game coming up tonight against the rivalry. What's your plan?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I've had a couple I think I've had a couple where I've asked questions like man they really shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have done that one, but they, you know some. Some people can take it well, Some people can handle Well yeah you might, you might have something there or whatever. But yeah, some people can't handle it, no, especially when they're in charge of shit.
Speaker 2:Then they make it look, almost looks like they can't be in charge of shit, but it happens.
Speaker 1:Hey, it happens and honestly, when you get, when you're passionate about something and obviously you guys are fans of, like, your sports teams at your school, you know and you knew which teams are like, you guys had your interests in football, basketball. I mean you guys were the average type college kids that were watching all the popular sports and you were a numbers guy, you know. So it's like you guys like to put two and two together and see maybe some of your friends win or whatever. So, yeah, I can see that I mean you're passionate about something, so we're not calling out. So what? Anything that did you did you learn the ups and downs and after a while the coach is like all right, you're good, you're good, not a problem.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, for some sports it took a little bit longer. Yeah, Um, like, when we got there, the women's basketball team the year the year before had just won the national championship. Yeah, kathy Bennett was the coach and she moves. There was a new coach and the new coaching staff just treated us so well. Yeah, the four years we were there, nice, unbelievably so well. Yeah, you know other sports. It was tough to, you know, get interviews and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but you know, most of the coaches there.
Speaker 2:I mean at a D3 university like that, even if it's just you know the school radio station or stuff. They, you know they want to get that right word out there Right For sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, and I think too, you know just. I mean, like, what I did the other, you know, with the whole image thing with kids, like I mean, I spoke my mind, you know, and I had a conversation with with Malibu. At the same time, though, too, it's just like you can't, you can't expect something to to not be spoken about. You know what I'm saying, like, and I think especially and you've been in coaching I mean you, you get it and you understand that there are going to be the dude sitting in a recliner calling the players. You know what I'm saying. So I mean, you guys know there are those guys out there, but there are sometimes people that do see something and you're like, yeah, you're right, you know, but you don't always want to tell them that though, right, I mean, as a coach, you're not going to sit there and give up and just be like, oh, you, total, you got me, you got me, man. Sorry, you know, so never thought of that.
Speaker 1:It's a conversation worth having, though, just to, at least you know, just kind of say, hey, you know, guys missed four times in a row. Yeah, maybe it's fix something, maybe maybe a little bit. So, as you're going through college now, your junior, senior year, things like that, like where where are you? Are you just kind of you're doing your thing? Were you getting interested in, like going to somewhere to do announcing where you're talking about coaching, what, what's happening with the coaching thing?
Speaker 2:Well, coaching started out my freshman year.
Speaker 1:Your freshman year.
Speaker 2:I had absolutely no intention of coaching. I had never thought about it. Yeah, it has. You know, it just wasn't on my mind. Yeah Of a friend of mine was coaching. He was in the RTF program as well and he was coaching like eighth grade basketball somewhere.
Speaker 1:That sounds really awesome, like why a?
Speaker 2:Uighur or something Awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And he's getting into coaching. He's like, oh, yeah, it's a lot of fun, that's cool, yeah. So I'm like, yeah, okay, yeah. And we had an assignment for the, the, the sports show that we did on on Titan TV.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Every like there was a camera person and a reporter assigned to go to all the high schools and get a package on the winter sports. Okay, yep, um, I had, um, ironically, no, I had Oshkosh North wrestling, so I had to go.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2:So I had to go with you know someone with a camera, and we went and we did an interview. Yeah, now my package was done. And then a day later someone else is like oh, I was supposed to go do Oshkosh West Girls basketball. I can't do it now. Can you go?
Speaker 1:Like yeah.
Speaker 2:I can? You know I could do that on that day. That's totally fine. Yep, and I went there and it was on a Tuesday. Um, the Packers had played. We had a Sunday night radio sports show. The Packers were playing Tampa Bay that night.
Speaker 1:Who's that Rolodex folks I was talking about? See, he's pulling it out right now.
Speaker 2:The Packers were playing Tampa Bay that night and I said if Tampa Bay beats Green Bay on Sunday night football I'll shave my head. And Tampa Bay beat them, so I had to bick my head. So now I'm walking into that's awesome, I'm walking into high school. You know the camp, you know this weird looking guy and um campus creep.
Speaker 2:And you know, I do, I do interviews, yeah, and we get everything done. And I noticed that and back then, um, girls, freshmen, boys, freshman basketball was from the start of the season until about Christmas time. Yeah, and then girls freshman basketball was from January to the end of the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was split. Yeah, I don't know it was so weird.
Speaker 2:So there was only the varsity and JV practicing and there was like 28 kids between the two teams and like two coaches, no assistant. I'm like I seem kind of weird. So I was thinking and I just asked the head coach. I'm like, again, total lie. But I'm like, you know, coaching is something I've been interested in. You know you can want some help. You know I got a.
Speaker 1:You know played and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, okay, she's like well, you know the season's already started and you know you have to be a volunteer and stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm like yeah, that's totally fine. I'm going to have classes and stuff.
Speaker 2:Give me a schedule, we'll see what goes on.
Speaker 1:That's how it started. Wow, basketball. Yeah, so basketball was the start. So we're what. I'm okay Out of interest, yeah, okay, out of curiosity here. Where did where? Where did you like coaching? What were you thinking about coaching before you started coaching? Cause you said you told them you did have you've been thinking about coaching.
Speaker 2:But that was I hadn't you know, it hadn't been you know, okay.
Speaker 1:It was just at that, that time, you just kind of thinking about it and it was with my you know my buddy. That had been you know talking about this and having fun.
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe that would be fun. You know, I've you know, with coaches I've had in the past, they've had an impact on me. Maybe, maybe this could be something that's fun. So you went through you.
Speaker 1:Obviously you weren't, you was unpaid, but whatever the position is. But as you're going through, like the next year, yeah. What? What are some of the requirements? So I I mean, obviously I've always had interest in coaching, but what do they require of, like an assistant coach, like what do you? What do you? What's your job?
Speaker 2:So well as far as the job goes. I like the first week I was just getting the lay of the land, sure, and you know, making sure I'm there on time, getting names down, stuff like that, seeing what the coach was trying to do, and I'm just trying to get comfortable. Yeah, um, and you know she would have me help out with the JV sometime, um, but, and the head coach at that time, um, she's retired now but, very she holds like the single season scoring record at UWO women's basketball.
Speaker 2:Okay, yep, hell of an athlete. Yeah, pretty gruff personality. So the first second week, end of the first week, started the second week. I'm getting, okay, I'm seeing what they're doing here. They're going, yeah, and they run through a play and it doesn't go well, and this and that, and we had a. We had a tall, tall scur on the team who, by the way, was three days older than me. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I said you know, shelly. You know, if they're not getting you the ball down in the block, we'll just go up to the elbow, set it. Set a set of screen. Yeah, Try to open some stuff up and then pop back down and we'll run back through it, right, you know? Yeah, and Terry the head coach the first time I saw the look and the girls were quiet too. They're like oh, oh. And Terry the head coach looks and says if I want Shelly to set a goddamn high screen, I will tell Shelly to set a goddamn high screen. Okay, I don't think I talked for like another year and a half.
Speaker 1:Three, a third.
Speaker 2:Then I'm you know, then I'm like, okay, doing the stats and stuff getting all the next couple of years. I like notebooks.
Speaker 1:I like notebooks guys.
Speaker 2:That was like my first year and a half of coaching. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this person's going to kill me and those first few years we were terrible Really. Oh my God, we were like we. My second year we won one game yeah, and man, it was the last. Second is at home against Kikana. It was the last second length of the court pass. Girl Jamie Spurl caught it. She made a left handed layup. She hadn't made a left handed layup in her life before that. I'm pretty sure she's never made a left handed layup in her life since that moment, magic moment, yeah.
Speaker 2:And that was wow, and then Kikana yeah. And you know, and it was after two years, after two years I'm like okay, now I'm getting a junior year college. You know performance, you know I'm going to be a freshman stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I was going to be like that was a fun two years. It was a cool experience, Right. And after that season was done, Terry said you know, if you want to stick around, stick around, because we're we're going to be good. You're like, and my, my, my thought was we can't get much worse. We were one in 20 this year. Yeah, she ended up being right, so I stuck with it. And so many years with that.
Speaker 1:Obviously you. You, you were coaching basketball, Yep. So oh, that's nice, she never comes down here.
Speaker 2:There's a new person ever.
Speaker 1:There's my dog bone up trumps in your way down. This is so weird. I've never had this dog come down here during a podcast, ever Like I sit down here and work. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:Anyways so.
Speaker 1:ADD, add, squirrel, um, so, when you're, when you're, uh, I don't even remember where I was now. I lost my, lost my train of thought.
Speaker 2:I'm talking about coaching basketball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, whoa, it's so. So where did you wind up? Getting into other sports? And so you're talking about maybe one or two years of coaching. Thought it would end, but then obviously you carried on. When did was this? Just, it was because I know you coach softball, yep Right. And did you coach golf too?
Speaker 2:Um, I started golf, probably about let's see what is it nine years ago.
Speaker 1:Did you? Yeah, it's such a such a short time ago. Yeah, I understand you, everything you do, you, you, it's longevity. So where, when did you start getting so weird? What did you start getting into? Uh, like softball. When did that pop up?
Speaker 2:Uh, softball. There was an opening for the freshman head coach or the freshman coach position. Yeah and um, I knew the head coach you know he was math teacher there and you know he had he worked some of the basketball games and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, and then there was like a I'll say a staff gathering after school on Friday one time.
Speaker 1:Was this after you graduated college?
Speaker 2:Um this was, this would have been my junior year.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, so we're timeline.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, good, and you know, we were the old golf central. Oh yeah, we were out there, and then all of a sudden he started and he's like, oh, you like coaching basketball, yeah. And he's like well, what do you know about softball? I'm like, well, you know, I played baseball for all this time he's like, well, we're looking for freshmen softball coach. If you're interested, you know, come and talk to me one day.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I went in and talked to him in his room and, like he I didn't expect it, he got a softball bat out of his closet in his room, yeah, and said show me a softball swing. Whoa. And I'm like did you know?
Speaker 1:a softball swing.
Speaker 2:Well, I knew it wasn't a baseball swing.
Speaker 1:Obviously, if he's asking yeah, that directive. A question you know.
Speaker 2:I thought in my head I'm like I'm just gonna do a baseball swing, but make it real quick. And yeah, you know, yeah, you know I did that and you know he was asking some questions and I, when he got to pitching, I'm like I'm gonna tell you right now I have no idea about Fast pitch. I don't know how to. If you asked me to throw, yeah, an underhand fast pitch right now, I would not be able to do it.
Speaker 1:I don't have that expertise either.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nope, and he's like well, we got a couple coaches on, you know, pitching coaches on staff.
Speaker 1:But you know want to do it.
Speaker 2:You know nice, so okay.
Speaker 1:So this is where I get kind of turned around with a lot of like rules as far as the coaching rules, and I asked Melda a little bit about when I talked to him the other day. But so you're a student, still a student, right, while you're coaching at a high school, right, which not? It's not an oddity to have that. So it's not, that's not, that's not the, that's not the odd part to me. So Because you're, you're an assistant coach, right, and then you're the freshman baseball coach right, the first one is Right and then you're the freshman baseball coach, right, the freshman team softball, softball. Yeah, when You're a student working there, are you always Unpaid? Like how does that work?
Speaker 2:You can get paid as long as you know you got to go through the normal background check.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure, just like any other, any other coach.
Speaker 2:But since, but since you're not on staff there, yes, back then there was a I had to go to UW Stevens Point. Okay for like a Friday night and all day Saturday for this coaching education course.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so I've been, I've been through stuff like that for soccer, yeah, so it makes sense, okay. So now you're, you've gotten your coaching kind of careers, I guess started, yeah, with a good tenure, starting in college and helping out in college and then growing Mm-hmm with those programs as they went along because, like you said, basketball get wound up, getting better that's. It was softball kind of in the same area where, where you kind of working, you seem like a developmental type of guy, you, you know, obviously, because you're able to work with a freshman team and obviously Knowing the track record of gosh West softball team wasn't terrible, yeah, you know. So obviously you were able to develop some kids and turn some you know, sometimes your scrubby guy, you know girls that are playing softball for the first time, yeah, and turn them into something.
Speaker 1:So I mean, what was, what was that like from that aspect of coaching? Because you were an assistant coach with a Coach who has a system, you know, and and has things whether he wants it, and as a freshman coach, you're obviously balancing certain things off of what the head coach wants you to do. Yes, you know, as those kids are coming up, but you're still had able to develop kids. What was that like for you to be able to kind of take them from the beginning?
Speaker 2:to start with freshman is a lot different, because it's freshman. Yeah, that's all you get right. You know, now they have like JV one, jv two, where you, yeah, move them around fresh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're fresh.
Speaker 2:They're fresh man, they're coming out of middle school and they're still, yeah, anchored in middle school. Yeah yeah, but you know it's a lot of fun. You know you know what the head coach wants. Mm-hmm. Some years you get a little bit of talent. Yeah, you know when that's too good, they're gone on JV. I don't want, I don't want you to be too good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, easy pump the brakes pump the brakes.
Speaker 2:You know there were, there were some, there were a couple seasons. I didn't really have a pitcher, it was just the best athlete really because there were three pitchers on varsity. Yeah you'd use one or two on and if there were only five in the system, then knew how to pitch.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's rough.
Speaker 2:You ever see like 20 walks in a seven inning game. Oh, but you know it's. It's just kind of fun to see them because these are kids that you know. Again, you move level to level. Yeah, it's a Decimal percentage of the kids that are gonna move on right right in high school it's a little more.
Speaker 2:But going from high school to college, college approach, you know, it's just such a small number, mm-hmm. Some of these kids, this is gonna be the only time in high school they play sports. Yep, they're not gonna move on from freshman. Nope, you know, you got some kids that you know how to throw. Yeah you know they've never held the bat before. You know they did t-ball four years ago and now their friends going out, so I want to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's tough. I mean it's especially when you're going through a. You know your youth, you know just a portion of it, and then not either being good at something and so, but that's gotta be rough. As a coach, though, too, I mean, aside from the athlete, because You're you're constantly on an uphill battle. Yeah, you know, not even so much a battle. Obviously you enjoy doing it, so there's, there's some type of a fruit there for you, but there's just, it's just, it's a grind, you know, and in year to year, you just don't know what you're gonna get. And then, like you said, you're dealing with varsity team that may need someone, someone's injured, they got a pole, another person here. You know a lot of moving around.
Speaker 1:I kind of heard some other coaches talking about that stuff too with. You know football and everything too. But when you're, when you're learning, learning how to develop kids because I mean, you're still a kid yourself, mm-hmm, you know doing the stuff. So Learning how to develop these kids, and I remember coaching some 13 year olds coming out of high school, you know, and I was coaching with Megan I Always forget her last name fresh out of high school, and it was just different coaching kids that were, you almost feel like a big brother, yeah, kind of big sister kind of thing, where, where, when you're coaching, you're just like come on, man, come on, how hard is this? Like calm down, yeah, but in reality there's a psychology to it, you know, like trying to work with kids like that, and so when does that take you, education wise, when you start developing what you want to do for a living? That's got a change. That had to change the trajectory a little bit of what you want to do, just deal with kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I'm saying, you know, and being in that school setting Yep, and so like that. But you know, going back to that first couple years of basketball, the varsity team for the first couple years were terrible, mm-hmm. And then one year a group of Freshmen came up Yep, they're pretty talented. Yeah they were better than our varsity kids really and and that they were and the head coach kept him together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on JV for a year nice, because if we're gonna be, if we're gonna be two and nineteen and we bring these kids up, yeah, they were seven and fourteen. What's the difference? Right, let these kids play together. Yep develop and the JV coach he had played at UW La Crosse. He's a good guy, he's. He was an old-school type of coach. Okay, Yep but you know, I think that year that the other really good JV team was Fond du Lac.
Speaker 2:Yeah and they were gonna play each other for the second time and you know they're keeping, you know he's like, oh, you know we're tied with them in the conference and stuff and that we can practice. He was, he was getting on him pretty good, yeah. And Terry, the head coach Afterwards, you know, came up and said you know, these are young, remember, these are still freshmen. The kids, they're still kids. I know they're good. Yeah, I know you have a team that's better than mine this year, mm-hmm. And she, she pointed up at the wall we're like the conference championship banners on and she looked at them and said when you see a JV conference championship banner up there, let me know. And that stuck with me because, yeah, there isn't you know, just not I, if you're worried about.
Speaker 2:You know winning like that at the freshman level. You know freshman softball there. I can tell you a number of times where it was. You know, oh my god, we got the lead. Yeah, last inning at seven to six. These two kids haven't played yet.
Speaker 1:Yep, they're gonna get to play right, right, yeah, and that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2:And the other kids are gonna be like, oh, I have a chance to win about a blim, like it doesn't matter, that's not what we're here for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what they're there for you guys get to there. You can worry about that, but right now it's about getting better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's lost. Yeah, I mean, the parents lose that too, you know.
Speaker 2:I'm saying you gotta.
Speaker 1:Talk, we talk about that a lot, lot dude cuz and I was quasi one, you know like I mean I there were times where, you know, I felt like there were certain things that weren't going. You know the way that they should, but at the same point, though, too, like I played I played at a high level, you know like. I understand how those coaches are Feeling, but at the same time, though, too, I also know some of those coaches don't give a shit.
Speaker 1:Yeah you know that's not. There's no, there's no magic to this formula that these people are still. There's still assholes out there and some of them coach yeah, you know, and that's no doubt how it goes, because it's just everyday people. But you were, you seem to be surrounded by people that had a Vested interest in the kids and how they developed. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't just lost in the wins and losses which I think a lot of parents you know get concerned about. As far as well, my kid should get time. But I'm also, you know, I'm one of those parents. It's like, well, maybe your kid should get better.
Speaker 1:You know, maybe, maybe, bring them to practice when he's supposed to be there. How about that, you know and but there are, like you said, some kids are there and that's they're not gonna leave. Yeah, they're just. There's certain things that Liam's. Liam's not gonna play baseball.
Speaker 1:Yeah like I'd be surprised if we could hit a baseball, you know. But he can wrestle really well. You know you wrestle really well, but I'm not gonna be like why is he playing for the you know the Titans right now and in football, like you should be doing that? It's a lot of realistic Situations are in front of you when you're coaching, when you can see a kid develop and get better and you can tell a parent hey, If this is something they're interested in you know, there's, you should.
Speaker 1:You should take them to this. You know you should get them involved in this because a lot of coaches like I don't know what it was like for you in high school, but I don't remember a coach gun you know gunther angloman run around writing letters To any colleges for kids to play soccer somewhere. You know, like it wasn't happening.
Speaker 1:No so the more the parents get involved, the the better it can be. But it seems like there's never a level. I'll level ahead like all the time like there's. Have you ever had a team, or is just you didn't have to worry about parents?
Speaker 2:For a couple years with the girls basketball team.
Speaker 1:Yeah okay, Well, not okay. But was that the couple years where all the girls knew each other Play together?
Speaker 2:They were on there and we were really really good.
Speaker 1:Right, but that's probably because everybody knew each other.
Speaker 2:That does a part of it. Yeah, you know, yeah, winning does cure things.
Speaker 1:But I can tell you the flip side of that you get. You get too many big heads in a room. Yeah, start to climb together and not everybody likes a headache and someone starts bitching about the other one. But but with coaching and in the balance that you guys had what, what was, what was the dynamic between, like that you kind of saw as far as the kids developing and what they had when you were, when you Started coaching, versus what it is now. You notice a big difference.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I notice a big difference just because of the, just the myriad of things that go on during the summer okay, okay, you think it's, you think it's a grown exponentially for the sports that you're in. It has. You know that was part of the reason I got out of basketball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's too much.
Speaker 2:It was just well, it's. You know so many kids playing, I saw so many kids, three sport athletes, yeah, and it started to dwindle. And then all of a sudden it's oh, you know, we have a basketball tournament. You know, here's the schedule for the summer that we're giving you at the beginning of May. Yeah, take a look at it. Yeah, things don't work out. If you have, you know, another one.
Speaker 2:We're not saying you have to be at every single one of these, yeah, because we know you're doing anything. It's your summer, yeah, kid, right, you play volleyball too, right, yeah, but if it, if it comes down to you know, we, we have a, we have four games at a tournament down in Waukesha. Yeah, and you're telling me I can't go because I have volleyball practice, then we're gonna have some problems. You know, if, if it's, if it's, if there's both matches that weekend and you pick volleyball, sure, just didn't when it happens in two weeks. Yeah, basketball, you know we're not saying you have to do that, right, right, but it just started to get so many different things for kids and you know we had, you know we pay for these tournaments and all of a sudden we got a call to school the day before and back out you know, and that's not a good look.
Speaker 1:That's not, yeah, no, do the Do the parents? Obviously the parents are the responsible ones. Uh-huh, getting the kids there, taking places, things like that. But do you find your, do you find yourself noticing that, as time has gone on, the parents of parents, in as far as coaches perspective, the parents have gotten worse with, not just because of the parents are who they are, but like, let's talk about the level that the kids are playing at, though, too, you know, like you, like you said, a lot of these kids are individualizing. I'm playing, they're playing a single sport more and they're they're sticking to one sport. Are you noticing that the intensity of the parents level has picked up more because of that type of thing in certain?
Speaker 2:aspects. Yeah, yeah, yeah oh.
Speaker 1:And it's a it's a money thing. I mean every parent's. I put $3,000 a year into this and whatever way and what you chose to, you chose to do that for your kid.
Speaker 2:Did you see my kid this during that Chicago tournament this summer and played those three games? It did what you know. Well, you know you, first of all, you paid, you know that, a you team or whatever to do that, yeah, and second, you know, second of all, yeah, we saw it, but that was, yeah, that was the you know C-level tournament or whatever. Yeah, you know. Yeah, they're doing that there. They come here. It's, you know, and it you know we could say you know, come to print. You know we would say come to practice and watch. Yeah, you know. Yeah, you know it's. It's a different type of thing. You know we never closed parents out of practice. Yeah, if you want to come and watch, as long as you, let us do, you know. Yeah, we'll talk afterwards. Yeah, just come a watch and see. Yeah, get an idea of what's going on, don't just drop your kid off and drive away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm one of those parents like I Would say, probably until like three years ago or so, like when Liam was finally like eighth grade, I only watched like the last half hour of practice, mm-hmm. Only because I got I had to coach them still. Yeah, so I have to have an idea of, like, what he's working on or what he's doing or whatever. That's literally all it's for. Yeah, I was, I don't want to know anymore because that's the level they're at right. They're adult enough and should know at the point, at this point, you go to practice you there for a reason I don't. Typically there's only, there's only been social reasons why I've spoken my voice, mm-hmm. I have never told a coach that was a horrible call. Why aren't you putting my kid in? As a matter of fact, last year, yeah, it was state team, state and we're wrestling Marshfield and Liam had lost to the kid from the 160 from Marshfield and we're like all we can wonder if we'll get a rematch. You know, build a kind of square way. Was it what we wanted? Yeah, fuck, yeah was what we can. Did he get it? No, no, because now, with the team needed right. Yeah, was I, was the wind kind of taken out of me? Yeah, a little bit, but we're about to win a third team state in a row, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:So like I as an athlete can understand calls, you know, like a coach, like someone would say to me oh, how come he made the? How can we told him to take down instead of going neutral or whatever I like? I have no idea. Like they work on stuff all the time. I have no clue what I've done it. No, but that's, they may know more than I do. I mean, they work with them like every day.
Speaker 1:So I don't question coaches, you know, and I think a lot of parents, I think a lot of parents just kind of throw the ownership like kind of flag too much, like, hey, oh, I paid the bill, you know, kind of thing. Well, maybe you should start your own club, you know, maybe you should start your own team and play, you know, and honestly, I started a dual team there, you know, we put some kids together to the state and take them somewhere, but it was to get those kids better. You know, that's all because all these kids wrestled together and like those four girls or five girls that were on the basketball team together, that kind of stuck together. They've been playing together forever.
Speaker 1:That's kind of what we tried to do with some of the kids and as you develop kids in sports, they tend to notice the the differences between coaching. And the more you put them in different environments and allow them to play in different you know, not that necessarily different sports, but in different places with different people, they learn to be more coachable. You know they react differently to each coach and eventually learn the type of coach they like. Did you have your type of coaching style that you like? Like what? Can you describe your type of coaching style?
Speaker 2:I I try to keep I've always tried to keep it as level-headed as possible. Okay, like I didn't like to get too emotional. Yeah, there's gonna be times you do it because you know, especially in like a basketball game or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:You know bad call happens in softball and it just boy. You know. Yeah, there is that, but it's always, you know. Move on to the next thing. Yeah, you know, golf is a completely different animal. You know, when you're out there with golfers and they cuz you're not there all the time, right.
Speaker 2:You know you have ten golfers on the course and you can't. But you get one calls you over and they need help with something and, yeah, they're looking for advice. I always tell them I'm not gonna tell you what you should do. Yep, yeah, you're the three options. You know you do this, do this, do this. Here's what the results will probably be. Yeah, but here you hear your three choices. I'm only gonna give you those three choices. Right, I know you think you can get that ball underneath that tree and you're not gonna do that. So here you three and I let them choose. Okay, you know, yeah, that's, it's more of an individual.
Speaker 2:Yeah or within the team you know I kind of give that ownership to them.
Speaker 1:Okay and Well. Ultimately they're gonna be asking themselves those questions yeah, you know, like, well, I can do this, or I can do this, or I can do. You know they got to make that choice I can. You're already planning that seat of trying to make the right choice on your own. No kind of thing instead of hey, I don't. You should go this way, you know.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to steer them some way. Oh, of course, yeah, I'll say like, oh, you can just punch your hybrid out there or otherwise. You know, you can get a nine iron over the tree and then you can hit another one out of the green. Yeah, and I want them to hit the nine iron. And I say hybrid because I know last week they said I hate my hybrid, I'm not gonna. So they'll go like well, I don't like hitting my hybrid, so I'm gonna hit the nine.
Speaker 2:I'm like okay, that's your choice, you know go ahead.
Speaker 1:You made, you created the funnel, yeah, created the funnel for them to go down into it, hopefully hopefully pushing you in the right direction, right, right, so that's, that's clever. That's clever I mean in, I think, honestly, with with the level of intelligence that you know, that we talked about that you have, as far as being able to retain things and knowing how things work and being able to pick up on people, I mean, let's face it, I mean you did comedy.
Speaker 1:We got to be able to read things, you got to be able to pick up on things you know. So you got to. You got to be able to to adapt to certain situations. So that's not only good for an athlete, that's more, more of a thing that a coach should have being able to adapt and, like you said, you don't, you're kind of even killed.
Speaker 1:Yeah you know you're not when the time for excitement comes. I'm sure you're excited for your athlete or whatever it is, but you also know when to like, hey, we're not done yet. Yeah, not quite done yet. Yeah, that's hard. As an athlete, you know that's when you're pumped up about something, you're you don't give a shit about what's going on. You're like let's go, you want to keep. You know pounding the ball down the field. Or you want to Go and you know smack one off the off the tee and just wail on it when actually good, kind of take her easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it's a big dog, leg right.
Speaker 2:You don't want to, just be well.
Speaker 1:No, you remember, you slice, you know, you know you don't you don't water there, yeah, so let's cover down. You did a great hole in one over there, now relax. But yeah, now you, you're kind of you're, you're you're going through college, you're you're getting into, you're getting a lot of experience with coaching, you're loving coaching, you're change your direction for education. You decide to teach.
Speaker 2:Well, that that comes later, that's later. There's a little gap in there. Before I shit yeah so where?
Speaker 1:what happened then? Where where's this? What's the story with that?
Speaker 2:I still did. I still did some like radio stuff. Okay, you know, I worked in that for a while.
Speaker 1:Okay, while coaching while coaching while you're just picking up all kinds of sports data, then yeah, shit man and then after I was oh god, what, what year would that have been?
Speaker 2:How do you remember what yours probably like 11 years ago?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There was a like a teacher's assistant or a paraprofessional spot opened up yeah okay, now I can get into the school and, you know, get insurance. Yeah, yeah, it's important, you know, and in being schooled during that time, and that made a little bit easier. Yeah and then it led to oh, this, this program. Here is a, you know, 12 week, 12 week long weekend program that you can get your teaching license.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Then it eventually, you know, went into that. So I've been teaching for this my 11th year doing that now so shit.
Speaker 1:What are you?
Speaker 2:teaching. I'm in special ed I mainly help out with, like the social studies department, and I also little math.
Speaker 1:Okay, oh, you're a patient man. Yeah, oh, yeah. So I got lost and I'm sure you've heard plenty of people talk about comic-core math. Yeah, that's that's where I kind of left the education portion of my kids life because I was like, why are they changing shit?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I got old like in a hurry when that stuff, when, when it was Bryce, I came home with that. When Bryce came home with that and I he's like, can you help with my math? I can't figure this one problem. I was like what's the what's the triangle for?
Speaker 1:Yeah what is the? What is that? Oh well, that's this we get. This is how we add this together. I'm like whoa, beep, beep, beep. Back the truck up dude. So I actually had to call, leave a voicemail for his teacher like look, this is what I showed Bryce last night, because that's what I learned. I don't know what you guys got going on. And then she like email me like a link Mm-hmm. I was like you think I'm gonna look at.
Speaker 1:This I'm not gonna pull this up and you're like, and you're thinking in your head like you, dumbass parent, you should just look it up. And it was so frustrating because it was like I can't even help my kid.
Speaker 1:Yeah you know, and you guys have, especially when you guys are teaching that stuff, way more patience. I mean, I, I have two kids, nick. Okay, I, I love my kids. Don't don't get me wrong whenever, because everybody always thinks I'm all wow, what a crabby bastard, I Shouldn't have had kids. Like, for their sanity, for their sake of mind and peace of mind, I shouldn't have had kids. Yeah, not because I don't want kids and that that that my kids suck, it's because I personally, as a person, shouldn't have been around kids. So when I was knowing that, like I have friends that are teachers and I have family that were teachers, like I don't, I don't know when that gene came from, where they had the patience for that, but you obviously met Some of my cousins through coaching and their mom is a teacher and I've never, I've never understood that she's.
Speaker 1:She was always nice person, always nice. You know we're growing up, stuff like that. So I mean I, I can see her personality doing that, but it's like, oh, it's just that. Oh, the patience I can coach kids. Yeah, because it's something I enjoy, it's a sport or whatever. So that takes away from a lot of the kids stress. How has it been for you and in throwing yourself not only in the mix of coaching but then now teaching. So obviously you must have, obviously, you like to see kids grow, you like to see kids develop.
Speaker 1:You like to see kids you get smarter and accomplish things, and is that ultimately what drives you when you're, when you're doing the stuff You're doing, because a lot of it is you're around kids. Yeah, we're teaching, you're coaching, so is that kind of turned into like a big portion of your life as far as what you, what you do and focus on?
Speaker 2:Definitely. Yeah, I mean it is. Again, this was nothing I thought I was ever gonna get into. Yeah, but with coaches and teachers I've had in the past.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I saw what they Did for me. Yeah, part of it with the, with the special education background. Yeah, my little sister special needs. I grew up, okay, I told so, okay, you know. I sort of saw what she went through in the educational system. Yeah, changes that have gone throughout the way. Yeah, you know, and you bring up, like you know, the common core stuff and all this yeah they're changing this and changing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I've looked at it the entire time. The the phrase I like to use, among many that my kids have heard many, many, many times yeah, I don't care about the labor, just show me the baby. Okay, okay, yeah, I don't care how you get there. Yeah, just get there if you can show me how you did it. You know you, if you just write down 97.4. I'm gonna be like, well, how'd you do it?
Speaker 2:Yeah you know, if it, if it was the common core way, if you broke it into tens, if you did, it's this right using your fingers, I don't care. Yeah you got the answer and you use brain cells to do it right. So I don't, I don't care how you get there, you know and math is probably the only one that you can have them. You know all sorts of different ways to do it. Sure, but you, you know people. Different people are going to learn different ways and show different things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, right on, and that's how that's kind of how I mean I dealt with ADHD and stuff like that growing up. I mean they tried to take me, have me take Ritalin. I spit it out. I did because it just made me drowsy. It didn't help me focus on anything. I mean, literally it's a type of thing where you just need to learn your way around it. It's not something you need to like medicaid over, so but learning, learning kind of like that. Everybody does learn a different way, like everybody has a certain thing. That and that's how you I mean over time studying you know figuring how you learn the best way.
Speaker 1:And then people you know kids, pick up on them. They're like well, it was way easier when I did this. I didn't pick up on that kind of stuff you know like, but having teachers that were there to help you along, I had got five, probably five really, really good teachers. That I'll never forget, you know. But I have way more teachers than that throughout my life, right.
Speaker 1:So, not every teacher is there to grab you and bring you along to kind of show you. So it's nice to know that there's someone that's like that in the school system still, because obviously the school systems had some pretty cool scares that come around and probably not make you want to teach.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 1:So now we branch off into a little more of what happens after college, and so you're still coaching and you got into teaching. Yeah, there's this comedy club thing that comes around that floats by, literally. That's how it happened to me. Yeah, like I was, I was walking my dog and Noah was over. I don't know if it was a Mike's place. We lived over there, was that Mike? Mike lived there too. Your fire is another one there. Ok, so they were there and I'm walking past and I think I did a double take because I thought I was like, was that no one? No one.
Speaker 2:I think it everybody knows Was it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look, that looked like the guy from the pizza place. I'm pretty sure that was no. So I turned around and he goes, brad, and I was like no, what's going on? I'm like what the hell are you doing over here? And just tell me Mike was there. He goes hey, we're talking about starting up this comedy club. I'm like, oh, that's pretty cool Me, you know, like I'll stop in sometime. It goes and obviously you know Noah and I sit around talking about movies and shit like that. It's kind of joking around. And he's like you should, you should, audition for the comedy club. I'm like what are you talking about? Like, why would I like? I don't have, I'm a landscaper. Good, I don't want a little different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I don't make appropriate jokes so you probably don't want me on stage at all. So he's like, no, no, no, he goes, here's what it is, you need to come down. And I'm like, ok, it's fine, you know, I'll Sure try it out walking and go tell Christina about it. And she's like seriously, and I was like, yeah, I said auditions, I guess, are like in a next tomorrow night or something like that. So it's down. I can't remember what the hall that was at Because I didn't go to school.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, it was like the experimental theater. Yes, it was. Yes.
Speaker 1:And they gave you a script they read from and I can't. I think thought mine had to do something with a leprechaun. I can't remember what I did that and and I can't remember who else there Maybe it was Markovich.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:Ryan might have been there when I first tried. And then I would say I know Noah and Mike and and Kyler Kyler were there yeah it's again. I'm getting old. Forty five hit dude, nick got crazy. This is completely insane. So that was my experience and I don't understand how I got it yeah, and it's great that I did. I had an awesome time doing it, yeah, but what happened? How did they approach you? Obviously, this is something you probably you probably heard about them talking about a week before.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, and how long was that in the works. Oh, they had been talking about it for a couple of months and then they were looking for the, the spot to to lease, and then they got that, and then we got to get people and we're going to hold these auditions and my first thought was I'm busy enough, I mean my. God, all the stuff I'm doing. I can't add that in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no lie. So I told them.
Speaker 2:I told them I don't know if I'm going to you know, maybe later or something, but I don't know right now if that's the best way to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I wanted the day of the auditions. I had a softball game. We got done, I got back to school and then I just messaged him. I said, ok, are you guys still there? I'll come and audition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, come on down.
Speaker 2:So you know, like you said, they had a script. Yeah, do like an improv thing if you wanted to do, and then they're, you know, and then they're like telebat joke or something, and so I decided for, like the improv thing I was going to do, I had my seeds. Oh yeah, I packed them in and I pretended to be like a third base coach, Nice, but like mic'd up, you know. So you could hear what I say, you know.
Speaker 2:Come on down, we got this. Hey, oh too, you know what's going to happen, right, you know what's going to happen. Be smart. I know what's going to happen. Fucking, strike out to the. You know and you know and I did that. That's pretty good.
Speaker 1:That's good. So that was, and it was interesting in the beginning, because I didn't, so I know I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're doing like skits and stuff, right? Yeah, I'm not a paid actor, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're doing like full, like shows, like we're remembering like almost like full scenes from movies, yeah, from like what was that Hulk and what was that one that was? That was one of the first ones that was the first one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was like and I was Hulk. Yeah, there was Hulk and like Batman and Superman and stuff. Yeah, because I do the superman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like superhero some shit like that. But it was fun doing it because I mean, obviously I was learning what you guys had learned in college and what Noah and those guys learned in college.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when it came to theater and things like that. So that was definitely interesting. It was intimidating, oh yeah, you know, because it was one of those things where I didn't fully understand what the fuck was going on. I had no idea and I was just like, ok, I'll do that, you know, and I was jumping through all kinds of hoops. So when? But you had done so, how weird, how different was it for you to do that type of thing? Had you done any type of comedy like that before?
Speaker 2:I had done. I had done stand up, maybe like three times before you had, I had like three times yeah, yeah, yeah like places you would not think would have stand up.
Speaker 2:I had no improv stuff like that, but once we got going and I saw you know, first thought was OK, we're watching whose line is in any way. That's awesome. My second thought is man, 12 year old, you was finally getting his due at this point. All the crap that you pulled in school and that kind of stuff, this is your time. Yeah, 12 year old Nick, to get in there and just be goofy. Yep, all the crazy stuff that would go through your head. Now you can do it now, right.
Speaker 1:And not even have any shame. No, that was the best part. Yeah Was just letting it rip.
Speaker 1:I mean and sometimes, I think, and only because I didn't know enough, but I think in the beginning I think it was too structured. Yeah, I know that the game has to have a way to go you know you have to, but it felt like they're, you know, like they're. There's so much structure that you couldn't figure out how to feed off of everybody. So I got to the point where I had, you know, and everybody had their own thing, but they had the certain people that they like going on stage with. Yeah, you know, because it was different in when you went with what you're comfortable with, I typically would either pick you or Noah.
Speaker 1:You know, because I, your, your humor and comedy was pretty similar to mine, whereas your knowledge in things where you guys could pull all kinds of shit out of your head and know what you're talking about, whereas mine is just gibberish and kind of like mine numbing, kind of like I had to make a sound with it for it to be funny, right so? But I was always trying to feed off of you guys, so I would see that kind of stuff. Where are you able to apply some of the struggles that you had with comedy and just kind of working through things and apply that to like coaching and some of the situations like you have with your athletes.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, I would. I would always use humor and yeah, in times when it was needed. Yeah, Um I. It's used more in teaching. Yeah, you know when stuff I mean technology goes wrong, or you got to do this, or yeah, this lesson plan changes, or you have this set and now these two kids are you know yeah you know you kind of constantly be thinking on your feet.
Speaker 2:Or you know again, high school kids just saying something, whether it's inappropriate and they realize it, or they're arguing. You know you have to be able to be able to switch gears, just like that, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's funny that you mentioned that, because I know we we listen to like Liam talk to his friends quite a bit.
Speaker 1:Obviously, we pay attention and the the funny part of listening to those guys trying to conversate and having having a fluid conversation, not just a, not just a bro conversation, where it's just apshit coming out of their mouth. You know, put an actual conversation where you hear them, maybe even like being genuine about something, and you hear them place like a swear word, right, and they don't know you're there. They kind of realize that it might be someone there, but they place it correctly and you like you can't even get mad, yeah, and you're like, okay, all right, I'm going to let. If you'd have done two, we'd have had a problem. Yeah, you placed it correctly, I'll take that. Do you find yourself having more luck with kids, with the, with the type of teaching style and coaching style that you have, than you notice maybe other teachers? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I would say that and I crazy pants I wear too. There's kids that know those are magnificent. There's kids that know who I am, that don't know my name because they're just no crazy pants guy Wow. But yeah, with with humor and stuff like that, because you know, especially with part of the population I deal with, where they're used to just being in trouble, or you know, things are just not going right, yep, um, and all of a sudden they'll be in class and I'll be, you know, saying okay, use this next couple of minutes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:This problem will come back. We'll go over it and then the chatter will start and and a kid will just be working on something and then you can hear the calculator going and then you'll just hear him say oh shit, yeah, and it just. You know, yeah, it comes out meaner, and you know everyone else, and I'm like, if you got to go to the bathroom, just let me know. And then they, and then it was like what? I'm like, oh, I thought you meant you. No, you don't have to. Oh, okay, everyone laugh. Get back to work. Good, we're done with that. I don't have to fill out paperwork for office referral or something.
Speaker 1:Glad that went that direction. Yeah, because as a kid you're like what, wait a minute, he just swore he's not in trouble. Man, I better place that correctly. So when you like, you're still obviously teaching coaching. Yep, what does your coaching basketball?
Speaker 2:Now it's just golf, now just golf.
Speaker 1:Okay, fall and spring, I have the winter off.
Speaker 2:Now I run the scoreboard for the basketball games.
Speaker 1:It's a lot easier. You do announcing still correct.
Speaker 2:I didn't do any football games this year but I'll do. You know, I'm like the backup guy for the radio station in Appleton and we'll Are you aware of our friend named Tieg Fenwick?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know Tieg. Yeah, tieg's been on here a couple of times. Obviously, it does wrestler podcast. Yeah, yeah, he does football as well. I know he does a lot of announcing. So that's kind of why I brought it up, cause I was thinking about that when you first got here. I was like you probably fucking knows Tieg.
Speaker 2:I bet you he knows Tieg.
Speaker 1:Yeah, another nerd. Yeah, another guy that knows numbers like a Rolodex, like it's. I am amazed that when I ask you guys questions that deal with a distance of time, that your eyes don't just roll in the back of your head, just like, and they come back and you're like, bam, you have all this information, like spit out, what is it? Hey, how Cause Christina does it too Right. So was it easy for you to take tests? Were you a good test taker with that? Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:I didn't like I didn't. I had bad study habits in high school and that caught up with me in college and just you know I there were a lot of things I could remember If it was difficult for me you know if I remember a lot of shit if I, if I would get homework back and it had a bad grade on it, I'm like, okay, I'm going to have to study for you know, but most of the stuff I could, you know, I could coast through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like boy, should I have gotten better grades in high school? Yeah, were they bad? No, but you know it was, you know balancing, you know on a farm, sports, that kind of stuff, and you had to give that much time to homework, which made the rest of it easy.
Speaker 1:That's. The other crazy thing is that I mean that you had that much. You had that much going on as a kid, you know, with the farm, and then then your interest in sports and then plus getting homework done. And obviously I know your parents. I mean that's just about how any farm community was around your dad. The kids always did their homework. It's not like your dad was just like nope, fuck that, you need to milk dude. I don't care about three plus three, they had you guys get your homework done.
Speaker 1:But I know that a lot of the families were very wise with that, but it's just amazing that you were able to to like, strive throughout and not and not just want to quit on something. You kept doing more. Yeah, you know you were working on a. You're not working. You were raised on a farm and then you wanted to do sports, you know, and then obviously you got school and then you wanted to do more after that. So it's it's it's kind of daunting. That's why I talked to people that I talked to, just because of the things that they've chosen to do over time. You didn't choose to be born on a farm, but no, you could have not done sports.
Speaker 1:You know you could have not and your parents could have not taken you to sports, and so it's interesting, the different things that people go through through their lives, through sports, through school, you know, and just through life in general, that become what I always think is just the vision quest has never really done. Until you're done, you know, and where's that, where's that place for you at the end, like, I mean, like at my place, is not in town and in the middle of the woods, you know, and we're getting there slowly but surely, but like, what's what's your, what's your end? I mean, what's your legacy? Do you think, right now, as far as leaving let's say you walk away from coaching you know, what do you think you're trying to leave for the kids that you coach?
Speaker 2:You know, just, was it a positive experience? Were you treated fairly? When you know when, when you leave, when you leave school, and five years down the road you see me out somewhere. You know this has happened, whether it's you know, you know grocery store or out doing stuff or having to forbid a bar. You know they'll see you and you know they'll come up and they'll, you know they'll send. They're like oh my God, we had so much fun doing this and do you remember that one time that this kid did that? You know they don't. Nobody remembers the scores.
Speaker 1:You know no right right.
Speaker 2:Varsity, maybe if there's a banner hanging somewhere and stuff. But even those teams they remember the stupid stories and the people they've hung out with for sure. You know you just don't want it to be a situation where, yeah, that guy sucked, I have any fun on his teeth or anything like that.
Speaker 1:It was maybe do burpees all the time yeah.
Speaker 2:He was just, he was never fun. It was always. Yeah, he was always in a grumpy mood.
Speaker 1:And that's.
Speaker 2:You know that's not what it. That's not what it's about.
Speaker 1:Right. Well, if there's one thing I know the kids should be able to take away from at least being coached by you is that there was definitely definitely fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because you're a funny dude. You know you're a funny guy and obviously you like what you're doing. So you have, you have a passion for it. So, which makes things a number one not just easier for you, but it also makes it easier for the kids.
Speaker 1:And if someone that wants to be there. You know, especially, even even through a losing season. I mean, you've been through those, I've seen them. You know they're not fun but you like the sports and you like. You know, just like me, I like coaching and like developing kids and watching them grow into the people that they become. And hopefully, like you said, the one day you run into a map, you know Chick-fil-A or wherever you're in, and it's a hey coach, really good to see you. Man, Remember this. And now the other things that wind up telling you a story, you know, while you're hanging out with people, that's the fun part.
Speaker 2:And if and if you're you know, we had a 26 and 0 team.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:One of the best teams girls basketball teams in the history of the state.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Was that season fun yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, were my cousins on that team.
Speaker 2:I don't believe so Was that before them?
Speaker 1:I think so. Yeah, definitely not after them. Yeah, well before them. Interesting, who was on that team?
Speaker 2:That was like Nicole Alberg and Meredith Hansen and Jess Alcox.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, okay, yeah, that was just. That was a little after I graduated high school and that was only like that was 2003. Yeah, that was like five, five years after I graduated, yeah.
Speaker 2:Nice. But you know, going off of that, those seasons, yeah, those are fun. But, like, when you look at a season and you're like, man, we might be a 500 team at best, yeah, and then you finish like 15 and five, yeah, that's awesome, that's sweet, that's like we surprise people, you know. You know a season where, like, everyone's like, yeah, you're going to win, you're going to win, it's the best team.
Speaker 1:It's funny. You mentioned that though, too. I mean because you're still humble. I mean you walk into a room and you're just like, well, we'll see how we do this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if it's going to be great.
Speaker 1:I think Machak did that one year. He was, he was I think it was the year before they won their second state title. He was like, ah, I don't know if we're going to make it to state this year. They went on to feed it, yeah, and like it's like. It's one of those things where you're not. It's not even so much that he was down on the team, but he had, he had high hopes, but he didn't get his hopes up.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Kind of thing, because you just don't know what's going to happen. You're, you're leaving a legacy behind of of not worrying about that stuff and just making sure that the kids are, you know, having a good time playing a sport in a place that they're only going to be at for a short amount of time. Yeah, so you know four years and make it worth it.
Speaker 2:We're getting close to the scary part, though, because I'm going to be starting to coach kids of the kids.
Speaker 1:Oh no, it's the, it's the it's the recycle, it is, it's the recycle.
Speaker 2:And then that first year there was a girl on the basketball team was three days older than I was.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:I've been there a long time Like if I, if I like, if I retire from teaching at 58 and I'm still coaching, like golf and stuff, that'll be like 40 years I've coached at that school. They're going to have to like name a broom closet after me or something.
Speaker 1:Something a chair, a chair with a plaque on it, or something Right A roaming chair. Whoever, whoever won that day around around the golf gets to sit in the chair.
Speaker 2:I, I, I before that the chair of Nick Brandl.
Speaker 1:Well, dude, I've kept you here long enough. I mean we, I definitely want to have you back on. So I think, I think I think this could go somewhere. Yeah, you know, like the common, like I said, the comedy thing is kind of plus. Now that I can I tell you how much wrestling have been watching. Sure, dude, I watched the Utah middle school conference. Yeah, no, I, it's just a. All it is is a blind YouTube dive. That's really all it is. I just I type in wrestling duels. Now I've seen so many 1990s college wrestling duels Like I don't even want to watch college wrestling anymore, kind of over it. So I was like you know what? We're going to start looking for some youth wrestling. We're going to look where it matters, right in the youth conference.
Speaker 2:I am so glad I'm not coaching basketball or softball now.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because you know, even even 20 years ago, I'd be like oh there's, you know, this Saturday college basketball game double header, holy cow, I could, I could watch that.
Speaker 1:You could be watching that.
Speaker 2:You could be watching that. Yeah, if I was doing that now, with like ESPN plus and stuff, it's like, oh man, at five o'clock on Thursdays, southeast Louisiana state playing Louisiana Monroe, I'm going to watch that. I would just be watching basketball.
Speaker 1:It's ruining everybody. The internet has ruined everyone.
Speaker 2:There's just too much.
Speaker 1:They televised everything now and it's like they talk about us being aliens, like turning into like what we think aliens look like, because we're set, we don't do anything, like we can just do everything with our brains, we don't have to physically do anything. I don't think we're going to look like that. No, I think we're going to look like giant blobs. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's going to go the other way. It's going to be a big. It's going to be smaller head. Right, right, You're going to have to roll somewhere.
Speaker 1:Yes, in mobile blobs, and we'll all be on hover rounds because we can't walk and rolling You're going to get dirty rolling everywhere. So you literally would need the. I call it the deagle chair.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Mrs Deagle from Gremlins. You need a deagle chair to pick you up.
Speaker 2:Chair goes underneath and the deagle chair puts you down there you go.
Speaker 1:And the deagle chair actually attaches to the wheels. It's part of the system. Oh my cow, I just invented that.
Speaker 2:I should better patent that right now.
Speaker 1:It's recorded.
Speaker 2:So we yes, it's mine Stamp it.
Speaker 1:Yep, was that lick stamps? He's. I don't know what that one is. All right, man, we got to, we got to get. Crash. I'm going to play this. Jason Winans his son wrestled, the son graduated. He's the guy who put the Celtic Cross in my back. 920 tattoos. 920 tattoos sponsored the show. Nope Perfect. I got to bring these guys up, so he did the song. He's also used to being a band. It worked out great and he did a great job and I'll. I'm going to keep that around for a really, really long time. He also did the tattoo and then my hat here. Okay, yeah, this is from 920 hat company. Okay, I'm doing a lot of 920 shit. I'm sorry, it's a Jay, why? Why is tattoo company is called a Appleton tattoo company, not 920. Okay, but he's still a 920 phone number, all right, and it's on the website and it's also on Google. When you Google Appleton tattoo, you can find it Yep, yep 920.
Speaker 1:Hat company Trevor does a great job, but, nick, I appreciate you joining me, man.
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks for having me, it was great.
Speaker 1:I know it's it's. It's been a long time and I think it was. It's been way too long.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So when I tell you that we're going to have you back on, we're going to have you back on like full force and we'll like maybe, talk about maybe, like some football coming up or whatever, and I'll bring some wrestling shit up.
Speaker 2:Perfect.
Speaker 1:And just make just banter and just talk, just like we used to. I'm all for it All right guys. This has been the vision quest podcast. This has been Nick Brandl hey golf coach at Oshkosh West, teacher at Oshkosh West, comedian, extraordinary. You doing any?
Speaker 2:standup November 3rd and 10th Actually November 10th at the time theater in Oshkosh.
Speaker 1:Shut the front fucking door, dude, be there.
Speaker 2:That's awesome hosting for Kostaki Econopolis. Whoa yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker 1:It's a lot of respect to that guy for having that name. High five to that guy. Go check him out at the time.
Speaker 2:The or when it'll be, november 10th, 7pm Fox Valley comedycom. You can get tickets.
Speaker 1:Dude, I'll make sure I put that on the episode too. Bingo, awesome. Thanks, nick, you bet no-transcript.