Unspoken with Nick & Nick

From Baseball to Dad Life: Navigating High-Level Pressure, Youth Sports, and the Mental Game | Unspoken with Nick & Nick Featuring Nick!

Nick & Nick Season 1 Episode 6

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In this episode of the Unspoken podcast, hosts Nick and Nick go "behind the mic" to explore the mental game of baseball, the unspoken challenges of fatherhood, and what it truly means to balance high-level performance with daily life. One Nick takes the guest seat to share his personal journey—from building guitars with his dad to navigating the intense pressure to perform in high level baseball and competitive athletics. The discussion provides valuable coaching tips and parenting insights on managing youth sports pressure, fostering a healthy competitive mindset, and the importance of being a present "girl dad". Packed with relatable stories ranging from 80s comedy and blowout poops to the infamous goose incident, this episode dives deep into men’s mental health, overcoming the fear of failure, and embracing the "regular person" reality behind every successful professional.

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Welcome to Unspoken, where everyone is the... Come back to another episode. We got you. Of Unspoken with Nick and Nick. What's up, Nick? What's up, Nick? Whose name is first on the thing? I'm hoping after tonight. Tonight might be the night. I have earned my spot to be first for at least a week. It might be the night. It might be the night. I hope so. We're going to do something a little fun here. So there is not a guest, but there is a guest. And you have a co-host who is a guest. That's right. Which Nick? Which Nick? Which Nick? Which one is it? Well, right now it's the one who's first. The one who's second will be conducting a What Are You and Who Are You. Yeah, back to the original episode concept, right? We've talked about this before that we have... So we actually did part of this. We did this episode for you. For me, yeah. But we have a very distinct plan for that episode. That's going to be exciting. And we have a very... That's going to be cool. So be ready for more updates around Nick's episode because we have a lot of plans around that that are going... The goal here is to help people. Yes. At the end of the day. Yes. And I think we both genuinely believe that that episode will help people. The goosebumps on my body right now. I'm not lying. That one, if I can even reach one person with that episode, it's done its job. Yes. The roller coaster, the roller coaster of emotions, what I've put myself through, my wife through, all of that. But also mixed in with what got me to that point and also what got me out, right? So it's going to be fun. We've got big plans for that. That's coming soon. To be continued on that. Tonight, however, we're going to have some fun. We're going to get to know Nick a little more. We're going to get to know what makes Nick tick. Oh, did I just write? Nice. You did. Listen to me, man. Look at you go. Like a poet. Marshall Mathers. Dude, that's all. I love him. 8 Mile, man. 8 Mile. I got the Detroit Lions on, too. Oh, man. Love it, dude. I'm kicking it. My dad would actually be really proud right now. And my mom, I think, that I'm wearing Detroit Lions stuff in Chiefs country. Well, hey, you know what? Again, it shouldn't matter. It shouldn't. We're sports fans. It doesn't matter. I'm a Colts fan, too. I love the Colts. Yeah, I'm a sports fan. Like you said, I like a little bit of everybody. I have my favorites, but... Yeah, same here. But the reality is, I still enjoy it. So this is important to us because we have had the opportunity to interview some really cool people so far. And that's super fun. But outside of talking concept and talking shop about what this is and what we're doing, we haven't gotten to dive into us yet. No, no, we haven't. So this is a good opportunity. Right. We touched the surface a little bit. You know, we had some fun on the first episode, you know, but I think now that we're here... Well, and we've asked all these other people, so why not us? Yeah. Right? Just get into that. Yeah, it's going to be fun. And I hope I earn my spot. Absolutely. You know, we'll see. I... Nobody will ever know. You know what's really funny about this? I am so worried about making this sound like a stupid interview and I don't want it to be a stupid interview. You know, I don't want to be... I was watching the par three contest today, all day at work, right? And those of you who do know or don't know, I should say, I'm a barber so I can have the TV on and like cut hair and watch TV and have it on. I'm watching the par three contest and these guys are like holding their little ones in the par three. If anybody isn't familiar with the par three contest at the Masters, it's very relaxed. Right. It's like spring training baseball. Oh yeah, laid back. The players are laid back. They're signing autographs. The families are there. The wives are significant others. They're carrying the clubs. You've got kids running around the greens. You've got kids putting, wives driving. It's really cool. It's awesome. And these poor golfers, they're like holding their babies and they're holding their toddlers. Yeah. And it's like, hey, you just hit a hole in one. How do you feel? How do you think they feel? Number one. They feel like a dad right now. Yeah. The kid is screaming in their arms. They hit a hole one. They're excited, but like I got a screaming baby in my arms and you're asking me this silly question. I know you have to ask it, but I feel good. But at the same time, back to the same question of what we said, like they're just, they're exactly like you and me. Yes. Sorry for the English teachers out there. They're exactly like you and I, except they're really, really good at this thing. Yeah. And I mean, there's of course other differences, but the reality is, is they're just regular people. Yeah. Like, and it's very cool to watch the part three contest because it pertains to what we do. I get to watch this guy drive a ball significantly better than I can. Right. Right. A percent. And throw darts is what he's doing. Yeah. And it's a bull's eye every time. Yeah, of course. But then I see the kid that he's like, hey, you can't dig in the sand trap and make a castle like this literally happened today. And I'm watching it. Don't do that. I'm hanging on to watching the families. I'm just dying. Right. And some of the guys that they're interviewing too, like they've got their earbuds in and they're like actually answering a phone call from Scott van Pelt. Right. And like, Hey, you know, great drive on that last hole. SVP is getting all into it. Yes, dude. How do you feel like about all the families being around and the kids? And he's like, are you kidding me? Tomorrow is stressful. Yeah. Today. So cool. It's, I just get to lay back and watch everything happen and hit the ball and hopefully get a hole in one. If I don't no big deal. Cause I got my family with me and it's a very neat man. And it totally watching the par three is full circle exactly what we do. Right. And exactly what you said, it shows the real side. Like this guy or gal golfing, right? Yeah. They have the exact same joys as us. They have the exact same sorrows as us. They're forgetful. Like us. Yeah. You and I were just talking before we came on air about certain people and how bad they can be at response. Right. Yeah. And I used to be one of those, but like some of those guys are probably like that. Yeah. Like really bad. Hey dad, sorry, man. I didn't text you back. I know it's been eight weeks. Yeah. I'm bad at this. Yeah. Well, focus turns to other things, right? It does. It does. And I think that's easy to easy to see sometimes and not easy to see other times. And I think it's funny because like our segments of life right now are different. Yeah. Like you have kids that are on the go more. Whereas like my kids are still little. Yeah. And like it's just a different phase of life. Like yours is they're way more independent. They can do a lot more for themselves. Right. Mine cannot. So a lot of my day is spent doing that. Things for them. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And absolutely love every second of it. Like there's not there's not any kind of animosity towards that. I love that. But it does take time. It is trying because there's time. And it's like I said, you know, I'm of course, I'm guilty of playing around on my phone when I probably shouldn't be. But like at the same time, like I try really hard. Like when I get home, I work away and work on computers and screens all day. So when I get home, I want to just like throw it off and like I don't want to do anything with it. And that's not to say that I'm not on it, but like I want to be as present as possible with my kids. Yeah, I totally get it. And my wife's home a few days a week, too. So I'm like, you've been home with kids all day. Like selfishly, I get to now take them. But like in a way, it feels like to her, like I'm taking them so she doesn't have to deal with them, which is not necessarily the case. Yeah. But like it helps because that's how she feels. That's great. Like it's a good thing not having to still be responsible for the kids when I get home. And she wants to. Like she still wants to. But both of you didn't have kids to be away from them all the time and not want to pay attention to them, right? Like you and your wife are like, my wife and I, we didn't have kids to be away from them. I see a lot of parents who, and no fault to them, right? It's just kind of how they are. They like their independence still. And they have their kids and they're going on quarterly getaways for a week. Sure. They're going out of country or they're going good for them. Right. That's awesome. Yeah. Katie and I are like, well, I want to take them with us. Yeah. Like we didn't. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't, we didn't have kids to not want to hang out with them. We knew what we were signing up for. Well, yeah. And I think, I think a cool thing too, and I know you'll be like this because we're a lot alike. Yeah. The hustle and bustle of sports, right? I hear a lot of parents are like, oh my gosh, we have another tournament this weekend. We've got three games next week and then a tournament. And I'm like, you're not excited. I freaking love that. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's done. Well, yeah. And you know, my wife and I talk about that all the time. So Annie will say stuff like, you know, it's going to be exciting to finally be in the phase of life when we get there to be able to do those things. Oh, yeah. Of course, it's going to be difficult. It is. I'm not, I'm not discounting that, but I think at the same time, like I'm, I am used to having been in that from the perspective of being on the field. Yeah. Excited for that. But then at the same time, like, I am interested to see what it's going to be like and how different it is. Yep. And not necessarily in a good or bad way. No. Just interested to see what it's going to be like. I'm excited for you as a competitor. Yeah, it's going to be an interesting thing. Exactly. You played, we both love the exact same sport. Like it's our love. Yeah. You played at a higher level than I did, but we're both highly competitive individuals. Right. And what I love about it is, and especially this year, I've really kind of taken a step back. My competitiveness. I used to get in there and just, and not be a jerk. I'm fair. I talk to kids properly. I teach them properly, but really take a step back and go At the end of the day, this truly, they should be having fun. This does not matter. You're going to have enough time to stress about needing that hit or needing to make that play. Right. Just hustle today. Yeah. Try to make that play. If you don't, as long as you hustled, you can brush yourself off and say, I tried, man. It's not that big a deal. And I'm excited for you to get there because I think you're going to handle it like I, it was hard for me at first. Oh, sure. And it's going to be difficult for me at first. There were many nights you can ask my wife. I would look at her and go, I am too competitive to watch this happen on the field. Yeah. I can't do this. It's tough. And already in my head, it's tough. Like, because I, I think, you know, going to different kiddos that we know, like just from family or friends that have kiddos a little older than ours, seeing them do things. And I'm like, yeah, this is the level. Like, what do we, what do we, I don't know what to expect. And I think it's just because I'm so competitive. And I don't mean to be like, I'm not, I'm not better than anyone else. No, I mean it that way. You don't even put those vibes off. Yeah. And I don't mean to put it that way. If I do, I mean, it's just like, I, even when I was little, I was really competitive. I just wanted to play, but I also really wanted to win. Yep. And I think now it's not, it's not necessarily that it's not the same. I think it's harder to find that niche group of like really competitive kiddos. And my wife and I have talked about that. Like I, I'm not here to tell my kids like, you have to go play sports. I would like my kids to try sports. Yeah. And I'm not, I'm not naive enough to believe that if my son decides he's not going to play baseball, that some part of me won't be like, I know. This sucks. I know. We talk about that. Yeah. And it's not, and it has absolutely nothing to do with my son. Yeah. It has everything to do with me. It's you. Right. It's a me problem. Right. And it's got nothing to do with my kids. And same concept with my daughter. She doesn't want to play softball. Like I love watching. So do I. Like softball is fast paced. It's awesome. They're super athletic. That's a great sport to watch. And if you don't, you really should. It is awesome. Well, and like my father-in-law is a great example. So my father-in-law played really high level baseball too. Okay. And, you know, my wife, one of three girls. My wife is the only one that didn't play softball, funny enough. So the other two, yeah. And the other two, my father-in-law coached. Okay. So he was really into that. And, and I think there's always kind of that, like that concept of like, if you're a really competitive guy and you play high level sports, you have to have like boys to play high level sports. And I think that that's the wrong way to approach it. Oh, totally. And I guess it's not the wrong way, but it's hard to not approach it that way, right? So like when I, when I found out I was having a girl first, I was terrified. Oh, for sure. Because I had no idea what to do with a little girl. And now, like my wife will tell you like, you're a girl dad first, for sure. Which is cool because I love that. Anything for my babies that reference the goose. Right? Yes. Right. If you don't know anything about the goose, go back to the last episode and hear the goose story. But yeah, I mean, my babies are my world. You know, my wife and my babies are my world. And I think that if I can at least get them to have some sort of cool experience with sports, that's going to be really cool. And it doesn't, it doesn't have to be long. It's just, if they want to do that, that's cool. And like I said, it's, I'm not naive enough to believe that I can't have some kind of like a little bit of just like, dang it. I know. If they don't do it, but that's not what it's about. Like I said, that's just a me problem. So. Oh, it totally is. It's a pride thing. Yeah. And that's a good way to put it. It's more of a pride issue, right? Like, it's funny you're talking about this because Katie and I have talked about it too. Sure. Like where we've asked, you know, how would you feel if they came to us one day and they were like, I'm going to finish out the season and then, and then I'm done. Well, of course I'm going to be a little crushed. However, I've always made the deal with them. And just like you, you said they don't have to play a sport. I said the same thing. Yeah. You have to be a part of something. Yeah. Try something. I don't care what it can be. Chess club. It can be a German club. It could be photography. Yeah. And I don't care. I want you to be a part of something so you can learn something new, right? Like you've tried the team thing, but as team oriented as baseball is, you might disagree or agree with me. I don't know. It is also individualized. Oh, no, I a hundred percent agree. We've talked about this before. We have. Baseball is very much an individual sport played on a team. On a team. Because at the end of the day, it comes down to each individual person performing. Now, I'm not saying that it's not the same for football or basketball or soccer. Each individual has to perform. I think that baseball, they put you on a stage. It's more spotlight. Yeah. The spotlight moves. It's pitcher versus hitter versus fielder kind of deal. Versus catching and receiving and then throwing again. Right, right, right. In a lot of ways, very different concepts to the same kind of deal, right? And again, you can say that we can make the exact same argument about football, right? Like the linemen are very different than the linebackers in defense or the cornerbacks or the quarterbacks and the running backs and the receivers. Those are very different roles. Some of the same athletic abilities are still required. Right. Like different roles. It's the same concept in baseball. That's why it's funny to hear guys go from college to professional baseball and they're an infielder in college and they're an outfielder in professional baseball because it'd be different in the pro game. Oh, heck yeah. And it is not. But the same thing applies that it is very different playing outfield. I think Jose Altube is a great example of this from this year in spring training. Yes. He got a lot of spotlight and I'll say really in a negative way because he went and played left field. Right. And props to him for being like, I'll go play left and you play second. Heck yeah, man. But he kind of exposed himself as like, oh, shoot, this is way harder than I thought. Yeah. Because I think a lot of guys are like, well, I can play infield in the big leagues. I can do anything. That is so not true. Oh, man. Fernando Tatis Jr., great example, playing shortstop. Right. He highlighted as one of the best shortstops in the league. Yep. And then they put him in the outfield and they're like, Tatis drops another one. I know. Yeah. And think about how much that sucks as that player. In his world, he's like, I do all of this so well. And I, what just happened? It went in and it's out and now it's on the ground. And now I got to go chase it around and I'm kicking it and I'm fumbling around. There's 30,000 people here looking at me. I know, man. And 10 million people watching me on TV. Exactly. And I mean, I think that's just part of it. It is very spotlighty what you're talking about because everybody pays attention to the errors. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And we've all felt that big. Well, how often is it that... We just went to the ball game this week and if there's an error, they flash them up on the big screen. They're like, error in left field or whatever. You're just standing there, got the hands on the hips looking around and they're just frustrated. You know, that's baseball. It's going to happen. It's a game of failure in itself. It is. But yeah, that's... I completely agree with you. It's a very individual... Being a weatherman and baseball. Games of failure and you can have a good job. Yes, exactly. Exactly, man. It's so funny. But yeah, dude, that's totally true. I agree. I think that there's a lot there. So I do want to take it back a little bit because we are getting into some of that. What you stand for? Who you are, right? I want to go back to little Nick. Sure. A little bit. Not much. And I don't... We don't have to do a whole biography here, right? And yes, anybody who's watching. Yeah, I did just pull out my phone. Okay, I'm going to... Sure....mark myself out here. And really, honestly, just a brief... Like family background. Yeah. Where do you come from and... Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I have one older sister. We are five years apart. And her and I are very close. Like very, very, very close. Like we're not... And I mean, of course, like as we get older, like, you know, we're not texting every single day about everything, but like we're still really close. So that's awesome. And, you know, my parents always took care of us the same. And it was never like a situation of like any animosity between the two of us. Of course, you know, we're siblings. Like we fight. Oh, yeah, for sure. That happens all the time. But, you know, that was kind of cool because as I was little and knowing that I really wanted to do things that were in some sort of athletic realm, whatever that looked like. And I kind of knew when I was younger that I wanted to play ball. You know, like my dad was... My dad was high level ball player, my uncle, my grandpa. Like my family, a lot of the men on my dad's side in the family were high level ball players. Sure. So I knew pretty early like I wanted to do that. Yeah. Which was cool because I could kind of branch out and play other things as I was kind of, you know, doing that and getting excited about sports as I got older. But it was also cool because as I got a little bit older and things became more competitive, but I was all over the city, my sister was old enough to drive. So she would be the one that was, you know, you know, she was around. Yeah, exactly. And she would be taking me to games or practices or whatever. Was she so irritated by that or was she pretty cool about it? I think there was a level of both. Like sometimes it got to be a little much because she also was working and... Oh, gosh. You know, things like that. Like when you're a teenager in high school... She had kind of a touch of like moming almost, right? Yeah. But not moming, but chipping in. She was. Yeah. Well, like I think it's just because in the summer, like my mom and dad were both still working. So when I had practices, man, like there was no way for me to get there. Yeah. So it was like, what do I do? So it was a lot of like figuring out if I was riding with somebody or if, you know, she was going to take me or whatever. But yeah, she had some stressful times too. So it was like, that was a bummer for her. Yeah. Like it was a really big blessing for me because I still was able to do the thing that I loved. And it was kind of interesting because like I said, I knew from a young age that I wanted to do that. Like we had a cage in the basement at my parents' house. Yeah. We had like all kinds of stuff that I knew I was going to be able to utilize in a capacity that was going to make me a whole lot better than a lot of people, just because I had the thing at my disposal to be good. Of course, we built that and like there's all kinds of different levels. Like that wasn't like, my parents weren't like billionaires to afford everything in the world, but it was cool. Yeah, it was cool. So it was like things that we did and made it to where we could do that. So, but like at the same time, I was one to put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. So you're getting to where I was going to. Yeah, I like this. So I, and I know that there's going to be questions that come from this. So I'll dive in a little bit. But I think the reality was is like I would do that because I knew my dad and I had a relationship that was like whether it was, it was always meant to be positive reinforcement, but sometimes critiques don't look positive. Yeah, yeah, I get it. And I mean, my dad and I have had my fair share. Like we've had our fair share of tiffs, you know? Sure. Like we weren't, it's not like anybody's perfect. You know, like that's just reality. And we spent so much time together on the road over summers. I mean, I'm talking like in a summer, we're playing at least 100 ball games. Yeah, right. And that's if I'm playing with one team, you know, some summers I played with two teams. So it just depends on how that looks. But, you know, a lot of that came from just being in the moment to know that like the way that my dad and I communicated, it was put to where I knew that I had a potential that was really high. So my level of pressure I put on myself, and in a lot of ways, like pressure comes from a lot of places, right? Like it could be parental pressure. It could be pressure to perform for friends or, you know, in high school if you have girlfriends or college girlfriends or whatever. All that stuff kind of comes into play, you know? Like you want to do well in front of the people that you care about. And you want to do well in front of people that you don't, because in a lot of ways, you know, I want to beat you. And if you're being an asshole to me, I want to beat you worse. And that kind of thing. And I put in more time than you, so I am, right? You have all of that stuff. Yes. And it's hard because you can't always perform that well. It's impossible to, right? And I think a lot of times people think that just because, and this is really what the very deep aspect of what this whole show is about is that people are people, and there are good things and bad things that happen no matter how much you practice. I can't control everything, and I can't be on my game every single day, whether that be as a parent, as an athlete, as a professional in the workforce. It's never going to go perfect every day. It's not how it works. It's just because I put time in. I'm so glad you're bringing this all up. Yeah. Well, it's true. Just because I put time in does not mean that it's all of a sudden just going to be perfect. It doesn't work that way. And I put a lot of time. I can tell you there just weren't times where I was like, I'm going to go to a Halloween party or I'm going to go to my friend's birthday. I missed a lot, and that's my own choice. I'm not saying you need to go out and do this if you want to be successful. That was my own choice because I put it in front. It's a very real side, though, to your story, and a lot of competitive or athletic people. You're going to have sacrifice. You want to be that one? I remember vividly. I must have been like 12 or 13, maybe a little older. I might have been like my freshman year in high school, maybe like 14 or 15, I guess. I remember I walked in the house and I was at the time I had played basketball, soccer, baseball in high school. And the reality was I was not really good at soccer. I knew that wasn't going anywhere. I kind of just did it because I liked it. Well, did you have friends playing? Yeah, exactly. Like my best friend at the time, I say at the time because he's passed away now, still my best friend. But I've got a level there. We'll talk about that later. But yeah, so he was on the team and he was always a really great soccer player. So I was like, yeah, go try it out. Don't care. I played soccer when I was younger, didn't there for a little bit afterwards. And I'm like, let's go have some fun, do it. Sure. Like I said, I wasn't like super successful. I never like I was not even a varsity soccer player. I was a soccer player and I was OK with that. Yeah, because I was good enough to be decently competitive. Yeah, I was not good enough to win state championships. Sure. He was. He was going to do that. So yeah, that was that was fun. But like, you know, playing basketball, I was OK at basketball, like not like I said, not lights out by any means. Like that was just not my thing. Sure. But baseball was very much my thing. And that was just one of those things. Like when I walked in the house one day, my mom's like, hey, something's got to go. Right. I'm like, you got you have to make some decisions. Uh huh. Well, and at the time, like I was doing all kinds of things. So I was I also had some handful of random extracurriculars. Like I had always been really into comedy and we had an improv troupe. So I was the leader of the improv troupe. Are you kidding me? So I'm going to cut you off real quick. Sure. You're killing it. He's making me look so good. I haven't had to ask him a thing. I'm seriously like you're going exactly where I want to go. But yeah, I love this. So keep going. I'm sorry. Cut you off. Comedy troupe. Go. Yeah. So I was I was leader of the improv troupe at the time, kind of co-leader there. There's another one of my buddies that we did that with. And so I did that. And then I also was what at the time I was I was playing guitar and I would do lessons regularly there. Yeah. And then my buddies and I, we were just a bunch of doofuses. We would put together every year kind of like a band to play at the talent show. I love this. Like it was just something fun to do. Like there was no like there wasn't an expectation from that. Sure. Like we weren't like we're going to freaking make it like that. Right. Right. You know, like it was nothing like that. It wasn't like RCA. But every time you hit that stage, you felt like it. Yeah. And it was a lot of fun. That's cool. And I got something that kind of leads into that. But yeah. So like one of the things that we'd always done, like all of us were very into music. And actually somebody that's going to probably come on the show. One of my best friends in the world. He's awesome. His name is Anthony. He is a music producer now. Has a huge studio in his basement. Lives not too far from us here. But you know, he could play. He could look at an instrument and be like, yeah, I could play that. He's like my dad. It's unbelievable. I do my dad. Actually, Hensley's like that. It's a it is a talent like I cannot explain. It is unbelievable. I don't get that man. And I love it. I applaud that. Yeah. My great uncle Donald, my grandfather, my dad. I could play guitar trumpet. Right. Growing up. Hensley will play the trumpet and then go, I think I want to learn a song on the piano. Sure. And then he goes and does it just like go and do it. Guitar. He was playing songs on the guitar that we bought. I'm just like, awesome. That's so cool, man. Who are you? It's such a cool talent. It's really cool. It's a really cool talent. So yeah, that's something to think about. But so growing up, you've not been to my parents' house and they live like 30 seconds. I know. Yeah. One day you'll have to go because it really highlights the love that my dad has for music. So there is an unreasonable amount of guitars. At one point, my dad decided I'm going to start building guitars. So my dad and I, and a lot of time spent building guitars. So I'd always thought like, OK, I'm going to play guitar. I'm going to be good at guitar. We're going to figure that out. So I did that thing. I went and did that. And that's why we kind of always like the guys that I kind of grew up with in high school, like we knew we were going to be playing music. So it didn't matter. We just broke out stuff in each other's houses and just played, man, because we just enjoyed it. We were the idiots that were driving down the road with all the windows down and we got our hands up and we're those idiots, right? So we had a great time doing that. And I don't regret a single second of that. I would do it again. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. And those are the types of things that I think were really heavy in shape and who I am now because there was so many cool things in there. And it's just one of those deals that we have so many, like way too many things to even talk about in being a kid and growing up and doing all the cool stuff, right? Like it's hard to get too far into it without a whole ton of prompts, right? Yeah, I know. I know. And that's that's right. But I like where you're going with this because it's everything that I wanted you. I'm getting a good picture. And I think everybody else is too. What's made you what you are in this moment, right? And I think it's neat. And I know you have this love for movies too. Oh, yeah. Really big movie. Yeah. So who is the movie buffer? Is that just like your own thing? You know, I think if I had to pick somebody that was, it'd probably be my dad. But I watch way more movies than my dad. Yeah, I can vouch for that. And between my dad and I, too, I probably watch more. But I will say, what is it? Is your dad like this? Like my dad, he'll just like break out this movie that's never been heard of. He's like, oh, you got to watch this movie. It's incredible. It's incredible. And I'm like, I've never heard of it. Trust me. Watch it. And I watch it. And he's going to kill me for not remembering the name of it. Because I know I've asked him a million times. So dad, what's the name of the movie? But it was about the Afghanistan war. And it doesn't focus on the war. Right, right, right. It's more of like the behind the scenes after. And there's this weird twist. And I'm like, that is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. How is that not mainstream? There's plenty of that. So my thing is, my dad does that with movies and shows. And my dad's become more of a show guy as he's gotten a little bit older. But it is hilarious. Because the dynamic between him and my mom in the shows is super funny. So they like a lot of the same stuff. My dad loves, loves the Monster Hunt shows. Oh my gosh, that's my dad. They would get along. They would get along. Like Mountain Monsters, Bigfoot, all that stuff. He's all into that. And my mom's like, that's so dumb. And then my mom's watching something and my dad's like, that's dumb. But they'll watch so many things together that it's so funny that one will span off and watch something else that the other doesn't like. Are you and your wife like that too? You know, no. I like a lot more. And truthfully, we don't watch a lot of TV now. There's stuff like we do at night in the evening. Yeah. Once kiddos are down and stuff. But outside of that, we have enough to do right. Yeah, right. But yeah, my wife is like, she's cool with it. She doesn't have like a need to watch. My wife does this thing. It's pretty funny. I'll watch something. And if it's like a sci-fi or like a suspense and she's like, that's just weird. And I'm like, it's not like you need to give it a chance. And she's like, yeah, I probably won't. Yeah, that's Katie. Okay, that's fine. I'm not going to get you into it. That's cool. But yeah, it's a little different. But yeah, it's so funny to watch my parents because they both genuinely really enjoy suspenseful big time shows. And they give me a lot of recommendations too. And I mean, of course, now that they're in the stage of life, they don't have any kids at the house to worry about. They could have more time to do stuff like that. But yeah, it's super funny to watch one watching one thing and the other would be like, yeah, I'm going to watch that. Seriously, I swear that's Katie and I. Because I'm a huge 80s comedy guy. 100% yes. Love 80s. You've probably come into the barbershop and I've had like the great outdoors. Anybody that knows me, and you know this, anybody that knows me knows that I am all about the 80s. I love 80s. I love the 80s. I love 80s music. Yep. I love 80s movies. Same here. The 80s comedians are hilarious. All things 80s, I'm super into. And it's just awesome. I think it's great. I love it. But yeah, I'm definitely more the one to... Now, there's something I don't like. I'm definitely the one to pick up a movie that I've seen like 40 times and watch it again. Because... Heck yeah. Some of it is comfort movies. Some of it is movies that I just like. And some of it is like I watch them because... It's kind of the concept of people watch... They'll watch things at Christmas. Like, oh, we always watch this. And it's kind of that sometimes. I could tell you every single word from this movie because I've seen it so many times. It's true. But yeah, it's super fun. But yeah, I wouldn't say it really came from somebody. Okay. It's like I've always kind of enjoyed it. So it's just a thing. Yeah. Because I think the same for me too is the movie thing kind of was mine. But I'm trying to become my dad almost with this. I want to find that one to finally be able to tell my dad like, you got to watch this. Yes. And it's a real thing. But I'll never beat him. No. No. No. Yeah. Those things happen, man. The movies I've recommended to my parents, they're like, seriously. Do you ever watch the movie Run, Runny, Run? No. I feel like I have to, but I probably shouldn't. You have to now. And your IQ will drop. But. It's like a Billy Madison situation. Oh, it's worse. All now dumber for having listened to it. And my Marine Corps brother, my best friend, he and I would just watch it in the barracks room on repeat. And it was one of those things. And I know he listens and he's going to be like, oh my gosh, I got to watch it now. I'm all for that. You're so dumb after you watch it. But it's mind numbing. But yeah, I did that. I recommended that one to my parents one time and they watched it and they were like, don't ever recommend anything to us again. Yeah. It's a real thing, man. That's a real thing. Yeah. Yeah. That's that. I like it, man. There's something there. I like it. We got to, you know what I really appreciate too? Winston. About you. And I think it would be, I can speak for myself on this too, is as competitive as we are. Yeah. We're softies, bro. We're big teddy bears, man. And that's just it. Except with geese. Oh, I just brought it up again. I don't want to talk about the goose. I won't bring it up again. I won't bring it up again. Mitch, that was for you. I'm telling you, right? Yeah, exactly. And he probably won't even listen to this part. He's probably going to glaze right over it. I know, right? I was literally telling somebody that just very recently, that story again. And I was like, you got to go listen to the fire I had when I was talking about the show because it made me so grumpy. But I was, you know, that was the first time and it just happened to be a goose. That was the first time that it was coming down to like, I have to protect my babies. Yeah, man. And I mean, my kids are young, so this is, of course, there hasn't been a lot of opportunity for that to happen. But I was like, dude, this goose is driving itself into a territory it doesn't want to be in. I don't want to go back into the story because I'm going to start getting hostile again about the goose. But I was like knife on it. Exactly, man. I was like, what the heck is going on here? Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it was it was bananas. Oh, my gosh. This is great. But yeah, man, that was that was a wild time in Gooseland. OK, I do have an important question because I think this is an important question. And we've kind of covered this with everybody. I consider you to be a successful dude. Yeah. We do podcasts together. Yeah. You're a dad. You're a husband. Full time career. What is your optimal? I'm going to burn out if I don't chill. How do you find your time to chill? So first of all, I think part of it is as a toddler slash newborn dad, you don't. Yeah, like not not really. Sure. You do in the capacity that you you kind of hit bed and you can just like for a second. My wife and I talk about that a lot. I think some of this like this is an outlet more for me than it is like a responsibility for me. We can both. Yeah, you could speak for both of us on that. Yeah, I think we yeah, I think we both talked about that enough to where like this is something that I enjoy to do where it's this is like a decompressive time. So that's part of it. But how funny is it that it's a decompressive time for both of us? And we've talked about this numerous times on and off the podcast. And yet we still the only thing we want to do is talk about them. Yeah. Isn't that cool? So it's so true. And what's neat about it is most men are like that. Yeah, they just don't say it. They don't. And this is kind of goes back to what we've talked about before. We've talked about it in the capacity. I think some of like mental health wise that not that people can't. They just don't. They don't. And maybe they can't. And I know I just spun us off on a tangent here, but I thought that was important to cover that. Well, it is. And I think that it's just multifaceted, truthfully. I get to do something. I'm lucky enough to get to do something that I really love to do. That there are days like I told you today, I had some less than comfortable, exciting moments. And that's okay because that's going to happen. Yeah, it's life. It goes back to the reality that we talked about all the time. If all days are good days, no days are good days. So that's kind of reality. But I think for me, it was one of those situations where I get to do this and this is fun for me and I enjoy to do this. And we've talked about this a lot in the capacity that you're like, dude, you do a lot here. And I think that's true. But also, it doesn't feel like I have this responsibility weight on my shoulders. And this is a lot where I was going with the podcast thing because you do a lot. Yeah. Like, if you all saw this whole relationship, you'd go, hey, Nick, why do you do this with the other Nick? And I'm like, now, I will say I do my due diligence. This man gets appreciated by me numerous times a week. What can I do? What can I do? And he's like, bro, you can't do anything. You're not tech savvy. Yeah, I tell that all the time. Like, you suck, man. He doesn't say that. No, no, no. And you are appreciated. So I'm going to say it again. But like, to me, this is my outlet, but you do all that on the back end, too. I mean, we've been texting at midnight before with stressful things that have happened. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, dude. Like, facepalm moments like crap. But what's funny about that, and I'll tell you now because I didn't tell you before, I literally thought in my head, you cannot go to sleep. If this man can't sleep, you're going to stay up. But see, that's the teammate, that's the military in you. Yeah. You know, it's very much like embrace the suck alongside your brother scenario. And I stayed up very late. Yeah. Well, and I mean, because I texted you, I think I texted you, it was like 1.30. I'm up with my little guy. And I was like, this damn thing is still going. And like I said, it's not a big deal because, of course, there are frustrations with everything. Let's take baseball again, for example. Sure. I loved baseball. Before my wife, my babies came along, I would say I loved baseball more than anything. Baseball is your first love. It really was. Yeah. And I had so many bad days with baseball. Yeah. And so many bad things. I say bad things. There was never a bad day on the baseball field. A bad day on the baseball field beats a good day in an office. You know, people say that. But I understand where you're going. You get where I'm coming from. Yeah. And it's got nothing to do with anybody else or anything. That was a me thing. But the reality was, is that I think if you put a lot of emphasis on something and you really enjoy something, like it feels less restrictive, right? And I think at the same time, you have all these opportunities to do really cool things within it. And those are the things, like the big bright moments, the sparks, the bookmarks in time are really, really cool. And now I just get to do that at a different capacity. Now, I would say my bookmarks and my really big checklist items that I wanted to do, let's just call it the bucket list, right? Yeah. That's much different now. I get to do those cool things with my wife, with my babies, with my family again. I missed a lot of family moments too, which is where my mom kind of came into play. She's like, you're gone a lot. You really need to figure out like, you're gone a lot. Right. And that was true. And I mean, that was true. I mean, I can tell you many times, like one weekend, it was, I used to play on this travel team and his damn camera. I hear it beeping. And every time it beeps, I just want to let everybody know his heart is fine. That's true. It is. It's good. Yeah. The heart monitor is worth taking away. So I remember this specific moment, this travel team I was on, we would play all over the place. And I had played a, we played a game in Tulsa. The next day, we played a triple header. I know this story. Yeah. It might've been the other way around. It might've been Lincoln and then Tulsa, but we were direct opposites in back-to-back days, which I didn't care because I wasn't driving or whatever. You take me to ball games. Yeah. But like at the same time, it still takes a toll on you and you are gone. That's intense, man. Yeah. And I mean, it was, I mean, we were playing seven, eight games in a couple of days. Yeah. You're also not getting home-cooked meal. You're not in your own bed. Your loved ones aren't. Well, it depends. It depends, right? Like in that case, we were because we were just going right through, right? Like we were just coming right back to see to do that. Sure. But the reality was, is like that wasn't always the case. There were times where we'd play Omaha in a day and then we'd go and play Lincoln another day. And we'd play, you know, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Yeah. We're all over the place, right? Like that's just reality. It just depended. But yeah, there was a lot. There's a wild story. I know. We've talked about that. That going North to South or South to North consecutive days. Oh, yeah. That's a toll. Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's a mind suck. 100%. Yeah. And it's just one of those things. It's like, if you don't want to be there, you should not be there. No, exactly. And it's not taking away anybody's... I'm not discrediting anybody's love for the game, but at a certain point, that is what you do. Yeah. You don't... There's not any other... At least in my experience, there was not a lot of time for anything else. Yeah. So I really didn't have a girlfriend in high school. Yeah. Like I did, but it was at the end. Right. After I was much more established in the baseball world, and I knew what was going on with college, and all these things kind of fell into place. Yeah. But it was very different. I, at the time, was not willing to give up that thing for something else, no matter what that was. Yeah. And that was... I'm painting an extreme picture. I don't mean it as extreme as it is. It was just... That was my experience. Well, I'll tell you, outside the box, dude, you're not coming off extreme at all. You're coming off very real. Like it is... It's your story. Yeah. And it was very... I don't discredit anybody's story. I don't discredit your traumas, your past. Oh, sure. None of that. So this is your... Don't feel like you... People listening, he's not whining. He's telling us his story. You're good, brother. Yeah, it's a real thing. It's a real thing. And we definitely had a lot of times where we were all over the place like that. So it's very real. And I do. I think that it's a testament, say, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to do it. Nobody's going to make you do it. Yeah. Now, I say that with... I've coached some kids where parents were less than exciting. And there's no fault. I'm not putting any blame on anybody. I understand that stress has come from different things. But again, I know I'm not in the shoes today. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it. I'd like to hope that I deal with it really well. But parents sometimes put that pressure on their kids. You need to go do this. And sometimes the kids don't feel like they want to do that. That's not for them. And if you don't want to be here, at a certain point, it is more a detriment to the team than it is a benefit. I couldn't be more happy that we're talking about this right now because I've been talking to... I talk to parents every day. And I was recently talking to a parent who's not on any of our teams. It was in the barbershop. And it was about this exact topic. The child looks like... And it wasn't this client's child. It was another one. But it was brought up to me because they know that my boys play competitive ball. What's my take on it? Not being the man in charge of the team, but being one of the coaches, right? What's your take on this? And the take was they had a... I think they're 14U baseball. And one of the kids, he also plays another sport in the spring. And he's playing for not a cheap club. So there's this tournament. And this kid in particular had another sport going on that impeded on baseball. So it was like, hey, I can be there for the nine o'clock game, but I have to leave. I can't be there for the noon. And then tomorrow when we play, I can be there for the noon or two game, but I can't be there for the eight o'clock game. And I was kind of baffled with it a little bit. But at the same time, why are you in this baseball club? I don't mean to sound heartless because a kid should be exposed. Oh, absolutely. But at that age... Well, that's the thing, right? It's getting younger and younger. And that's a true bummer. But also whatever the other sport was or whatever activity it was, it's also a disservice to that. We use baseball because we love baseball, but it's the reality that it's just really hard now. There's competitive leagues that are out there and they expect a lot. But now it's basically like we're expecting kids to make a commitment at eight years old to be here and not do anything else. That kid doesn't even know if that's what they want. Right, right. And that's a whole other topic. But I think the reality for that is it's hard to expect kids to make a decision based on if they think they love that yet. They maybe do, maybe they don't. And some of it comes from parents that played or whatever. Right, right. The pressures, right. Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that. I just think it's hard. And it's a hard topic in general. It is a really hard topic. It's funny because I said I would bring it up. Oh, yeah, sure. And get some fresh take on it too. And kind of where I left off and I could have been wrong, I don't know. But I said, it's almost like this child needs to say, all right, I'm better at this one. So maybe I go rec level on the other one. Sure. And then I know I can be exposed to both. And I don't know. This is a scenario. So I mean, I use this a lot. And I didn't come up with this. This is not my thing. But I use it as a point of emphasis and reference to it a lot. It's a situation where if you need to make a decision and you put the two decisions in front of you onto a coin, heads and tails, you know that those two are representative of whatever those choices are. And you can live with either one. Exactly. Let's just say that I'm between baseball and golf. Okay. And I designate baseball to be heads and golf to be tails. And I'm like, whatever one this lands on is what I'm going to choose. Well, when the coin's in the air, I'm hoping for one. You are. That's my choice. You totally are. So the reality is, is I'm not going to let... Fate decides that is what I'm basically saying. Yeah. And you're not going to let fate decide that. You're going to decide because you know where your heart is at that moment. And it's all about being open and honest with yourself to say, you know what, before I even flip this, I know what I'm going to pray for. Well, and there's so many opportunities. It's not true. Opportunities are sometimes hard to come by and use sports when it comes to specific areas, right? But I think the reality is there's so many opportunities now to at least experience sports in the youth age to not have to worry about, like, oh, they're not going to get a chance. There's definitely going to be a chance for them to try stuff. Yeah. Now it's getting probably more and more expensive, truthfully. Yep, it is. But the reality is, is like, if you want to try some stuff, like, just go try some stuff. That's cool. And you have to, like, to your point, like, if you commit to do this, I'm going to expect you to do it for at least the season. Right. And then if that's not it... That's where it's tough. When it's a dual thing that you've got to be committed to. Well, but that's the thing is that's a different conversation. Yeah. Right? Like, I have 100% respect. I told you. I think I'm looking for you to answer this for them. Sure. I'm sorry, dude. No, this is cool because it's real. Like I said, I was a multi-sport athlete for many years and that's not... And like I said, some I was really good at and some I wasn't. Yeah. And that's just reality. Like, I'm not the world's best athlete. Like, I'm not going to just go out and be able to do everything. Right. Nor is anybody. There are people like... I use Patrick Mahomes as an example. He's a great athlete. Heck yeah. A lot of things really well. A lot of sports he plays really well. Yeah. You don't see him playing MLB. Right. Not that he couldn't. I'm not saying he can't. I know where you're going though. Yeah. He made a decision because he knew that his heart was with football. Yep. Good for him. And this is a great example because his dad played pro baseball. Right. Right? Like, I mean, the reality is just that there's... Dude, life's too short to get stuck in things that you don't want to do for real. Right. Right. If you want to do it for real, go do it. If you don't, don't. Oh, that's such a beautiful takeaway. Like, I don't... Yeah. I think so many people get hung up on disappointing other people and putting their emphasis on what is it going to do to other people. Right. If I make this decision, how is it going to affect other people? I really hope that when I am a dad of young athletes, hopefully, if that's the case... Yeah. I hope that at some point, they don't make a decision based on what I want. Exactly. And of course, I'm going to have tons of influence. Somebody asked me one day, you know, I was picking out colors for my little man's bedroom in his nursery, you know? And I was talking to somebody and they were like, well, do you have like a theme? And I was like, yeah, I wanted to be baseball themed. They were like, what if he doesn't like baseball? I was like, let's be honest. A baby's bedroom is not for the baby. No. The baby's bedroom is totally about the parents. So like, the reality is like, I put it together because I think it's a cool concept and my wife and I think it's cute. Yeah. Like, that's what it became. Yeah. It's what we like. Yeah. The baby's not going to remember this. No, and they're not. And if they do, awesome. Yep. Super cool. Yep. But the reality is, is like, if he... It would be... It's weird when parents think they don't have some form of influence on their children. Yeah. Like, I know that at some point... I think the reality is, is I know at some point, like me enjoying baseball and I watch baseball a lot. That will rub off a lot. He's going to want to experience that at some point. Whether he sticks to it or not, whatever, man. Do your thing. Like, I hope my preferences of loving baseball don't affect his choices to do what he would like to do. And of course, I've said it a million times. It's easier said than done. But like, I just want to be here for you, man. Like, I just want to enjoy it with you, whatever that is. Like, if it's tennis, I don't love watching tennis, but if you're my daughter, you're my son, you're my brother, you're my sister or whatever, I'm going to love it because you love it. Right. And it's hard because... And I'm going to learn it because you love it. And I'm going to watch it. And you know what? I'm probably going to become addicted to watching you play. Exactly. Yep. Exactly. And I think in a lot of ways, I just want to experience those things with them. And they may never know that. I hope they do. I really hope they do. I think actions will tell them that, right? Yeah. And I think that's where I'm at with that later phase in life where my boys are at. That's what I've been loving is they've been able to see me just sit back and smile and clap. Yeah. Well, and like to your point about the dual sport athlete and conflicts, right? I have had my time on a ball field. I still play, you know, men's league. Right. I'm a competitive person. So I take it seriously and play competitively. But that's not everybody's take on it. So when I do something dumb in men's league, I'm like, you're terrible. Like, come on. But at the same time, my time is up in the game. Really, for real. And I think that if I were to say I'm living vicariously through my kids, that's just so unfair to my kids. Oh my gosh, man. But I don't know this person or whoever it is you're talking about. I just hope that if the kid has to come to a crossroads, that that crossroads doesn't end up in I want to do nothing. Right. I want it to be, I would rather it be, I really love this thing. And I like this other thing a lot. I would rather do that as like, I just want to go be with my friends. And like I said, take baseball and golf. I love it. Yep. I love baseball in a way that I can't explain. Yeah. I love playing golf. Yeah. I kind of just want to screw around and play golf with my friends. Right. So I knew that, and that's not a real example, but it's fun. Yeah. So I think the reality was is I knew that I had a lot of friends on my baseball team. Of course, of course. But like, I would play baseball anywhere I needed to play baseball if I got the chance to do it. Sure, sure. And I think that there's all kinds of things that happen in today's world. And this, I mean, this happens back in the day, I'll say too. A lot of times, you know, parents would be like, well, that's not how I would have done it. Awesome. The game's different. Yeah. You're not in the middle of the situation. Yeah. Right. And similarly, even in some of the times that I coach, parents would say just crazy things. Oh, it's your responsibility to do this and this and this. And it's like, yeah, I know my responsibility as the coach and I'm doing whatever I can. There were times where parents did not like that we were doing drills and not just out taking ground balls. It's like, what do you think this is? How do you think this works? Because I'm not perfect by any means and I'm not going to claim to be. Now, certainly there are times where I'm like, I am just flat out better than you at this. You need to take a step back. Right. That's okay. Yeah. It's a fact. And I'm not trying to be an asshole about it. It's just reality. So taking it and putting it on your kids is just unfair to your kids. 100% of it. So me being in the middle of competitive youth sports right now, we see it all the time. Always. It's a thing. All the time. And it is what it is. It's funny. I've had this funny thing going on and I'm going to give a shout out to my boy Manny. We're assistant coaches together and I know he listens. But we've had this really funny thing going on recently where when Hensley's up to bat, after each pitch or swing or a swing and miss or whatever he does, he turns around and looks at me as if, did I do that right? Did I do that right? And I'm like, Manny, look at him. He keeps looking at me. He goes, disappear. Go to the other side of the dugout. I go, why is he doing that? He goes, I don't know. And it started to bother me because I'm like, does he think he's letting me down or does he think he's got to prove something to me or... That is an intrinsic internal response to negative performance in general. I'm safety is what you're saying. I'm like his safety blanket in that moment or... Well, maybe that's the case. But I'm thinking it's actually almost more negative. I think that exactly like what you said, there is a negative connotation put on that. And maybe that's not the case. I think the reality is it's very much like you said, am I letting them down? And I think that that happens a lot and I think that it sucks that it does because I think it's just such a mental barrier that people have. Yeah. And I say people. Adults have this. Kids definitely have this because as the person that has molded them and shaped them to who they are now, when you do something that is seen as negative, if I strike out, I think that it elicits a response from someone, right? And I think, unfortunately, in spectator sports, baseball being a very big spectator sport, there's people that are psyched that you strike out because the reality is somebody else's child is pitching. Yeah, right. And there are people that are really upset that you struck out because you're someone's child as the person that's hitting. And then there are people that they are off in their own little wonderland and they don't really care what happens. They're there because their kid's there. And then I think there's the people that are just like so incredibly proud of their kids for existing on a field and doing something that that's a good thing. And other times, sorry. No, no, no, no. Other times, there are parents that don't have any feelings towards it, which is that that is right. I don't want to say it's negative, but it's a little bit negative because then it looks like I'm uninterested. And it could potentially have a negative impact on the kiddo. That's sad. Yeah, I wouldn't. Oh, I'm so glad I'm not like that. And yeah, there's Hensley walking right now and I've been talking about him. And Hensley, I want you to stay here real quick. Yeah, I got a question for you. Come here. Come here, buddy. So before he comes back real quick, do you want to know the type of dad I am and coach in that moment when he looks back at me or if he strikes out? Did you strike out swinging? Yeah, sweet. I'd like nothing negative, which is so funny. I think yes, to your point. Yes, but I think it's even less than that, right? It's like if you strike out looking people, sometimes the answer is well, you didn't try. And that's not the case, right? How many times? Be honest. How many times have you gotten into the box and just genuinely been like I'm not going to do what I can do? Here. A lot. No, no, no, no. That's right. I think you misunderstood my question. You misunderstood. You're going to get up to bat, right? And you're thinking about whatever. Let's just say you're not. Let's just say your mind goes blank, right? You're getting ready to go hit. How many times are you thinking about like, well, I'm not going to do well anyway. Like, I'm just going to fail anyway. So what difference does it make? How often does that happen? Are you negative with yourself going into the box? Right. Not very often, right? Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to ask you a different question. When you go to hit, how many times are you thinking about what your dad's doing standing in the dugout or watching your game? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You're all good. There's not always something to fix, right? And if they're going to fix it, this is a learning moment for you and an experience moment from my past. Yeah. I can't fix things in games. Nope. Right? You can't fix things in games, right? So I think this is a great example of what you're talking about. You swing and miss. You look back and you're like, he's going to tell me what I need to do better. Because how many times are we watching people? And there's those videos that are out there now. A lot of guys I follow that are pretty funny and they're like, Squash the bug, swing up, do this, keep your hands up, all that crap, right? That's not going to do anything, man. That's not going to do anything. I know. Nine times out of ten, do you know what I say to them? Quick hands, babe. Yeah. I'm not telling them to fix anything other than just stay quick. So not that you're wrong. Don't take this as me telling you you're wrong. Even that doesn't work. And the way I say that is, again, this is not negative. I'm just saying, now I'm thinking about my hands. When I should just be thinking about hitting the ball, whenever I make a critique in game to a kiddo that I'm coaching, the critique comes later. And it also is like, hey, you're looking for this. Look for this. It's never about a physical thing. It's not like, keep your hands inside, stay tight, all that stuff. It's just making people's head go in a place it shouldn't. As an already difficult thing to do that hitting is, this is really a lot about baseball. But the reality is, as tough as it is, if I'm making you think about something else, you're no longer focused on the goal. You're just focused on not screwing up the thing you just told me to do. Because what if I have really quick hands and I swing through something because I pull it and it's outside? I did the quick hand thing. What the hell? Oh, I like this. This is a good teaching moment for us. You know what I think I want you to understand before you go back to hanging out with brother, and I just told Nick this, Manny and I have been talking about this where he's like, just go to the other side of the dugout. And you want to know why? You have nothing to prove to me. Zero. You're already doing it. You're playing a sport you love and I get to be involved in it and I get to watch you grow every game. That's all I care about. You don't have to turn around and look at me. Now, if you turn around and look at me, you can look at me. I don't care. But 90% of the time, at 99% of the time, I'm not telling you to do anything because you're in the box. I want your mind fresh. No, I will say and I'm going to get better. In the field. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll shift you. I'll. That's different. That's strategy based, right? But in the box in particular, let your mind go blank and only visualize crushing the ball. That's it. So exactly to the point, right? I've stood right here in your shoes before and it's almost hard to hear that, right? Because you're thinking right now, how do I respond to that? Right, right. Like, do I just be like, thanks, dad? Yes. It's a little awkward. But at the same time, it's like as the athlete in the room, the active athlete in the room, right? You have the ability that we don't. We're no longer there. Oh, how many times have you heard that? Yeah, and it's you're going to look back and think about this one day. Yeah. And you're going to be like, it was too fast. And it is, because there's really so much time left. And those old guys were right. Yeah, and in a lot of ways, we're also really wrong. Yes, we are. So it's just reality, man. Thanks for talking. Thanks, dude. It was cool. Appreciate you, buddy. We were just talking about you and you came out. Yeah, so super cool. But it does, it lends itself to a point where there is... I appreciate you doing that, by the way. Yeah. That was cool. Dude, it's so hard to get people to understand that your performance is... It's not guaranteed. Tomorrow, in fact, is not guaranteed, right? Right. If there was one thing I could have done better in my time coaching or playing, it would be that I wish I told myself, if I could go back and tell little Nick something, just enjoy the hell out of this, man. Like, God, I'm so glad you're talking about this. There's so much that you're going to get to do and you're going to have some cool experiences. But if you don't really lock in and enjoy them, this is going to start to feel like a job to you. And in a lot of ways, when you become a professional athlete, it is a job, obviously, but you have to enjoy, really celebrate the big, really enjoy the little. Because if you think about it, what happens to someone who is a... Let's just take a youth athlete. What happens to them once they finally reach the goal of playing professional baseball? What happens next? They no longer have a goal. Right. The goal is already reached. But now, stay healthy, stay active, keep working. Then the goal becomes being on the field. Right. Yeah. I don't want to lose my job. Let's keep this thing going. Which is the same for any professional in any sport. Well, not even sport. Any professional anywhere, right? Like in my role. Another barber is going to pop up someday and say, all right, Nick, if you get a bad job consistently, then somebody else would say, well, I'm going to go to a different bingo. And then that leaves you in a weird position. If I did a bad job consistently, somebody's going to find another project manager. Yes. And that's just the way it is. So the reality is just enjoy the journey, man. Because if you don't and you're just looking for the end goal, eventually you're going to reach the end goal and you have nothing else to do. So just enjoy as it comes along. So if I was really to tell little Nick that I think I would go back and tell myself, man, this is super cool. It's super fun. If I looked back and told myself, I'm going to talk to a guy and get interviewed by ESPN, I would never have thought that as a little kid. Yeah. That's neat, man. I like that. And that's a place I wanted to go to was and listeners think about that too, right? What would you want to go back and tell little you? It's really important, I think, to look back on a journey and go, what could I have done differently? And not go back to moan and groan on it like, oh, I wish I would have. No regret. If we only could have done that, right? I take 42 year old me and if I would have went back and I think if there is, I think that there's always things heart monitors going off again. Yeah. Or beeping. Anyway, we'll come back to that. You know, and I do want to let you know, too, I know Nick had just made the comment that, man, this whole thing's been about baseball. Well, maybe that's a big part of you. Yeah. And that's okay. We'll take a really quick break. Fix the situation there with the camera and we'll be right back. All right. Cool. We'll see you. Sorry we're back. Sorry we're back. Sorry we're back. That's hilarious. Well, we had a random impromptu moment there. We're just fine. We officially filled up a whole SD cards. That's cool. That's awesome, man. That's what happened. Heck yeah. Yeah, man. So I think what I was going to say right there before we move on to the next thing, what I wanted to say at the end was I think that there is a moment at some point in everyone's life where if they could go back and tell their past self something, that they just learned a whole lot about themselves truthfully. And thinking about it holistically for myself right now, I learned about what I care about now and I learned about how I would really love to raise my kids. And I mean, if you choose to have kids, awesome. If you don't, that's okay too. But the reality is, if I could do that and make sure that my kids are taken care of and all the cool things, that's worth it for me. Yep. Amen to that. Thinking about that, I'm going back and telling my past self, just enjoy being here. Because I get hung up a lot on, it kind of makes me sad sometimes that I don't have enough time with my kids. They're going to outgrow me faster than I want them to. That's kind of a bummer. And I just love being a dad. I think it's so fun. And I love being a husband and being able to do cool things with my wife. And this is just a cool phase of life. I just really enjoy that. So for whatever that's worth. So here's a cool thing I just saw recently. Was it me on a baseball card? Yeah. Oh my gosh, man. It was amazing when you sign it. Now I need to make a baseball card for us. Yeah, I know, right? Oh my gosh. Unspoken baseball cards are rookies. Dude, are you kidding me? Those would be worth a fortune in the future, man. Absolutely. 12 cents each. Heck yeah. Cost us more to produce what they're worth. Dude, I am. You're laughing. I'm not because I kind of like the idea of doing this. But it's also funny. Yeah. I like it. Okay. Who thinks we need to make this happen? I think we need to make this happen. Tell us right now. Right now. Right meow. But oh, yeah, do it. He's looking for something. Yeah. No, they're out there. They're out there somewhere. All one of you. All one of you. That's right. I like the idea that I totally forgot what I was. Oh, no, I remember what I was going to say now. I just saw something recently that resonated that it hurts and it's stressful as a parent if you're doing it right. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. So wanting more time makes you a good parent. So pat yourself on the back for that, man, because I want it too. And you know, in reality, we have to work. That's cool. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that because there's nothing wrong with your kids also seeing that you're a hard worker. But no, that one set the tone with me on that day. It's almost like I needed to read that was it's hard for us when we want to be better or be good parents or the parents that are usually questioning, am I doing a good job? Typically, they are. They're doing the right things. They're doing the right things. Yeah. And it's hard because I think in the moment, you're always like crap, I got to handle that better. But that's also being a human and making a mistake. And that's okay, too. You're going to make it happen. Yeah, you have to. I've made mistakes. Shoot, man, I'm not perfect. Oh, yeah. Especially parenthood. Are you kidding me? I mess up every day. Oh, yeah, dude. Well, now I'm like, it's so funny because I'm looking back at all these like now I'm thinking back to all these different things. It's we're going to have to have multiple episodes about you and I, I think, just to get the whole story. I know, man. I know it's funny how I starting this whole episode today, leading up to it. I'm thinking about it today and I'm like, man, we are going to cover so much meat. Yeah. And we did. Sure. But realistically, on what, like two topics? It's like a tenth of the story. Oh, dude, yeah, totally. It's like a chapter. Yeah. And I think that's what's fun about it, too, when we bring the guests on it, it might spark some of that fire for us to be able to interject and say, Hey, you know what? I've been through that, too. Or a hundred percent. I experienced that or I haven't yet, but man, I don't know how I would handle that either. Yeah, that's, that's what's going to be fun. Yeah. Moving forward. And, and I, I agree though. It's going to take, gosh, I think it would take us years of podcasting to cover our stories. Oh, yeah, yeah. There's a lot. There's a lot. There's a lot of layers, man. Which in a lot of ways is why we do it. Truthfully, like you said, just to, just to have that opportunity to, to really kind of help someone if it helps one person, if it, if it touches a spark or something. I love it. I have absolutely loved this whole episode. Super fun. It's been fun. Yeah. Now for the juicy stuff. Well, boy. Oh, yeah. See, Nick here is like, oh, I love doing this to other people. I do. This is my favorite part. This is his favorite part though. See, he's not even nervous because he, he's, he's just waiting for it. I'm just tucking in. Look at me. I mean, I'm just getting ready. And one of these, I'm, I'm almost jealous that I'm not asking myself because I know exactly who and, and you'll get this right now. So who's ready for the fire around here? We go, here we go. Here we go. Conceived ready. If I love when you say that we need to get a t-shirt with that. Yeah, I was conceived ready to make that happen. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be? And why, man, that is such a hard question right off the bat. I would almost have to go. What are we considering a historical figure? Let's go like, is that to be somebody that's dead alive? Like, what are we thinking? Let's go dead. Okay. Then I got an easy answer. Perfect. One of, dude, it's got to be Kobe. Oh, I like it. The reason I say that is because he's got this tenacity, the fire to him that I just admired so much and still do. But man, that is, I think that there is so much in Kobe Bryant's story that is totally unspoken. Oh, nice plug. But it's just untold. I think now as we're further past his passing, which I remember when that happened, and I'm sure a lot of you, but I remember when that happened and being like, this isn't real. And then more and more stuff came out and I was like, what in the hell? I know. That was a wild day. Yeah, it was. It was. So I think that's an answer for me that I'm really onto. Just because I think that understanding a day-to-day from someone like that is really cool. Now, I'm sure I'm, of course, not thinking of somebody else that's really cool that I would love to talk to. But that's not a bad answer, though, because you talk about that competitive spirit, right? And I think we've established that we both are. He's got a great story. Well, and I think that he did a lot of things the right way. Of course, everybody has the opportunity to say, I did a lot of things the wrong way. And you shouldn't do it like me. Yeah. And I think that everybody can say that. But I think he's done a lot of things in his legacy that's really cool. And I think that his family and his children would be like, this is, like, you did some cool things that you are able to understand and appreciate that. And he outworked everybody. Yeah, so many stories about that. Oh, my gosh, man. And it wasn't what's neat about him is it was never about he never outworked anybody based on a greed, like a greedy thing, right? It was him. He was in competition with himself. Yes, every day. Yeah, it was something that he was like, it was really cool. Figure out how to beat what I did yesterday, which a lot of ways is how I modeled my game. And in a lot of ways, I was competitive to other people, too. I mean, that's reality. But yeah, I think it's very neat. I like that. That's a good answer, man. Super cool. Yeah. That's a great answer. Cool guy to know. Okay, this one could get dangerous. Knowing you, though, it's not dangerous because it would be like me, too. You'd be like, oh, this could get juicy. But it's also Nick and Nick. So what's the strangest thing you've Googled recently? Dude, I don't Google anything anymore. Come on. Yeah, you do. I don't. I use so much AI, truthfully. But I mean, you know what I do for work. So yeah, a buddy of mine and I were talking about or talking about. Do you remember Turtle Beach headphones? Oh, my gosh. Yes. This is just actually not that long ago. Actually, it was Mitch. He was asking me, oh, was it like, are they still a thing? So I was like, is Turtle Beach still real? Such a stupid, blatant like Google like this is dumb. But that's got to be my most recent. Dude, I love that. Genuinely, I could not. I don't Google. I use so much AI tools now and people are going to be like, that's stupid. Don't do that. As the cybersecurity expert in the room, it already knows. You know, what's my point in being? Of course, I'm fearful of potential problems of everybody is, but I'm not going to sit around and let it hinder me. Like I'm still going to live my life. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I wish more people live that way. Don't Google a lot anymore. Wow. Google and Turtle Beach. I like that. I know this was your question, but can I answer that too? Because mine's a hundred percent. Yes. And my wife would totally expect this. I was Googling turbo kits for my car because I want to beef it up a little bit. And I figured enough miles on it. All my warranties are gone. My only problem is that is going to be Hensley's car when he can drive. That's when I'm going to get a new car. Sure. We're coming up on a couple of years and I'm like, does he really need big turbos on that? No. No. On that car? Not on that car. I actually lied to you. I just thought about something because I thought about it being on my phone. So my son is very small. He's at the point where I can still count him in months. Mommy sat him up on the bed, went and did her thing. Daddy's working. And I get a picture that he had a blowout poop in his sleeper. Well, that ended up on my pillow. So I need a new pillowcase. Yeah, you're just laughing over there. That's exactly right. You have a lot of blowout poops on your sleeper nowadays. He just said me. But yeah, so I had to figure out there's a very specific pillow that this happened with. And that specific pillow has a very specific type of pillowcase. So I was Googling the most ridiculous like this pillowcase. What is it called? Like, you know, I don't even want to Google something similar to that. I was like, what is this thing called? And I was like looking for brands and all kinds of things. And I was like, this is just hopeless. My fellow's gone. That is crazy. My pillow got pooped on. Yep. Been there. Kids, man. Kids. Yep. It's all pretty. It is. Until it's not. I bought this really cool onesie for Hensley when he was a baby. It was a Detroit Tigers onesie. And it was like, you know, one of those replica jersey onesies. Yeah. First day, first day he had it on. Yep. Wearing that thing. He's looking so good. I go and change it and it's like split pea soup. All over. Ruined it. Yep. 100%. It happens, man. I still have a picture of that on my phone, actually. I sent it to mommy and I was like, he wore it. It's gone. 40 minutes later. Gone. Oh, man. I was so bummed out. But it's so gross. It is. Whatever. It's also awesome. It's part of having kids. Whatever. It's different when it's your kids. When it's your kids or your own, you're good. Yeah. Just as it is. Madden, you have a picture? Probably, man. Yeah, dude. You're going to do it, too. Don't worry. You'll understand one day. It's funny. If you could instantly teleport anywhere right now, where would you go? Hawaii. Is that what you said? That's a good choice. I like that. That's a cool answer. Japan's a cool answer. Wait, we're in Japan. You want daddy to show you around where he lived? You know Japan is large, right? Man, this is tough. I've always had a deep desire to go to Germany. And the reason being is because my family background is really German. I just always thought that'd be really cool to go check it out. But yeah, that would probably be my number one answer right now. You can't go wrong with Germany. Yeah, and my wife and I have always had this really cool dream trip of going to Greece. I just think that that's cool. I would love to go to Italy, Vatican City, stuff like that. That's really cool. Katie and I is Greece. See, we had it planned. COVID hit and we had to cancel it, which is a bummer because we're like, well, we'll just do it sometime soon when everything rounds out and we had babies. And it's like, well, we're going to have to put that on hold for a little bit. That's okay. It's a bummer, but that's okay. No, the trip part's a bummer, but for good reason you canceled. There was nothing we could do. It's just what it was. Have you all been or that's what you're talking about? No, that's where we want to go. We want to go so bad. We want to go to Greece. We want to do the cruise. Oh, nice. Yeah, we were talking about that. Super cool. There's so many cool things you can do with it. We just want to hang out in one of those beautiful suites in Santorini. Yep. That's it. Yep. I can get down with that. Just overlook the ocean. That's it. How cool. Of course, then there's me. I'll probably be taking excursions on my own because I'm a history freak. And see, I want to go to like the Vatican City and try and like, what's the what's the Tom Hanks Angels and Demons? What a great movie. Yeah. The whole Da Vinci Code story. You want to try to get in the library, don't you? Yeah, I should say that. Yeah. Just, you know, try and solve the puzzle. That dude, I am all for that. That would be awesome. But yeah, I would say I would say probably either, you know, somewhere in Italy, Germany. Yeah, yeah, I like that. Those are great answers, man. Yep. Okay. And then I've got another good one here. I'm in for it. What's your go-to karaoke song? Oh, man. Dude, this isn't even like this is not a question. I have videos of me multiple times doing this. 100%. It would be Africa by Toto. Oh my gosh. Yes. And like I said, and I mean, in fairness, cover your ears over there. I had fun with alcoholic beverages in an adult way. And, you know, that made me more fun that night doing karaoke. Beautiful. I'm just kidding. You don't have to cover your ears. Is he watching a show with his ears covered? You don't have to cover your ears. I was kidding. You can take your earmuffs off. I was kidding. Oh, man. I even censored it on myself. So you're all good. But yeah, 100%. 100% it's that. That's awesome. I mean, I did that on the cruise from everybody's bachelor party. That's a hard song. Well, yeah, it's a tough song to sing. Yeah. Do what? Toto by Africa. Africa by Toto. I knew what you meant. I knew what you meant. That was dumb of me. I threw you off anyway. That was so nice of me to not even correct it. But I knew what you meant. You looked at me and I was like, yeah, I was way wrong. It's cool. Africa by Toto. That's my go-to. I love that song. Wow. Heck yeah, man. But again, I'm a big 80s guy. I know. I like that, man. Anything by Huey. I could throw down with anything by Huey. It was two, I think it was like 2009. Yep. I saw Huey. I'm all for that. At, gosh, what's it called now? Common Ground. Oh, cool. Music festival back in mid-Michigan. Yeah. They came. And Earth Wind and Fire. That was crazy. That festival one year is actually, let me think here, 90, 95. I saw Johnny Cash. Nice. Which was incredible. That's awesome. Yeah, there was a lot of good music. But anyway. So what would yours be? Oh, Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash. Nice. That's my go-to. And I don't have video, but I did that. I did that. I did it. That happened. Anybody out there who's been to Japan knows they love their karaoke. Picture a karaoke bar with not hundreds, but thousands. See, I'm all for that. Of non-English-speaking people. I'm all for that. And there is Nick Brown on stage singing Folsom Prison Blues. I tell my wife this all the time, that I really miss my calling as a frontman. That I know how to work the room. I get all kinds of different moves in my arsenal. And I'm truthfully not a terrible singer. And no, I'm not going to sing for you. Now, frontman, frontman, are you leather-clad or are you? Well, it depends. At one point for my sister-in-law's birthday, she wanted to have an 80s skate party. So we had an 80s skate party. And I will see if I can find a photo for the video here. I had a beautiful blonde wig on with a bandana and a fishnet shirt that was probably tighter than it should have ever been. A leather jacket and I think some zebra pants. Beautiful. My wife was like, be careful. Don't hurt yourself. And of course, my natural response was, the only thing I'm hurting is the hearts of all those ladies that know I'm a taken man. Bada bing! Well played, sir. It was definitely, big moment for me. So super fun. I like the karaoke. Karaokes. Oh, dude, that's a tough song. I sing all the time anyway, for funsies, right? Like I'm just all about that. But like I said, I'm a big music guy, so I listen to all kinds of stuff. Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, I got one more. And I know mine aren't as funny as Nick's. The number one Nick. But I like this one, because this has been asked to me before, and I know I haven't asked you, if you could be any dog breed, what would you be? I mean, I feel like I just have to go with a German Shepherd. Yep, I like German Shepherd. Yeah, point and go, point and go. Yep, I like that. I mean, it's probably the answer, yeah. Pretty straightforward. Yeah, I like that. I mean, German Shepherds are great. Again, German, red. Yeah. Shepherd, red. If it's, yeah. Yeah, I would totally be a St. Bernard. St. Bernard, just to be large. Just to be large and in charge. Nice. I know I'm big, I know I'm cute. I'm just going to flop down and do nothing. Whatever Clifford the Bidareg Dog is. Bingo, done. Take a little barrel around my neck, you know? That was for, well, mountaineers would like, they would bring gin. In that thing, I think, the little barrel. I'm out on that. Wild, yeah. I'm out on that. I would, I'd take the gin to them or whiskey or whatever it was in the barrel and maybe it would reach them, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe I'm that kind of St. Bernard. I get it, I respect it. I respect it. St. Bernard's a wise choice. Yeah, it's fun. Heck yeah, dude. This has been awesome. This has been fun. Yeah, man, like I said, there's a lot to the story. There's a lot that I didn't get into that I know for sure has shaped me now. I appreciate the insight too. I just cut you off again. I've been doing that tonight, man. Don't care. I appreciate the insight too with a couple of the things that I had, especially with my oldest boy there because that's so important, man, for all of us to remember that this is their journey. It's not ours. Let's sit back, watch it happen. That being said, if something doesn't go your way, it's not your journey. I just think about, I mean, I've said this before in terms of wanting to be involved with my kiddos, but I think about the times that when I'm older, am I going to look back and care that my kid struck out? Am I going to look back and care any of that? Yeah, exactly. You're right. The answer is no. And I think what I would care about is how good of a job did I do at making my kiddo feel accepted? And I know that I don't want it to be like, oh, this is snowflake or anything. It's not anything like that. I just want to be like, I just really want them to know that it doesn't matter. I'm proud of you. You've done what you can and that's what matters. You're loved. You're respected. I'm right here. If you need me, I will do, I'm taking out the goose. The goose, in this case, is a metaphor for anything in the world, but I'm going to do whatever I can to keep you safe, to keep you fed and clothed, and all those things are going to happen. And whatever I need to do to help you along your journey is what I'm going to do. And that goes for my friends and my family and everything. That's not exclusive to my children and my wife, but I'm going to make sure that those are the things I want to remember. If I was able to go back and do a replay of life, I want to remember watching my kids. I kind of feel like I could get a little emotional about it. I want to remember watching my kids do the things they loved, and I loved it with them because they loved it, not because it was my thing. There's a lot of things that my kids are going to do that they're not going to be my thing, but they will be, just to be supportive and to be there for them. Whether that looks one way or another, I don't know. Right, but I want to be able to just be there and enjoy it with them. And if I'm coaching, cool. If I'm not, cool. If I'm good at that thing to teach them better, cool. If I'm not, that's cool, too. There's just a lot of unknown and uncertain things, and I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert in that realm because I'm not. You're already doing it right if that's your mentality, right? I'm not an expert. I'm not going to pretend, but I might have some insight. Yeah, and most of it's going to come from the mental aspect of the only way to approach certain things is with the ability to say, I can always do this thing, and the ability to say that if I don't do that thing, that it is okay. And what do I always say? Sometimes it's okay to be okay. It's okay to be okay. There are, of course, instances where that's not the case. I'm not a heart surgeon. They have to be on their game. Bingo. You're really good at what you do for a reason. And you have to be. Exactly. Yeah, every time. Okay, so then the great example. This is the whole point of this is how often are people coming to... It would be hilarious to have a press conference after a surgery. Oh, my gosh. Like to be like, how did you feel during that? It was 16 hours long. How do you think I felt? Yeah. You just saved somebody's life. What are you going to do next? They're not like, I'm going to Disneyland. They're like, man, I'm going to bed. I'm going to bed and guess what? I'm going to try like hell to not think about this forever because it was really... It's potentially traumatic. It was really hard. And that person really needed me. How many times are they getting asked questions? Right. And you want to know what's crazy about that? Yeah. The very next day, they go and do it again. Yep. And again, I'm not putting down anyone. This is not putting down anyone. It's just sometimes we need to bring up the right people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Teachers. Dude. Surgeons. Don't get me started on the teacher thing. Oh, I know. Katie's whole family, they're all educators. It's the same with my wife. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So, you know, seeing it firsthand is different. It is. Cool, man. This was super fun. Dude, this was a lot of fun, man. I appreciate you. I appreciate all the insight. And I think everybody's going to really grow and appreciate you a little bit more tonight. Hey, you. You got any questions for me? Remember how you got to ask your dad some questions? Do you have any questions for me? Well, come here. Come on. You want to come over? Come on. Come on. Come on. Ain't no thing. I know you like mic time. Come on. Come on, man. All right. I'm going to keep mine because if you're asking me questions, you ask away. All right. Go ahead, buddy. You got any questions for him? Anything you want. Anything. Questions from the kiddos because Q and K sound the same. There's nothing at all ever that you wanted to ask me. What would you ask your dad? It's really it's really turning up there, isn't it? I actually I have one for you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I guess he doesn't have anything tonight. Well, you know, that's OK, too. How about you think about it? Oh, oh, hey, what is it like making it to pro baseball? So let's be super clear. I was an unsigned ballplayer, which meant that I played baseball after college with a with a team and never got any really cool, fun things out of that. So it wasn't like I was, you know, in minor leagues or anything like that. But to answer your question, playing baseball after college was fun. It became quickly a decision time because of what I was doing at the time with school and stuff. But I think that if if you set your your mind to a goal and you reach that goal, it's super cool. So whether that be a professional sport or that is maybe you want to be an accountant and you go and do that, that's what it's like. I don't think I don't think we put enough emphasis on that. Like, it's kind of it's kind of rad to be like, hey, man, like you're like, let's say, for example, you wanted to be a career barber since you were a kid. Yeah. Getting to do that feels the same to you as me getting to play baseball. Yeah. You know, like that's it's the same ultimate goal. Yeah, you set a goal and you go get that goal. So I guess like, what do you want to do when you get older? Do you have any ideas? Now, of course, you are young enough to that that you might still want to be an astronaut. I don't know. Oh, I know. I know what he wants to do and who he wants to play for. What do you want to do? Padres. Oh, he changed it. Changed his mind since last night, huh? Fire away. What do you want to do? What do you want to do baseball when you get older? Do you want to play baseball when you get older? Is that the answer? What do you think it feels like? What do you feel like when you step on a baseball field today? If you were to go out and play right now in a game, what's that feel like? Stepping on dirt. Okay. No, no, no. How do you how do you feel? How does it make you feel to play baseball? One. It's fun. Yeah. What else does it feel like? Does it feel like when you get onto the field, does it feel like there's kind of a weight lifted off your shoulders a little bit? Because there's no other responsibility other than just going and playing a game. Okay. So think about it like this. Why would that feel different just because I'm older and playing against a bunch of older guys? Good question. I mean, really, though, you know, and I'm not saying that to be overly philosophical or anything. It's just a game, right? But the way I felt... I have a lot more pressure on you. You do. 100% you do. But the way I felt playing a game, I felt that way every day because I played every day, right? That was what I did. But, dude, it feels the same. No, it doesn't. It doesn't. Even now, playing in just regular old men's league just to enjoy playing baseball again, I get the experience of playing baseball. I don't get the competitive side. And some people on my team understand that because there's a couple of us that played high-level ball. But I think the reality really comes down to like, you get to play a game and the way you feel today is the way I felt even into my last games because it's not about when I'm doing it at all. Yeah, yeah. And it's not about... I think that there's a feeling you get when you do cool things in front of lots of people, right? I've had those experiences. Cool things in front of lots of people. But is it about being able to play the game or is it about just being able to show up in front of people? Because arguably you could do that anywhere. You could walk out into the world and be in front of hundreds of people, thousands of people, and feel technically the same thing as you would if you were playing the game in front of somebody. But you want to do that thing because it is really fun to play the game, not because you're standing in front of thousands of people. Because it's fun, right? I've had scenarios where signing baseballs is cool. That's kind of neat, right? I didn't care about... Of course, at one point I cared about it's cool to have people know my name. That part kind of wore off a little bit. And that just is what it is, right? But I appreciate the question because I think it gives me an opportunity to think back to when I was your age playing ball and thinking about, man, this is just a game. Yep. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Because eventually, no matter how good you are, Babe Ruth had to quit playing baseball one day, right? Best players in the world. Ken Griffey Jr. He's done playing ball. Now what's he doing? And that's not to say that, oh, man, he's got to go do something else. Not the point at all. The point is he took this thing that he did really well. He enjoyed it the whole time. Maybe he didn't sometimes. But you get to do a thing that you can do from being a little tiny child all the way up to being an adult. And it's just the same exact thing every single age you're at. It's the same thing. It doesn't change, right? How much about the game has changed? Yeah. Yeah. People get better, right? But really, the game hasn't changed. Do the rules change? How do you win a baseball game? How? More than the other team? Okay. Same thing. The end. Game stays the same, right? Since General Doubleday invented the game. Yeah. I mean, is it different in the MOB? Do they win it differently? Oh, yeah. Oh, they do. They do. It doesn't matter how many runs they score. No, but I'm just making the point that it's still the same game. So it felt cool is the answer, but it also was just like no big deal. Because it doesn't have to be. I felt really good about myself doing the thing I wanted to do. Yeah. Pretty cool. But yeah, I was never in the cool, cool phases by any means. Yeah, not that. But I did play a little baseball after college. Very low leads. Which is pretty cool. Yeah. I played in really cool stadiums. I think it's pretty cool. Played in really cool stadiums. Yeah. I think it's pretty cool. So cool, man. Dude, thanks, Matt. Appreciate you, brother. Knuckle up for safety. Cool, man. No, this is awesome. Yeah, this is a lot of fun, man. A lot of fun. And that brings us to the conclusion of another great episode of Unspoken with Zinnik and Nick. Yeah. And you know, this part's always sad saying goodbye. It is. It is. This has become such a I love this night. It's fun. Like, I look forward to this night every single week. It's fun. And then it's gone, man. Yeah, it's fun. It's exciting. We get to do a lot of cool things, talk to a lot of cool people, and I think that's what it's really about. Yep. And then I get mad at myself because it took me so long to say, okay. But you didn't see it. There was a vision, right? Like, you have to see the vision, and once you see it, it all makes sense. It all makes sense. And I really appreciate you tonight, man. I appreciate your time. I appreciate you every night with this. Because like I said, if you all looked at this, you'd be like, dude, what are you seeing that guy? Ain't no thing, man. Like I said, we enjoy doing it. Yeah. It's fun. Super cool. Well, everybody, until next time, check out the old Instagram at the underscore unspoken underscore pod. Yeah, check it out. Let us know if there's anything, anybody that you would like us to reach out to to see if we can get them on the show. That'd be awesome. And if there's any super cool topics you want us to talk about, that's always fun. Throw out some questions. I would love some lightning round questions. Oh, my gosh. You just stole the words out of my mouth. I would love to get lightning round questions from people. Yeah, that'd be super fun. Maybe we can start kind of teasing who's coming on next, and we can start getting some lightning round questions. Yeah, I like that. That'd be a lot of fun. But anyway, check it out. Let us know what you think. Find us out there anywhere that you find your podcast, because that's how we roll. Yep, and thanks for joining us. Yeah, as always, thanks for joining us. It's a lot of fun. And until next time. Nick. Nick. Doctor. Let's do this. Let's do this. Told you I like 80s comedies. Welcome to Unspoken, where everyone is the hero.