The Good Man Show
Dan Brewer and Josh Caceres of Bo Jackson Elite Sports talk weekly content within travel baseball and professional sports on every Monday night. They cover a variety of topics ranging from youth sports all the way up to pro sports in an informative yet casual way.
The Good Man Show
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We mix holiday cheer with hard truths about effort, culture, and how to build athletes who show up. Alumni pride, a Rickey Henderson legend, and a December football breakdown tie it together with clear calls to act and support.
• bacon-wrapped turkey tips and pie talk
• Christmas vibes and limited shirt sale
• practice warriors recognized for consistency
• don’t be background noise, be memorable
• structure, order, and beating laziness and complacency
• alumni returns and launching a Hall of Fame
• Rickey Henderson million-dollar check story
• Bears win through smashmouth identity and turnovers
• shoutouts to Caliburn Bats and IHSA coaches convention
• winter safety reminders and weekly wrap
Get your order in in the next 24 hours, we’re marking down to $24.99 for a brand new Good Man shirt. Contact Brew Sauce at DBrewer@BJESBensonville.com or DM @DEBrewer14.
Warm Welcome, Holidays, And Pies
SPEAKER_04You're listening to the Good Man podcast with Darren Brewer and Josh Casaris. Now, over the next hour, we're going to cover a variety of topics ranging from sports, life, pop culture, and mostly sports, but we're all going to do in a way where it's going to be informative, entertaining, and in a way where you come out feeling like you know a little bit more about the world. So I need you to grab a friend, call him, text him, or a loved one, and say, hey, why don't you want to become a good man for the next hour? So strap up, listen in, put on your headphones, and enjoy the next hour with us. Here we go.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the Good Man Show with Bruce Sauce and Lord Puck.
SPEAKER_04It's gonna be a good day.
SPEAKER_01Lord Puck, I'm excited to hear that you feel like it's gonna be a good night. Uh, I had a great night of Infield, a great day inside the dome. It's uh snowing outside. We got a lot of snow on Saturday. It's still snowing. I'm definitely tired of shoveling my driveway. But hey, it's December. Christmas is coming. I'm excited. So how are you? First off, how was your Thanksgiving? Do you see what I see?
SPEAKER_04A star, a star dancing in the nights that had brought me Thanksgiving fright. That brought me Thanksgiving fright. No, I I made a great turkey with bacon. It was so good. You wrap anything in bacon, it is awesome. That's what I did. Kept it moist. And here, for all you cooks out there or wannabe cooks, you have to let the turkey rest for as long as you cooked it. So, for example, and you're like, you're a whack. I'm like, no, I'm not a whack. You listen here. All right. If you cooked it for six hours, you gotta let that thing rest for six hours. Does that mean cooking that thing at midnight? Yes. That's called commitment. Now, if you want to go eat Thanksgiving dinner at checkers or jack in the box, by all means go. But do not bring your family dollar turkeys around here and make it in that way. Does that make sense? That makes sense. That was my Thanksgiving. I saw Joe Burrow play football too, which was great.
SPEAKER_01Well, I was gonna ask you. I thought the football games were fantastic on Thanksgiving. We we had three very good games. You had you had the Packers, Lions to start it off. Um we had who uh the the Cowboys played the the Chiefs. The Chiefs about them. We talked about them. The Chiefs are kind of on the down, and then Joe Burrow comes back and sticks it to the Ravens. Uh it was great to see, but Thanksgiving was fantastic this year. Um, you know, you said you you you baked and made the cook uh the turkey. Uh I made myself a couple pies for the family this year. Chocolate, a little spin on an Oreo pie. Okay. Uh the kids love the Oreo pie. Uh big baker, love to bake. Actually, last night I was bored I had a little extra pie crust, homemade pie crust, so I just whipped up a butterscotch pie and can't wait to get home tonight and have some. Nothing better than a little butterscotch piece of pie at about 11:30 p.m. Oh boy, but Thanksgiving was awesome. I mean, it's it's nice to have one of the best holidays over.
SPEAKER_02Like these guys talking about pies. I'm so excited. I'm gonna go get another pie. I don't know. How can you not like pie?
SPEAKER_04I have two pies a year. That's it, one at Thanksgiving, cherry. Okay, and one at Christmas, blueberry. She's my cherry. And I sing that song. I'm making you a pie. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna make you a pie.
SPEAKER_04I need it with ice cream.
SPEAKER_01Put a little uh whipped cream or cool-op on it. It's fantastic. I'm making you a pie. But Christmas is right around the corner.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Uh, I love Christmas time. Got 93.9 on the radio in the car, non-stop, all day, every day. Give it to me. Christmas music during the workouts. Uh Christmas lights are workouts. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_04What song could you possibly be pumping?
SPEAKER_01Anything. It's Christmas time. You get it. Another one, Scott. Oh, pound. Uh, I am a little upset though. I did not get, I bought some new Christmas lights for like my trees to light up my trees. Uh-huh. And I ran out of time on Friday, and then all this snow came down Saturday, and I did not get my my like lights that are illuminating my trees up this year that I bought. So what's stopping? Well, there's about, I don't know, six inches of snow covering my grass. And then I have to run cords through it that I don't feel like dealing with.
SPEAKER_04They didn't walk up the hills of Vietnam for you not to go put those things on the tree. What would John Wayne say? Hey, little pilgrim. The Duke. You better go get up on that tree and put them lights on.
Christmas Vibes And Limited Shirt Sale
SPEAKER_01With that said, though, Christmas around the corner. Yeah. We talked about it last week.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The shirt order is in. Oh. It's Cyber Monday. It is. I think there's only one thing to do for the next 24 hours. We're going to give you till December 3rd, 12 p.m., when this gets released. If you get your order in in the next 24 hours, we're marking down to$24.99 for a brand new good man shirt. That's a whole$5. Hey, you got to hit the sale. You can do a lot with$5. You can do a lot with$5.
SPEAKER_04Two gallons of gas.
SPEAKER_01If you want a shirt, there's two ways. Okay. Contact Brew Sauce at DBrewer at BJES Bensonville.com. Or you can DM me on Twitter at DE Brewer14. Get your order in. 24 hour sale,$24.99. Hot off the press. Let's go.
SPEAKER_04That's a killer, uh, killer queen.
SPEAKER_01Killer. Killer Queen.
SPEAKER_04That's a song.
SPEAKER_01Are you singing the whole night tonight?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Is that what kind of mood you're in? Are we getting an hour long of Josh singing?
SPEAKER_04No, but for the first maybe quarter. Okay. I just want to know. I just want to know where we're at. You put me in the festive spirit. Well, hey. Frosty and Twinkle. Is it Twinkle, Twinkle? No, that's the same thing. That's that's bedtime story for little kids. I haven't had, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I sang that many times in my life so far. To yourself? No, to the little ones. You know, while you're rocking in the chair. I wouldn't know. The kid doesn't want to go to sleep. I wouldn't know. Although my wife says I sing it wrong, and I disagree, but I am known to come from a family of a father who changes the lyrics on many songs. So I don't know if it's an innovator, more so that he just likes to mess with people or liked to mess with people. Um and I think he just thought the tune was whatever he wanted to make it. Like you've been around Jake.
SPEAKER_04Jake is really good at just singing random songs with tunes and quoting random Bible verses.
SPEAKER_01Very good at that. He's very good with the Bible. But hey, let's talk Sparks North.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Okay. We had another great week of practice, although we only had practice on Sunday because we were off for Tuesday, Thursday. But Sunday was decent, although we do have to talk about the few things that I think we want to address with some players and our expectations. But we got our Sunday practice warriors, uh, Jacob Wolfinger, 2026, or sorry, 2027 infielder, Niles North, uh, and Maddox to Bexan 2028 catcher, Maine South. I'll tell you what, this kid, I should say both of these kids, work ethic, tough nose, blue collar, lunch pail, uh, punching clocks, getting in here, uh, putting putting money in the bank and and cashing it. Like these dudes are are exactly what we want out of our players, and I think it's showing it's fun to see. I'll tell you what, Maddox has completely changed his body in the last 12 months. Uh, excited to see where that kid kind of keeps going.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, he's in here every day, or not nearly every day. I'm here like five, six times a week, and he's usually in there 95 to 100% of the time I'm in here, and he always makes sure to say hi. Wolfinger, same exact thing. Um, these two kids, we were talking about this last night, and I was just thinking about this. I think a lot of kids are just okay being someone's background noise music. And what I mean by that is music that you play on the elevator and you're not gonna remember. It's music, but you're not gonna remember it. And do you want to be like that as a player? And I tell kids, either be really bad or be really good. I'm gonna remember either, but the middle, I won't remember the middle. And the middle, the middle stems from from what I've noticed. Usually a lot of talent, but no time. No talent. Some time. And then all of a sudden, you have a little bit of talent, you put a little bit of time in, then you all all of a sudden you do the quick math there. One plus one times two, then you square that two, then you got a four, then you square that four, then you got a sixteen, and then over the course of two years, you're a ball player, and you have made what's a good album. Welcome back, Yellow Brick Road. That's not background music.
SPEAKER_01No, no, no. You don't want to be the background music. No, you want to be the main event, correct? Right? And to be the main event, you gotta show up. Yes, you gotta punch the clock, yes, you gotta be present, right? And we talked about it the other day. We talked a lot about it on Sunday, right? The kids who are doing it, it's noticeable. I'm gonna tell you something. Sunday morning I showed up 620, 630, right? And I come walking in, and uh normally you're the only other person here, race here too sometimes. And uh I walk in and you know, I go through my morning stuff in my office, get it all set up, and I walk out to the dome to get everything set up, and I see three of our kids, upperclassmen, out there setting everything up for us, putting the crates in into the cages, walked on the field, they were resetting the bases to put them at 90 feet, they were getting a machine onto the field, right? And I was sitting here, I'm like, man, we've been doing this for five years, and we've had a lot of great kids walk out of this dome and go play baseball at the next level or go to college just as students. But I don't think I've ever walked in here on a Sunday morning and saw three kids without being told to set up all the stuff for us. And I gotta throw a shout out, and listen, Wolfinger's one of them, and and yes, it partly played part into it to his practice warrior win, but also how he competed on the field. But Tanner Banya, right? Fantastic kid, above and beyond, and Hunter Lockhefer. And two of them are your catchers, so I know that puts a smile on your face, but I gotta tell you, these three kids showed up doing that for us, like character off the charts, man. I we appreciate it, uh, raised right, like applaud to the parents because these kids were not asked to do it. And I think it's just the part of it that, like, as a coach and a mentor to these kids, it put a bright smile on my face. It started me off the right, the right way. Um, and it was just really, really rewarding to see those kids do that.
Practice Warriors And Not Being Background Noise
SPEAKER_04That's culture. You know, culture is a buzzword, but when you actually put in action and practice and you see people putting um what do they say, faith without works is dead. And they're those kids show the the names you just said, it's not a surprise. Like you said, they're raised right. And also, um, I was actually just talking to Hunter before I walked in here. Um, just talking about other players and uh we're particularly talking about another team, about another uh player on another team, and they're just commenting on our team. Um some people, to your point, our our culture and the and the way just things are going in this certain life and era right now, it's not for everyone. You know, and there's structure and there's order, and you just gotta be in the structure and order. Might be a little fight at first, but you give in a little bit, then you you you're gonna sail away. And then it just it covers all everything in life. Like you said, we're not just talking about going to play college baseball. We just have good kids. For example, I saw Lonnie Roberts um earlier today. Um, he was about to go work our young guns. Four kids under the age of five, five or six walk in behind him and go, Hey coach Lonnie, all four of them.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you go out to that program when it starts, every kid, and it's a six to nine-year-old program. Yeah, every kid out there is chanting, man go, man. Michael Mango, a sophomore at Harper College, who does a lot of our program. He works inside this dome a lot and helps us out to make a little money, get some hours. Like the kids love them. And to your point, like Lonnie is just like him, both Lyons Township kids, uh, which, you know, all were modern, so that's great for me. But it's it's the fun part because those kids show up and they enjoy doing it. Braden Mazzicano, who's a 2024 grad sophomore at U of I, was the same way. Helped out doing all the practices, all the programmings. Like the kids inside the dome knew those kids, they loved them, they looked up to them, but those kids were respectful, they were accountable. All these words that you're saying, like they were built into what our culture is here. Um, and it's funny you say that. And like, I know you say some people were in acquired taste, and some people look at us and they're like, oh blah, blah, blah and they say all these things, and like, whatever. It is what it is. I think when you come in here and we get even new coaches who come work here, the first thing they say is, Man, you have order. Like we have kids who show up, things are ran the right way, we practice hard, we we have expectations. I think it's all things that as a parent I would want for my kids, and that's why I try to run it. And I know I know you see eye to eye with me on this stuff, and it it's just I don't think we're doing anything that's outside the box. I think you're just doing things that are supposed to be done the right way, and we aren't letting I always say it, you cannot let the inmates run the asylum. If you let the inmates run the asylum, you have chaos. There will be no chaos. But uh we do have to talk, and I know we're talking a lot about the good, but we gotta talk about the good and the bad. Right? And I think with what we do and the kids showing up and the amount of kids we have, there are some things we see, especially after about a month into training, where kids will start showing up, and this isn't just new kids, but returning kids, and this is freshmen, this is sophomore, this is uh juniors, the kids who are committed, kids who are uncommitted. Uh and I think the three things that I kind of look, or sorry, I'll say the two things that I kind of look at are laziness and complacency. And I think they're two things that just irritate me as a competitor, as a uh a coach. Um that when you see talented kids that you know ease off, um earn something, and then think that they're entitled to something now because they've earned one thing so that everything else is easy. Uh new kids who show up that are, you know, like you said earlier, trying to trying to not be the background music, but be the main attraction and show up to practice and can't hustle on and off a field, can't um hit put a ball in play and run to first base, can't um I don't know, just do the little things, right? Uh and then you get the older kids who have been here that you know are guys that we feel are some of our better players or should be our better players are currently on our better teams, and uh they they don't really put the effort in, or you you kind of tell them, like, hey, here's things that we see and what we think you need to work on to play baseball at the level you want to play baseball at, and they do the opposite, and whatever they they have their own opinion on what they think they need to do, and maybe they feel they are doing everything, but I just feel like watching kids play the game will never lie to you. Um, Kanji was here this past Sunday, like he always is on Sundays with us, and he even said it, he's like, Man, three weeks ago, some of these kids were playing a lot harder than they already are, and it's like we're what three, four weeks into this, and I just think that the kids who come in here because mom and dad drop them off, uh, and feel that entitlement or or find that complacency, like the one thing I can tell you guys is you're gonna get passed up whether it's this year, whether it's next year, whether it's when you get to college, um, you are going to get passed up. And when you do get passed up, you're going to blame others. And you have nobody to blame but yourself. And we want to teach these kids to not get to that point. But the unfortunate part is we talked about this before. You can lead them to the water, but you cannot make them drink it. So hopefully we can try to redirect some of these kids, and I'm going to try to bring out some things uh next practice to try to instill that where you know we'll do some competition stuff, or uh every once in a while on Sunday practice, I'll tell the kids if I catch you jogging to your position and I sprint and beat you to your position, then you have to watch me play baseball instead of get to play baseball. Um but like like we said, it's the kids who punch the clock and come into this dome and work, and I think the two of us could sit here and rally off name after name. Every kid that's come in here and spends time in this dome five days a week, six days a week. Heck, some of them are in here seven days a week. I I want to say off the top of my head, every one of those kids has become a collegiate baseball player. Right? And not saying division one, but have gone off to play college baseball because they had a goal and a mission and they worked to achieve it. And those kids are the kids that I want. I want the kids who want to get better. We don't need the most talented kids. I don't I don't need the top ten players in the state. I I need kids who want to work hard because you can teach those kids to play this game and be successful in life. Not just in baseball, but in life.
Culture, Accountability, And Work Over Talent
SPEAKER_04You want to you can rally off all the names, but the ones, like you said, that committed to this, I hate again another clickbait word, process, but they committed to the process. When they walked through the doors, whatever school they were at, day one, they're ready to compete for a starting job. A lot of our kids, no matter the division, one, two, three, NAIA, junior college, odds are they're seeing the field the freshman year. Why? Because when they get to the place where they wanted to get to, there's gonna be some order. You know why there's gonna be some order? Because there's a coach whose livelihood depends on the wins and losses. And I don't think, and I and I told this especially to the 25 class, told to the 28 class now, you want to get to a point where people feel comfortable handing over$20 to come watch you play baseball. That's the goal. Like you said, we're entertainers. This is the field is our show, our field's our stage, and we're the show. And so you got to feel comfortable. I ask them after, especially after bad practices. I go, would you have paid$20 to come watch you play right now? 99% of the time, it's no. And so when they when their minds grasp the business side of this, then they start to realize, oh, I just and then the and and the burnout, I was actually talking to Nick about this earlier. Um, someone showed up on my Twitter feed playing in the winner league, that is a pretty premier star in the MLB. Um, Ronald Acunya. I saw that too. He's playing in the winner league, and he plays every year. Um and you're like, oh, he's making millions. I don't think that guy has to play in the offseason. I think he's well uh well.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you want my honest, I think he's getting ready for the world baseball classic, which is why he's playing. Oh, wow! But I also I also think he plays out there because I actually got to play in the Venezuelan league. I didn't play well and I didn't last too long. But uh some of those big leaguers will go out there and play. Like especially when it's December. Do they need to? No, that's my point. But but they play for because they get an opportunity to play in their hometowns. Uh it's some I mean, intense baseball, especially when you're on playoff runs out there. I mean, guys get after it, they have big rounds. It's life 100%.
SPEAKER_04And and to your point, hobbies. Like hobbies. Like this is an expensive hobby for people. And and and I'm not saying that's wrong, but then don't come banging on your door months in saying, why don't I have this? Why don't I have that? And your response should be, well, did you treat this as a hobby or did you treat this as a livelihood? Because when you get to college, it's a livelihood. You know why it's a livelihood? You're spending nearly 40 hours consuming yourself with this, and your whole entire life revolves around this.
SPEAKER_01That's and that's why I don't get the burnout. Like, I know people point it towards younger kids and the year-round of it, and it's like, I okay, I understand if the kid doesn't want to play and the parent forces it. Like, that is why it's a burnout. The kids who quit at younger ages, it's because the parent forces them to do it. If a kid loves it and wants to do it, it's our job as parents to provide them that opportunity. Now, do I believe there's a balance to it? Yes, 100%. I believe there's a balance when sometimes you have to pull the rein and say, hey, veer them to say, let's let's do some different stuff so you aren't consumed by this, because baseball is a very mental game that can get exhausting, right? So, yes. Is there a burnout to it? Yeah, but I think people use that as a scapegoat to try to be like, oh, you shouldn't be a one sport athlete. Listen, man, if a kid wants to be a one sport athlete and enjoys playing the sport, then let him be a one sport athlete and play the sport. But let the kid decide.
SPEAKER_04And say it to the golf players, and say to the tennis players.
SPEAKER_01It it's it's and the people who do it and the kids who do it and love it, whether they make it or not, they learn so much in athletics if they are surrounded by the right cast. Right? I saw a same probably the same tweet that you were talking about about the burnout. And it's just like I cannot stand reading it over and over from these coaches who put it out or or programs who put it out or whoever is putting out because it's like it's it's such a large scale that you're trying to base it off of that it's just like that's it's a scapegoat to I don't know, something that happened that like I played three sports in high school. In all honesty, if baseball was what it was now, I would have only played two sports. And the only reason I got away with playing football is because I played defense and I never showed up to summer camp because I was like, I back then we had four coverages. I played free safety, like we're like it's good, like we're fine. And the coaches understood I was a baseball player, so I was open and honest with them about it. So I was playing baseball year round, I just wasn't doing it at the capacity that it is now. But if it was like this, I'll tell you this, I definitely wouldn't have wrestled. Why would I have done that? Like cutting weight, losing weight. Like, I would have played baseball all winter inside this dome because this is the sport I loved, and I could have got a lot better doing it. So I'm with you. I I think the burnouts just I don't like it. Um and I think the kids who are in here doing this and working, like they're proving that they can go chase the dream they want to chase. So we talked about this before, and I want to touch on this before we move on to the next topic. But with all this said, and and all these players, because over Thanksgiving, I know you were in here, the amount of alumni I saw back in this place was awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Because we have three graduating classes now. Um, and we've been talking about this for a while. Like when the first class the 23s left, they come back and it was cool to see them. Then the 24s left, and you had you know two classes of kids coming back. Now we're into three classes coming back. Uh it is awesome to see. Like coming in here on a what day? I came in here I think Tuesday with my boys and uh saw a bunch of the kids in here and a couple big leaguers in there working out with BSF. And the dome was awesome at like 10, 11 in the morning. And I really think we need to get Hall of Fames. And I think what we're going to do is basically I'm going to treat it like the Hall of Fame is. I'm going to put a list of names together, and I'm going to select a committee of coaches, current and ex, and I'm going to let them put in their votes, and then we're going to have a Hall of Fame ballot of 2026 next year. And I think we're going to do this by the end of training, and we're going to announce it and start to give back to our alumni. Because I think it's important that now that we have all these kids graduate from here, just start giving back to our alumni. And I know it's early. We probably could wait a couple years till they actually graduate high school or I'm sorry, college, but I think it's the right thing to do. I I would love to do it. I think we have a great group of kids who are off playing college baseball that are listening to you and I talk and come back into the zone that you know if they were honored with that, I think they would be ecstatic. Um, I think it's something they would really truly cherish. Um, so I do think that we should bring this full on and and create this Hall of Fame.
SPEAKER_04I mean, um over Thanksgiving break, saw a few people, actually more than a few people. The 23 class um obviously was our first graduating class. And I've just seen them now nearly as grown men. Um it's just it's truly something special, like I said. They come they come back and then they engage and they start the conversation with you, and you don't have to go chase them for that. And then we have the 24s and then the 25s, and um and you just see the way the brains developed in their head, and um they don't look at you crazy anymore. And then they're probably gonna be in the same spot as you in a few years, and that's the cool part about it. And when you're talking to them, you're just seeing the maturation of this young mind and makes you cry a little bit, you know. I a few of them I had since they were uh 12, 13 years old, a couple of them, and then now I'm sure I don't know, you too, with a few of them.
SPEAKER_01We saw Jack Rosmith, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I know you had him since you're 12, 13. 11. 11, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I said to him when I saw him, I don't know how it registered in my brain, but I looked at him and I was like, whoa. I was like, Roz, you know, I first started coaching you when you were 11, and he laughed, and Ethan was right next to me. I go, that's Ethan right now. And he was like, holy cow, it's like wow, like the mind blow to that, I was like, man, I've known that kid that long. Just see him grow up and watch him play, and he comes back here, and it's just like it's it's like you said, it's different conversations with those kids. Um, it's fun though, because you can still have that coach player banter with them, but like they're they're better at giving back to you, and they're some of them are pretty good about giving it back to you now. But it it's uh it's a fun time, man.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm we were able to um I don't know if this was in the next segment, but we were able to rally a few of them. We're gonna have our uh get together at Fogo de Chow next month. Or this month, actually, sorry, this month it's December now today. So um that will be December nineteenth. I booked so I had to actually because it's such a big party, I couldn't just regularly What's what's the c head count? It's over fifteen. You include it. Oh you're included in that.
SPEAKER_01I'm in.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Um Don Milano's coming too. Maybe I can get Jake too. Oh, Jake.
SPEAKER_01And Marco. Jake, for sure. We gotta get the coaches.
SPEAKER_04So no, I I couldn't, so I had to actually see the colours.
SPEAKER_01We could hopefully turn this into like the alumni banquet.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that'd be cool.
SPEAKER_01Like it might be a conversation with Bob and John to be like, hey, listen, I know we got our Christmas party for the dome, but like this could be the potential segue into the alumni banquet, uh starting to do something with all of our guys and and bringing guys back. And like you said, I think if we have 20 guys sitting there, we're gonna be there for three, four hours.
Alumni Pride And Launching A Hall Of Fame
SPEAKER_04Well, the beautiful part about it is we had 10 this past summer when I asked if they want to get together before they went to college, and both classes 23 and 25 were there, and these kids are just some well, half of the conversations were them exchanging stories about me, about how I was a terrible, terrible man to them. And then the other half was their shared experiences, and then the other quarter of a conversation was them sharing some wax stuff, Nikki C and I said, and how I recycled it. And but the beautiful part about it, they shared the same experiences and they bonded over it and they became friends two years apart, and then they're friends for life. And that's what I found cool about it, and uh, especially over my at my favorite restaurant. So yeah, it's gonna be a good time. Good times, very good times, good times, good lads and good times with the good times comes story time.
SPEAKER_01That was American Gladiators. Great show. I just but story time needs to be brought to you by Newman's Corner Pub.
SPEAKER_04I don't have much of a read for Newman's Corner Pub right now because half it was eaten by my dog earlier. So I'm gonna read the top half of it. Newman's Corner pub for your drinking and dining needs up in the western suburbs. Head over to my guy, Jeff Noraki, Mr. Mayor, and tell him Josh sent you. I don't know what you're going to get, I don't know what he's gonna say, but tell him I sent you. It's story time.
SPEAKER_01So last couple stories was uh last week was about you and I coaching.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01The week was before it was about an off-season drug test. Today, we're gonna have a segue today that's going to lead into next week, though. So this is gonna be a two-part story time. All right, this is a baseball story that circulated a lot during my playing time. That guys always question was it real? Was it not real? You'd talk to old-time coaches and they'd all say it was real, but Ricky Henderson, the stolen bass king, uh has baseball stories that circulate all over the place. And uh there is a story that Ricky Henderson, his first million-dollar check he received, he framed, hung up in his room, and never actually cashed it. Well, I'm gonna get there. Right? That's that's what you would think is why. Okay. So it's this story circulated. I asked a lot of coaches, players talk about it, right? My last spring training with the Braves, Harold Reynolds comes in, and he's our guest speaker. Usually at spring training, you always have one day where, like, okay, you finish practice at one, you shower up, and you have a guest speaker somewhere and you go listen to it. And Harold Reynolds shows up and does a talk, and you know, he's talking about his career, he's talking about baseball, he's talking about this, and all of a sudden he starts talking Ricky Henderson stories. And well, Harold Reynolds went through it and actually came out and said that story. So the story goes Ricky Henderson made a million dollar check, right? Frames it, hangs it up in his house, doesn't cash it. Oakland Ace counting goes through all their stuff at the end of the year, and they're a million dollars short. Okay. So they're trying to figure out where the million dollars is missing, and they basically come to realize that it's the check that they wrote Ricky Henderson, right? And they went up to Ricky Henderson and they asked him about it. I'm gonna backtrack a little bit. For those of you do who do not know anything about Ricky Henderson, and I've never met the man, so I can't say this firsthand, but I've talked to multiple sources that I trust in the game of baseball. Say Ricky Henderson loved talking about Ricky Henderson. He's a big third-person guy, right? So even Harold Reynolds, when he was telling a story, said that basically Ricky Henderson walked in the batter's box one time, right? And uh he's in the box, he takes a pitch and he goes, nah, Ricky don't like that. And he's just talking to himself the whole time, right? He also told a story that he called Ricky Henderson during uh midway through the season at the all-star break. Uh, he was hurt that year, and Harold Reynolds was leading the league in stolen bases. I don't remember what the number was, but he called him and was like, Hey, Ricky, how you doing? He's like, Ah, Ricky's good, Ricky's good. And he's like, Hey, uh, he goes, Ricky Basey then turned or talked to him and says, uh, hey, I noticed you leading the league in stolen bases. And he's like, Yeah, he's like, you know, thanks. He goes, Ricky, they had 10 more than you buy now. So like he was also a banter guy who apparently really liked to give it to guys. So Oakland A's county figures out they're missing a million dollars. And apparently they found out it was a check from Ricky Henderson, so they called up Ricky and they said, Hey Ricky, yeah. Said, hey, we're short of a million dollars on our account. And this is back early when you know there wasn't the baseball money that there is now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And they're like, and it's a check we gave you. And he goes, Yeah. They're like, Well, did you cash it? He's like, nah. Ricky framed it. And they're like, Well, why'd you do that? He's like, because Ricky wanted to frame a million dollars. And they're like, Well, well, don't you want that? He's like, nah, Ricky will make more. And the man framed a million dollar check, legit, real, was offered another check to actually deposit, and just was like, nah, man, I'm good. I got I'll make more money. And I'm telling you, the first time I heard this story, I was like, there's no way this is true, right? Because people will tell you baseball stories, and it's like, I don't know, man. Some of these things are hard to believe. And then every year I played, I'm telling you, you'd hear it again and again and again. And then older guys who actually played against them that you'd have as coaches would tell him, like, yeah, that's that's a true story. And then Harold Reynolds came in. And we'll get to Harold Reynolds next week. That'll be when when Jake shows up next week, that'll be the story time of baseball next week. But came in and told that story. I just laughed because it was like, man, I've heard this story so many times, and the fact that this is a true story, that this man framed a million dollar check. It it's great. You ask Bert. I have not asked Bert. That's a that's a he know. That's a great person to ask. I'm gonna ask Bert. I'm gonna see I'm gonna see if Bert. Bert strain, yeah, great man, yes, good man, yeah, works in the dome, bit in the game, 77, kills it, brings the energy. He'll be on the show at some point. If you've been in the dome, you know Bert. Okay, he's dressed, baseball uniform, he's ready to go, he's got his Dodger stuff on. He's a he's the best, dude. But that is a good person to ask. I'm gonna actually ask Bert tomorrow at practice.
SPEAKER_04Because Bert told me a wild story about him and Barry Bonds, how he got Barry Bonds to donate blood to a leukemia patient, and I didn't believe him, but then I saw the newspaper article and it's true. And Bert's also in the Hall of Fame as a uh in the pwn what what was the league called? The Babe Ruth League? They had a World Series, and he's in there because they won. The Legion Legion ball. There we go.
SPEAKER_01Who's who's the guy who always talks about?
SPEAKER_04I need to look at it. I'm gonna ask him tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01We gotta ask him tomorrow. The guy who said stole the stole the MVP and became a first rounder.
SPEAKER_04Yes, Bert Strain. Bird's a good man, yes, cool dude.
SPEAKER_01So that's story time. Uh but I tell you what, we gotta go into this night segment, and I don't really know how long this one's gonna last. But I know you're flying high, and I know you love it, but the Bears are nine and three, first place in the division, first place in the conference, take down the Eagles the day after the after Thanksgiving in Philly. Ben Johnson's shirt off.
Story Time: Rickey Henderson’s Million-Dollar Check
SPEAKER_04I mean, give it to me. Hit me with what you got. You heard it here first last week. I said Bears by five. Game started, game was over. Thing is, I was just worried about was Ben Johnson really gonna stay committed to the run. Ben Johnson stayed committed to the run. I was watching the game with my family, and I just kept saying, second in Monungai, third in Monungai, fourth in Monungai. I don't care if it was fourth and fifteen. Give it to Monungai. He's gonna run. Yeah, I like DeAndre Swift, but my guy, Monungai, running down the sidelines. There's nothing more empowering to a man watching ball than seeing a man with a ball run through 11 other men with no regard for human life. And that was Monungai, a seventh round pick, I might add. Monungai. A hungry guy. Dude, he what I loved. This is the first time I've been ever able to do this in a long time. I went and go watch the post-game from the other team. And that's when I started to really enjoy it. They're calling for heads. They were booing them. They were booing them off the start. And you know what? That city, those people, I don't know who they think they are. The Sixers suck. The Eagles, the team just they should be happy. They just won a Super Bowl last year. They're not happy. I like I understand your quarterback has problems throwing the ball. Trust me, we've had many of them over the past years. So I know when I see one. I know when I see one. All right. That guy, and he just sits, and I get it. He sits there monotone on the bench. But hey, your star wide receiver's happy. It cost two touchdowns, but you lost. You lost to a better man. Here's what I like, and you know me. I like thinking men. Ben Johnson is a thinking man. Now, I now, truth be told, truth be told, I knew this guy was a schemer. Dude schemed, schemed my poor bears the past couple years into oblivion. So I knew. I questioned if he was a leader of men. And then I watched that postgame video tearing off a shirt for the city to give him hot dogs. He's not just a leader of men, he's a leader of cities. And I once said last year we ever see a pink sky on a summer night. That's you, baby. You're beautiful. And these bears are pink skies. Caleb Williams and Manungay are pink skies.
SPEAKER_03Joe Tooney. Jonah Jackson, they're pink skies. Big offensive lines running down the sidelines, just gashing it into the they didn't know where it was going. One guy's going that way, the other guy's going that way, the other guy's going that way. You don't know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_04And we're just running straight up the gun. And we win. And here's the thing Caleb Williams, if he can just figure out, figure out the accuracy issues and passing issues, and I get the win. It was bad up there. The win was bad. I get it, I get it. But if he can figure that out, we'll put up 40 points every game. I have no doubt. Because why? We got Menung. And then we got, and don't forget about the Michigan man, Colston Loveland. That guy on third down, I was yelling at the TV. I was like, give it to Loveland. It was a big third down. Give it to Loveland.
SPEAKER_03And they gave it to Loveland.
SPEAKER_04And he makes the catch over the middle with the Michigan man hands. That was Big Ten football up there last game. That was Big Ten football. And who had the more Big Ten guys? We had the Big Ten guys. You see, they have all those SEC cats. We had the Big Ten guys in the Big Ten weather. And who's gonna win that? Who's and play a football? It's Big Ten weather. You need more Big Ten guys, and we have more Big Ten guys. So now the real season begins. I forgot. Who said? Was it Lombardi that said the season begins after Thanksgiving? I know it was Lombardi, one of those old guys. I forgot. But it begins now. We gotta go beat them clowns up north. We gotta. We gotta go beat them. I don't know if I'm out of sweep. Um, but we gotta take one. If we take one, we're gonna go beat those sad lines because that's they're trying to bring old dudes off the off the couch. And then the um, who is it? Frank Ragnar trying to bring off the couch, dude's hamstrings falling off the bone. That's the state they're in, okay? So they're done. Uh, Niners, Brock Purdy's arm, that's over. We're gonna beat them. And then um uh so just give me one from the pack, give me one from the Lions, Niners, and then Shador Sandors and the Browns. Oh, give me them two.
SPEAKER_01But they're talking, they don't even know if he's starting again this week. Okay, to the best. So the only thing you gotta worry about with the Browns is Miles Garrett.
SPEAKER_03I'm not worried about that because we got we win against TJ Wadd. And you saw what happened there.
SPEAKER_04We we beat all of them clowns, all right? We're the Bears. It's a new time. Bear down, homie. And that's where I'm at with the Chicago Bears. I was talking to a friend about this on the way home. I haven't been excited for December football. I mean, we we work December's all the time on Sundays. Yep. I didn't give a damn. You know why? Because we were bad. And oh, you're not a real fan. Yeah, I was a real fan, but I'm not gonna waste my time. All right, I knew what was gonna happen, okay? Oh, you're not a real fan, man. You you're not really supporting the team when they're down, man. Hey, man, I kept up. I knew the players, but I'm not gonna sit there three hours torturing myself, okay? I knew what was going on. I like, but now you actually have me excited. You got me, you got guys taking off shirts, all right? And now, you know, and I'm I'm conditioned as a Chicago fan to be wary of the other shooter drop. But then I'm like, we got Monunga, you got Ben Johnson, we got Costa Loveland, we got Roman Dunze. DJ Moore is actually the worst receiver on this court, and that's saying something. We got Cole Comet. Oh, did the Cole Komet in the end zone, dropping it in a bucket like a teardrop from the sky on a pink sky night. Yes, yes, I'm excited talking about this. We're gonna win next week. They're giving us six points. We're gonna bears by three. Remember, I said that bears by three.
SPEAKER_01They got us at my at plus six.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What an insult.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so yeah, that was my that was my bear time, and all those Philly people just like, oh man.
Bears Euphoria And Smashmouth December Football
SPEAKER_01Well, it was funny watching the game and listening to the Philly fans. I'm like, man, that's a bear. That's that's Chicago just in Philly. Philly and Chicago. Times 10. That was bad. Correct. But how many times have you been to Bears games where it's like that after one play?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And I get it. Like in the preseason.
SPEAKER_01In the preseason. We've had seasons that are up and down. And right now we are riding one up and the bears are rolling. And I'm gonna say something that might shock you.
SPEAKER_02What?
SPEAKER_01Okay, and I don't want you to misconstrue what I'm saying. In no way, shape, or form am I a Caleb Williams fan. It's gonna take a lot for this man to win me over. But I will say this if he can keep winning football games, then I might, I might, I might find my way over. That's fine. It's just taken me a longer time. That's fine. I still I I still believe. He was pissing me off during the game. I still believe Tyson Bajan is a good quarterback. You could shake your head at me often. He is a good quarterback, but I still believe that that guy, if given a chance in our system, would thrive. Yeah. He can throw the ball disagreeing with you. And he can play in the system. And I think it's a shame because I don't think that guy's gonna ever get a chance to be a true NFL quarterback, but I think he's going to ride out being a backup for a very long time, and he's gonna make a lot of money doing it. And hopefully one day he does get a chance because I think he's a I think he's got something to him, right? You talk about quarterbacks who have moxie who just have an it to him, right? Like you could go down a list of all the quarterbacks who were taken in the first overall pick or first round, and how many of them are busts, and then how many guys were taken late and became dudes, right? Because they just had something. Like draft day, great movie. Love that movie, right? They talk about it at one point. L Way's arm was too big or too strong, uh, Flutie was too small. Like they all had a knock on them somewhere. So what made them great, right, is what was inside of them. I'm hoping that this man doesn't think all of a sudden that Caleb Williams does not all of a sudden think that like he's some hot to trot dude because he's won some football games. Like, let's just make sure he can he can keep it reeled in that it's it's not a show, like just keep winning.
SPEAKER_04I I I agree with you early on in the season, then Mr. Johnson started calling out practice habits after the bye.
SPEAKER_01And I think that is what is truly gluing this team together is the dude at the helm, who, like you said, you know he's a schemer, you know he's got all this. Can he be a leader of men? And in a football locker room, and I think in all pro sports, like managers, coaches, head guys, it's hard, man. You are dealing with a lot of personalities who are making a lot of money who who sometimes don't want to listen to be leaders of those guys is very difficult. I think Ben Johnson has a has a strong hold on this team. Um I think now that he's with us, it's kind of wondering was he the major piece part of the Lions? But it's hard to say that because the Lions also lost their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator one year.
SPEAKER_04Like they have Dan Campbell gave him a shot.
SPEAKER_01True.
SPEAKER_04I mean that's true.
SPEAKER_01But I also like Dan Campbell, I still think is is a very good leader and people respect him. I think that he's in a tough spot making some tough decisions and things are spiraling a different direction on him. But I'm hoping that Ben Johnson can keep that wrangled together and not let it kind of Pandora's box open back up and and be that show. Like, keep them where they are, dude. Keep the culture what it is, keep winning football games. A guy who I think is really good at that is Andy Reid, but Andy Reed's been doing it for a very long time. But I think he has done that. And Bill Balichek, who when he was in the league, did a very good job of it. Like he always said it when they were winning, guys got hurt. It was next man up, next man up, next man up. Like he was able to keep those guys hungry. Now, had Tom Brady, had Rob Gernkose, like he had his pieces that were obviously helpful. But um, I just don't want because I know Cush is gonna listen to this. And I don't love you too, Cush. Great guy, great dude. One of my favorite baseball players I ever coached. Um Dan or Bany's uncle. But he is going to listen to this and hear this, and he's gonna send me a text message being like, I knew you loved Caleb, and every Bears win, I get a text message from him asking if I'm a Caleb fan yet, and I always send him pictures of Bajent back, and it's joking.
SPEAKER_04But that win had nothing to do with a Caleb Williams, and I think Well, no, both running backs ran for over a hundred yards.
SPEAKER_01You do you did exactly what we we said like run the football, smash it down their faces, do what they should have done to us, but they didn't, and we did it better. We played smash mouth football, which is what the Bears need to do to be successful in December. It's gonna be cold. We have games here, we have games uh uh in Green Bay. I believe we play at Cleveland because San Fran comes us, or do we go to San Francisco?
SPEAKER_04We go to San Francisco.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so we go to San Fran and Cleveland comes us.
SPEAKER_04Still gonna be cold.
SPEAKER_01Still gonna be cold. Like they're going to be cold games, right? So you have to be able to play smash mouth football. You have to be able to get turnovers, things that we do. I thought it was interesting before the Bears game. One of the reporters asked uh Jalen Hurts, you know, the Bears are the best defense at takeaways. How are you gonna counter that? And his response was well, we turn the ball the least, like we turned the ball over the least, and then bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, gotcha.
SPEAKER_04On their stupid play. It was great. On their stupid play. On the push-too. Yeah, their stupid play. Fumble, Roosky Harbaugh. Stupid play. He was on that AJ Brown touchdown. Um, he should have been picked off too. My guy, Nashawn Wright, was going after that ball. Um, he tried. He missed, I think he mistimed it by a split second. Just a hair. And that's obviously in this league, that that's the difference between a lot of things. But I respected the effort.
SPEAKER_01Hey, you know, sometimes you gotta take your gambles and sometimes you're gonna go.
SPEAKER_04But then he makes up and gets the fumble. This guy comes off the practice squad and's gonna he's gonna make a lot of money.
SPEAKER_01It's funny. Somebody in the dome today, when we were talking a little bit about Bears, they were like, Oh yeah, Jalen Johnson was back. I was like, I didn't even notice he played. Like, we've been great without him. And sure, great football player, happy he's back because I think he's gonna be valuable and even help us be better. But to your point, our defensive backs we've had playing, dude.
SPEAKER_04Jaquan Brisker's had a great year. Yes, he has. Uh uh under the radar. Uh he's played every game.
SPEAKER_01He I know he missed a lot of time last year. He's always missed a lot of time. And and knock on whatever, keep playing the way you are, stay healthy, man. Uh, because I think he's learning how to play. I don't want to say that he's learning to play to stay safe, but he's learning to be the player he has to be to be on the field.
SPEAKER_04Couple big open field tackles right there. That was the difference in the in that game. We made a lot of good open field tackles, one on one, and we just tackled, we we tackled better. Yep, fundamentals. Yeah, we we just and at the it's a simple game. I know it's the most complex game, but it was it's a real simple game. If you're more physical with the other team and you dominate those lines of scrimmage, you're gonna win the ballgame, and that's what we did. And uh Nick Siriani yelling at fans and screaming, you know. Thank you. We love you. Appreciate you. We love you, man.
SPEAKER_01Hey, bears, keep winning. So then the road goes through Chicago. Could you imagine that?
SPEAKER_04Cowboys, bears NFC Championship. The flues comes back into Chicago. What not my cowboys?
SPEAKER_00Who's the Super Bowl?
SPEAKER_04Oh, like gun to my head right now. No, you said it to me the other day. Say what you said. Bears. Bengals, I think. I said, yeah, but I said Bears Bengals. Burrow runs the table. All right, talk about the best quarterback in the NFL. Man, hands down. You know why? Because he makes the defense better, he makes the fans better, he makes everyone better. He's a winner. The concession stand people are better, the ushers are better, the Uber drivers to the winner. And so again, all because that defense, when he takes the field, they they believe they're gonna win.
SPEAKER_01Well, yes, but they he can also get them up to let their defense do what they do best. If you can't score points, that defense gets obliterated because they just run it down their throats. You gotta get up. They're a defense that has to play ahead. But Burrow gets them ahead, but also gives them the confidence to play ahead. Where are they playing this week? I don't know, but I bet they win.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And also, um my Steelers, man. They're beating Baltimore this week.
SPEAKER_00They're done.
SPEAKER_04Nope. Gonna beat Baltimore this week.
SPEAKER_01They're done.
SPEAKER_04Gonna beat you heard it here first.
SPEAKER_01They're done. They're talking about Tomlin not being there. They always talk about that. Yeah, but like this time, it's like, come on, man, cut it out with that guy. I agree with you. Stop talking about it because I think they're just trying to spin a narrative. I didn't see the start, I didn't see all that game, but when I did turn it on, all I saw was Roger's face.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I was gashed. He looked like what's his face? Um, who's that their linebacker back in the day? Um ugly looking man, but he was Jack Lambert. Like they panned him one time after the Bills scored. Obviously, you can't see my face right now, but just go look at that clip of Aaron Rodgers with a broken, well not broken nose, but his nose was jacked up. And you know, people hate Aaron Rodgers and whatnot, and obviously because of Green Bay and he's arrogant and whatnot. I I'm I'm sorry. I I've always respected what he's done. I think he is, and at least for my era, he's the greatest one to throw football for me in my era, and uh I've just always respected it.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's like Brett Favre.
SPEAKER_04Better than Brett Favre.
SPEAKER_01I'm just saying, growing up, like you hated Brett Favre. Brett Favre's trying to steal from people now, but but like insurance scams. You respected him because he was don't sue me. Don't sue me. You better be careful. Don't sue me.
SPEAKER_00This guy.
SPEAKER_01Uh you brought up Fogo earlier. Yeah. Right? You jumped the gun on it a little bit, but I'm glad we talk alumni dinner. But uh Lord Punk got his Fogo invite from Mama Brew. Mama Brew was listening week two. Uh she felt sad that we didn't get to go Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Um, because she was she was gone away with her sister. Um and you know, she she made sure to send me a text and say, I we gotta get Josh in and make sure he gets his invite. And got your invite. Thank you. Very excited. I'm very excited. We can't wait. I can't wait. End of December. Yes. Josh Wisconsin coming back from Wisconsin. We're gonna get our photo.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I was worried about it because you know, I I don't go to a ton of social events and um, you know, for all you people out there that are listening, my family, I know you're not listening, at least not my immediate family. I don't have the closest relationships with my extended family. So um I've been adopted by the brewer household, and I don't take that very lightly. So I looked forward to that Thanksgiving dinner as soon as the first one ended. And uh so I was actually looking forward to it. I was waiting, I was like, when are they gonna let me know what it's in? And then so I heard December 30th, and that put all my anxieties to rest. You know, sometimes I'm an anxious person, especially when it comes to Fogo to Chow. And uh yeah, so I'll be in Door County, Wisconsin, a day after Christmas, and then I will be coming up the 30th and going straight into there.
SPEAKER_01Well, we can't wait to have you. We're excited. I love my get together with my family. I wish my brothers and my mom and I we got together a little bit more, but it's tough. Um but we always have fun. I mean, that there's there's battles, I mean the amount of fights that we had growing up. I mean, there was four boys, all within six years of each other in a household. Like it was mayhem, but um it was crazy, man. It's a good time with the brewers at Fogia Chow. Like it's it's we have a good time, and T minus 29 days. We love having you. Yeah, I'm I'm we appreciate you coming. Uh you are part of a family, you're like a brother to me, man.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, yeah, same.
SPEAKER_01So I know my mom's excited to see you again. Uh, I know she was rooting for you. Um and I I know you've had some uh you know, some other things going on as of late, but we don't need to talk about that. We'll keep the we'll keep the listeners wondering of what is going on. I know I late night, you let me finish.
SPEAKER_02Sorry.
SPEAKER_01Late night at the dome, if you see the Bronco, he might be in here taking some swings.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But funny story though, I have I'm having this trend of running into because my our reach is so far and wide. Wide. On my latest um rendezvous with someone, I ran into Blake Hire. I heard about this.
SPEAKER_01I ran a couple kids hidden in a cage next to me. They're like, hey, we saw Josh on a date. I said, You were a stardust bowl? Hey! Hey! And they said, Yeah, that's a I know that place.
SPEAKER_02So that's three in a row.
SPEAKER_04Um, far and wide. Our reach is I'm influencing the younger generation. And she came up, she's like, Wow, you're popular. I go, yeah, I am. Love you, Blake Hire. Nate Ramirez. I said I was gonna shout you both out.
SPEAKER_01And I just I saw Blake Hire swinging the bat in the cage yesterday. Oh first thing I saw when I walked back to my cage for a lesson. Blake standing there. Blake, get out of the cage, dude. For fun. Oh well, hey, there's the possibility that Blake Hire might be getting some 1B action over at Montini Catholic this year.
SPEAKER_04So are they going they winning both? What do you mean? They want to stay title, or are they gonna win it in in baseball?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Oh, you know, we'll see. I mean, they got I think they got a couple couple of good arms this year. Uh got a couple of our guys. They got some good position players, they got some guys over there from us. Eric Dott, great coach over there, does a good job. Nice guy. Yeah. I think the Broncos are doing good things. Brian Casey, uh um, AD at Montini, son plays here. Great guy. Love you, Brian. Appreciate everything you do. Um, but yeah, I love our relationship with Montini. They come in here, love our love the field. They come here, use our dome all the time. They're they're good people, man. Um, go Broncos. Congrats on your congrats on your uh state title. Yes. So um, but yeah, we'll we'll we'll see what happens. But hey, one thing, one thing I forgot to bring up. Yeah, uh, Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
Community Shoutouts, Bats, And Coach Convention
SPEAKER_01Uh day after. How how was your Friday? What what'd you do? Did you make it over? Did you see Don?
SPEAKER_04I did see Don. I saw all the bets. He has a wide variety of bets.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_04He had donuts. Great donuts. Awesome donuts.
SPEAKER_01What'd you have?
SPEAKER_04I had five donuts of the sprinkled kind.
SPEAKER_01That's too many donuts.
SPEAKER_04I know. I have. Well, we used to have donuts here on Sunday mornings, and then those people don't work.
SPEAKER_01Could you tell the people who Don is for those who may not may not know who Don is if they missed the show last week? Could you could you give them a little insight on Don?
SPEAKER_04Don Erickson is the long time was the longtime head coach at Revis High School, Hall of Famer in the IHSA, who has a convention coming up uh this weekend, uh FYI. Um But he and the tail end of his coaching career started a bat company called Caliburn Bats, and they're located in Downers Grove. Uh, the exact address is slipping me right now, but there's some numbers in that address. I will find those numbers one day for you. But he makes high quality wood bats. I have three or four of his fungos. We all, if you work here at Cangielosi Sparks North, you tend to have a Caliburn fungo. Not saying you do 100%, but it's in the high 90 percentile. High quality, you can customize it however you want. He is really easy to reach, good communicator, transparent, and he always gets you what you need and want. So for any of your wood bat needs, I know it's Cyber Monday, he's actually having a Cyber Monday sale. I don't know how long it's how long it's extending, but head over to Caliber Bats, tell Don that we sent you from the Good Man show and all of us at uh Cangelosia Sparks North, and he will hook you up for your entire coaching staff. And he does that a lot, like five, six fungos, all personalized with your school logos and your names. They look very cool. You'll get a lot of compliments on them. People be like, wow, that guy is hip. I'll be like, Yeah, go go see my guy, Don. Caliburn Bats in Downers Grove. You can find them on the internet, Instagram, however you want. Or if you want to find them out through us, just reach out to us on how you get a good man shirt. Same way you reach out, you will point you in the right direction. So a lot of this show, sponsored by Caliburn Bats.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Caliburn Bats and Don Erickson. Speaking of that, really quick, yeah, you mentioned the convention. Yes. Right? For those of you who don't know, and this one's for Lee Milano, another great coach, Hall of Fame coach, Nazareth baseball coach, great relation. Don Milano is the son to Lee. Um, both work here, both help us out. Um, great relationship with Lee at Naz. I've known Lee since I was a kid, but Lee is the president of the Illinois High School Coaches Association. Uh, they have their convention this weekend, December 5th, 6th, and 7th, I believe. Um, in Naperville. Um check it out. Check out their website. Sign up if you haven't signed up. You can still sign up. Uh, I would get in, go check out the speakers. Uh, Hall of Fame baseball player Jim Tomey will be speaking. Um, I cannot think off, I know they have a great lineup of talkers of speakers this year.
SPEAKER_04They got Jay Johnson talking.
SPEAKER_01I believe so, yes.
SPEAKER_04Of LSU.
SPEAKER_01Yep. I think you guys need to get there. If you aren't signed up, sign up, register, check it out. Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association uh convention this weekend in Naperville. Get out there, uh, get a listen. I'm a liaison to the board. Uh I help them with kind of the youth um outreach with travel teams and little leagues and just trying to broaden the the horizons of of people to to get to their conventions and and receive their information. Right now. Correct. That's all we're doing here. So um another great show though. Yeah. Josh, it's great sitting down and talking with you. I I appreciate our Monday nights, man. I look forward to our next week. Um it's funny every Monday my wife's like I'm trying to think what Mondays we'd be on the road.
SPEAKER_04We're just gonna have to do it on a day, probably. That would be cool in a hotel room.
SPEAKER_01Could you imagine us sitting in a dugout?
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01Just show.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Good man. Yes, there we go. We just have an idea right now in the middle of the snow.
SPEAKER_01This is great. So hey, get out, shovel your driveways, take care of your snow, be safe. Okay, it's gonna get icy soon. Don't slip. We don't need anybody getting hurt.
SPEAKER_04Any new tires.
SPEAKER_01All right, we look forward to you. We thank you guys for listening. Always appreciate the support. Uh, keep listening. We're gonna have great content. Okay, gonna keep educating. So, Lord Puck, send us off.
Wrap-Up, Travel Plans, And Winter Safety
SPEAKER_04All right, this will keep it really simple. Get new brakes, get new tires, and also if you have a crack in the windshield, go get that fixed because you might just wake up the next day and your entire thing's caved in, such as myself. And just make sure your brakes are aligned, all right? And the wheels are aligned just so you just don't go sliding into a pole. And if you have a decision to make, for example, you're going down a bridge and there's a red light, and it happens real quick, and there's a ton of snow, you just might have to run the red lights instead of running into the pole. Hopefully, there's not a red light camera. And be safe. That's all I have.
SPEAKER_00Be safe, be well. Lord puck, brew sauce.
SPEAKER_03Ow. Good night.