The Guuuzan Show
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The Guuuzan Show
S1 Ep6 | Elana Meyers Taylor: The Gold Medal Journey
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Episode six of The Guuuzan Show takes us on an away trip to Mercedez-Benz Stadium, where we welcome 5 time Winter Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor. Elana takes us on a journey through her path to becoming an Olympic bobsledder (or sleigher), and her recent gold medal victory. She also gives her insights into motherhood, how she balances that with world-class training and advice for how us amateurs should slide down the mountain. Pro tip: DON’T go down without equipment... apparently not as fun as it sounds.
Welcome back to another episode of the Goozan Show. I am your host, Bragg Zen. Sat next to me, of course, is the main man, Joe Frakoffer. Joe, listen, it's been a busy week here, and we have a lot going on. Uh, all from being down at the stadium, taking the pot on the road. On the road. You, you were tied up for a bit, um, holding down the fort, making sure every fan had an unbelievable experience. It was. Uh, being on the Halo board, I mean, all sorts. Did you see your love shot as well? They put you up there for 130 seconds.
SPEAKER_02I mean, action with Alana? How was that, by the way?
SPEAKER_03It was fantastic. Being able to speak to her, hear her story, so inspirational. Um, and just, I mean, she brought her gold medal.
SPEAKER_02I it was, by the way. That's something I've always wanted to know.
SPEAKER_03Well, I was I was nervous. I was nervous because I'm thinking, okay, don't, don't drop, don't break this thing, you know. And then I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, two hands needed for sure. Um, you know, so that that was exciting. So we've got that coming up on the on the podcast here in a little bit. Um, you know, and I know you were busy here back at the training ground, right here, right in this exact spot, actually.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we were commentating uh Academy U18s and U16s played in to Miami. Uh 3-1 victory for the U18s, Amir Henry. Remember the name? The young fella out at left wing, crazy techie. Uh, he had a brace in that one. So pretty cool. Good experience to telecommentate from right here, too. The studio's getting all the love, man. The blacked outbreak is appearing on the Academy streams, too. I love it. And the people love it too, by the way, guys. No joke, the YouTube channel right now, thanks to all of you guys at home, thanks to the Guzan show, is Rocket Fuel. We're up to fourth in MLS. Okay. The last time we updated was a week ago.
SPEAKER_03We're currently rocketing up the table in the top four, baby. Here we come. I love that. And we've got some other visitors in town. We've got the U.S. national team here, of course, training for the two games that are going to be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Belgium and Portugal. Uh Belgium first being on Saturday, and then we got Portugal next Tuesday. Um, and so that's really exciting, right? I mean, we've we've we've got it, we've got everything happening, and I love it.
SPEAKER_02Scenes, any early thoughts, by the way, on those two friendlies as well? Crazy having the guys in the backyard too.
SPEAKER_03I know, I know. It was it was great to be able to catch up with some of those guys and and see some you know staff that that have been around the the Federation for quite some time. Um, you know, some some players, some former teammates. So being able to chat to them. Um, but no, it's gonna be two tough tests, two tough tests against two good teams. Um but uh uh a lot at stake because after these set uh this set of games, it's uh it's it's all about roster decision day and and when when Pochettino is going to announce that team. And so um you're certainly gonna have a lot of guys with a lot of uh a lot to play for uh over the next two 90 minutes.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of elite level competitors as well, Alana Myers Taylor. What a story. Unbelievable. How was your time with her?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was great, man. So so inspirational, like I mentioned. Um, just to to hear her about her perseverance, her um you know, determination to to pick up and keep going, and you know, five, five Olympics, man, and then to to come away with gold in the last one. Uh just phenomenal. So exciting show ahead. Um and yeah, it's uh it's all happening here on the Goozan show. We have a very, very special guest here on stage. We've lost Joe, but we have gained a five-time Winter Olympian. Alana Meyers, Tyler Lair. Thank you so much for joining us here on the show. It is an absolute honor to have you uh have you here with us, uh, just having a chat. So uh can't thank you enough.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. It's an honor to be here.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. It's uh, you know, we were we were just talking before we we came on. The first question I have is it Bob Sled or is it Bob Slay?
SPEAKER_00Well, for Americans, it's Bob Sled.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00For everyone else in the world, it's Bob Slay. So of course we had to take it and do our own rendition, but you know, why is why why is that?
SPEAKER_03Where where did we where did we get off onto our own path there?
SPEAKER_00You know, I have no idea, but we always have our different way of doing things. So, you know, it's par for the course.
SPEAKER_03For sure. And when you're when you're competing, right, is the rest of the world like, these Americans are calling the sport different names, they're doing their own thing. Like, do you do you get that, or is it uh a welcoming an environment when you're competing against these other countries?
SPEAKER_00It's definitely a welcoming environment, but definitely we live up to stereotypes in Bobsled. We are allowed, you know, when the U.S. team is coming because we are loud, we're chanting, we're doing all kinds of things, being rowdy, and it's just fun time.
SPEAKER_03Bringing the energy, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, of course. Absolutely call it.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I I I lived in England, I played in England for nine years, and you know, we'd travel all around Europe, and that was probably the one of the best things my wife and I really loved about being over there. But when you we'd go, it was just that people were like, Oh, those those two are American. They're American, the the way we dress, the way we spoke, you know, just everything about it was screaming American. You know, is that the same when it comes to competition?
SPEAKER_00It is the same, and it's funny because even all the Olympic gear we get, like it's all red, white, and blue, big stars and stripes and stuff like that. And all the other countries said, Oh, you know, after I leave the Olympics, all this stuff goes in the closet and I'm not gonna wear it. And I was like, What are you talking about? We wear this stuff like to the grocery store, like we're gonna wear our gear all over, and it's completely normal. Like you go to the grocery store, everybody's got an American flag on, everybody's got the red, white, and blue, but apparently it's not that way in other countries.
SPEAKER_03Listen, you always always down to represent the red, white, and blue, always down to to to wear the crest and and the flag. Um talk talk talk to us about your journey. You know, I I know the last Olympics was uh a success in terms of the color of metal that you were able to bring home. I know you were gracious enough to to bring in here uh and and and show us. Um, but you know, it wasn't always the easiest for you.
SPEAKER_00No, I've had quite a storied Olympics. And I mean my story from the very start starts off with a failure. Like I wanted to be an Olympic softball player. I grew up outside of Atlanta, grew up in Douglasville, Georgia, and you know, I thought it'd be an Olympian in a summer sport. Like nobody grows up bobsledding, especially not in Atlanta. So after that didn't work out, I tried out for the Olympic softball team, had a disaster of a tryout, like the worst tryout in the history of tryouts. Like, and anybody who was there objectively will agree with me. Um, so it was so bad, and I knew I was gonna make the Olympic softball team. So I was like, well, I want to be an Olympian. I grew up and saw the 96 games, and that's what really inspired me. It's like, hey, I see this live and in person, I want to do this, what can I do to get there? And so my parents actually saw Bobson on TV and like, hey, why don't you try this? I Googled it, emailed the coaching on invited to a trial, and that was in 2007. So since then I've been able to go to five Olympics. It's been crazy every single time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I love that. Five five Olympics. I mean, I can't I can't process that, you know, and and I think that's really challenging for for anyone listening or watching this to be able to say five Olympics and not just going and participating, winning medals, taking home the gold this this past Olympics. What is the mind frame? What is the mindset going in and then knowing okay, yes, maybe I I want a bronze or a silver? And I came up a little bit short, but winning a medal is is very cool. I I was fortunate enough to be part of the 08 Olympics in Beijing. We did not medal, we we did not have the success that you guys had. We very much took part and we did we did not uh like I said have a successful Olympics. And so what is it that that drives you? Because it's it's not just hey, it's six months down the road, it's four years later, and you've just finished. What is what is that mindset like?
SPEAKER_00So for the longest time, it was just focused on the gold medal, like it was like a gold medal or bus. And so each of those Olympics leading up until I had children, it was just gold medal. Like that was the mindset, like every day you're working for that gold medal. And then when I had my first son, my first son is deaf and he has Down syndrome as well. Like my motivation completely changed. It changed to, hey, I want to go out there and show them that no matter what the world tells you, the world's gonna tell him no a lot of times, that you can overcome obstacles and you can go for your dreams. And so that's been my motivation for the past what my son's six for the past six years, my kids have been my motivation uh to go out there and and try and win a gold medal.
SPEAKER_03That's that's amazing. You know, I'm I've got four kids myself, and so when you've got kids, your mindset changes, right? Your your mentality changes, your your why changes, right? And you know, what is that like in terms of training w after you had kids, after now all of a sudden that that shift in in your mentality and in preparation? Because your job number one is is mom, right? And you want to provide and and do what is best for your kids at all times. Um I was the same as a father, and and how does that change when it comes to then training-wise?
SPEAKER_00I mean, you know, you have to be so much more efficient because your time is limited. You're not getting enough sleep, you're not getting sometimes you're eating over the sink and whatever you can grab from the fridge, like everything is different. So you have to be that much more dialed in on the things you can control because there's so much about parenting that you absolutely cannot control. For sure. Um, so you we're much more efficient in the gym. We get we go in our workouts, like my workouts used to take four to six hours. And I sit here and I wonder, I was like, what was I doing for four to six hours? Because now we squeeze in the same amount of workout, the same amount of intensity in two to three hours. Because that's all I have in a day to be able to make sure I get that training in. And we're figuring out recovery and sports psych and all this stuff. Like, we have to be so much more efficient because I've got two little ones that demand on my time, and also that recovery piece is like you get off the track, you get off the weight room, you get all the ice, and you know you've still got work to do, you still got to play with these little kids because they don't care that you were just at the track for four hours, they don't care that you were in the weight room squatting as much as you can for an hour. Like, they don't care. So you've got to do what you got to do, and it's just that mindset is like, hey, I'm gonna make the most of whatever I'm at, whatever I'm doing in that moment, and just focus on that moment and then move to the next moment.
SPEAKER_03Amazing. Yeah, it's it's so true. And you inspire your kids on a daily basis. You inspire so many fans, so many, so many people watching you do what you do, and and you know, as you touched on, you know, you mentioned your kids, and and I know today is is world down syndrome day. Um, you know, you're here, five-time Olympian, wearing this kit, right? 96 to 26. You know, talk talk to us how how special it is to be able to have these moments to continue to inspire not just your kids and and not just the people that have watched the Olympics, but now a stadium full of people, um, and and people, you know, hopefully tuning into the show, but uh just being able to inspire so many more.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's amazing because the 96 games is what started it for me. The 96 games was what inspired me to go after my Olympic dreams. And seeing me and the reception I received and all this kind of stuff, like we're inspiring, athletes are out there inspiring the next generation. People are seeing us and what we do, and it's making their dreams seem real. It's making their dreams seem possible, and that's all you want to do. Like you want to inspire the next generation, or even the current generation, you know. It's been really cool to see the reception of the amount of moms who have come up to me and said, Hey, I went back to school after seeing you. I know it's possible, or I decided to start a business, or do all these other things. Like, that's been really cool for me to see, and really cool um to know that you're having that kind of legacy. But there's been so many people in my life that have left that kind of legacy and poured into me. If I could pour into anybody else the same way I've been poured into, it would be great.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, it's it's it's so true. And you used a word there that I've you know wanted to touch on in it's just that legacy, right? You know, 41 is just a number. You know, we're we're we're young, you know, it's uh it's all good. Uh we we guys, we look 21, all right? Um but it's it it it really is about just that, you know. We you as an athlete you go and you compete in in your arena, in your space, successful or not, right? And you have this platform. What what is it that you know when 40 years from now you look back and say, you know what? I'm I'm really proud of, I'm I'm sure you're proud of the medals, I'm sure you're proud of the success. But when you look back at at the legacy side of it, what what is something that is really hoping that is going to be at the top of top of that list?
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm a mama bear first and foremost. I love that. Um, and the really the biggest thing I'm proud of is that I've been able to give a voice to disabilities and a small subset because I'm not a disabled person or anything like that, but just even people seeing me with my kids and seeing how I interact with them and signing and and the deaf community and all that, I've been really proud that we've been able to shed a light on like what it looks like for us as a family with two disabled children on a daily basis, and what it looks like for so many people across this country, across the world, um to have disabled children in their family and and those kind of things. But so that's probably the most thing I'm proud of, and and just the awareness of how important it is, American Sign Language is how important it is to interact with people who are neurodivergent and those types of things, and how beautiful it is as well. So that's probably the biggest thing I'm proud of.
SPEAKER_03That's amazing, yeah. To to use your platform and give up give others that same platform to to let their voices be heard and and be able to have uh them share that platform with you, I think is is so cool.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03No, that's that's that's amazing. I want to touch a little bit on just the Olympics themselves, right? We've talked about five five Olympics, right? That's that's amazing. But that also means five Olympic villages, yeah, right? And and going into the villages. When I was in Beijing in in 08, we we were, you know, soccer, team sport, you're in these other stadiums, other cities, and so you're not in the village. Um, so I I didn't get to experience. Talk to us about the village.
SPEAKER_00Oh goodness. It's funny, the past three Olympics, I really haven't stayed much in the village because first in Bobsled we're one of the later events, and so Louge, and there's some other events that are very early, they get done the second day of the Olympics. So, of course, they're gonna stay around and enjoy their Olympics. So it gets a little rowdy, it gets all this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_03So just for my I'm trying to perform tomorrow, and you guys are over here having a big old party.
SPEAKER_00As they should, you know, they should celebrate everything, but it's like, okay, this is getting a boat. But for me, I'm a very empathetic person, and so I feed off of people's energies. So you have a lot of people in there, like people are living their best dreams, or people are living their worst nightmares in the sports sense. Um, so it's very hard sometimes. There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of different emotions around there. And so for me, it was very hard to be in the village and feel that, and I was like, oh my gosh, the air is so tense, you can cut it with a knife. So eventually I had to make the decision to move out of the village. Um, and so the past couple of Olympics I haven't been in the village, but for the most part, one of the coolest things in the village is when you go into the eating area of the dining hall, and the food has been very variant, like it's not all great. Um, but one of the coolest things is when you go into the dining hall, like you can sit next to an athlete from Iran, you could fit sit next to an athlete from China, you could sit next to all these different types of athletes, and it doesn't matter what's going on in the world stage, what's going on politically, like you're all just there trying to do your best on the field of play. And I think that's one of the coolest things. Like, I think in in Pyongyang in 2018, like one of the biggest things people were trying to do is like get a North Korean pin. Like that was the that was the thing you were trying to do, and it was very hard to do. Like they were very their handlers were making sure they were only able to sit with certain people and all this kind of stuff, but we managed to get a couple of them set.
SPEAKER_03That's that's awesome. I think that's so cool, you know. When whenever you talk to former athletes, right, and you know, maybe it's a little bit different, or maybe it's not, right? When it comes to to Bob Slay, um, you know, it's there's no real locker room, right? And it's you're you're out there, you're competing. And for me, you know, after finishing playing, you know, it's the the camaraderie, it's the relationships that you develop with with teammates, with you know, your friends, right? And you're with these people all the time. And so to hear you talk about that in the village, just on a much bigger scale, right? On a much bigger stage of being able to sit with these other athletes from other countries that have a respect level for you and you have a respect level for them, knowing, hey, you're gonna compete tomorrow or later in the day today in your in your sport, in your um, you know, competition, and we're gonna sit here and have lunch and and share a meal and just kind of tell stories in whatever way you can. Right. I think that is that that's so cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's it's really an awesome experience at the games.
SPEAKER_03What's um, you know, one one question I have, right? What happens if what happens if the you know there's no snow and all of a sudden the temperature is a little bit warmer, and you know, what what does that do to the track?
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh. So we actually had that in Sochi. And um in in 2014, uh coastal city, so of course it was warmer, it was like 50 degrees, and which is for us, it's too warm. So we need we don't need snow, we need ice cold temperatures. Like freezing is okay. Uh below freezing is even better, but we could do it at 32 degrees, it'll be fine. Um, so to have a warm Olympics, what actually happens is the track slows down. Um so as each sled goes down the track, the track slows down. So it's very important your start order, so that makes it that much important, like how you do during the season, all these types of things, because you need to go off the hill first in order to have the best chance of meddling. So weather definitely plays a role in it, and it definitely impacts the outcome. And that's why when people see, oh, you won a gold medal, everything you must have done everything right is like you could do everything right, and you're just in the wrong start order, and that affects your time. So it's not necessarily all the things that go into winning a medal aren't inside your control.
SPEAKER_03Is that something that you think about then as an athlete, knowing that you don't get to control everything, right? You don't get to control your start time. What what is take us through your your mindset in that moment, knowing not only do I have to be perfect, now I need to hope that I've got the the right start time and you know everything has to be that much cleaner throughout my run.
SPEAKER_00And the other thing is we choose our equipment based off of weather conditions. So if the weather drastically changes for a race day or it speeds up or slows down during the course of a race, and you've set you've decided on a certain set of equipment, like it is what it is. And so I think you know all those things going in, you accept it, and you try to make the best decision possible. Right. And also, me as an athlete, like I know I can't you only can control so much. Right. If you go out there and give your best effort, that's what matters the most. Like you're gonna the results are gonna be what they are. Um you also can't control what the other competitors are doing, and you can't even see what they're other doing when you're going down. Like it's not right, you know, even if you saw it, you couldn't adjust for it or anything like that. Like we're driving at over 80 miles per hour, you're not you're not thinking about all that other stuff. So you just go out there and try to do the best you can and just see what the time is at the bottom, and that's all you can control.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, love that. I mean, you just you worry about yourself and and get on with it, and whatever is gonna be is gonna be, right? Yep. It's uh, you know, when we were talking about the when we when we found out we were gonna be lucky enough to have you on the show, you know, with our our production crew, we were we were chatting just about the sport in general and just you know the the I don't want to use the word insanity, but how terrifying it is to be going 80 miles an hour in this in this sled down this track, um, you know, and you're at the the mercy of you know gravity essentially. Yep. You know what what it what how do you prepare yourself going into that?
SPEAKER_00I think the biggest thing is like it's the same, is like you control what you can control. So what you see at the Olympics is like yes, we're driving these sleds down a track, but what you don't see is the amount of time we actually spend tr studying the track, and we actually spend like working on our runs and working and analyzing video and all these different types of things to make sure we have that track dialed in. So I know like even before the race, I'll walk up and down a track, check the ice conditions, study every single curve, and make sure it's locked into my head. We spend so much more time off the ice preparing and making sure we've got that track dialed in than we actually do on the ice. Um, we don't have a simulator or anything like that, so it's really just our memory going over it time and time again until basically you're sick of it.
SPEAKER_03I mean that that that that's fascinating because it's about preparation. It's about preparation, it's about this willingness to give up time, energy, right? As a mom, as as you're out there training, but then when you're there, it's about learning that track, memorizing it, like you said, till you're sick of it. Yes. But it that's I mean, those are the the links that you're you're willing to go to to walk home with with one of those. And and you know, when you're standing on the podium, right, what what is that feeling like as as they're playing the national anthem?
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh. So that was my first time at Olympic level hearing the national anthem for me. Um I had had other teammates who have won gold medals before, but if you're hearing it from me, it was very overwhelming. Like I was like, I can't believe it. Like just hearing you talk about it. Like I can't believe this is actually playing for me. Like it was I don't know what I was even doing. Like, I can't remember that moment in my head because I was like, was I singing? Was I not? I don't I don't know. It was just so like I was like, this is actually like celebrating me, like we did this for the country. This is crazy. Like, I still have to pinch myself to remind myself that we actually won a gold medal. Like just being on the podium, like it was the emotions and everything that you know, I was a 41-year-old mother of two. How improbable was it? Thanks for the city. Look 21. It was so improbable that this would be the time that I finally win a gold medal. So to be on that podium and stand on the top and hear the national anthem, like I all I could do was think about all the people that helped me get there.
SPEAKER_03That's so cool. That's so cool. Do you feel when you're when you're up there, is it or even when you're just at the Olympics, right? Do you see the support? Do you feel the support back home of all the fans and in the entire country getting behind you?
SPEAKER_00Oh, without a doubt. Like I have to shut off my social media a couple days when. Before competition and those types of things, but even before then, like I know I see the messages, I see the text messages and all that kind of stuff. So I you feel the support every step of the way. And it's also was really nice in Cortina. There were a lot of American fans there. Like it was really cool. Like there was really great representation. So people made the trip, or people living in Europe made the trip, and and it was really cool to see a lot of red, white, and blue in the crowd.
SPEAKER_03That's that's amazing. Uh this next question. Do you ever feel now? Do you ever feel the need to just go down and think, you know what, I'm not gonna go down the sled. I'm just gonna go down like a big slide. Have you ever tried that? No. Because I feel like after time and time again of going down in this sled, I'm thinking, you know what? I'm gonna go down on the world's fastest, biggest slide.
SPEAKER_00You know, actually, when we're walking up and down the track, we're supposed to have on little spikes on our shoes, but sometimes your spikes are dull or whatever. So there's been a number of times where I've penguins slid down a couple curves in the toe. No way. Yeah, but you just can't help it. Like they come out, they go out. So it's not intentional, but it does happen.
SPEAKER_03But and is it is it a little bit of fun?
SPEAKER_00No, that's more terrifying than because I can control it. Slad, I can't control where I'm sliding down. Like in this one track. There's this one track where they um in Latvia, actually, where these there's passenger rides you can get in, and it's basically like this padded couch kind of situation that you get in and you take down. I was screaming the entire time because when I'm in my sled, I'm driving, I'm in control, and when I'm in this little couch thing, it's just going up and down the hit the walls and going up and down the track, and I was like, this is terrible. This is the worst thing I could ever imagine. Like, why did I sign up for this?
SPEAKER_03Good to know. I'm gonna I'm gonna put that in the back of my mind. And if I ever have the opportunity, I'm gonna say, nope, give me a sled.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_03I actually I went down the track in Park City.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I've I've tried it. It was in the middle of summer. We were playing a national team game out in Salt Lake. Uh, we were staying in Park City, went down the track. We had one of their drivers that took us down, and we're in there. And the G forces that I'm feeling, and I'm thinking, surely they've toned this down a little bit for like the normal, you know, person just to be able to go down these tracks with these inline wheels. Um, but I mean, it's it's it's the real deal. Yeah, I mean, you you talk about the gym, that the dedication of practices and being able to be efficient in your time of training, but I mean, when you're on that that track, you're you're in there. It's you're you're feeling every every turn, every straightaway. You're you're feeling it.
SPEAKER_00Yep, my neck and back attest to that because I used to I joke to everybody, it's like when I saw the sport, I was six foot and now I'm five, seven, you know? Uh G Forces just made me shorter. That's that's how much we're working back there.
SPEAKER_03Oh my goodness. It uh Alana, we can't thank you enough for sharing your story, for sharing your medal, um, for for being here um on such a special day uh here in the stadium. You know, it it's an absolute honor to be able to sit down and have a chat with you. Uh we know you're extremely busy. Mama Bears, you mentioned, and so um just want to say thank you for for coming on the on the show, and we wish you all the best in an exciting future ahead.
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much. I really appreciate you having me.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. What an unbelievable time being able to sit down with Alana and and just hear her story, man. It was fantastic.
SPEAKER_02To go from a guy like Jared Wallace, too, who already was a master motivator just off of his story alone, to back that up with somebody like Alana in Women's History Month to her mindset to be able to still be so present for her family, which I'm sure is something that you can really relate to as well. It's it's remarkable to be able to have her within so closely knitted to the Atlanta United community, too. The fact that she's two time spike hitter now, five time Olympian, and now gold as well. So uh what's what's one thing you think that stuck with you most out of that entire chat?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I think as you listen to her speak about her her career path, her journey, right? Uh the failure and disappointment early on from softball to then transitioning to to Bob Slain, um, you know, as as we talk talked with her about you know the the proper the proper terminology. Um but it was it was her determination to to stay with it and overcome those failures. And then as you know, her family continued to grow with with her kids, um, just the the mindset and and the efficiency of how she trains, how she prepares for for the next set of games, and then uh ultimately to have it all pay off with the gold. I know that was maybe not necessarily um you know her her ambition, you know, as the the games were coming, um, knowing that there was gonna take a lot of things having to fall into into place for that to be the outcome. Um but uh to then have that as a bit of a reward, it's it's uh truly inspirational. And listen, big shout out to our production crew. You know, the fact that we were on the road in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, taking the the podcast on the road, um, big shout out to to all you guys in the control room being able to pack up everything, take everything down to the stadium. Um yeah, huge, huge thank you.
SPEAKER_01It's a shout-out to you guys too. Like on a game day, you have a lot of different things going, but for you to interview her. But I will say the the cool when she walked into the room, like it you just felt greatness come in. We we got to hold the gold medal too. It's it was awesome. Uh and uh also I will also say the the best part of Saturday was Brad's question about um does the Bobs do you ever just feel like you're going down a big slide? Listen to the laughter in the background. That is that is like I mean, the guys at 60 Minutes and the hard-hitting Barbara Walters, they got nothing on that question. That was that's hard-hitting journalism, and we love you for that, goose. But we got some other things cooking, man. We're going on the road again. I can't can't tell who it is yet because we get we're still cooking it up. But uh, it's it's good, man. That you guys are doing a great job too, and thanks for your flexibility. Robbie, our our our our guy, our studio manager, the CIO, the beautiful mind. We gave him the day off, and the good news is we only called him four times already this morning to ask you know his help in here. So shout out to Chris, shout out to Robbie, shout out to you guys. It's been a fun one. Big things happening at the studio, guys.
SPEAKER_03Love it. Exciting times ahead.
SPEAKER_02Exciting times ahead. Speaking of, guys, it's now time for the mailbag delivered by the Home Depot, always on time. We want to say huge thank you to all of you guys for always getting in your questions here on the Goozan show. First one, Brad, comes from Reggie over there in Macon. He'd like to ask you, what everyday activity could you go gold in? Oh, Olympic theme.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. What everyday activity could I go gold in? Um listen, if if it I gotta preface this by saying my my wife does most of everything around the house, if not everything. But the one thing that I do do is are are the dishes and and emptying the dishwasher, I feel like I'm so quick at it, you know. I could, I could, you know, I feel like I could set an Olympic record and unloading the dishes. You know, what what about you?
SPEAKER_02Is there a technique, by the way? Are you like, you know, when you you're grabbing three or four dinner plates at once and you kind of weave them in between your fingers, you know, and then you reach up and set them in the cabinet? Right. Well like sub 30 seconds the technique.
SPEAKER_03Listen, I'm I'm doing this in the I'm doing this in the morning. And so one, the hot that, you know, they're not hot, right? So they've had a chance to cool off, so that's important. Um but then two, I'm also trying to be a I'm trying to be quiet. I'm probably not the quietest, uh, as you guys would attest to, but uh trying to be a little sensit sensitive to to the noise with with the kids still sleeping. Um but yeah, man, it's uh you know for sure you start at the bottom and then any any dishes on top that maybe have a little bit of of water or whatnot on there, you know, making sure that if that's gonna spill, it doesn't spill into any clean dishes on the bottom. I don't know. I feel like that's that's my thing.
SPEAKER_01We I think we I I'm actually a pretty good dishwasher unloader myself. Okay. Okay. Can we do a little side-by-side? I think before I get to my gold medal, and I will not be beat in this, uh, I do I've been starting to think that maybe on this pod, you know, podcast, the Guzan show, we said we wanted to race Jared Wallace. Maybe we run a 40 and he runs a hundred. We said that we want Alana to take us down uh the the bob sleigh. Um maybe we maybe we also go on location and do like just a side-by-side, you know, timed competition of unloading the dishwasher. But mine, I I I've I've always thought about this that I wish there was like a competition where when the groceries come home, whether it's me myself or my wife who goes to the grocery store, I make it an effort and I will win gold in this. I I can get every single bag, no matter how little or how many have been bought, I will get every single grocery bag in in one trip. So I mean it can be 13 on one arm, 13 on the other. You kind of do the slide to the garage. So I I uh that is that is my gold medal thing. I I I am so good at it, and I wish there was a count, I wish there was an Olympic sport for that.
SPEAKER_03I've got a question for you, Matty. What what happens when you've got like a gallon of milk or you know, uh a big old thing of laundry detergent or or you know, a bulky item? What are is that count as a bag? Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um hundred percent. So I I'm strategic. I'm very strategic in my gold medal uh task here. When I go there and they like, do you want this milk bag? I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, I need a bag because I'm going, I'm already thinking.
SPEAKER_02You guys want a deep cut story here too? So my first ever job growing up was a bag boy at the local grocery shout out, Forced Hills Foods in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They they teach you how to correctly load grocery bags, okay? So always the bread at the top. Don't put in more than you know four soups at once, or things are gonna go bad. The first lady I ever checked out, I overloaded, it was paper bags, okay? Yeah, it was raining outside. I stuck in like eight soups at the bottom because I was just like blacked out tunnel vision. Like, this is my first ever customer, she's gonna report back how I do here. She was just loading up on progressos. We're making our way out to the car, and all of a sudden it's it starts raining really hard. I'm just like staring at her bags, all of a sudden I just hear bing ding. The soups just start rolling down the hill. I'm like, I'm so sorry, ma'am. I'm like trying to grab progressos. She's like, first day? I was like, yes, yeah. And we just go back in. Crazy lore. So there's a lot of science behind loading the bag.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, too. Like I said, there's a lot of strategy that goes into this gold medal task of one trip coming in from the grocery store. I will now make when I when I'm putting it on the conveyor belt uh uh checkout, I I will try to pre-load it for the bagger so that she or he can load it really well. Like I will go cold items, deli items, and the heavy in the back.
SPEAKER_02That saves lives. Yes. Saves lives for those of us. Yeah, yeah. For the ex-baggers out there, yeah. It's unreal. Do you have you ever noticed how much the bagger's face just lights up? It's almost like you there's this unspoken connection that you have where it's just like, my guy.
SPEAKER_01Hey, not not to take this completely off topic, but we're not we're on a little bit, but go on a bit of a taste story. I've always said that there's two types of people. There are people that put their carts back properly, and then there's people that should just be exiled from this planet that just leave it out. Guys, put the cart back properly.
SPEAKER_03Yes, put the cart back. It's I don't care if it's seven spots down or at the in the other come on, put the cart back.
SPEAKER_01Have you guys watched Cartnarx, the YouTube show, the YouTube channel, where he goes and calls them out, puts a magnet on their car for being lazy uh when they don't put their cart back? We can do a collab. Hey, hey, Cartnark, I'm calling you out. The Goozan show in Cartonark. Let's collab it up and have a conversation here.
SPEAKER_02I love that. We'll steer it back on. Next one is Rick from Austel, who would like to ask you, Brad. Oh, this is good. What is the weirdest food combination you've experienced?
SPEAKER_03That is a good question. Um, you know, honestly, I've I don't know if I've got one in terms of a food combination. My my kids, big chicken tenders, you know, they they love chicken tenders. Uh it's a hot item at our house. Um but they'll take their chicken tenders and dip it in applesauce. Oh. And I mean, okay. Listen, I've you know, as as as the parent, you know, uh of course I've I've had it, I've tried it. It's not terrible, you know, by any means, um, but certainly interesting. You got any?
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's kind of like pork chops and applesauce, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, yeah, similar to it. Exactly. I mean, when I was really little, and I've grown out of this, thank goodness now. I used to go for some carrots and ketchup when I was raw. Yeah, carrots and garage. You're not proud of it? It's you know when you're at Pizza Hut when you're little and they used to have the buffet in the middle. Right. Like Pizza Hut is just totally changed now, but the OG days, like early 2000s, you could load up and they had like chocolate pudding, uh a little fruit bar or two. Yeah, and you would just get into a little a little mukbang in there, just a little bit of everything. Okay. I mean I'm not proud of it.
SPEAKER_03Well, speaking of ketchup, when I when I was in England, right, there'd be guys, you know, and this is pre-match meal, right? And guys in the team, spaghetti bolognese, so spaghetti with meat sauce and red sauce, would cover their plate, right, with this, and then would take a bottle of ketchup and squirt ketchup all over the top of the spaghetti. And I was like, what are you doing? I was I couldn't get behind that.
SPEAKER_02The food comes in the UK are a little beans and toast for the morning. No, that's all right. I've had that. I've had that.
SPEAKER_03I I'm I can you still have it to this day?
SPEAKER_02You ever find yourself criminal?
SPEAKER_03If I'm if I'm back over, if I'm in the UK, I'll I'll go for it. Yeah.
unknownThat's weird.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Control room, you guys got any uh any wild wild cuts?
SPEAKER_01I I I'm a big sauce guy. Uh maybe I I do eat like uh probably the age of Brad's kids, but I will I will get the extra Polynesian sauces and uh honey mustards and Chick-fil-A sauce and store them and then dip everything in it, you know, the chips, anything. Like I'll I I I love the the sauce. I like a sauce.
SPEAKER_02Does this mean you have like a sauce drawer or Mookie at the house? You know, yeah. Like just an emergency.
SPEAKER_01Emergency Polynesian containers, you know. Exactly. Exactly. They're always like, hey, do you how many Polynesians do you name? Like as many as you'll get.
SPEAKER_03I need one, I need one for now, but I need six for the house.
SPEAKER_02So I need to re I need to restock. How many can I legally get? Exactly. Final one, guys, comes from Jordan in Montana. Okay, Montana. Wow. Brad, gotta get you out to the ranch at some point. Let's go. We're taking it on the road. We're going out to the ranch in Montana. On horseback, baby. What's the most extreme outdoor sport or activity that you've tried? Ooh. Ooh, good question.
SPEAKER_03Most extreme outdoor sport or activity? Um, I mean, growing up, you know, we'd we'd go up, we go up to uh go up to Wisconsin, being from Chicago, up to Michigan, uh, we go snowmobiling, so we'd we'd be, you know, out snowmobiling. I mean, that's not really extreme. I wasn't like jumping off ramps and like it is, it's certainly dangerous, my brother. You don't know how thick the ice is, or there's a little boost. As as a as a kid, I used to always panic when you'd be cutting across these frozen lakes. I'm like, and then there'd be a bit slush, and I'm thinking, are we going in here? Like this is this is the end. Um and and listen, people have, right? They're those, they've not come out of those stories. And so um certainly can be dangerous, but yeah, I mean, I guess I would say that, but but I'm down for like out at a ranch. I mean, the options are endless, I feel like. So we definitely need to get out there. What what what did what's your most dangerous? I think so.
SPEAKER_02I went to I have an uncle that lives in New Hampshire. He took me whitewater rafting over time in these, like there are these kayaks that are built to flip over, you know, because you're going in this crazy water like this. So they were like, all right, you're gonna be you're gonna be hanging upside down underwater. I'd have a panic attack. You gotta hold your breath and tap the side of your canoe, and somebody paddles over to you so you can grab the nose of their canoe and flip yourself over. No way. So yeah, I I got caught under there. Hold 20 seconds, dog. I thought that was it. 20 seconds probably felt like 20 minutes. I would I would be panicking.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'd be panicking. Yeah, that that wouldn't be for me. Um, I mean, I I watched some of the you know movies, Whitewater rafting, and you know, it it has it in there, and I'm like, no. I was like, because it you're if you go, that's it.
SPEAKER_02That's it like but the ones with 20 people on it, you know those big blue inner two ones, we should do that. Can we do a podcast? Those are dangerous too.
SPEAKER_03You fly off of that, like no, we gotta get to Montana. You have one leg out, one leg in. Like you're not you're you're riding on the side of this this massive but don't have like a little seatbelt for you? I mean, I don't know, maybe maybe, right? But listen, I I agree, Matty. We gotta get out to Montana, go explore the ranch.
SPEAKER_01I believe it was Jordan that submitted that, correct? Uh Jordan, uh, it sounds like you might be at one of the the you know prestigious ranches that that Arthur has up in Montana. So put in a good word, and we will come up there, absolutely do some shows up there, and do some of these extreme stuff.
SPEAKER_03And show showcase the ranches. Yeah, absolutely. You know, showcase the ranches and fill the listeners in, you know. Can you take Mani with us for a little horseback riding? Hey, let's go. Let's go. Guys, uh, unbelievable, um, you know, unbelievable questions. Really appreciative of everyone writing in. Uh, I like the discussion. Uh, I thought it was interesting. Great vibes. Yeah. I think maybe a few more questions afterwards, but you know, uh here we are.
SPEAKER_02Top four on YouTube as well, guys. We keep surging up the charts. We want to say thank you so much to all you guys for tuning in each week to the Guzan Show. It's been Unreal.
