Mac Daddy / Episode 2 / Federer Induction

In our first-ever remote episode of Mac Daddy, Patrick McEnroe holds court from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Rhode Island, while Big Daddy checks in from the field ahead of the final preseason matchup between the New York Jets and New York Giants.
Joining the guys is former NC State tennis player Ashley Jones for a wide-ranging conversation about tennis, sports, and everything in between.
Mac Daddy with Patrick McEnroe & Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado wherever the game takes us.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:02

All right, everyone, Patrick McEnroe here. Welcome to our first remote edition of MacDaddy. We released, of course, our first show just this week. The great Michael Strahan on MacDaddy. Myself, Patrick McEnroe, and of course, Rich Big Daddy Selgado paid a visit to the man himself at his man cave in New Jersey. So we hope you got to enjoy that. And remember, MacDaddy presented by our friends at volition. I am here. I am live. I am in the International Tennis Hall of Fame home, Newport, Rhode Island, where I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past 24, 30 hours. And it has been an absolute blast. It's been a whirlwind. I've interviewed, I think I've interviewed Roger Fetter already about three or four times. And trust me, every time I interview him, it just gets better. So we'll get into that. We'll get into, well, we could get into a little college football because we got some games kicking off this weekend, including University of North Carolina taking on TCU, that's over in Dublin, where the McEnroe family came from many, many moons ago. Now, of course, settle in the great city of New York City. That's where my dad grew up as a single child. My dad, by the way, and I rarely mention this on the radio or on the show or the Mac Dad, in fact, I've never mentioned it, was a great handball player and stickball player. Because in those years, you had nothing, there's nothing else for him to do. He couldn't play tennis, didn't have any money, lived in the city with all the other Irish immigrants. So he liked to think that my brother and I got our hand skills because he was so good at handball and stickball. So just a little nugget for you as we introduce our first show here, uh our first remote show. But I gotta tell you, Roger Federer this weekend will officially be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It has been incredible to see the reaction of people coming here. We had a tennis exhibition, which I just came from about an hour ago on the courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which are grass courts, by the way, one of the few facilities in the country that still has grass courts left. So we had an exhibition. We had Murat Safin there, we had Gabriella Sabatini there. And get this, I got to sit in the umpire's chair, okay? And it was at Sabatini and Murat Safin on one half of the court. And you ready for this? Martina Navertilova and Roger Fetter on the same side of the court. That's a few Wimbledon titles right there, not to mention, you know, arguably the two of the greatest of all time in men's and women's tennis. Martina, by the way, the volleys are still as pure as can be. Uh, she was so delighted to be on the court. Roger is just incredible to talk to. I interviewed him yesterday. The first event we did together was an event for NetJets, which is one of his big sponsors, also sponsoring us here at the Hall of Fame. And I did this 30-minute interview with him. Everything went swimmingly. He was as charming as ever. Asked him about, you know, growing up, winning his first Wimbledon. How does he make it all look so easy? You know the routine, you know the deal. And at the end, I'm wrapping the whole thing up. The thing was like a home run, okay? And then I said, and I want to thank Roger for coming here, and I want to thank everybody at Netflix. It was sponsored by NetJets, okay? And I said, Netflix, and I just kept talking because that's what I do. I just keep talking. So I keep talking, and Roger looks at me, and he's his face just lit up. He started laughing. He goes, Patrick, it's NetJets. And I said, Holy shit. I just and the literally the CEO of NetJets is right there. They'd asked me to come up early. It was a brunch event. It was sort of started at about 11, 11:30. My boss, my CEO, my pod, my companion, my compadre Dan Faber, who I took on the job with about three years ago, to basically try to take the Hall of Fame to another level because we knew Roger was coming in. We knew uh Serena, but that's up in the air because she's come back playing, so we don't know if she's gonna be eligible next year. Then you got, of course, Rafa, Venus, if she ever retires from tennis. Anyway, all to get set for this big event. So I just completely screwed it up. I mean, we we laughed it off, um, but the head of NetJets was there, and Dan had asked me to come up early from New York. He said, You got to meet the head of NetJets. He wants to meet you before you start to deal with Roger. And I'm like, why do I have to meet him before? I just I do these interviews in my sleep. I mean, I know Roger forever. I'll just interview Roger. Oh no, he wants to introduce you. And so I was like, okay, Dan, whatever you want, I'll be there. Don't worry. So, what did I have to do? I had to call the mixed doubles event Wednesday night at the US Open for ESPN. Mary Joe Fernandez and I got to call that. I love the event, by the way. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on that, including my first guest, who'll be coming up momentarily. Um, and then I had to go home, which I live in Westchester, luckily, so I was able to drive you know north towards Newport. And I got home. My wife was fast asleep. She had been texting me during the night. She said are you sure you're gonna be okay? You know, I said, I gotta get up at 6:15 to drive to Newport because I got to get there early. It takes me about three hours to drive up there. She said, Are you sure you're gonna be okay? You know, you got to get your sleep, you got to get rest, U.S. Open. I'm always fried, I'm always running around. I said, Don't worry, honey. I snuck back in the bedroom. She was asleep. Luckily, she had the sound machine on, she had the head, you know, the eye thing on, and I had to go to my closet to get some stuff because I, you know, I had to get my Hall of Fame stuff, and I had to get my gear, and she didn't wake up, luckily. So I slept about four hours, got in the car, drove to Newport, did the first interview with Roger, and maybe that's why I said Netflix instead of Netjecks. But we made fun of myself and I did another interview with him later in the day where we kind of laughed it off. So, anyway, the point is that Roger Fetter is the man, and I've never seen the type of interest for anyone at the Hall of Fame. And I've only been the president for three years, but I've been coming here for many, many years as a brother, as a fan, as a broadcaster. And the interest level for him coming, it's like we I was sitting in the office with our CEO, Dan Faber, in his office, which is right on you know it's called Memorial Drive. And literally at from 8 a.m. this morning, after we had our board meeting, which is at 8 to 9:30, um, because I'm the president, so we have to meet with the board, uh, tell them what we're doing, make sure they you know want to keep our jobs. You know what I'm saying? So um I think they're gonna keep our jobs because it was a line literally down the street around the corner. I don't think it was because of us, it was because of Mr. Roger Feder. And he has been absolutely solar. We will hear his induction speech. Uh it's now Friday here where when I'm doing this live in Newport, Friday early evening, Saturday evening. Roger will do his induction speech. And it's suffice to say that everyone is looking forward to it. Um, the buzz around it is actually pretty amazing. And it's time now for me to welcome in our guest because I'm very excited. I don't I don't know Ashley Jones, who we're welcoming in. She's down in Florida, but I do know, and Ashley, welcome to the program. You're our first guest, our first official guest on the live Mac Daddy show. So, I mean, that's got to feel pretty good, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I I'm I'm honored, actually, very honored. I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here with you, Patrick. I've been watching you play tennis since I was six years old. So I'm having a pinch me moment, actually. And it's very exciting to hear about your day today with Roger up there in Newport and the emotions, the excitement. Maybe you'll let us know about some parties going on, anything else. Because you're just right there in the middle of it. So we're, you know, I'm in Florida. I don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Well, I'll tell you what. Um, you know, little birdie told me that you were a big time college player, played at NC State, which uh you probably know this. I know you played a a little after I played. So you're a little younger than me, and you look it, you look great. And we're so happy to have you on the show. I know now you're working in television, in PR, and and and and and writing too.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Yes, and I do some writing.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

What do you what do you what are you writing about?

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Well, I released a book. Um, I didn't really want to release the book. I mean, it wasn't me. Somebody came to me and wanted to have me write this book um about my move from New York to Miami. I was in New York for like 20 years as a newscaster on Bloomberg and CBS News, and my whole transition here uh with my son to Miami, and how I just kind of reinvented myself again back on TV in Miami from 20 years in New York. So I wrote a book about that to inspire other women to, you know, be able to make change, um, even if it's scary, and um believe in yourself and get excited about something. It's just life. I mean, just go with it. You know, there's ups and downs.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

So you so let me get this straight. So anyway, you played four years of college tennis at NC State. Um, then you got into broadcasting. And if you work for Bloomberg, obviously you were working in the area of business, not so much sport. So tell me what that was like because I've been to Bloomberg a bunch of times, you know, when they want to talk the business of tennis, love the place. I mean, obviously, it the company's incredibly successful. So tell me what you did after college.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

So my dad was my coach as well. He played basketball for Kentucky with Adolph Rupp. So that'll give you some idea of what kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

This is some big time stuff here. Okay, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

So he put me on a tennis court when I was six. And my siblings were all 13 years older than me. None of them were athletic. Um, and he it killed him. And I we were on a vacation and I was being the ball girl as usual. And he said, Ashley, why don't you pick up a racket and just let me toss a ball to you? I hit the ball, and he was just like, There's my I can I can I can I can wait.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

I can I can tell by the way you just swung your arm that you're a tennis player. I mean, just by that.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

He was just like, What's happening to me? And his whole world just changed. And then so he coached me until like um, and then some more professional coaches took over, but he was a self-made tennis player who patterned his serve. He's a lefty, um, just a natural athlete after McEnroe's. And you know, he'd have his shoulders completed to the back of the floor.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

After after wait, wait, wait, hold on, Ashley. After Patrick McEnroe or McEnroe.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

You can't trust me, trust me, I'm used to it after all these years. You know, that I'm just getting at it. But I'm I'm intrigued by the fact that your your dad played basketball at Kentucky, so obviously he was a hell of a player. And then had he ever played any tennis as a kid, he just got into it like once he was somewhere to complain?

SPEAKER_00 10:42

And then I came along and he was in his late 30s and he started coaching me. And that, you know, he wanted me to be a professional tennis player, which I had a very small, I wouldn't search very hard for it, blip on the tour. Um, you didn't I had what most well not most, but some people have the burnout. I had burnout big time after my dad who was a coach, it was a full-time everything. I didn't go to school, I did correspondence courses and you know, as in, you know, basically since fifth grade on. So I only went to school halftime.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

And um, which now, by the which now, by the way, is very common. It's very extremely common that people like homeschool or do online school, not just in not just in tennis, but in all sports. But a lot of kids at our tennis academy, the John Mackinac Tennis Academy, which I help um run the program in New York, that's actually where I met our producer, Lauren, whose son played at our academy. Uh, but by the way, Lauren was a crazy tennis parent, okay? And he'll he'll he likes you, he loves to hear that. Yeah. And it but was what was the relationship like yeah, yeah, between you and your dad? There's the one. Tell me how you like he used to be stalking, like walking up. I remember him like walking up and down, you know, the the you know, uh up on the banister, whatever the hell you call it, up above the courts, like going like and leaf, your son would look up at you, and I was like, you know, this isn't gonna end well. And I mean it did end well because your kid's amazing, but he quit tennis. Yeah, you make a good point. The catwalk. Yeah, the catwalk, thank you. Yeah, tell me about yeah, tell me about yeah. Well, you know, my daughter was a pretty good junior player, and that's funny you mentioned that because one time she was playing a tournament, and you know, I used to go to the tournaments with her, and at first when I went, you know, everybody would come up to me because they knew me from television and so on. And eventually, you know, I would I just became like another parent, which was cool, and the parents, you know, it was just like another parent. But my daughter, uh, who's a pretty good player um in in her younger years, and then she had all sorts of injuries and so on. But anyway, one time she was playing a match, and I swear to you, Ashley, I would sit there like this. I wouldn't cheer, and I would, you know, I just and and this one she always had trouble with her serve, like with the you know, she used to have a trouble with the toss. It used to drive me crazy, but I I do I wouldn't say anything, I'd just be in my head, I'd be going, oh my god, the toss. And then um, she came out and lost this match one time. She may have even won it, I don't even remember. And she she like she kind of like kicked me and she said, Dad, what you know, you're so annoying. And I said, Victoria, I I I I I you know, I always tried to like listen to her, and I said, No, I hear you know, you're frustrated, but uh, I was just like standing there because I could see in your eyes, she said. I could see your eyes, you know. So I was like, Oh my god, this is another level. So it sounds like you had a little bit of that too.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

I wish I could see my dad's eyes. He had sunglasses on. I didn't know if I was in trouble, even if I was winning, because he was starting my match. I would walk off the match sometimes. I won like 606-1. And I'd be like, Okay, this is gonna be a good day, you know. And he'd be like, Do you know how many unforced errors you had? How much we talked about your unforced errors? And I'd be like, So I do know that, but it brought us very close to, and he was a great coach, he really was. And I know he just wanted me to win so bad.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

So was it so yeah, was it um was it after your c like right after college that you decided to get into broadcasting? Or so how tell me about your college career when you left and you went to where did you you I know you're in Florida now. Where did you grow up?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

So I'm from Indiana, born and raised in Indiana. Oh, okay, and then and then I went to NC State, and then I graduated, did the pro tour for like that much time. And I was like, I just can't.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Like I like to say, for a cup of coffee. We did you did it for a cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

And I was like, this, I just want to do this. What am I doing? And my parents were like, What?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I want to talk a little bit about Fedder because I know you mentioned him and you asked me about the parties, and I think people will probably be interested in that too. Um, so tonight, when I leave, when I'm done with with this show with you guys, tonight I'm heading over. We do what's called the fit for fame, and that is um when the the uh inductees, so Roger Feder is going in. Also, Mary Carillo, who's a legendary broadcaster who's worked in tennis for many years, who's worked for NBC now in the Olympics. She is amazing, phenomenal. She's got a huge contingent of people here um from her hometown, which is, by the way, my hometown. She grew up in the same town that we did in Douglaston, Queens, New York. Um, and so our family knows the Carillo family forever. So she's got a group from there, she's got all of her kids here. Um, she's got her wife here, she has kids, and then she became a gay woman, and now she's been openly gay for many years, and she has a partner, and she but she has um a couple of her sister here, a couple of her kids here, some of whom have their own kids, and a lot of people from the TV world, from the TV business. And one of the things that I actually interviewed her today in the our press conference before I interviewed Roger, and one of the things that she uh that one of the um reporters asked, and I think um uh you you will get this as a sports person, as a woman in this business. Um, and one of the people said, What an impact that Mary had on them as a group of females getting in, particularly into sports broadcasting, because she was like at the forefront of that. You know, even my brother, who they won the mixed doubles together at the French Open. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yes, I did. I knew that she won the French Open with him, and I knew her highest ranking was I think she was 33rd in the world.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Yeah, I think she was like around top 30. Yeah, and then she had major knee problems. Yeah, and anyway, um, anyway, she had obviously a huge impact on inspiring women, and actually a couple of the people there with her, Leslie Visser, who was a great reporter for many years, um, with CBS. Um, Andrea, I'm trying to remember her, what's her uh I can't remember her last name. She worked, I worked with her at CBS too. She was married to the news guy from CBS, Andrea. Uh it's anyway, it's killing me. But anyway, point is is that Roger and Mary are a perfect team because I mean to go in with Roger. Andrea Andrea Joyce. Yes, Andrea Joyce.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Andrea Joyce. She does the yeah, she does the gymnastics for the Olympics. She's phenomenal. She was married to Harry Smith. Harry, Harry Smith. Yeah, yeah. Warning from CBS News. Hey, everybody.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

It's Andy, the director here. We actually have Big Daddy from MetLife right now. We got his audio and his video.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Let's see him. Yes, I'm here. Big Daddy, baby. What's going on, my man?

SPEAKER_03 17:34

Oh man, I'm here. Uh the big giant jet preseason game. You know, the guys uh incredible. Well, whoever, well, whoever's playing will, you know, the trunk.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

No, forget it. Forget about who's playing tonight. Uh, we've got Ashley Jones with us, who's incredible. We're talking about her story. But I want to ask you this. As a New York sports fan, as a Jet fan, unfortunately, for all these years, having grown up, you know, 15 minutes from what was Chase Stadium, which is now City Field. Of course, the Jets moved to Jersey to MetLife where you are right now. Do the Jets have any chance to win, I don't know, more than the number of games, you know, games that are on my hand, more than five games this year?

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Yes, I do believe so. I do believe so. And uh you could tell the difference. A whole new attitude here.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

And what about what about Geno Smith coming back as a quarterback? What do you think about him?

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Well, I think they got the parts around them, so they just got to make it all mesh and they can win these games. You know, obviously they start off the Tennessee. That's not gonna be easy because they're gonna be hungry if you know Robert Salah doesn't have a short memory.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Yeah, no, no kidding. Um, well, we went to uh Lauren and I actually went to MetLife for the first World Cup game that was there, France Senegal. And we sat in the owner's box, Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, right? And he told us basically what you just said, Big Daddy, that the Jets got a lot of pieces, and of course, there's some question marks, even surrounding the coach. I know it's his year two for him, and about um the quarterback, but do you think they have a few more pieces that they can be competitive in the AFC East, where obviously Buffalo's a huge favorite? What about New England there? You think New England can make another big run this year?

SPEAKER_03 19:28

Yeah, well, look, they got the same team pretty much back, so it's gonna be interesting. It's gonna be a very, very competitive uh AFC East.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah, they got AJ Brown, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Yeah, that's a receiver. As they say, you still gotta line them up and you gotta tee it off, and you gotta get the other one.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Yeah, well, you know plenty about that. All right, how about the Giants? Because the Giants over there in the NFC, you got the Eagles, you know, they're the favorites, but a lot of people are here picking the Cowboys to win the uh to win that division. Where do you think the Giants fall? Because I'm hearing some rumblings from those Giant fans that actually think they could be pretty good this year. Thoughts from you?

SPEAKER_03 20:10

I think they could be pretty good, but they got two big games out of the gate, you know, starting off with Dallas on national TV Sunday night. And then they got to travel all the way out to the ramps, and we all know what they got. That that's uh that's like uh what do you call it? A bunch of Indians waiting for the uh cavalry to come out.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Yeah, yeah, no kidding.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

Because they are loaded. Yeah, they're a fantasy team.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

They are very good. Yeah, is that your favorite, Big Daddy, for the Super Bowl?

SPEAKER_03 20:39

Uh no, I you know what, I haven't had really much time to think about it yet. I always like wait till week one to get that vibe, and then I go with my pick. Uh I picked once correctly, and then I've uh fallen on my face a couple times. So I I try to research it a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

So you're you're you're you're so you got the Rams out there, you got the 49ers out there. Um, I mean, obviously a lot of people are picking one of those two teams out there. Um, who are you picking in the AFC? Because that seems to be a little bit more up in there. Mahomes coming back from the injury. Uh, I'm hearing maybe you know Kansas City could they have a down year? Uh who do you like in the AFC this year?

SPEAKER_03 21:25

Well, I do like I do like the Kansas City Chiefs coming out of the West because they got all the parts back, and also Mahomes, and they got our favorite defensive coordinator, Hall of Fame coach, Steve Stagnova.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

So uh I'm a little biased, so I'm gonna I'm gonna I'll say Patrick, just so you know, I they're they're close friends. Andy Reid stops the golf cart to talk to Big Daddy. I know, I know. I don't know. He might be on the payroll.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

They got Eric the enemy back, and they had a lot of success when those two were together.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah, well yeah and Bienname had that horrible situation with his wife, which uh and the son, which we we I don't I don't want to get into here, but um all right, Big Daddy. You were you and I were able to go out together a couple of days ago earlier this week on the seven train out to the US Open. Okay, and I'm up here in New What's that? With our friend Henri. With our friend we got that right with our friend Henri. Athlete, you don't need to know Henri is. Hey athletes, you don't need to know about this, okay? Yeah, you can check our website. By the way, go to MacDaddy. Go to MacDaddy on Instagram, whatever. You guys got to start following us because this is epic stuff what we're doing here. But Big Daddy, before I let you go, because I know you want to get to the game here, um, what'd you think about the whole tennis scene? Because you come from the NFL. I'm like the tennis guy, we're making this shit happen right here. What do you think about um that whole tennis thing going in there with me? You know, people know me on the seven train, all those tennis fans. What do you what'd you think about it?

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Well, I did a good job playing security because you know, everybody wanted your autograph, they wanted the uh flyers from you.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Yeah, but yeah, but when you when you when you play security, big daddy, you gotta stay close. You know, you can't wander off.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Oh, listen, I take space. I was trying to get as close as I could, but you know, it's a little tight on that seven train.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Yeah, yeah, it is a little tight. All right, but to get back to your question.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

To get back to your question, the tennis experience was great, and I told somebody, I go, I'd never done that. You know, we we start at Grand Central, we take the train, we end up at the open, and I get to see you in your world.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Yeah, well, by the way, Ashley, who's a true professional, we're gonna get back to her in a second. She's drinking water, and I'm drinking tequila, okay, right now. Okay, get me ready. Get just a sip or two, just to you know, get me right. I've had a long couple days actually. Yeah, well, I I saw the Dos Obre's guys last night, Big Daddy, and uh I told them the truth. Did you want to know the truth? Sure. You took my bottle of tequila. Okay, you took you took my bottle of tequila because they're like, T-Mac, have you tried the new artisanal um bottle? We sent it to you. I'm like, no, I had it, but Big Daddy freaking took it. So where is my tequila, Big Daddy?

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Uh when I see you next, I'll give it to you.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

See you soon, my friend. Yeah, we appreciate it. Enjoy the game, my man. All right. Thank you. We love you, Big Daddy. We love you, Big Daddy. Stay there for a second, Big Daddy. I mean, Ashley. You're you're definitely not Big Daddy, Ashley. Big Big Daddy is. Uh Lauren, you want to say something about it?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

It won't surprise you, Patrick, but Ashley's known Big Daddy for nearly two decades. Sorry, I left that out.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Okay, well, we we start most of our shows, Ashley, because most of these people we have on say they know Big Daddy, and then I say, Okay, how do you know Big Daddy? Ashley? How do you know?

SPEAKER_00 25:15

I don't even know how I know Big Daddy. I met Big Daddy, I don't know where, what party, what event. It was like I was in my 20s. I mean, I have known him forever. Great guy, most loyal friend, just a big teddy bear to me. I mean, it's just you just always want to give him a big hug. He calls me kiddo.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Called you kiddo. Yeah, but he probably forgot your name. That's probably why I called you kiddo. But um that's big. No, yeah, you can talk about it. All right, let's let's let's talk a little tennis because I know you know we got we got the U.S. Open coming up. I went out on a limb. I don't I don't think it was that big of a limb, but I I I was kind of feeling it. And I'm like, you know what? I'm so sick and tired, Ashley. You can appreciate this as a tennis fan. When's the next American man, not woman, because we've got plenty of female champions, gonna win a major? 2003 was Andy Roddick who joined our team at ESPN. I'll be back with them. In uh, I guess I'll be driving back. I'll be driving back in about 26 hours back to New York to get ready for the U.S. Open. I picked Ben Shelton, Al Caraz coming back off his injury, no sinner. Uh, I think it opens the door potentially for someone like Bill Ben Shelton. What say you?

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Um, well, I'm also a Ben Shelton fan. You know, he his family is rooted in Indiana. His mother is from Indiana, Lisa. She's a few years older than me. She grew up playing tennis. We both shared the same coach. Her younger brother, Rick, um, was a few years older than me. We grew up playing tennis together. And then I'm not sure if you knew his uh his uncle Todd, who played at Wimbledon and US Open.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

I I know him, I know him very well, and I know him, and I know he passed away at a very young age. Um, and because he played, he's I think he's about a year a little bit older than me, and he played at USC. He was and I played at Stanford, so I know Todd Whitskin, Whitskin Lozano was a great team, Jorge Lozano from Mexico. I'm going into the weeds and tennis here. This is supposed to be like a national show. No one gives a shit about all this tennis stuff. So that's why I'm trying to go bigger picture here, because you and I could like talk for hours about this tennis stuff, which is all good. But I want to I want to ask you about do you think Ben Shelton can do this? Do you think he can finally win?

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Okay, I do why I'm starting to see Ben, okay. We all know he's got a huge serve, and he wins a lot of matches based on that serve when other things aren't working quite to his favor. Um, his return of serve, sometimes a little bit of weakness there. Um, and I think mentally we've seen a little bit more maturity because when he first started out, I think he was like 18, 19 when he first hit big time. And I think there was a little bit of emotional and mental maturity that needed to happen. And I think we're starting to see that a little bit more on the court and being able to focus a little bit better when things aren't going your way so much, continuing to focus on the actual match instead of letting you know a point two points ago still be in your head and it's messing with your head. So I also um think that he would be one of my favorites. And I mean, I would love to see Taylor Fritz finally.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Yeah, you know, yeah, tell yeah, Taylor Fritz Taylor Fritz has been the most consistent American player, male player in the last you know, five years or so, um, reaching the final a couple of years ago, losing a center. He's got a shot. I think Francis Tiafo's also got a shot. He had a great run in Cincinnati. Um uh Shelton also won Canada up in Montreal this year for the second straight year. Um didn't lose. It's been awesome to have. Yeah, look at you, Lauren, with your tennis knowledge. Very impressive. Yeah, well, I was saying if if if the U.S. Open was played in Canada, he might really be a exactly, but it's not. No, but I think he I think he thrives in the New York crowd.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Presented by Volition America, which gives 13% of its profits to Fold Zobana, sponsored by Fire Department Coffee, veteran-owned and run by firefighters.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

You like my shirt, by the way? Let me ask my wife, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

I need to get my husband one of those. And let me ask my wife where that's at. Because you never know.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Get your husband one of these because I gotta tell you, when I walk around wherever I am with one of these, people love it. Um, let's talk about the witness. Let's let's talk about the women's field at the open. I want to get into that quickly, and then we so appreciate your time. Then we'll let you go. Coco Goff. A lot of people like her to win her second um US Open. She's won a French Open. Sabalenka comes in trying to three-peat. Last player to do that in women's tennis was Serena. Rabakina won the Australian this year. She's been a little up and down. I picked her to win Wimbledon. She bombed out, I think, the second round. Guess who I picked this year, though? Ashley. I picked Iga Sfiantec to win it all. I love the way she's looked. She's playing a little more controlled tennis, not so aggressive all the time, which I think for her is the right way to go. Um, but it's a little more wide open on the women's side traditionally than it's been, at least in the last couple years, on the men's side. Who do you like?

SPEAKER_00 30:31

I really like Coco Golf. I do like her. I love Pagula. I love Jessica Pagula.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yeah, oh yeah. I should have mentioned her too. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

I would love to see her win. I love the way she handles herself on the court. Um, I love um things she does outside the court with all the animal sanctuary and you know, uh everything she does with that with her husband. And I I like her. I would also like to see Madison Keys maybe come on in there, maybe have a great turn.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Yeah, well, yeah. Madison, you know, Madison got that Australian Open uh not this year, last year, which was amazing because she never won a major. She'd lost in the U.S. Open final um a couple years ago to Sloan Stevens. Sloan Stevens got a wild card to get into the singles. Venus Williams got a wild card to get into the singles. There's a little bit of controversy about that because you know she's 0-11 this year. She's 47, I think she is now. Serena elected not to Serena elected not to take a wild card in singles, but played in the mixed doubles with Alcaraz, which I called the uh the last two days, it was only two days. What did you think about the revamp um mixed doubles event that they have at the US Open? Were you as a fan of tennis? Did you like that?

SPEAKER_00 31:51

I loved it. I loved seeing uh Serena play with Alcaraz. I also loved seeing um uh feast play with his wife. Um I loved seeing it.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

Oh, that was Monfees, Monfeast, you mean? I'm sorry, I get him Arthur because Arthur Arthur Feast, who's actually an unbelievable player, and actually one of the male players I think could make a huge run. But Monfils Spitolina, you're right. They were the like the the the the fans were wanting them to win it, and then when they lost in the semis, it lost a little buzz. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Montfees is just so entertaining, like his shots are entertaining, but also you know, he does his dance moves and stuff, and he's just fun to watch. So I I like seeing this mixed doubles um happening, and um, I think it's putting a lot of people in seats for tennis. Um, they want to come see it. Yeah it's exciting, big time. Bring it back to the doubles.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

A hundred percent. A lot of people on the inside tennis were like, Oh, you're taking away jobs from the doubles players, but what you just said is spot on. And Ashley, um, before I let you go, and again, I appreciate you being here. Tell me a little bit about your book. No, tell me a little bit about your book um and how we can get it, and um then we'll let you go. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Um, so my book was released um in March. It's called Slaying Miami, and um, it was at the number one bestseller um new releases for I think two months. And it was about something um that I don't really speak about publicly, but I did speak about this part about how I uprooted myself and my son from New York in about 10 minutes and walked away from 10 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

What what why did you do that in 10 minutes? You want to tell me what happened there or no?

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Uh it was very publicly covered.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Um, my ex-husband, who was also a news anchor, um, got in some legal trouble with uh in a little bit of a pickle?

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Yes, a little bit of pickle. Oh, it was a big pickle, it was a lot, and uh it wasn't getting any better. So um I decided that it would be a better environment for my son and I, after a year and a half of trying to work through that, um, to leave. And so I just got in the car, I dropped him off at camp, got a call from my attorney, and was some information that uh was a little bit scary. It was actually really scary. And um I packed a bag, I packed uh Jack a bag, and grabbed our 20-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

How old was Jack at the time? How old was he?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

He had just turned seven.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Wow, just turned seven.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

I just took him off at camp, and I made this decision in 10 minutes, packed what I could, got in my um, got my Range Rover, went to the camp, ran out, grabbed him. The counselors grabbed him, brought him right to me. We got in the car and I just started driving south. And I left my homes. I left we lived in Darien, and we had a place in New York and out in the Hamptons, and I left all everything I had except for a bag. Lived in a hotel for two weeks paying with cash and had no job anymore, and reached out to some stations here in Miami, and it was already covered that I had fled New York, and one of the stations said, We'd love to have you. And so I started in two weeks and popped back on air. But in that time, I had to get a house, I had to rent a house in a safe neighborhood that was guarded and gated, and I had to enroll him with pediatricians, schools, and I just kept, you know, it's right foot, left foot, keep going, keep going, keep going. You have to. You have a kid, and you're not gonna let this bring you down. You're not going down with this person, and you're gonna keep going and put a smile on my face. And my son thought we were on vacation. I never let him know anything, and um the vacation became permanent, and we've been here ever since, and he just turned 21. So it's been great. Got remarried, got remarried to a fabulous guy, fabulous guy, another news anchor, another news anchor. Um and this, yeah, we've we've I don't know, it just kind of all fell in place. Sometimes you just have to believe in God and believe in yourself, um, have the confidence and have the optimism that if you keep trying, things are gonna work out. And I just in a minute went, bam, I'm I'm gone, done. And I'm gonna make it work somewhere else.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Absolutely amazing, unbelievable story. Um, God bless you for doing what you did. Uh it's it's great to meet you online. I hope to see you in person. I'm gonna come down there to Miami to meet you. We'll we'll do one of these in person as well. And I'm so honored that you were able to come on this show, our first remote show. Yeah, so thank you so much. Keep up the good work. Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll we'll we'll see you down the road. And Ashley's joining us here on Mac Daddy for our first show. All the best to you. Keep up the good work and and check out her book as well. Good to see you. Uh, Lauren, listen, my man. Um, Mac uh Big Daddy's out there uh at the at the Jet Giant game. I'm up here in Newport. We're gonna make continue to make this. And our next our next episode is gonna be with Brandy Chastain, right? What stood out for you? Because also, because Ashley talked a little bit about that transition that she made, right? You know, like going from Bloomberg. I mean, you know, the professionally, Brandy had to make a couple of transitions as well, which I thought was fascinating when she told that story. What's what stood out from for you about what she told us?

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Well, from Brandy's story, not only from brand injury, but yeah, yeah. Brandy went through multiple knee injuries. She was at Berkeley, she had the guts to transfer to Santa Clara. So that's a story that stands out. And and Ashley's story that we just heard is is basically what we're doing, right, Patrick? We're trying to find stories about people resolved, people that that put, you know, to Ashley's point, one foot in front of the other. These are the kind of stories we're talking about: mental illness, mental health, you know, all these things that that athletes don't always get, you know, people always lean on them. You know, and so this is the kind of thing that I think that you're excellent at, and I'm very happy that we're doing this show together.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Well, this is what Mac Daddy's all about, everyone. It's about telling the stories about the things that maybe you didn't know about some of these superstars. Mike Arruzzioni, we'll have him down the road. Uh, you heard from Michael Strahan this week on Mac Daddy, Brandon Chastain coming up, and there's numerous, there's countless others in the entertainment world, in the sports world, Jeremy Schapp, for example, example, Adam Schefter, who he's talking about. I loved hearing his story. He's like the biggest guy in ESPN and NFL insider, and the things that he told us about coming um into his own and all the rejection that he got, by the way. So these are the kind of things that we're showing you on MacDaddy that we're super proud to do. Lauren and I have been talking about this for a long time, and we are so happy to see it coming fruition. We thank all of you. Please join us. Please check out MacDaddy. Check us out at Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Apple. You know the deal. We're coming back next week. We'll be on twice a week, Big Daddy and I, Mondays and Fridays, doing sort of this remote live show. I'll be back in New York, of course. And then we'll be doing our interview show every Wednesday. And Ed Burns is one of our first few episodes as well, the great uh filmmaker, director, producer. He's done it all. He's a New York guy. So it's all about that. Uh, and we're super excited about what we have in front of you, and we hope you are too. Thanks, everyone. Patrick Macron signing off from Newport, Rhode Island. Big Daddy, he's over there watching the Jets and the Giants. Please, Jeffs, can you win a few games for us this year? And we hope you enjoy our programming, and we hope you enjoy MacDaddy. All the best, everyone. We'll see you soon, right here on all our stations.