myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
Coaches Corner: Get to Know Us
Welcome to Coaches Corner, where we dig deeper into the heart of sports and unveil the game beyond the game. In this episode, co-host Craig Sherwood sits down with our co-host Bob Hart, a native of Valley with a rich history in sports, walking us through their journey in the realm of sports. Experience ranges from the fiercely competitive days of wiffleball and over-the-line to the invaluable time spent under the guidance of legendary coaches at John Burroughs High School.
The essence of competitiveness, the significance of playing hard, and the weight of unwavering integrity were some of the indispensable life lessons that Bob absorbed from his mentors. These lessons not only shaped him as an athlete but also helped him mold his character off the field.
The conversation takes an introspective turn as we delve into the fascinating experiences that led to Craig’s tenure as an assistant coach. From my early twenties, he recounts the rollercoaster of experiences that led to his tenure as an assistant coach at Crespi, sharing how these experiences forged my coaching philosophy.
The episode also explores the unique dynamic between a father and a son in the world of sports. Bob shares his personal experiences when his son had to decide whether to play baseball for Burroughs High, instead of the team he coached at Burbank High and how he gave his son the freedom to make his own choice.
Community involvement in sports is more than just a buzzword. It's the lifeblood that keeps the sports community vibrant and thriving. Bob and Craig dive deep into this topic, discussing the importance of character development, the creation of a positive culture, and the concept of giving without expecting anything in return.
Bob also opens up about his time as a juvenile probation officer and how this experience shaped his approach to coaching. The importance of honesty, accountability, and responsibility when it comes to coaching, and how Bob instills these values in his players, is explored in detail.
We wrap up the episode by examining how sports can teach us respect, civility, and the value of community involvement. These life lessons learned from sports transcend the field and court, impacting our everyday lives.
Tune in to this enlightening discussion on Coaches Corner as we explore the transformational power of sports and the invaluable life lessons it imparts. From the court to the community, let's journey through sports with Craig Sherwood and Bob Hart and discover the game beyond the game.
From deep in the Burbank Media District. It's time for another edition of my Burbank Talks, presented by the staff of my Burbank. Now let's see what's on today's agenda as we join our program.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody. Craig Sherwood here with you and we have a brand new type of show for you calling Coach's Corner, and with me is our going to be. Our new co-host is Bob Hart.
Speaker 3:Great to be here, Craig. Always an adventure to see you.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate that. I think it's something. I've talked to Coach Hart about this in the past and I think he has some great perspectives on not just sports but on life in general which incorporates into sports, and I think it's to be something that is going to be pleasurable for people to hear about. And you know it's a different perspective. We're not going to sit here and talk about you know, who won the game last week and things you know. We're not going to do the obvious things. We're going to delve into the reasons things happen in sports and the personalities and the thought process that goes into those people and those situations, and I think in the long run it's going to be something that's the interaction of people.
Speaker 2:You know what makes people tick. You know what makes that athlete special, you know. So I appreciate being here. Let's give everybody a little background on who you are. You know how you got into sports. You know because you were and I remember you as a tadpole, as a young man back in the day, and you were a multi-sport athlete basketball, football and baseball.
Speaker 3:I think in those days everyone was.
Speaker 2:Although you didn't play much baseball back then, it was mostly football and basketball but you have a huge sports background and then, of course, you got into coaching. So give us a little background on yourself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm a typical Valley guy. Grew up in Van I's area, eventually moved to Burbank. My seventh grade Luther Burbank actually played for Coach Sherwood in eighth grade.
Speaker 2:Back in the olden days, back in the olden days when we took horses to the game.
Speaker 3:But yeah, and that was actually my first organized experience with Coach Sherwood, so that was the first team actually that I played on. When I grew up it was more wreckball or just pickup ball, you know, go to the park and wreck and kind of live at the park. So went to John Burroughs High School after Luther attended John Burroughs, went away for a while, discovered my, you know, found my wife and that whole.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the state of Burroughs. So what sports did you play at Burroughs and what coach and what coaches did you play for?
Speaker 3:I played for I played football and basketball. Never played baseball in high school, which is kind of ironic, right, because I've been around it for quite some time, played a lot of adult ball later on, but that's a different story.
Speaker 2:You played for Bobby D back then, didn't you?
Speaker 3:I did play for Bobby D, the legendary Bobby D. Football was quite the thing at Burroughs so it was very attractive to people to get out there on Friday night and do your thing. So that drew me to it. Basketball was my big love. Played for Brian Hurst, the legend himself. Played for Rich Grimes, lou Stone I had the Merle Stone connection for football so I played with some, some four, some great guys. You know that taught me a lot of valuable lessons.
Speaker 2:Different era but Lou Stone, who actually became a firefighter captain and was the president of the Burbank Firefighters Association, was one heck of a one heck of a basketball coach. I mean, he was, he was. He probably could have actually moved up levels, you know, with his knowledge and his intensity and, and you know, he, he he coached a good game. I mean, did you learn a lot from him?
Speaker 3:You know, I think the thing I took from Lou the most was competitiveness. He was a high energy guy that played 200% and anything less was not acceptable, whether he was playing or coaching. So he was somebody that really taught us how to play hard, what it meant to compete, which is a real nuance for athletes, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, I think he he brought a lot. If you look at all those those, you know Coach Hearst was a very laid back, quiet type of guy. Sure, coach Grimes I I little bit, you know, on the edge, but I know Lou Stone was was very animated.
Speaker 3:Coach Hearst was a great XO guy, really good in game situations, ran a clean program. He was somebody I admired too, because he didn't compromise his integrity to do well, so you know, and he, he didn't play favorites, he was fair to everybody, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, I I didn't play sports at Bros because I he was my PE teacher and I know, you know, he would always be encouraging and he'd be accessible and he'd, you know, and he'd talk to you just as though you were the star of the of the school. He didn't really matter to him and and that's, I'm sure, that's why his legacy is so important and I've named a gym after him there. You know, which is his fan and glad when they name a gym after somebody who's still alive and gets to see the honor instead of ready, okay, somebody dies and all of a sudden, oh, we're going to name this. They'll never know that. They don't know that.
Speaker 3:I think, with most coaches, I think they missed the boat on what he brought to the table most, which is a good person. Right, he's a good person. That's a great foundation for any coach because, ultimately, you're teaching kids how to you know to develop character and to you know to care about the next guy more than yourself, and a lot of that stuff. And he was that guy.
Speaker 2:So right and which we're going to get into as we go along here and talking about the character of sports, you know which is what this is kind of all about. So you know, on the other hand, I started out I was not the athlete, I was the guy who was always just not good enough. But I love sports, you know. And you know I got cut from the baseball team when as a sophomore by Dave Jackson Remember that day very well and but I love the game.
Speaker 2:And then so I started actually coaching baseball back in the hat minor days when I was a senior in high school and we started a hat minor team in eighth ninth grade team at the time and it was funny because we started, I started my junior year doing it and we had a great team. We won the league title back then and the next year go back to Burroughs, my senior year, and here's a couple of my players going to Burroughs too and it was like, it was very like. You know well, this is, you know, but it was great. Juan Luna was our pitch. I don't know if he knew Juan Luna or not.
Speaker 2:He was. He was on my very first ever team and great picture.
Speaker 3:Yes, he did.
Speaker 2:And a big head of hair to go with it and everything else.
Speaker 2:But he was a great guy back then. So you know, I mean, that's where I got my start. And then of course we ended at Bay of Bruce and everything else and then finally got a coaching job back in oh what was it? Around 19,? I want to say 1980 in that area, 79, at Providence High School and with Dave Gallardo, the schools I even co-ed for like three or four years. At that point there's always an all girls school. The ministry brought boys in and coached there for a year with Dave Gallardo. And then Microsoft and myself actually went over to Bill Jeff and coach JV ball there for two years at Bell Jeff, like around 8081.
Speaker 2:And how Krug was the head coach. He was the head coach of football and baseball there. And then how I remember my second year there how Krug came up. We had. He had us dressed for a varsity game as a night game over back to Northwest Park now a four and he turned to me and says I'll go over and coach third base for me.
Speaker 2:And I went out to coach third base in a varsity game at Bell Jeff's what, division 45 or something. But you know, to me I was scared to death. I was scared to death out there at the speed, everything else you know of the game and but it was a rush. So right after that, the next year I was still coaching, you know, in the park and record and a booth ball and Carl Keller, who's head coach of Burroughs, his son was playing, actually for microcephal, and Carl came up to me and said I just love the way your kids play, I love how fundamentally they do things. I want you to come coach with me at Burroughs. And wow, okay. So I went and the first year I was his assistant coach on varsity and he did taught me a ton of stuff, you know, movement left, left, side or everything was, you know, very fundamental, Because he'd kind of he'd came from heart you know, yeah, you could tell fundamentally he was solid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And so the second year I was the head JV coach. It was great, you know, because I got my first taste of that.
Speaker 3:How old were you.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say probably. Why was there in my early twenties easily. I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't very old at all at that time. Um, and then what happened was they had a teacher strike in Burbank and he got roughed a lot of feathers and he kind of got fired All right and he was leaving. So he went to the banquet at last banquet and says you know, I'm leaving the program and I'm turning the program over to Craig Sherwood.
Speaker 3:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I guess you know you can't do that. You know the administration has a few things to say about that. So of course I didn't get the job because I didn't have the experience or anything else and I probably didn't deserve the job.
Speaker 3:Who was the next coach?
Speaker 2:I want to think I think it was Paul Haney, who came from Notre Dame. I'm not sure about that, but anyhow, when that happened, a friend of mine I knew had got the head head coaching job at Cresby and he came to me and said hey, I'd like you to come in and be my assistant coach out of Cresby. And all I knew about Cresby was oh my God, look it's. I've heard about the Cresby Notre Dame games and the battles and how great they were, and so, oh, hey, I went out there and the guy's name was Mitch Well, I can't what was his. I can't remember his last name. I go out to coach with him and it was a flying circus. He'd never coached before. He didn't know what he was doing.
Speaker 2:I showed the first day to our practice field, nervous as heck. Because here I am, there's a brand new. You know I'm out of my comfort zone, I'm out of Burbank and I'm at one of the top schools in the valley. We get there for the first day of tryouts. He turns to me and says OK, go run tryouts, not the night before, into the fire right there at that moment Run the tryouts. And I'm saying it all Wait a second, I have nothing I don't know, you know, but I ran, I figured it out, you know, and on the fly.
Speaker 3:Was Mucky there at that time.
Speaker 2:Oh no, no, he was. He was to head coached Valley College and that's when the right, when the transitions were going through with jobs. So after that first year, of course, I actually went into the Sector, who was named Paul Muff. About three, four into the season I said you know, paul, I go, I got you, you may fire me to out today, right now. You have to get rid of this guy at the end of the year because he has no business being a head coach at levels like this. And I go, and he goes. Yeah, I guess we've heard the stories. I mean A couple of quick stories that people find funny is number one we're on a bus, we're in a losing streak. We're on the bus one day and he has every kid pick out a piece of paper with a number. He takes the numbers and divides it by eight or whatever it is, and they pull. And he had 10 lineups made up and that's the line up he used. The number was the Nice. That's how you came with lineups, scientific.
Speaker 2:But the big catch was one time when it was really going bad. The players wouldn't talk to him Mitch Fair, that was his name. Mitch Fair Instead, you know, we need a team meeting. We go out in the middle of the outfield and all of a sudden he goes on. He brings out a boombox and he puts it down. What's going to play Music? Why he talks he's recorded his speech the night before puts it down and then, in the middle of the pile, turns the play button on and walks away. Have a speech, play to the kids, and I was doing. He goes, coach, let's go, and I'm going oh so I went with you.
Speaker 2:You get the loyalty, still loyalty.
Speaker 3:Nice gimmick.
Speaker 2:I found out later, our center fielder, pat Murphy Actually you're needed on his, his player, what was playing Nice? I mean, that's how you know that's the end of the year. Yeah, he was fired and they came to me and they said we want you to stay on. I was very you know, and they're talking about we haven't given me the head job then. But then the, the junior college thing fell up, all apart and and and Muck, who was a coach at Valley College and just winning a state title, him and Dave Snow, and he was also his job with the lifeguard there and they eliminated all his jobs. So he had no job. So they called me and I said look, you know we want to. You know we want you to stay, but we want you to To, but we want to give this. I said are you kidding the man's hugely? You just want to stay title in college baseball and JC baseball. Of course he's, you know. So he goes. We want him to have you on his staff. You know, we have him to talk to you.
Speaker 2:So a couple of weeks later I get a phone call. He goes. You know, I want you to come out and we talk. Ok, you meet, your baseball program had an office at Cresby.
Speaker 2:Every program had our own office. I'm reaching your office, you know. Oh, no, no, in my office, your office, his office was a third base dugout of Valley College, Cause that's where he, you know, and he actually lived across the street from Valley. So I met him out there and we talked and I became as assistant coach for a couple of years and then I said you know, one day I went behind and I had coached myself, let me go down and coach JV for a couple of years, cause you make decisions as an assistant and it's great and you gotta get your feet wet, but you gotta make those decisions sometimes, you know. And so he did that. And after that, you know, often I spent over 20 years with him and he every baseball thing I know is thanks to him and you know he's up in heaven right now looking down on us and that's kind of my coaching journey. What about you?
Speaker 3:Mine is very short actually. Just, you know I started doing this at a very fatherly age with my son. So my first coaching job was in high school, much like yours and then not until 10 years later when I had my boy, that I started coaching travel ball and such. And then the Burbank High thing kind of fell in it. You know I was approached with that as a something that I knew from Bruce Osgood. He asked me if I'd be willing to coach the varsity. I told him that first year I'd rather coach the freshman. So I did that, got my feet wet and you know, 20 years later here we are. You know it was a it's been a great ride for me.
Speaker 2:I want to change the world, and let's talk about it. Look at this Burbank High. When you came into it you were the flavor of the week back then because every year you were getting new coaches in there and and.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think there were one for 126 in league when I got there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they were absolutely pathetic, except for they had one player for a couple of years named Freddie Sanchez. Pretty good one who was actually an MVP of the Footheel League and a last place team, which is kind of unheard of, absolutely. Frank DeSantis was his coach, who was late in the flight Frank DeSantis- he told me he had three coaches, so yeah, when he was yeah, he was going into junior year that once again, I'm changing the coach and they made Freddie Sanchez part of the team that evaluated coaches.
Speaker 3:Really.
Speaker 2:And, from what I hear, the panel. Yeah, how the story went is that when he came into interview and they're asking all the questions, everything else, and they ask everybody else he said why do you want to be? And he turned to Fred. He says because I want to be able to coach great players like this right here, because he is the future. So right there it's like the kid was like oh, you know.
Speaker 3:That's funny.
Speaker 2:That's how he got his job basically, and he was in poor health and moved on. But that was the story of Frank DeSantis back then.
Speaker 3:That's funny, I kind of stumbled into it. To be honest with you, my background was much more football and basketball, but I discovered the love of baseball as I got older, the nuance of it, and then ultimately, coaching kids is probably the foremost. It's not so much the sport, it's just being with them every day and that whole interaction and some of that stuff.
Speaker 2:I've always said we do this kind of 11 months a year and some of these kids will actually see us more than they will see their own families.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:But here's something which I need to bring not I don't know if we need, but is the word but interesting to bring up is that your son was a star athlete and he went to Burroughs while you were coaching at Burbank and became a star pitcher who actually went on to play pitch at Redlands and you had to coach against him and coach big games against him too, and you were both very competitive teams that time. So how did that? I mean, how was that at home, at home, knowing a game was you know the Burroughs game was coming up, and all that how did that work out?
Speaker 3:There wasn't much talk about it. We didn't go deep on it or anything. I always pulled for him to do well, except when he played us, and that was just a competitive nature. It's just like a brother that you want to beat in Wiffleball. I mean, it's great when he does well, but against you you don't really want him to do well. So and we had that banter going back and forth, but it was always good. He played another sport so I was very supportive in that sport. I got to go to see all his basketball games so we navigated it.
Speaker 3:I think people put more into it than it really was. Our relationship has always been built on dad and son, not baseball player and coach. So although I coached him at a young age, I never wanted that to be his identity or for our relationship to be predicated on that. You know that sports thing. So I didn't want to be the stereotypical sports dad. I really because I kind of had that dad and I knew that it wasn't really the route to go.
Speaker 3:I wanted to and to this day we have a magnificent relationship and I think in part because I let him spread his wings a little bit and do his own thing on his own, under his own, you know, his own tutelage, or whatever he. If he had any success and I was the coach, it would have been my fault, or I would have been shoe-horning him, or the perception would have been that he didn't deserve it. And then the other side of that is that his relationships with his peers might be compromised because his dad's the coach. So I wanted him to go to a place where he could make his own way. If we played each other once or twice a year, not a big deal, I just hope we kicked his butt.
Speaker 2:I mean that's so when he'd gone to Burroughs, no matter what, you looked in the Burbank high area. So what, what? Why?
Speaker 3:I mean, did you guys talk about that and say All the kids that he had done to school with were going to boroughs the travel team. You know that whole thing. He wanted to play with his friends. He would have come to Burbank if I had pushed it, but I would didn't see the need for that and I would never do that. I wanted that to be his decision. He also had a relationship with basketball guys at boroughs, so that played a part of it as well. You know, the kids typically want to play with their friends, are you know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's important and I'd say I'm sure it was a kind of a tough family decision to make at the time, but I don't think a lot of fathers would have looked at that way too. So I have to give you some credit for that, the fact that you know, you kind of let him be his own man and was there any times he ever said during you know the, the journey that you know, I regret not Playing up here for playing for you or anything else, or we got a little bit of kickback from some parents because he was successful, that you know, if he had gone to our school would other kids have come to the school and would we have been better Consequently.
Speaker 3:But at that time we were very competitive and we were doing well. So it wasn't one or the other and I wanted that again to be his decision, what he felt comfortable doing. Yeah, it was. It wasn't really as tough as people think it sounds tough.
Speaker 2:No, and that's why I great story to tell, because people don't understand that. Maybe parents need to understand it. You know, maybe sometimes you got to let the, you know the, the kid, make it a decision for himself too. You know, and absolutely, because forcing it down his throat is in the long run, with that have been a good, healthy relationship for everybody.
Speaker 3:He had already heard. You know seven years of my speeches and my. You know my stuff, so you know, when you start to see that there's not the same eye contact or the same, you can see that stuff early on where you know that someone would be better served playing under somebody else, I mean, and I felt that way, I felt like he'd be more successful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he went and played very, very successful at Redlands.
Speaker 3:I mean it was very successful.
Speaker 2:It's a top-starting picture for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was an all-league guy. He was all Western region. You know, had a great time playing for coach Loverty who's now a Chapman. We've been fortunate enough to send some kids his way. Chapman's a great school as his Redlands. I think people miss out on the Sky Act quite a bit. I think you know the perception is D1, d1, but it's really about playing, going where you're comfortable, going where you're wanted. You know, yeah, and I think a lot.
Speaker 2:I think that's right about that. I think everybody thinks, oh, d1, d1, and they don't realize there's a lot of good. You know what a lot of good JC's out there to get a start at absolutely. Look at NIA schools and Division 2 and 3 school. Look at Freddie Sanchez Yep, he didn't go to a D1. He went to Glendale College, rice, harper and I a school. Yeah, I mean, there are roads to the major leagues that don't involve, you know, d1 schools, because sometimes you get lost, you know, and, like I said so many times, if you're good and you can play, they're going to find you. You don't need these scouts, you don't need these Baseball schools. He's these things you paid $100 to.
Speaker 3:I think a lot of people really take advantage of that mentality too with their Way they go about their business. Rather than coaching you know where, it's not so much about you know it's. It's more of the feather in the cap they're looking for, or the the ego of you know. Hey, I got a division one guy or whatever. We look for our guys to graduate First things first, you know, and then to get them to college to play at any level.
Speaker 2:I don't think these, these organizations really care about the, the, the student, the half, the person. I think it's more of a. I mean, I still get emails. You know I'm so and so and I was a Professional baseball for 15 years and now we're doing franchises. We want you to join. I'm getting all these a lot.
Speaker 2:It's like how do we make money off kids and families and and that's? You know I'll tell you a quick story that my third year at Cresby we had a player Third year for yeah, maybe third year roadie van Wagon, and who was made varsity as a freshman. He's our second baseman. Good second baseman went, went on to Stanford, but he was struggling at second base at times. So his father asked what I go out and work with him in him ground balls. I go be glad to. So afterwards, you know, I spent about an hour with him.
Speaker 2:It's then that the family had had good resources and he walked up and he gave me a hundred dollars. I Was very grateful, you know, because I didn't get. I wasn't making a whole lot of money. Yeah, $100 is a hundred dollars, sure, but that's always bothered me. It bothered me right about. A day later I said I Am his high school coach. Why am I taking money to do my job that I'm already paid to do that? Never again have I taken a dollar from a player to go coach him privately. You know, I mean I'll take money to do a summer team or winter team or whatever it is, but a team but I'll never take. I've never taken money from a player.
Speaker 2:I just felt it felt dirty, it felt like I was doing it for a whole wrong reason, and that's not why I'm a coach.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you don't want certain kids to have access and certain kids don't, because certain people have money and certain people don't, yeah. So yeah, you kind of want to be a level playing field and and funny funny story is Brody van Wagon.
Speaker 2:It actually became the general manager of the New York Mets.
Speaker 3:Wow and.
Speaker 2:Yeah and then he, of course, he got fired. After I got every general manager, the Mets seems to get fired.
Speaker 3:It's funny how those things work out. Do you remember Alex Turandek? Absolutely yeah, he was our. He was probably at the bottom of the bench guy but one of the smartest his physical guys you ever smart, great teammate, all in for the team. He ends up being a scout for the Orioles at a Decent level. So you just never know. You know, you never know.
Speaker 2:Have you any contact with him lately?
Speaker 3:His family is generously donates to our program each year. I have a few people that do that. The old football coach at Burbank high, greg Sobiak, every year reaches out and pays for a player or two to play. We might not otherwise have the money no one would ever not play because of money but it's nice when people reach out and recognize the. You know how hard our guys work and to give back that they give. We do a lot of stuff off the field so it's nice to see them rewarded for that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. Let's talk real fast about that too. I know we're probably a little longer, we wanted to go tonight, but I think you know I'd like people to understand Especially who you are. I think I see they see me on the our other shows and everything else and kind of are full of me talking as it is. If you many times I've seen you at Veterans day with the team and different community events back. You just did something recently, but was it? You knew me? I mean you create? You knew something with the team or we did.
Speaker 2:Explain what you're. You know why? Because you know you don't see a lot of high school teams doing that anymore. That's more of an old school thing. Yeah, what's your thought process there and why do you think that's important to you?
Speaker 3:I'm the old coach so I do old-fashioned stuff like that. But I think it's just because I feel as though the kids need to understand a fortune if they are to be out there. I think it's part of honoring the game what you do off the field. So we try to provide them Mechanisms, ways that they can contribute back without receiving anything in return. Rather than it's a fundraiser for us, we just do it because it's the right thing to do. We do operation gratitude. We have an event coming up in a week at harvard westlake for veterans with disabilities sports camp, and there's no return for that other than the ultimate return which is giving without receiving. So I just think it's a good community message. I think it's good for our kids. I think it provides team unity. It gives us a chance to build as a group Outside of what we do.
Speaker 3:Our boosters are fantastic. They organize a lot of this stuff I spearheaded in the sense that I talk about it, but they go out and do it Implement. You know, great ideas are great, but implementation is even better. Um, that same booster club feeds our guys. You know, every you know week or so, team barbecues, stuff like that. So you know the community approach is it can't be measured enough. If people are involved, invested without corruption, it's a great fit. You can make it so that it's it's beneficial for the group, but your integrity is not compromised by it. When it comes to lineups, when it comes to playing time, um access, any of those things, then I think I, you know, I feel good about what we do. You know, ultimately you don't make a lot of money.
Speaker 2:So it makes me feel guilty because we never did those kind of things.
Speaker 2:I mean Funny, the only thing I did that was kind of calls cross culture, was every year we would play a team from like South Korea or something Right, and we made a big thing about making sure we got, we got all those kids a chachki type thing, you know, to give them but to watch.
Speaker 2:It was very interesting to watch the international game, you know. So, two languages, one game of baseball, one language or baseball, and you know, if their player were ever to, you know we call dose or hit another player, you know, with a pitch, their picture would come off the mound and and, uh, take off his cap and bow to the hitter as you walk the first base as an apology thing. And can you imagine an american, yeah, player ever doing something like that, you know, acknowledging it, I think you you saw a little of this when, when japan played, uh, the us and in the world baseball thing, and you saw that the how the japanese players kind of responded to things, you know, and there there's always, yes, it's a game we're playing for a lot, but there's also a sense of Civility there and honor and honor and and and respect, and sometimes I think american teams could use a little more of that at times.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a little humble pie would go a long way for a lot of guys. You know A great coach was dav johnson back in the day, dave johnson. Yeah solid coach, um, and he used to say you know, the guy who cut me, by the way, remember.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's two there's two kinds of coaches or players. You know the humble ones and the ones that will soon be humble, and there's a lot of truth to that. You know for sure. I learned, you know I've had, I've been fortunate, I've had so many great assistant coaches you being one of them, that I picked and prodded. You know whether it be formats or, uh, you know practices, how to set things up, uh, game nuances. I mean, if you can steal from smart people, you're generally going to be a better coach.
Speaker 2:Everything I do, you know I. I always called myself the uh, the uh, the crespi of the Of the east. You know, because of muck is not much crespi but the muck system of the east. Because I already thought that you know and I had no problem saying it, because that's, that's the man who taught me everything I knew and I'm sure he got a lot of stuff from Dave snow and so on. Oh, absolutely, Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know so that's how it goes right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, talk to me a little about, because I I'm a I'm a big believer that playing on a team it's it's not so much the wins and losses, but it's what a sport, a team sport, does for an individual as far as life lessons goes, and I think you agree a lot with that.
Speaker 3:I do. I feel like those relationships are with the things that really last. I know for myself if I think back to specific scores I don't remember, but I could tell you every guy I played with Um at, at john boroughs or wherever. So I think it's about those relationships. I think it's the relationships, the culture. I focus really hard on the culture. Uh, getting something that's positive, that the kids look forward to, that enjoy practices.
Speaker 3:Um Wanted to be an enjoyable ride because I know that ultimately there's not that many you know cif champions. There's five, six, seven, whatever it is. That doesn't mean everyone else is a loser. If you're providing a great experience, build team camaraderie, all that corny stuff that I actually believe in, I feel like that matters and I think it's lasting and that's really what I strive for. I think, above and be all, I also feel I'm very competitive. I want to win every game, but I feel like that's the foundation to winning. I think it's like a garden if you don't have good you know irrigation, it's all great. If you don't have good soil, that's all great, but you know. So I feel like that's the soil for us is culture.
Speaker 2:I think you know. You know I've spent many, many hours together talking and discussing things, and when I first came to work with you, a lot of people don't know you used to be a juvenile probation officer, correct?
Speaker 2:I worked with troubled kids, yeah, and juvenile probation Okay, yeah and which is in itself got to be a very tough thing to do because sometimes they're wired differently. But I remember when kids came in, you could read a kid right away and say he's lying, he's, you know, he's deceiving he's. And I would say, really, I I didn't. And then Three months later, two months later, it would always yeah, that kid was, you know what he was, but you could read that right away. It. Did that? Come from that, that job or is that you know? And was there a mistrust sometimes of kids, no matter what they would say, or or how did you get that read on kids?
Speaker 3:You know I couldn't even speak to that. I don't know I you know, I go with my instinct. Yeah, it's a gut thing. It's not a you know and and and consequently, I don't uh, put myself in a box and, you know, sell my soul to the that I'm right, no, but I let it play itself out and more often than not I was correct, but, um, I think it's just gut level. I don't think there's a lot of you know magic to it per se.
Speaker 2:It's like, it's like an experience or something. Yeah, it is, yeah spotty language.
Speaker 3:It's how you know conviction in someone's voice, Conviction in someone's eyes. You know some of that, stuff's a tell you taught me the word affect affect affect and and what that means, and I used it for many times.
Speaker 2:You know one since then. You know, and taking those looks, but I Think and you were the same kind of coach I am that Because you're with these kids, you know three hours a day, six day, you know a long time and things come up and and everything else, and I think you were the same way. We were the same way about honesty, that no matter now, no matter what happens, you can't. Don't lie. We'll take anything else from you. Absolutely don't lie if we catch you to lie, that's that you called me fat.
Speaker 3:Just tell me you call me fat. I'm okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Don't you know? And?
Speaker 2:trust me. They called me fat.
Speaker 3:I'm sure they do and I'm okay with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, be honest, that's all right and but I just think that, um, that has a lot to do with the moral character of a kid.
Speaker 3:You know, and I was always on for the kids- I think once you set that expectation that it becomes the norm, you know it's not a New thing, it's the norm. It's just what's expected and you know you have a place that you can start from with almost anything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know that one of the things we used to always do is I wouldn't let and once again I got from coach monkey. Was he never let a player how? The mother father could not ever call and say you know, so-and-so you stick, today, can't come. I had a that had to always be the player, always who made the text to call or whatever it was.
Speaker 3:There was no text in those days. No text those days.
Speaker 2:But but because he wanted to teach Responsibility to the kid himself do the same thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's really, you know, we don't want. We want them to take accountability. I asked the boys actually on Sunday night to check their schedule, check with their folks. Have a dentist appointment on Thursday? Let me know on Sunday night because we're building practice plans, we can't just willy-nilly it. So, yeah, but it's part of the responsibility thing. I think it's important for them. You know, I don't know that they, you know, I Don't know that all of them have those expectations at home in terms of, you know, keeping a tidy room or whatever, and don't understand why. Right. So you know, sometimes I battle that. But Such as it be, you know that's the way of the world, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I just think. But once again, those are part of the core values that I think being on a team and being a responsible member of a team, you know, instills in a player. You know, and these are things that are lifelong lessons, you know, and sometimes you're disappointed and everything else, you know, I mean, but you get, there's a confidence, you get the also achieve, you know. I mean, yeah, you asked the girl out and she says no, well, you know, your life's not over. You have that. You can bounce back, you know. Or you go for a job interview, right, you know, and you get it, or you don't get it, but there's you're used to that tenacity of the situation like the structure of it too.
Speaker 3:Once things are structured in that way, you can do a lot more coaching and a lot less housekeeping and babysitting. So I think, just from a foundational point again, structurally, it's just nice to have things in order. People have responsibilities, people chip because, unlike most sports, you know they're responsible for Jobs. You know the cleanup of the field, the infrastructure, becomes a job in itself.
Speaker 2:So yeah, we were talking about that earlier. You know, yeah, what if the football team had to go clean the stands after a game or or put away the All the things in the field and everything else, the way a baseball team has to go out and drag their infield, fix their mound, water the infield, yeah, and the pregame stuff too, you have to do, and everything else, and we get there two hours before the game over there an hour and a half, two hours after.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at the poor, the girls at boroughs. Now I've got a portable fence, but now I have to get out there an extra hour early and construct a fence around their field. Right, and you know, I mean, I don't ever see other sports having to go out and do those types. It's just all done for them, you know yeah, no, I know so it's, it's, you know, and they're saying why do we have to do this? But you know what? Sometimes that it's that part of that character they're building.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's how you have to present to the guys too, it's? You know that we're responsible for the infrastructure and that everyone's got a job, and that's part of being a team, simple absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's kind of what we have. Yeah, I think hopefully our, our listeners or possibly our viewers on YouTube, are seeing what we're kind of about and who we are and this show is more about. We're gonna bring guests on and we're gonna talk about the interest disease. We're not in time. We're not gonna talk about oh, how are you so good or right, or why are you so smart. We're gonna find out. You know what went into your thought process to come to that conclusion, or you know what was how you, how did that instinct? Yeah, yes, it's instinct, but there's also there's more than just instinct. So I think these are certain questions that we're gonna ask people and talk to people and well, varying guests on, and you know different sports, you know I mean we're both.
Speaker 2:You know, Just because I'm a baseball guy and you're right now a baseball guy, I mean you, we're both sports guys. Yes, I love the big three as much as anybody, absolutely you know. So we all you know we both do we love our footballer, basketball or baseball. I love my auto racing too. I have one, yeah, and I love air hockey.
Speaker 3:So it's, it's a perfect match.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's funny, um, when they're closing pickwick down, ross Benson, our, Our cohort cohort here. I guess he played our air hockey there all the time and he wanted to get that air hockey table so badly he said that I want to sell that to me a bit in, so I don't know if they're doing a, an auction there, what they had to do and they close that place. I know they sold the pins. Yeah, individually. Yeah, so that's fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just the way it is Yep, so that's kind of what the show's gonna be about. I think if anybody has an idea for a guest or a, or send me the latest here's talk about you know, sending your questions to you know questions at my brand talks and this is we're calling the coaches corner and you know what we glad to. You know work that in and talk to you know, talk to people about it, but I think all sports are on the table. You know it's because we don't have a knowledge a personal knowledge of sports doesn't mean, hey, we can't learn.
Speaker 2:And still, I think, while sports is universal you know, I'm not gonna say that you know our sport, a specific structure the thought process is universal. Every athlete has to. You know, I, I never it was an individual sports guy.
Speaker 2:Maybe dedication right, I could never do Cross country right Because I was not the slim trim guy, right, I always thought I was, but no, but there's a tough Mental character to be a cross country runner. I mean you're by yourself and and you've got to coach yourself. There's not a coach in the background always talking because you're on your own. I'd love to have a cross country guy in here or coach here because I never understood how they were able to do what they do.
Speaker 3:They're amazing.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot of different, a lot of different sports and a lot of different disciplines that we can find out and talk about.
Speaker 3:So absolutely enjoy my time with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we appreciate, appreciate you coming in tonight and we'll have a sporadically, we'll put shows out and see how they, how they stick sounds good. Okay, everybody, this is Craig Sheward for Bob Hart, and thank you very much for listening and we will talk to you next time.
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