Well, hey everybody welcome back we are on episode
number 21 of the Dan time podcast and this is
your your Christmas episode, it'll be coming
out Christmas Eve and I Really couldn't think
of a better guest for this occasion. I'm so happy
we could line this up Today's guest is from episode
8 Dan gabelka. I'm very happy to be pronouncing
his name correctly today If you haven't heard
the first episode I would recommend jumping off
of this one go back and listen to episode one
with or Part one with Dan and then come back
to this one and you'll get the full background
Dan Cabelka launched the challenger baseball
program for special needs individuals in Chatham
Kent Ontario Canada over 30 years ago and has
just has a remarkable life story and Impact in
his community. I really don't know that you could
quantify it What he's been able to do? Some people
get a new lease on life one time around he's
actually had two heart transplants and a brain
tumor removed and Has just made it his life's
work to impact other people and particularly
those the margins as you might say but So I'm
just thrilled to have Dan here. We're gonna talk
a little bit about the spirit of Christmas On
the eve of Christmas here, and we're gonna have
some fun as well at the end of the episode I
guess it was the part that we had stopped recording
Dan and I got to talking about Fantasy football
and I had no idea so I it was then where I said
Dan we have to do We got to do a follow -up episode
where we do a little fantasy football talk. And
he's also got some research for me that will
get into a good trivia question for you guys
to see if you can rack your brains a football
related trivia question without, you know, you
know me, I can talk another few minutes. So I'm
going to pump the brakes and introduce and welcome
back Dan Kabelka. Thanks for being here, Dan.
Thank you very much. Just want to show your listener,
your viewers, my shirt. As Jan said, I've had
a bit of a medical history, and I've had two
heart transplants, and I've been living with
a donated heart for 35 years now. And three years
ago, I had a brain tumor. And the next time I
went up to London to get my checkup, they said,
Jan, you're a cockroach. We just can't kill you.
They said, when nuclear war happens, it's you
and the cockroaches get to repopulate the earth.
And I said, it's worth a shirt. Because people
get shirts, and they say the beat goes on. same
body rebuilt motor and I thought this was a better
symbol of my journey was the cockroach they just
can't get rid of me. So I had my first transplant
in 1989 and my second one in 2000. Now because
Christmas is coming up I have a Christmas story
for you. Christmas of 1981 I was 26 and I was
taken from my hometown here in Chatham up to
London Ontario where they have a coronary care
unit. And they checked me over, and I knew I
was really, really sick. In fact, they told my
parents that I might not make the night. And
they told me I was in grave condition. But over
the public and the speakers in the coronary care
unit, they were playing Christmas carols. And
to this day, whenever I hear Anne Murray singing
a silent night, it just reminds me of solo life.
And that's what those Christmas carols mean to
me. And I'm a sucker. That's a great memory.
And with it being Christmas Eve, do you always
go back to that occasion? I'm sure it's not always
pleasant to think of that night. Let me just
ask you, that day in 1981, were you feeling okay
during the day? Oh no, I'd been getting sick
for quite some time. I was in congestive heart
failure. As a way of explaining it to your viewers,
imagine you start blowing air into a balloon.
and the balloon gets bigger. And as it gets bigger,
it gets weaker. So it can't take the pressure.
So it gets bigger and weaker. And once that process
starts, there's not a whole lot they can do for
it. My only option was a transplant. So that's
the Reader's Digest version of congestive heart
failure. Because pretty soon your body just cannot
function well enough, stay alive. And the worst
thing is your kidneys kind of shut down and you
start picking on fluid. And that I think was
the worst part and one thing they had to do.
You know, I'm still here 35 years later, so we'll
take it. Another thing that we touched on, and
we really didn't explore on the first episode,
was your nursing home ministry. And are you still
involved there? I am as involved as COVID will
let me. Yeah. Yeah, there's some nursing homes
here that are still down. I go in, I have to
wear a mask in one nursing home. It's tiring
to wear that mask, but, you know, that's a mission,
so you do it. And we've been doing, I've been
doing Christmas, our nursing home ministry now
for over 10 years. So I just want to mention,
if I kind of stopped talking, it's because the
brain injury, sometimes words just don't come
and I have to fish around in my brain for another
word. So that's what happened. If I pause, it
just doesn't seem to make sense. And last week
I was talking to someone from my church and I
wanted to say, that's a beautiful nativity scene.
I couldn't come up in the nativity scene. So
I used the word crash. And they had no idea what
that was. So if I stutter a little bit, that's
why. Well, that's quite all right with me and
with my viewers as well, I'm sure. Another thing,
another quote that I made a note of from the
first episode. This just kind of speaks to the
cars that you're dealt in life. Make it work.
I remember you shared a quick anecdote on that.
Make it work. Most everybody has some... situation
going on it may appear sometimes as we're passing
through our days and we're at the grocery store
and we're in public and well look at that guy
he looks you know like he's got everything going
on is look at that lady getting out of that nice
car and they don't look like they have problems
everybody's got some situation but you've really
had to make it work for almost 40 years or over
40 years. Are there some days where you get a
little down sometimes and you have to draw on
some reserves? I get up some mornings and I look
at all those medications and it reminds me that
I'm mortal and sometimes I don't even want to
look at them and it goes through periods and
almost everyone who has a heart transplant goes
through severe depression. Sooner or later, it's
gonna happen and When I'm contacted by other
recipients or advice one of the things I say
is just your social work is being paid user or
him So yeah those days happen Yeah Then we kind
of talked a little bit about sports and and some
some baseball talk and football Fantasy sports
people on the outside kind of think it's it's
a joke. It's it's something that grown men do
that is maybe more designed for a 10 -year -old,
but it really is something to sink your teeth
into and have some fun with and the drafting
and the free agents. Let me just ask, how are
you doing this year? You know what? You win some,
you lose some. That's just fantasy sports. You
don't like to complain, but in one of my leagues,
my three quarterbacks were Joe Burrow, Justin
Herbert, and Kurt Cousins. For those of you who
don't keep up all the time, those are pretty
top -tier quarterbacks who all have just so happened
to sustain injuries in the regular season. Yeah.
And then during that nightmare that happened
a few weeks ago, my opponent had Devontae Adams
win Las Vegas beat the Los Angeles Chargers.
And it's kind of a bad way of losing to say the
other guy's team just gave up and basically the
Chargers just gave up that night. So he made
some pay on that one. And those are things you
can't control so you just don't get upset about
it I just think about people who pay to play
And then my suggestion is just i'll give you
my email address and you can send me the money
Because you have no control over what happens
yeah fantasy sports whether it's baseball basketball
football It's kind of a crap shoot. I mean We
I look at our standings our league standings.
We've had some of the same guys for Well, we've
we've moved in a couple new players, but for
we've been going about 15 years and You'll look
at like I'm in last place this year and I've
been playing since 2005 and then I look at some
guys that are in third and fourth place and I
remember the draft because we do a live draft
and they made some ridiculous picks and Odd rounds
they drafted a kicker and the fifth, you know
stuff like that and they're here they are Locking
up the third the number three seed in the playoffs
and it just things happen But it's part of the
fun. I think I Started out oh and four with I
think I had Saquon Barkley hurt I had my top
running back and top receiver Cooper Cup. I believe
they were both injured to start the year Yes
The guys who draft the kicker in the fifth round
we call them guys who didn't show up for the
draft They got who they got yeah They've also
learned you can really build your team throughout
the year If you're smart, you know how to use
like I picked up And you know the names Kyron
Williams and Rashad white out there right off
the waiver wire and so you got to keep your eye
out for those guys Have you been playing with
the same group of people or do you have different
leagues that you get into? Well, I get in different
leagues because of different settings, but I
have one league I've been in for over 20 years
and Kind of like the baseball program. I ran
after a while. It's not about fantasy football.
It's about the guys the relationships and I've
been to Atlanta to visit a couple friends from
the the from our league and they've been up here
and and that was a real bonus was getting to
know those guys and I wrote sit down a little
note for for for fantasies especially the Yahoo
folks. Don't ever post on the message board when
you're drunk, stoned, or angry. And if you notice
the message boards this year, if you're drunk,
stoned, or angry, you can't find the message
board. Yeah. We have a traveling trophy. It's
a shadow box trophy that the winner's name is
engraved in it every year. So we just play for
that. There's no money at stake. And we have
fun with it, but it's it's competitive I would
sure like to be doing a lot better than uh, I
did this year with uh, 10 losses i'm I'm in the
consolation bracket. So we actually when you
get into the consolation bracket All of our managers
are still active because you want you don't want
to finish last Now you're fighting to not finish
last because we have a uh used to have a loser's
trophy Okay We've kind of done away with that
and now it's just a designation that Now, if
you finish last, you get first pick next year.
I wish it worked that way. That's how we do it.
That's how we do it. And I play in a keeper league.
And I play interesting format. It's a team league.
So my team this weekend is the Lions. So I'll
have all the Lions, that's my team. And the opponent,
whoever he has, that's his team. So you're just
playing team against team. And it's really a
cool format. But you quickly learn passing touchdowns
that were 12 in a team league, but running touchdowns
that were six. So you kind of go for the quarterback
that's going to throw the most touchdowns. But
that's a matter of the first rule of fantasy
sports is learn the rules of your league. That's
the most important thing is know your setting.
Dan, when I was a teenager, I guess I was maybe
14 or 15. rotisserie baseball that was I guess
what started all this and I found out about a
rotisserie baseball league in the back of a magazine
this was probably the early 90s or mid 90s and
it was so much fun to conduct business that way
in a league where there was a voicemail box where
you could put in your waiver request you got
A packet in the mail every week or two with the
updated standings. It was all paper and mail.
Oh, yeah, and there's a salary cap and It was
so exciting. I played a couple years my teenage
years until you know, you start driving and you
your interest Move around a little bit. But did
you have a league? You're saying your interest
turned a girl? 16 years old, he's on a cruise.
He's changing his lineup. He's on a cruise. He's
16. I said, you should be looking at the girl.
Come on. My first baseball league was like your
magazine. It was the back of a newspaper, one
in free press. And you picked your team. But
once you mail it in, that's your team. You can't
make changes. And there was like 80 ,000 people.
And one week I was in first place. That'd be
80 ,000 people. And then Benito Santiago broke
his arm. What a great catcher. Oh yeah. Dan,
I love sports talk in general with people who've
been around a while because a name will pop out
like that. Benito Santiago. I had his baseball
card. I still remember his throws to second and
he's a great defensive catcher and pretty decent
offensively too. I want to say. At least a one
or two time all -star Yes In our league one of
our leagues we have we call it the dr. John award
That's when you bench some guy who scores four
touchdowns and you say I was in the wrong place
at the right time So if you know you have to
solve for pork those awards, yeah A few weeks
ago or was it O'Donnell for Las Vegas before
touchdowns? I guarantee you nobody started him
So they get the award for being in the wrong
place at the right time What about as far as
just the NFL the playoff picture? Do you have
a team? Are you a Lions fan? Are you? What players
are you following? Do you have guys that you
root for? Sam LaPorta mm -hmm tight end for the
Lions rookie really impressed and And if the
Detroit Lions coaches are listening They always
do pretty against running quarterbacks So they'll
get as far as Philly and then Jamal or hurts
will kill him. So I don't think this is their
year Baltimore looks solid San Francisco. I think
it's probably gotta be the favorite. They're
the most solid team You know, they have no weaknesses.
Yeah, the Baltimore Ravens. That's my favorite
football team in the NFL This year is kind of
unique where my best friend who's he's been on
the podcast Jim Powell is a Cleveland Browns
fan For whatever reason, maybe because I've been
talking about the guy, he's had to hear me talk
about him for over 10 or 12 years, Joe Flacco.
He just doesn't like Flacco and I can't pin him
down to give me a good answer why. When Flacco
got invited to the practice squad and found himself
starting against the Rams, Jim just didn't know.
Just had no explanation and and I kept asking
him. Hey listen We got to watch some games now.
This is my favorite player on your favorite team
All right, and he's still not comfortable with
it, but I got to say personally. I love what
Joe's out there doing He's he's showing people
this 32 teams in 31 of them Didn't have a place
for him and and now there's They actually try
to make a play for him a couple weeks ago or
last week when he was on the back on the practice
squad Sure procedurally Yeah Well, if there's
one guy I like to watch from the current NFL,
it would be Jibo Samuel. Yeah Because he does
everything and does everything really well You
know, he blocks he they can run him out of the
wildcat and he catches well in capacity has to
so I just enjoy watching him play Although my
all -time favorite to watch is Barry Sanders
Yeah, because when he got the ball, you just
didn't know what was gonna happen, but it was
gonna be good So he's worth the he's someone
I'd pay to watch play Well, you had a trivia
question for me and I'll let you ask it for the
listeners because all right there is a Hall of
Fame Super Bowl winning coach and His grandparents
are from my county Chatham Kent and his grandfather
was a minister at Union Baptist and His father
is Canadian by birth his mother isn't and he's
in the hall of fame and there's the question
because we not a lot of people around here you
know know this fact and for your listeners it's
Tony Dungey his grandfather was Albert Dungey
he was the head pastor at a union Baptist church
in Dresden this is not very far from here so
great little trivia question yeah I have another
one for you okay yeah go ahead you want to talk
about the underground railroad so here we go
Yeah. Famous. He's a good actor, not a great
act. Probably the most famous person in the world.
And his great, great, great grandparents came
to Canada at the Underground Road. They settled
in Nova Scotia. They call it Africaville. And
one of their great, great, great descendants
was a professional wrestler. And his name is
Rocky Johnson. So you know who Rocky Johnson's
son is? The Rock. I was about to say Johnson,
and I was thinking, is he old enough, Dwayne
Johnson? Yeah. Yep. His parents are from Nova
Scotia. And they crossed the border right after
the American Revolution to get away from the
slavery. Well, I enjoyed doing some research
on Mary Ann Shad. Yes. And understand she's got
a bronze statue. unveiled a few years ago and
In Buxton, is that right? That's correct. That's
correct. Just the distinction of Well, I guess
it was her father that brought the family and
this is a lot of kids. She's the oldest of 13
To southern Ontario after the fugitive slave
act the fugitive slave act was passed in 1850
and Just remark. It's always remarkable when
I'm reading about historical figures, especially
African Americans back then who, you know, were
able to enter politics or enter these professions
where if they had just been in Tennessee or Alabama
or North Carolina, there would just be no chance
for them to have a life like this. And you know
that there were plenty of creatives and intellectuals
in the Deep South And it just saddens me to know
that that they were there and they just didn't
have the opportunity. But getting back to Marianne
Shad, she was the first. The first black woman
publisher in all of North America, is that right?
Yeah. And I don't recall her her brother's name,
but this really surprised me. He actually is
he one of her brothers moved down to Mississippi
and became, was elected to the state house, I
think, and then served as speaker of the house,
Mississippi in the 18, 1870s, I think. And then
the publication, the Provincial Freeman. Okay.
Yeah. But, but yeah, so Mary Ann Shad and her
family, they were responsible. I mean, who knows
how many fugitive slaves they were able to bring
to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Actually, she started a school on Buxton and
the education at her school was so good that
the white folks, the middle class folks, sent
their kids out to be educated by her. That's
how sterling that her education was or what she
taught. And don't forget, in the 1800s, if you
were a woman, you were not going to get published,
or not under your female name. And one of my
favorite songwriters is a woman named Fanny Crosby.
She wrote 8 ,000 hymns, but she couldn't publish
in her own name. So she had to publish by pseudonyms.
And I can name some of her songs, and your folks
who go to church would know these songs. They're
just very simple songs. But that's just the way
it was back then. Well, that's something I'm
glad that you You put that name out to me and
said Dan You know, you'll enjoy doing some research
here because we didn't touch on it much on the
first I'll call it Dan Cabelka part one that
Chatham has such a rich Culture or a rich history
It is becoming a settlement for African Americans
in the the late 19th century Yeah The other thing
about Chatham this isn't one of our more sterling
moments if you're here, you'll notice there's
a lot of Japanese names and There's a reason
for that is because we had an internment camp
just south of Chatham hmm, and they brought the
The Japanese are moving in from the coast. They
had a little camp outside Chatham. I didn't know
that till a few years ago myself Well as a nation
we kind of said, you know, we should have done
that. Yeah Well, you've just to our connection
I definitely want to visit the area and I can't
put a date on it but I know there'll be a time
where you and I can connect and sure slap hands
and break bread and go and you could show me
around town. Well you put Jack Miner's bird sanctuary
on your list of things to do. It's world famous
as right around Leamington Ontario and for some
reason the birds know where to fly and it's a
sanctuary so Sometimes in the fall that you can't
see the ground for the geese and it's a very
very famous bird sanctuary and like an animal
place Well, Dan, let's talk a little bit about
Christmas and The spirit of Christmas. What are
some things that you? Like to do around this
time of year. Are you are you out there stringing
the lights and doing the yard stuff or What is
your? I see I live in an apartment. I live in
an apartment. So, okay, ringing the lights. The
one thing I do, I do the Salvation Army kettle.
And I love it. And they said, Dan, they found
your perfect job to hand out candy to people
and you talk to them. And I said, Yep. And, and
it just to me, and for your listeners, you could
be on the other side of that kettle very quickly.
Yeah, you know, I mean, everybody has a story.
And when I was coaching the kids in the challenge
of baseball, there's a couple of young 12, 13
year old boys on their bikes outside the fence,
making fun of them. And I went over and I said,
boys, you like those bikes? They said, yeah.
And they said, one slip on the bike and you're
on the other side of the fence. That's all it
would take. Yeah. Then I invited them out onto
the field to meet the players. But people have
to know Southern Ontario in Canada is not unlike
in the United States and we are having a real
crisis with homelessness right now. And that's
kind of where my heart hits. And when people
will question whether they should be homeless
or whatever, I say buy them a coffee, hear their
story. Because everybody has a story, you know.
And we actually have people who have jobs that
are living on the streets. And that's a sad statement.
But I will say our county is very good about
Helping us the homeless and getting them on the
right track We can give them food, but we can't
make an apartment. I don't know where so that's
the first step, right so but we're just like
any other country in terms of the homelessness
issues and It saddens me but we do what we can
Yeah, I Purposefully selected a downtown church
for our family to begin attending January of
this year so almost Almost a full calendar year.
I didn't grow up going to church. I didn't attend
church or seek out a church in my bachelor years
and You know when our family was complete we
went a couple times before Vivian was born, but
I Just it was something that I wanted to get
us involved in but it had to be the right place
And so our church as soon as we open the doors
and there's a Every few Sundays I volunteer with
the guest services But sure there's anywhere
from 8 10 or 15 or so of the area homeless that
will come in Grab some coffee a Good many of
them will grab the coffee and go on their way
and that's no big deal and a few of them will
stay for the service But I like that that our
service when you walk in You've got the people
who are dressed. Well They smell nice. They look
nice. And then you've got this guy over here
that has been wearing the same pair of clothes
for a couple weeks or longer. And that's important
to me. I don't want to go to a church where it's
just all people that are smiling and glittering
and pulling up in similar SUVs. I don't need
that. I need to be a little closer to the people.
So I like that you mentioned that. People just
need to see that the the folks who are struggling
Don't have a place to live like you said Maybe
even working and getting paid every week or two
and still don't have a place to live You need
to lay eyes on these people You need to get out
of your Your area sometimes and just like I said
Be aware that they're there and help. Yeah, just
It's it is a huge problem all over the place
but there's always little ways that you can help
and sometimes that may just be smiling at them
putting your hand on a shoulder I try to do that
as we're leaving just I'll put my hand on a guy's
shoulder just acknowledging him some of these
people don't get acknowledged they don't get
um well I could go on but I appreciate you bringing
that up and there's a story about a young fellow
who committed to a church and he was dirty and
smelly and hair was a mess and he sat on the
front and he really enjoyed the service and on
the way out one of the elders grabbed him and
the elders got the black seat you know the red
tie the white shirt and he said son i want you
to go home and pray to god as to what's the appropriate
wear for this church kid goes home comes back
a week dirtier a week smellier hair's a bit worse
and as he's leaving the elder says to him did
you do what i asked you to do did you go home
and pray to god as what's appropriate attire
attire for this church and the young fellow says
I did, but God said he wouldn't know because
he's never been here. And that struck me, you
know. And I like to have a church with different
cultures as well, because Christianity fits into
different cultures. And to go to the church with
everybody's the same. And as we're talking about
the baseball program, you have to be used to
being around people that aren't just like you.
That's really important. And some people aren't.
That's just the way it is. Yeah, I I went back
and listened to our episode I usually don't listen
to the old ones once I've recorded them but But
I wanted to brush up on on ours and I remember
you saying that with your volunteers. He said
hey listen I appreciate you wanting to get involved
in the program here Make sure you're okay with
Working hand -to -hand with someone who's not
Didn't grow up like you did Yeah Yeah, or has
challenges that you don't face Yeah, I was thinking
when you email me Some of the traditions we used
to have I'm wondering if you have the same had
the same ones grown up so Our living room was
full of Christmas cards hundreds and people just
don't do that anymore now, maybe you do But I
think back to those hundreds of cards and it
reminded you of how many French are Yeah, which
is really nice And we always got the real Christmas
tree. And you may, in Alabama or wherever you
were, you may not have twigged onto this little
tradition. But everybody threw their trees out,
we would take them in the park and make forts,
and then we could have snowball fights. So it
was one of our little Christmas traditions. Yeah.
You know, I was fortunate to grow up in a very
close -knit neighborhood. And that really helped.
And whenever I meet... My friends from back then
just reminisce about how great it was going up
to that little street different goofy things
we did We moved around a lot when I was young
up until third grade and so I remember being
like I'd be in second grade and I would Miss
my friends from first grade, you know, we moved
from Chicago Chicago to Northern Virginia To
Florence, Alabama. That was a culture shock then
to Birmingham and Yeah, so and then in Birmingham,
it was nice. Well, we didn't have the kids down
the street. It was Our house was a little more
isolated as far or they're just weren't as many
kids our age in the neighborhood But I do remember
my mother had She always had Christmas music
playing and there's this cassette tape that still
survives and that's so I've got it now and it's
about 40 years old and it's country music artists
Performing some of the classic songs Hark the
Herald angels sing holy night. Oh holy night
and silent night winter wonderland, so you've
got Shed Atkins Willie Nelson Sure Tammy wine
that it so I've played a few times. I don't think
that my kids are really they're not grabbing
on to it I'll put it on last night and Warren
said hey, can we watch my cartoons now? But yeah,
there's always candles lit the music the music
playing the live tree we don't we don't have
a live tree this year, but Now we'd go out and
my dad would take us to a Christmas tree farm.
We cut one down and Had that whole experience
with the hot chocolate in the wagon, right? Yeah
the the live Christmas tree place in our area.
During the summer, it's a nudist colony. So,
where'd you get your tree? Go around to the nudist
colony. I said, I hope they weren't closed when
you got out there in December. I said, yeah.
And my father was a first -class stationary engineer,
but his singular talent was picking up the worst
tree on the lot. So we would spend hours after
we got home trying to hide all the bear spots.
So that was a bit of our tradition as well. And
this is not culturally, your listeners may not
kind of tweak onto this, but it's kind of a growing
up thing for us. If I got all my friends from
the neighborhood together and I said cars, they'd
all run to the side of the road. Cause we played
road hockey. That was the big thing. And a car
comes down, you say cars and everybody gets off.
And that was, that was a big deal for us. And
if I said cars to my friends, they just jumped
to the side of the road. Cause that was part
of our Christmas day growing up was playing road
hockey. And do you have any of those kids from
from way back that you still keep in touch with
or exchange cards? Oh, yes, absolutely Where
I grew up it was like a circle and maybe a third
of a mile around and I think of one time we may
have had a hundred kids on that street and we
had our own school and Those streets called Oriel
Parkway and we have a saying wherever we go in
the world. We're gonna be somebody with a connection
to Oriole Parkway. And when my ex and I were
on our honeymoon in PEI, we signed in a guest
book and all of a sudden we hear, who's from
Oriole Parkway? It was about some of my neighbors
when I was growing up. So I said, honey, wherever
we go in the world, we're gonna meet somebody
with an Oriole Parkway connection. And we had
our own school, a little four room school house.
Dan, as always, I just enjoyed these conversations.
I know we're, so this one is two months removed
from the last one. There's gonna have to be a
part three a part four. We're just gonna have
a series of Dan Kavalka episodes until someone
says yeah, you guys got to cut it out, but I
hope everyone is enjoying our newly formed friendship
a friendship, excuse me You're the first guest
north of the border Really first international
guest. I've got a an Australian guest coming
up and a week or two I've had a musician from
the UK, and so that's really important for me
to bring people in touch with folks that are
well out of their backyard. That's cool for me.
We've had several female guests this month, planning
to have a few more, so this is a big net. It's
easy to forget when you and I are talking right
now that the whole world gets to hear it. Right.
Radio interviews like I remind myself watch the
language because everybody can hear you it's
easy to forget when you're a small studio. Yeah
I've got no there's uh Go ahead. No, I was gonna
say I do have some listeners from different parts
of the world and that really brings me special
joy to Present a show for someone Where they
get to hear two guys talking or me talking? to
like I said one of our female guests and you
just get to hear a conversation you don't maybe
get to hear at your local coffee shop and not
that you should be eavesdropping but yeah hopefully
that's the value sometimes when with my friend
and I gotta explain Tim Horton's to you that's
our coffee chain up here it's like your version
our version of Krispy Kreme And he played, Tim
Horton played hockey for the Tour of Italy. And
he started this doughnut franchise. And there's
like, Chatham's 45 ,000 people, there's 11 Tim
Horton's franchises. And Chatham, like, we tell
them this is like a virus, Tim Horton's virus,
once he gets in there. And if you ever meet anybody
from Canada again, just tell them you like the
Tim Horton's coffee. And, you know, I went to
a Krispy Kreme with my friend in Atlanta, and
my first thought was, where's the tables? Because
Tim Horton's is famous because they have the
tables and Tim Horton realized people want to
sit down and gabble or their coffee Yeah, and
that's why the success that was success We think
of it as like the challenge Facebook. That's
where you get all the gossip. Yeah Well, Dan
anything else you want to add I forgot to ask
what are you in the playoffs in your fantasy
football league? They already I got a second
in play in my keeper league I mean, I finished
second, so I'm probably in the third place team
this week. So we'll see how it goes. Because
it's the keeper league, I may keep somebody who
maybe is going to play this year that's going
to contribute next year. And just getting back
to the fantasy football for a sec, I have what
my friends and I call the LeBion Bell role. Never
pick a running back who held us the year before,
because they always have trouble. And the woods
are full. I'm thinking like Austin Neckler this
year or Delvin Cook went from an all -star to
backup in New York Yeah, you know, so we have
somebody like I traded away Jonathan Taylor this
year because I knew he was gonna have a lot of
injuries because he held out So this little things
that you know the Axioms if you will that I've
kind of picked up over the year What do you think
of the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh? I
know Roethlisberger is Understandably not very
happy about what's been going on since he stepped
away But I think they're using Mason Rudolph.
Is it Mason Rudolph? Yeah. Yeah, I think that
kid's got some promise Well, anytime you have
to rely on Mitch Stravinsky That's gonna be a
problem. In fact, I don't even heard of the guy
who's starting for the Chargers tonight I have
a friend who I talk football with and we both
agree there's been some really awful football
this year. Yeah. And if it wasn't for fantasy
football, I would not be watching Las Vegas or
a team like that because I've had a player, but
there's been some really, and a lot of it is
because of my opinion is they're using a lot
of backup quarterbacks. Yeah. I've heard it's
guys getting hurt and it really has affected.
Yeah. It really has affected. I mean, I had Justin
Jefferson in my, well, as soon as Kirk Cousins
got hurt. the value is going to go down but there
are games I watch just because the players that
are just to me they're unwatchable so right um
I want to put out a little a request for you
yahoo if that's okay oh yeah okay yahoo fantasy
football gods or managers and that's where we
play on yahoo okay and you'll identify with it
every team needs to have four na positions and
anybody who is on a bye week it's an na designation
So they can, you can keep them on your team.
And I've been in a situation where I basically
forfeited a game because I didn't want to drop
one of my better players. And we call that the
strategic loss. And that's just experience you
learn those things. I'm looking at some of the
way I. Okay, go ahead. No, I was looking at some
of the. Offensive stats leaders right now. Yep.
You know, you look at some of the names just
at quarterback. Hard to believe that Brady's
gone Breeze Yeah, well Manning's been a few years
Philip Rivers Matt Ryan All these guys it was
kind of nice I think it was going back to Flacco
when he started against the Rams he had Flacco
opposite Matt Stafford and I think those those
guys were separated by a year as far as their
draft year 08 and 09 and to see both of them
still starting in the NFL, I think it's good
to have at least a couple of the old dogs still
left and playing well, not just out there making
a mess themselves. So it's good for the league.
The idea is a consistent production. You can
count on this year. And one player who's killing
me is Tony Pollard because some games they just
don't give him the ball. And he's not been a
consistent producer. fantasy points Because you
get you like I said, you got to count on the
guy who's who's gonna be consistent game week
in and week out Do you have a you prepare to
make a Super Bowl prediction? As far as matchup,
this is for my nephew. This is my nephew. I think
it's gonna be San Francisco. They're just solid
Yeah, they're just solid and Brock Purdy is not
gonna say get on my back boys I'm gonna carry
it but he gets the ball to the people who can
make the plays It would be fun to see you know,
if we saw a Ravens 49ers rematch Yeah, this would
be it was the 2013 Super Bowl So it's always
the the 20 like that would have been the 2012
Versions of those teams. It's not quite a little
bit more than 10 years later. That would be really
cool Well, I was around when the Cleveland Browns
became the Baltimore Ravens The hand -wringing
like that team was very important Cleveland.
Oh Yeah, maybe Indianapolis or Baltimore moved
to Indianapolis and then they were without it
Baltimore was without a team for a while Yeah
I Think and I keep saying this I think that Cleveland
with their defense I'm not ready to go out and
say that they'll they will reach the AFC title
game But I will not be shocked if they if Cleveland
gets to the AFC championship game It's gonna
be fun to watch when you've got the number one
Yeah, I'm sure that yeah, you got to go to the
Ravens like With the Lions if you got through
the silver don't or the Ford feel for all your
games the Lions have a chance Whether they don't
do well outdoors, they do not do well against
running quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson just killed
him. Well, you've probably watched that game.
Yeah. Yeah. They were just helpless against him.
And they played Justin Fields and he really,
you know, had an impact there too. What about,
do you have a prediction on Bill Belichick? Is
he going to retire after this year? Do you see
him? Can you picture him on the sideline? I think
he's going to retire. He's going to retire. He
doesn't need this. Yeah. Well, I noticed a lot
of the coaches that are away from his staff do
not do well with their new teams. Yeah. They
try to institute the Belichick system, and they're
not Bill Belichick. I mean, Matt Patricia just
destroyed the Lions. Yeah. I mean, it was bad.
It's like in the Chargers game, the team just
quit on them. They want to get rid of them, and
that's unfortunate. Well, Dan. It has been a
pleasure and I truly mean that sometimes I say
this a lot on all the episodes It's been so great
talking to you. It's I so enjoy this I've so
been looking forward to this since we reconnected
again and I can't wait to Yeah, if we if we stay
on track here, we'll do another episode in say
March sure Talk a little just one final thing
for your viewers and just really struck me the
other day God only made one race. The human race.
Love it. And the anti -Semitism and the vitriol
towards the Palestinians really saddens me. It
does. Yeah. And someone told me that if you put
100 black ants in a jar with 100 red ants, they
will not fight each other. But if you shake the
jar, they'll fight each other. So maybe we should
focus on the one who's shaking the jar. Yeah.
And that's just something that's really been
on my heart lately. There's only one race, the
human race. And if you want to find differences,
you will. Yeah. I see my small children, especially
my two -year -old in his preschool class, and
there's black kids and white kids and you know
that their parents take them to different churches
and some maybe... Christians or maybe Jews Little
kids and whether they're two or eight They don't
argue about this stuff. They don't make divisions
over this stuff. They play they have fun they
and they realize okay, I like we I get along
with this guy better this girl better, but they
Kids children are not born to hate No So hopefully
we'll make some progress there. I'm so glad you
said that. Well, it's true. And I did a message
once, a Christmas message, about how the shepherds
were actually children. And why would God announce
the birth of his son to children? And I realized
it's because the adults would have screwed it
up. Yeah. So he had to tell the children because
they wouldn't have messed it up. And there's
a lot of truth to that. That's right. You will
see as you and I saw you got baptized by the
way. Congratulations Thanks, Dan, but as you
continue when you're walking your faith, you
are going to see there's divisions of the church,
too Oh, yeah, it doesn't stop that stuff there.
No and By the way those who complain all their
lives in their church they get to the nursing
home. They don't stop I mean, that's just them
Yeah All right. Well what an episode Can't wait
for the next one. I hope you guys will be will
be eager for the next conversation to remember
There's really no need I do the remember thing
at the end, but you've said it all Dan Only thing
I could say is remember if you're sitting here,
it's Christmas Eve and You don't have anybody
to hold on to you don't have a lot of presents
under the tree Don't have much money in your
wallet You can still Make a difference with somebody
if you get out around your community just Flash
a smile put your hand on a shoulder of somebody
as you're going to get a cup of coffee or something
It'll make it really will make you feel better.
So focus on the small stuff Don't don't think
that you're not important or you don't matter
or someone might not benefit from Crossing paths
with you. So thank you Dan. Thanks so much Go
ahead. I'll let you have the last word. I was
going to say, just remember I said earlier, everybody
has a story. Everybody has a story. And someone
said, why can't they pull themselves up by the
bootstraps? And I said, because they have no
boots. All right. Well, and remember, make it
work. Yep. Always remember, make it work. OK,
Dan, plan to talk to you again in the new year.
Just let me know when. OK, everyone. All right.
Happy holidays and best to everyone in 2024.
Thanks for listening to the Dan Time podcast.
Take care, Dan. All right. God bless. All right.
Goodbye. All right. If you love that episode,
if you're enjoying the Dan Time podcast, be sure
to download and subscribe so you never miss an
episode. You can reach me at dantimepod at gmail
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You can't miss me. And if nothing else, as I've
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you as a listener. Hope you have a great week.
I'll see you next Sunday.