WEBVTT 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.540 Okay it's been a long time since a bonus episode 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:12.300 has dropped and here you go with the NBA Finals 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:16.260 fast approaching Oklahoma City awaiting the winner 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:19.500 of the New York Knicks in Indiana Pacers series. 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:24.260 I don't claim to be a current Knicks fan but 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.579 some people know that back in the mid 90s early 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:32.479 90s I was and still am a big Patrick Ewing guy. 00:00:33.649 --> 00:00:37.310 I lived and died with the Knicks as a middle 00:00:37.310 --> 00:00:42.310 schooler. Did not continue my fandom into the 00:00:42.310 --> 00:00:46.509 2000s for various reasons, but very pleased to 00:00:46.509 --> 00:00:50.689 see them back. Down three games to one, but the 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:53.909 series is not over. Would love to see the Knicks 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:58.490 come back and make an NBA Finals appearance. 00:00:59.450 --> 00:01:03.520 With that being said, it's been a busy few weeks 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:08.739 and episode number 100, as you know, did not 00:01:08.739 --> 00:01:12.140 drop on this past Sunday. A lot of things happening, 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:15.819 events, obligations, and various goings on that 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:19.840 have taken my time and attention away from Dan 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:25.079 time, the podcast. So it's amazing that I've 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.620 stayed on track this long, but it's a good thing. 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:32.980 It was good to take some time away and just let 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:38.340 it go just Focus on the things that matter not 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:43.060 not that the podcast does not matter But for 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:47.019 those of you who were Thrown into disarray Monday 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:50.939 morning you woke up there was no episode to carry 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.680 it to the office or whatever commute you have 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:59.799 in the morning or or to the gym or wherever From 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:03.680 the bottom of my heart. I apologize You can only 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.819 imagine what you were forced to do. What audible 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:12.520 you called to get through The early part of this 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.900 week, but here you are a bonus episode. I pulled 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:19.560 a couple gems. I Wanted some basketball talk 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:21.919 hasn't been a lot of it on this show, but a little 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.919 bit And I'm going way back halfway back to episode 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:31.080 number 50 To a conversation with my good friend 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.900 Denny Lyons who just so happens to be celebrating 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:38.020 his birthday today you're gonna love this Michael 00:02:38.020 --> 00:02:40.819 Jordan story and a couple other little tidbits 00:02:40.819 --> 00:02:45.219 and Right after that taking it way back to episode 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:50.800 number four with Danny Zimmern the first Danny 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.740 on the show and a Big -time guest at the time 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:59.169 and still very proud of this episode It was with 00:02:59.169 --> 00:03:03.669 the old mic, so some audio limitations, but I 00:03:03.669 --> 00:03:06.409 can easily overlook that because of the quality 00:03:06.409 --> 00:03:09.550 of the content. Get ready for this Sunday. You're 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:12.289 going to love the guests coming up. Thanks so 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:15.090 much for listening. Follow the show at DanTimePod 00:03:15.090 --> 00:03:20.270 on social media, every episode available on YouTube 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:23.870 and anywhere you listen to podcasts. If you have 00:03:23.870 --> 00:03:28.479 a question, request or complaint, Want to rag 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:32.879 me a little bit? DanTimePod at gmail .com. Thanks 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:37.099 so much. And let's get to the bonus content here. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:47.099 This is Denny Lyons followed by Danny Z. To give 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:51.199 you a little backstory, I've been watching Carolina 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.379 basketball since I was a little kid. And before 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:56.770 I was I grew up mostly in Wilmington, North Carolina, 00:03:56.830 --> 00:03:59.430 from 11 to 17. But prior to there, my parents 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:01.289 had lived there. They worked for a company called 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:05.569 Corning down there. And they lived up near a 00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:08.729 school called Laney High School. And when they 00:04:08.729 --> 00:04:12.169 lived there, my older sister, Kate, was probably 00:04:12.169 --> 00:04:15.009 in diapers. And my dad played in a church basketball 00:04:15.009 --> 00:04:17.269 league, but he was terrible. But he would practice 00:04:17.269 --> 00:04:19.089 in his driveway all the time. They had a big 00:04:19.089 --> 00:04:21.649 old driveway. And they had these kids who lived 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.089 kitty cornered with a bunch of sons. And one 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:25.410 of them would come over and practice all the 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:28.329 time or play with his brothers. And so one day 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:30.290 one of these kids was in high school and he was 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:32.310 getting bigger and stronger. And these are the 00:04:32.310 --> 00:04:34.470 old school backboards that didn't have spring 00:04:34.470 --> 00:04:37.189 loaded rims or anything. So he learns to dunk 00:04:37.189 --> 00:04:38.889 and he breaks the backboard because he yanks 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:41.189 on it and it has no spring. So he just pulls 00:04:41.189 --> 00:04:44.029 it and just. splinters it up. So my dad, he's 00:04:44.029 --> 00:04:46.769 a pretty big, great guy. He at times said, you 00:04:46.769 --> 00:04:48.629 know what, no big deal. Just go home, make me 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:50.610 a new backboard with your dad. If you can make 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:52.470 it out of plywood, I don't care. And we'll hang 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.490 it back up here. So that kid went home, took 00:04:54.490 --> 00:04:56.069 a piece of plywood, basically got the correct 00:04:56.069 --> 00:04:58.550 size square, put it back on there, brought it 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:00.029 back to him. They hung it back up and that kid 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:02.449 still played with his brothers and practiced 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:04.629 on it all the time because he lived right kitty 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:07.350 corner to where he lived. And that kid ended 00:05:07.350 --> 00:05:10.240 up being Michael Jordan. And so Michael Jordan 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.339 first learned how to dunk on my dad's backboard 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:15.939 and broke it. And what's interesting is in that 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:18.000 documentary about him, they talk about how his 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.459 dad built a, built a basketball court in their 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:22.620 backyard, but that is not true. He did not have 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.560 a backboard back there and his dad couldn't afford, 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:26.819 he had a bunch of kids he was taking care of 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:29.399 by himself basically. And so they all played 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:31.439 in my dad's driveway when he lived there and 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.220 that's how we got to know him also. We watched 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:37.319 him when he went to UNC and then my older sister, 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.220 when we had moved back to Wilmington, she went 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:44.800 to UNC and had a great athletic career there 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.300 herself, actually. She had never done crew in 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:49.579 her life and then ended up going on the third 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:52.160 boat in the country and getting bronze nationals 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:53.879 her first year doing crew. Then she goes, oh, 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:55.959 this is too early in the morning. Then she decided, 00:05:55.980 --> 00:05:57.699 I'll just play lacrosse. They played varsity 00:05:57.699 --> 00:06:00.220 lacrosse. I mean, that's just who she was. So 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:02.680 then she after she left her last year, I started 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:07.379 in 2003 and Man, I'll tell you what, I love UNC. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.620 Yeah, it's been a great time, especially my heart, 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:14.600 my place, my heart, especially for the 2005 national 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.259 team. But I don't know if I've told you that 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:20.500 story about when I originally got to meet all 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:24.310 those guys. No, no. So I used to play all the 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:27.050 time to this guy named Ethan, and he is just 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:29.250 one of those people that can play anything. Soccer, 00:06:29.269 --> 00:06:32.009 baseball, tennis, golf, doesn't matter. He's 00:06:32.009 --> 00:06:34.589 a good athlete. So we used to just pack up bags 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:37.870 of basketball stuff and go play every sport, 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:40.410 no demand. But after my freshman year, I had 00:06:40.410 --> 00:06:42.449 broken up with a girlfriend and I needed to meet 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:43.730 more friends because you know how it goes, you 00:06:43.730 --> 00:06:46.750 get too siloed your freshman year if you're going 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:48.750 out and meeting people. So I was like, I need 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:51.449 to learn how to meet more people here. Everybody's 00:06:51.449 --> 00:06:54.370 already friended it up. And so my sophomore year, 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:55.730 I was like, I'm going to learn to play basketball. 00:06:55.810 --> 00:06:58.209 I never really played it. And so I started playing 00:06:58.209 --> 00:07:00.350 every single day. And there are these courts 00:07:00.350 --> 00:07:03.589 at UNC. There's two, there's four sets of two, 00:07:03.610 --> 00:07:05.189 and there's like a net in the middle. And the 00:07:05.189 --> 00:07:07.209 very back ones, it's Carmichael Gym is what it's 00:07:07.209 --> 00:07:10.230 called. And it's the one they originally, the 00:07:10.230 --> 00:07:11.769 stadium behind it's now the women's stadium, 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.529 but it's the original UNC men's basketball stadium. 00:07:14.610 --> 00:07:17.829 It's right behind there. And so I started on 00:07:17.829 --> 00:07:20.560 the very back, just terrible. And by the end 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.560 of my sophomore year, getting into my junior 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:24.740 year, I was getting really good. And I ended 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:26.920 up playing on the second courts. Now you had 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:28.860 to be like basically on the varsity team to play 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:30.360 in the first course. They would sit open because 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:32.740 people are like, if they had a reference spot, 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:34.620 it could be like 10 teams waiting, but they still 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:38.259 wouldn't play on there. And so anyway, I was 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:40.980 playing against a guy and we were playing pickup 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:45.120 and he had been the North Carolina state dunk 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.620 champion. And so he'd won for the whole state. 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.360 It was in college and he was a Ph .D. student. 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:52.879 This guy was like six five athletic to twenty 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.420 five. Just a beast. Anyway, we're playing and 00:07:55.420 --> 00:07:58.019 he goes up to dunk on me and I block the heck 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.620 out of it. Knock it all the way across the. However, 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:04.360 he hits me so hard. I go flying like twenty feet 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:08.000 because I was six one maybe one ninety five stitches. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.879 Oh, you blast me across the court. But but I 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.279 did block his dunk, which it hurt afterwards. 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:19.079 But he gave me because he had played uh, on the 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:21.480 practice squad with the UNC varsity team prior, 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:23.899 he let me have what they call the Carolina blue 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:25.600 shoes. So you're not allowed to get Carolina 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:27.439 blue basketball shoes unless somebody from varsity 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:29.879 gives you permission. And it's kind of like a, 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:33.600 um, a rite of passage that once you get them, 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:34.940 cause people are serious about it. Once you, 00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:36.500 once you have them on, I mean, you're picked 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:39.460 for every pickup game going forward. And so that 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:42.299 was like paradise. So I had started playing a 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:44.899 lot more and all of a sudden I bumped into a 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:46.600 guy and I turned around and he's like six, eight. 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:49.940 And I realized, you know, this is post 2005 national 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:51.779 championship and I had already met the guy named 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:53.340 Raymond Felton. It was the point guard and I 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:56.080 was pretty good buddies with him. And so I turned 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.059 around and that's Joad Williams who was on the 00:08:58.059 --> 00:08:59.460 national championship team. And the next thing 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.019 I know I'm bumping shoulders with Sean May who 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:04.279 I had known a little bit since my sophomore year. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:07.059 Little known fact by the way, Sean May is super 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:10.000 brilliant. He, I think he was like an economics 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.179 major or something or he was double majoring. 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:15.250 He had like a 385. Always had two girlfriends. 00:09:15.529 --> 00:09:17.870 But anyway, he's a you would see assistant coach 00:09:17.870 --> 00:09:21.570 now So all of a sudden I'm playing pick -up basketball. 00:09:21.570 --> 00:09:24.909 I must have played 25 35 times with the national 00:09:24.909 --> 00:09:27.710 championship team and the squad that's like Rashad 00:09:27.710 --> 00:09:31.830 McCance and It was Raymond Felton to a wide Williams 00:09:31.830 --> 00:09:36.490 Sean a Jackie Manuel Melvin's no Melvin Scott. 00:09:36.490 --> 00:09:38.769 It was Scott was his last name his backup point 00:09:38.769 --> 00:09:41.269 card anyway, a bunch of other really great players 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:43.350 and so We got to play all the time. And then 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:46.590 I occasionally me and another guy would go play 00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:48.990 on the practice squad for the women's basketball 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:53.429 team. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Now when you're playing 00:09:53.429 --> 00:09:55.129 pickup games with those guys, are they feeding 00:09:55.129 --> 00:09:57.570 you the rock? Are you, uh, you trying to just, 00:09:57.769 --> 00:10:00.850 you know, they're kind, let's just put it that 00:10:00.850 --> 00:10:02.970 way. I'm not playing competitively with them. 00:10:03.009 --> 00:10:06.350 So I knew Rashad pretty well. Originally he was 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:08.110 introduced to me in the, there's this famous 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:11.159 place that you would see called the pit. And 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:13.019 Ray Ray, or Raymond Felden, I don't know what 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.200 he goes by now, but he introduced me to Rashad 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:18.419 McCance. Rashad McCance did not like white people. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.139 And so he was kind of mean mugging, he wouldn't 00:10:21.139 --> 00:10:23.460 really talk that much. And then eventually, I 00:10:23.460 --> 00:10:25.000 used to go to this place where they had nickel 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.120 shots on Tuesdays at like 5pm when nobody was 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:29.059 there. And him and I would meet there every Tuesday 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:31.039 and do nickel shots. So we ended up getting along. 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.299 Yeah. And so I would either guard Rashad McCants, 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:37.279 who was way bigger, way faster, and a thousand 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:38.519 times better than me. And the agreement was he 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:40.159 wouldn't drive on me, but I couldn't guard him 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:42.519 within seven feet of the three -point line. And 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:47.399 he never missed. What do you do? But normally, 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:50.480 the most competitive I could attempt to be, which 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.240 he was still so much better than me, was the 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.480 backup point guard. And him and I, he was about 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.019 my size, height, still way faster and better 00:10:57.019 --> 00:10:59.179 than me. But we got to play a lot. It was really 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:01.779 fun. How, when you're setting those picks, tell 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:04.419 me about some of the, uh, or are taken to charge 00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:07.480 or, um, Well, I'll tell you one thing. You don't 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:09.919 want to try to block a guy like Sean May, you 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.320 know, six foot nine, 295 bounds or whatever he 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:17.860 was. Um, cause not only it's funny, cause you're 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:20.419 used to when you play pickup basketball and you, 00:11:20.419 --> 00:11:22.740 you try to let's say play a staunch defense, 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:24.580 which I was known for playing hardcore defense. 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.740 When they kind of do that lean back push towards 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:30.120 the rim. Normally you kind of bounce off and 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.600 you come back in but when they did it I mean 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:34.500 it was like you went flying across you must have 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:36.240 moved like six feet you like it was like somebody 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:38.539 picked you up and Placed you like five feet away 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:42.799 from so there's Or they'll they'll run through 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.320 you man. I'll tell you what there's there's no 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.320 mercy when it comes to it So you gotta you know 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:48.919 understand your elbows are gonna hurt after a 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:50.899 game. You'll take a couple busted knees, but 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.240 It's worth it. I had this kind of in my notes 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:56.960 here, but I gotta go ahead and ask now the composition 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.309 of your closet Denny Um, tell me about the representation 00:12:00.309 --> 00:12:05.429 of UNC threads to just everyday wardrobe. How 00:12:05.429 --> 00:12:08.590 much Tar Heel blue is, if I open that closet, 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:13.409 it's a sea of blue. It's a sea of either dark 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:15.909 blue with light blue on it or light blue with 00:12:15.909 --> 00:12:18.590 probably black or dark blue on it. And, um, it's 00:12:18.590 --> 00:12:20.690 a problem we have. It's not just, it's target. 00:12:21.490 --> 00:12:23.230 So people, people always laugh. They're like, 00:12:23.309 --> 00:12:24.870 dude, you're wearing a Tar Heel shirt and a Tar 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:26.570 Heel hat. And it's not even like basketball or 00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:28.659 football season. And I'll say, Well, you know, 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.240 that's just, that's what we do. Everybody does, 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:32.500 though. Those Targiles, they're out of the way. 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.519 So it's like, my wife just bought me another 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.899 shirt that just happened to be on sale from Nike 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:39.899 and it comes in, it's another UNC shirt. So I 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.279 would say half of my t -shirts are probably UNC 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:46.159 gear and 70 % of my winter clothes and hoodies 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.840 and everything else are UNC. It's, you know, 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:51.279 outside of actual work shirts, which I still 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:55.120 have some UNC polos, it's quite a bit of them. 00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:58.309 How do you handle? I know this past season was 00:12:58.309 --> 00:13:02.169 tough. There was a tough ending 2023 NCAA tournament. 00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:06.029 How do you do when? Obviously, there's the championships, 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:09.210 but what's it like if I'm hanging out with you? 00:13:09.289 --> 00:13:11.090 Do I need to just say hey Danny? I'll see you 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:14.889 tomorrow. It's been fun and just leave or What's 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:18.929 it like when the final buzzer hits and it is 00:13:18.929 --> 00:13:23.129 not ended? Well, I'll tell you what it's It's 00:13:23.129 --> 00:13:27.730 a lot of sadness. A lot of me cursing. So my 00:13:27.730 --> 00:13:31.230 cousins actually went to Alabama. And so I probably 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:33.809 said some not so nice things to him and made 00:13:33.809 --> 00:13:39.649 a lot of jokes at Alabama's expense. Basically, 00:13:39.649 --> 00:13:42.409 my wife went upstairs and just left me and they 00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:45.889 just kept telling me to keep it down. But it's 00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:48.070 a sad moment. It takes me a little it takes me 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:49.870 some time to get over March Madness because that's 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.929 my favorite time of the year. But, you know, 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:55.330 I'll do my best to stay positive. And if we win, 00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:58.289 I'm the best to be around though, but it can 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:00.870 hurt. Then of course, there's, you know, Tar 00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.129 Heel Baseball. They were in the College World 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:05.789 Series, eliminated by Florida State, but I mean, 00:14:06.190 --> 00:14:08.269 a pretty competitive program there in baseball, 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:11.450 women's basketball. Yeah, they make it to the 00:14:11.450 --> 00:14:13.610 College World Series every other year, if not 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:15.309 almost every year. They have some of the best 00:14:15.309 --> 00:14:17.950 baseball coaches in the country. And if you ever 00:14:17.950 --> 00:14:20.509 hear like anybody on Sports Center or any of 00:14:20.509 --> 00:14:22.929 those talk about They have some of the best coaching 00:14:22.929 --> 00:14:25.809 and recruiting people there is. So they produce, 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:29.070 when I went to UNC, there were two that were 00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:31.789 like six, nine or six, 10, and they were twins 00:14:31.789 --> 00:14:33.570 and both of them were pitchers and both of them 00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:36.950 went in the first round to the MLB, which is 00:14:36.950 --> 00:14:40.070 crazy, you know, two twins that are that like 00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:42.889 basically Randy Johnson going to the MLB. But 00:14:42.889 --> 00:14:45.090 this year it was a guy named Travis Honeycutt 00:14:45.090 --> 00:14:48.190 who got drafted first round. He comes from near 00:14:48.190 --> 00:14:50.799 where I grew up, Wilmington, the Honeycuts. are 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.460 a huge set of cousins and families. And it's 00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:55.220 not surprising that the honey cut went to the 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.539 MO because everybody in their family and all 00:14:57.539 --> 00:14:59.919 for the last like 30 years around New Hanover 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.440 County and surrounding counties. All of them 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:04.340 are good at sports. They play sports until their 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:05.919 50s and they're always the captain of their teams 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.059 the best. It doesn't matter. They're they're 00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:09.740 all just the men and women of those families 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:12.820 are just talented. Without going too much down 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:14.320 a rabbit hole here because I want to move on 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.240 to some other things but notable UNC baseball 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:20.419 alumni Daniel Baird. Got to do a Dan Time mention 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:23.679 there, but also, you know, guys like Chris Ionetta, 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:28.500 Brian Roberts, Kyle Seeger, B .J. Sirhoff, Walt 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:32.139 Weiss. Yeah, I mean, just tons of them. And it's 00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:34.960 almost unfortunate that they don't get as much 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.240 love as they deserve because they get a little 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.340 overshadowed by basketball. And now, you know, 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:41.480 football is always so big. But I'll tell you 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:43.879 what, there are some devoted fans that go to 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.820 those games religiously every game home game 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:50.210 for. decades and so they do get a lot of love 00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:57.970 back back at UNC. So played basketball at the 00:15:57.970 --> 00:16:03.889 YMCA as a older dude. I was you know I ran my 00:16:03.889 --> 00:16:06.409 mouth a lot and had a lot of fun playing basketball. 00:16:06.610 --> 00:16:09.529 You can get a lot out of you. Basketball is it's 00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:12.169 competition but You really learn about other 00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:14.669 people and how they, you know, do they play defense 00:16:14.669 --> 00:16:16.389 or do they cheat or, you know, all those sorts 00:16:16.389 --> 00:16:19.110 of things. You learn about people. So one of 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:21.970 the guys at the YMCA, I played between three 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:24.950 and five days a week for 20 years, maybe even 00:16:24.950 --> 00:16:27.990 more actually, but forever. And so one of the 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:30.350 guys at the gym said, hey, there are these leagues 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:33.409 in the city that are kind of open leagues in 00:16:33.409 --> 00:16:36.370 the spirit of you just play. So it's not an age 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:39.919 group. It's not a... a certain level, like an 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.120 ABC player or anything like that. It's just open, 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:45.539 so it means it's the best players in our community. 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:48.679 And he said, why don't we put a team in the league? 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.419 So we figured out how much it would cost, and 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:55.100 it was about $500. So we said we get 10 people, 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:59.740 that's $50 a piece. So we asked basically the 00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:03.860 10 best guys in the gym basically to play, and 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:06.799 candidly about half of them didn't do it. We 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.559 picked up some other guys that did do it. And 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:13.079 we lost that year in the city of Pensacola championship 00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:16.140 game. We lost, we finished second in the league 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:18.740 for the year, but we didn't win. It was close 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:21.539 to the game came right down to the end, but we 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:24.819 didn't win. And one of the guys that did play 00:17:24.819 --> 00:17:27.599 on our team was a guy who went to the university 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.559 of Alabama, Birmingham, played basketball there 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.039 on scholarship. And he worked with what then 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.559 was. golf power. Now it's Florida power, but 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.759 he was golf power and he was in charge of generation 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.359 for all of Northwest Florida generation of power. 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:45.079 Yeah. So he had a big job on the top floor office 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:49.960 corner suite. And, uh, I said to him, his name 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:53.660 was Mike. I said, Mike, some of these guys, uh, 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.319 couldn't afford it. And I said, why don't we, 00:17:56.660 --> 00:17:58.960 why don't you and I just split it and then we'll 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.319 pick the people we want on our team. And, uh, 00:18:02.299 --> 00:18:04.720 He said, okay, that was easy. It was about a 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.119 five minute conversation. So we did and we picked 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:10.059 the guys that we wanted. It said, it doesn't 00:18:10.059 --> 00:18:13.420 cost anything to play. And basically they all 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.579 played, especially in the first couple of years, 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:18.240 they all played. So there were two seasons, a 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.180 spring and a fall season. That spring season 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:22.039 we had lost in the finals. So we entered the 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.200 fall season with basically the guys out of our 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:27.380 gym that we wanted and we ran through the league. 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.019 We won. the first of our, what I like to call 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:34.180 city championships that year. And we won five 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:36.960 more straight, spring, fall, spring, fall, five 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.240 more straight. And after every championship game, 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:44.400 we would go out for chicken wings and beer. And 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.440 Mike and I would pay for that too. And the guys 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.059 all loved it. And we got to always talk in and 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:53.279 maybe the beer helped everybody talk a little 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:56.240 easier, whatever. But we got to be friends because 00:18:56.589 --> 00:18:59.369 It wasn't really fights, but basketball games, 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.210 you have to work like a team. And so we learned 00:19:02.210 --> 00:19:04.890 to kind of depend on each other and we learned 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:08.349 to work together to win. I was kind of the coach 00:19:08.349 --> 00:19:11.190 all the, all that time. I only went in when we 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:14.349 were up 20 or down 20 and we were never down 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:16.950 20. So I always went in when we were winning 00:19:16.950 --> 00:19:20.349 big basically. And then everybody else was tired 00:19:20.349 --> 00:19:22.829 and they pass it to me all the time. And so it 00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:24.609 was great for me. I loved it. I felt like I was 00:19:24.609 --> 00:19:29.349 a star, but All of those guys basically had been 00:19:29.349 --> 00:19:32.609 celebrities in high school, all everything basketball 00:19:32.609 --> 00:19:36.029 players in Pensacola as they went through, celebrities 00:19:36.029 --> 00:19:38.549 in their school, best player in their school, 00:19:39.049 --> 00:19:42.089 and they were celebrities and they all got college 00:19:42.089 --> 00:19:46.470 scholarships and virtually all of them blew it. 00:19:46.730 --> 00:19:48.730 They lost their scholarships, whatever, and they 00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:52.450 came back home, no degree and really no training 00:19:52.450 --> 00:19:56.380 and really nowhere to go. except back to basketball. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:00.980 And I realized after about the third celebration 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:04.980 dinner, it dawned on me that the common denominator 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.460 of all those guys was that they basically didn't 00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:10.720 have a strong role model, a strong male role 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:15.460 model. And I said, well, you know, here we go 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:18.740 again, right? Here's Danny. I said, I can help 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:22.279 some of that. I don't want to, you know, I don't 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:25.589 want to be their father. but I'm happy to be 00:20:25.589 --> 00:20:29.170 trying to help them live better. So I started 00:20:29.170 --> 00:20:32.430 making those chicken wings and beer dinners once 00:20:32.430 --> 00:20:36.509 a month, and I brought in people to speak to 00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:39.170 them, to sit at the table and drink beer with 00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:42.150 them. And I brought in like a urologist, and 00:20:42.150 --> 00:20:43.930 I brought in a banker who taught them how to 00:20:43.930 --> 00:20:46.509 open bank accounts, and I brought in a car dealer 00:20:46.509 --> 00:20:48.990 who told them how to buy cars right, because 00:20:48.990 --> 00:20:51.250 they were going to these buy here, pay here lots 00:20:51.250 --> 00:20:54.730 that were super expensive. It was a waste. And 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:57.690 I brought in a therapist. I mean, you know, but 00:20:57.690 --> 00:21:00.250 I brought in all sorts of things to teach these 00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.910 guys. And slowly, maybe looking back on it wasn't 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:08.509 so slow, but it felt slow. I got about two of 00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:11.490 them on with the city. I got, I think, three 00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:14.730 on with Gulf Power. I got two on with the local 00:21:14.730 --> 00:21:17.529 utility authority. So these were good paying 00:21:17.529 --> 00:21:21.690 jobs with retirement, with healthcare. all those 00:21:21.690 --> 00:21:25.549 sort of things, and was able to really, really 00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:31.230 help all those guys. Eventually, they made it 00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:34.670 on their own, and an old white guy was not the 00:21:34.670 --> 00:21:36.630 guy they wanted to hang out with on Friday night. 00:21:37.910 --> 00:21:41.150 But I get it, and I love those guys, and you 00:21:41.150 --> 00:21:43.690 know what, Dan, they love me. If I see them, 00:21:43.750 --> 00:21:45.750 they still come to my office. Oh, I know they 00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:48.009 do. I know they love you. Yeah, and they come 00:21:48.009 --> 00:21:50.089 to my office just to say hello and check in. 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.480 But really what I think they're doing is telling 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.700 me they're okay, which is better, right? Because 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:58.819 they never had a male figure in their life to 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:02.140 say, hey, Uncle Joe, I'm doing pretty good. Hey, 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:04.000 you'll never believe what I did. They didn't 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.960 have anybody to tell good news. I guess it makes 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.799 them feel good and it makes me feel good to do 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.099 it too. But what's really interesting in all 00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:15.160 those years of those guys, it was probably a, 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:17.859 it was a great sort of run about five or six 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:21.480 years. of being around those guys a lot. One 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:24.599 time, one guy ever asked me to borrow money. 00:22:25.339 --> 00:22:28.359 And he paid me back. I've been asked to borrow 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:30.700 money by a lot of people and a lot who have not 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:33.259 paid me back. But I'm okay. I mean, it is what 00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:37.200 it is. But to me, that's kind of a point that 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.980 they would rather keep my respect. Sure. And 00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:43.539 they'd rather find a way. I mean, I instilled 00:22:43.539 --> 00:22:45.839 a little bit in them to work your way out of 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.220 a problem, not borrow your way out of the problem. 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:51.000 Right. You know, you've illustrated something 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:52.480 that I don't think it's talked about a whole 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.420 lot, where a young man, 18, 19 years old, blows 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:59.180 a scholarship and it's really just screwed up 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:01.380 one time in a big way. And he just thinks, well, 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:04.099 that's it. Oh, I'm just no good. And then and 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:07.019 then just kind of trails off. Well, or he's got 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:10.230 this skill set that he's not using. and he could 00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:12.670 be building a network, but he's not because he 00:23:12.670 --> 00:23:15.789 doesn't have anybody believing in him. What a 00:23:15.789 --> 00:23:17.470 difference. I thought it was all about just shooting 00:23:17.470 --> 00:23:21.589 hoops. Well, when you're... It's a little bit 00:23:21.589 --> 00:23:24.609 societal. When you're in high school and you're 00:23:24.609 --> 00:23:27.849 the big man on campus, it's hard to go to the 00:23:27.849 --> 00:23:32.130 next step and not be the big man on campus, to 00:23:32.130 --> 00:23:34.730 be being told what to do when you don't really 00:23:34.730 --> 00:23:36.849 want to do it. You know, when you're the all 00:23:36.849 --> 00:23:40.400 -star on a... high school team you probably don't 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.859 run the bleachers when everybody else does and 00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:45.180 you probably can be a little late to practice 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:47.220 and that sort of thing but you're the star of 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.619 that high school basketball team but when you 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:52.599 get to the first step of college you know it's 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.420 a little different I had one guy on our team 00:23:55.420 --> 00:23:59.720 it's a crazy story he is the greatest guy deep 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.700 down now he's I mean everybody's got their own 00:24:02.700 --> 00:24:05.799 life and he's a little interesting but He grew 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:08.519 up in Chicago and he was an all -star basketball 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:12.700 player in Chicago in high school. And at the 00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:15.720 Arch Enemy High School across town in Chicago, 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:19.599 now this is not Pensacola, in Chicago, the Arch 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:22.539 Enemy School across town was where Dwayne Wade 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:26.819 played. And so our guy here, BG, was on our team, 00:24:27.140 --> 00:24:29.799 I mean on his team, and Dwayne Wade was on their 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:34.579 team. And they played each other. and BG just 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:37.119 showed Dwyane Wade up. I mean, it was crazy. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:43.680 But towards the end of BG's senior year, he broke 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.180 his ankle playing basketball, and he quit. He 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:49.880 quit school. He quit everything. He never graduated. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:52.240 Dwyane Wade, of course, went on to Marquette 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:57.279 and Pro Fame. BG, you know, just was lost when 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.960 he lost the thing he had, and he never recovered, 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:05.240 really. Now, He did recover and he's a manager 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:08.519 now or a big retail business. He's doing very 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:13.119 well. Uh, but he was a part of this journey to 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:16.759 help him realize how good he was, uh, at life. 00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:19.019 And he was easily the best basketball player 00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:24.380 around. Not in a great way, uh, not in a one 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:27.079 -on -one kind of way, but what it takes to win 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:30.500 as a team. He had it. I'll never forget Dan. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:33.680 He played, that guy played against me in the 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:37.779 gym for five years maybe and he killed me. I 00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:40.220 never could score on him. Now he was a great 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:42.319 player and I wasn't, but he didn't look like 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.500 he was working very hard and he would block my 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:49.180 shot all the time. God dog. And so we got on 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:52.539 this team and I got to be the coach and I got 00:25:52.539 --> 00:25:55.160 to be the guy that was kind of watching out everybody. 00:25:56.059 --> 00:25:59.940 And we go to the gym, this is after about a season 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:03.789 and a half. of playing the league, and BG goes, 00:26:03.970 --> 00:26:06.650 Dan, I gotta tell you. I said, what? He said, 00:26:07.130 --> 00:26:09.569 you know that before you shoot, you spin the 00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:12.029 ball in your hand. And I said, no, what are you 00:26:12.029 --> 00:26:15.549 talking about? He goes, yeah, when you are gonna 00:26:15.549 --> 00:26:17.369 shoot, you spin the ball in your hand and line 00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:19.809 the laces up. And I thought, I'll be a son of 00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:22.509 a gun. I never thought about that at all in my 00:26:22.509 --> 00:26:25.029 life, but the whole time guarding me, if I didn't 00:26:25.029 --> 00:26:26.490 spin that ball, he knew I wasn't gonna shoot. 00:26:27.230 --> 00:26:30.130 So the minute I spun it, he got in my face. and 00:26:30.130 --> 00:26:33.650 blocked my shot all the time. He had such a mind 00:26:33.650 --> 00:26:36.710 for basketball. It is, it is, he still does. 00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:39.710 It's amazing. And I told him that. I told him 00:26:39.710 --> 00:26:41.390 that. And I got him to coach a little league 00:26:41.390 --> 00:26:43.710 team, I mean a little league, a team of little 00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:47.289 people's team. They were great. He made all those 00:26:47.289 --> 00:26:49.690 kids into something. He's still got some of those 00:26:49.690 --> 00:26:52.569 fathers who talk about him. I mean, you know, 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:54.250 just the kind of stuff. But basketball, you learn 00:26:54.250 --> 00:26:57.400 a lot about people. We've had a lot of stories 00:26:57.400 --> 00:26:59.440 around here Dan Danny. It's just listening to 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:01.539 these stories I have at the top of my notes and 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:03.119 I don't remember if I said this earlier in our 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:06.579 conversation wants others to thrive and succeed 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:08.660 now that's before we walk sat down in this room 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:11.359 and That's really been the hallmark of your career 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.859 from my perspective Everything you do is about 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:16.980 community and about building others up. There's 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:18.539 a lot of talent here There's a lot of talent 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:21.019 on the sidelines. I've just blown away. I like 00:27:21.019 --> 00:27:23.539 it I like you played basketball to why I didn't 00:27:23.539 --> 00:27:26.869 know anything else about it Yeah. Well, I'm just 00:27:26.869 --> 00:27:29.970 picturing Danny running down the court. Oh yeah. 00:27:30.049 --> 00:27:32.329 Pulling up for three. Oh yeah. And that's exactly 00:27:32.329 --> 00:27:35.309 what I did. And you know, they went in pretty 00:27:35.309 --> 00:27:38.170 much more than they didn't. You know, I was a 00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:40.210 good shot because of my theory of getting open. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:42.960 is if you stand still long enough, the guy guarding 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:47.400 you will leave. But you know, it kept me in good 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.460 shape and it kept me healthy to be a parent and 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:52.819 it kept me healthy and it would clear your mind. 00:27:52.859 --> 00:27:54.279 You can't be thinking about other things when 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:55.039 you're playing basketball.