Welcome to Good News York. It is Wednesday. No,
it's Thursday. What am I talking about? It's
Thursday. I'm Mike Brindisi Good News York sponsored
by ads on the go get ads on the go comm I'm very
excited because I am joined by one of my favorite
people and One of our favorite guests we've ever
had GM of the Syracuse Mets. Yeah, Jason S'morel.
Let's go. Let's go This is my guy. This is my
guy The reason you're my guy is for many reasons.
Oh, you can leave it. The first time I met you,
we had come to shoot some footage at the game.
Opening day. Opening day, which was awesome.
And I'm walking around with Matt, and I said,
yeah, he goes, I got to introduce you to the
GM. And I said, yeah, I can't wait to meet him.
You know, I'm nervous, but that'd be great. And
I'm looking around, and he says, oh, there he
is. And I look around, and I said, where? He
pointed, and there you were with a big flappy
hat on, screaming and hugging people and shaking
people's hands. And I was like, that's the GM?
He said, yeah. I said, I love this. And it's
been a love affair ever since. Listen, we brought
you in for a couple things. But let's talk baseball
real quick first. We'll get that out of the way.
Your first place Syracuse Mets. That's where
I want to go. Yes. I just wanted you to be able
to say. I love saying it. Say it one more time.
First place Syracuse Mets. First place Syracuse
Mets. Second half of the season, you guys are
tied for not only first place, but for the best
record in all of the minor leagues, my man, 30
and 11. We've been on a heater. Yeah. Yeah, so
it's just kind of, you know, it's the way it
works in minor league baseball. You just kind
of catch lightning in a bottle. And we had a
great nucleus in the first half, but it just
has all come together. Really, the end of the
first half, and obviously for this whole second
half, just come together with the prospects and
the veterans and the pitching and the hitting.
Yeah. And it's awesome. And it's not slowing
down. No. And in fact, you guys just called up
three guys, three young players. Was it Jet Williams,
Jonah Tong, and Carson Bange? Did I say that
right, Bange? We haven't figured out how to pronounce
his last name yet. We're not sure if it's Benj
or Bengi. I hope it's Bang, because that, you
know, bang, bang. I think it's Benj. We could
do a lot with that. It could be. I don't know
what it is. Benj. And then we also, there's another
one. There's a fourth one. Oh, sorry. Benj, Tong,
Jet Williams, and... Oh, Ryan Clifford. Ryan
Clifford, shout out. Sorry, Ryan. I didn't mean
to leave you off the list. These guys, you think
they got the goods to go get the big call to
the big show? Eventually. We're going to find
out. That's a big jump from double A to triple
A. It is. And that's a big jump from triple A
to the majors. And then the trick seems to be
staying in the majors. A lot of guys can get
to the majors, but it's staying in the majors.
You look at the guy like, Luis Angel Acuna and
he's he's back with us. He's a major leaguer,
you know, but this is they want him to play So
he's here because he's got kind of he there's
a roadblock for him at the Mets right now So
he's with us because they need to keep him sharp.
They need to keep him playing So in addition
to you know, I think right now we have well,
they just called McLean up Okay, he's gonna pitch
Saturday for the Mets. So before we had six of
the top ten and eight of the top 20 so we're
probably five of the top 10 and seven of the
top 20 prospects in the Mets organization are
with us. And that is a tip of the cap to the
organization as a whole because if you're, you
know, if the major league team's kicking ass
and then the minor league teams are kicking ass,
that means you got a great farm system. Yeah.
And clearly you guys have done really great with
that. You know, and that was Baltimore a couple
years ago for the last couple years. Sure. It's
been, Norfolk has been awesome and the Orioles
have been great, so. It's a testament to David
Stern and the Mets and the baseball department
and they've been drafting well and developing
well Which is what our guys do our you know,
Dick Scott JP are in sebia and our coaches AJ
Sanger our pitching coach and Rick our hitting
coach Their job is to develop players to figure
out how to take you from good to great and how
to keep that mental focus and and keep advancing
so they say That guy's ready, and it's time to
go to the Mets. Go to the show, as they say.
That's right. And everything's better at the
ballpark when the Mets are winning. Whether it's
AAA, major leagues, winning breeds, happiness,
sales. Winning is fun. It's great. Because we've
had a lot of losing. And we have fun. And these
things are out of our control. We talked about
this the last time I was there. We can't control
the play in the field. We can't control the weather.
But when it all comes together and the... The
sun is shining and the boys are playing well.
It feels different going to the park for us as
staff and for the fans. Absolutely. And for those
listening or watching that maybe don't understand
the ins and outs of the minor leagues, I always
found this fascinating. Is there a way for you
to kind of decipher? Because there's single A,
there's double A, there's triple A, right? And
I think people are under the impression that
it's like, you're really good in single A, then
you go to double A, then you go to triple A.
It doesn't really do that. Sometimes you skip
over double A, you go to triple A. Is there kind
of a brief summary on how that works a little
bit? I know there's no real, like, set format.
I don't think there is. I think it's based on
the play of the player and sometimes maybe the
needs of the major league organization. You know,
we're here to develop players, so they need the
pitchers to go upstairs. They need the hitters
and fielders to go upstairs. So when someone's
ready, they're ready, you know? And sometimes
they... They rush a guy. Sometimes they take
too long with a guy. Sometimes there's, you know,
there's a roadblock in front of you. I always,
you know, I always say, who was the shortstop
in Scranton when, you know, Derek Jeter was playing
there? He wasn't going anywhere. Right. You know,
so, you know, some of those guys, and he could
have been that person of those years. There was
probably a ton of really good shortstops that
maybe had to get to other organizations or play
another position. Yeah. And I met a guy, Greg
Legg was our old manager in Batavia. and I remember
seeing his number nine retired at Scranton back
when they were the Red Barons, wherever they
were, the Phillies organization. And he was my
manager, so I met him and I said, Greg, how do
you get your number retired in Scranton? He says
you play third base behind Mike Schmidt. Exactly.
If you're in Scranton forever, then that's how
they retire your number. You get retired just
because you're there. Yeah, because you're there,
and he was great. He had to be good, too, but
he was there. There was nowhere for him to go.
Have you ever lost a player because they were
so good, they got called up, and it was in the
middle of when they were on a hot streak, and
you're like, no, please, stay. Oh, happens all
the time? Yeah. Oh, happens all the time. But
it is what it is. It's not tough because they're
not our players. They're the New York Mets players.
That's what we're here for. We're in our 149th
year of professional minor league baseball in
Syracuse, and it used to, back in the day, it
was September 1st call -ups. Everybody locally
would get upset. I remember in 2014, we were
in first place as the Syracuse Chiefs. And the
Nationals called up Stephen Sousa Jr., and Destin
Hood, and Tyler Moore, and they took six guys
just before we were gonna go into the playoffs.
and everybody was upset, but it was called the
September 1st call -ups, and they called the
guys up. Exactly. That's what they're called,
the call -ups. And I always tell the guys, I
hope I never see them again. I hope they leave.
I hope they go to the big leagues, and I hope
they kill it, and I hope I never see them again.
Maybe on a rehab, because they're so awesome,
and still ended up with us. Yeah. I mean, that's
every... I have a performance anxiety over here.
Oh, you're all right. You got it? You know, that's
every kid's dream. when you're growing up, is,
you know, you're playing wiffle ball or you're
playing baseball in the backyard. Yeah. And you
dream of making... Hitting that home run. ...hitting
that home run, that walk -off. You've been hitting
a walk -off with this organization, man. I tell
people all the time, and I'm not just saying
this because you're in my presence. I think you're
saying it because I'm right here. A little bit.
But it is... We went to the game, and my God,
man. Like, minor league baseball is known to
be fun anyway. It's got a very fun energy. known
for a lot of promotions going on, but you take
it and you raise the bar. And I'm just gonna
prove it by every day of the week, okay? You've
got Taco Tuesday. Delicious, nutritious tacos.
Wildcat and Wine Slushy Wednesday. Who doesn't
like a wine slushy? You could pair that with
We Care Wednesday. You could, and we often do.
And one of, I'm sure, everyone's favorites, Dollar
Thursday. The greatest invention in the history
of baseball. And Fizzy Friday. And with fireworks.
With... Fireworks. We like alliteration. But
that's the week. Let's talk about the weekend.
Super Saturday? Always a giveaway, always fireworks,
always a national act. Something is super about
Saturdays. Kids Eat Free Sundays? Maybe the Secret
Best Day. Maybe that's probably the better invention
than Dollar Thursday, but probably not. The kids
eat free. They run the bases after the game.
Jeff the Magic Man is there doing his balloon
artistry and telling jokes and doing magic for
free. Sometimes it's themed up. Last week was
Pirate and Princesses Day. We had princesses
there. And it's just such a family. It's a day
game usually. And it's just such a family kind
of thing that I, why there's not every family
in the community there, I don't know why. I don't
know either. And on top of that, for you, for
the parents, I think it's one Sunday a month,
you got Boozy Brunch. Boozy Brunch. I mean, I
think that speaks for itself. Sells out every
time, unlimited. Bottomless mimosas, bottomless
Bloody Marys. And then we don't just serve hot
dogs and hamburgers. We have chicken and waffles
and... The speedies. No. What do you think you're
talking about? The Binghamton Rumble Ponies?
That's what I'm doing. Yeah, we're more salt
potatoes. What was the thing I had last time
that you told me I had to... Oh, the pierogies.
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. Pierogi.
No, as... Pierogi. ...Central New York's 2025
Poll of the Year. Okay. My job is to make sure
people like you... Like me. ...stop calling them
pierogies. It's just pierogi. This whole desk
could be covered with pierogi, and it's just
pierogi. So it's like deer. If there was more
than one deer, you would still say, there's a
ton of deer in here. It's like bison. But for
some reason, the buffalo bisons. Call it a, put
an S on it, I got a problem with that one. Also,
on the way to Buffalo, there's that sign that
says Buffalo in All America City. Is it All American
City? I don't think the people in Buffalo understand
grammar. Well, I don't, okay, you said it, not
me. Take. Hot take. Usually we trash the Rochester
Red Wings. Yeah, you know why? Because of Dan
frickin' Mason that was on my list. Anthony Sprague
and Mike Bukowski in Buffalo are wonderful people.
Buffalo's a wonderful city. Let's circle back
to how horrible Rochester is. Yeah, let's go
back. And Dan Mason specifically. I wanted to
give you time. For those of you listening, last
time we were here, we learned Jason's arch -rival,
arch -nemesis, is Dan Mason of the Rochester
Red Wings. Horrible person. Horrible. Red Wing
or Red Wings? Red Wing. They are the Red Wings,
yeah. They're the Red Wings, okay. So give me
an update. At least they understand their grammar.
Yeah, they do. So let's talk about Dan Mason
real quick. Anything you want to say to him other
than... Oh, no, he and I, he knows that he's
the world's most horrible person. They just inducted
the world's most horrible person into their Hall
of Fame for years of service and giving back
to the community and running a great organization.
100%, thank you. Why they do this for this guy,
I don't know why. I don't either. Yeah, raising
money for charities, making kids happy, blah,
blah, blah. Helping the community, healing people
who are sick. Right, thank you, whatever. Dan,
I don't know if you know this, but the Syracuse
Mets are in first place. Oh, and owners of the
Golden Fork, which is our rival with the Syracuse
Salt Potatoes v. the Rochester Plates. So we
won those games and we hold the Golden Fork.
I believe we're well on our way to the Thruway
Cup, which we will be coming to Rochester to
take from your stadium, Dan Mason, world's most
horrible person. Well, and there it is. You cut
the promo. What's the Golden Fork and what's
the Thruway? Is that a real thing or are you
just making this up? No, no, Golden Fork is the
largest trophy in professional sports, and it
is a blood battle on the field between the salt
potatoes and the plates. They're food. alternative
identity, and it's a best of three series, and
we pick specific games, and we won it. That's
amazing. Swept them. The golden fork, and you
have... I was in... Oh, it's an eight -foot trophy.
Really? It's a golden fork made of gold. That's
phenomenal. Paint on wood. Were you aware of
this? Danny used to work there. Yeah, you...
Did you...? It's in my office right now. Did
you ever use it to eat? You know how, like, when
you win the Stanley Cup, you drink out of it?
Do you use the golden fork to eat steak? You'd
be eating brontosaurus burgers with this fork.
It's a big fork. That's all right. You're gonna
need a big pierogi to stab with this fork. You
know what else you could eat with it? Dan Mason.
You could eat him alive. He's bite -size. I don't
know if you could use the fork for him. I've
never met Dan, but, man, when I do, that's gonna
be awkward. You are going to be very disappointed.
I love you. Because he's such a nice person.
Jason, he is nice. We're just passing. Jason
Smoral, let's talk about a thing that everyone's
been talking about. Yes. You have opened up a
competition to the public. Talk about that. What
are we doing? We are renaming the Syracuse Mets.
A little community contest. And we've engaged
the community. We have 149 years of being the
stars. The Chiefs, we started the Chiefs, we
started the Stars in 1876. And then you started...
The Chiefs in 1934. You brought this beautiful
jersey, thank you. That's the 1985 Chiefs. That's
hot. That is amazing. I am so honored you brought
this. Danny is like salivating over there. I
know, he really is. Loves that font, don't you?
Yes. Yeah? 85, man, that's amazing. So you're...
We've got the Chiefs, then Sky Chiefs, then back
to the Chu Chu Chiefs, then the Mets. So next
year is our 150th year in professional baseball
in Syracuse, and we just figured it was time
to go forward with a new identity, to re -engage
with the community, let them have a say in the
matter. We love the Mets, and a lot of people
love us being the Mets. There's a lot of people
who don't like us being the Mets. So we figure,
let's let the community get involved. Let's find
something that identifies with Central New York.
a lot of salt entries, a lot of snow entries,
a lot of salt potatoes entries, and hopefully
at the end of this process, we're gonna have
a fantastic new identity that we're gonna take
into our 150th year, 151st year, because this
is not happening until 2027. So we will celebrate.
the Mets and all of our former names next year.
And not to be confused, you will still be affiliated
with the Mets. Very confusing, but yes, we will
still be with the Mets. Just not called the Mets.
How about when we were owned by the Mets and
we had the Nationals on the field? That was very
confusing. A little bit, but we were the Chiefs.
I remember Strasburg was pitching there and I
remember thinking, wait, I thought they were
the Mets. No, they're the Nationals. That happens
in minor league all the time. It happens. It
happens all the time. Now, that's a very ballsy
move to open up this contest to the public, but
you're a guy that loves engaging with the public.
Was this your idea? Was this, like, your brainchild?
I think specifically my idea. We have kind of
a brain trust over there, and there's a lot of
good minds over at the... I take... If it works,
I take credit for it. If it doesn't work, it's
Katie Stewart's or Brian Pawpick's fault. I blamed
a lot of things on Danny Tripodi. Well, yeah,
we do here. No, that's fantastic, man. It's doing
exactly what we thought it was going to do. Well,
I guess what we hoped it was going to do. It's
generated a buzz. A lot of times we get to August
and they stop talking about the Syracuse mess
because it's time for Syracuse University football.
It's time for the state fair. It's time for high
school sports to get back in action. So now,
with this name change, we thrust ourselves into
the conversation. Now with the first place Syracuse
mess, it's hard to ignore us. We're in the news.
We're being talked about over coffee. We're being
talked about at the kitchen table. We just had
a youth baseball camp last week for three days.
All the little kids were giving me their ideas.
Not one of them was good. Sorry. Sorry, kids.
How about the Syracuse Cramp? Stupid kids. And
some people are mad. They were changing it, and
some people, a woman came up to me and she's
like, thank you so much. This is such a great
idea. So for her, I totally took credit. I was
like, oh, you're welcome. I did that all myself.
But the one that came up was like, why are you
changing this? Blame it on Katie. Blame it on
Katie. I told her not to. No, that's great. And
look, no matter what you do in life, I've learned,
especially now in social media, there's always
going to be a group of unhappy people. Sure.
There's no one name that everyone's going to
go, that's it. You know what, we're all in unison
together. That's it. 100%. We love that idea.
Do you find that now, since the announcement's
been made that you're doing the naming contest,
like, is it everywhere you go now, people are
like, oh, Jason, I have this idea. Everywhere.
Yeah. And it's great. Oh, yes. That's what it's
supposed to be. So everyone's got their idea.
Everyone just sends me in. Everyone, not everyone,
but a lot of people just put their ideas in.
A lot of people find it very important to also
attach their AI -generated logo. OK. Yeah, we're
in that world now where you can... You can use
AI, so they're gonna give you the logo of the
team and everything. They're giving us everything,
which we're not going to use. No, I wouldn't
recommend that. And we're not gonna use AI, I
don't think, to make the logo. No, we're not
gonna do that. No, we're not gonna do that. But
it's so much fun, and we're learning so much
about Syracuse. We're learning about Central
New York. We're learning more about the salt
industry. We're learning more about, you know,
the things we invented here, the dental chair,
the serrated knife. Obviously, everyone's favorite,
the Brannock device. You know, the history of
Kraus Heinz and the first traffic light. We have
the upside down traffic light. You know, there's
so much stuff that they're learning about. Myths
of lake monsters. Obviously, we're learning more
and more and more about the low bridges. Listen,
I'm floored right now because I had no idea.
The dental chair was invented here? Yes. So the
thing that has horrified children for years.
Yes. The torture device was, okay. But you want
to cut yourself some bread? We invented this
serrated knife. No way. Way? The Syracuse serrated
knives? Yeah, maybe. The Syracuse dental chairs?
Right. All right. You're gonna have a sound effect
as our guys come to bat. Like seventh inning
stuff. Or when they get to bat. I actually have
some names I wanted to run by you. Do you have
any AI -generated logos that you could accompany
these with? You do have a logo guy over there.
I do have a logo guy over there. He's better
than AI. Well, here's what I did. I thought,
listen, how am I going to compete with everybody?
I mean... You simply register like every single
other person on the planet? Right. But I said...
There's no competition. It's super easy to do.
Go to SyracuseMets .com and click on the button
to register your idea. There it is. I was going
to ask that too. I thought, listen, Jason's coming
today. I have a fast track right to the GM. How
am I going to woo him? And I thought, how about
you make it about Jason? So I'm going to make
it nearly impossible for you to say no to these
names. I'm already saying no in advance. All
right, well, here's the thing. I'll start with
the non -Jason. OK. What about the Micron machines,
right? Oh, I forgot. There's a lot of Microns.
There's a lot of chip action. Sure. Wait till
there's a shovel in the ground. OK. But now I'm
starting to think. Very good Syracuse, true blue.
We'll wait and see. We know it's gonna happen.
It's awesome, super awesome. That's actually
a very smart play. I think that's a very smart
play. I do love the salt potatoes, but here's
the thing. Love the salt potatoes, but they're
their own thing. They are their own thing. How
about this? What about the Taco Tuesdays? You
love saying Taco Tuesdays. I love alliteration.
Now, you did go to Fredonia. Yes. What about
the Syracuse Fredonia Blue Devils? I think Fredonia
would have a problem with that. Okay, fine. Uh,
what about the... Oh, here we go, here we go.
The, uh, what is it? Oh, the Syracuse Watertown
Indians. Because you worked for the Watertown
Indians? Indians has had its time in the sun,
and, uh, that's also... Right, right, right,
right. We got to be careful of that. The Syracuse
92 Battleship Rugby Team. Oh, Battleship would
be good for our naval history here in Syracuse.
The Battleships? Yes. or the Syracuse Cobras,
because that is the Bishop Grimes. It's up for
grabs. That's where you went to high school,
Bishop Grimes. And then last is my favorite,
the S'moreals. Instead of the Baltimore Orioles,
the Syracuse S'moreals. S'moreals versus the
Orioles? Who doesn't love that? Kind of like
your favorite campfire treat. That's right. Those
are fantastic ideas. Yeah, I don't know about
that. But I will say, OK. But I will say this.
I am intrigued to find out. I was doing research
on you. I do want to talk about this 92 Battleship
rugby team. What the hell is that all about?
Oh, the rugby team. So in Fredonia, my mother
sent me a rugby shirt from TJ Maxx. My roommate,
Johnny Murdaka. Johnny crime, because crime doesn't
pay. He had little alligator arms. Never made
the bill. Johnny Crime, he played on the rugby
team. He played in high school. We had a men's
team in Fredonia, the Black Horse Rugby Club.
Are we talking about Black Horse or Battleship?
I think Battleship. You won the 1992 championship.
I started playing in Fredonia, so I started playing.
I played for a long time. I ended up in Mobile,
Alabama. One of the best things about rugby is
that wherever you go, you have an immediate band
of brothers. You just go to the local rugby club,
and you just show up. I played on the Syracuse
Chargers. I played on the Barracks Rangers or
whatever they called them when I was in Watertown.
And when I went to Mobile to go to the United
States Sports Academy for my degree in sports
management, I looked them up and found the Battleship
Rugby Club and just showed up. And it was a wonderful
time because you have an immediate band of brothers
and you go to practice, you stay in shape, you
play rugby. It's a great game. And they were
a really good rugby team. and we won the 1992
national championship. The only reason that anybody
knows this is because Clint Cure was our assistant
general manager. He was a really good rugby player.
He would go and travel to Ireland and England
and go in tournaments. And he just looked like
he was a good rugby, better rugby player than
me. You look like a rugby player. So I put that
in there just so Clint knew that, oh, by the
way, Clint, oh, because you always talk about
his rugby. I don't really talk about it that
much. And I was like. Well, let's just rub it
in Clint's face. Just out of spite. Yeah. You
know, because Dan Mason's a horrible person.
Me, I'm a wonderful person. Out of spite, I played
on the 1992 national championship team. Division
two, men's division two, back in the day. And
it was great. And I still am in touch with those
guys to today. It's a brotherhood. And do you
still follow rugby at all? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh,
yeah. Brad Bassett will send out that we could
watch the. the world championships on Peacock
at three o 'clock in the morning or whatever
it is. I was fascinated. I mean, the Olympics
was great, but the women's rugby. I love women's
rugby. I love women's basketball. I just think
it's a more pure game. I love watching. I was
hooked on women's basketball before Caitlin Clark,
but she's got me all locked in. Now you're locked
in. Now I know. Multiple players on multiple
teams. I love it. I thought hockey players were
the toughest athletes on the planet until I watched
a rugby match. Yeah. Dude, that is... It's football
without pads. Yeah. It's just wild. Yeah. And
how does one know they're good at rugby? You
know what I mean? Like, you grew up playing baseball
with your friends. You're like, oh, man, I got
a good arm. How do you know, yeah, I might be
good at rugby? It's not like a regular... As
long as you're a good athlete, you're good. And
then you just have to be just not the brightest
bulb in the block. Sign me up. So you're gonna
put yourself in harm's way. But the counterpoint
to that is you don't have helmets or helmets
and shoulder pads and it's gonna hurt you just
as much as it's gonna hurt the other guy or girl.
So you properly tackle and I don't know, you
get kicked a lot and you get bloody and it just
happens and you just get used to it. And then
you'll know after a couple of practices and a
couple of games if you're in it or not. That's
not for me. Or I'm all in, which I was all in
right from the get -go. I think my daughter would
have been a fantastic rugby player. I was always
encouraging her to do that because she was fit
fast and ball hungry and all of her other sports.
But the multiple concussions she got just playing
soccer, I don't think that's going to help her
playing rugby. Yeah, she would have been good
though. She's speedy. I was not, however, speedy.
I played in the pack. I was deceptively fast.
Deceptively fast. I thought I was fast. Do you
think rugby players are, like, the toughest athletes
on the planet? They've got to be. They're pretty
tough. I mess with pretty tough guys out there.
I think all these guys are tough, though. Football
players are pretty tough. Hockey players are
pretty tough. Hockey players and rugby players
seem to be much more simpatico. just kind of
just beer -drinking dudes. They are tough as
nails. I had a band years ago, and we played
at this place called General Clinton's Pub in
Oneonta. Okay. And we were getting ready to load
in, and the owner says, uh, guys, yeah, we got
a rugby team here from the college. They just
won something. You know, they kind of took over
the bar, so you're gonna have to wait about an
hour till you load in. We walked in, and I swear
to God to you, there had to be... three, four
inches of beer on the ground that made, like,
a puddle. And some guy was doing naked stomach
slides. This was late 90s, early 2000s. And it
was the... I mean, music was playing, and they're
cheering. The greatest parties in the world are
post -game rugby parties. That's where I was
going. I had never, and I've been to a lot of
parties, my friend. I had never seen a party
like this. The songs, the singing. All of it.
Yeah, they were all clinking glasses and they
knew the words in there. It's a little bit like
a German beer hall. Yes. Yes. And my question
was, does that translate across all of rugby
or was that maybe an Oneana thing? All of rugby.
All of rugby from the world class New Zealand
All Blacks. down to the Oneonta Rugby Club. Whatever
they are. Yeah. O -R -C. The old... Yorks. After
the game, after the practice, you go to the bar.
After the game, you play a game, you shake everybody's
hand. Sure. And you go and hang out and you party
with them. That's amazing. And you sing songs
and it's awesome. The hell's better than that?
There's nothing better than that. Actually, there
is. The first place Eudacuce Mets. That's a little
bit better. Eudacuce Rugby likes to come out
to historic MBT Bank stadiums, so they must have...
I'd be a band of teams, either consolidated.
I go over there, I say hello to them. I kind
of let them do their own thing. They try to recruit
some new players. I'm assuming the Syracuse Chargers
are still going. They have a nice little rugby
pitch over there on the west side of town. Yeah,
OK. I love it. Yeah. One time, my funny one,
we were playing with the Chargers. There was
this guy. And I can't remember his name. And
I met somebody that I shared the story with him
recently. And he remembered who the guy was.
And his name was Mike. And we were playing a
game. And there's a tackle, and he starts screaming,
and screaming, and screaming, and he's down there.
He's like, oh my gosh, my gosh, my gosh, my eye,
my eye. And he comes up, and he has no eyeball
in his socket. And then he picks it up, and he's
got an eyeball there, and we're all just standing
over the top of Roy. And then he just put it
in his mouth, and then popped it back in his
eye. I guess he had a fake eye. He would do that
every once in a while. Oh, that guy was great.
That guy was great. That was a long time ago,
but that was great. I had a friend who had one
eye, and the first time I ever met him, I was
sitting at a bar, and we were having a conversation,
and I looked the other way, and when I looked
back, there was an eyeball in my beard. Oh, I
think that was a big thing at this guy's game.
I think that was a big part. At the party, at
the party. And we were best friends ever since.
He was probably, like, the vice president of
some company. Of course. Of course he was. I
thought you meant he really ate his eyeball.
I really did. Everybody thought he did it. He
whacked it. It came out. There was blood coming
down to his face. That's great. That's a huge
intimidation. And then he just knows. He's like,
oh, this is the perfect time to do the old eye
trick. I haven't done this in three years. I
love that. Well, Jason Smoral of the first place
Syracuse Mets. First place Syracuse Mets. Tell
us what's coming up other than the naming contest.
What do you got? Anything you want to plug coming
up? Well, first the contest. You know, go to
SyracuseMets .com and we have it pinned right
to our website. You click on that. It'll take
you to a site. You can register your name. Your
suggestion gives you a little place to add your
suggestions. We're really not really talking
about the names that are... that are being submitted,
because we're going to, at the end of the month,
which I believe is the 31st, that ends, and then
we will release 10 names, and then people will
vote on those 10 names. And then we will release,
whittle that down to five names, and then people
will vote on those five names. So you still have
time to put in your suggestions with good ideas,
super awesome, still some time to do that. And
we only have two home stands left. So we play,
so we only have 12 home games left. We have,
we're on the road right now, Rochester. Oh, hi,
Dan Mason. Yeah, hello, Dan Mason. So we're on
the road, and they're just promoting the fact
that the Syracuse Mets are there and all the
prospects. So because there's Mets fans. Mets
fans are nuts. Yeah. And so there'll be a lot
of a sea of orange and blue in historic innovative
field in Rochester. Yeah. So then we come back
next week. So August 19th through the 24th with
a Taco Tuesday with a We Care Wednesday. and
a Wildcat and a Wine Slushy Wednesday. We have
Dollar Thursday as the Congero State Syracuse,
our third Latino night. Very nice. Fizzy Friday
with Fireworks. That one is our eras night, our
Taylor Swift promotion. Oh my gosh. Where we
have Taylor Swift friendship bracelet jersey
giveaways, card set giveaways courtesy of our
friends from Hyundai Cicero with the team photo
on there. fireworks set to DJ Swifty playing
Taylor Swift music for the fireworks. And then
Super Saturday nesting doll giveaway. Oh, it's
little because it's a salt potato power move
weekend. OK, so we'll be playing as the salt
potatoes. And then we have little we have the
Golden Fork and then Mr. Salt Potato, Mrs. Salt
Potato, Little Tater Tot. And then it just goes
down to the nesting dolls. So cool. Thank you
to our friends from Coca -Cola. Kids eat free
family Sunday. which is a bark in the park, your
last chance to bring your dogs. Well, it's $5
for the dogs. All that money goes back to local
rescue groups. And then we go have a two -week
road trip, but we're going to the dreaded Scranton
rail riders. Ooh, Yankee. Which are right there
neck and neck. We win like crazy. They're winning
like crazy. Right now, you guys both tied at
30 and 11. That is going to decide. That's it.
That's a huge game. That's it. Huge series. There's
six games. That's gonna decide who's going to
the playoffs or not. Wow. That's my guess. And
then we have the last... Home Stand, which is
like September 9th through the 14th. And then
we pack it all again. Taco Tuesday, another We
Care Wednesday, where we bring out 10 local nonprofits.
And hopefully people can go to our website. If
they feel like coming to a game on Wednesday,
I'd rather you buy a ticket from one of those
nonprofits, because $5 of each ticket sold goes
back to those nonprofits. $1 Thursday, which
is on 9 -11, so we'll do a remembrance day. It's
also college night. There's a discount for college
kids. We'll see how those two things match up
together. And then it's Irish night. Big night,
green beer, giveaway Irish jerseys. I think we
spelled, we don't know if we did it correctly,
but we spelled Syracuse and Gaelic on a green
jersey. And then Saturday is Italian night. So
we have bagpipes the other night, and dancing,
Irish dancing. Italian night with an Italian
musician coming in. Italian jerseys, which are
super hot. Fireworks set to Italian music. And
then we wrap it all up on the last day of the
season. For us, there's another road trip on
a Kids Eat Free Family Sunday Fan Appreciation
Day. There'll be special ticket deals and food
deals. We need to empty out the freezers. My
God. Last day is a good day to come. That whole
rant you just did sounded like the greatest vacation
resort of all time, but it's not. It's the Syracuse
Mets. It's just what we do. Nobody does what
we do. That's what I'm trying to say when we
opened and I said... You know, minor league baseball
is known for a lot of fun promotions, but you
take it to the next level, and I'm not exaggerating.
There might be a boozy brunch on that last day.
That might be the best boozy brunch to go to.
We got to clean out the freezers. You should
bring your friend over and do eye -eating Thursday.
He'll pop his eye out, throw it in his mouth.
Hopefully that guy still lives in Syracuse. He'll
come to a game. And hopefully he doesn't say
anything. Hopefully he just comes up to me and
just takes his eye out. And Dan Mason hate day.
We got to get that. Why that hasn't started,
that's your best idea. That's my best idea? That's
it. We hate Dan Mason Day. 100%. Or you do Dan
Mason bobbleheads, but make it real ugly. And
just destroy them. Just, yeah, just smash them.
Have them look nothing like him. Yeah, nothing.
Like, absolutely. Just like missing teeth. Yeah.
Make them like 300 pounds heavier, or whatever
you can do. I've never done that. He's a big
Notre Dame guy. We put him in like a... A USC
jersey. Yeah, or Michigan. Oh, yeah, that'd be
good. That would be real good. That's actually
got some legs. That's got some legs? That's got
some legs. You got some legs, too. Don't downplay
it. Listen, Jason Smoral of the first place Syracuse
Mets, you are one of my favorite people, man,
and thank you for coming. My pleasure. Good luck
with the naming contest. Good luck with all the
promotions. Thank you so much for the throwback
Chiefs jersey. You got one for Matt? Sorry, Danny.
Um, I really think... Danny will just make himself
one. He can do it all. He can do it all. We'll
get a better one. No offense. No, it's fine.
He deserves it. Jason Smoral, Syracuse Mets,
thank you so much for your time, and good luck
with everything, and go Mets. Thank you. Thank
you guys for spreading the good news in New York.
We love you. We love you. Mike Brindisi here
on another edition of Good News York. You heard
it here first. SyracuseMets .com for all of the
things we just talked about. And remember...
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