Full Transcript for Steve Overmyer: Reading the Room

he was so good that even at an advanced age that he was still able to make things work. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:36.879 And I gotta be honest with you, when they say his age was 63, yeah, I bet you he was a little bit older than that. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:38.719 Because he I've heard that too. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:46.879 You know, and when when they say he broke in at 42, he might have been more like 45, could have been more like 46. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.680 So you start to do the math on that and and what it takes to do this. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.439 I've been around sports my entire life. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:04.800 You know what it's like to pitch at the highest level, and I see the toll that it takes on every one of these athletes' bodies. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:07.039 And these guys are 20 years old. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.080 These guys are 25 years old, and they are pushing themselves to the absolute limit. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:31.280 You know, to see someone of an advanced age to be able to do that, it just reminds you that there's a lot of ways to value uh an athlete, and one of them is physical prowess, another one is experience, determination, will to win. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.000 There are some intangibles that you cannot put a measurable on. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:51.520 It doesn't matter how big your hand is, it doesn't matter uh sometimes whether or not you've got the uh uh the the proper hip rotation on your swing, it's all about what's in your heart, what you've got inside you. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:04:04.800 And that's really why your your story really kind of shone a light for me here, uh, because you you were you were saying that, you know, I'm not going to let a dream pass me by. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.120 I'm not gonna let this opportunity go. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:14.400 And whether I make it to the majors or not, man, what kind of ride are we about to go on? 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.160 And that's what I loved about that. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.720 I want to see what that journey looks like, man. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:19.120 Yeah. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:24.399 And that's that's ultimately that's that's the heart of the kind of stories that that that I love to tell. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:25.439 So that's cool. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.759 Just thank you for sharing that with us, man. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:29.360 Thank you for sharing it with the world. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:30.560 Yeah, you're very welcome. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:41.519 And and you hit it, hit the nail on the head that you know that that's one of my missions in life is to hopefully be able to, you know, influence and inspire people to do what they love. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.240 And that doesn't always mean it has to be monetized. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.680 You know, you you if it's if there's something you love and you want to do it as a hobby, make sure you're making time to do that. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:55.680

There's a reason, there's a reason why God put these desires in our hearts to to pursue certain things. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:59.360 And we have to listen to those desires and and and go for it. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:05.680 And you know, a lot of times it can end up with something that that can be monetized, but even if it can't be, do it anyway. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:07.199 Do it because you love it. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:08.800 You said it. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.079 Steve, tell us a little bit about your journey. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:18.560 And I mean, you said you you've been in the in the sports or on the sports scene, I mean, for forever. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:25.519 So how where was the moment or when was the moment when when you were like, this is what I'm meant to do for my career? 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.319 Kind of kind of walk us through your journey. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.040 Well, it started, okay. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.279 Wow, this is the first time I've talked about this. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:34.800 See, see, this is really odd. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:39.120 I I I'm so grateful for this because this is is I'm usually the one that's asking the questions. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:43.360 I love to pull the stories out of people. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:06:06.399 And um I really don't think about mine very often, but if I so uh if I have to go back and think about it, I was I was 15 years old, and um our high school had a radio station, WVSH, Honington North High School in Honington, Indiana, and um they were offering a radio class as an English credit. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:09.120 And I'm like, sounds like a win-win. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:14.319 I mean, I love English, but I get to do radio for an English credit. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.279 I'm in. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.720 I was an absolute wallflower. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.480 I didn't talk to anybody. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:27.839 I I I was the kid that could have been shoved into my locker, you know, if if there were bullies in my school. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:38.639 But when that mic turned on, it allowed me to shed all of those insecurities that I had as a 15-year-old boy. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.639 And I could just speak. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:45.519 I could speak without anyone looking at me, I could speak without anyone judging me. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.439 I could speak and they would all listen. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:56.800 And that did something to me personally that just infused me with a level of confidence that I'd never had before. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.480 And so I continued on with my radio career. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:11.279 I took the second semester of it as well, and uh and uh finished out four years with that degree in broadcasting in high school before I even went to college. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:21.519 And so by the time I got to college and all of these all of my peers were just learning the equipment for the first time, I'd been using it for four years. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:22.160 How cool. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:23.439 That's really cool. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:25.439 The comfort age. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:26.560 Yeah, exactly. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:35.519 And the comfort that you get from repeatedly doing an experience uh gives you the confidence to to just build on that. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:40.399 So anytime someone at that age would ask me, you know, how can I get into this? 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:41.360 How can I get better? 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:42.720 It's practice. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:45.519 It's it's the same as anything in life. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.600 It's nothing comes naturally. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.000 You you're you're not a natural singer. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.759 If you're a great voice, I I commend you because I know that you've put work into making that voice great. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:56.959 Yes, you know, 100%. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:16.240 And that's it's the same way, you know, with broadcasting, because broadcasting is about really kind of like uh finding a way to take something that is complicated and making it easily digestible to a thousand, a million people, and at the same time being able to say it in in your voice. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.399 So it's being able to do all of that. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.439 And and I'm I'm grateful that I was able to get that chance back at back in my high school. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:24.560 That's really cool. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:25.680 That's so cool. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.439 And I mean, much like much like a baseball player or anywhere else, right? 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:38.000 You started out, you said you're an Indiana boy originally, and you know, you started in local markets, worked your way up to the to the big show, right? 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.679 To the national national uh playing field. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:50.399 What did what did your early years in your in your professional journey teach you that still shapes how you approach telling a story today? 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.480 I'd say my first job, which was in Fort Myers, Florida. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.840 Let me tell you, first job in Fort Myers, Florida. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.159 I got there, I was 21 years old. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.440 It was I was way too young to get a job in this business. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:14.799 And um what it what it what had happened was there was I in in the sports business or in the TV business, you send out tapes, you send out resume tapes. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:19.919 And at the time, I am dating myself, but they were three-quarter inch resume tapes that I was sending out. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.039 This was 1993. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.759 Yeah, I'm sending out three-quarter inch resume tapes. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:38.639 I got one back in the mail from this news director at the ABC affiliate in Evansville,

Indiana, with a note that said, your tape, I he said, You need to find another career. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:39.840 You are horrible. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:47.600 Your tape is so bad, we are returning it to you because we don't want it to infect our other tape stock. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.600 Oh my god, how bad it is. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:54.080 And of course, you know, as it was, it was devastating. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:55.679 Right. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:03.440 But the following week, I got a call from a news director in Fort Myers, Florida, which is bigger than Evansville. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:04.080 Yep. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.600 And she said she wants to sign me on the spot. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:21.840 So I faxed over the contract, dating myself again, faxed over the contract, and I was in Fort Myers, and it reminded me that, you know, no matter how good you think you are, we're still in a subjective business. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.399 At least the TV world is a subjective business. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:24.799 Oh, yeah. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:32.799 And the only way to continue to uh to stay in this business is to constantly get better. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.840 You're either getting better or you're getting worse. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.679 So I would always pick a camera up. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:42.080 I wanted to go shoot, I wanted to learn the ins and outs of how to work every equipment. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.600 I became a T D. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:59.440 I when our TD had a hissy fit one night, I jumped off the set in the Fort Myers and ran into the control room, and I actually punched the final block of the show because the TD, the technical director, didn't do it. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:08.480 So you learn to do everything in this business, and then when the curveballs come, you're a lot more prepared for when those curveballs hit you. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:10.320 You're not devastated, you know. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:24.159 So you learn to be resilient, you learn to, you know, that not everything is put, you know, not everything's placed on a silver platter for you, that it's uh you you you need perspective in life a lot of times. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.879 And and this business definitely gives you that. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:27.200 Yeah. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:31.679 And you know, Steve, my grandmother, Samarano, always said, consider the source. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:45.759 And I tell this to my athletes all the time that, you know, sometimes you're gonna have a coach who tells you, you know, I'm not interested, you don't throw hard enough, or you're not tall enough, or you're, you know, whatever the case may be, kind of like the this response you got from Evansville. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.159 And, you know, I think you're familiar probably with the the Phil Rizzuto story. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:58.960 He tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and I think Casey Stangle was the manager, and uh told him, you know, why don't you go get yourself a shoe shine kit? 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.639 I think that's a better career for you. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:08.480 And and then Rizzuto ends up getting signed by the Yankees, wins a bunch of World Series, he's in the Hall of Fame, has a great, you know, career as a broadcaster. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:16.000 But had he been discouraged by Casey Stangle, you know, we may never know who Phil Rizzuto was. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:36.159 And I I think that's my advice to young people out there is just because somebody may be harsh with you, or somebody may give you even not harsh negative feedback, you know, learn from it what you think you can learn from it, or discard some of it if you think that the source that's giving you that information is really not, doesn't know their stuff. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:38.879 And stay confident of what you can do. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:50.000 It's uh that's pretty cool that you stuck with it like that because that that could really deter a young kid getting a message like that from, you know, that's crazy. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:13:15.759 Well, and it makes me it makes me think of um and Rob, I I've said I think when we when we talked to Tom Fagione a couple months ago, I mentioned this, but like when I was in college and and I'm I'm hellbent, I'm gonna I'm gonna go to Manhattan and I'm gonna either I I wanted to be a I wanted to be an anchor, a news anchor on TV, and then I wanted I changed and wanted to be a reporter, and then I kind of got into the college radio and whatever. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:18.960 So then I'm like, I'll do an internship in TV and in radio. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:39.440 Anyway, long story short, I am applying all over the place for an internship, and I got an email back from some guy at WABC Radio in Manhattan, and I I went home and I said to my dad, this guy sent me an email and said they don't really have a formalized internship program, but you know, blah, blah, blah. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.440 And I could come down and do an interview. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:47.360 And I told my dad the name, and my dad's like, Phil Boyce, he's the program director, blah, blah, blah. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.519 And I went down and I I did an interview. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:54.720 And I mean, to this day, I I see him occasionally at something that we're both at. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:10.080 And I I owe I owe my career to that man because he he gave some some kid, some comms major from East Strasbourg University of Pennsylvania, the opportunity to come an intern for the Sean Hannity show. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.799 And it led me down the path that I'm on now. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:28.960 And, you know, he has said to me multiple times, people like me, it's important to open the elevator at the bottom floor and let people like you in, because if not, it's just right, it's it we we let the cream just float at the top.

00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.080 We don't actually bring in new people and give people a shot. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.120 So that's um that's really cool. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:41.360 Yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of the uh you it that's that's the evolution of the business, right? 00:14:41.440 --> 00:15:00.960 And I'm grateful to be it at the I mean when I first got to New York, there was always this belief that New York, it is obviously the cream of the crop, but there was this belief that it that there were people that were just so arrogant and uh thought of themselves so highly. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:08.240 But what I've actually found when I've arrived here is they're certainly more in line with with my way of thinking. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:21.039 They're much more helpful and they're much more agreeable and feel like we're, even though we might be competitors working at other stations, we are still holding each other's mic flags when we're doing gangbang interviews. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:30.240 We are still working with each other, we're not giving each other information, but we're still, you know, uh good co-workers with, you know, compatriots in in the market. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:41.120 And I I think I understand the reason why is because once you get to that certain level, once you have achieved the highest, there's nothing to be insecure about anymore. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.799 There's nothing to to worry about from them anymore. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:52.639 You're you're in a much better place when you are the helping hand that reaches down that ladder and lifts somebody else up. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:16:00.000 You know, that's only going to make the it's only going to make everybody else better, including yourself, by the way. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:00.480 Yes. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.759 Because as I said before, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:20.000 So you you need to constantly be learning either new mediums, uh, new ways to for me to tell a story, to learn new ways to write, you know, constantly, you know, asking yourself, uh, am I doing the best that I can? 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:25.120 Because, you know, what's what's the fun of it if it's just you're not just collecting paychecks here? 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.480 You know, this is this is the this is the fun. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:31.600 The fun is being able to come out and tell stories. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:32.080 Yeah. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.080 At least it is from my standpoint. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:34.480 Sure. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:38.399 But I can understand the other side when you're constantly bombarded with news. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:46.320 There's no fun in constantly hearing all about the the negativity that you know is happening in the world. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:46.720 Yeah. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:47.279 Right. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:58.240 Yeah, and Steve, Steve and Jess, really, uh, you

know, in the baseball world, I'm always telling players it's not always what you do in front of your coaches, it's what you're doing when nobody's watching. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.960 You know, that you're are you going home and practicing this stuff? 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:02.879 Are you making it part of your life? 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:10.240 And I know myself, I'm constantly going through my pitching motion in front of a mirror or, you know, throwing a ball up in the air and working on pitch grips. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.599 Do you guys ever find yourselves where you're in front of a mirror? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:22.160 You know, or did you do this earlier in your career where you're talking and you're trying to find the right nomenclature for how you want to say it, or or what you look like? 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:31.039 Do do broadcasters do that kind of prep work on their own, or is it kind of like you just keep evolving, you know, during the job itself? 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.200 For B, I definitely did early on. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:45.440 I mean, that was it was pivotal to to see yourself and judge whether or not what it felt like matched with what it looked like. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:50.400 But I I I I don't I certainly don't do that anymore. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:18:09.759 Um only because you certainly you you get to a place where you when you overjudge the the what you're you know what you're saying, what you're uh what you're doing, um sometimes that can get into your head and it can make you swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:16.720 So sometimes it's better in this business to uh to not watch yourself, though. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:38.480 I will say what I'll do is I'll go back and I'll look at a story that I did from three months ago, or maybe three years ago, and I'll ask myself today how would I have done that story differently, or how could I have been better at that, or maybe I need to go and do more things like that again, you know? 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.279 Yeah, yeah. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:49.920 Do you feel like that the practicing almost makes you mechanical as opposed to a spontaneous, organic, you know, response to the to the people watching? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:58.880 Yes, and that's probably where that massively differs from sports, because sports, you want to train your body to do a repetitive exercise over and over again. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.559 I want my golf swing to be in the perfect triangle every single time. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.119 Get that you want to be machine-like. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:06.000 Exactly. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:24.640 In in our world, we want to be human, and the best way to be human is to be a great listener, to absorb, to find a way to try to understand the person that you're speaking with and treat their story with the you know, with the reverence that it deserves. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:34.240 Yeah, and and treat every story with the gravity it deserves because we have to look at our jobs as we are the conduits of information. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.640 We are the conduits of your story. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.319 Yeah, it's not my story. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:45.440 It's um you're you're allowing me to share your story, you're trusting me, and I don't want to betray that trust. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:45.920 Yeah. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:20:12.799 To kind of to kind of piggyback off of that, you know, if you're the conduit to the public, um, was there ever a time or are there any short stories you could share with us where there was a tough question for an athlete that you knew the public wanted to know an answer to, and you wanted to make sure you phrased it the right way, or maybe there was even a little bit of, you know, anxiety about asking the question because you knew it was a tough subject to ask the athlete. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:19.200 Um, you know, have you ever experienced anything like that where it's like, well, I have to ask him this or I have to ask her that? 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:20.480 Yeah. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:25.759 You know, I learned from a mistake, to be honest with you. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:26.079 Okay. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.799 Um, my first job, well, my second job, I should say, was in Phoenix, Arizona. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:37.200 And in 1999, I believe, I was at spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:38.559 I was a beat reporter with them. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:43.359 And I was there when Randy Johnson hit a bird as it flew across. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.279 Yeah, Rob, you know this story. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:47.119 You've probably seen it a million times. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:53.279 What you probably don't know is that that bird did not explode, it actually just flopped off to the side. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:04.799 But nonetheless, um Rod Barajas was the catcher, and everybody thought that Randy Johnson was going to laugh about this, but he was not in the mood. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:15.359 I go into the clubhouse afterwards, and I had already predetermined that this was the funniest things that I'd I'd seen, and I'd already had a joke ready to go. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:22.960 And uh, and I go to Rod Barajas and I said, Hey Rod, uh, can you tell me what it sounds like when doves cry? 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:31.440 And Randy was standing right next to him and just took his glove, threw it in his locker, and storms off. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:39.039 And I realized that I've got to do a better job of reading the room and hero happening. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:45.680 Jess, if you're not familiar with Randy Johnson, he's six foot ten, so it's a closing figure that uh fired his glove. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:53.839 Oh man, so I I know how I I know what it feels like to make mistakes, and I think that that just reminded me. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:59.759 I think that was the point when I

I I was it was reaffirmed that you know, we are all human, we need to. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.200 We need to ask questions in a little bit more of a delicate manner. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:08.160 But sometimes you ask a question and they will, they'll respond. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.559 They're already been out of shape. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:23.359 I mean, there are plenty of times, you know, I I I did the Jets post-game show for four years, and uh, I'm on the field or just outside the locker room with these guys, you know, 10 minutes after they lost a game. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:34.880 Yeah, you know, 10 minutes after a physical war was just taking place on the uh on the football field, and you gotta ask them questions about why you lost 41 to 10 to the Detroit Lions. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:41.440 That's it at that point, you um humility starts to be your leading driver. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:47.440 Especially when someone like Bart Scott is standing next to you. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:53.039 So you know, at that point, you're you know, you're you're you're you're setting in the you know in your ways. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:53.759 Yeah. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:56.960 Well, my dad always taught me it's not the what, it's the how. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:05.119 And and sounds like that's kind of what you're saying is that you know, you still have to ask the question, but how how are you gonna ask the question? 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:35.279 What's you know, and I and I do notice I see sports casters sometimes when they're interviewing, you know, the losing team at the end of the World Series or at the end of the Super Bowl, there's a certain like somber depth to their voice where coach after this, and you know, as opposed to, hey, it was a tough one tonight, you know, you gotta kind of know how you're how you're gonna say it to them because like like Steve said, they are human beings and and they they're looking for a little empathy at that point, more than you know, being made fun of, so to speak. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:36.319 Well, without a doubt. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:38.480 You can but you can that can go the other way too. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:46.079 You know, I remember when I first started doing uh Mets post-game shows on on S Y when I first got here to New York. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:54.160 Uh David Wright pulled me aside one day and he goes, Why are you treating every game like it's a funeral? 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.000 We lost a game. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:03.839 Yeah, we're gonna lose somewhere between 80, you know, we could lose between 60 and 80 of these games all year. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:05.839 The best teams are gonna lose that many. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.359 So don't treat it like it's a funeral, be a lot more matter-of fact. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.319 And I yeah, I I I appreciated that approach. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:22.799 So now when I went to speak with Bart Scott after a 41-10 loss to the Lions, I'm

going to say that defensive results were uncharacteristic. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:28.960 Now I didn't lay blame, I didn't accuse, I just said that the results were uncharacteristic. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:35.759 Uh sometimes you don't have to ask a question, you can lead to the point and allow them to respond to it. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:57.039 Now, if there was something inflammatory that was said, and it was said by, say, your coach, it's so much easier to walk into a conversation when you say uh when you ask the defensive backs, well, coach said that you guys were in cover two on that play, and the responsibility was of the free safety. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.799 Was that accurate? 00:24:58.960 --> 00:24:59.920 You know, something like that. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:06.000 Now you've you've taken the hard part of it and you've attributed it to someone that this person respects. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:21.039 So it's either never attacking the person, always uh uh questioning the outcome, or it's allowing that opinion to land on somebody else's. 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.440 So uh you're you're not the opinion maker throwing casting shade on someone. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.279 And there is a difference with that. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:37.759 I remember Doc Gooden saying one time, he said that he was able to kind of almost make peace to a degree with fans when they were harsh with him if you know he wasn't performing well. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:42.799 He said, you know, because the way I looked at it was they're not booing me, they're booing my performance. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:48.559 And you kind of, you know, you you in that way don't define yourself as the performer. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:49.920 That's not all of who you are. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.240 So it's it's not me they're coming after right now. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.079 They're they're mad at my performance, and you know what? 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:54.720 I am too. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.640 I'm not performing the way I want to. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:05.279 And I think, you know, that's kind of kind of what you're saying there is you're you're you're talking about what they're doing for a job, you're not, you're not attacking them as a person. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:14.400 And I think that's as an athlete, I love hearing that because I I do know the type of time we put into this and and how much it means to us. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:22.559 And you know, when when somebody just puts a label on somebody of the a choke artist, or you know, that's that's a that's an attack on the person. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.720 That's not just their performance. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:32.640 That's that's kind of saying, you know, that that's that's kind of who their uh personality is, that they can't perform under pressure. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:45.359 And and I'm sure we're seeing this now more than ever because we live in a world where opinions have to be bold and they have to go one side or the other, and you have to say something crazier than the next person. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:56.559 And now, you know, just recently, you know, uh we're hearing about how look, Francisco Lindore has not been playing at the level that we're accustomed to seeing Francisco Lindore playing at. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:07.119 Okay, now yesterday he made a play where he fell back on a ball instead of attacking a ground ball, and the guy got first, ended up leading to a home run. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:08.480 All things bad happened. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:22.400 But the but the fact that people are attacking Lindor and trying to create some sort of a drama of, you know, Lindor is angry that he's not the captain, Lindor is mad that you know that this team isn't together. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:27.359 You're you're literally just trying to imagine what's in this man's head. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:37.680 And I think that that's so it's so wrong-minded, especially when you consider there's another possible culprit, and that could be injury. 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:43.039 You know, a few days ago he got hit in the head with uh uh with a baseball sliding into uh to second, I believe. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.960 And so, or his head hit the head hit the ground, I should say. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.720 The the man could be suffering from a concussion. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.480 Could that could possibly be it? 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:57.920 I mean, who was it, Anthony Rizzo last year was three months without anybody knowing that he had a concussion? 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:01.440 So there's other things that could be a consideration. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:09.599 So I always say try not to give definitive opinions, to give percentage opinions. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:18.720 There is a 30% chance that he could be injured right now, and that could be attributing to the to the what's going wrong with him. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:19.680 So I don't know. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:25.680 I think words are important and the way that you present them mean something, you know? 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.359 Absolutely, absolutely. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:33.839 I feel like we've only scratched the surface here, especially when it comes to the stories behind the stories. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:44.880 In our next episode, we'll dive a little deeper, uh, you know, into those moments viewers don't see, and and really in into you more, Steve, and and what makes you tick. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:50.319 Until next time, keep looking forward because progress is always just ahead.