He Grills at First Base — Inside Banana Ball's Wildest Coach | Coach Bart, Texas Tailgaters

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Welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast.
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I'm your host, Luke Lorck with Tailgating Challenge.
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I love all things tailgating.
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And in today's episode, we have Coach Bart with the Texas Tailgators with us.
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We're going to talk tailgating.
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We're going to talk about his favorite beers, his food, and all the crazy things he does with Banana Ball to increase the fan experience.
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You got to stay tuned to hear some of this.
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We have a legitimate tailgator with us here this evening, Andrew Bartman, Coach Bart.
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How are you doing, sir?
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I'm fantastic, man.
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Thanks for having me, Luke.
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For sure, for sure.
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And for those that don't know, Coach Bart is actually with the Texas Tailgators, with Banana Ball, with, I mean, everything's blowing up right now with that whole sport of what you all are doing.
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So again, first off, thank you for being here this evening, hanging out with us.
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Because anytime I can talk to someone that uh really is in that tailgating world, it warms my heart.
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So I love that you're here with us this evening.
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And but the first thing, like I guess want to get it for those that don't know, if somebody doesn't know what the Texas tailgators are, tell them what that is right now.
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Love to do it.
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Love to do it.
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So everyone says, Oh, you're the bananas.
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No, we're not, but we kind of are, right?
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So banana ball.
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And I love, love, love that you referenced it as a sport because that's really what we want to make sure people understand.
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Banana ball is a new sport.
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It's a whole lot of baseball, but it has got our banana-ified twist on it.
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The sport is called banana ball.
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Right now we have six teams in 2026, so there's three games going on every single weekend in different parts of the country.
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We've got the Savannah Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters, the Texas Tailgators, the Loco Beach Coconuts, and the Indianapolis Clowns.
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Coconuts and Clowns are new teams this year.
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The Tailgators were the newest team last year.
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And so uh we've got a six-team league.
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We have standings in the Banana Ball Championship League, the BBCL.
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And uh, we've got our our in-season tournament starting in two weeks, and we've got our end of the year tournament that'll be going on around the first week in October.
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Excellent.
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Excellent.
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So before we're gonna talk some more about the Texas tailgators and what you do specifically, but I have to start with this question.
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Why do you love tailgating?
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People just love hanging out with people, and uh the boys, the boys are all out there.
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We talk about the boys all the time.
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Like the boys on our team, we call them boys, they're really grown men, but um, but we just like hanging out with the fans.
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And that's something that you don't get, major league baseball, minor league baseball.
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You get that banana ball.
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You get a whole lot of player and coach interaction if you're a fan.
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So if you're someone that wants to be really invested, have personal relationships with the people that wear the uniform, man, banana ball is a place for you.
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Now, before before you were a part of the Texas Tailgators, maybe before the Texas Tailgators were even a team, tell me about did you do some tailgating in your past life before you became a member of the Texas Tailgators?
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Yeah, like I played college baseball, and of course the college I went to had football, so yes, we tailgated.
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Not a not a big college, not anywhere you've ever heard of in Central Illinois in the middle of the cornfields.
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But yeah, we would tailgate and uh always loved, like I said, man, I love food.
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I love cold drinks and mugs, and I love being around people.
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So tailgate's a natural, a natural attraction for us.
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No doubt.
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No doubt.
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Okay, so I understand.
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Um, utility man, is that your title within the Texas Tailgators?
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That's my title within Banana Ball because I'm the I'm the hitting coach, assistant coach to the Tailgators, coach first base.
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I'm the umpire assigner for the whole league.
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So we cultivate new banana ball umpires.
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I schedule them in all different cities.
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And also uh what really drew me to it is the opportunity to help with our youth programming and banana balls.
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So we've got some youth camps that we're doing, satellite camps around the country and the cities that we're in.
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We had a banana ball youth tournament last year, and it's the anti, it's anti-travel ball.
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We didn't let teams sign up for this.
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You had to sign up as an individual, make new friends, try a different position, and just have a whole lot of fun.
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And parents said it was the best weekend they had all year, without a doubt.
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So, yeah, so man of many hats, you know.
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Um, what what do they say, you know, like uh I'm trying to think of the right term.
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Like somebody who knows how to do a few things but master of none, you know, that's me.
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Uh yeah.
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So again, because that's I was wondering, because I I've I've heard Coach Bart and everything, but that's all utility man.
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So it makes a little bit more sense now because of just basically all the stuff you have to do under that coaching umbrella.
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So you're the utility guy, so to speak.
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I'm gonna give you a phrase that our team says all the time.
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We're not gonna say have to, we're gonna say get to.
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Get to.
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We say get to all the time.
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You come in, we come in, we take BP, we do rehearsal.
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It's a hundred degrees in Scottsdale last week.
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All right, you guys gotta be outside to sign autographs in five minutes.
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You hear a player, a new player.
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Oh, we have to go out there that quick, and all you just hear 10 guys.
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Get to, get to, get to, because that's the mentality we want to have, man.
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We get to do this.
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And anytime that you complain about anything in banana ball, you're crazy uh because we get to do all this fun stuff and we get to bring so much joy to people.
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So we like to focus on the get to.
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It's a privilege and opportunity, right?
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Absolutely.
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A million people would kill to trade places with us.
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I know everywhere we go, I'm postgame signing, and I see all the dads, they gravitate towards me and they're like, man, you got my dream job.
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I said, Yeah, you see my getup out there.
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I don't know if you all have a still picture of me or whatever, but I'm I'm the dad at the tailgate, the floppy hat, the short shorts, the white shoes, and a six-pack beer belt.
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And I'm like, I get to just go out there and embarrass my kids, basically.
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And have a good time doing it, right?
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That's right.
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That's right.
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So tell us, like, because again, going back to people saying, like, man, you have a dream job.
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I wish I had that job.
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Like, tell us how you got there.
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Because again, it's it's not just like, well, we just picked this guy to be it.
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Tell us a little bit about your background.
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I know you did some stuff with USA baseball.
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Tell us that, how you built that up, and then how you get transitioned that into being with the Texas Tailgators.
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Man, long, long winding road.
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Coached college baseball for 12 years.
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I won't give you all the stops, but JUCO, D3, NAI, I was a head coach.
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I was an associate athletic director.
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Then I ended up at the American Baseball Coaches Association for two years, put on the biggest baseball coaches convention in the world.
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And then from there, I transitioned to USA baseball, where I was at most recently for six years, director of coaching development.
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I traveled the country.
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I put on free coaches clinics for youth coaches in all 50 states.
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We had all 50 states over a two-year period.
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You know, Hawaii was terrible.
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I scheduled at the weekend of our 15th wedding anniversary.
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But, anyways, um, it's it was it was a lot of fun, you know.
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But I was by myself a lot and I was away from my family a lot.
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And um, I've got a wife and two daughters, and without the wife I have, I wouldn't get to do half of the stuff I've been able to do, right?
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Like the support's unbelievable.
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So uh at USA the last few years, Tyler Gillam, who's the manager of the bananas, the head coach in the cowboy boots from eight, Oklahoma, um, he was a junior college coach at South Mountain in Arizona.
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He had spoken at a couple of my coaches' clinics.
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We were friends.
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He had said for a couple of years, like, man, you'd be a good fit in Banana Ball.
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I'm like, ah, I'm at USA baseball.
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You know, I'm not banana ball stuff.
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Well, then they had us come out and be um, we've we've also been a foster family.
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We've had like 35 foster placements in addition to our two daughters.
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And they had us come out when they launched Bananas Foster, uh, the nonprofit of the Savannah Bananas, they had us come be the foster family in Indianapolis.
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And so now my wife and daughters are behind the scenes and they see this really cool thing.
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And it's like, man, could you imagine?
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Could you imagine if you got to work here?
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I was like, well, they kind of want me to, you know?
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So and then uh the timing, everything, everything's kind of worked out.
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It'd been six great years at USA baseball, and it's my kids are getting a little bit older, and and they can go do some things and be a part of this too.
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And it's just, it's so much fun.
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It's so much fun.
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And you're around people every day that push their limits and really, really try to grow and try to evolve, and nothing is stagnant.
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It's it's a lot, a lot, a lot of challenging fun, I guess is the right way to put it.
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So, one of the questions I have is go thinking about like the interview process.
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Like, I I envision this like, all right, uh, show us how you grill, how you tailgate, can you drink beer, can you do something crazy?
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What does the interview process to become part of the team look like?
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Well, my interview process was a little bit different because it was more thinking about, hey, there's the tailgators, and then there are these, there's these other roles, right?
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And so I go, I met them down at Clemson a couple years ago uh when they played Clemson uh for the first time.
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I think it was the football stadium.
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And I I go in and uh Gillam says, Hey, you're gonna have breakfast with me and Adam Byron, assist coach of the bananas, and Jesse, Jesse Cole.
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All right, cool.
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Get there, we're waiting on Jesse to get there.
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Jesse just comes running in the hotel lobby, drenched in sweat, notebook in his hand.
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He's like, nice to meet you.
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Hey, I stop.
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I gotta write these ideas down because he went on his 10-mile run and he had his idea book and he's bang, bang, bang.
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He's like, hey guys, this is what the tournament's gonna look like in 2027 when we have a league.
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This is two, three years ago.
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I'm like, this guy's nuts, you know, but it's like real, the stuff he talks about on podcasts, what do you how like that's who he is.
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It's real.
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Um then after that, we sat down and he didn't care about my resume.
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He didn't care about it.
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He was like, what podcast do you listen to?
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How do you grow?
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How do you do this?
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And I'm I was on my heels.
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I'm fully interview mode, ready to tell him how great I am, right?
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I'm like, uh yeah, you know, here's here's this, here's that.
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And I don't even know if he thought I was a good fit, like moving forward.
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But uh Tyler and Adam pushed for me, and man, it's been it's been an awesome ride since.
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I was only supposed to coach for one year and then fully roll into these other roles, but I had so much fun last year, I was I was politicking.
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I said, Man, I want another year with the boys, you know, and now it's kind of evolved into this character as part of the show with the Tailgators.
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For sure.
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So, so tell the part of the part of the show for those, again, I feel like a lot of people that probably listen to this podcast are gonna be familiar with uh the Texas Tailgators and Savannah Bananas, Banana Ball, and everything.
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But tell us a little bit about like what is your part of the show?
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I know there's some grilling.
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There's a uh, was it a six-pack belt that you have on pretty religiously?
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Like, plus.
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Is that a standard thing?
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Does that vary game to game with what you might do?
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Tell us, tell us about that.
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So there's some standard and some variation.
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So where this came from, you look at our our third base coach, our manager, Joe Mikelik, is a Texas guy.
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He's from Denton.
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He actually is from Houston originally.
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Uh, been in minor league baseball for 40 years as a player, as a coach.
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We pried him away from the Rockies.
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This guy's 62, he's jacked, he's got the Fu Manchu, the cowboy hat, the belt buckle, the chaps.
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He got custom tailgators, chaps, his boots.
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He is Texas.
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So I said, if he's gonna be Texas, I'm at first base.
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Maybe I could be like hit the tailgate.
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Like, I want to be a dad at the tailgate.
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So I pitch it to our entertainment guy.
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He says, run it during a scrimmage, let's see how it looks.
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I go and I go to a seamstress and I get my my pants cut, like short, professionally hemmed, you know, short.
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Like if I was gonna be an embarrassing dad too, I got the all-white Nikes, I got the the white socks up to like the base of my calves, our floppy hat, I threw a six-pack beer belt on, and I come strutting out on the field.
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I think it was us the party animals, and the guys lost it, lost their minds.
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They're like, this is fantastic.
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Entertainment director Zach Frangello is walking out, he takes one look, he goes up and down, he's like, yes, yes, we're doing this, right?
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We're doing this.
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Cool, man.
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If you never hit a fungo, if you never hit ground balls with a beer belt on, it's kind of challenging, uh, especially if you have a little wider circumference like I do.
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Um, it's a little challenging.
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But um, so yeah, that's that's every game.
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A lot of interesting interactions after the game, once people see me.
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You know, actually the first one I'm going out to sign early, and it's oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
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But I'm out of first base and I'm dancing, right?
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And I'm I'm signing autographs and we're having a good time.
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And then uh when we're the headliner in Texas, this started in Frisco last year.
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We're in Frisco, Texas.
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And so in Banana Ball, you've got a home team, a visiting team, but you also have a headliner.
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So each weekend, the whole series, one team's the headliner.
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Most of the entertainment's geared towards them.
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Now, last week in Scottsdale, firefighters were the headliner.
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We were the home team game one, but we were the home team game two because we are a league with standings.
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We need to make sure it's an equal number.
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So in Texas, we weren't the headliner.
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And us being the headliner in Frisco last year at the end of the season was no team had been a headliner in their first year in existence, other than the bananas.
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Okay, but they had us do it in Texas.
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And it was back-to-back back weekends: Frisco, San Antonio, Round Rock.
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We're at rehearsal day the day before we do this, and we're freaking out because we have all this other stuff to do that we're not used to doing.
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We're the visiting team.
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Every game last year we would just roll in, hit our BP, take a nap, eat lunch, do rehearsals, go play.
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It's 100 degrees, we're out there seven hours.
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Jesse comes out early, he's pumping everybody up in the dugout.
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We're gonna do this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this.
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Barbara's gonna have a grill at first base cooking hot dogs and hamburgers.
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When you guys reach first base, he's gonna feed you a hot dog.
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And we went, huh?
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And he's like, I need you to champion that grill.
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You're gonna execute this tomorrow.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.639
I said, Okay, sounds good.
00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:27.840
Sounds good.
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.679
So I'm like, this guy's nuts.
00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.200
We gotta talk to the grounds crew.
00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.279
I said, Well, you're we're gonna pre-cook all these hot dogs.
00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:36.240
He's like, No, you're gonna have a lit grill at first base, you're cooking.
00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:37.519
Say less, buddy.
00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:39.039
I'm in, you know, like let's go.
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:44.559
That's he wants you to turn on a banana ball game and say, this is not a baseball game.
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:45.519
Yeah, right?
00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:50.240
If you got some guy dressed like me cooking at first base, this is not a baseball game.
00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:50.960
All right.
00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:52.320
So, so we did it.
00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:53.919
Everybody loved it, it was great.
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.519
Um, also, when we're the headliner, we have our pregame tailgate.
00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:02.720
So uh starting at two o'clock, typically on a seven o'clock game, we'll be out in a parking lot by the stadium.
00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:08.559
We don't advertise it because we don't want to get bombarded, but people that show up early, they want to hang out.
00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:17.440
We've got cornhole boards, we've got, we've got uh rope ball, we've got ramp, we've got all this different stuff, and I'm cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and drinks.
00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.080
It's all sponsored, all provided by HEB.
00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:22.080
If you know anything about Texas, HEB is the standard.
00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:23.440
I've lived there for a few years.
00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.480
It's the best grocery store in Texas, bar nine.
00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:27.039
It is.
00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.519
They sponsor, they elevated the tailgate this year, man.
00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:34.240
They've got big-time co-branded tents and tables and all the stuff, and they provide it all.
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:35.679
We just execute it with them.
00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.519
They've got their people there, our people there.
00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.559
We do the pregame tailgate, and then we do it in-game.
00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:42.080
And so that's evolved.
00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:51.519
It's so, it's so crazy, so mind-blowing that as of a couple weeks ago, myself and Jordan Hussein, our shortstop, are now official HEB ambassadors.
00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:59.759
Like I'm I'm an ambassador for this, this grocery chain that everybody loves in the state of Texas, um, just by right place, right time.
00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:00.480
You know what I mean?
00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.320
So they're a fantastic company.
00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:10.080
And um, man, they've they've agreed to, as part of that contract, they're sponsoring every city we go in in Texas that there's an HEB.
00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:16.399
When we get in the day before, I'm calling ahead to um a placement agency like Social Work Agency.
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.879
I'm getting the name of a rock star family that takes those foster placements at her last minute, the kids no one else wants.
00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:27.360
And we're showing up with this huge gift basket and a gift card to HEB and saying thank you for what you do.
00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:28.960
So we did it in Round Rock.
00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:30.720
We had this call on a Thursday.
00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.320
They said, Yeah, let's do Round Rock.
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.360
And I said, Well, that's tomorrow, this this year, right?
00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.200
I said, Well, that's we're leaving tomorrow.
00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:38.879
Listen, if you can find somebody, do it.
00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.679
Bang, I had a I had a$500 HEB gift card in my hand.
00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.279
We went, I took four players.
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.120
Uh, they played with the kids for two hours.
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.840
We showed up at the house, no cameras, no nothing, man.
00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.519
It was just, it was just a really, really cool thing.
00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:53.840
So side note on HEB, like they're they're the real deal, the absolute real deal.
00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:58.799
So we've got our we've got our tailgate, and then we go in-game, and I'm cooking, man.
00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:02.879
And like, as soon as I started doing that, you know, the party ammo players start drifting over.
00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:04.399
Hey, give me, hey, give me a hot dog.
00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:06.480
Hey, give me a hamburger, hey, give me this, give me that.
00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.279
You know, we had fun with it.
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.919
Sean Fleet would come over and steal stuff off the grill.
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:19.919
And then that evolved into I got I got pinged on uh social media this year by uh short-ribbed drum smokers out of Texas, really small custom smoker company.
00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:20.240
Right.
00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.440
These awesome people are like, can we make you a custom smoker for your time?
00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.679
I'm like, well, yeah.
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.240
I don't know if you saw, man, this thing's tricked out.
00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.080
It's got like like plasma cut Coach Bart 25.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:38.720
The dampers are like hot dogs, and my number in a state of Texas, and custom Texas tailgaters great inside of it.
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.000
It's unbelievable.
00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:42.000
And that's on our truck going city to city.
00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.279
We'll pull that out um every time that we're the headliner.
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:50.000
And I'll be cooking on that and also uh using that out at the uh the pregame tailgate.
00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.480
So we're a little worried about college station, man.
00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:58.080
102,000 people, football stadium where they probably are just gonna show up in tailgate, anyways.
00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.399
Um, I don't, I might not even go to the game.
00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.240
I may just be out there cooking hamburgers and hot dogs.
00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:03.039
Ain't nothing wrong with that.
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.160
So that was one of my questions, though.
00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:16.400
And it probably varies, but I was wondering like, how big are the pregame tailgates just that fans are kind of doing on their own?
00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:21.519
Like, because again, when I think about NFL and college football, like, is it is it to that level?
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:22.880
Like, I haven't been to a game yet.
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:29.519
I know I need to get to one of these games, but what does the tailgating scene look like outside of what you all are doing as a collective team?
00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:33.759
It's it's not really because it's such an experience the whole day is.
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:38.319
And we have so many what we call early activations in and around the ballpark.
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:46.000
So a big league stadium, seven o'clock game, the doors will open at 4:30 and people are on a race to buy merch.
00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:47.279
So we have all these merch tents.
00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:47.519
Okay.
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.400
There's merchandise for every team that you can't get in the online store that you can only get at the game, right?
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.319
And then we want to make sure people can get in.
00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:55.759
And we have early autograph signing.
00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:06.400
We have the march where like all the the home team or the the headlining team is going out and we're going in and around all the people outside, boom, boom, boom, high-fiving everybody until the doors open, right when the doors open.
00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:07.680
So there's so much going on.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:09.359
There's not as much tailgating.
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:16.240
Uh, we have people that just organically show up, but I think as word of mouth happens, it's gonna start becoming more and more.
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.640
We've seen this year people that were in Frisco and Round Rock San Antonio last year.
00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:29.200
We played in Frisco and Round Rock already this year, and uh, we saw a lot of those same faces, and they they were there early because they knew we were gonna have the tailgate going on at two, three o'clock.
00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.039
So it's been it's been a lot of fun.
00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:36.720
So we've got for us, I mean, what we'll have a few hundred people out there, which is not nothing.
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:43.599
It feels like a lot when all of a sudden you're hey, we'll get out early and start cooking, get it in the the warming trays, and then you're like, oh, those are gone.
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:48.319
We got another wave of people showing up, you know, and you're just scrambling, going, going, going.
00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.160
So it's fun though.
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:58.480
So what one of the questions I have in regards to your belt that holds some of those uh liquid beverage refreshments.
00:18:58.559 --> 00:18:58.720
Yeah.
00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:09.200
Do you have a specific because I'm assuming, I'm assuming here, you're probably not drinking them as much during the game, or am I off base with that?
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.680
Post game drinks only.
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.200
Okay, fair enough.
00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:18.880
We don't want to be, we don't want to be signing an eight-year-old's glove with with with beer on her breath.
00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:19.359
You know what I mean?
00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:22.400
Like that's not 100% understand and respect that.
00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:29.359
But boy, there's a bunch of times where there's a bunch of times where I'm cooking out there and it's hot and it's hot, and I'm like, oh boy, I could really use a cold something right now.
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:31.279
And they're like, have an H E B Diet Cola.
00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.079
All right, thanks.
00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.039
That'll work for now.
00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:33.680
You know?
00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:41.359
Do you in your belt, do you have a specific brand or go-to for post-game, we'll say?
00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.680
No, in the belt, in the belt.
00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:45.440
We say true to true to our brand, man.
00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:46.319
I've got banana beers.
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.319
We sell them at the uh ballpark in Savannah.
00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:48.960
Okay.
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.559
I I have had one of those when I was back in South Carolina visiting, I was able to find one.
00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.319
I was like, I got I have to try this.
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.079
So I I have tried that.
00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:01.440
So the next question is when are they making a Texas tailgator version of that beer for you?
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.359
You would think that'd be on the horizon.
00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.440
So I get asked, I'm trying to give a real number, not just a random.
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:13.440
At least a hundred times a game, where can I get banana beers?
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:15.440
When are you gonna have a tailgator's beer?
00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.640
At least a hundred times a game.
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:17.920
I have no answer for them.
00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.519
Um, I need to talk to our distributor here and see what the deal is.
00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:23.519
You see the banana beers a lot on the East Coast.
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:29.119
I think just distribution-wise, the ballpark's there, you have them, but like west of the Mississippi, we don't see them too often.
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.000
So yeah, we should.
00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:31.519
We should have a tailgator beer.
00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.400
I think it should be made by the Lone Star Shinerbach, right?
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:35.359
Wouldn't you think?
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.920
I mean, again, just having one.
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:45.839
To me, I'm like, I don't really care personally who makes it, but like, I would definitely have that in my tailgating cooler if uh if that was out there.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.039
No doubt, no doubt.
00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:54.960
I had I had an awesome, I got a generic beer belt off Amazon, and I had an awesome fan that was at a few games last year come this year.
00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.400
Hey, coach, I got something for you.
00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:57.200
It was in this bag.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.160
Oh, thanks so much.
00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.119
I'm in the middle of doing stuff.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:20:59.599
I've set it down.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.920
I open it up in the locker room later, and it's it's a beer belt, and we've got tailgators logos and coach Bart 25 on one of the can holsters.
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.400
And I was like, oh my, like she really put some thought into this.
00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.880
And banana ball fans give the best gifts.
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:11.519
I know that.
00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:12.480
They really, really do.
00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.519
They're they're super invested, and we appreciate it.
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:26.960
What would you say your favorite, we'll call out outside of the ones that you've done personally that you've seen, uh sideline activity to engage the fans has been in your travels?
00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:35.920
Well, it's always a hit when uh when players have their shirts off and are line dancing in front of the dugout.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:38.000
That usually goes over pretty well, you know.
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.160
Uh, but we do a good job of uh what we call again activations, in-game activations.
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:49.759
So the the roses for little girls in the stands in the second inning, um, the hey baby dance in the fourth, everybody does hey baby, the whole stadium.
00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:57.839
The the pregame warm up where you bring a a five or six year old out and and they're doing the warm up and the whole crowd's doing it, players, coaches, umpires.
00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.599
Um, but uh one of the good ones.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.759
I obviously like is salute the troops.
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:11.440
So we don't just salute the troops, we salute the troops, the firefighters, the police officers, the EMS workers, the nurses, the school teachers, the dispatchers, and our players go up in the stands, right?
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.640
And they see those people standing.
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:20.400
They go make sure they have a personal, heartfelt interaction with them, with as many as they can, because it's one thing to just stand back and say, hey, thanks for your service.
00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:23.759
Another thing to look them in their eye, shake their hand, and really, really thank them.
00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:27.680
So I think that's one of the better activations that we do in-game.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.839
No, I love I love to hear that.
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:36.799
Again, you've shared multiple things so far of just like doing things that are good for humanity, for people, and all that stuff.
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.000
And so I love that part about the brand that you all are doing too.
00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:52.640
Um, with that being said, I'm just gonna ask, you might be not be able to tell me, but are there any new surprises or anything fans should be excited for as this season gets further underway that maybe they haven't seen before?
00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:55.119
They keep, they honestly keep under wraps from us.
00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:59.359
They tell us like the week of because they know that we're gonna blab about it, we're gonna go on social media about it.
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.839
So, like, we'll get our our OTT, we'll get our our entertainment for the week.
00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:05.759
It's like, hey, here's what we're doing this week.
00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:21.680
And I'll just tell you, next week, even though we're not the headliner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at UNC's football stadium, um, I'm gonna be front and center in one of the run celebrations, and it's gonna be crazy, and I'm gonna embarrass the hell out of my daughters nearing it.
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:26.000
So I would tune in, not this Saturday night, but next Saturday night, seven o'clock Eastern.
00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:26.960
It'll be good.
00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:32.880
Now, with that being said, um, I know I've started to see more of these games on television.
00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:38.079
Can you tell it like, are more and more of them going to start to be on TV for people to watch?
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:41.599
Do we know what that looks like with broadcasting rights moving forward?
00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.880
Yeah, so two things.
00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:48.640
Number one, um, every banana ball game will always, always, always be for free on YouTube.
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.000
So you just have to go to the YouTube channel of the headlining team.
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:54.160
So, like last week, firefighters were the headliners.
00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.480
So the the broadcast is on the firefighters YouTube.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:57.200
Okay.
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.880
Also, we have a ton of networks beating down our door, wanting to do stuff with us.
00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:02.559
And obviously, there's that big Disney tie-in.
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:04.559
We just had Bananas Day at Disneyland.
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:12.079
So we got some games on ESPN, ESPN Two, ESPN Plus, which also in turn puts them on Disney Plus because of that relationship.
00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:17.359
They just announced our true TV schedule uh for all the banana ball games that'll be on true TV this year.
00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:29.279
We've also got stuff on the CW network, and there is gonna be a banana ball game on network television on ABC, I forget at what point this year, like a primetime ABC time slot, which is something new.
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:37.839
Um but yeah, no matter where it's at on broadcast, that's why the organization won't do just a straight up deal with ESPN.
00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:43.039
Jesse's put his foot down and said, no matter what happens, we're gonna keep this free for anybody that wants to watch it on YouTube.
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:48.079
So you could always watch and re-watch any banana ball games you've ever missed on YouTube.
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:49.359
Beautiful.
00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.799
I I did not know that, so I'm glad you shared that with us this evening as well, too.
00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.799
Well, well, and just so you know, like the company's name is not the Savannah Bananas.
00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.880
The company's name is Fans First Entertainment.
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.759
My paycheck comes from Fans First Entertainment.
00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:08.880
And that is a real um intentional name they gave to the company because everything that we do, we want to be fans first.
00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:23.599
And and again, from a from a little bit about what I know about Jesse and the and the mission with this, it's not only to have a lot of fun and interact with people and do good things, but it's to keep the fans first and is to keep, I mean, because ticket prices could be a lot more expensive.
00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.039
Is that what Zach Gardeza?
00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:26.720
Oh, yeah, without a doubt.
00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.400
We even took it a step further.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:33.920
So we get so many emails, and people just get duped by ticket scammers and ticket scalpers.
00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:38.240
There's been times where people have shown up, driven eight hours, shown up, and they're like, here's my tickets.
00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:39.839
They're like, these aren't real tickets.
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:42.799
Um, and we find a way to get them into a game most of the time.
00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.519
So we we now have our own secondary ticket marketplace.
00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:52.640
So if you have verified tickets, you can send them or sell them to someone else who has verified tickets or a verified account.
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:53.440
That's a fan.
00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:54.720
We're taking ticket masks.
00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.799
There's no fees, there's never fees on tickets.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:58.720
Minor league tickets are$35.
00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:06.319
Uh, major league tickets are, I want to say 40, no, 40, 30 or 40 upper, 60 lower.
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.079
Major league stadium football stadium, lower level, 60 bucks.
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:10.480
That's it.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:11.200
That's all in.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:13.519
No fees, no hidden fees, no nothing.
00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:17.039
Uh, and yes, it could be a lot higher, but that's not our business model.
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.920
And with that being said, I I know when I looked recently or heard from Mr.
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.920
Brett Loftus with your organization.
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:26.559
He told me that.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:28.240
Brett Loftus, yeah.
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.960
He told me that, like, he's I was like, hey, Brett, um, can I get some tickets?
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:34.319
He's like, yeah, in a couple years.
00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:38.319
Like, what does that look like now for like some of these fans that are looking to go?
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:46.799
Like, if somebody really wanted to go to a game, talk about that secondary market or or tickets of how people can actually get out there if they wanted to come to a game this year.
00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:52.079
The there are 4.2 million people on the ticket wait list this year.
00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:55.920
There's more people more people on the wait list than there are.
00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.000
We're gonna play in front of 3.4 million.
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.640
There's 4.2 million additional on the wait list.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:07.440
However, they need if you're real, if you really want to go to a banana ball game next year, you need to join the K Club.
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.839
It's kind of like Amazon Prime for banana ball.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:11.359
I think it's 50 or 60 bucks.
00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.519
You get a lot of benefits being in the K Club, and they don't, they don't accept everybody, right?
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:16.799
It's it's fairly selective.
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.839
They call it the class of whatever, class of 2027.
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:27.359
K Club members get to purchase, I think it's like up to six tickets to as many games as they want before they go on sale to the general public.
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:29.680
So we have a lot of K Club members.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:35.519
That's the easiest way to do it, and it's a way of us rewarding our most ardent fans, right?
00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:37.279
The ones who really, really support it.
00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.880
And that's the best way to do is to apply it to be in the K Club.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:42.960
And again, no, no guarantees you're gonna get in it.
00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:44.079
I mean, that's crazy.
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:45.279
It's absolutely crazy.
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.680
But make sure you, if you get tickets somewhere, man, make sure they're real.
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:50.880
Make sure they're real.
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:57.519
The easiest thing is that the the go dot bananas.fans first tickets, I think is the website.
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:07.119
Yeah, don't get faked out and don't take this message that if you show up with some fake tickets you made at home, that Coach Barts are gonna let you in every game because some people get in.
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.319
That's not the message.
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:09.200
Absolutely not.
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:09.839
Absolutely not.
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:18.160
I'm just saying there's been a few times where people have waved the magic wand and and helped out some folks when they could, when we had the capacity to do so.
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:19.599
That's good stuff.
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:20.400
All right.
00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:21.920
Um, tell me this.
00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:34.559
Do, I mean, just like, you know, I'm I'm from South Carolina, so just like the Game Cots and the Clemson Tigers are our tribals, do the Texas tailgators have an arch rival within Banana Ball right now?
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:35.759
Not really.
00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:36.720
I think we're too new.
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:41.440
It's um Bananas Party Animals, man, because they just played each other for a few years.
00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:42.400
You know what I mean?
00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:44.000
So last year was a big test.
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:46.400
The part animals headlining their own tour.
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:47.440
We were with them.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:54.480
And man, I tell you what, us the part animals, players, coaches, we could just go battle it out on the field and then hang out after the game.
00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:55.119
It was awesome.
00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.359
We had there's really, really good people around.
00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:02.960
Um, a lot less, say the right thing here, a lot less scrutiny than like a bananas game.
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:06.799
You know, bananas game is way more lights, way more media, way more this, way more that.
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.519
We got to just go play, have fun, learn how to play the game.
00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:10.880
And it was really, really good for us.
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:17.279
And then, you know, once a month you go pop in and play the bananas at Daiken Park in Houston and go, oh my gosh, where are we at?
00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.359
You know, or at PNC in Pittsburgh.
00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:24.720
And it's fun to play those big venues, but honestly, you ask players, they love the minor league parks.
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:33.359
Way more fan interaction, way more, way more wholesome, way more, not wholesome is not the right word, but uh way more, you get way more one-on-one stuff.
00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:33.920
It's cool.
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:42.160
You walk into Pittsburgh, PNC Park, and you're like, this is the most beautiful place I've ever been, but then you're only interacting with fans in like the first two rows by your dugout and nothing else.
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.920
And there's you can't do the post-game plaza party, which if you're at a minor league park, you get the post-game plaza party.
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:55.759
Um, both teams are out there, coaches, we're signing, a band's playing, like Tailgator's band, Jason Art, our guy who leads our band was just on stinking American Idol.
00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:59.039
You know, he went through, he got the golden ticket to Hollywood from Carrie Underwood.
00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:01.039
Um, he's out there playing a free concert for you.
00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:04.160
You know, it's awesome if you can go to one of those minor league parks.
00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:10.079
What would you say your favorite venue is you've been to so far if you had to pick one?
00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:12.000
That's tough.
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:19.440
We're in, gosh bless, we're in double A, triple A, or Major League parks every single I think the one for me was Cincinnati.
00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:25.200
Um you get you get a hometown game every year where they reserve a ticket block for you so your friends and family can see you.
00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:28.240
I'm from the Midwest and we chose Cincinnati.
00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:40.240
And like parents, aunt and uncle, and my wife, her sister, family's all there, and we're in the trucks as we do our entrance in like the left center gate, and the gates open.
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:41.920
We hadn't played a big league park yet.
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:46.559
The gates open, and there's 40,000 people going crazy.
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:55.119
And it was like every hair on your body standing up, and you're like, I'm getting ready to coach in the major league, sold out major league stadium in front of all the people that I care about.
00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:59.200
You know, that for me, that was that was pretty much the tops.
00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:00.720
No doubt, no doubt.
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:05.119
Now, Coach Bart, you told us a lot of the reasons why you love your job, right?
00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:06.240
It's easy to see.
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.839
Tell us the biggest challenge that maybe people wouldn't think about about having your job with the Texas tailgators.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:16.240
Oh, being away from f my family, being away from home.
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:21.440
We travel all these places, we do all this cool stuff, and like you just try to find nooks and crannies to FaceTime and be around.
00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:23.839
And we've got this week off for Easter.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:24.559
I am home.
00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:27.440
It's it's fantastic to be home for a few days and help my wife out.
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:31.680
We've got two daughters who are great, but obviously, you know, I want to be around them a lot more.
00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:40.640
So that and um the schedule, man, the the game schedule for the tailgators, we have way more stuff in our pregame than anybody else, and we're the headliner.
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:44.079
So we go from I want to say I'll take the 8 a.m.
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:47.759
bus to the field, we'll help set the locker room up with our ops people.
00:31:47.920 --> 00:32:04.400
Um, we'll be BP, rehearsal, lunch, get changed, go out, start the tailgate from two, I'll be there at 1.30 to about 3 30.
00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:10.960
Then we're doing early signing, then we're dropping the rope, we're doing the marks, then we're dropping the rope at 4 30 to let people in.
00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:14.720
Then we're doing VIB on the field, like banana ball backstage.
00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:15.039
Right.
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:26.160
Then we're you catch your breath for like 15 minutes, then you're on the field again, you're doing your intros, you're playing the game, then you're doing the post-game plaza party, then you're eating dinner, and then you're leaving the ballpark at midnight.
00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:32.240
And then on days that it's a one o'clock game, you turn around, you take a 715 bus to the ballpark, and that whole schedule's condensed.
00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:34.640
I'm out there cooking breakfast sausages at 9 a.m.
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:36.000
in in Round Rock, right?
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:47.119
Put them in, putting breakfast sausages in those H E B butter tortillas, which everybody loved, but I mean, still man, it's it's a grind, but it's only like for two or three days a week, you know, and then you get to recuperate and then go on to the next one.
00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:51.839
So I guess time, time is the only thing that uh I wish we had more of.
00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:55.279
I I think we can all agree on that on that statement right there.
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:55.599
Right.
00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:56.880
Now, let me add it.
00:32:57.039 --> 00:32:58.720
Real quick question about your daughters.
00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:04.559
Do they still get embarrassed by dad with what he's doing, or have they kind of now it's kind of like, whatever, dad, we see you.
00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:06.079
We're not embarrassed anymore.
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:08.480
1000% embarrassed.
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:09.839
So embarrassed.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:10.799
It's fantastic.
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:11.680
Like, who doesn't love that?
00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:13.200
If you're a dad, who doesn't love that?
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:15.680
Yeah, because I'm sure you you lean into it pretty hard.
00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:16.480
I I can tell.
00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:17.759
Oh, yeah, it's great.
00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:20.160
And if I'm if I'm somewhere where they're not, I'm signing autographs.
00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:24.160
There's there's girls that are like my girl's age with their parents, and I'm like, hey, is that your dad?
00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:26.799
Yeah, I go, is he ever like cringy or embarrassing?
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:27.839
They're like, oh yeah.
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:31.920
I go, what do you think my daughters say about me wearing this in front of thousands of people?
00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.000
They're like, oh yeah, I guess he's not so bad.
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:36.160
I said, Yeah, your dad's not so bad.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:37.200
Perspective.
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:38.079
Perspective.
00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:38.720
Right.
00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:39.519
Right.
00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:40.240
All right.
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:44.079
Let me ask you a few quick hitters here as we as we get wind down the show.
00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:45.680
What's your favorite?
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:58.319
I know, I know you said uh your Savannah Banana beer, but do you have any before before all of this, did you have a favorite tailgating beverage that you wanted in your cup when you were tailgating?
00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:05.279
Man, I I'm I'm true to my Midwest roots and and stick to the hashtag never graduate.
00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:08.000
I am not a beer snob.
00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:10.320
I am a natty light guy through and through.
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:10.880
Okay.
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:11.679
Fair enough.
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:12.159
Fair enough.
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:17.119
Might be disappointing for some folks to hear, but that's that's my that's my drink of choice.
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:18.000
All right.
00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:24.079
So being a grill master as well, what is your favorite thing to cook for other people?
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:29.679
I know you mentioned some of the stuff, but is there one in particular that even if you weren't being asked to do it, this would be your go-to?
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:32.880
It's a ribeye steak.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:35.599
It is brought brought to room temperature.
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:40.400
It's got olive oil on it, but we're not doing the whole pan and reverse ear stuff.
00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:47.199
We're throwing it on the grill with a little, a little salted butter on the grill, putting a little butter bed on there and keeping it super simple.
00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:49.679
Kinder's SPG, salt, pepper, garlic.
00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:51.920
No real steak seasoning, just salt, pepper, garlic on it.
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:52.719
Boom, boom.
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:53.360
That's it.
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:54.480
I'm cooking steaks.
00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:55.519
Beautiful.
00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:56.079
Beautiful.
00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:57.039
Okay, steaks.
00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:59.039
Um, how do you like them done?
00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:00.079
Medium.
00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:00.719
Medium.
00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:00.960
Okay.
00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:01.440
Medium.
00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:03.119
A little pink in there, just a little bit of pink.
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:05.199
I like it firm, but with a little bit of pink in there.
00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:06.239
Excellent.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:06.800
All right.
00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:09.360
Favorite tailgating game?
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:16.320
Well, popular now is you know, cornhole or bags, depends on where you're at in the country of what people call them.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:19.360
Like for me, when I was in college, yeah, we played washers.
00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:20.800
I don't know if you ever played washers.
00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:21.199
I have.
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:25.920
You know, there was octagon box, there's also a square box, and we had AstroTurf inside it.
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.599
Some the guys who weren't as good put sand in there to kill the washers so they didn't bounce out.
00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:30.559
Then the tube in the middle.
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:32.880
So yeah, we played washers like crazy.
00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:33.840
Cool.
00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:35.119
All right, tell me this.
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:39.360
Uh, knowing that you're, it sounds like to me, a lifelong baseball guy.
00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:49.920
If you could be at a tailgate with any current or former baseball player, who would you love the tailgate with as a uh baseball aficionado?
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.840
I think there's one obvious answer, and that's John Cruc.
00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:55.920
Okay, tell me, tell me why.
00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:02.320
Because John Cruz, have you ever heard John Cruz's stories about the copious amounts of food and beer he would consume when he was with the Phillies?
00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:04.320
Creating the post-game, all of it.
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:05.599
I mean, John Cruz's the guy.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:07.519
I would want to hang out with Cruckey out.
00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:13.920
Yeah, no, it sounds like he would probably love to come grill on the sideline and do that.
00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:17.360
We would love, we have guest appearances all the time.
00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:21.599
We'd love to put Cruz in a tailgator's jersey and he can cook right alongside me at first base.
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:22.880
Beautiful.
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:27.519
Um, give us give us one tailgating tip just for people like if they're doing a tailgate.
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:28.079
What's one thing?
00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:30.559
Because obviously it sounds like you've done a lot of cooking and stuff in your day.
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:33.840
So is there one tip you would give a tailgator on a game day?
00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:42.880
I would have a grill that you can use both charcoal and or propane, and I would have quick light charcoal and have propane with me.
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:48.960
Because we were out in Round Rock and the wind was howling like 35 miles an hour, and we're like, what the hell are we gonna do?
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:50.639
So we we ran and got a propane tank.
00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:56.800
And I know it's kind of not everybody likes to use propane at the tailgate, but we it was a necessity and it actually saved us that day.
00:36:56.880 --> 00:37:01.360
So I would be prepared because you don't want to have a cooler full of meat and no way to cook it if that wind's how.
00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:02.880
Excellent.
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:04.639
All right, last thing I got for you.
00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:13.440
I know some people are probably listening to this show just because they really love Texas tailgators and maybe they want to get involved, whether it's to become a player, something with the organization.
00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:18.960
Do you have any advice you would give people that strive to become involved with the sport that you love?
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:21.599
I would say really, yeah, that's a great question.
00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:23.039
I would say really just be yourself.
00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:25.599
So for me, I came from very buttoned up.
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:33.039
American Baseball Coaches Association, USA Baseball, very, very reserved, very highly successful, great place.
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:33.920
Love it to death.
00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:35.760
Still talked to a lot of people there.
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:42.880
Like it really isn't until this year that I really let myself fully embrace who I like want to be or the character.
00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:44.559
And I was still kind of fighting that last year.
00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:45.360
You know what I mean?
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:46.000
Believe it or not.
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.760
This year I'm doing more on social media because I'm like, who cares?
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:51.360
I'm just gonna let it rip, you know?
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:52.159
Um, it's fine.
00:37:52.400 --> 00:38:02.719
So on almost every position, player, coach, front office, marketing, whatever, the interview process, there's a link that you got to fill out in a form, and then you also have to submit a video.
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:06.960
And it's not about passing the eye test, it's about passing the energy test.
00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:11.599
And so, like, do you can you really buy into what we're trying to do as an yeah, there it is, just like that.
00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:16.159
Can you buy into what we're doing as an organization, or are you just gonna sit and read from your script?
00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:16.880
You know what I mean?
00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:18.559
Like that, that doesn't work, that doesn't fly.
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:23.119
So I'd rather have somebody, I'd rather have somebody screw up what they're saying and say, oh man, shoot.
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:27.119
Sorry, I got talking about this, and I was thinking about that, but like here, I'm gonna get, I'm gonna refresh.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:29.519
I'd rather have that than someone who's monotone.
00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:31.760
Cause like you can't, you can't be with us.
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:35.440
You've got to be able to be interacting with people, be fans first.
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:45.360
There's people say the craziest stuff to you, and you still got to smile and make them feel, make them feel, you know, like they had they had have that connection with you because that's what we do.
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:46.320
We bring joy to people.
00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:49.039
Everywhere we go, everyone's happy.
00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:54.320
I saw some friends that I hadn't seen like 20 years in Scottsdale, and they're like, this is so cool.
00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:59.519
I said, Yeah, like you, you don't you go to a sporting event and we always hear the same thing every time.
00:38:59.679 --> 00:39:05.199
It's we didn't have any police calls, no security calls, no, like everyone was just having a blast.
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.880
And like we get to bring that joy to people, and you can't be Mr.
00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:12.559
Grumpy Pants when everyone else is having a good time, you know?
00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:19.920
So I I feel like I I I wouldn't be doing my job well if I didn't ask you what's the craziest comment someone has said to you.
00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.760
Oh man, is this you said this thing can be edited right now?
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:24.480
I'm just kidding.
00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:26.400
I'm kidding.
00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:27.679
I've came, I don't know.
00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:30.960
There's been there's been there's been quite a there's been quite a few.
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:32.000
There's been quite a few.
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:33.599
I can't really pinpoint one.
00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:39.119
Um, but yeah, it's been some of the stuff that not just some of the stuff our guys get told, right?
00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:43.760
Oh boy, some of the direct messages they get from people, poof.
00:39:44.239 --> 00:39:46.719
It's it's a wild crazy world out there.
00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:58.480
Again, for a guy that's also heavily into social media for many years or putting myself out there, there's a lot of people that love what you do, but there's gonna be some people that say some things that make you feel some kind of way sometimes.
00:39:58.800 --> 00:39:59.760
Oh, yeah, no doubt.
00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:00.719
No doubt, no doubt.
00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:07.280
I was talking more about some of the messages our guys get from the uh female and male fans uh in their direct messages.
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:10.559
I did should I ask more questions?
00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:11.360
Should I just keep moving?
00:40:11.599 --> 00:40:12.960
No, we'll just we'll cut it.
00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:14.000
We'll cut it right there.
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:14.800
That'll be fine.
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:16.079
That's fine.
00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:17.360
Oh, good stuff.
00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:25.039
All right, uh, Coach Bart, was there anything else that I might have missed asking you that we need to tell people about Texas uh tailgators or anything else?
00:40:25.360 --> 00:40:28.079
Tailgators are second in the BBCL standings right now.
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:29.440
Um, feeling great.
00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:30.800
We play the bananas next week.
00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:33.280
Make sure you catch us on YouTube at all times.
00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:39.440
Um, check us out and and shoot me uh shoot me a message on social or or uh or shoot me an email.
00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:41.360
And if you got any questions, man, we're here for you.
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:47.599
We're here for the fans and we'd love to interact and and let us know how we can make your experience the best it can be.
00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:50.559
And if you're gonna be at a game at some point, holler at me.
00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:52.559
Uh make sure you come to the pregame tailgate.
00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:53.760
For sure.
00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:54.320
For sure.
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:57.360
And also, Coach Bart, tell people where they can find you on social.
00:40:57.920 --> 00:40:59.440
I don't even know if I remember all my handles.
00:40:59.519 --> 00:41:00.239
So all the things.
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:03.599
Facebook, I'm on Facebook, um, Andrew Bartman.
00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:05.280
I think it's andrew.bartman.3.
00:41:05.519 --> 00:41:07.920
Uh, Instagram is coach underscore Bartman.
00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:11.679
TikTok is maybe coach underscore Bartman or Coach Bart.
00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:12.079
You'll see.
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:13.679
It's got my picture in a tailgator uniform.
00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:16.320
Uh, I'm not like big time enough to have parody accounts of me yet.
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:17.760
Hopefully that never happens.
00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:18.559
Yeah.
00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:19.199
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:20.880
So TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.
00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:21.519
I've got a Twitter.
00:41:21.599 --> 00:41:25.760
That was more like the coaching world uses Twitter or X or whatever it is now.
00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:28.000
Uh, not as much in our space anymore.
00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:29.760
But uh, but yeah, I'm there on all of them.
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:37.039
So if you have any questions or want to connect, just connect with me there and happy to happy to answer any questions you might have.
00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:44.880
And and just to incentivize people to go follow you, is would there be any dancing that you do on, say, TikTok?
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:45.760
Maybe.
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:46.719
Maybe, maybe.
00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:48.000
Give them a follow people.
00:41:48.159 --> 00:41:52.400
There's been, there's been one I had my first like Instagram post that had like a quarter million views the other day.
00:41:52.480 --> 00:42:00.079
And it's like, it's not because of me, it's because I've got like six of our players in there doing some some crazy trending dance, and I'm just being the coach telling them to move.
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:02.960
One of our players, Jose Gonzalez, is like, hey, we should do this one.
00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:04.400
You be the coach, and da-da-da-da-da.
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:04.880
You post it.
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:05.360
I said, okay.
00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:07.519
And then it just went, went crazy.
00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:09.440
I was like, oh, is that is that what we do?
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:10.480
Is that how we do it?
00:42:10.639 --> 00:42:11.760
You know, let's do it again.
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:13.119
That's how we do it.
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:15.519
Oh, good stuff.
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:15.840
All right.
00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:20.159
Well, Coach Bart, thank you so much for hanging out with us here on the Tailgate Connect podcast.
00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:22.239
Your place for all things tailgating.
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:25.440
We do have that easy button tailgating across the country.
00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:28.000
So check us out, tailgateconnect.com.
00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:33.599
And of course, go follow Andrew on socials, tune in on YouTube to watch all these games.
00:42:33.760 --> 00:42:39.280
I know I need to make it out to one of these games to see exactly how things go on game day for the Texas Tailgators.
00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:40.719
I'm gonna put that on my bucket list.
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:44.559
I hope everybody else does too, even though it might take me a couple years to get on the list.
00:42:44.639 --> 00:42:46.239
But hey, gotta start somewhere, right?
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:47.039
Thanks for tuning in.
00:42:47.519 --> 00:42:48.639
Hey, you might know a guy.
00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:49.280
You might know a guy.
00:42:50.639 --> 00:42:51.119
Excellent.
00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:52.000
Thanks, Luke.
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:53.119
Appreciate it, man.
00:42:54.559 --> 00:42:54.880
Okay.
00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:57.760
We should be Tailgate connect.
00:42:57.920 --> 00:42:59.519
It's all here for you.
00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:03.360
Food drinking friends under sky so blue.