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Transcript

Gary & Maryam Eady | Building 4EO Center: Transforming Youth Through Sports & Life Skills | · Single Tree Nation Show

0:01
Welcome back to Singletree Nation, guys.
0:03
I'm your man, Charlie Eblen,
0:05
and as always,
0:05
we have our illustrious co-host, Mr.
0:07
Jerry Wells, with us today.
0:08
What is up, everybody?
0:09
What is up?
0:10
What is up, man?
0:11
You missed me the last few weeks.
0:13
I have, but it's all good.
0:16
All's well.
0:16
You were sick,
0:17
and I thank you for not getting anywhere.
0:19
I joke around.
0:20
Strep throat's been pretty common around
0:21
the schools and whatever right now,
0:22
that and flu.
0:24
I joke around.
0:25
I'm so susceptible to strep throat,
0:26
I'll get it through a phone call.
0:29
So I was a-okay.
0:30
I sent you a text, man.
0:31
Yeah, right.
0:32
I didn't need you here.
0:33
Appreciate it.
0:33
So, no, that's good.
0:36
I wasn't talking very much anyway,
0:37
so it was all right.
0:38
Man, I tell you,
0:40
I woke up and was just like,
0:43
I was done.
0:44
Like there was no pass and go.
0:46
I wasn't collecting two hundred dollars.
0:49
I went I got out of the bed
0:52
and stood up and was like, yep, nope,
0:55
I'm done.
0:56
It was straight.
0:57
It was the flu.
0:57
It was the flu.
0:58
You know how kids will miss a day
1:00
or two of school.
1:01
Everybody's missing a whole week.
1:03
No matter when you start.
1:04
Yeah, because two weeks ago.
1:06
I was down just like that.
1:08
Like, dude, this is crazy.
1:10
You know, I got that congestion.
1:12
It wasn't the,
1:13
I think I caught it early enough.
1:16
Because I went to the doctor that morning,
1:18
they gave me a shot of steroids in
1:20
each cheek, a breathing treatment.
1:24
Did they miss your teeth?
1:25
Does that hurt?
1:30
It's the other cheek.
1:30
Yeah, I doubt it.
1:31
What's he talking about?
1:31
I don't understand.
1:33
Who is this guy?
1:34
But yeah, it goes right on out.
1:36
I've been good ever since.
1:37
Well, good.
1:38
Glad to have you back.
1:38
Look, we got a really cool show today.
1:44
It has been about a year?
1:47
Almost.
1:47
A little over a year, I think.
1:49
Wasn't it last January that y'all were on
1:52
the show?
1:52
I think that's right.
1:53
I can't remember.
1:53
Wow.
1:54
But that's awesome.
1:54
Yeah.
1:55
It's been a while.
1:56
We've been busy.
1:56
Yeah.
1:57
Not to toot our own horn,
1:59
we just passed two years.
2:01
Congratulations.
2:04
We just passed two years.
2:05
I think this will be episode one,
2:08
twenty-two.
2:10
Ballpark.
2:10
Somewhere in the neighborhood.
2:12
Then we have another fourteen on the
2:16
books.
2:17
Also, first repeat guests.
2:20
First time we've ever had anybody back.
2:23
That's how much we like y'all.
2:25
We like you guys too.
2:27
And your barbecue.
2:28
Well, it's alright.
2:29
Oh, speaking of,
2:30
let me jump into that one really quickly.
2:31
So prior to coming, we had a meeting.
2:34
And before that meeting even kicked off,
2:36
a burger came up.
2:38
The best smoked burger in town.
2:41
Single Tree Barbecue.
2:42
Oh, look at that.
2:42
We were working with.
2:45
And I was like, yeah.
2:45
And man,
2:45
so excitement is in the air about that
2:48
burger.
2:48
And not to mention how the conversation
2:50
around it being six ninety nine for lunch.
2:51
Can't beat that.
2:53
I mean,
2:53
I didn't come over here to plug.
2:55
However, well,
2:56
I will plug my new hot dog.
3:00
what my new hot dog i will i
3:03
will plug all day long they call it
3:06
shameless but uh when you own the place
3:11
i lost my shame a long time ago
3:12
so um yeah i started making my own
3:16
hot dogs so instead of that sounds so
3:20
much healthier than what we get
3:22
um it is a hundred percent all beef
3:24
uh prime brisket um that i uh make
3:30
myself every time he said you say the
3:32
term all beef prime brisket better than
3:34
anybody else i know like it makes me
3:36
want to go yes every time um i
3:39
will tell you that uh anytime that you
3:43
hand make a one hundred percent all beef
3:48
sausage um you can't go wrong
3:51
What is the casing?
3:53
It is a hog casing.
3:57
I just personally don't like the lamb
3:59
casings.
3:59
I don't like the texture of them,
4:01
so we use a hog casing.
4:05
I will tell you, I've been working really,
4:08
really hard on this recipe for a long
4:11
time.
4:14
ended up meeting easy on the dagger out
4:16
there that was awesome
4:30
finally got it to where we're where I
4:33
wanted it and it is it's it's pretty
4:36
darn good so dairy and I talked about
4:38
it not too long ago about keeping things
4:42
simple and just doing those things better
4:46
than everybody else so I really dumbed
4:49
down the recipe and and just kept it
4:52
simple so it is a
4:54
One hundred percent classic beef sausage
4:57
that the grind is fine enough to be
5:02
almost like a cabasa.
5:04
So it goes amazing on our slaw dog.
5:11
I was going to ask you what you're
5:12
topping it with.
5:12
Yeah, coleslaw and barbecue sauce.
5:15
So do you disappear off somewhere when
5:17
you're trying these new recipes or are you
5:20
doing it in the back of the restaurant?
5:21
I do it at the restaurant, yeah.
5:23
Yeah.
5:23
And then, you know,
5:24
I'll bring some up here and let the
5:25
knuckleheads try them, you know.
5:26
They are.
5:29
Have yet to be this wanted.
5:30
You know,
5:33
I have a couple of real big foodie
5:37
people that come in the restaurant a lot.
5:40
And I have their phone number,
5:42
so I'll text them.
5:43
Hey, come try this out.
5:44
Tell me what you think.
5:46
And then they give me feedback.
5:47
And, you know, it's...
5:51
You never understand humility until you
5:55
give somebody something that you've put
5:57
your heart and soul into and say,
5:59
tell me everything wrong with it.
6:04
And they go, it's disgusting.
6:06
You need this, you need this,
6:08
you need this, and you need this.
6:10
Let's start a shorter list of what's right
6:11
about it.
6:12
Oh, okay.
6:13
It's gone.
6:14
That's what's right.
6:16
Not making that one anymore.
6:17
Let's try something else.
6:19
Maybe I need new taste testers.
6:20
right yeah it's uh so it's good so
6:23
by the time i get to the point
6:24
to where we literally put it on the
6:26
menu um it's it's been tried through many
6:31
many folks and and tested and seal of
6:35
approval see see what's going on and kind
6:36
of go from there but well feel free
6:38
to call us anytime you need to look
6:40
i will you know if you want to
6:43
try it i'll let you know
6:46
Look,
6:46
for those of you who don't know who
6:49
we are talking to at this point,
6:53
we and Miriam
6:57
For EO,
7:01
you have become very good friends of the
7:06
show.
7:08
We love y'all to death.
7:10
Feelings mutual.
7:11
I thank y'all for being such great
7:13
supporters of the restaurant and the show
7:15
and all the things.
7:16
But today is not about that.
7:18
Today is about what you guys are doing.
7:23
there is uh before we get into foreo
7:28
and the events you have coming up um
7:31
last year when y'all were on the show
7:34
your husband decided to leave out his
7:40
entire story oh
7:43
And then just happened to let me get
7:46
to know him a little bit better.
7:47
And start letting me get into it.
7:51
You don't give him everything all at once.
7:52
Come on now.
7:53
You got to give him a little bit
7:55
at a time.
7:56
The great part about this is he's got
7:57
no idea what I'm about to say.
7:58
Yeah, because I'm over here like...
8:01
What you trying to say?
8:04
What did I tell you?
8:05
What I would like to start with, Gary,
8:09
is...
8:10
You as a person and where you grew
8:13
up,
8:14
your family ties and who Gary Edie is,
8:20
because one of the things that I believe
8:23
in is storytelling.
8:26
And I believe that what you were trying
8:29
to accomplish with for you.
8:31
ties into who you are and how you
8:34
were raised in the whole deal so i'm
8:40
going to give you a few minutes if
8:41
you don't mind and kind of start us
8:44
off as gary as an adolescent eight nine
8:49
ten year old boy where'd you grow up
8:52
who are you what you doing and let's
8:54
let's get
8:55
you know the fast track because we only
8:58
got an hour you know between the two
9:00
of us we can we can bump our
9:02
gums pretty well so we've done you know
9:04
yes yes we're not even needed no i
9:09
can't eat this
9:11
And y'all chose poorly.
9:13
I thought I read in the contract that
9:15
I was the eye candy.
9:16
We can talk about that later.
9:20
I'm going to take a break.
9:23
Y'all have a joyous show.
9:24
Let's go get a hot dog.
9:26
A nice sausage.
9:29
So yeah, actually, Charlie,
9:32
I guess to start off,
9:33
I am lived experience.
9:35
When you think Foreo and what we're
9:37
looking to accomplish,
9:38
that's truly how it evolved.
9:40
It started with my lived experience.
9:42
So if we're looking at the age of
9:44
nine, we can start at age nine,
9:47
where my whole life turned around.
9:49
I lost my mother to an illness that
9:52
just hit her all of a sudden.
9:59
for those first nine years of my life.
10:01
So I didn't really know him that well.
10:02
Saw him a couple of times.
10:03
I didn't know him that well.
10:09
The morning that my life changed,
10:14
my mom got us up early for school,
10:16
like most kids do.
10:17
And, you know, I grew up in,
10:20
I was a project kid.
10:22
So all my friends were from right there
10:25
in those projects.
10:29
You can best believe if you surveyed any
10:31
of those people down there,
10:31
they'll tell you.
10:33
Every morning, knocking on doors,
10:35
trying to get someone to come out and
10:36
play with me.
10:36
It's like six, seven o'clock,
10:38
and I'm getting cussed out by every
10:39
parent.
10:39
Like, well, they're not up yet.
10:42
We didn't have cereal yet.
10:43
Y'all calmed down.
10:43
I'm the first kid out.
10:44
It was always their first one.
10:45
Here comes Gary.
10:46
Y'all close the blinds.
10:47
That's how it was, too.
10:49
Some doors I would knock on,
10:50
they wouldn't even open.
10:52
But but that particular morning I woke up
10:56
and I recall I'm coming down my hallway
10:58
mom and she's kind of like Staggering if
11:01
she was drunk and I couldn't understand,
11:04
you know,
11:04
I'm a nine-year-old kid So I get my
11:06
sister and I was like, hey,
11:07
I think something's wrong
11:09
my sister my mom standing in the hallway
11:14
all of a sudden she collapses and so
11:17
my sister tells me to go next door
11:19
to get the neighbor to tell the neighbor
11:20
what's going on so um neighbor comes over
11:23
to call the ambulance you know they rush
11:24
my mom to the hospital she and my
11:26
sister and i we go ahead and get
11:27
dressed
11:31
So we come home from school,
11:32
and mom's not there.
11:33
The neighbors, they're waiting for us.
11:35
And she was like, hey, your mom,
11:36
they had to arrest your mom in Alabama.
11:39
So you guys will stay over here with
11:40
us until we hear more about it.
11:45
Didn't think anything of it.
11:45
Still being a kid, you know,
11:46
so we go outside to play.
11:48
And probably about an hour and a half
11:48
later,
11:50
from the lady who was watching over us
11:52
to say, hey,
11:53
you guys need to come home.
11:54
We got something to talk to you about.
11:55
And so all the other kids that were
11:56
playing in the neighborhood with us,
11:57
they all was when the news was broken
12:00
that, hey, your mom just passed.
12:02
And so at that point,
12:03
didn't know what was going to happen with
12:05
me and my sister, you know,
12:06
still kind of up in the air,
12:08
whether we're going to go live with my
12:09
dad or what was going to go on.
12:10
So funeral arrangements,
12:12
get through all the services, whatnot.
12:14
We ended up moving to Lynchburg.
12:16
So I go from living in a housing
12:19
project where all my friends are to a
12:22
rural area.
12:24
In Lynchburg and my best friends are three
12:26
dogs and I have no kids to play
12:29
with.
12:29
I'm just a loner.
12:31
And so this was a couple of months
12:33
go by.
12:34
I'm just, you know,
12:34
we got enrolled in the school.
12:37
I go to school,
12:37
I come home and one day I'm out
12:39
with these dogs just running in.
12:42
There's no neighborhoods.
12:42
We're out in the country and.
12:45
Down the road,
12:45
there was a house that the dogs had
12:48
ran down.
12:48
The guy had a farm down there.
12:49
So the dogs ran down there.
12:51
So I followed the dogs down to the
12:52
house.
12:52
And when I walked up the driveway,
12:55
I saw a basketball sitting in the yard.
12:58
And there was a basketball goal sitting on
13:00
the telephone pole.
13:02
And so I walk over,
13:03
I pick that basketball up,
13:04
and I just start shooting that ball.
13:06
And so I'm shooting the basketball.
13:08
And all of a sudden,
13:09
here comes this guy out of his house.
13:11
He's like, hey.
13:13
you from around here?
13:15
And I was like, well, yes, sir.
13:16
I said, I live right up the street.
13:17
He was like, well, who's your,
13:19
who's your parents?
13:19
And I was like, well, my dad.
13:20
And I told him who my dad was.
13:22
And he was like, oh yeah,
13:23
I know your dad.
13:23
My dad, you're your dad.
13:25
Now we work together.
13:26
And, uh,
13:27
so you like playing basketball and it's
13:29
first time I'd ever really played
13:30
basketball.
13:31
So of course, you know,
13:31
a kid is going to say, yeah,
13:32
of course.
13:33
So I was out there shooting.
13:34
He's like, well, look,
13:35
you're more than welcome to come down here
13:36
and shoot basketball anytime you want to.
13:38
I was like, oh, great.
13:39
So
13:40
three days in a row I get off
13:43
that school bus I go down to this
13:44
guy's house and balls out there I'm
13:46
shooting basketball fourth day I go down
13:50
I'm looking around that yard and there's
13:51
no basketball and so you know I'm like
13:54
where's this ball at and I'm looking all
13:56
around I don't see it and so I'm
13:59
distraught at this point I turn around I
14:00
start walking back down the driveway and
14:02
all of a sudden here comes this guy
14:03
out of the house he's like hey where
14:04
are you going
14:06
I went home, he said,
14:07
you're looking for that basketball,
14:08
aren't you?
14:09
I was like, yeah.
14:09
He said, hey, come here for a second.
14:11
So he takes me in to his house
14:14
and I recall I'm walking into the laundry
14:17
room and there's of course the washer,
14:20
the dryer,
14:20
and then there was a basket sitting right
14:22
there when you first walk in and there
14:24
that basketball was in that basket.
14:27
But not only was that basketball in there,
14:28
there was a Frisbee, there was a football,
14:30
there was every toy that I don't have
14:33
was in that basket.
14:34
And I was, you know, he's like, look,
14:36
he said,
14:37
I brought that basketball in because if
14:38
you look outside, look,
14:39
it's about to rain.
14:40
I didn't want it to rain on the
14:41
ball, so I brought it in.
14:43
When you ever come down here and that
14:45
ball is not out there,
14:46
this is where it'll be.
14:47
And my door will always be unlocked.
14:50
Now this is the eighties and I'm a
14:53
black kid in a rural area.
14:56
And I don't know this man,
14:57
he doesn't know me,
14:58
but this guy is telling me, Hey,
14:59
you're more than welcome to come in.
15:01
So every day I'd go back and that
15:04
door would be open.
15:04
I'd go in there.
15:05
But now what I knew is don't go
15:07
past the laundry room.
15:09
You know,
15:10
not that he told me not to,
15:11
you know, I just,
15:12
but this is where permission was granted.
15:14
So I knew then.
15:16
All right.
15:16
So I'd get that ball.
15:17
So,
15:18
This goes on for a couple of months.
15:19
I'm going out there shooting basketball.
15:21
Finally, this guy, he's come out.
15:22
He'd hang out with me sometime.
15:23
He'd talk to me.
15:25
He was married.
15:25
He didn't have kids at the time yet.
15:29
He has a farm and on this farm,
15:32
he's got pigs, he's got cows,
15:33
he's got all these animals and stuff.
15:35
And you know, he's got a garden, tobacco.
15:37
And one day I was out there talking
15:40
to him.
15:40
He was like, hey,
15:41
hop on the back of this tractor with
15:42
me.
15:42
I want you to ride up into the
15:44
hills with me.
15:45
And I was like, oh, cool.
15:46
I'm excited about this.
15:47
So I get on the back of this
15:47
tractor,
15:48
we ride up into the hills and we
15:50
get up there and all of a sudden
15:52
I see this cow.
15:55
with these legs sticking out of the back.
15:58
This is the part we're not supposed to
15:59
talk about.
15:59
And I'm like, I'm looking like, wow.
16:03
And so this guy, he immediately was like,
16:04
hey, get back on this tractor, man.
16:05
Come on, he'll take you back down.
16:06
I was like, why?
16:08
What's wrong?
16:09
He said, no, just come on.
16:10
I couldn't understand why he was wanting
16:13
to take me back until I got a
16:15
little older.
16:15
And it dawned, like...
16:17
I'm not this guy's kid.
16:20
He did not want me to see this
16:22
because he didn't know if my dad would...
16:25
And so it was out of respect more
16:26
than anything.
16:27
And so after the fact,
16:29
he told me what happened and how he
16:30
had to pull the calf out because the
16:32
legs were coming out first.
16:33
And so he walked me through all of
16:34
that.
16:35
Next thing you know,
16:36
I'm learning how to haul hay.
16:38
I'm driving the tractor.
16:39
I'm raking, I'm baling.
16:41
I've learned how to stack hay.
16:43
I'm out there cutting tobacco.
16:45
I'm topping the tobacco.
16:46
putting it on a stalk,
16:47
I'm hanging it in the barn.
16:49
I learned how to garden.
16:51
He's showing me how to plant these seeds.
16:53
And I'm a project kid with no
16:58
understanding of any of this.
16:59
And what this had taught me was this
17:01
man had given me a skillset that where
17:03
I came from,
17:05
None of those kids back there knew how
17:06
to do any of this stuff.
17:07
And so it was just like,
17:08
all of a sudden,
17:09
like this was him teaching me survival in
17:14
a rural area, you know,
17:16
from a kid who comes from the city,
17:17
you know?
17:19
And so me and this guy,
17:20
he truly became my best friend.
17:23
So we were there for a few years
17:24
before we ended up moving away.
17:26
But, and after moving away, you know,
17:29
I didn't see this guy anymore for a
17:30
long time.
17:31
And then I got to middle school and
17:33
started
17:34
trying to play basketball i got cut my
17:37
sixth grade year and seventh grade year i
17:40
tried back out they ended up keeping me
17:42
because i guess they got rid of a
17:43
couple other players so i really never got
17:47
to play much my seventh grade year except
17:49
when you know we're up fifteen twenty
17:51
points they throw me in or whatnot and
17:53
i recall one day being in the game
17:55
and i'm getting ready to take the ball
17:56
out and i'm trying to throw it to
17:57
this guy the next thing i throw it
17:58
it hits the back of the bank board
18:00
and bounces back out of the wall coach
18:01
pulls me out you know i was just
18:03
like ah
18:04
So freshman year,
18:07
I remember the high school coach,
18:10
he ends up keeping me on the team,
18:12
and we were in warmups,
18:14
and there was a guy I saw my
18:16
coach talking to.
18:17
And I'm looking at a guy,
18:19
but didn't think anything of it.
18:20
And so after my coach got through talking
18:22
to this guy, he comes over to me,
18:23
he said, hey,
18:24
you know who that guy is?
18:25
And I was like, no, I don't know.
18:28
He said,
18:29
that guy said he taught you how to
18:30
play basketball.
18:35
And when I looked at him, I said,
18:36
is that Stanley Fanning?
18:37
He was like, that's exactly, I said,
18:39
that's the guy that was my best friend
18:41
when I was a little kid,
18:42
when I first moved here.
18:43
And I hadn't seen this guy in years.
18:44
So, you know, from that point, you know,
18:47
I ended up becoming a pretty good
18:48
basketball player.
18:49
And, you know,
18:52
I ended up making the Tennessee Georgia
18:53
All-Star team.
18:54
I was running up Mr. Basketball.
18:56
One of my teammates on that team happened
18:58
to be Penny Hardaway.
18:59
And so basically this guy is the guy
19:01
that says,
19:03
he taught me how to play basketball.
19:04
Ended up getting a scholarship,
19:05
going off to college.
19:07
So that story that Charlie,
19:09
he was wanting me to tell you that
19:10
story, but as I think back on it,
19:14
And that guy,
19:15
he was very instrumental and not just
19:18
saying he taught me how to play
19:19
basketball.
19:19
This guy taught me a whole lot about
19:21
basketball.
19:22
Yeah, absolutely.
19:23
And so when I tell this story,
19:24
when I talk about this Foreo and why
19:26
we do what we're doing,
19:29
it's because of my lived experience that
19:31
I'm not the only kid that has grown
19:33
up in a world where I felt so
19:36
alone and didn't really have what I
19:38
needed.
19:40
So she and I decided, hey,
19:42
there's little kids out here.
19:43
Let us pour into those guys.
19:44
And I'm trying to, so that's my story.
19:48
And that's how Foreo, from my perspective.
19:52
Sure.
19:52
I'm going to tell you,
19:53
Gary called me one day and was like,
19:55
hey man, let's go have some coffee.
19:56
I'm like, all right, let's do it.
19:59
And we get to chatting and just,
20:00
you know,
20:02
dudes being dudes and having an hour into
20:07
the conversation.
20:08
And then he breaks out with that.
20:11
and i'm like this shouldn't matter i need
20:14
to know where y'all had coffee
20:16
all-american cafe that's fine that's i
20:19
kind of needed to be there something like
20:21
that here's why
20:24
You barbecue restaurant guy,
20:26
clean cut business guy, sports background,
20:30
sports background,
20:31
but doesn't look at nowadays because it
20:32
was golf.
20:33
Let's be fair.
20:33
Not an offense,
20:34
but then y'all meet up for coffee.
20:36
Like, that's just like, you know,
20:37
there's a whole lot of angles pouring in
20:39
there.
20:40
Yeah.
20:40
I mean,
20:40
if y'all had met up at like the
20:42
brass horn or something,
20:43
what are you talking about?
20:44
Yeah.
20:47
You need to go somewhere a little rough
20:49
on that.
20:50
I need it to be Wolf House,
20:51
All American Cafe.
20:54
I will say this, Gary.
20:55
I spent time at Brass Horn.
20:57
You'll see me in there.
20:58
He sees you in there.
20:59
That's my point.
21:00
You should be there, Gary.
21:02
I don't need you and Troy there together.
21:12
and that's interesting that you did ask
21:14
him to tell that story because i
21:17
That is somewhat the business model,
21:21
right?
21:21
That's not how we're not necessarily the
21:23
dollars of the business model,
21:25
but how we're going to reach these kids.
21:28
Like we've tried to have seminars about
21:31
financial literacy and we offered
21:35
scholarships, you know,
21:36
like five hundred dollars.
21:37
All you've got to do is show up
21:39
for four classes where we feed you and
21:41
take care of everything.
21:43
and kids don't sign up right it's because
21:45
you have to catch them in a place
21:47
where they are comfortable where they
21:51
enjoy being there and they're there
21:53
regularly and then you say i think you
21:55
can simplify that even more you just said
21:57
it you have to catch kids in a
21:59
place that they are yes
22:02
Not where we want them to be.
22:03
Yes, exactly.
22:06
And every time we get together,
22:07
we talk about our youth sports today.
22:13
And it drives me insane how we,
22:18
it's almost like we have forgotten how to
22:20
coach.
22:21
Yeah.
22:22
We've forgotten how to mentor.
22:23
It's not how.
22:24
We've forgotten the goal of coaching.
22:27
Yeah.
22:29
Yeah, I'm not that too heavy on that,
22:32
but not every kid is going to go
22:36
out and be a professional athlete.
22:39
Every kid that walks on that dirt or
22:41
on that court or on that field has
22:43
the potential to be impacted by that sport
22:45
in some way.
22:46
I knew in eighth grade I was never
22:48
going to play collegiate football.
22:50
Too short, too slow, too everything else.
22:54
But I contributed to my high school
22:56
football team.
22:57
I still, to this day,
22:59
have a good relationship with those
23:01
football coaches.
23:02
One of them just retired from PCA,
23:04
and I'm sitting there texting him like,
23:05
hey, I see him at church, you know,
23:07
whatever.
23:08
And you reach out to these guys.
23:10
And that has nothing to do about
23:11
professional athlete.
23:12
That was because they met me where I
23:14
was.
23:15
And in a moment when I needed to
23:18
hit the fitness mark for my senior year
23:20
football,
23:21
our head coach is out there hitting us
23:22
with a garden hose.
23:24
Go,
23:24
you got three seconds to make your
23:26
deadline and like just that little urgency
23:29
to get you where you need to be.
23:30
And all of a sudden you realize you,
23:32
you met the fitness part of what they
23:33
want us to do.
23:35
And what's he doing?
23:36
She's out there spraying with garden hose.
23:37
which sounds awful,
23:39
except on a July day is exactly what
23:42
I needed.
23:43
Like, just, you know, and so, uh,
23:46
if we remember that as coaches and let
23:49
coaches coach, I'm not making an athlete.
23:51
I'm not making a professional.
23:53
Well,
23:54
you hit the nail on the head too.
23:55
When Trent said it a minute ago,
23:59
parents don't let coaches coach.
24:04
We think we know better than the coach.
24:07
Well, and you know,
24:08
and I told you this,
24:10
in my years of coaching,
24:13
I recruit a parent before I recruited a
24:16
kid.
24:17
And for that reason,
24:18
if I cannot reach that parent...
24:20
There is no way I would have ever
24:21
reached that.
24:22
Absolutely.
24:22
Yeah.
24:23
Now to go back to allowing coaches to
24:26
coach,
24:27
it's challenging for coaches to coach
24:29
nowadays because it's not like it was with
24:32
us where your coach is going to probably
24:34
have tenure for twenty years.
24:36
You got three years.
24:38
to show a winning season and if not
24:40
then we're gonna get somebody else in here
24:43
and so these guys that's how they look
24:44
at it is i i got my livelihood
24:48
here right i need to win that's fair
24:49
you know and so with that is where
24:53
she and i see that where you know
24:58
how i talk about the homeless youth and
25:00
how you got some of those kids that
25:02
deserve this opportunity
25:05
And they don't get it because some coaches
25:08
won't spend that time because that's too
25:10
much of a challenge.
25:12
But the next Michael Jordan is sitting in
25:14
one of these hotel rooms here because they
25:17
didn't get an opportunity.
25:18
She and I is what Foreo wants to
25:21
do is create that space for and create
25:23
that opportunity.
25:24
Yeah.
25:24
Let's let's let's stop for just a second,
25:27
take a quick break and we come back.
25:29
I want to dive into what for you
25:32
actually is, because we know, right?
25:36
A lot of our listeners had heard you
25:39
on the last show,
25:40
but there's a lot of people that haven't
25:41
heard it.
25:42
So we'll take a quick break and we'll
25:43
be right back.
25:44
Absolutely.
25:46
Yeah, that's a whole nother story.
25:51
Welcome back to Singletree Nation guys.
25:55
Oh my Lord.
25:56
Uh,
25:57
we can talk about that if you want
25:59
to, before we get into Foreo, um,
26:02
because it's a hot topic in my house.
26:06
Um,
26:06
what do we think about NBA and
26:09
professional athletes coming back to play
26:11
a college level?
26:12
So, you know,
26:13
we have a son in college playing ball.
26:16
I do.
26:17
And he is phenomenal.
26:19
It's silly.
26:20
That's what it is.
26:20
Yes.
26:21
Life is tough enough.
26:22
That we're entertaining because somebody
26:25
didn't get their fix at a college level
26:29
or to whatever, didn't get developed,
26:31
didn't get X, Y, Z.
26:33
You've had your shot.
26:35
Let's let the next crop come in.
26:37
So let's take it a step further.
26:39
Let me tell you exactly why these guys
26:40
are doing that.
26:41
So they got an opportunity to go
26:45
professional.
26:46
But when you got there,
26:47
the pool's still full.
26:48
So I didn't make NBA,
26:50
so now I'm D-League.
26:51
And still having to play.
26:54
So it's not like I just need to
26:56
come back to college to develop.
26:58
These guys are coming back to college for
27:00
the payment.
27:02
They're getting more money in college than
27:05
they are in the pros right now.
27:08
Not to mention,
27:09
these universities are going to make a lot
27:11
more money.
27:11
When you've got better players,
27:12
they're going to make you look better.
27:13
Your ticket sales are going to get there
27:15
now.
27:15
So it's all business.
27:17
It is business.
27:18
I do think Alabama set that precedent when
27:21
they allowed a kid to play and enter
27:23
the game.
27:23
It's one thing to be on the roster.
27:25
And I think as that plays out from
27:26
a legal standpoint, we'll see.
27:28
But the logic side of me needs some
27:31
accountability there.
27:33
Because if the pool is full...
27:35
You know what?
27:36
If you're that good,
27:37
there's always a spot in the pool, right?
27:40
Absolutely.
27:41
The judge already decided he can't play.
27:43
And I'm sorry.
27:44
Oh, he did?
27:45
But my point, though,
27:46
is if you're that good,
27:48
there's always a spot in the pool.
27:49
You won't get in.
27:50
If you're that good.
27:51
And so let the next group of kids
27:54
come up.
27:55
and let them have their shot and have
27:57
that and find out who is that good
27:59
but that's also part of the problem in
28:00
today's world that everybody is so
28:03
entitled to believe that they are the next
28:05
x y and z that they deserve another
28:08
shot they deserve a shot to begin with
28:11
and you don't deserve anything nothing you
28:15
earn everything and especially a sports
28:18
field if you if you can shoot better
28:21
than me
28:22
if you can hit the ball better than
28:23
me if you can throw harder than me
28:25
then you get the shot yeah and if
28:29
you if i'm upset about that then i
28:33
got one person to blame right myself
28:35
terrell owens played college football at
28:38
university of chattanooga if you're
28:41
talented they'll find you like steph curry
28:44
prime example
28:45
exactly smaller yeah smaller school if if
28:49
you can play they will find you i
28:50
mean that's just that's we we rarely hear
28:53
a story of the great one that got
28:54
away you know i mean because they they'll
28:56
find a spot and so tom brady was
28:58
you know i think we were right absolutely
29:02
we were all fighting for kids finished the
29:04
whole sentence
29:05
but if you could play they'll find you
29:07
right seven super bowls later right you
29:10
know what i'm saying like you know right
29:11
if you could play they'll find you so
29:13
oh yeah yeah a hundred percent it's uh
29:15
it's not a it's not a question of
29:18
if it's i tell my son all the
29:20
time my middle son charlie and and he
29:24
he hadn't hit a home run yet
29:28
He has in,
29:29
in some travel games and stuff like that,
29:32
but not, not at,
29:33
not in school and not,
29:35
not on a big field.
29:37
Now that we're on three hundred foot
29:38
fields, it's a little bit,
29:40
a little bit more challenging,
29:41
but long story short,
29:44
he's dying to get one and he's bounced.
29:46
He bounced three or four off the fence
29:48
last year.
29:48
Like he's, he's right there.
29:50
Right.
29:51
And, uh, and I told him,
29:54
I keep telling him, son,
29:55
it ain't about hitting the home runs.
29:57
Because I can promise you right now,
29:59
if every time you go up to bat,
30:01
you get on base.
30:03
Absolutely.
30:03
You're good.
30:05
You're going to play at a D-I school.
30:07
Yes, you are.
30:08
You will play professionally.
30:09
Yes, you will.
30:10
Every time you go up to bat,
30:11
you get on base.
30:13
Curry Puckett was what, four-ten?
30:15
If you can do half the time,
30:16
you'll go.
30:17
Yeah.
30:17
So one of the things I tell the
30:19
kids when they're being recruited,
30:21
and a coach asks you what position you
30:24
play.
30:25
You're gonna get a lot from a lot
30:26
of kids saying, well,
30:28
he probably wants me to say I play
30:29
every position.
30:30
So yeah, I can do it all.
30:32
Well, that's not the answer.
30:34
Just like hitting the home run every time
30:36
you get up the bat,
30:37
that's not the answer.
30:38
What a coach wants to know is,
30:40
What position do you play best?
30:43
Where's your skill set?
30:44
So I'm a point guard.
30:45
Okay.
30:46
Well,
30:46
that's what I need because I don't need
30:48
a player to play every position because I
30:49
got four other players in those positions.
30:51
I need to know what position you play
30:53
best.
30:54
And so when you get them to scale
30:56
that down, oh, okay, well,
30:59
I'm the RBI king on the team.
31:01
I'm going to get on base and I'm
31:03
going to bat someone in every time.
31:05
Guess what?
31:05
You're going to get recruited.
31:06
You're going to get heavily recruited.
31:08
it's uh it's it's you have to put
31:11
in the work no matter where you're at
31:16
it doesn't matter whether you will go play
31:17
at motlow or you go play at ut
31:19
or you get drafted straight out of high
31:21
school all of those kids put in the
31:24
work but everybody is at a different point
31:27
in their in their life cycle of sports
31:29
Isn't it kind of funny that we've come
31:31
full circle to where we had rules to
31:33
where you had to go to college for
31:35
two years before you could enter
31:36
professionally.
31:37
And now you can go to professional and
31:38
come back to college.
31:40
There's such a weird dynamic there that
31:44
goes back and forth.
31:46
you know i think we all thought college
31:48
athletes as much as they're giving to
31:50
these schools should get paid right i
31:52
think we all looked at it as scholarship
31:55
isn't enough when maybe it was right yeah
31:59
but now we've got this nil in here
32:03
and it's really not even about the kids
32:05
anymore it's about how many bodies not
32:09
kids because it's not eighteen nineteen
32:11
twenty twenty one twenty two
32:14
how many bodies can we pay to come
32:16
and make us look good so that we
32:18
can make more money?
32:20
The education part is gone.
32:22
The caring about your kids is gone.
32:25
I saw an interview from a, an SC,
32:28
I'll just say SCC.
32:29
We'll leave the school out.
32:31
But an SCC football player did an
32:34
interview and said he hadn't been to one
32:37
class or done one paper all year long.
32:43
and he's probably getting ready to
32:44
transfer again.
32:45
And when he transfers- He actually just
32:48
got approval for a sixth year.
32:54
So he's coming back to school.
32:57
But the problem is- That's the new thing.
32:59
They go and find years that you have.
33:01
That's what we have learned in this whole
33:04
college life.
33:05
So-and-so found another year.
33:07
Oh, he's got a grad year.
33:09
You know, I'm about to turn fifty,
33:10
so I wish I could find me another
33:11
year.
33:13
Give me back to forty-nine.
33:17
Keep me here.
33:20
But also, you think, you know, with that,
33:23
it makes it challenging for a coach with
33:25
NIL because you can go out and get
33:27
that great player.
33:29
But guess what?
33:30
As soon as you get him,
33:31
someone else is coming to get him also.
33:33
Absolutely.
33:34
And so what you're having to do is
33:36
now you're at a place where
33:39
i gotta hide my roster i can't really
33:42
you know before season starts because you
33:45
know god forbid i'm in a practice and
33:47
someone's in the stands watching and they
33:49
see one of my players and next thing
33:51
you know my players getting a phone call
33:52
that night saying hey saw you today give
33:56
you three hundred thousand to come over
33:57
here
33:58
Well, remember,
33:59
name and likeness was originally they were
34:02
concerned that companies were making
34:05
profit off kids like who was on the
34:08
cover of NCAA or whatever.
34:10
That was where it was centered around.
34:12
You're using this kid to make a dollar.
34:15
And what we turned it into was I
34:17
can buy my whole roster.
34:19
Not what kid should have made money.
34:23
So should the scholarship have been
34:24
enough?
34:25
Probably.
34:26
Was there one or two kids that probably
34:28
made that university a little bit of
34:29
money?
34:29
Probably.
34:30
But it wasn't anything like what they're
34:32
shelling out now.
34:33
And there's a balance there that got
34:35
completely... Now,
34:36
the pendulum will swing back.
34:37
Yeah.
34:38
and the the problem is is usually when
34:40
it swings back it goes too far the
34:41
other way again and there's a sweet spot
34:43
in there somewhere i'm okay i'm okay with
34:44
the kids making money i am too i
34:46
am too like i i don't you want
34:47
to make money fine like that doesn't
34:49
bother me but really three hundred
34:51
thousand but what i what i would say
34:54
is i i personally think whatever the
34:56
miriam's low balling them over here even
34:57
that is like well whatever the the
35:03
professional minimum league minimum is
35:07
Basketball, football, baseball, whatever.
35:08
I don't care what sport it is.
35:09
Whatever the league minimum of that sport
35:11
is,
35:12
that to me is the cap for what
35:16
you can get paid.
35:17
Absolutely.
35:18
And it doesn't matter if Mercedes wants to
35:20
give it to you or Rolex or Wheaties
35:22
or whoever.
35:24
The school,
35:25
I don't care who gives it to you.
35:26
That's the max.
35:27
So if you've gotten a hundred thousand
35:30
dollars in NIL money from...
35:34
Mercedes,
35:36
and if they give you a car that's
35:38
included in that, that compensation.
35:40
So the value of that car is a
35:43
hundred and twenty four thousand dollars.
35:44
That's part of your money.
35:45
Yeah.
35:46
Now, if you limit that.
35:50
Okay, cool.
35:52
But then nobody can go and go, okay,
35:55
well, hey,
35:56
Derry got one hundred and twenty five
35:58
thousand from, you know,
36:00
University of Tennessee.
36:02
You know,
36:02
MTSU is going to give him three hundred
36:04
thousand next year when the cap's two
36:06
hundred thousand.
36:07
No, they're not.
36:07
They can't go more than two hundred grand.
36:09
Yeah, it is.
36:10
At that point, you're just shopping.
36:11
Right.
36:11
Yeah.
36:12
And that's what it's been.
36:13
And then you think about your roster,
36:15
how it just disrupts your team.
36:17
absolutely and then what about those guys
36:18
who've been here with you that you know
36:20
you keep bringing these guys in you know
36:22
and i'm having to continue just ride this
36:24
out ride this out it's just you know
36:27
it's unfortunate yeah very much so all
36:29
right well let's uh let's circle back
36:32
around
36:33
And get to the nitty-gritty of exactly
36:36
what Foreo is and what y'all's plans are.
36:39
And then you can kind of give us
36:41
an update of where we're at,
36:43
where we're going, what we need to do.
36:44
And then you've got an event coming up
36:45
as well I want to talk about too.
36:49
Tell me about FOREO.
36:50
You want me to take it?
36:52
Okay.
36:52
So FOREO is a multi-use facility anchored
36:55
in sports.
36:56
We will have eight basketball courts that
36:58
of course can become volleyball courts.
37:02
It's how many?
37:02
Convert.
37:03
Convert.
37:03
Thank you.
37:04
Sixteen volleyball courts.
37:05
Sixteen volleyball courts.
37:06
Twenty-four pickleball courts.
37:06
Twenty-four pickleball courts.
37:08
We're also going to have labs,
37:10
which would be like a shooting lab or
37:12
a VertiMax lab where you can have private
37:16
training.
37:17
Those labs are also big enough for
37:19
volleyball and pickleball.
37:21
Upstairs we have suites.
37:22
Those suites during tournament weekends
37:24
will be used for the coaches as private
37:26
area.
37:27
They're all glass.
37:27
You can see all eight courts at the
37:29
same time.
37:30
During the week it'll be used for our
37:31
after school care program and during the
37:34
days and morning hours you can rent those
37:36
areas out.
37:38
We'll also have a track and a turf
37:41
area in there.
37:43
Turf area can be used for our seniors
37:45
for mobility, exercises, yoga,
37:49
agility training, baseball, pitch,
37:52
hit area.
37:57
And then we'll also have a nutrition area
37:59
and sports recovery.
38:02
So as you can see,
38:03
there's a lot in there.
38:05
It's for the entire community.
38:06
It's not just for the youth.
38:09
From age zero to ninety nine, one hundred,
38:12
however old you're blessed to be,
38:14
this facility will have something for you.
38:17
The reason it's for each other is because
38:21
we look to bring all of our members
38:24
together.
38:25
For example,
38:25
if we've got seniors that come in in
38:27
the morning and we're talking and we find
38:29
out one is a retired financial advisor.
38:32
That may be who comes and teaches our
38:34
next financial workshop to our youth,
38:37
right?
38:38
So that we can all be there for
38:39
each other.
38:41
The reason we're a nonprofit is because
38:44
our homeless youth population in
38:46
Murfreesboro is very large.
38:48
We want to make sure that they can
38:50
have access to the same type of training,
38:53
same type of after school care programs,
38:56
same type of life skill and work skill
38:58
development classes.
38:59
All of those things will be offered to
39:01
the homeless youth at zero cost, fee free.
39:05
For youth that are at risk,
39:08
we will have a sliding scale fee schedule
39:11
as well.
39:12
So we want to bring all of this
39:14
together,
39:14
and we've gotten a pro forma done,
39:17
five-year predictions,
39:19
and we know that in five years we'll
39:21
be self-sustaining.
39:23
So as a nonprofit,
39:24
we won't have to so heavily rely on
39:28
our community to keep us going and to
39:31
take care of our homeless and
39:33
underprivileged youth.
39:35
At that point,
39:36
we'll be able to self-sustain.
39:38
That's why it's such a big facility.
39:40
I love Patterson Park and both Sports
39:44
Comm.
39:44
Citi's done an amazing job with those
39:46
places.
39:46
We love to go there.
39:48
This is much bigger.
39:51
It's going to be a much bigger impact
39:53
to our economy.
39:54
How many square feet is the building?
39:55
I think about a hundred forty five
39:57
thousand square feet sitting on ten point
39:59
two acres of land,
40:01
which is what we're still in need of.
40:03
But yeah,
40:04
one hundred forty five thousand square
40:05
feet,
40:06
five hundred thirty eight parking spaces,
40:08
you know, and to her point, you know,
40:09
this is a facility that, you know,
40:11
you think about multi use and you think
40:14
sports play.
40:15
So you think about volleyball, basketball,
40:17
pickleball is a huge emphasis.
40:19
But outside of those sports,
40:20
what else can we do in a facility
40:23
as such?
40:24
That's where you have your dance
40:25
competitions, your cheer, wrestling,
40:28
martial arts, job fairs, trade shows,
40:31
drone racing,
40:33
anything that you can do inside of.
40:37
hundred and fifty thousand square foot
40:38
buildings nice yes to be some size place
40:42
and then when people you know you hear
40:43
about for y'all and really you know you
40:45
think about self-sustaining when she talks
40:47
about so you know we look at generating
40:49
revenue to be able to continue to to
40:51
keep the doors open you know those
40:52
tournaments on those weekends with
40:54
volleyball basketball pickleball
40:56
You know, those tournaments are great.
40:57
However,
40:58
you have to have a Monday through Thursday
41:01
programming to self-sustain a facility as
41:04
such.
41:05
And that's where we really wrapping our
41:07
arms around our community.
41:08
So that Monday through Thursday
41:10
programming and what that looks like is
41:12
truly for this community.
41:14
You know,
41:14
just promise that opened up the doors
41:16
seven a.m.
41:17
on a Monday morning.
41:18
You know,
41:19
we're catering to our third shift workers
41:20
as well as our seniors and general
41:24
population, of course.
41:25
You know,
41:25
those guys get off work from Nissan,
41:27
Amazon, the hospitals.
41:28
I want to go straight to sleep.
41:29
You know, we want to open up.
41:30
We want to service with, you know,
41:32
third shift leagues, you know, of such.
41:34
Just giving them an opportunity to come in
41:36
and blow off some steam.
41:37
Have some social time.
41:39
Have some community time.
41:41
Exercise all of it together before you go
41:44
back.
41:45
And then, you know,
41:45
so that's going on from like a seven
41:47
to ten, ten a.m.
41:48
We want to offer up services for our
41:51
homeschool population as well as our
41:52
special needs populations.
41:54
They need a PE curriculum.
41:55
So this facility would, you know,
41:57
service them as well.
41:58
In addition to more general population
42:00
coming in throughout the course of the
42:01
day.
42:02
But two p.m.
42:03
is where the heart of this for real
42:05
really hits.
42:06
And that's where we run this after-school
42:08
program,
42:09
where we're actually able to reach kids,
42:11
not just the homeless youth,
42:12
but also other kids that want to come
42:15
in.
42:16
Our goal is to teach the introductions to
42:21
volleyball, pickleball, basketball.
42:24
They'll get homework and stuff done.
42:26
We'll work on...
42:27
You know, we'll work on other things,
42:28
but an important piece to that is,
42:31
you know,
42:32
kids having to train in the evenings.
42:35
You know,
42:35
parents picking kids up from after school
42:37
program by six p.m.
42:38
And first thing you do,
42:39
so you pick them up,
42:40
you got to get them across town somewhere
42:42
to some type of training while they're
42:44
training.
42:45
If it's even this town,
42:46
you might have to go to Franklin.
42:47
You might have to go to Nashville.
42:50
Because wherever there's a gym,
42:53
there's just not enough.
42:55
And so what we want to do with
42:56
Foreo is we want to be able to
42:58
offer those training services during those
43:00
hours of the after school programming so
43:03
that when you pick a kid up at
43:04
six, it's family time at that point.
43:06
So we got trainers that are on standby
43:09
now because this space is such an urgent
43:11
need.
43:12
You know, we got guys, I mean,
43:13
I'll write a letter of intent, man.
43:14
Get this building built, man.
43:16
We have got to find places.
43:17
We meet with people all the time.
43:19
Like, man, we got an AAU practice.
43:20
We can't practice one day a week because
43:22
we can't get into, you know.
43:23
And so I've seen this this week,
43:25
just blanket,
43:26
like on Murfreesboro pages and stuff.
43:28
Does anybody have a gym space available?
43:30
Yeah.
43:31
Like people just asking for space.
43:32
That's what we used to have to do
43:34
for our team.
43:34
We just find something.
43:36
My son's AAU team travels,
43:38
they practice an hour from here.
43:39
Yes.
43:40
Garrison used to have to drive an hour,
43:43
hour and a half.
43:44
I mean, well,
43:44
that's when he started driving.
43:46
And before that...
43:47
Is that just space availability?
43:48
Yeah.
43:48
That's all that's for.
43:50
Those trainers that he was going an hour
43:52
and a half for, they're from here.
43:54
They were going an hour and a half.
43:56
That's where they find space.
43:57
My word.
43:58
It's true.
43:59
what we did is when we moved into
44:00
our neighborhood we were struggling so
44:04
much with trying to find gym space and
44:06
they had that lot there she happened to
44:07
be on the hoa at the time we
44:09
built a basketball court there i used to
44:11
practice my kids there on the basketball
44:14
court outside i'm one of those people if
44:17
there's a problem we're going to solve it
44:20
right and the neighborhood we had the
44:23
space the neighborhood wanted additional
44:26
play or you know community space we
44:30
already had two pools you know we had
44:32
playgrounds i was like well why not
44:33
basketball you know and then you just
44:36
you'd have to um represent for the people
44:39
who need it and it was a great
44:42
idea and people um backed it and we
44:44
were able to get that built yeah you
44:46
could ride by our house and i got
44:49
kids on the sidewalk man i got
44:51
I got ladders, I got all this stuff.
44:53
I'm training kids on the sidewalk because
44:54
I don't have an indoor space.
44:56
And parents will drop the kids off there,
44:58
you know?
44:58
And, you know,
44:59
I try to work them out in my
45:00
garage with the VertiMax machine and
45:02
things.
45:02
It's just, you know, space,
45:04
indoor space for sports is a huge,
45:07
huge need right now.
45:08
Yes, it is.
45:08
And this is what we're getting from so
45:10
many.
45:11
But beyond that, I mean,
45:13
if you'll just take a few words of
45:16
what we've said and think about that
45:17
impact,
45:19
it's the reason we're for each other.
45:21
And you can see it's just members of
45:23
the community, first of all,
45:25
coming together in a space.
45:27
There's a lot of kids who don't have
45:28
grandparents nearby these days, right?
45:31
Because we're so mobile now and people
45:33
live in different states.
45:34
And there's grandparents who don't have
45:36
that type of contact.
45:37
we can bring those people together.
45:39
Now we're also offering, hey,
45:42
we'll get your kids training done and all
45:44
of that.
45:45
So when you get off at six o'clock,
45:47
you can go home and have family time.
45:49
So we're impacting the community's health,
45:54
mental health and family health, right?
45:57
And then of course,
45:58
there's the economic impact that will come
46:00
to all of our restaurants and hotels and
46:03
businesses.
46:04
You said you still need to land.
46:08
So you said ten point two acres.
46:10
Ten point two acres.
46:10
That is oddly specific.
46:14
We know all our numbers.
46:15
The man knows what he needs.
46:16
That's exactly right.
46:17
Ten point two one.
46:20
If you want to give us eleven,
46:21
we'll take it.
46:23
Actually, if you got a hundred and fifty,
46:24
let's go ahead and put this facility on
46:26
that ten acres and let's start building
46:28
that retail and hotels and things up
46:29
around it.
46:30
How about we just start growing
46:32
Just make it happen.
46:33
And then it becomes a play and stay.
46:34
Everybody that comes on the weekend parks
46:36
their car.
46:37
They're staying at a hotel right behind
46:39
the gym and all the restaurants like
46:42
single tree.
46:42
Put a single tree barbecue right there.
46:43
Absolutely.
46:45
Yes.
46:46
But you know, I could actually,
46:47
inside these facilities, you know,
46:48
they have like little lounge areas and
46:50
places like that.
46:51
I could see a single tree lounge here.
46:53
I could see a toots lounge there.
46:55
You know, things as such.
46:56
Just, you know, community.
46:59
It's all about community.
47:00
Look, I'll call Wade.
47:01
I'm okay.
47:03
I'll call him and tell him to do
47:03
it.
47:04
I mean, so it really,
47:06
what it also does is it,
47:07
it introduces and exposes people to our
47:12
community.
47:12
Yeah, for sure.
47:13
There is a lot to offer here in
47:15
Murfreesboro and that's what we know.
47:17
And so to be able to drive sports
47:18
tourism through here and as a parent,
47:21
I'm coming in to strictly to,
47:23
for my child to play volleyball,
47:24
basketball, whatever.
47:26
Well,
47:26
there's only two games during the day.
47:28
So I,
47:29
Once those two games are over,
47:30
what do kids normally want to do?
47:32
What are we eating at?
47:33
Or what are we going to do tonight?
47:34
Do we go to a movie or what?
47:37
Kids want to go get something to eat.
47:39
So where I'm going to send them,
47:40
I'm going to have a list on the
47:40
end of the wall,
47:41
probably Singletree at the very top.
47:42
Where the locals eat.
47:43
Go where the locals eat.
47:45
Then, well, what about entertainment?
47:48
Well,
47:48
I'm willing to partner with the main
47:51
event, partner with Strike and Spare.
47:54
And so the teams can take the kids
47:56
out and go do entertainment.
47:58
If I'm saying from Iowa,
47:59
because I always like to use that analogy
48:01
of being from Iowa,
48:01
I've never been as close to Nashville
48:03
before.
48:04
What's Nashville got to offer?
48:06
Maybe we take a trip downtown.
48:09
But nowadays,
48:10
Murfreesboro's got so much to offer here
48:13
that I want to partner and keep these
48:15
people here.
48:15
And nobody wants to drive anymore once
48:17
they get here,
48:18
so they'll be plenty to do.
48:19
So we need...
48:22
Ten point two acres will take eleven.
48:27
Let's do it this way.
48:28
Hundred and fifty thousand square foot
48:30
building.
48:32
Where are we at?
48:33
What do we need?
48:34
What do we need to put?
48:37
You know, obviously you need to land.
48:38
So if you have ten point two acres,
48:41
call me i'll hook you up with gary
48:43
we'll we'll get you all squared away now
48:45
keep in mind being a non-profit i want
48:47
to make certain that's clear because there
48:48
may be a lot of people out there
48:49
i got ten point two acres that i
48:50
want to sell and each acre is a
48:51
million dollars now we're looking for ten
48:53
point two acres of land donation right
48:57
okay or discounted um yeah yeah land yes
49:00
so highly discounted or donated yes ten
49:03
point two acres so to answer your question
49:05
the best way to put it out i
49:07
call it a four l approach
49:10
land, lead donor, local lender,
49:15
and a liaison to connect them all
49:16
together.
49:17
That's what our proposal is.
49:21
And so we've had some great conversations
49:23
out here,
49:23
and we're still having some great
49:24
conversations.
49:25
March is a big month for us.
49:27
It has been.
49:28
Land conversations,
49:29
lead donor conversations.
49:30
Local lending conversations.
49:32
We've already been having the local
49:33
lending conversations.
49:35
So I think March is going to be
49:37
a big month.
49:39
So if everything goes right,
49:44
are we looking at having land by the
49:47
end of the year?
49:48
If everything goes right, yes.
49:51
Okay.
49:53
Are we looking at shovels going in the
49:54
ground by the end of the year?
49:56
Well...
49:58
I don't want to jump that just yet.
50:00
If we can get the land,
50:00
it all depends on when we get the
50:03
land.
50:04
I'll say it for you.
50:05
Yes.
50:05
Yes.
50:05
We're making it happen.
50:06
Dirt's in the air.
50:07
Dirt's in the air.
50:08
I love it.
50:09
Yeah, for sure.
50:10
Do you...
50:14
Do you have a plot that you were
50:16
having conversations with currently?
50:18
Yes.
50:20
We have a few.
50:21
Can we disclose?
50:23
Not at this time.
50:23
Not just yet.
50:25
You know me, I'm going to ask.
50:26
I like that you already knew the answer
50:28
and still like,
50:29
I'm going to poke it there.
50:33
He might get an answer.
50:33
You never know.
50:35
If you don't ask the question,
50:36
the answer is always no.
50:37
I will say this.
50:38
I don't want to put unfair pressure on
50:39
anybody.
50:41
We're having the conversation.
50:42
You know who you are.
50:43
You know who I am.
50:44
Just say yes.
50:46
We need it.
50:47
Yes.
50:47
For sure.
50:50
This is not the Bushes.
50:51
It's not time to play games.
50:53
It's time to go.
50:56
Time to go.
50:56
Let's make this happen.
50:57
For sure.
50:58
I will say,
50:59
we've had so many conversations.
51:02
recently, you know, where people,
51:04
we truly see the belief.
51:05
People are truly,
51:06
really believing in the vision, you know,
51:08
and that's really our ask.
51:10
It's just, if you believe in this,
51:12
then support this because there's so,
51:15
so many.
51:16
Well, going back to what you said,
51:19
that this is rooted in your life
51:23
circumstance.
51:23
You had that person that fed into your
51:25
life.
51:26
And I think part of our generation,
51:29
the unique thing is there,
51:31
we can name two or three people that
51:33
fed into our lives.
51:33
Yes.
51:34
And nowadays, so many kids,
51:37
I don't want to use the term lacking,
51:39
but it's like the missing puzzle piece.
51:42
They've got a ton of people,
51:44
but they don't have that one that's
51:46
pouring in as the man that's going to
51:48
show up three years later and say,
51:49
I taught him how to play basketball.
51:52
um you know because i think back when
51:54
you're telling that story i can look in
51:55
in my rearview mirror so to speak and
51:58
i see three or four people that i'm
51:59
like man they helped drive these points
52:02
home points that my parents had made
52:04
points that you know helped reinforce what
52:06
we wanted to do
52:08
And I think that's what excites me when
52:10
y'all discuss Foreo so much.
52:13
It's not just land.
52:15
It's not just a facility.
52:17
You are truly trying to pour back into
52:19
the community so that you,
52:23
because I'm going to tell you what I'm
52:24
picturing is the kid who is just made
52:28
the sophomore junior basketball team.
52:32
And you walk in and he's like,
52:34
I was at Gary's place when I was
52:36
in sixth grade.
52:37
Yes.
52:37
Yes.
52:39
That's the guy, right?
52:40
Yes.
52:40
And because like we, you don't,
52:43
you will never know your impact until
52:45
you're just randomly met with that kid.
52:47
And he's like,
52:49
I remember when you used to take all
52:50
five of us every Monday and blah, blah,
52:53
blah.
52:53
And now this kid's a senior in high
52:55
school.
52:56
And, you know,
52:57
that's the part in me that I think
52:59
so much of the public missed because the
53:01
public sees today, the public sees,
53:04
you know, well, the city's doing this,
53:06
the county's doing this,
53:08
the economy's doing this, the whatever.
53:11
they don't see that forward progressive
53:14
look of seven, eight,
53:15
nine years down the road where that person
53:18
walks in the door and you're like,
53:20
oh my word, he's here.
53:21
And we have those boys now too,
53:23
just from the teams he has coached up
53:28
throughout the years and the boys he has
53:29
trained.
53:30
But I'm putting it on a bigger scale.
53:33
I love that he's got those kids.
53:34
Because I've got those kids.
53:35
And that's what's weird.
53:37
And you're going to get those if you
53:38
hadn't already.
53:40
The ones that you're helping out with,
53:41
they come back.
53:42
I still have a personal favorite of mine.
53:45
We had a kid,
53:47
and I didn't see him for years.
53:48
His father got cancer, passed away,
53:50
and we had him as a ten, eleven-year-old.
53:53
And that baseball team was my favorite
53:55
team that I ever coached with.
53:57
Fast forward years later,
53:59
he comes to Oakland.
54:00
And I am blown away because now I
54:03
am seeing him,
54:04
and he looks like his dad.
54:05
And I was like, hey, do you remember?
54:07
He goes, of course I remember you.
54:08
And there had about seven or eight kids
54:10
from that team that came through our halls
54:12
at Oakland.
54:13
And I'm talking just for a moment.
54:15
I'm back when my son's ten years old,
54:18
and I see that team again.
54:19
And I was like, yep, that's fine.
54:22
Life is good.
54:23
Absolutely.
54:23
People talk about what's the why.
54:25
It's more of the because.
54:28
Absolutely.
54:29
That's what it is, Charlie.
54:31
I love that.
54:32
It gives me chills.
54:32
And that is the goal.
54:36
It won't be just us two pouring into
54:38
them.
54:38
We're going to be selective about our
54:40
staff.
54:41
Also,
54:41
we're going to make sure our entire staff
54:42
is trauma-informed trained.
54:45
In today's world,
54:47
to work with the homeless youth,
54:49
you have to be trauma-informed trained.
54:51
But that's not the only youth that has
54:52
trauma.
54:54
So if you have,
54:56
if all of your staff,
54:57
we all had trauma.
54:58
If you have staff that recognizes, hey,
55:01
this kid isn't just acting out.
55:04
Something is at the root of this and
55:06
there's armed with the skills to address
55:09
it instead of you're going to timeout or
55:12
you're getting written up.
55:14
it's let's work with it let's figure out
55:16
what the root is that's the other thing
55:18
i want that place to be i want
55:20
it to be safe i want it to
55:21
be a place kids just a beacon of
55:24
safety that they can come to and that
55:26
can't be kind of like a kind of
55:28
like a stuffed animal
55:36
a lot of people out there right now
55:39
that have a heart for that monkey i
55:42
have a heart for the monkey it was
55:44
it was cute he's just saying in the
55:45
grand scheme of life can i just point
55:48
out the best thing about the whole story
55:49
in my personal opinion uh his name was
55:51
punch what a perfect name for like the
55:55
whole little thing around punching him
55:57
that's they called him punch that's
56:01
He and Maury would get along very well.
56:02
Oh, that's hilarious.
56:03
We're naming names.
56:03
Oh, that's my brother.
56:08
I can name his name.
56:12
All right.
56:13
So you got an event coming up.
56:16
And forgive me,
56:17
I've already forgotten the name of the
56:19
event.
56:20
But that's why I have you here.
56:21
So tell us about this event and how
56:25
we can sign up for it,
56:27
what we can do to help support,
56:29
et cetera.
56:29
Okay.
56:34
MTSU home.
56:36
Well, it's not a homecoming.
56:37
It used to be homecoming.
56:39
It's the MTSU Reconnect weekend.
56:41
Yes.
56:41
Okay.
56:42
It's like a reunion.
56:42
We're doing basically a reunion.
56:44
So she and I, fifteen years ago,
56:47
back in two thousand five, we started.
56:50
we used to host a homecoming party on
56:53
a friday night so basically people coming
56:55
back into town for mtsu's homecoming she
56:57
and i would always host this party and
57:00
um interesting enough i was telling the
57:02
story earlier about us hosting this party
57:04
and people like you know you had almost
57:06
a thousand people show up where was this
57:08
party well the last time we had this
57:10
party it was actually at the experience
57:12
where the experience church is now okay it
57:15
was part with the park place is that
57:16
what it was called
57:17
I think so.
57:18
And the brewery wasn't even there yet.
57:21
It was just a warehouse.
57:22
I attended a wedding reception there.
57:27
I know exactly what they're talking about.
57:28
It was a fantastic little event.
57:30
And it was a huge space.
57:32
And we got up to about a thousand
57:34
people that year.
57:35
Oh, wow.
57:35
It was amazing.
57:36
So it was a huge hit.
57:38
We did have to take a break from
57:40
it because, you know,
57:41
Garrison started traveling.
57:42
We were doing travel ball and all of
57:44
these things.
57:45
And, you know, life had some changes.
57:48
But every year at homecoming, you know,
57:50
things have changed there are still
57:52
parties and those parties are great um but
57:54
they're smaller so our already small
57:57
alumni well i guess a thousand is not
57:59
small but that thousand people group is
58:02
now getting split and then split some more
58:05
so you don't get to see everybody so
58:07
people have every year they're like when
58:10
are y'all gonna bring it back please bring
58:12
it back and we just have been too
58:14
busy
58:15
Um, so this year, uh,
58:18
as we were thinking through the year of
58:21
fundraisers for four E O,
58:23
we really had to dig into what is
58:26
it we're good at?
58:27
What is it?
58:27
God has already put in our hands and
58:31
equipped us with that.
58:32
We could work.
58:33
And that really kind of came to both
58:35
of us at the same time.
58:36
Like we need to bring something like the
58:38
jump off back.
58:40
What do we do best?
58:42
Unity.
58:42
We bring people together.
58:45
And so I'm like, okay, well,
58:47
we're not doing this during homecoming
58:50
because of the different parties and
58:51
people being split,
58:52
we didn't want to come in and run
58:54
interference there.
58:55
So I was just like, hey,
58:56
why don't we do a spring?
58:57
Event and we'll just call it an MTSU
58:59
reunion.
59:00
These people have been asking for this
59:02
party We'll see if people are interested.
59:05
It's right before graduation.
59:06
So when is it April?
59:08
It's a full weekend.
59:11
Okay.
59:11
Yeah,
59:12
so we're doing a Friday night event and
59:14
then Saturday We're doing an all-white
59:16
event in a party.
59:18
Where's it at?
59:19
so
59:21
Friday is... The details haven't...
59:23
We haven't leaked the details.
59:24
TBD.
59:24
Yes, it's coming.
59:26
They will be premiere venues,
59:28
both of them.
59:29
Yes, they will.
59:29
Okay.
59:29
The second one,
59:30
we're having to make sure we get the
59:32
final details in place before we can
59:34
announce it.
59:35
And then we're hoping to start ticket
59:38
sales by next Friday,
59:40
which is March sixth.
59:42
Ticket sales next Friday.
59:45
That'll give us where, when, and how.
59:47
Everything.
59:47
Okay.
59:48
And where do I go to see those
59:50
tickets?
59:51
You need to go to the Four EO
59:53
Community Center Facebook page.
59:55
Follow us there.
59:56
Follow us on Instagram.
59:58
And then Gary and my page as well.
1:00:00
But it will all come through the Four
1:00:02
EO.
1:00:02
The Friday night event.
1:00:04
Is that a dinner, dance, mingle,
1:00:08
cocktails?
1:00:09
full dinner cocktails dj everything's
1:00:13
included okay people will just be coming
1:00:15
into town so we didn't want them to
1:00:17
have to worry about getting food and all
1:00:19
of those things food will be provided
1:00:21
drinks will be provided it's just they're
1:00:23
just gonna show up you got a ticket
1:00:25
price yes
1:00:27
well the price we haven't had a price
1:00:30
yet because we're still okay and then
1:00:33
saturday will be friday will be like from
1:00:36
seven until midnight because we're getting
1:00:38
older and everybody will be sleepy around
1:00:40
ten thirty um and then saturday will be
1:00:44
a day party which will be great for
1:00:45
everybody from two to um two until seven
1:00:48
okay and okay um and all proceeds are
1:00:55
benefiting for you absolutely all profits
1:00:57
go to for you hundred percent awesome okay
1:00:58
we gotta get this facility built man yeah
1:01:01
that's our plan so let's do it and
1:01:03
we do still need sponsors so if you're
1:01:05
interested in getting the name of your
1:01:07
business out in front of three hundred um
1:01:09
well-to-do alumni from mtsu uh reach out
1:01:13
to us and we're happy to send you
1:01:15
our sponsorship tiers
1:01:18
Awesome.
1:01:19
I love that.
1:01:19
Yes.
1:01:21
How can the community help you?
1:01:26
What's the one thing that you need more
1:01:28
of from the community?
1:01:33
So, you know, I will say this,
1:01:34
the community thus far,
1:01:36
because of the awareness that we've
1:01:38
raised, you know,
1:01:39
we've gotten a great response there.
1:01:41
The need of course is funding.
1:01:44
You know,
1:01:44
we have operational expenses month over
1:01:46
month, you know,
1:01:47
and ideally it could be great for them
1:01:49
if we could get someone to get on
1:01:51
board and become like monthly donors,
1:01:53
that would be great.
1:01:54
And that's any amount.
1:01:55
Do you have a donation button on your
1:01:57
website?
1:01:58
We do.
1:01:58
Okay.
1:01:59
Our website is the number four,
1:02:02
the letter E, the letter O, center,
1:02:05
C-E-N-T-E-R.com.
1:02:07
So you too can be a donor at
1:02:09
eleven dollars a month.
1:02:11
Yeah.
1:02:11
Yep.
1:02:12
Right here.
1:02:12
You can help for you become a real
1:02:14
thing.
1:02:14
I don't know if eleven dollars is going
1:02:16
to matter, but it will.
1:02:18
It will.
1:02:18
We started out making ten dollar Tuesdays
1:02:22
and we hit a great goal doing that.
1:02:25
And, you know,
1:02:25
some people gave ten on Tuesday.
1:02:27
Some people gave one hundred.
1:02:28
There were people that gave thousands.
1:02:30
So whatever you can do,
1:02:32
it's for the community.
1:02:33
No amount is too small.
1:02:35
Love it.
1:02:36
I love that.
1:02:37
Barry, you got a Friday feel-good for us?
1:02:39
I do.
1:02:39
I was at a funeral today of a
1:02:41
good friend of mine, married to my cousin.
1:02:44
He's family, let's be honest.
1:02:46
And Chris Brandon had a quote that he
1:02:48
shared with a lot of folks,
1:02:49
and it said this, Life moves pretty fast.
1:02:52
Sometimes you got to slow down and realize
1:02:55
what it's all about.
1:02:56
And I think with what y'all guys are
1:02:57
doing,
1:02:58
a lot of what we do with storytelling
1:03:00
and hospitality,
1:03:01
sometimes you got to slow down and see
1:03:03
what it's all about.
1:03:03
Y'all know what to do.
1:03:04
Find somebody you know,
1:03:04
tell them you love them.
1:03:06
It's outstanding.
1:03:07
Smell the roses, man.
1:03:08
Smell the roses, man.
1:03:09
Smell the roses.
1:03:10
If you don't see it,
1:03:12
you got to slow down a little bit.
1:03:14
Gary, Miriam, thank you.
1:03:16
Thank you so much for coming to hang
1:03:18
out with us.
1:03:21
Please let me know how I can help,
1:03:24
how the restaurant can help.
1:03:25
Whatever we can do,
1:03:26
we will definitely do and be glad to
1:03:29
help you.
1:03:30
Guys, you know what to do.
1:03:32
Go find Foreo, get involved,
1:03:35
donate some money,
1:03:36
get your tickets to the event on April
1:03:39
tenth and eleventh.
1:03:40
Does that open to all MTSU alumni?
1:03:42
Yes, all MTSU alumni,
1:03:44
even if you didn't graduate,
1:03:45
because I know everybody that went there
1:03:47
didn't necessarily graduate.
1:03:48
I graduated.
1:03:49
It took a while, but I got there.
1:03:54
Sometimes you gotta slow down.
1:03:55
I was on the family term, long term,
1:03:57
eight year plan.
1:03:59
I probably passed you a couple of times.
1:04:01
I thought we were passing there.
1:04:04
Classes became real important.
1:04:06
That's all I'm saying.
1:04:07
Did you ever get lost in Peck Hall?
1:04:09
No, no.
1:04:10
I grew up in MTSU, so I knew.
1:04:11
Man, Peck Hall was a mess.
1:04:14
So that's kind of how we say things
1:04:15
now when people ask, hey, can anyone come?
1:04:17
Like, if you ever walked,
1:04:18
had a class in Peck Hall,
1:04:20
you are definitely welcome to this party.
1:04:21
was on the fourth floor of the kom
1:04:24
it was a lookout point and if you're
1:04:29
just a supporter of the foreo community
1:04:31
center and you want it's it's the age
1:04:33
group is going to be like from forty
1:04:35
five to sixty right so if you if
1:04:37
you're looking for a mature event high
1:04:40
scale um upscale good time so you young
1:04:43
bucks what's your turn we'll have
1:04:46
something else for you guys soon we will
1:04:47
absolutely
1:04:48
i love it y'all know what to do
1:04:50
if you want to get involved please feel
1:04:51
free you can reach out to me uh
1:04:54
charlie at singletreebbq.com you can call
1:04:56
me at six one five three zero seven
1:04:58
zero one two zero make sure that you
1:05:00
like share and subscribe to the channel we
1:05:03
air every saturday morning on espn the fan
1:05:07
from eight until nine a.m and until next
1:05:10
time guys we'll see you then y'all be
1:05:12
good thanks guys