Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: USTFCCCA 2023 LIVE: Greg Schmidt-Bridgeport University

Transcript

BONUS: USTFCCCA 2023 LIVE: Greg Schmidt-Bridgeport University · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Hey gang, you know we like our bonus material.
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  So from today all the way through USTF CCA, in celebration
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  of our live podcast recording at the convention, we're going to
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  play you last year's clips, each one individual from today all
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  the way up until Monday, December 16th when we go live on
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  YouTube at 6:00 Eastern Time. Join us if you're at the
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  convention, sit down. We're going to be talking about
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  your feelings, actions, thoughts about the way the NCAA is
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  changing and we're going to make some predictions for next year.
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  And every guest that sits down with us will you get a exclusive
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  free gift? So join us December 16th, 6:00
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  PM Eastern Time for the Gill Live Connections podcast on
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  YouTube and at the USTF CCCA Convention.
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  Here is bonus material. There, if you bump that table,
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  that's my fault. Oh wow, the whole production
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  just dies right there. I can't be too aggressive.
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  Let's start the production. Introduce yourself up.
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  There I'm Greg Schmidt, head coach, cross country, track and
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  field, University of Bridgeport. And you're a brand new, we can
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  still say that, right like. I, I, I like to say it, I think
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  until you get to about five years in, you're easily, easily.
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  Easily. So how has it been going?
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  We kind of a little bit followed along the journey.
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  You'll be on the podcast here last year and now this year.
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  How is that process going? It's going pretty well.
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  I mean really the first couple years has been educating the
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  university about the sport, track and field.
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  A lot of people in university, they, they just admit to me,
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  we're we're kind of relying on you to tell us what the sport is
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  about more than anything else. No, no, they don't.
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  And it's nothing against them. It's just they're not, they're
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  not experienced with it. Not only that, just getting the
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  word out to the different high schools, getting to the
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  different, you know, people in the Connecticut area that UB
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  has. I'm going to.
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  I know you're me though. You're you're a.
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  Sicilian, I talk with my hands. What do you want from me?
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  But yeah, just getting the word out that we actually have a
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  track and field program, so they kind of understand.
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  That yeah, yeah. So how's it going?
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  It's going pretty well when? You start with zero.
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  It's it's, you could put your finger, you're not taking over
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  any baggage and things like that, but you're starting at 0.
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  How's that been? Going It's going pretty well,
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  especially this recruiting class I had coming in.
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  The kids bought in from day one. You know, I have kids from, you
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  know, IMG in Florida and I don't know if I'm allowed to name any
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  names on the. Podcast.
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  Well, it's live, so. Yeah, so I just said he just did
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  it, whatever. But you know, they bought it
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  from day one. They've been working hard and
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  they bought in and they're they're helping me establish it.
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  And that's, that's kind of what you need.
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  And that's nothing against my first recruiting class
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  whatsoever. It's just this group came in
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  like ready to help me out and I, I really appreciate that.
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  Why should I? You know, kids out there, it's
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  quite amazing, have a lot of choices, right?
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  And it's easier today, in 2023, to find out about those
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  different schools and programs. You.
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  You're in a unique situation that you have this blank slate
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  or you know you're writing the first sentence paragraph of your
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  slate. Why should a kid choose you and
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  bridge? For me, it's more I I don't want
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  to go to a long spiel. That's why I kind of paused for
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  a second. But I always tell athletes
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  there's three things to look for when you pick a university.
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  So I I see this in every recruitment and all that.
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  Number one, do they have your degree?
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  Because I've coached humble brag.
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  I've coached, you know, at least 5 athletes in the top ten in the
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  United States in the United States Championships.
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  None of us are millionaires. Wait, Amy, go check my bank
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  account. I thought you told me something
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  different. So.
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  So you don't get rich from track and field unless you're #1 some
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  #2 something like that. And there's there's only one.
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  Order, right? So you, you have to have that
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  degree to get a job. Even if you move forward, even
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  if you're continuing to train for Olympic trials, you have to
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  have that degree #2 is who specifically is going to coach
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  you? And what I mean by that is
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  there's colleges that don't have a big staff.
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  And what they do is they will recruit athletes just so they
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  get those points at a conference meet, but they might not have
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  the people who are able to help them reach the potential, right?
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  And then #3 is just the eye test.
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  Is this a nice area for me to live for five years, four years,
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  whatever your. Degree is.
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  Required. So for me, I say, you know, we
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  have great programs in terms of Health, Science, engineering,
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  things like that. I don't like to talk about
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  myself too much, but I've had success in a variety of event
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  areas. You're getting a fist bump
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  breakout. So I I know what I can do as a
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  coach. So for me, it's more about the
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  athletes and athletes sometimes are a little bit mystified that
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  I tell them if they're choosing another college, Hey, it's it's
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  tough choosing a college when a senior at meets come talk to me,
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  say hi. I hope you do well and I'm
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  amazed right here that there's some coaches that get angry at
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  them. We don't choose them.
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  I can't get every athlete ever. There's not no way to do that.
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  It's about finding the fit. So I will never be upset with
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  athlete finding a better fit than.
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  You know, I think every coach would say I'm doing it for the
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  kids and then we do things. It's like, wait, I thought you
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  were doing it for the kids. Wait, you you're, you're mad at
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  that kid for choosing what they're making the best decision
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  they can at 18 years old. By the way, I thought you were
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  doing for the kids. You know what I'm saying?
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  It's always we got. To be careful.
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  It's insecure, yeah. It doesn't make you less of a
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  coach because we can't. Be careful with the truth like
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  that. That's exactly right.
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  It's. Insecure and I was and we talked
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  about this when I was on the podcast, which you can download
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  on. Spotify, iTunes.
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  Pandora Stitcher. All of that, it's like this is
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  my marketing department. A little promo, but I talked
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  about that when I was a young coach.
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  I was insecure also, and that's where I kind of let my anger
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  take over and it's about realizing that and kind of
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  getting through that of it's not about me.
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  It's without helping student athletes.
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  You know, that's a really good point.
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  You know, I definitely think about today, you know, I started
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  to stop. Watch On Me.
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  No, no, I stopped it every 5 minutes.
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  When we start wrapping up, you know, we talk about kids and
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  their development and coaches and their development and you
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  know, I didn't think about that. I coached for 10 years and I
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  think about my first year of coaching to my 10th year and
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  luckily I progressed not just coaching education, exes and OS,
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  but how I interacted with kids and parents and ears and things
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  like that. It's really it's.
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  Important and it and it makes me upset when I think about the
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  times that I got upset and I made it more about me yeah like
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  getting angry and. That's usually the problem.
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  Right. And, and I, I think about the
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  athletes that remember things from years ago, years ago,
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  they're going to remember that for the rest of their lives.
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  And I don't want to leave that bad impression.
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  So I always think about that in my head.
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  Well, let's leave tonight with a good impression.
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  I've got 100 random questions. I know the last time you asked
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  me about my stand up comedy and I got a little bit.
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  Upset I didn't go there. I didn't do that.
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  I was like this close and then you started dropping tooth bombs
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  as I got done 100 questions. You get the pick number.
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  I just asked the question 8. Why?
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  Because that was one of my hockey numbers all.
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  Right cat and mouse. Who was the real bad guy, Tom or
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  Jerry? Number. 40.
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  Seven I've never watched. I've never watched Tom and
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  Jerry. As a kid, I was a Looney Tunes,
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  Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam. I, Tom and Jerry was just And
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  then they had that weird period where Tom talked.
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  Yeah. There was like a one year period
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  where Tom talked. I don't really get that.
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  Well, instead of asking #47 because we were on the podcast
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  last year, your Guild podcast environment last year, it's
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  getting to where now, I don't know, we're, we're starting the
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  fifth season in January. That's crazy to me.
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  I don't know why that never registered when I started back
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  in 2020 doing this. But because you were on the
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  podcaster podcast, you get to put the script, You get to ask
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  me one question live. Right here.
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  OK, aside from this and aside from talking to the coaches,
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  what do you enjoy the most about the convention?
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  And I know I threw 2 weird caveats in there.
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  That's that's the main thing. There's got to be a memory that
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  pops out. I call this.
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  My Super Bowl, you know, I, I, I joke with the team, every team
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  that we bring. Here that.
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  You know, as we're walking through the hallway to come to
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  our booth, I will have to catch up.
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  I'm pulled over here. I'm pulled over.
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  You know, even tonight in the podcast, people are coming over
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  and I'm like, no, we're reporting.
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  We're here. I just love it, you know,
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  because I get to see you not at a track beat, stressed out,
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  doing a million things that you do.
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  So you're asking what else? OK, you know, well, you know
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  what, you know what? We don't have to go there.
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  We, we, we can just say. We can just say that just
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  because I got an. Answer so you know, I don't do
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  what I do and we at Gill don't do what we do without coaches
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  and a caveat of that in in addition to that, I should say
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  is the vast, vast bulk of our equipment sold through.
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  And so here at this convention we've got MF athletics.
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  They're a great partner of ours so a ton of fuel equipment VS
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  athletics on track athletics and of course we work with Mondo and
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  Byman as well. You know, so seeing these guys
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  and gals that every day are going into every high school and
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  every college and they're representing Gil athletics
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  because what they're doing, they're representing my favorite
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  people, my teammates, you know, those guys and gals that are
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  welding this stuff, painting this stuff, accounting.
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  I mean, I, I dearly, dearly love the people I work with.
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  And so all these dealers, coaches, you guys are kind of
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  supporting them putting. I was like, I don't know why I
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  use this example, putting turkeys on their table at
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  Thanksgiving. That means the world.
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  And, and like you said, I mean, for me, I, I was thinking about
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  it earlier before I walked down here.
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  I I was in a committee meeting with George Williams.
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  Who? For me it's on not only have.
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  You noticed George has now come up, I think, three times.
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  Take that as a hint. Go listen to his episode.
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  It it. I'm not overstating when I say
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  it changed my life when he talks about if you're not in the
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  huddle, you don't want to play. It will change your life about
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  judgment of others in all aspects of your life.
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  You're driving in the car and traffic to looking at fellow
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  coaches. It's, you know, I never want to
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  turn the camera on 'cause I can't show you the rudeness that
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  comes up there. I interrupted you, but.
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  Don't listen to that. And, and well, so I was in the
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  committee meeting with him and we walk out and Jim Sprecher,
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  who is here as well, Lynchburg, and I'm a Lynchburg and alumni.
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  Podcast along with. Yeah, we, we were talking for a
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  little while and George pops up after the meeting and we're
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  talking and Jim goes, hey, this is no, this is Greg and George.
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  No, I know. I've known Greg because we've
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  talked for. Years.
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  And I'm like, think about any other sport where a coach who
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  not only the, the Mount Rushmore tracking, the Mount Rushmore
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  athletics, if you ask me, because who else has 39 team
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  national championships and all the things he has.
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  And for me, that's the best thing about convention is the
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  best coaches here have no ego. They will work with everybody.
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  And for me to to have people like that know my name, respect
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  me and talk to me as I'm speaking with them.
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  And I'm getting emotional thinking about it just because
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  that's what this is about. And that's why I appreciate what
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  you do. I appreciate you bringing it to
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  the water. You deserve it, yeah, and you
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  also deserve only for people who are sitting down on custom Guild
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  Connections podcast Christmas order.
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  Look at the ornament he gave me. I don't know if this will fit in
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  my pocket. Thanks, Mike.
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  I'll talk to you soon. I appreciate you.
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  There's no bigger job than being a track coach.
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  The positive impact that you make on on young people today is
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  it's immeasurable. It's immeasurable.
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  You know, I really want to have a conversation with you of why
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  the guy that should be at the Bowerman, your former lead is
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  not here. Cordell Tench, baby, that's the
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  conversation I want to have. Why the best and we're not
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  talking. I'm not putting down a Leo and a
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  Jayden and I'm not putting them down.
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  Why is cordial tension out there?
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  I don't do much offline. I do it online, baby.
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  All right, let's start. You have to speak up a little
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  bit.