Latest / The Breakfast Club / Are Influencers Ruining the U.S. Open?

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Are Influencers Ruining the U.S. Open? · The Breakfast Club

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Speaker 1: Let's get, let's get, let's get to it, time to
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Speaker 1: do it. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit
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Speaker 1: about everything and everybody. You hear that exclusive? You know
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Speaker 1: she don't lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot.
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Speaker 1: Hey y'all, what's up?
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Speaker 2: It's Lauren LaRosa, and this is another episode of The
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Speaker 2: Latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on
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Speaker 2: all things pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the
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Speaker 2: conversations that shake the room, baby. Now, we always check
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Speaker 2: in behind the scenes of The Grind at the top
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Speaker 2: of the show. And the behind the scenes of The
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Speaker 2: Grind is the segment of the latest on The Rosa
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Speaker 2: where we really check in. A lot of times when
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Speaker 2: you're on The Grind, when you're moving, grooving, you don't
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Speaker 2: really take the time for yourself, for other people, and
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Speaker 2: for things. So I did this as like a daily
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Speaker 2: habit for myself where I would intentionally have to take
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Speaker 2: the time because this is where we ask the questions
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Speaker 2: How are you feeling?
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Speaker 1: Like, really feeling, Lauren? Today, I'm feeling great.
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Speaker 2: I'm feeling great. I surprisingly got a lot of rest
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Speaker 2: last night. I was actually, I woke up kind of
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Speaker 2: nervous this morning because I went to bed so early.
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Speaker 2: I felt like I wasn't going to be as prepared
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Speaker 2: as I needed to be for the day because normally
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Speaker 2: I'm like falling asleep on the laptop.
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Speaker 1: So when that doesn't happen, it's like, oh my God, wait,
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Speaker 1: I got sleep? What is happening? But I didn't feel
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Speaker 1: like that though. I woke up.
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Speaker 2: Today and felt very well rested, uh, you know, wasn't
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Speaker 2: frantic at all. And I think rest is so understated.
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Speaker 2: I think everybody in this like grind culture and, you know,
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Speaker 2: we talk a lot about brown girl grinding.
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Speaker 1: We really don't talk enough about how I'm sleeping.
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Speaker 2: I'm dead.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Well, I don't even like saying that out loud. Like
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Speaker 2: I know that used to be a big, um, big thing,
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Speaker 2: big thing. Like, um, I'm a, I ain't saying it.
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Speaker 2: I don't like saying it. I literally don't like saying
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Speaker 2: anything that can be heard and can be manifested into.
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Speaker 2: I mean, I guess we all will die one day, though. Like,
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Speaker 2: might as well be 100 plus years from now. But
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Speaker 2: Taylor reminded me of the saying, I'll sleep when I'm dead. Like,
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Speaker 2: you know, that grind culture, it's a real thing.
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Speaker 1: I used to say that, too. I never.
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Speaker 3: No.
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Speaker 1: I'd be vamping.
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Speaker 2: I used to be, like, vamping. Remember Jim Jones had, like,
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Speaker 2: the vamp life? Yeah, I used to say stuff like that,
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Speaker 2: but never sleeping like that.
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Speaker 1: I get careless about that life now, man.
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Speaker 2: For me, I don't even think it's like that I
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Speaker 2: could care less. I just think my body literally can't
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Speaker 2: sustain it. Like, I was so exhausted, I think, just
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Speaker 2: from this week of doing that. Like, being up, trying
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Speaker 2: to make sure I got everything together, waking up super early,
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Speaker 2: maneuvering throughout my day.
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Speaker 1: And yesterday, we went to the U.S. Open. It was
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Speaker 1: HBCU Day at the U.S. Open.
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Speaker 2: Shout out to HBCU Live and all of the team there.
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Speaker 2: An amazing— I say yesterday.
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Speaker 1: And— yeah, it was yesterday.
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Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. An amazing event. I'm so mad I missed the panel, though, y'all.
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Speaker 2: They had a panel all about HBCUs impact on culture
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Speaker 2: and where that's headed. And I'm so mad I missed it.
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Speaker 2: I heard that it was amazing. I know Common was
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Speaker 2: one of the people that was featured on that panel.
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Speaker 2: But after that, we all got to head out into
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Speaker 2: the open and there were different suites.
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Speaker 1: They had like. Presidential suite and different things, and you
3:00
Speaker 1: got to watch the matches.
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Speaker 2: Getting to see my tennis superheroes. Like, I love the
3:05
Speaker 2: girls and seeing them on the court. It was really
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Speaker 2: fun to watch Ben yesterday as well, too. But, like,
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Speaker 2: I mean, Coco Gauff, I talk about her here on
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Speaker 2: the podcast all the time. Naomi Osaka. I am really
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Speaker 2: trying to get to see Venus and Serena.
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Speaker 1: Like, these are people.
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Speaker 3: Were you making a commotion while the matches were going on?
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Speaker 2: I was not making a commotion while the matches were
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Speaker 2: going on. I know about, you know, the tennis etiquette, like,
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Speaker 2: and they don't play about that. Like, when it's time
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Speaker 2: to be quiet, the last round of the match that
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Speaker 2: I watched, I watched Ben Shelton, and he played, I
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Speaker 2: am not going to get this guy's name correct.
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Speaker 1: Herbert Herkos.
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Speaker 2: There was, like, Points of that match were like, it
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Speaker 2: was super, super like loud and everybody's cheering Ben on.
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Speaker 1: And I actually recorded part of it.
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Speaker 2: This was like the, well, I guess we could put
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Speaker 2: it here, but this was like the final, like right
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Speaker 2: before Ben, he did what he needed to do to
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Speaker 2: make sure he solidified himself in the last set and
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Speaker 2: won the match. Listen to the crowd and how like
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Speaker 2: hype we were with him. but then there were parts
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Speaker 2: of it where like it was so intense and it
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Speaker 2: was down to like you were literally watching every last
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Speaker 2: swing back and forth and back and forth and we
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Speaker 2: looking for like you know the coverage on the tennis
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Speaker 2: court and like Oh my God. It was so quiet
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Speaker 2: during those times because I think we, I mean, you
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Speaker 2: want the tennis player to be able to focus, but
4:37
Speaker 2: in real life, like if you're paying attention to what's
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Speaker 2: going on, you literally are on.
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Speaker 1: The edge of your seat.
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Speaker 2: So there were times where like, we were all talking
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Speaker 2: throughout the match because there was a lot of people
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Speaker 2: in the suite that, you know, either went to HBCUs
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Speaker 2: or support HBCU culture through like the business or whatever
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Speaker 2: it is that they do. So there was a lot
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Speaker 2: of conversation happening. I met a lot of people that
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Speaker 2: I didn't, I didn't know before I walked in there.
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Speaker 2: Shout out to my girl, Scotty beam though. who's also
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Speaker 2: a commentator, she was there. So it was good to
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Speaker 2: actually see people that I knew this year because last
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Speaker 2: year I felt like when I walked into the suite,
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Speaker 2: I didn't know nobody. And I didn't mind that, but
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Speaker 2: it was just a different vibe. I also feel like
5:12
Speaker 2: the suite I was in this year was a bit...
5:15
Speaker 2: It skewed a bit younger. There were, like, people that
5:18
Speaker 2: were more my age. So I think that's why this
5:21
Speaker 2: year felt a bit different as far as, like, the suite.
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Speaker 2: Last year I was in the presidential suite, so that
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Speaker 2: was a bit more elevated.
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Speaker 3: I have a question about it, though.
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Speaker 2: So.
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Speaker 3: I've never been.
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Speaker 1: To the U.S. Open, but why?
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Speaker 3: You're saying because the 10th players need concentration. That's why
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Speaker 3: no one's yelling or anything else.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, but also, too, you want to be able to
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Speaker 1: hear the umpires.
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Speaker 2: There's calls that are happening, things that are being said
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Speaker 2: on the court.
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Speaker 3: I'm not trying to compare one sport to the other,
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Speaker 3: but how you're saying it was high energy.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: With them.
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Speaker 3: I would think those rules wouldn't matter because I guess
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Speaker 3: I'm thinking about like with basketball. I mean, it's not
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Speaker 3: be a dumb, a dumb comparison, but they are doing
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Speaker 3: calls on. They're doing calls on basketball.
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Speaker 1: But yeah, I just think tennis has like a it's
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Speaker 1: just different.
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Speaker 2: Like I think each sport. So like, OK, we know
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Speaker 2: like I'm not a person for golf.
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Speaker 3: I know that. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Like I'm not a person who.
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Speaker 2: Follows sports to the point where like I have teams
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Speaker 2: that I love and like like tennis players. I love
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Speaker 2: we were talking about this yesterday, how like even the
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Speaker 2: people that were in the suite with me that are
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Speaker 2: avid tennis watchers. Like for me, I don't watch tennis
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Speaker 2: all the time. But like if there's something going on
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Speaker 2: with like a Cocoa Golf or a Naomi Osaka or
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Speaker 2: Taylor Townsend.
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Speaker 1: Or a Sloan, like, I will... Venus and Serena.
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Speaker 2: I'll see that and I'll pay attention to it because
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Speaker 2: it's like, no, these are, like, the black superheroes in this, like,
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Speaker 2: in tennis. And, I mean, you know, but also not
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Speaker 2: even just them. Like, Ben, he's half black, but, like,
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Speaker 2: he was one of the people that, like, a lot
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Speaker 2: of the black.
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Speaker 1: People at the U.S. Open were looking to come out
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Speaker 1: and support.
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Speaker 2: But when something's happening with us in tennis, I pay
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Speaker 2: attention even if I don't watch the matches because But
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Speaker 2: there were people who, like, really pay attention to all
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Speaker 2: of the matches and all the things and are very
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Speaker 2: involved in a lot of the things that.
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Speaker 1: No, no, no, but I'm saying, like, cheering-wise.
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Speaker 2: But what I was going to say is, even those
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Speaker 2: people who were, like, really, who follow all of that,
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Speaker 2: there's certain points where you just do and certain points
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Speaker 2: where you don't because it's just, within each sport, there's
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Speaker 2: a different culture. So, like, if you go to a
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Speaker 2: football game... especially depending on, like, the fans. Like, Philly fans,
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Speaker 2: there's a culture there. New York fans, there's a culture there. Like,
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Speaker 2: Eagles fans, notably, are crazy as hell. Like, it's just
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Speaker 2: a culture. I can't describe it, but it's just like
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Speaker 2: a thing. I don't even know where that, like, stemmed from,
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Speaker 2: but it's just a thing that I've always known.
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Speaker 1: I'm about to look it up. Where did U.S.
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Speaker 2: Tennis culture or etiquette stem from? So I looked up
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Speaker 2: the U.S. Open etiquette. Like, where does that stem from? Like,
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Speaker 2: what the etiquette is. So according to Yahoo Sports, traditional
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Speaker 2: tennis etiquette stems from the late 19th century, the British aristocrat.
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Speaker 2: I'm going to say this wrong.
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Speaker 1: Aristocracy. Aristocracy. Aristocracy. The late 19th century with the British aristocrats.
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Speaker 2: So they treated the sport as a polite social pastime
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Speaker 2: and established strict codes of decorum, which were quiet and restraint.
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Speaker 2: So the origins of tennis etiquette come from social class,
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Speaker 2: decorum and tradition. So social class, the sport developed on
8:40
Speaker 2: a manicure, was developed on manicure lawns of polite British society,
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Speaker 2: inheriting upper class social standards. So even if you look
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Speaker 2: at like the fashion around the U.S.
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Speaker 1: Open, you'll see.
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Speaker 2: Like it's preppy like it's a lot of like the
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Speaker 2: collared shirts and um the cardigans and the jewelry it's
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Speaker 2: very plain it's um very fine tailored uh the scarves
9:05
Speaker 2: the hats do you think.
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Speaker 3: It's becoming um just based off what happened uh recently
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Speaker 3: with just like the commotion and stuff like that do
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Speaker 3: you think it's becoming more of like a what's the
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Speaker 3: word Just like a trendy.
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Speaker 1: Place to be. I think the U.S. Open has always
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Speaker 1: been a trendy place to be.
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Speaker 2: I think a lot of them, a lot of these
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Speaker 2: major sporting events are like, I literally just said it, like,
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Speaker 2: I don't pay attention to a lot of the sports
9:33
Speaker 2: on a day-to-day and throughout different seasons or time periods,
9:36
Speaker 2: but when.
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Speaker 1: The bigger events happen, it's trendy.
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Speaker 2: Like, I don't think you can get around that, especially
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Speaker 2: because the sport is so beloved and you have such
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Speaker 2: big-name talent within the sport, especially like You know, like
9:47
Speaker 2: a lot of these girls, people have been following throughout
9:49
Speaker 2: their careers. Like I know with Sloane Stevens, I know
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Speaker 2: she talked a lot about having her community organization at
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Speaker 2: the US Open with her and raising children up in
10:03
Speaker 2: it but like those kids are probably looking at her
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Speaker 2: like a superhero so you're going you're posting you're talking
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Speaker 2: about the fact that you're seeing all and these women
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Speaker 2: are very accomplished and so are the men too in
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Speaker 2: the sport as well but I say that to say
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Speaker 2: wherever popularity and celebrity is trend is going to follow.
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Speaker 1: So I don't think you can get around it.
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Speaker 2: And I also think, too, I know to me the
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Speaker 2: difference that I saw from last year to this year,
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Speaker 2: there were influencers there last year. But I think with
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Speaker 2: this year, it's become it's like something a lifestyle thing
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Speaker 2: that you want to like subscribe to.
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Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 2: Like people go and get Starbucks because I mean, the
10:38
Speaker 2: products are good. But Starbucks was able to brand and
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Speaker 2: do the things that they did because. they presented this
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Speaker 2: lifestyle like you're paying a bit more for your coffee
10:47
Speaker 2: if you have the cup we look at you as
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Speaker 2: a person that lives a certain life or lives within
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Speaker 2: a certain social class the u.s open is the same
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Speaker 2: thing to me even if you don't know tennis you
10:55
Speaker 2: want to attend or even attend events surrounding it and
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Speaker 2: if you look at the brands that couple with the
11:00
Speaker 2: u.s open like you know the uh moette brand let
11:04
Speaker 2: me look at just the brands that partner with them
11:06
Speaker 2: this year um So this year, these are just some
11:10
Speaker 2: of the brands that partnered with them. You had American
11:12
Speaker 2: Express Lounges, Chase Lounges, which is where we were for
11:15
Speaker 2: the HBCU suites. Emirates, which is known as a very
11:19
Speaker 2: upscale way to fly over to different countries. You also
11:23
Speaker 2: had Deloitte, IBM, Cadillac, IHG Hotels and Resorts were official partner. Polo,
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Speaker 2: Ralph Lauren was an official outfitter.
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Speaker 1: Rolex. Like, these are... These are double tequila, too.
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Speaker 2: Like they make these like drinks that have like the
11:40
Speaker 2: fake tennis balls on the top that everybody wants to
11:42
Speaker 2: go get. But these are brands that people get because,
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Speaker 2: I mean, it just it assimilates with a certain point
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Speaker 2: or a certain kind of lifestyle. So I think you're
11:53
Speaker 2: going to have that because people are going to see
11:55
Speaker 2: it and want to be a part of it and
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Speaker 2: want to aspire to it.
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Speaker 1: Now, does it ruin the U.S.
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Speaker 3: Open?
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Speaker 1: I think for some people, honestly.
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Speaker 2: It does.
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Speaker 1: I just think as... Like, for people who are really
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Speaker 1: there to just enjoy the tennis matches, I think it
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Speaker 1: does ruin it for them.
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Speaker 3: Because, hey, like, as big as social media keeps getting, like,
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Speaker 3: people are going to want to have content for all
12:11
Speaker 3: these other events.
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Speaker 2: But I think as a business, if you're the U.S.
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Speaker 2: Open as a business, you want that.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Like, you want that.
12:17
Speaker 3: They don't have, like, any, like, stands where people can...
12:22
Speaker 3: I'm sure they do, like, take pictures, like, have.
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Speaker 1: Those photo shoots?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a lot of, like, moments set up. Like,
12:28
Speaker 2: they had an HBCU backdrop, HBCU U.S.
12:31
Speaker 1: Open backdrop. They had a regular U.S. Open backdrop.
12:35
Speaker 2: In the middle of, like, so, like, when you came
12:38
Speaker 2: in to, like, head into, like, the Ash Stadium, like,
12:40
Speaker 2: the setup, they had, like, a huge, like, setup for
12:45
Speaker 2: where the DJs from all the HBCUs were. Would have
12:48
Speaker 2: been DJing last night, but just in general for the U.S. Open,
12:51
Speaker 2: when you walk on the grounds, there's like a whole
12:54
Speaker 2: ememorium of all of these like tennis players and people
12:56
Speaker 2: that have been involved in organization that I saw people
12:59
Speaker 2: doing content and interviews in front of. I actually got
13:02
Speaker 2: a chance to meet Althea Gibson's family. Althea Gibson is
13:06
Speaker 2: like one of the first. known black women in tennis
13:08
Speaker 2: to take it to new heights her family was there
13:11
Speaker 2: as well too so there you know there are people
13:12
Speaker 2: doing content around the fact that um you know there's
13:16
Speaker 2: in memoriams to her set up uh last year that
13:19
Speaker 2: it was really like everywhere you turned you saw things
13:22
Speaker 2: about althea gibson because they were celebrating and commemorating her
13:25
Speaker 2: last year um but yeah and and you know like
13:28
Speaker 2: i was reading an article on forbes i just pulled
13:30
Speaker 2: it up And when I was looking at the influencer
13:32
Speaker 2: thing earlier to talk about on The Breakfast Club, and
13:34
Speaker 2: they were talking about how this year the 2026 U.S.
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Speaker 1: Open will attract more than just tennis fans. There's a record.
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Speaker 2: 1.14 million people that attended the Grand Slam tournament last year.
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Speaker 2: Among them were influencers, celebrities, sports agents, vendors, corporate sponsors, athletes.
13:50
Speaker 2: Because also, too, you got to think about it. There's
13:51
Speaker 2: a lot of business that's getting done in these suites. Like,
13:53
Speaker 2: people are having these conversations.
13:55
Speaker 3: But.
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Speaker 2: but people but not just people who enjoy the sport
14:00
Speaker 2: of tennis but there's like such a business around it
14:02
Speaker 2: as well too and I think that that's another thing
14:06
Speaker 2: as well like a lot of people go for the
14:07
Speaker 2: relationships like that was one of the biggest things like
14:10
Speaker 2: yesterday walking in Arthur Ashe and leaving out of I
14:14
Speaker 2: had I mean I probably talked to at least like
14:16
Speaker 2: four to five people about like different opportunities of different
14:19
Speaker 2: things I can do not even related to tennis I'd
14:21
Speaker 2: also heard that like you know there were a ton
14:24
Speaker 2: of I mean they mentioned agents there too but I'd
14:26
Speaker 2: heard that there were a lot of agents there and
14:28
Speaker 2: not just sports agents. Like there were a lot of
14:29
Speaker 2: like brand agents there. Like someone literally came up to
14:32
Speaker 2: me and was like, um, they remembered, I mentioned at
14:34
Speaker 2: accelerate her a long time ago, probably like two months ago.
14:37
Speaker 2: Now we've talked about it on the podcast, but at
14:40
Speaker 2: accelerate her, I was talking openly about trying to figure
14:43
Speaker 2: out if having an agent makes sense for me right
14:45
Speaker 2: now and feeling like I need an agent for brands.
14:48
Speaker 2: Not even just for like new television opportunities.
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Speaker 1: I want that. But for brand deals and like really
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Speaker 1: broker in the big deals, um, And one of.
14:56
Speaker 2: The girls I was talking to who remembered me talking
14:59
Speaker 2: about that on the podcast, she was like, you know
15:01
Speaker 2: that this is a place like you can run into
15:02
Speaker 2: some of the biggest agents. And they're here because they're
15:05
Speaker 2: making sure their clients, whether they represent the brand or
15:09
Speaker 2: the athlete, is getting all their situation, like getting everything
15:13
Speaker 2: done that they need to get done.
15:14
Speaker 1: So it just, I don't know. It's one of those things.
15:17
Speaker 1: But it says that the U.S.
15:18
Speaker 2: Open just this year alone, that's prize money where is
15:25
Speaker 2: it i wonder why.
15:28
Speaker 3: Um the pen relays don't get as much acknowledgement like
15:33
Speaker 3: or i feel like i haven't seen that much change
15:36
Speaker 3: or people i.
15:39
Speaker 2: Feel like the pen relays used to be really really
15:42
Speaker 2: big it did right people used to travel into for
15:45
Speaker 2: sure i used to be.
15:46
Speaker 3: At pen relays Every single year.
15:48
Speaker 1: But I also ran track, though. So maybe I'm biased.
15:51
Speaker 2: Some of my friends that would talk about it were
15:53
Speaker 2: my friends that ran track. But I feel like there
15:55
Speaker 2: was a lot of parties. It was a lot of
15:57
Speaker 2: parties surrounding it, too. I know people used to travel
15:59
Speaker 2: into Pennsylvania. I remember that always being a thing of
16:02
Speaker 2: a weekend.
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Speaker 3: I don't know. I feel like it died down. I
16:04
Speaker 3: feel like the news isn't really trying to follow it.
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Speaker 2: I think that it hits the news when it's happening.
16:13
Speaker 2: But I think what you're feeling is It's not.
16:16
Speaker 3: The same exposure as I'm seeing with U.S.
16:19
Speaker 1: Open or even.
16:20
Speaker 2: I think the U.S. Open, culturally, outside of just... Like,
16:24
Speaker 2: even if you've never watched or attended... Have you ever
16:26
Speaker 2: been to a tennis match in person?
16:27
Speaker 3: No.
16:28
Speaker 2: And you've never been, but you saw so much about
16:31
Speaker 2: the U.S. Open since it started here in New York, right?
16:33
Speaker 2: But I think it's because culturally it's transcended. Like, Venus
16:37
Speaker 2: and Serena being back is not just, like, a huge
16:40
Speaker 2: moment for tennis, even though it is, but it's, like,
16:42
Speaker 2: it's a moment for black women.
16:43
Speaker 1: It's a moment for conversation about.
16:45
Speaker 2: legacy the brand deals and interactions they've been in mad
16:49
Speaker 2: commercials about it like there's it's culture tied to it
16:52
Speaker 2: like taylor townsend last year had such a moment remember
16:56
Speaker 2: she posted the at the mother because i'm down for
16:59
Speaker 2: my on her instagram when she you know had that
17:01
Speaker 2: back and forth with the tennis the girl on the
17:04
Speaker 2: the court this year she came out she was dressed
17:06
Speaker 2: in orange and black because her sister went to hbcu
17:09
Speaker 2: in florida like and that picked up like it I
17:12
Speaker 2: don't know.
17:12
Speaker 1: Like, they're doing a really good job of transcending culture,
17:15
Speaker 1: not just sports.
17:15
Speaker 3: But you know what that makes me also just think, though?
17:18
Speaker 1: I wonder because.
17:20
Speaker 3: And there's all different cultures that come to Penn Relays, but.
17:25
Speaker 1: I don't.
17:26
Speaker 3: Know if I want to say it.
17:27
Speaker 1: Like, it is us, though. Like, more so.
17:30
Speaker 3: So I wonder because we're conquering a sport that really
17:34
Speaker 3: wasn't for us, it makes it bigger.
17:36
Speaker 2: But I also think, too, there's been so many conversations
17:40
Speaker 2: about black people in tennis. Yeah. over the last couple
17:42
Speaker 2: of years, trying to make sure that we support them
17:44
Speaker 2: the way that we need to, that that has brought
17:46
Speaker 2: a lot more of us out.
17:47
Speaker 1: And like, we get loud about it.
17:48
Speaker 2: Like we want to, we want to go, we want
17:50
Speaker 2: to repost Cocoa Golf. We want to give it up
17:52
Speaker 2: for Naomi. Like we just do a lot of that.
17:55
Speaker 2: Venus and Serena story. You want to see them in
17:57
Speaker 2: real life. You want to witness the greatness in real life.
17:59
Speaker 2: And it is very honestly, one of the greatest things
18:00
Speaker 2: to witness. Um, especially because like you're watching from the stands,
18:04
Speaker 2: like how the hell are they covering this court?
18:07
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
18:07
Speaker 2: Like, like these alleys and all these things, so well
18:11
Speaker 2: like they are so polished and so great at what
18:13
Speaker 2: they do so I understand why the influencers pull up
18:17
Speaker 2: but there was a group of influencers honestly it was
18:19
Speaker 2: a couple different instances that went down over the US
18:21
Speaker 2: Open these last couple days I know that there was
18:23
Speaker 2: a woman taking photos during Naomi Osaka's match and you
18:26
Speaker 2: know umpires and people got really upset and there was.
18:29
Speaker 1: A group of influencers who were recording a video and.
18:31
Speaker 2: This man that was sitting a few rows below their
18:35
Speaker 2: suite Oh, he is going so viral, baby, because he
18:38
Speaker 2: was annoyed with these women. And you know how loud
18:41
Speaker 2: they were. It was a bunch of cute girls. And
18:43
Speaker 2: they're obviously recording something maybe for TikTok or Instagram.
18:46
Speaker 1: But, I mean, they're loud.
18:48
Speaker 2: And they do have little breaks in between the different sets.
18:51
Speaker 2: And that's when, like, we were talking most and taking pictures.
18:53
Speaker 2: I don't know when this was, but let's take a
18:55
Speaker 2: listen to these ladies.
18:57
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, we're back. Did you miss us? Because we
19:01
Speaker 1: missed you. That's what I'm saying. It's like for the average,
19:05
Speaker 1: like the avid tennis watcher.
19:07
Speaker 2: You don't want to hear that behind you. And if
19:09
Speaker 2: you do, it got to be like right time. Like
19:12
Speaker 2: even as the match is ending and they're going from
19:14
Speaker 2: like one session to the.
19:15
Speaker 1: Other would be better.
19:18
Speaker 2: But yes, I had a great time again, you know,
19:21
Speaker 2: thank you to everybody that, that, you know, really cares
19:26
Speaker 2: enough about the HBCU journey vision and, and impact even
19:30
Speaker 2: after we leave the schools to center it on such
19:33
Speaker 2: a major platform like HBCU Day. Shout out to Taylor
19:37
Speaker 2: Townsend and, you know, her big up HBCU Day at
19:40
Speaker 2: the U.S.
19:41
Speaker 1: Open.
19:41
Speaker 2: I mean, it is so important. I think even that
19:44
Speaker 2: is so new. We talk about things being trendy, but
19:46
Speaker 2: I remember being told that if I went to HBCU,
19:48
Speaker 2: no matter what I chose to do in life, whether
19:50
Speaker 2: I chose to stay in business or get into entertainment
19:52
Speaker 2: or fashion, that I wouldn't be able to do it
19:54
Speaker 2: on a major scale because HBCUs just couldn't equip me
19:57
Speaker 2: that way.
19:57
Speaker 1: Like, I literally remember being told that.
20:00
Speaker 2: And now it is like, the most trendiest thing to
20:02
Speaker 2: say you attended an HBCU or to pull up to
20:04
Speaker 2: an HBCU's homecoming or, you know, wear the gear from
20:07
Speaker 2: the schools even if you didn't attend. So I think
20:10
Speaker 2: that those things happen and you need them a bit. Like,
20:12
Speaker 2: we need people to talk about these things in order
20:15
Speaker 2: for them to stay relevant and for them to infiltrate
20:17
Speaker 2: culture because those black tennis players, although they want us
20:20
Speaker 2: to behave and within the etiquette, I know they appreciate
20:23
Speaker 2: the love and support. You know, I'm sure, you know,
20:25
Speaker 2: they talk a lot about the evolution of being black
20:28
Speaker 2: in tennis, which is not traditionally accepted.
20:30
Speaker 1: You know, something that like.
20:32
Speaker 2: Black people owned space in, they appreciate us showing up
20:35
Speaker 2: and showing up, I'm sure. So that has been another
20:38
Speaker 2: episode of The Latest with Lauren La Rosa, you guys.
20:40
Speaker 1: I tell y'all.
20:41
Speaker 2: Every single episode, y'all could be anywhere with any old
20:45
Speaker 2: body talking about all of the things, but the fact
20:47
Speaker 2: that you guys choose to be right here with me,
20:49
Speaker 2: my lowriders, I really appreciate you guys and I'll catch
20:51
Speaker 2: you in my next episode.