Latest / Scene Projects Sports Network / Kirk McCarley: Community Spirit, Career Insights, and ESPN Stories

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Kirk McCarley: Community Spirit, Career Insights, and ESPN Stories · Scene Projects Sports Network

• 0:06
  SPSN.
• 0:14
  Welcome in to a great interview here on the Scene Project Sports Network.
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  Today, I am joined by executive and career coach, also statistician with ESPN, Kirk
• 0:25
  McCarley.
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  Kirk, welcome to the show.
• 0:28
  Thank you, Bubba.
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  Good to be with you.
• 0:30
  Yeah.
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  Well, obviously, you work a lot in the sports field and have for some time, and you're an
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  avid sportsman yourself.
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  But you also help coach people too.
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  So I thought having you over on the sports network was just the the most comfortable fit
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  for both of us.
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  And every now and then, I'll coach a broadcaster along the way.
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  Who knows?
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  Well, we all know that I need it, at least any fan
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  of this show.
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  So appreciate you being with us today.
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  Before we get too far in the conversation and everything that you got going on and coming up,
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  I wanna give you an opportunity to just give us a little bit of your backstory.
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  Well, person of faith, husband, father, grandfather.
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  You talked about what I do vocationally.
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  Besides that, I serve as a group exercise instructor.
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  I coach people on spinning.
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  I, am an author, wrote a book, about a year and a half ago, and, really liked to connect with
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  people.
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  As a matter of fact, that's my keyword this year.
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  Last year, it was move.
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  This year, it's connect.
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  So I've set a goal to reach out to people that I've not talked to or intersected with for
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  periods of time, talking about six months, a year, sometimes five years.
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  And it's been real interesting, the kind of feedback I've gotten from that.
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  Very rewarding for me, and I hope it has been for them, as well.
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  And, traditionally, that's what always made, you know, reunions of of any type a a lot of
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  fun is reconnecting.
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  We haven't always had the Internet.
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  You're, we're obviously, you know, elder statesman and remember a time before the
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  Internet, but we're very much, both of us online, to a certain extent and both community
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  builders.
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  I would say that, you know, especially for you being in that, spinning coaching space that
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  you're always kinda growing your own community.
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  I would just, returned before we went live today with, some men that I meet with on
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  Thursday morning.
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  They have a lot of wisdom to bring.
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  We talk about things related to, our faith beliefs, but also get into, personal things,
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  our marriages, our raising kids, our, raising kids who are now adults and how we deal with
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  that, life issues, the kinds of people, that we surround ourselves with.
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  One of the things that's a hot topic right now, I think about everywhere, is, and not to get
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  political, but the Epstein files and the temptations that we face, as men who we
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  surround ourselves with, the trips we take, the appearances to others.
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  So all these things are benefits that I get from these connections and how I soak up
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  wisdom.
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  Hopefully, I can apply that in instances where I have that opportunity.
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  Do you find it because of the physical nature of the spin classes that you form deeper bonds
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  with the men that are inside of that room?
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  Men and women.
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  We're all there for the goal of getting into better physical condition, but a lot of the
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  demographics that are there are people that are my age, maybe a little bit younger.
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  So we share some things generationally.
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  There's a lot of music involved, obviously, a choreograph that goes with that.
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  And so one of the things that I really enjoy is the opportunity to comment on what's being
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  played wise.
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  That brings back memories that stimulates thoughts, feelings, what we were thinking at
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  that point in time, what we're dealing with, what was happening, historically.
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  So, yes, that bond exists.
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  And particularly as we're going through, the ride and at the end of it, that feeling of
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  accomplishment that we have achieved this in the company of other people that we share this
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  commonality with.
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  I love spin classes.
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  And to all of our listeners, if you have not tried one, I highly recommend you at least go
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  and try it a few times.
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  The first time is probably gonna kick your butt, so you probably won't enjoy it very much.
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  But go back three to five times and start to build a bond with not just your coach, but
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  other people in the room.
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  And what a joy it is.
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  We're actually very fortunate in our small town here.
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  Shout out to Psychopath Studios.
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  Some ladies in our community were big fans themselves and got tired of having to drive 30
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  miles to go and built a studio and and started teaching classes.
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  Very fortunate to live about a block away.
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  Now in the last year, we haven't been able to get in there as much as possible.
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  My wife returned to school while still working full time, and I've been very busy building up
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  our brand.
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  But it it's something that I know is there and that I I want to get back into to support, not
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  just another local business, but the community that's built inside of that room.
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  So, but there's always you know, I was probably one of the only men, one of very few,
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  especially when we were always there.
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  So getting to know the ladies of all ages and and different, you know, levels of difficulty
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  that we had.
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  Still a very small town, but getting to know people inside of the room, it it was a very, I
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  think, underrated part of going to spin class.
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  Yes.
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  It's about fitness, but that community bonds that you were forming, I I found was really,
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  really compelling.
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  I'm impressed, Bub, but that is a real coup for a community of 11 or 1,200 to have a spin
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  studio.
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  For somebody like me that just adores that kind of workout regimen, that would be mecca for me
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  to be in a community of, of that size just to the West of Yankton and to be able to
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  participate in that.
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  Well, we absolutely love it, and they're big parts of the community, obviously, giving back
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  to a lot of the sports organizations.
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  And they do tumbling classes for the kids as well.
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  So, yeah, shout out to the ladies at Psychopath for taking on the role of community builders.
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  Right?
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  And I don't know that that was necessarily their, you know, mission as they were setting
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  out.
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  I have to believe that in some ways it was, but that it it's done so much for our community to
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  have that.
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  And now we actually have another gym in town as well for fitness, and, we're just, the people
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  in this town are very active.
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  And, you know, we have a golf course that's right on the outside of town.
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  There's always people that are outside biking biking around the pond and to do that.
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  So to have a small community and it's a big part of what keeps us here.
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  Right?
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  We may live in a small town, but our small town has survived because it has entrepreneurs that
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  are willing to invest into the small community, not necessarily to get rich, but to to to serve
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  a purpose.
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  Right?
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  And it's why we still have a grocery store here in town, which a lot of small towns don't.
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  And we have, you know, a couple of, you know, a a couple of bars, and we have our bowling
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  alley, and we have the golf course.
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  And we have these things here in town still that a lot of small towns just don't have the
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  community bonds to grow that.
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  Let me go on record as saying that, those who are listening and watching this, this podcast
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  with Bubba and myself, if you're looking for a vacation destination, this summer, Tyndall,
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  South Dakota, put it on your map.
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  You can go visit there.
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  You can go see Bubba.
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  You can spin up the road.
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  You can go to the Corn Palace.
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  What more can you want?
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  It really is a gem down here, and I used to, my my in laws, they tend to vacation, right in
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  Yankton.
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  When they leave town, they go right down the road.
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  And it's like, well, don't you ever wanna go anywhere else?
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  And it's like, why?
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  I can go there on a Monday.
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  Father-in-law is a farmer.
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  And, when my my mother-in-law is now retired, so they can go down, get the good campsite
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  right against the lake.
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  It's one of the nicest campgrounds in all of South Dakota, one of the busiest for sure, and
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  people are coming from all over the area to come here.
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  So when you live close to a vacation destination spot as we do, it actually makes
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  life a lot easier.
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  You're not having to make these long trips.
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  You take a thirty minute drive down the road.
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  You show up when nobody else is there.
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  You get to enjoy four or five days in peace before the weekend settles in and all of the
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  families are coming in and bringing the kids and the boats out.
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  We're really blessed to live where we do, you know, ten minutes from the Missouri River.
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  Plenty of fishing and and outdoor sports.
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  Plenty of biking trails for people like yourself that want to indulge in some pain.
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  And you know what?
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  Not too many hills.
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  Right?
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  Just a few.
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  Not like where I grew up on the Western side of the state near Mount Rushmore and, you know,
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  where everywhere was uphill no matter what direction you went.
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  We were talking earlier.
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  South Dakota offers so much.
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  And by the way, I wanna introduce viewers to the new head of the Tyndall, Chamber of
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  Commerce, and that's Bubba Starts.
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  But as but aside from that, we had talked a a few days ago about my experiences in South
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  Dakota, and I had an opportunity to work again in Brookings, which is up I 29 from Sioux
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  Falls, which is the largest city in South Dakota.
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  But I experienced an atmospheric condition that is like none other that I've ever seen.
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  No.
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  It's not the northern lights, but this was working a game at South Dakota State at their
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  stadium there.
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  At halftime, I wandered out from the room that we're broadcasting from, looked over the
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  western horizon.
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  There were two suns, And I learned that that is a phenomenon known as a sun dog where the
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  reflection of the sun will appear at a 22 and a half degree angle from the actual sun.
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  It was otherworldly for me to experience that.
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  And four years ago, a memory, associated with South Dakota that I will never forget.
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  Not to diverge or deviate, but I want to plug that as we're talking about, the attractions of
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  South Dakota.
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  Yeah.
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  Well and, I think the South Dakota Board of Tourism might owe us a few dollars on this
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  podcast episode.
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  Shout out to a a beautiful state, South Dakota State.
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  I I went to school there, albeit briefly, back in the early two thousands.
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  Let's talk a little bit about your work with ESPN.
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  I I think that's so incredible that you've been making a career out of this.
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  Obviously, you're very good at your job.
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  You've given me stats about my hometown that I didn't even know.
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  And, you absolutely love numbers.
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  And to make a career out of being the guy that helps produce the show behind it, I I think
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  anyone who's ever listened to a sports broadcast, especially on the radio, and you
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  wonder how these broadcasters are able to come up with all of the numbers and the, you know,
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  things inside of the game.
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  And it's not them sitting there noodling numbers.
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  They're busy watching the game and digesting it.
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  It's Kirk McCarley behind the scenes crunching numbers and following along in the scorebook or
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  in the history books to bring things out to light.
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  How did you get into being a statistician?
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  Great question, Bubba.
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  I'm gonna plug the University of North Texas.
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  I'm a native Texan.
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  That's where I went to college.
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  So I had a fascination with numbers prior to that, as a young kid.
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  And this is the day in the day before there were electronic calculators.
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  I remember when Texas Texas Instruments first came up with a digital calculator.
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  It was just fascinating.
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  But it up to that point in time, if I wanted to figure out a proportion or a percentage, I had
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  to do it longhand.
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  And soon, I began to memorize those numbers.
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  It was talent that I brought with me on to college.
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  Fast forward to that point in time.
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  My college roommate was a broadcast communications major.
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  The fellow, across the hallway from us in the house in which we lived, He also had a
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  fascination with numbers.
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  He was an IT guy, but he could spout a lot of statistical information as well.
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  Down the hall was an individual who wrote for the campus paper.
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  Eventually, he became the lead writer for the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News.
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  Just recently retired from that.
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  So back to my roommate who's broadcast communications major.
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  He got a wonderful break early in his career.
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  He was the first play by play radio announcer for the Dallas Mavericks when they got the
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  expansion franchise in 1981.
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  Later, as he was doing Southwest Conference, division one football games, that's a
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  conference that disbanded thirty years ago, but we initially started with that.
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  We by he inviting me to join him in the broadcast booth to provide him with the
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  statistical data that I had provided him with when we were college roommates way back then.
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  We stayed with the Southwest Conference for several years till it it disbanded.
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  There was a new network that was birthed in 1996 called ESPN two, which seems hard to
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  believe that it's been around for thirty years, particularly when there are so many ESPN
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  affiliates affiliates now.
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  So we merged in together on television.
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  We were the first broadcast crew for football for that network.
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  I stayed with him until, he went on to another career calling to do Major League Baseball.
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  I stayed with ESPN, and this year is my thirty seventh season of doing this, part time for not
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  only college and NFL football, but for college basketball, men and women's, softball, and
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  baseball.
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  Just incredible.
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  And now you're taking that wealth of experience in the sports world and now bringing it into
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  coaching for executives and others who are moving along in their careers.
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  Talk about the transition that you made and when that kinda happened.
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  Obviously, you're someone who likes to help people.
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  So the, I I feel like the inspiration has always been there to want to do this.
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  But what was it about this kind of executive coaching, that really grabbed you?
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  I had a real job besides doing ESPN.
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  Not that that wasn't a real job, but that was supplementary for me.
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  As a human resources person, I was an executive doing that, working with people, benefits,
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  compensation, benefits, as I mentioned before, recruitment for about thirty five years.
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  Late in that career, I wanted to do something else to augment what I was doing with ESPN.
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  I wasn't sure what that was.
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  I hired a coach myself, and it was about the third meeting that I was having with that
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  person that I had my breakthrough moment, and I said, I wanna do what you're doing.
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  So that journey, I embarked upon it.
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  It's been about ten years ago that I have gone out to do that.
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  I focus in on career and executive coaching, which involves professional development,
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  executive presence.
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  But as I tell all my clients, life always intersects those areas.
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  So I have had more fun, Bubba, these last ten years getting to help people achieve their
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  goals, to achieve maybe self actualization in some instances, but to fulfill some of the
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  dreams that they have that my coach many years ago gave me the opportunity to do.
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  And it has been highly rewarding.
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  I'm having more fun with everything I'm doing professionally at a time that many said you
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  should be retired.
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  But if this is retirement living, I absolutely love it.
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  That's just awesome, Kirk.
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  I absolutely love your passion for other people, not just in your, professional career
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  as a coach, but in the spin classroom and, you know, out working on the broadcast teams.
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  It's a very rewarding life that you have lived and that you continue to live now with
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  retirement far off in the distance.
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  I, call it refinement is that's new, terminology.
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  Now I draw retirement income, from some of the organizations I've worked with in the past, but
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  that sets a foundation for what it is that I really wanna do.
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  So between career coaching, executive coaching, ESPN, teaching spin classes, and, also dabbled
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  with writing a book, a couple years ago, so that was published in late twenty twenty four.
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  I'm still trying to figure out what I wanna do when I grow up, but I'm enjoying getting there.
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  Tell me more about the book, Kirk.
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  The book is called thoughts for my kids and other people's kids.
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  I've got two kids, seven grandkids.
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  It's for them, but we are all somebody's kids from some point in time.
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  So how it came about is when I launched my business, established a website, what are some
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  of the marketing tools I'm going to have?
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  The biggest of which was I'm gonna do a periodic blog.
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  So I began blogging about every two or three weeks.
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  These blogs accumulated, and I also had an opportunity to get an article, get a column in
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  our local paper here that the publisher, invited me to do that, and I obliged.
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  After I've been doing that for a while, he encouraged me.
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  He said, Kirk, you ought to write a book.
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  And I was like, okay.
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  I read up on what it takes to write a book and learned that about 80 of people have a desire
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  at one time in their life to be an author.
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  3%, less than 3%, actually execute that goal.
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  Bubba, I've never been top 3% in anything.
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  Here was my opportunity.
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  Here was my chance.
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  That was my motivation.
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  I aligned with a self publishing, organization, and this book ends up being a compilation of
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  those blogs.
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  What are these blogs about?
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  Leadership, communications, executive presence.
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  There are some faith stories that are built into that.
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  And, of course, sports, and in many instances, how sports relates to life.
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  So these are about 77 blogs.
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  They're assembled together, and they make up about 350 pages.
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  And it was a blast to do that, and I'm accumulating more of these blocks.
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  So sometime next year, I think I'll get my feet wet again and go for volume two, see what that
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  looks like.
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  I love it.
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  A a great batch, an archive for the kids and of your writings, and what an incredible way to do
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  it.
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  I wrote a book of my own, over the course of the winter break last year, and, it really just
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  came out of me.
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  But I felt like I needed to share my experience of building our network, and now I need to
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  start working on my second one.
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  But, I think there's some pieces that I'm still living right now before I'm ready to write it
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  all and to get it all out.
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  And I I appreciate your creative life as well as the lived experience that you have.
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  I love that you are collecting the information, but not just, for yourself, but sharing it with
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  others.
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  I find that to be so beneficial in this day and age that if we are not sharing our life and our
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  experience that, then what are we here for?
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  So, absolutely love it, Kirk.
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  Where can people find the book?
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  Where can they find more about you and your coaching?
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  And I'll let you get out of here.
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  I'm sure you've got a busy day ahead of you.
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  Kirk McCarley.
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  I'm on social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram.
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  Website is theseedsowercoach.com.
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  And for the book, kirkmccarleyauthor.com.
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  It can be obtained through your bookstores or through, Amazon.
• 22:15
  IngramSpark is a resource as well.
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  Kirk McCarley, thank you so much for taking some time for me today, and thank you for being
• 22:25
  part of the scene.
• 22:26
  My pleasure, Bubba.
• 22:28
  I'm happy to connect and intersect with you.