Latest / The Mike Keith Show / The Mike Keith Show | BIG INTERVIEW WITH MONICA ABBOTT (10.28.26)

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The Mike Keith Show | BIG INTERVIEW WITH MONICA ABBOTT (10.28.26) · The Mike Keith Show

0:26
SPEAKER_09: Inside access, behind the stage.
0:29
SPEAKER_09: From Rocky Top, direct from the coaches, inside from the players, the inside track.
0:36
SPEAKER_09: Mike Keith starts now.
0:41
SPEAKER_07: Welcome to the Mike Keith Show.
0:42
SPEAKER_07: It's time for the big interview, as it is every week.
0:45
SPEAKER_07: And the big interview is brought to you by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream homes.
0:55
SPEAKER_07: The big interview subject tonight is one of the most important figures in Lady Vol history, certainly Lady Vol softball history.
1:03
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott.
1:05
SPEAKER_07: Hello and welcome.
1:06
SPEAKER_14: Hi, thank you.
1:07
SPEAKER_14: Thanks for having me and for the great intro.
1:10
SPEAKER_07: It's so great to have you back in Big Arch Country.
1:12
SPEAKER_14: It feels awesome.
1:13
SPEAKER_14: It's always such a good feeling, a warm feeling.
1:16
SPEAKER_14: Uh great to be back on campus.
1:19
SPEAKER_07: So doing my reading for this, um you've only been retired from softball for three and a half years.
1:26
SPEAKER_14: Yes, I know.
1:27
SPEAKER_07: Is it weird that you're not still playing, or does it feel like a long time?
1:32
SPEAKER_07: How is retirement from a technical standpoint?
1:36
SPEAKER_14: Um, it's good.
1:38
SPEAKER_14: It was definitely a little bit of a transition because I played for a long time.
1:42
SPEAKER_14: But when you have a God-given talent and you have this ability that is unmatched, you want to be able to showcase it.
1:50
SPEAKER_14: And I went from the college athlete to the Olympic athlete to the professional athlete to like um just the professionalism all across the board, you know, as uh my business as a person, as an athlete, and just combining them all together.
2:09
SPEAKER_14: And I had I had a great career.
2:10
SPEAKER_14: I loved playing, and it was hard to say goodbye, but it was time.
2:16
SPEAKER_07: How many countries did you play in?
2:18
SPEAKER_14: I played in a lot of countries.
2:21
SPEAKER_14: A lot of countries.
2:22
SPEAKER_07: You don't know the exact number?
2:23
SPEAKER_14: Well, because USA travels all over, but I think most people know me for I've obviously played at Tennessee, played for Team USA, and then I played professionally in Japan for 12 years.
2:38
SPEAKER_14: Uh so that they have a wonderful, very developed, very good professional softball league in Japan.
2:45
SPEAKER_14: And I played both in the Japan League and both in the professional league in the United States at the same time.
2:50
SPEAKER_07: We're certainly keeping up with Carlin Pickens and her development as a professional.
2:56
SPEAKER_07: How is professional softball coming along in the United States as a league compared to, say, Japan, where you played for a dozen years?
3:05
SPEAKER_14: Well, I think the biggest thing is that people have been wanting it for so long.
3:10
SPEAKER_14: And the league that Carlin plays in now, it's was built on the backs of those Olympians, uh, my teammates and I, that were like grinding through these rough professional leagues in the United States.
3:22
SPEAKER_14: And the biggest thing, I think, now is with these big names like a Carlin Pickens that makes groundbreaking new news for speed records and being able to get NIL money, all those fans, those Tennessee fans, are transferring with her to the Carolina Blaze and the AUSL.
3:39
SPEAKER_14: And when that happens, the fan base is continue to grow.
3:43
SPEAKER_14: And I'm super excited for her and just also just the state of our sport and where it's going in the U.S.
3:48
SPEAKER_07: You got so excited when I mentioned Carlin Pickies.
3:51
SPEAKER_07: Why does she hit so closely to your heart?
3:54
SPEAKER_07: As if I don't know.
3:56
SPEAKER_14: Well, I think Carlin, of course, she throws hard, and I I feel for her in that way.
4:02
SPEAKER_14: Like in the highs and lows of her game, like I understand what that's like.
4:06
SPEAKER_14: Um she broke my speed record, which I said, the Guinness Book of World Records, she broke it twice, which is incredible.
4:13
SPEAKER_14: She broke her own record after.
4:14
SPEAKER_14: But I also was able to have her at a couple of my own events to talk about and work with young athletes and just kind of develop a personal relationship with her.
4:25
SPEAKER_14: So there's all those factors, and then of course she's a lady vol.
4:28
SPEAKER_14: So what's not to love?
4:30
SPEAKER_07: The lady vol part of it as the Lady Vol celebrate the 50th year in terms of the development of the brand.
4:38
SPEAKER_14: Right.
4:39
SPEAKER_07: What does it mean to you?
4:41
SPEAKER_07: I'm not gonna say what did it mean, because you're always a lady vol.
4:45
SPEAKER_07: What does it mean to you to have been a lady volp to bottom?
4:49
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I think when I think about Tennessee and the Lady Vol brand and the volunteer brand, as a female athlete, I always felt like I represented both.
4:58
SPEAKER_14: You had like a co-representation.
5:01
SPEAKER_14: Um, but I think for female athletes and with some of the struggles that we have gone through trying to be able to build our sports, create recognition, and just get some better support in all aspects of areas, it makes Tennessee stand out because they invested in a brand for it.
5:22
SPEAKER_07: What does being a Lady Vol stand for in Monica Abbott's mind?
5:28
SPEAKER_14: It stands for um pride, it stands for representation, and it stands for the example.
5:38
SPEAKER_14: I think you have to be, if you're wearing a Lady Vol logo, if you've ever worn the Lady Vol logo, you are the example to the rest of the country of what it means to look to be a female athlete and how you carry yourself.
5:51
SPEAKER_07: Interesting.
5:52
SPEAKER_07: You chose to be a Lady Vol athlete when Tennessee softball was in its infancy.
5:57
SPEAKER_07: So I went back and looked.
6:00
SPEAKER_07: And the Weakleys had been at Tennessee for two seasons.
6:06
SPEAKER_07: Right.
6:07
SPEAKER_07: So um Tennessee, they were the second coaching staff that came in.
6:12
SPEAKER_07: They came in in 2002, they had losing records in the conference, they had not been to the postseason, they hadn't been to a regional, and yet here's Monica Abbott in Northern California being recruited by all the blue bloods, and you choose to go to a program that's less than 10 years old, that has virtually no history, with a coaching staff that doesn't really hasn't really proven anything at that point.
6:41
SPEAKER_07: Why?
6:42
SPEAKER_14: Um honestly, in some ways I feel like it might have been a perfect storm.
6:47
SPEAKER_14: Like all the the maybe the stars aligned that day.
6:51
SPEAKER_14: I don't know.
6:52
SPEAKER_14: Um and it's weird because even on my recruiting visit, and my parents and I laugh about this, but we play football played Florida, we lost we got whooped, fantasy got whooped by Florida.
7:04
SPEAKER_14: It poured the entire game, like down poured.
7:08
SPEAKER_14: And after the game, I remember we were f on our way home and our we looked at each other.
7:13
SPEAKER_14: Isn't that crazy?
7:14
SPEAKER_14: Like how much it rained, how it poured, and how many fans still were in Newland Stadium till the fourth quarter.
7:20
SPEAKER_14: And I just remember thinking, like, I want to see that for softball.
7:25
SPEAKER_14: Ralph and Karen, I knew, I knew their pedigree and their ability, and I knew Coach Weekly, Ralph, in particular's influence on the USA national team, which was a big goal for mine.
7:37
SPEAKER_14: And I knew some of the other players in my class, specifically like a Lindsay Schutzler that had committed to Tennessee previously, and I was like, man, I know that I want to go and make my mark.
7:48
SPEAKER_14: I want to go and like have an opportunity to be a starter and like create something, build something.
7:55
SPEAKER_14: And I know with Lindsay and some of these other pieces that are coming in, that we can do that.
8:01
SPEAKER_07: You did it.
8:02
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, yeah, we did.
8:03
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
8:03
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we're going to do that.
8:04
SPEAKER_07: We'll talk more about that with Monica Abbott as the big interview continues on the Mike Keith show right after this.
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12:16
SPEAKER_07: The Mike Keith Show continuing the big interview, Monica Abbott.
12:20
SPEAKER_07: And when you talk about Monica Abbott, you say one of the greatest pitchers in softball history.
12:25
SPEAKER_07: You don't even have to say arguably one of the greatest pitchers.
12:29
SPEAKER_07: The stats speak for themselves.
12:31
SPEAKER_07: The career speaks for itself.
12:32
SPEAKER_07: Here's what I love.
12:34
SPEAKER_07: So at Tennessee, 2004 through 2007, 189-34.
12:40
SPEAKER_07: That's good.79 earned run average.
12:46
SPEAKER_07: 112 shutouts.
12:48
SPEAKER_07: 500 strikeouts in four straight seasons.
12:51
SPEAKER_07: You became the first college player to ever do that.
12:55
SPEAKER_07: You averaged almost two strikeouts per inning.
12:59
SPEAKER_07: And you can only strike out three.
13:02
SPEAKER_07: So you averaged, you know, over 1.7 strikeouts per inning.
13:07
SPEAKER_07: Of all the stats, what's the one that always fascinated you or made you the most proud?
13:13
SPEAKER_07: You could say now.
13:14
SPEAKER_14: It's hard not, it's hard not to think of it as a pitcher of the stats.
13:20
SPEAKER_14: Um I I would definitely say the strikeouts for sure.
13:23
SPEAKER_14: I think, you know, breaking the single season strikeout record was a huge deal.
13:28
SPEAKER_14: The 500 strikeouts per year is like a really big accomplishment.
13:34
SPEAKER_14: But so I definitely think the strikeouts as a pitcher, as a person, I would say the I have the the wins record.
13:41
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
13:42
SPEAKER_14: The NCAA wins record.
13:43
SPEAKER_14: Um and that just shows, I think, that competitive fire that so many athletes have.
13:49
SPEAKER_14: Um so that that one definitely makes me smile.
13:52
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, that makes me smile.
13:54
SPEAKER_14: Okay.
13:54
SPEAKER_14: Because you know, you could have strikeouts and you can still lose.
13:57
SPEAKER_14: I mean, that you you read it, those 34.
13:59
SPEAKER_07: Well, I mean, Nolan Ryan was a great pitcher.
14:02
SPEAKER_07: He lost a lot of games, and you know, I mean, it I I mean, I think he's one of the greatest of all time, but he didn't have the greatest win percentage.
14:10
SPEAKER_07: So you're right.
14:10
SPEAKER_14: As a as an individual athlete, you know, the strikeouts mean a lot to me as a pitcher for my position, and every pitcher will tell you that.
14:18
SPEAKER_14: But I think as a holistic picture, the thing that I'm probably most proud of is right next to the strikeouts, it says wins.
14:24
SPEAKER_14: Um and that's a big deal because you at the end of the day, you can strike out 18, 19 people in softball and you can lose the game.
14:33
SPEAKER_14: Um because it just takes one pitch to be hit hard hard, and that's that's just part of the game, and you can lose.
14:42
SPEAKER_14: But having the wins call the wins record really does does, I feel like, puts the gavel on it.
14:49
SPEAKER_14: Like, yes, it was that good.
14:52
SPEAKER_07: Was there one hitter that you faced who drove you absolutely crazy?
14:59
SPEAKER_14: Um, in the SEC?
15:01
SPEAKER_07: Sure.
15:03
SPEAKER_07: Because it seems like there's always one for a pitcher.
15:06
SPEAKER_07: A hitter always has one too.
15:07
SPEAKER_07: There's there's one there's one guy or one girl you cannot hit.
15:11
SPEAKER_07: And per and you don't know why.
15:13
SPEAKER_07: There are hitters who can hit certain pitchers and their numbers against them are crazy.
15:17
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, there was one girl that just since we're talking about you know, the college years, um, that kind of makes me think about it.
15:26
SPEAKER_14: Is she played for Alabama.
15:28
SPEAKER_14: I actually played with her on the USA junior national team.
15:31
SPEAKER_14: Her name was Stephanie Van Brakel, and she was at Bama, and she could pitch and hit.
15:37
SPEAKER_14: And for whatever reason, whenever we faced each other, this is it was literally she struck out or she hit a home run.
15:46
SPEAKER_14: It was never anything else.
15:48
SPEAKER_14: And I think when you stand on the mound and knowing like, hey, you're either gonna strike, she's I'm either gonna strike her out or she's either gonna like go yard on me.
15:56
SPEAKER_14: Like you're just standing on the mound, like thinking about that, like what pitch should I throw?
16:01
SPEAKER_14: Because I'd rather get the strikeout than the home run.
16:04
SPEAKER_14: And there's a 50-50 chance here.
16:06
SPEAKER_14: What should I what should I bet on?
16:08
SPEAKER_14: Um, but she always did really well against me, and we had that some really epic good battles against each other.
16:15
SPEAKER_14: Um and she's the pitching coach at Florida now.
16:18
SPEAKER_07: Oh wow.
16:18
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
16:19
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
16:20
SPEAKER_07: Um so in going back through your bio from your Tennessee time, Randy Johnson was the model?
16:27
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
16:27
SPEAKER_07: The big unit?
16:28
SPEAKER_14: Absolutely.
16:29
SPEAKER_14: Can't you see it?
16:31
SPEAKER_07: Well, I mean, you're tall, but uh I mean, and you're left-handed.
16:35
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
16:36
SPEAKER_07: And he was tall and left-handed and threw very, very hard and was very, very nasty.
16:42
SPEAKER_07: But you're like you San Francisco, right?
16:44
SPEAKER_07: I mean, he was Seattle.
16:46
SPEAKER_14: I mean, that's game respects game.
16:50
SPEAKER_14: I love it.
16:50
SPEAKER_14: Game respects game.
16:52
SPEAKER_14: I just gotta say, like, I mean, you can have your favorite teams, but I mean, anyone that loves sports, you s you see s people on the other other athletes, and you just like, dang, like, that's respectable.
17:04
SPEAKER_14: They're good.
17:05
SPEAKER_14: Like, I like how they do this, I like how they do that.
17:07
SPEAKER_14: Um, and being able to pick and pull pieces of things that they did uh as an athlete.
17:12
SPEAKER_14: You know, the way Randy Johnson was so calm in its delivery, and then you just like see all body and then arm at the last second.
17:19
SPEAKER_14: Like, I loved that piece of it.
17:22
SPEAKER_14: Um and you just pick things out, and you're like, well, I wonder if I could pull that into my model something for myself after that.
17:31
SPEAKER_07: Um that's fascinating because the thing he did at tall pitchers was always tough because the really good ones who could hide it, it looked like they were releasing the ball three feet in front of your face.
17:42
SPEAKER_10: Right.
17:43
SPEAKER_07: And that's what what was so nasty about Randy Johnson is, and you you alluded to it, the release was such not only did he use all of his height, but he was the reach.
17:54
SPEAKER_07: The reach.
17:55
SPEAKER_14: The reach.
17:55
SPEAKER_14: It's like the reach, right?
17:57
SPEAKER_14: And if you watched me ever pitch, oh I did.
18:00
SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
18:00
SPEAKER_14: Back in those days, and you could even see it in Carlin a little bit too, but in softball pitching, we always talk about like getting extended and getting far out.
18:08
SPEAKER_14: Like I tried to really reach, but not with my arm, with my front leg, and I feel like I'm kick, you know, hitters would feel like I was kicking them because I was coming so off the mound at them.
18:19
SPEAKER_14: Like just a lot of things.
18:21
SPEAKER_07: So I'll tell you how old I am.
18:23
SPEAKER_07: I called Randy Johnson when he was in double A.
18:26
SPEAKER_14: Oh, wow, impressive.
18:27
SPEAKER_07: He pitched for Jacksonville because he was coming up to the Expos organization.
18:31
SPEAKER_07: And the night we had him over at Old Bill Myers Stadium, he won the game and he and he struck out I want to say 15 or 16.
18:40
SPEAKER_07: He walked seven or eight.
18:42
SPEAKER_07: He hit a couple guys.
18:43
SPEAKER_07: I think I think the then Knoxville Blue Jays probably had two hits off of him, but the final score of the game was like six to five or five to four.
18:52
SPEAKER_07: I just remember he was all over the place.
18:55
SPEAKER_07: Did you go through a period in your career where you had to harness it, much like he did to get to the big leagues and become a Hall of Famer?
19:05
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me in my career is the evolvement.
19:11
SPEAKER_14: Um, the pitcher I was at Tennessee has evolved a lot of times, continuously over the years to the day I retired, based on pitches I threw, how I used my pitches, the speed I threw with, what my motion looked like, just constantly tweaking and being a student of the game and figuring out different things that worked for me or that I liked or didn't like that people suggested.
19:38
SPEAKER_14: Um being willing to change.
19:42
SPEAKER_14: And I kind of credit that to Coach Karen Weekly.
19:45
SPEAKER_14: And when we were, when I was in college, I used to butt heads with her sometimes because she would always tell me, she'd be like, you have to change, you have to make adjustments, stop being so scared to make a change.
19:57
SPEAKER_14: Like, you know, if you never change, you'll never grow, all these sort of things.
20:01
SPEAKER_14: And I was like, you know, scared.
20:03
SPEAKER_14: I didn't want to, I didn't want to I was so good at where I was, I didn't, I was scared to to take that next big step and make that jump to the next level on my some of my pitches because what if it didn't work?
20:18
SPEAKER_14: What if it didn't work?
20:19
SPEAKER_14: What if I got worse?
20:20
SPEAKER_14: You know, what if our team didn't win?
20:23
SPEAKER_14: And I was scared of that, but Karen really pushed me and was like, Monica, you have to try.
20:29
SPEAKER_14: And she would constantly, almost where it annoyed me, like constantly be on me to make a change.
20:36
SPEAKER_14: Like, don't be afraid to jump, like you have to make adjustments, you have to get better.
20:40
SPEAKER_14: And I think that mindset, because she was on me, it continued to travel with me throughout my professional career.
20:47
SPEAKER_14: So I almost got so comfortable with change and evolving that I did it all the time.
20:54
SPEAKER_07: How long did it take you to get comfortable with a pitch other than a fastball?
20:59
SPEAKER_14: Um two weeks?
21:03
SPEAKER_07: Really?
21:03
SPEAKER_14: Three weeks, yeah.
21:04
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
21:05
SPEAKER_07: That's I mean, that's courageous.
21:07
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
21:07
SPEAKER_07: Because I mean, you got a fastball that nobody can touch, and they're saying, hey, you need a drop, you need a riser, you need a change, you need something.
21:15
SPEAKER_07: And you were willing to to learn and to grow in that.
21:18
SPEAKER_14: Yes, I was will I was willing almost like ignorance is bliss, like the less I know the better.
21:26
SPEAKER_14: I was willing to try.
21:27
SPEAKER_14: And that's the thing that set me apart.
21:29
SPEAKER_14: But I also knew who I was.
21:32
SPEAKER_14: So as I developed through my collegiate years, especially like later in my career as a as a senior specifically, I understood the type of pitcher I was.
21:41
SPEAKER_14: I was a power pitcher, I was gonna throw a rise ball, like constantly, okay?
21:46
SPEAKER_14: And I was gonna strike people out.
21:48
SPEAKER_14: But I didn't, when I went to go and throw the drop ball or the change up, I knew that wasn't the pitch I was gonna get people out on.
21:54
SPEAKER_14: I knew that pitch was just gonna be used to make the rise ball look better, to make another.
22:00
SPEAKER_14: Pitch look more deceiving on what I already was good at.
22:04
SPEAKER_14: It was a compliment to what I was to take my good pitches to make them great.
22:09
SPEAKER_07: So nobody could ever get a beat on you.
22:11
SPEAKER_14: Exactly.
22:12
SPEAKER_07: Interesting.
22:13
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
22:13
SPEAKER_07: More coming up with Monica Abbott on the Mike Keith Show, the big interview presented by Clayton Holmes, Oakwid Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee after this.
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22:45
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott is our guest on the Mike Keith Show's big interview presented by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream home.
22:56
SPEAKER_07: Your number seven is retired.
22:58
SPEAKER_10: Yes.
22:59
SPEAKER_07: And has been for a long time.
23:01
SPEAKER_07: You had your number retired when you were still in your 20s.
23:04
SPEAKER_14: Yes.
23:05
SPEAKER_14: There is like a rule.
23:06
SPEAKER_14: It's it was, is it five years after you graduated?
23:10
SPEAKER_07: So it was 2013.
23:12
SPEAKER_14: Number can be retired, yes.
23:13
SPEAKER_07: What was that?
23:14
SPEAKER_07: What was that like?
23:15
SPEAKER_14: It was cool.
23:16
SPEAKER_14: I mean, when I first heard it, I was like, well, I'm still playing though.
23:20
SPEAKER_14: Right.
23:20
SPEAKER_14: You know, you have that initial thought, but then you understand like the rules of it.
23:25
SPEAKER_14: And, you know, I again got to credit the weeklies and uh the previous pitching coach, Marty McDaniel, for like being like, this jersey needs to be retired as soon as possible for you know making that happen.
23:39
SPEAKER_14: Um and of course it just feels so honored.
23:41
SPEAKER_14: There's so many great athletes that have come through Tennessee and to be one of those that have their jersey on the wall.
23:49
SPEAKER_14: Like, not many athletes get to do that.
23:52
SPEAKER_14: You know, you think about thirds, the role of thirds, and you know, a third of the athletes can play college sports.
24:01
SPEAKER_14: A third will actually play four years, right?
24:03
SPEAKER_14: Like and get their degree, and then maybe the the top third might have their jersey retired.
24:10
SPEAKER_07: When did you know you were that good throwing a softball?
24:14
SPEAKER_07: How old?
24:17
SPEAKER_14: I didn't think I really knew until my recruiting process started and I started to get a lot of like interest and letters and things like that in my recruiting process.
24:26
SPEAKER_14: Then I was like, oh, I guess like, I guess I'm pretty good.
24:31
SPEAKER_14: But I didn't realize again, like ignorance is bliss.
24:34
SPEAKER_14: You're not out there thinking, oh, I'm so good.
24:37
SPEAKER_14: I wanna, you know, I'm the best.
24:39
SPEAKER_14: Like you're out there, I was on the mound thinking, okay, like it's still zero-zero in the fifth, like our team hasn't scored.
24:46
SPEAKER_14: I gotta find a way to get these next hitters out.
24:49
SPEAKER_14: I was just finding ways to win.
24:51
SPEAKER_14: I loved the the camaraderie of a team and finding ways to win as a team.
24:56
SPEAKER_14: Um, but I think I really started to realize I was good first during the recruiting process.
25:02
SPEAKER_14: And then I started to realize I was and then I got to college and had some success.
25:09
SPEAKER_14: And then I remember I made the my first national team and I was on the Olympic team with Jenny Finch and Crystal Bustos and Natasha Watley and Lisa Fernandez, and I was the youngest player on the team.
25:22
SPEAKER_14: And I we went through the summer playing USA softball.
25:26
SPEAKER_14: I didn't pitch hardly at all.
25:28
SPEAKER_14: And I was like, man, like gut check.
25:31
SPEAKER_14: Like, you're not that good.
25:33
SPEAKER_14: Like these girls are good, like these girls are great.
25:35
SPEAKER_07: Who did you look up to among that group the most?
25:38
SPEAKER_07: Jenny?
25:40
SPEAKER_14: I would probably say, yeah, maybe Lisa and Jenny.
25:44
SPEAKER_14: Um Lisa for her like pitching ability, Jenny for just how she carried herself, and obviously her she's a very good pitcher as well.
25:55
SPEAKER_14: But I just remember looking at them and thinking, like, man, like I'm not that good.
25:59
SPEAKER_14: So I had to come back to college as like, you know, whatever, a 20-year-old and be like, okay, I gotta figure it out.
26:05
SPEAKER_14: Like, if I'm gonna actually make the Olympic team or get a chance to make the team and actually pitch on Team USA.
26:13
SPEAKER_14: I need to get better.
26:14
SPEAKER_14: So there was this kind of consistent drive in me to do that.
26:19
SPEAKER_07: So you had a lot of things.
26:21
SPEAKER_07: You had success.
26:22
SPEAKER_07: You you mean you come to Tennessee, you have a great freshman year by your sophomore year college world series, and and all of a sudden we're we're a national power now, Southeastern Conference champs, all of these things.
26:35
SPEAKER_07: And then you have a little humbling, and then you go back in that way and you go back to work.
26:40
SPEAKER_07: You never you never quit working.
26:43
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, that's right.
26:45
SPEAKER_07: Because the this and I mean that's not the end of the world what happened to you, but for you at that point in your life, you're thinking, oh, this is horrific.
26:52
SPEAKER_07: I'm not getting to pitch.
26:53
SPEAKER_07: How can this be?
26:54
SPEAKER_14: It's who you surround yourself.
26:56
SPEAKER_14: I was surrounded by the best of the best for three months during the summer playing USA softball.
27:02
SPEAKER_14: And not that my Tennessee teammates were not the best, but they weren't team USA players, right?
27:07
SPEAKER_14: What's different?
27:08
SPEAKER_14: It's a different, it's a different level.
27:10
SPEAKER_14: These girls were pros.
27:11
SPEAKER_14: These girls were already in their tw mid-twenties, late, late 20s.
27:15
SPEAKER_14: They had already, most of them had already won an Olympic medal.
27:18
SPEAKER_14: And I was surrounded by them, and I was like, got to see firsthand how they worked, got to first see firsthand how they practiced and how they operated and how they acted.
27:28
SPEAKER_14: And I I went back like a new person with open eyes from college because I was like, okay, like if I want to get to that level, I gotta change how I'm how I'm operating at this level.
27:41
SPEAKER_07: Did you do anything different physically?
27:43
SPEAKER_07: Did you train differently?
27:45
SPEAKER_14: Well, Tennessee, you know, they're in charge of your strength and conditioning.
27:48
SPEAKER_14: But I think yes, ultimately I did after I left Tennessee.
27:53
SPEAKER_14: I started to increase my cardio and my high-intensity cardio training um or HIIT training.
28:00
SPEAKER_14: Um I started to just watch my nutrition bet more.
28:05
SPEAKER_14: Um Yeah.
28:07
SPEAKER_14: And I I think took more pride, I think pride and intention, I would say, and how you train and work out, and especially in your bull in my bullpins.
28:17
SPEAKER_14: I wasn't afraid to like tell m tell my catcher, like, if she s was like, okay, that's strike three.
28:25
SPEAKER_14: I'm like, there's no way she swung at that like in the bullpen, you know, like just be not being controversial, but being up front and saying, like, no, that wasn't good enough.
28:34
SPEAKER_14: Like, hey, this it needs to be I can do better.
28:36
SPEAKER_14: Like I had to start holding myself to a higher level of accountability.
28:41
SPEAKER_07: Do you remember getting the call telling you you'd made the 2008 Olympic team?
28:45
SPEAKER_14: Yes, I do, of course.
28:47
SPEAKER_14: It was like grunt.
28:48
SPEAKER_14: Who called?
28:50
SPEAKER_14: Um, it was actually an email first, is how they did it.
28:54
SPEAKER_14: They send an email after the trials, you go home, and then there's 48 hours, and then they send you an email, and then um and then after that, I found it.
29:05
SPEAKER_14: We opened the email as a family, and we, you know, hugging, everyone's excited, elated.
29:12
SPEAKER_14: And then I think a couple media outlets called, and then um we had like a team conference call after that.
29:19
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
29:19
SPEAKER_07: Who was most excited in your family?
29:22
SPEAKER_14: Um me.
29:24
SPEAKER_14: That's okay.
29:25
SPEAKER_14: So um I don't know, everyone was.
29:28
SPEAKER_14: I think probably my dad.
29:30
SPEAKER_14: I think my dad was probably the most excited.
29:32
SPEAKER_07: So then you go again to the Olympics 12 years later.
29:36
SPEAKER_14: Right.
29:37
SPEAKER_07: Why kind of explain why you weren't on the Olympic team in 12 and 16?
29:42
SPEAKER_07: It and then on and then back on in 20.
29:45
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, so okay, so I was the youngest.
29:47
SPEAKER_14: I am like kind of unique in this aspect, and this is just particular to softball and the Olympics.
29:55
SPEAKER_14: So I was the youngest player in 2008.
29:58
SPEAKER_14: Okay.
29:59
SPEAKER_14: And then we go, everything went great, it ends, and then softball was voted out of the Olympics.
30:05
SPEAKER_14: So softball wasn't in the Olympics in 2012.
30:07
SPEAKER_14: Okay.
30:08
SPEAKER_14: And it wasn't in the Olympics in 2016.
30:10
SPEAKER_14: All right.
30:11
SPEAKER_14: So during this time, from 2008 to 2010, we are campaign campaigning, playing Team USA's campaigning, 2009, 2010, we're campaigning, going to different countries, trying to get softball into the 2016 games.
30:26
SPEAKER_14: Um, we do not get in, okay?
30:29
SPEAKER_14: And so uh at this time I'm like deciding, okay, well, what am I gonna do?
30:35
SPEAKER_14: I'm not done yet.
30:37
SPEAKER_14: I know I can still pitch and and play, so I start to play softball in Japan.
30:42
SPEAKER_14: Um, and then I'm at the end of my career in Japan, starting to think about retirement, and softball gets into the Olympics in 2020.
30:52
SPEAKER_14: And the I played for Toyota Motor Corporation over there, which is one of the biggest teams.
30:58
SPEAKER_14: And Toyota, Mr.
31:01
SPEAKER_14: Mr.
31:02
SPEAKER_14: Toyota.
31:03
SPEAKER_07: There is a Mr.
31:04
SPEAKER_07: Toyota.
31:05
SPEAKER_14: It's actually his name, Akyo Sun, uh Akyo Toyota, who was a big fan of softball and of me.
31:12
SPEAKER_14: And he talked to our team and was like, no, we're gonna be in the Olympics, I'm gonna make sure of it.
31:17
SPEAKER_14: He's like, I can't wait to see you all play.
31:20
SPEAKER_14: And I was like, oh my gosh, like I have to play in the 2020 Olympic Games.
31:25
SPEAKER_14: So I did.
31:27
SPEAKER_07: I was like, what was that called Did you get a call or an email for that one?
31:31
SPEAKER_14: From Mr.
31:32
SPEAKER_07: Toyota's or for to let you know you were on the Olympic team.
31:35
SPEAKER_14: Yes, for that one in the 2020 games, we kind of same scenario, but in this case, the team was still together.
31:44
SPEAKER_14: So we had the tryout, and then they sent us an email, and then there was a camp afterwards for the players that made it.
31:53
SPEAKER_14: So in the morning, they sent out an email at like 8 30.
31:57
SPEAKER_14: We had a team meeting at nine.
31:59
SPEAKER_14: And yeah, everyone was so excited and just bouncing off the walls.
32:04
SPEAKER_14: And it was fun to see because I think on the 2020 games, I I kind of knew that I was gonna be on the team.
32:11
SPEAKER_14: There wasn't as much of that like butterflies and nerves that I had in 2008, but I saw a lot of people, a lot of people experienced what I felt in 2008, and it brought me back to that sense of pride and joy and excitement of what it means to wear USA.
32:28
SPEAKER_07: So so many people have experiences, good experiences, when they're younger and they think, man, I wish I could do this again when I'm a little older and appreciate it.
32:38
SPEAKER_16: Yeah.
32:39
SPEAKER_07: Even with the COVID situation, was the 2020 Olympic experience like that for you getting to do it 12 years later?
32:50
SPEAKER_14: The 2020 Olympic experience because of COVID changed the experience.
32:59
SPEAKER_14: And it's unfortunate.
33:01
SPEAKER_14: Um, there was so many protocols that took out of the games, there couldn't be any fans, you couldn't have your family there, like you couldn't tour around the country, you couldn't like rally like all the things that make sports so great.
33:17
SPEAKER_14: Outside of just the athletic performance, right?
33:20
SPEAKER_14: And I think we sometimes don't take that into effect.
33:23
SPEAKER_14: The support staff, the fans, the media, the attention and all this stuff, it was hard to be able to have a true Olympic experience with the COVID atmosphere.
33:37
SPEAKER_14: Um and they were very, very strict on COVID there.
33:41
SPEAKER_14: Like if you got even a false, like a false negative was a false positive, sure.
33:47
SPEAKER_14: Or anything like that, as soon as you would just you'd be immediately, what is it, you'd be kicked out.
33:54
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
33:54
SPEAKER_14: You'd be done.
33:55
SPEAKER_14: So they were very strictly rules.
33:58
SPEAKER_14: So you were there and almost quarantined the whole time.
34:02
SPEAKER_14: And it was weird because in your country at home, like we were in Japan, and at home, like no one was worried about it.
34:10
SPEAKER_07: One more question on this subject.
34:12
SPEAKER_07: Not having the fans and not having everybody around, the trainer that you like to kid with, or the equipment person who's who becomes a friend, or the team doctor, or whatever.
34:24
SPEAKER_07: A team becomes a family, especially in baseball and softball.
34:28
SPEAKER_07: It's a it's a different dynamic.
34:30
SPEAKER_07: And the fans.
34:31
SPEAKER_07: For the last two years that you played, do you think you almost appreciated that more in a different way when it came back post-COVID?
34:39
SPEAKER_14: Yes, yes.
34:40
SPEAKER_14: Um, especially like the last year and a half that I played.
34:43
SPEAKER_14: I think just knowing that I think knowing internally that I, you know, I was kind of starting to think about retiring and how much longer what did I want to play.
34:54
SPEAKER_14: And I think also in the same respect, I think fans knew, especially the ones that had followed me for a while.
34:59
SPEAKER_14: They kind of knew like Monica's probably, you know, she's probably starting to think about retirement and finishing her career.
35:07
SPEAKER_14: And um, I played another year after the Olympics because I just wanted to have that experience with fans and wanted to have the experience of just going out on my own terms instead of like feeling like there I was missing something in that final season.
35:23
SPEAKER_14: Um, especially after you've played for so long, like to not end on that with joy and positivity in your art on something that you've, you know, dedicated your life to and impacted so many people on, to make sure that you fit finished that way was important to me.
35:38
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott is our guest.
35:40
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35:45
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39:15
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39:49
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott.
39:50
SPEAKER_07: Her number seven is retired in Lady Vol Softball.
39:53
SPEAKER_07: It was done in 2013.
39:56
SPEAKER_07: Four incredible seasons, 2004 through 2007.
40:00
SPEAKER_07: What are you most proud of?
40:03
SPEAKER_07: On field, off-field, accommodation of the two from your four years at Tennessee in Lady Vol softball?
40:11
SPEAKER_14: I'm most proud of how the softball program has developed.
40:15
SPEAKER_14: How it's continued on to be like one of the top performing schools in the nation consistently, year after year, to create that legacy in that softball program is I feel like I I kickstarted it.
40:32
SPEAKER_14: I feel like I was a part of that.
40:34
SPEAKER_14: So that definitely brings me a lot of pride.
40:37
SPEAKER_07: So my daughter was 10 when you started here.
40:40
SPEAKER_07: She did not play softball, but a lot of her friends did.
40:43
SPEAKER_07: And they would walk around in Monica Abbott jerseys.
40:46
SPEAKER_07: The responsibility of that.
40:49
SPEAKER_07: Um I'm sure there was excitement about it because you're like, that's really cool.
40:53
SPEAKER_07: But there's a responsibility that goes with that.
40:55
SPEAKER_07: How'd you handle that?
40:57
SPEAKER_14: You know, I I loved it.
40:58
SPEAKER_14: I mean, it when you see a young fan with your jersey on, it makes you happy.
41:04
SPEAKER_14: It brings a little joy to you, it brings a little life and light to you.
41:07
SPEAKER_14: And it, to me, it always reminded me of when I was that age, looking at, you know, the older girls on the team that was playing next to me, you know, on the field next to me at a tournament.
41:19
SPEAKER_14: So I would always kind of think about those moments that I had and kind of be thrown back to the joy that the joy and passion you have when you first fall in love with the game.
41:30
SPEAKER_07: Is it almost overwhelming mentally in some ways?
41:33
SPEAKER_14: No.
41:34
SPEAKER_14: No?
41:34
SPEAKER_14: No, it's not overwhelming.
41:36
SPEAKER_14: It's refreshing.
41:37
SPEAKER_07: I mean, I would I would think it would almost be a little crazy to know that you've influenced, I mean, multiple generations.
41:45
SPEAKER_07: You've gone over.
41:46
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, when you say it like that.
41:47
SPEAKER_07: Well, I know.
41:47
SPEAKER_07: Trust, trust me, I get it.
41:49
SPEAKER_07: But you understand what I'm saying.
41:50
SPEAKER_07: You somebody like who was my daughter's age, and even somebody younger through what you did in your pro career, what you did overseas, what you did in Japan.
41:58
SPEAKER_07: I mean, that's a it's a wonderful thing, but it's it's kind of big.
42:03
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I guess I mean I've ruined it now.
42:07
SPEAKER_07: We need to just end this.
42:08
SPEAKER_14: When you say it like that, yeah, sure.
42:10
SPEAKER_14: I mean, I guess it's it can be overwhelming to have that sort of responsibility.
42:16
SPEAKER_07: But you know who you are.
42:18
SPEAKER_07: I mean, you understood that you're a pitcher who's been very successful, that you're a player who helped or really put a program on the map.
42:26
SPEAKER_07: You've always gotten that.
42:27
SPEAKER_07: Is that a gift almost that because you understand that?
42:32
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
42:32
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
42:33
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I would say it's definitely it's a it's a balance and there's times, sure, that it is overwhelming.
42:39
SPEAKER_14: If a huge crowd comes and wants autographs all at one time and you're surrounded, that's overwhelming.
42:46
SPEAKER_14: But when you look at it from like an individual perspective and you get fan mail and you, you know, little kids wear jerseys and they get excited and they start crying and they're or they're start happy dancing after they get an autograph.
43:01
SPEAKER_14: Like stuff like that.
43:02
SPEAKER_14: I mean, it it's refreshing to see that you can have such an impact on someone that'll last.
43:09
SPEAKER_14: And I think when I think about my career and you talked about it just briefly, um, because I did play for a while, the there was times towards the end of my career where it was literally generations of people.
43:24
SPEAKER_14: Like it would be grandma and mom and or dad and like daughter being like, Oh my gosh, you're uh we signed my daughter's the daughter would be excited, but then the mom or dad would be like, Oh my gosh, can I get in this picture too?
43:36
SPEAKER_14: Because they were just as excited.
43:38
SPEAKER_14: So I think that's awesome.
43:40
SPEAKER_07: So from the fame standpoint, how different was it to go from the autograph thing to where now it's the picture thing?
43:47
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, yeah.
43:48
SPEAKER_07: Very few people ask for autographs now, it's like pictures.
43:50
SPEAKER_07: What's that like?
43:52
SPEAKER_14: Smile.
43:52
SPEAKER_07: Smile.
43:54
SPEAKER_14: No, it's good.
43:54
SPEAKER_14: I like pictures.
43:56
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
43:56
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
43:56
SPEAKER_07: I I mean the whole when when I think about All of it for you and I think about all of the opportunities that you had.
44:06
SPEAKER_07: I just think about how grounding your family must have been.
44:10
SPEAKER_07: They they must be remarkably normal and able to keep you remarkably normal.
44:16
SPEAKER_14: Well, I my family was very Yeah.
44:20
SPEAKER_14: They're just very honestly just blue-collar hard workers.
44:25
SPEAKER_14: Like I remember I would call my mom and she'd be like, nothing's changed here, Monica, still going to work every day.
44:31
SPEAKER_07: What did they do?
44:32
SPEAKER_14: My parents uh run a fast food restaurant.
44:35
SPEAKER_14: Oh wow.
44:35
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, and I was one of five kids.
44:38
SPEAKER_14: So I mean, you don't get any seniority in the house.
44:41
SPEAKER_07: Did you work the drive-thru?
44:43
SPEAKER_14: Oh yeah.
44:43
SPEAKER_14: Uh I made ice cream and Sundays and you know, little twisters or concretes as you call them, burgers, fries.
44:52
SPEAKER_07: The whole thing.
44:52
SPEAKER_14: All the things.
44:54
SPEAKER_07: So what's going on in Monica Abbott's life now?
44:58
SPEAKER_07: Tell me Tell me about now.
44:59
SPEAKER_07: What's I can't I can't we can stop talking about softball for just a second.
45:04
SPEAKER_07: Tell me what's happening now.
45:05
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, so I mean, I would love to stop talking about softball, but I can't because now I still do softball.
45:11
SPEAKER_14: Um, I'm just a private coach and instructor.
45:14
SPEAKER_14: I have an online academy.
45:16
SPEAKER_14: I run a huge retreat for high school softball pitchers in December.
45:21
SPEAKER_14: And then I do uh I announce for the SEC Network.
45:24
SPEAKER_14: I'm a colored commentator.
45:25
SPEAKER_07: Do you enjoy broadcast?
45:26
SPEAKER_14: I do, yes.
45:27
SPEAKER_14: I was a communications major here at Tennessee, and I've really enjoyed doing the games, the games that I get to do.
45:36
SPEAKER_14: Um it's fun.
45:37
SPEAKER_14: It's to be able to share the insight that I know because I played for so long.
45:42
SPEAKER_14: And sometimes it's hard, you gotta say it within like 15 seconds and be concise, but um I really enjoy talking the game.
45:51
SPEAKER_07: See, I'm I'm so proud because Courtney Lyle is one of ours here at Tennessee.
45:55
SPEAKER_07: I knew I knew Courtney since she was like eight years old.
45:59
SPEAKER_07: And to see her come up and become such a great softball announcer on the SEC network and ESPN is great.
46:04
SPEAKER_07: And we have a a really goodly number of people who are doing it now.
46:08
SPEAKER_14: Yes, yeah.
46:08
SPEAKER_14: There's um Madison Shipman, one of the top ones she's been She's great.
46:12
SPEAKER_14: She is absolutely phenomenal.
46:14
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, she's so good.
46:15
SPEAKER_14: Icon, iconic for a softball TV, um especially from the offensive standpoint, which is really refreshing.
46:22
SPEAKER_14: And then Riley West is kind of our young one out of the Tennessee softball program that's up and coming as an announcer.
46:29
SPEAKER_14: And then I think myself or the big three Tennessee groups.
46:34
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
46:34
SPEAKER_07: Nice.
46:35
SPEAKER_07: A break and then back to wrap up with Monica Abbott.
46:38
SPEAKER_07: The big interview presented by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, continues right after this on the Mike Keith Show.
46:45
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott has been our guest on the Mike Keith Show, the big interview presented by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream home.
46:57
SPEAKER_09: Are you ready for the game?
46:59
SPEAKER_09: The Mike Keith Show, delivered by operating your ball network.
47:16
SPEAKER_07: Tennessee softball is really good right now.
47:20
SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
47:21
SPEAKER_07: I mean, they've they've got it.
47:23
SPEAKER_07: Oh yeah.
47:24
SPEAKER_07: Um it's gonna be a little different this year with with Carlin not in the mix, but Sage Marjatko and Aaron Newar are very good pitchers, and they have more and different offense, too.
47:36
SPEAKER_10: Yes.
47:37
SPEAKER_07: What's changed as far as the offensive tact in softball over the last five to ten years?
47:45
SPEAKER_14: Um well, the first thing is gonna be power, absolutely.
47:49
SPEAKER_14: There's just more home runs hit, there's better technology on the offensive side to make the hitters better.
47:56
SPEAKER_14: Um, more knowledge, more power, and knowledge is power, I guess, so to speak.
48:00
SPEAKER_14: So all of that.
48:01
SPEAKER_14: And then strategy.
48:02
SPEAKER_14: Um, and then I would just say that coaches are smarter with um strategy, offensive strategy on how to use runners, situational hitting, situational base running, different things like that that make the offense more explosive.
48:21
SPEAKER_07: Do you like analytics?
48:23
SPEAKER_14: Yes.
48:24
SPEAKER_07: You do.
48:25
SPEAKER_07: What part of analytics do you like and when did you start to believe?
48:29
SPEAKER_14: Um, I like analytics on situations.
48:35
SPEAKER_14: It's I I feel like it's part of the piece.
48:37
SPEAKER_14: You can't go too deep into it or it'll overwhelm you.
48:42
SPEAKER_14: You have to know which stats are most important, which data points are most important to you, and which ones to focus on.
48:48
SPEAKER_14: You can't always focus on all of them at s one point.
48:51
SPEAKER_14: But if you can pick and choose in your certain data sets and decide which timing to use them on, then you can have a lot of success.
49:01
SPEAKER_07: So no longer the manager saying I've got a hunch.
49:04
SPEAKER_14: Yes.
49:05
SPEAKER_14: Well, I mean, the best thing is that if you have the hunch and your hunch matches your data, right?
49:10
SPEAKER_07: Then you can back it up.
49:11
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
49:12
SPEAKER_14: But I mean, there's always gonna be the hunch because you ha there's human.
49:16
SPEAKER_14: You're you're human, like people are humans, and there's three humans that are involved as well.
49:22
SPEAKER_14: You're umpires, right?
49:24
SPEAKER_14: Like that's a human factor that's a that you don't know about.
49:27
SPEAKER_07: So you can't you can't just say it's all analytics.
49:31
SPEAKER_14: No, you cannot, because the human factor is still involved, right?
49:34
SPEAKER_07: I think that's true.
49:35
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
49:36
SPEAKER_07: Um as we wrap up, as softball begins to grow, and it really has grown.
49:44
SPEAKER_07: I mean, you think about I would say explode.
49:46
SPEAKER_07: Explode.
49:47
SPEAKER_07: Well, volleyball's exploded, softball's exploded, soccer's exploded.
49:50
SPEAKER_07: A lot of women's sports have, but softball itself has really gone nuts.
49:55
SPEAKER_07: What has done it and what needs to keep pouring kerosene on that fire?
50:00
SPEAKER_14: Okay, I would say the what's done it is I'm gonna say social media is a big part of it.
50:06
SPEAKER_14: Things like this podcasts, um, your Instagrams, your TikToks, your YouTubes, your all of those things have really helped women's sports, especially softball.
50:18
SPEAKER_14: Um, I think the more that you allow the athletes to be able to do those things and be creative in those aspects off the field or on the field using some of their own content, the better it grows.
50:30
SPEAKER_14: And because fans become fans of individuals, like new fans, not necessarily like some people are gonna root for Tennessee because they've always been a Tennessee fan.
50:39
SPEAKER_14: Like, I'm gonna root for every sport in Tennessee plays because I went here.
50:43
SPEAKER_14: Like, there's people like that.
50:45
SPEAKER_14: Um, and then there's new fans, and new fans might become a fan of Carlin Dickens, right?
50:50
SPEAKER_14: And then ultimately become a fan of Tennessee because that's where she went to school.
50:55
SPEAKER_07: Well, because they get to know the people, they they see that they're fun, they like the stories, and now they're attached.
51:02
SPEAKER_14: Yes, exactly.
51:03
SPEAKER_14: Then they have the emotional attachment, and then they they feel it more.
51:07
SPEAKER_14: They feel the highs and they feel the lows.
51:10
SPEAKER_14: And when you feel a low, it sucks, but it makes you want to feel the high, so you gotta keep watching.
51:15
SPEAKER_07: Well, I tell you, just as we end here, I just want to say thank you for what you did here at Tennessee and for help helping to give us such pride in softball at the time that it was new.
51:28
SPEAKER_07: Tennessee fans love love all Tennessee.
51:31
SPEAKER_16: Right.
51:31
SPEAKER_07: And you were the person who brought more people to that who had not followed it.
51:36
SPEAKER_07: And you see people followed baseball like crazy now, and you know, basketball, women's basketball.
51:42
SPEAKER_07: Pat Summit certainly did that.
51:43
SPEAKER_07: Um, but there are more sports.
51:45
SPEAKER_07: Soccer has its own folly.
51:46
SPEAKER_07: It it's really cool.
51:48
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for choosing to come here, for taking a chance on this program, and for making this the thing that it now is for all Tennessee fans.
51:58
SPEAKER_07: You will always be special in the hearts and minds here.
52:01
SPEAKER_14: Thank you so much.
52:02
SPEAKER_07: Monica Abbott, our guest on the big interview, presented by Clayton Homes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream home.
52:12
SPEAKER_07: I'm Mike Keith.
52:13
SPEAKER_07: Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.
52:16
SPEAKER_09: All access all week long, delicate from the Tennessee campus.
52:20
SPEAKER_09: Mike Keith Go online, delivered by Uber Ext.com.