Latest / Your Dark Companion Podcast / Rangers Chaos, Broken Necks & Trading Baseball for Bedazzled Collars | Levi Weaver | Ep 257

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Rangers Chaos, Broken Necks & Trading Baseball for Bedazzled Collars | Levi Weaver | Ep 257 · Your Dark Companion Podcast

• Nobody would have thought that I would be the one. Ryder, sports talk. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Oh, with a big mic. Oh, okay. Alright. Yeah. Okay. Now I get it. We got a lightning strike, boys. What happened over there, Grego? We had a little lightning strike right outside the window. Win the world series. Alright. Alright. Here's a tip for all these Americano League teams. Don't what? You said tip? Yeah. Tip. Okay. With a p. I would Keep jamming. The ticket the ticket colon, nothing but a big Gen X jerk off set. Is this a cool night or what? I know somebody would hear that and go, bullshit. I'm back, bitches. Four seconds, I said. Four seconds means four seconds. Unfortunately, Mike, your actual open had a little longer to go. What camera should I be looking into today? Which camera do you want to look at? I don't know, you tell me. That one please. Yeah, you're the one that tells me what to do around here. Sure as hell is this one? It's that one. Okay, this one. Hi out there, everybody, I'm looking at the right camera, I'm talking to you and you, and you. All of you out there who are by the channel, we're very glad to have you with us. This is your dark companion. This is episode number two fifty seven, this is the September 2. Gosh. We're in the month of September already, Shoopy. Hell yeah we are. What are we going to do about that? I don't know. Celebrate? Does it really warrant that? Not till it cools down Yeah, or then September, you know, September was always a month where you went back to school. Yeah. Or it was for me anyway. Now they bring you back halfway through August, don't they? Yeah. That is so uncool. It's literally, yeah. It's very uncool. And look who we have with us today. Speaking of cool though. Yes. The epitome of cool. I mean, come on. Mean, around the room. You're the best we're gonna do. Would say so definitely. He is making his second swim through little YDC, and we are very glad to have him back because a force unto himself because he is the modern day example of a man with many and varied interests. And he can do many many things. So many things. And do them all very well. So well. Music. Is there somebody else about to walk through this door or No, we're talking about me. All you dog. All you dog. Did I say that with conviction? You nailed it. Yes. You sound like Sean Connery in that movie from twenty five years ago. All right. Well, is Levi Weaver. Now he does music. If you like Rangers baseball, then you probably perused hopefully some of his great work when he was on the beat for The Athletic. Did I get that right? Yeah. Okay. All right, so we're all squared away here, and now he is no longer on that beat, so we're going to find out exactly what he is up to. And once you walk away from an all consuming scene like that, which is the way it always has seemed to me and the way I've always heard it is. If you do the print media thing and you're on the beat for one of the teams, you are really on the beat and you march to their beat the other way around. That is absolutely correct, yeah. Well, will find out what all is up with him. How have you been just in general? It's good to see you. Thanks, man. I've been all right. I've been spending a lot of time in physical therapy this year. Here's a good lead. I broke my neck in January. Dear God! Yeah. Yeah. That didn't look fun. Do know about this Shoopy? A little, but I think this might be a little bit more in-depth than what I know. Yeah, so I was do you remember that freeze? I know it seems implausible given these triple digit temperatures we've had every It does seem plausible, but yes it did. Yeah, we had a freeze in late January and I was sledding with my kid and I have sledded, you know, had grandparents that lived in Colorado, I've sledded hundreds of times in my life. And I forgot though, that snow and ice are going to give you different distances. So I got on this sled, it was right down at the Lakewood Library. If you notice the hill outside, it's not a tall hill. It's, you know, maybe that tall, right? Get on this little sled on my back facing up headfirst, and I expect I'm going to go about 10 feet and come to a comfortable stop and think, Whee! And instead I want about 70 or 80 feet, and I'm thinking to myself, wow, this is really a successful sledding job I've done here. I'm going a lot further than I thought. And all of a sudden I hear people start to yell, look out. And I'm like, well, maybe I'm getting close to the street, I should sit up and make sure I don't go into the street. And as I start to sit up, I feel the impact right here. I ran into a yield sign with my head, and I think, putting the pieces together now, no pun intended, I think what happened is my head bounced, and then I think the pole hit me directly here. And it was the weirdest pain because it felt like I'd gotten the wind knocked out of me. So I was making, don't know if you've ever seen anybody get like seriously injured, like scary injured, but there's a noise that they make, you might want to turn my mic down a little bit, where it's kind of like this sound. And I was making that sound, I'm thinking to myself, well one, this is embarrassing. Two, I don't want to scare my kid because this feels kind of scary, you know, she's 12, well 11 at the time. Three, why does it feel like the wind got knocked out of me when I got hit here? Because this is where I felt the impact, I didn't even feel this one. And so I'm trying to say, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay. And it's like, that doesn't sound like a noise that an okay person makes. And so I was like, Okay, I need to, I need to walk home. So I walked, a little over a half mile and, when I got home realized that my hat was full of blood and so went to the ER and they said that I had fractured my spinous process, which is if you feel back here, the big bump where your neck becomes your back, your shoulders, that that had, you know, It's normally the spinous process. Yeah. It's normally shaped like this. And then mine was shaped like that now and it had a big crack in it. It didn't disconnect so they didn't have to do surgery. But yeah, was in a, I was in a cervical collar for about three months and it's still not exactly right, but I'm not paralyzed and I'm not dead. And I'll take out of the cervical collar. Yeah. Yeah. That was really a test of my patience. It would be for me too. It would be for me because number one, the cervical collar just looks very, very uncomfortable. Well, you're sat like this, you know, that's it. And if you want to turn your head, you do it with your eyes or your shoulders. And, and I had to sleep in it too. So I had to get like a special pillow and, yeah, I bedazzled it. Oh, nice. That's right. Because I got a shower one, they tell you, you don't wear this one in the shower, the shower one's a different kind, it's why I wear that. And so I would just put on my shower one and I was like, I got to kill six hours today. I can't do anything else. So, yeah, bedazzled. It's like these black, it looks, it looks very high fashion now. It's just black plastic sparklies all over it. Looked like a million bucks. Yeah. You got into bedazzled. I've got like a Svarovski cervical collar. Yeah, that was, that was how I spent my spring. But yeah, you you can see, I'm turning my head okay. Looks like you're back to playing baseball. I am. Yeah. How all have you played lately? Cause that's another thing that Yeah, yeah, we're getting Sandloc, Dallas Sandloc crew took a trip to New England and we got to play, in Sanford, Maine at the ballpark where Babe Ruth played his last game as a member of the Red Sox. It was built in 1950. It's older than older than Fenway Park. Really? That was pretty cool. And then I came back and I got a call from a guy in Fort Worth who said, Hey, we got a bunch of people going to play at the Field Of Dreams movie set. There's an actual baseball field there you can play baseball on. We had a guy drop out, do you want to go? And so I was like, well, yeah, I've just, I took off time for work anyway. So I hop in with this guy I don't know, we drive thirteen and a half hours, and I got to play four games in two days on the Field Of Dreams, wearing a jersey with, I'm trying to remember the guy's name, what's guy's name? Number 55. Nice. I did not say Weaver, but that's okay. And yeah, I got to play at the Field Of Dreams, so You're to be for a tawny for a day. Yeah, yeah. What positions did you play? Let's see I mostly play middle infield, and I pitch a little now. Yeah, I was going say, think I've seen some, backyard videos or something of you, throwing off a mound. Yeah, I've been because my Sandlot crew, shout out White Rock Mud Bugs. We, there was a lot of beginners and I had never pitched before playing Sandlot. And, but I was like, well, I can kind of mostly throw the ball straight and I, you know, that's what you wanted a pitcher. I'll try it. Yeah. And especially Sandlot, cause it's not about like trying to like strike out side. It's about just like get it in there and let people hit the ball and, you know, let the fielders have fun. Exactly. So yeah, I've been, been learning how to pitch. But really are a Renaissance man. Did you ever pitch when you were a kid? I didn't know. I still remember the day of pitching tryouts in high school and the coach was like, Anybody who wants to pitch, come over here. Everybody else go strike fly balls. And I was like, dude, I don't want none. I'm good. I don't want to pitch. I don't think I can do it. And now I didn't pitch at 40, I was 43 years old the first time I pitched. Turns out I love it. It's a lot of fun and I wish that I had done that in high school. I wouldn't have been very good, but I would have thrown a lot harder then than I do now. Then I, you know, got this funky little weird sidearm delivery. I grip the ball with one finger because that's the only way I can throw strikes anymore. I don't know why I can't do this. Some kind of the yips, I guess, but it's just a one finger grip. And It's weird, I used to pitch when I was a little kid and I was the best pitcher on the team, but the coach's kid was wanting to move from second base to pitching, so I very rarely got to, but when I did, I don't know what it was, but I couldn't throw the ball without it doing something. I mean, I couldn't throw it, I could throw it over the plate, but I couldn't throw it straight. I think that's good though, right? Right. I thought it was, and I wasn't trying to throw it straight, but I would throw a pitch and a guy would swing on it while it was going, you know, moving down and away from him. Oh yeah, that's what mine do, it's because I don't throw very hard. Yeah. I guess that's, And that's for me I'd look over to the coach after that, after I got a strike on the guy and say, Hey, about that shit, you know? And the coach would be looking at me and going What's his deal? Just he thought I was breaking my wrist or something like that or trying to do that, and I wasn't. So you weren't supposed to break your wrist because of league rules or he just didn't believe in throwing curveballs at that age? Well, the thought back then was that if kids that age tried to do it, you would ruin your arm. Right. I think we kind of grew up with that too Yeah, pretty much, little bit. Course And that presupposes the idea that as we make our way through this world, we're going to be pitching forever, you know? Right, not just a So you better keep your arm good when you Yeah, you never know. Because you're gonna need it later Maybe you could still be pitching in a secret Hey, Mike, you could come play Sandlaw with us. Oh, we need that. Got a pickup game. What game? We got a pickup game on Saturday. You could come play at Oak Cliff Park if you want. Oak Cliff? Shoopy? At 10AM, and it's, you know, it's an open game. It's a so anybody can come. You can play as much or as little as you want. So if you want to come out, shoot me a text. I'll come play baseball. We need a new hobby. You think I need a new hobby? Yes. And I want it to be that. You want it to be that. Yeah. And you can throw all the curves you want and yell at you. It's true. I mean, I will. I'll be in the dugout being like, yeah, but I'm just, I'll just do that to make you feel at home. Like for nostalgia sake. Yeah, man. I don't know. I've got it in me for any more athletic endeavors. Especially you don't want to play in this weather either. But at 10AM it's only Yeah. One hundred and Yeah. It's nothing. Just bring some water. I agree. Yeah. But not too long ago, I tried to shoot a basketball. Oh. Which is another thing that in my other years and my other years lasted until I was well into my fifties. Absolutely, I was there. And I could always shoot a basketball. Mhmm. And I shudder to think what this would have looked like if it would have been caught on video. Were you not there to take videos of No, gonna say I was there back in 2009 I think when Team Ticket played the Lake Highlands girls basketball team. Who won? They did. Do you feel good about He had a three pointer and he told everybody about it at the Barley House after. Five, Yeah, he literally said Well, think it was the only three we made all night long. It was the only really much of anything we made that night. But yeah, he was going around just telling everybody, I made a three pointer tonight. Nice. Yeah, I was proud of myself. You should have been, and we got a great picture of it too somewhere. I'll have to see if we can find it. It's somewhere in the archives, I would assume. Yeah, yeah. But you had it as your profile picture at one I'm checking your Facebook now. I mean, listen, I understand that we'll go down to Lakewood Landing after a game and like, how about that double play? I turned to double play tonight. That's right. Because it doesn't Hey, happen that you handle these little victories wherever you get them. You know, I like, I will get preachy about this. You're exactly right. Like it's when you let go of the, like, I have to be cool. I think that's probably why I was like, when you were talking about cool, when you let go of the idea that, you know, somebody's watching and oh, I'm going to be uncool. I'm going to be cringe. And you just like enjoy the moment that you're in for the sake of, Hey, I'm here for this moment. I get to be here for this moment. I don't think I could have done that at 16 because I was so serious about like the world, the life I have ahead of me and I have to build this whatever, whatever. I think when you get old enough and you start to realize how impermanent everything is, everything including me is impermanent. It allows you to kind of let go of that, like need to be cool or build something or, you know, and you just, you can enjoy. I made a three pointer. How cool is that? Very, know, like who cares? Great drop out of it too. And who cares if somebody else doesn't think it's cool? All right. Well, it's not for you. Was for me. Was happy for them. I just thought it was funny as well. It's great. So take those little bits of joy where you can get them, Mike, and whoever's watching me on the other side of that camera, like is good advice from the great It Levi Weaver applies to you. Yeah. Not just me, not just him, you too. Because we're your dark companions. That's right, we are yours whether you like it or not. Whether you want it or not, we're still yours. Damn right. And that's that. I feel like we veered into some interesting psychological interaction with the Let's crowd explore it. Okay. Are you guys are you talk to me here. Are you okay with us being your doctor? Can't actually talk to them. They can only listen to us and watch us. Okay, so they're not like in the camera? They're not in the cameras, no. Okay, because I was like, that's gotta be so tiny. I know you're a writer so you know, you're not familiar with the But I can tell you if they're an occasion with us being your dark companion, they will let us know. Okay. Well, I was like, if they're trapped in the camera, they're coming ours. We can do it with them whatever we want. They're in they're in Shoopee's house right now. That's right. They are. Okay. They're on our turf. They are. Like it or not. They chose to come here. Yeah, you clicked on this or it ended up in your feed and you decided not to swipe Yeah. Past Yeah. Wait, is that Are you impressed with this edition of the Texas Baseball Rangers? No. I'm sorry, I know I'm supposed to give a longer answer than that. I was hoping for that, but the answer is just no. I'll get more out of you here. No. No. Yeah. Don't hit that well. They pitch okay. They defend okay. Ezekiel Duran has been fun this year. Yes. The solution. You know, hopefully he can keep that up for the rest of his life, but, but no, it's just not a good team. And I don't know why they didn't do more selling at the deadline. Like even if they creep into the playoffs because every other AL West team is somehow even worse. What's the plan once you get in the playoffs? Try to get hot. Just get in the playoffs, play a few games playoff magic and if you don't win, well You're going play at 500 in the playoffs? Yeah, It's little better, yes. Kinda like making a three pointer. I guess, but I mean look at what the Mets did, right? I mean they restocked their farm system, they declared it a failure, this season sucks, let's get these guys out of here, and they did a good job. Yes. They did it the way you're supposed to do it. Yes. And when you look at the Rangers, like who are their, their key players moving forward? You know, Duran, let's see if he holds up the young guys, Evan Carter, great. You want to build around, Wyatt Langford. Fantastic. We'll see if Jack Leiter is going to, you know, I'm still undecided on him, but your, your stars are what Corey Seager and Nathan Ivaldi and Jacob DeCrom. Are they going to be around when you're good again? No. No, they're not. Are you thinking, well, we could maybe get one more year out of it? Is there going to be a season next season? No, there's not. I don't, I don't understand why they didn't do more and I wasn't in the room. I don't know what was being offered. Maybe everything that was offered to them was garbage. I know that, you know, the report that they tried to trade trade Jacob deGrom to the Braves and he said, no, thanks. That is a little bit funny to me. But yeah, I would have turned around and just been like, alright, well, we're going to trade everybody else and then we'll come back to you and see if you want to win here or if you are ready to move along to a different team that's going to win. What does Jacob deGrom got going here that would make him turn down a trade to the Braves? Probably the fact he wants to live here. Yeah, I think. I guess. I, you know, we just talked about who needs to be cool, right? Like maybe his motivations are not the same as ours. And you'd like to think that every baseball player is like, wants to win a championship, but it's possible he just found his home here and likes it here and really wants to be a Texas Ranger for the rest of his career. And if so, if you're a fan, you have to respect that. Yeah, sure. But I, yeah, I don't know. I think I probably would have. Yeah. And you know, we walk around with the presupposition that all of these guys are all about winning. Right. And they all want to go to a place where they win. And they will tell you that, they will say that, but not all of them do. Well, what he said afterwards was, I want to win here. Yeah, yeah, he said I want to win here. Well, take a look around man, take a look around the Yeah. How many guys in that room do you think you're going to be able to win with here at the age of what, 37? Yeah. I don't know man. I mean they could still could still win the division this year. It's 30 still eight by the It's still possible. 38. 38 years old. Okay. Yeah. It's still possible they could do it because the Astros are kind of garbage too. And the Mariners are kind of garbage too. And the A's and the Angels, before the A's beat the Rangers today, were tied for the worst record in all of baseball. So the whole division is just Not great. No. Sorry, can I have a seat one? I don't think I've ever seen a year in baseball as weird as this. Right. And the weirdness all comes from the American League, although early in the year, it looked like the National League was going to be neck and neck with them, but things have normalized over the Well, NL Central was so wild early in the year because all five of those teams were winning. Yeah, yeah. You know, and then, you know, the Pirates fell off. They went and bought at the deadline and then then fell off the Reds fell off. The NL East is interesting. The Braves haven't run away with it. The Phillies started off as such a terrible team, right? They fired their manager and then now they're on this hot streak. The AL East, it's still technically possible that we could have four AL East teams in the playoffs this year. The Blue Jays and Orioles are fighting for that last wild card spot. The Yankees and Red Sox are currently in the top two and the Rays are leading the division. It's just, it is a weird, weird baseball season. Like it's, I'm with you. I haven't seen anything like it before. I wonder how much of what's going on this year and the fact that all of these teams are just kind of, know, or so many, not all of them, but so many of these teams are just kind of bobbing along, they're stuck in the middle, they'll win a couple, they'll lose a couple, they'll, you know, get a couple games above 500, but then they'll go on a little bit of a losing streak and fall to two or three games below 500, then they'll go back again and that's just the way it's been all this year and I wonder if maybe what lies ahead has been in the back of the minds, or maybe not even the back of the minds of these teams and these guys all year long, and that's causing this year to play out like it has. Maybe, and you know, I don't think there's anybody because the league right now is saying we need a salary cap. Now what you're not hearing is we need a salary cap so that the value of these franchises can continue to inflate exponentially. Here's a good example. Artie Moreno is selling the Angels. The valuation is $4,000,000,000 In 2023, when well, 'twenty two, he said, I'm going to start taking offers, and 'twenty three said, I'm not going the team after all. Forbes valued the team at $2,200,000,000 So it's essentially doubled in the last two years. Now we need a salary cap. And what the league is pitching is, well, we need a salary cap so that we can have parity. These other teams can't keep up, right? The small market teams can't keep up. Let's ignore for a moment that the best record in the sport belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers and the best record in the American League belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays. We need more parity. And as of a couple of weeks ago, there's like two teams in the American League that are more than what, three, three and a half games out of a playoff spot? Yeah, yeah. They have their parity. Now, don't think teams are doing this on purpose. That would be an enormous scandal if teams are just like, let's throw these games until everybody finishes at 500 so we can get, you know, get back at the league. But is it is the suggestion that just because there's concern that there won't be a season next year that front offices are less prone to, like that's affecting how they acquire players? Yeah, I think that's possible. Yeah, for sure. Oh. You get a text message Shoopy? No, Citizen is alerting me of something that's going on in this neighborhood or perhaps some Is there a fire? You wanna see? If there's a fire, we need to stop, drop and roll. Oh, let's see. Two officers are among the wounded in an ongoing active shooter incident. Okay. In an apartment in Minneapolis. In Minneapolis. Okay, cool. That was dark. Yeah. Great. That took a turn and I'm So we got a not little bit of time then. We don't have to wrap it up right now. No, we don't have to wrap it up. We don't have to go all Minneapolis news all the time. Now, Mike Stays Citizen app like line of like anytime, anything in the entire United States happens, like, I want to know about it. Minneapolis? I think you can like I'm just that way. Yeah, put some sort of zip code. Are things going in Portland right now, Mike? Probably a lot of, good vibes and near legal pot. Oh. Probably. That's fun. Yeah. For those that partake. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. But you know, kind of think that what lies ahead has been in the background for all these teams all year long, and I don't want to indict anybody or say that guys aren't playing hard or this or that or anything like that because I've seen no evidence of that. I'm not close enough to it to know anyway, but still I do think there's a chance that something like that could get in the back of your mind and impact things to a greater or lesser extent, let's say? I think, I mean, you may be right with some guys, but I'll say this, from the years that I spent in the Rangers clubhouse, and I can only speak about that, but you know, there was a lot of turnover in those years. I talked to a lot of different guys and you would see them going through a lot of situations. I mean, I was there the day that Tyler Skaggs died. And we walk into the into the the home clubhouse and you can see it's it's weird. The vibe is weird. And the guys are kind of whispering, and you can see I I remember Joey Gallo had the worst poker face, and Nomar Mazzaro whispers something to him, and you can see his face go. And he turns to him, I was like, something's up. I don't know. Somebody get traded? What's going on? And pretty soon, John Blake comes in and goes, everybody out. We got a we got a situation. And so we we go out and they tell us that Tyler Skaggs had died and they didn't play the game that day. But the next day, they came back to work, and those guys played a baseball game. Both teams did. It was emotional, and it's not I'm not saying that they weren't affected by it, but I will say this for baseball players. This the season is so long and so every day. I think it takes a certain mindset to make it to the big leagues, much less succeed there where when you're on the field, it's that's it. Everything else is blocked out. You're going through a divorce, you're going through, you know, contract negotiations, you're looking at the possibility of a lockout next year. Those I was perpetually impressed by BigLear's ability to just set things aside and go play. So it's not everybody's, you know, as good as everybody else at it, but I just would say I don't think that that's probably, that's my guess, I'm affecting guys that saying it's to an overwhelming degree, but just the, it's just kind of like the thing that hovers over everything, that's all. And may not have any kind of direct impact on anything, I could be as full of shit as I can be anyway, but I still, the idea that that is impacting the way things have gone this year is still something that I can't quite shake. Anyway, this of course is the great Levi Weaver. Mhmm. And Levi used to write baseball for The Athletic. He's a big music guy. I wanna get into that aspect of your scene Okay. Here in a bit if we can. But before we do, it's time for the dreaded and feared mid show read. Don't be scared, Levi. I'm a little bit scared. Alright, what have we got here today? We can be a little bit scared. Just Dudley's. Just Dudley's? Just Dudley's. But it's not just Dudley's. No, no. Dudley's is awesome. Dudley's is awesome. Dudley's is never just Dudley's. When you go to Dudley's, you're not going to just Dudley's, you're going to Dudley's and you are going to have a good time. Are you hungry? Yes. Well, you are, you're going to have some good food units at Dudley's. Are you thirsty? Yeah. Would you like to get your drink on a little bit? You can do that at Dudley's. There's one other thing you can do. What, Shoopy? That is watch sports on TV. I love sports. Do you like sports? Yes, I just said that. I like sports too. Me too. I like to watch them on TV and I like to do that at Dudley's and if you like all that at Dudley's, then they got many, many TVs that show many, many games of all kinds. We're starting to get into football. Starting to get into college football. It'll be here before you know it. So you probably need a new home to watch said football. Maybe you got a fantasy football draft you're about to get going. You can do that at Dudley's. We did. If we did it, you can do it too. Dudley's, 2927 Henderson. That is just a skosh southeast of Central Expressway at that fabled Knox Henderson exit. Go there for all of your sports, food units, sports bar needs. Shoopee goes there a lot, we dig it, we bet you will too. It is Dudley's. Hell yeah. I heard Dudley's has bathrooms too. You can just, you can shoot. Dude, they're immaculate. And you can pee right there at there, don't have to leave. No, you can, inside that building. Inside the building, people just walk right in there and pull down their pants and go to the bathroom right there. And Dudley's is like, that's fine. In the bathroom. In the bathroom, right at the bar. They encourage that. Of course, obviously. Yeah. They try to get and that to the they're usually, I've found pretty successful at that. Yeah, that's crazy man. It was crazy. Room taking? How's your music scene these days? Oh man, it's not as vibrant as it once was, Mike. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, I don't know if it's because concert tickets are getting a little, more expensive these days. I think the last show that I went to would have actually, you know what? It was these guys, Microwave. My, they, they play, you know, rock music like I was kind of into around 2004 through seven ish. It's kind of a throwback. It's back now. Yeah, they were really, really good. Would you describe or It's like familiar with them. Yeah. How would I describe microwave? I would call them sort of like a there are some punk elements, but it's more melodic than that. Here, yeah, this is lighter less. Perfect. Made these I know what exact the Rangers are, lol. I know. Oh crap. Rock and roll is back, Mike. It's not dead anymore. Like it's zombie now. It's back. Yeah. Yeah, so that was the last show that I went to. My son is also super into them and, or at least enough into them to go to a show with dad, which was pretty cool. That is pretty I don't hate that. Yeah. That sounds pretty good. Yeah. Your kid's playing music though, right? Yeah, he's, well, so all of his bandmates graduated. He's a senior this year and his bandmates all graduated and moved off so he's going have to start some new music projects. Maybe with dad? I don't know man. Maybe with Mike Reiner? Maybe with Mike Reiner, yeah. Are you into Last thing he wants. Are you into Screamo and Shoe Gaze? I don't know. Could be. Hardcore? Do you do hardcore? Like No, I don't do hardcore anything anymore. He uses three double kick pedals every time he drums. Do you do like the growly vocals? He'd probably be pretty good at it. I'll break that out when he does the petty stuff. Yeah. Pretty funny. See? Right there. Right there. Give me some lyrics here. Holy moly. Some lyrics, I will sing this shit for you. He's ready to go. Yeah. Yeah. Now if you can just I would watch that concert. The thing about the lyrics is you're not really supposed to be able to understand them, so you don't even need the lyrics. Yeah. Just make noises with low melody. Jokes aside, like I love that. That was the sort of show I used to go to when I was 20 and 21, And like to see that it's back and like, he's not doing it to impress me. Lord knows, that's not how teenagers work, but I'm really, it's fun to watch him go from, he's a pretty quiet kid and just to go up there on stage with his, know, whether it be electric or bass, he's played different thing and things in different bands, but just like transform into this. He's got it. Like he's when he's on stage, like he's into it, he's got the moves down, but it's, he's not forcing it. It just sort of comes naturally to him. So I honestly, it won't be with dad because I gave him my gear and I just kind of want to, I remember being a teenager and I didn't want my dad involved, you know, like I love my dad. He's how old? He's, so he's 17. Okay. I love my dad, but I didn't want him to come be involved. That's not And so I'm giving him, you know, all the space and it's funny. He, he doesn't show me things until they're done. Don't get to weigh in on like the mix or lyrics or any, you know, we're to that point where like, I don't get any input and honestly, I'm fine with that. Like that's how you become an autonomy. You know, I don't want it to be 35 and asking me for advice. Figure it out kid, and he's doing a great job at it. Like I'm so proud of him. I'm proud of both of them. Now when they are done, does he bring them to you and say, Dad, tell me what you think about this? No, I see on his Instagram that the new record is out and I go listen, then I send him a text, like it sounds really good, or you know, And then once I bring up the, you know, we'll talk about it and like, what's, you know, what's his time signature? I'm having a hard time figuring it out or like, you know, what pedals did you use? And, you know, we'll, we'll talk gear. But no, it's not ever a like presented for approval type thing. Yeah. That's, that's not how it works, which is fine. Does he appreciate how cool it is having a dad that he can talk about all that stuff with? I think he does. It's funny, like I had some gear leftover from my or some merch leftover from my music days. And, and even, even this week I picked him up from school and he's wearing like a Levi Weaver t shirt. Hell yeah. And I think he does it to be ironic. I don't think it's cause he's like a mega fan. But it is pretty funny and he, I don't know when he was a freshman and I, you know, Lord freshmen are so adorable. He would bring my records. I told him like, yeah, you could, he asked if he could bring my vinyl records and CDs to school with him and sell them cause he was selling kids. He goes to Booker T and he was still going to my dad's used to be in a band. And I was like, yeah, so you can keep half of the money if you sell them. So he, he, I like people at Booker T knew who I was. And then eventually he sort of grew up past that where it was not that, you know, I'm not going to do that anymore. But it was, it was nice to be, you know, I'll take that over sort of, you know, park over there and I'll meet you over there when it's time to come pick me up from school. Oh yeah. How many records did you make or have you made? Not to I did. You were seeing Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it kind of is. I I don't really do it anymore, but I I made I had three full lengths, a couple of EPs. A couple solo projects or bands or what? Yeah. It was just me. I couldn't really afford to bring a band on the road with me, you know? It was pretty small, pretty small stuff. But that meant that I got to tour for, you know, eight years. I probably played between 800 and a thousand shows. Geez. You know, it was funny when I I took the the baseball writing job, the full time gig, or Moyle, who I think I think you guys are familiar with. He was the one who hired me. And he goes, the thing is like, my one concern that I have is the schedule. I mean, there's, that's a lot of games. And I was like, my man, I played at 200 shows last year and I had to book them and promote them and I had to print up the merch and inventory the merch. And then I had to drive to the show and I had to unload the gear and I had to set it up and I had to sound check it. And then I had to shake hands with everybody before the show. And then I had to play the show and then I had to go sell the merch and then I had to pack it all down and put it in my car. And then I had tour manage and make sure that I got to the hotel. So I had about 13 jobs that I did 200 times a year last year. I don't want to be condescending, but I think I can show up for 162 baseball games and just write about it. You know, I'm not having to load in the baseballs and the mitts and, you know, like, and then go play the game and then go sign autographs after. Like, I think that part of it is going to be okay. And then Orz is like, okay, dude. Yeah. I know. He's like, dude, you don't have be jerk about it. Come on. So I don't think I went into that much detail. I think actually what I said in the moment, like I thought all of that and what I said was like, I'll be okay. If I couldn't go into that much detail, I'd do it every chance. Go granular on that. I was like, I'm going save this for Mike Reiner one day for now. All you need to know is I'll be fine. But you know, in retrospect, when I moved to Texas, it was 2015 and the plan was write the next record. I didn't plan to become a baseball writer and I took a year and I couldn't write anything. Now, you know, in retrospect, I look back and I go, well, of course it was burnout. Of course I was burned out. When I sat down to write, it was like I was at war with myself going, you know, if you write this next record, you're going to have to go do all of that again. And I think part of me knew that I was done. And so, you know, I It was in your head by then. Yeah. Yeah. So I did one, I had a friend, Brandon Yates, who when, you know, 20, I want to say 1819. So it had been three or four years since I played a show. And he goes, what was your last show? And I said, well, I don't know. And he goes, come on, dude. You can't not know what your last show was. You have to play a last show. And I said, absolutely not. And, he kept pestering me about it. And so in January 2020, I said, listen, we'll do a last show, but we here are my terms. I need an entire baseball off season to prepare because I haven't touched my guitar in five years. It needs to be a fundraiser for refugee services of Texas, and I'm not doing the booking or the promoting. But he had worked at StubHub, he'd done some promoting stuff before and he's like, I got you. So we played it at, it was at Sons of Herman Hall just before COVID shut everything down. We raised about $5 for refugee services, which was wonderful. And then I, as the show got close, I was really worried like one of two things was going to happen either I'm going to suck and people are going to turn up for the first show in five years, the last show ever, and it's going to be really disappointing or I'm going get the bug and I'm going to be like, I've got this stable job now with The Athletic, I'm going want to quit and go back on the road. And it was neither. I felt okay about the show. People flew in from, I think it was like five different States and it was really humbling to me. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. The show was up to my standards. And then when it was done, I packed up my stuff and I was like, I don't have to go to San Antonio or Little Rock or Albuquerque. I need to go a half mile that way and go to bed. And I'm And fine with so it was a nice little send off, but yeah, don't, I don't play anymore. I don't, it's not, you know, my hobby now is playing baseball with doing sandlot. I know playing guitar still feels to me when I strap on the guitar, I was such a perfectionist because it was all me doing mostly everything. Yeah. To everything it was, perfectionism. It Did you play with tracks and everything? I had a loop pedal. Yeah. And so I would play it live. Okay. Yeah. And loop that and then play over top of it and violin bow and some weird microphone and try to just not be a boring sad white dude with an acoustic guitar because Lord knows we've got enough of those. But yeah, even now putting on a guitar, it still feels a little, I can feel that sort of like, not to be too woo woo about it, but like, like almost a spirit of just like, this has to be perfect. And, and so I don't do it for fun anymore, which is a little sad, but it's fine. I got a bunch of gear, I gave it to my kid, he's having a great time doing it, and that's great. I'll pass the mantle on to him and try to hope that he doesn't burn himself out with it. I used to play drums, and when I stopped playing drums, that was it. I stopped playing drums. And I didn't do anything in music for a number of years, but one day I was up at, I can't remember which music store, one of these around here, I just wandered in there just to see what it was like these days. There was a drum set there, So couple of sticks I sat down and boy, am I glad there is no video or anything of that. I've never felt so out of it, so out of place. I mean, it just, I walked away thinking that it was somebody else that used to do that, not me. Right, right. You know? This is a different life. Yeah, it was a different life. And I mean, like, it all just used to come so natural to me and everything like that. I sat down that day and nothing was natural. The only thing that felt natural was getting up and trying to get out of there, let anybody see it, you know? Do you remember about how much time between that and starting petty theft was? Or was that pretty It similar was between that and starting petty theft? God, at least least a year and a half. Okay. So I was gonna say like, you know, at least by, you know, I know 2003 I think is when petty theft started and then I remember for a few years at the ticket, you know, we had the hardline band, know, me, Shoopy, Corby, and Danny would all play, you know, me and Corby on guitar, Danny on bass, Shoopy on drums, and we played, you know, like a cover of Rockin' in the Free World by Neil Young, and he was playing drums and sounded great. Solid beat, you know, kept his time, like, threw in some fills and all that, and the next year I think we did Bob O'Reilly, and he's nailed that too. Here's something that I know about musicians, is the good ones hold themselves to a different standard. And I remember being in my early twenties and sort of developing this rule of like, if I hear about your band from you, it's probably bad. If I hear about your band from somebody else, I'll give it a listen. You should go check out Petty Theft. I've been to a petty theft show. I've been there. But it's, you know, it's kind of like the, the guy, do you play drums? And nah, nah, not really. And then he gets behind drums. He's better than 90% of people, but for them because he's that good and, and you know, it's if you are, if you get to a certain level, know what you don't know. And so yeah, you're better than the lay person. Sure. Can you keep a beat? Yeah. Can I go out? Can I pick up a guitar right now and play you a song? Yeah, sure. Please, could you? But it's, you know, don't have my calluses anymore and I'm going to muff notes and I'm going to, you can hear my voice. Haven't been talking for forty five minutes. It's already starting to get raspy. It's out of shape. I wish I had that voice. So it's, yeah, I absolutely know that feeling that you're talking about because I have picked up a guitar since and it's like, woah, but you know, I'm not playing the wrong chords. I'm out of practice. Just doesn't sound doesn't feel natural. There's standards, I get it. Yeah. Yeah, there are standards. I never really worry too much about those. Just surrounded myself with Come way better and see Petty Theft, you will have the opportunity to do that very thing Saturday night. Levi. Yes. Yeah, Shoopy. Okay. Where's that when you need it? Take two. Oh, wow, how did I beat you to a drop? Because I was looking at something else. Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna, that's a little feather in my cap. That is. Is. Beating groups to a drop, wow. I'm like Michael Jordan on the wizards now. Very few have done that. But yes, Tolbert's in Grapevine, Saturday night, I nine like chili. We'll be there. Let's get some chili, Levi. Yeah, if you like chili and you like Tom Petty, then it is the place for you. Share a bowl of red. And also tell them about the twenty eighth. What's happening on the twenty eighth? Oh, you're at the state fair. Oh yeah, petty theft at the state fair. Oh, yeah. Great State Fair of Texas. We can get corn dogs that day. You can. Are you guys planning on like, how punk rock are you? Like are you are you gonna like set Big Tex on fire again? Don't do it on camera. Don't say it on camera. Oh, that would never happen. If Big Tex is set on fire, it will not be by us. Okay. Right, wink. But yes, we will be on the main stage. Damn. And they've moved it where they normally have the main stage on the outside. Now it's going to be the Fair Park Coliseum. Woah. Oh, hell yeah. So that's where we will be. I was gonna make a joke about like they put you on the main stage, but then they moved it behind the curtain or they moved it into one of the hallways, but no, was the other way around. Butter sculptures. They may have more on their minds for us than just that, but as of right now, but That's on the twenty eighth. All right. Okay. Just saying. So check it out. Let's go. You know, you were a trip, man. There aren't many people I know who were like you. Were one. Thank you. I think. Oh yeah, definitely. That's a compliment from me, I promise. That's about the highest form of praise I can give anybody. I You say they are one of one. Thank you. I don't know, I just You'd just be you. Yeah. That's good enough. Right. That is YBC Sorry, for that was the worst ending I could have given you. It was just like, thanks, guess. Don't want to kick. You don't have any dirt for me to kick and like uncomfortable with the compliments, Mike. We take whatever we get. Okay. Well, I appreciate it. I, I do endeavor to not To not what? To not be, I don't know. I think if you work so hard to be non predictable, you kind of come off as just being like, it's like it's a bit, you know, you're being weird to be weird. And I'm not saying that I've never done that in my life, but I do, I do like that compliment means a lot to me because I do try not to fall into like doing things just because they've been done before. Like I do like creativity and originality. And so I think the reason that I'm uncomfortable is like, well, I can see where I'm bringing it full circle, like the musicians, I can see where I'm falling short and other people are way more creative. But yeah, thank you. It does. I appreciate that. There's always going to be somebody out there that's a little bit cooler than you are a little more hip than you are, a little bit better than you are, a little more creative than you are, just whatever your situation may be, there's always gonna be somebody out there that's a little bit more that than you. That's the way it goes. That's life here in these, the twenties. Can you imagine if you were like the one guy? Because there has to be one guy. How cool does that feel? That is the coolest. They have to know. You imagine being him and just being like, man, think I'm tired of being Keanu Reeves. I'll bet they don't know. They probably don't. He acts like he does. That's what makes him cool. Like Jeff Goldblum is just sitting there. Yeah. And he's like, yeah, there's probably somebody cooler than me. Right. And it's like, no man, sorry. You're number one. That's right, you are number one. Thanks Levi. Hey, you're number My pleasure. Thank you, Shupee. Thank you, Ashley. Shupee's number one. Thank you for checking us out here on YDC today, hope you enjoyed this. Now what we want from you is for you to help us out on your social media, get us out there, spread us out amongst your friends, cohorts, whatever the case may be, even people who hate you, tell them about us. Go to the State Maybe they'll like you better. Go to the State Fair and livestream it to all Yeah, your do that. As you heckle Mike. Yes. Right? And heckle me hard too. Alright, sweet. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Yeah, you can. Do you want to tell them about the interloper for the OG? Oh yeah. No, can wait. What's that? No, that's okay. More details to come. More details to come. Oh, we're having an interloper on the OG? I believe we are. This is something I know nothing about. Do know something That's about the point. Nope, you all soon. Dun dun dun. Oh my gosh. He beat me again. Come on it. You want this job? No. Have that to think about. So think about it, I will. But right now, I gotta go take my pants off. Yeah. Bye. Alright. I'm gonna go take my pants off. You're Dark Companion is a stolen water media presentation.