Jake Query

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We are here with the one and only Jake Quarry. Jake, can you tell us what we're going to learn?

Apparently, we're going to learn about how when I was younger, my attitude wasn't great and when I got older, my attitude got slightly better. And so as a result of that, so too did my life.

So if you guys want to learn about how to increase your attitude from that of an adolescent to that of an adult, from a person that has spoken, interviewed some of the greatest, most influential people in America, I'm telling you, this is a podcast you won't want to miss. What is the roadmap to defeat Self sabotage, negative thinking and learned helplessness in these unprecedented times, you must get connected, get growing, get certain and get attitude. The Get Attitude Podcast. And welcome to the Get Attitude Podcast. Today we are here with local TV celebrity and radio celebrity. One of the announcers of IMS Radio Network and several different shows. Somebody that I've known all my life. I think he's known me longer, but I've always wanted to interview this guy because I'm a big fan of his. We are here with the one and only Jake Quarry. Jake, welcome to the Good Attitude Podcast.

Glenn, I appreciate it. First off, the two things. Number one, I'm not a celebrity. I've always made that very clear. There's no way that that's applicable, but I appreciate your use of the word. And number two, I'm wanting to know when you're gonna serve me some sort of divorce papers here. I'm looking at your photo and I feel like I'm driving on i65 and you're a Crown Point divorce attorney. That's what that.

Look, I was in law school for a period of about three weeks, and then they said that the suggested and mandatory reading was over several hundred pages a night and that did not work.

When the syllabus is this thick, you're like, I'm out.

Yeah. And so I went into political science and I said, so this is subjective and anything I say cannot really be proven. They said, yeah. I said, I think I found my major, but I never got out of there. Which Is, you know, we have that in common.

We do.

Now, as everybody should know, Jake and my mother were dear friends. They taught nursery school together. So I want to dedicate this show to those two wonderful women. And I hope your mom gets to watch it. The wonderful Karen Query. And hello, you, Karen. I hope you get to hear this.

And Gracie. Bill, your mother hired my mom. We moved to Indianapolis when I was entering kindergarten. So my parents are both from Indianapolis. But in 1978, the summer of 78, we moved to Indianapolis and my mother had been a preschool teacher in Shelbyville, where we live. Wow. And she was looking for a job. I remember Glenn so well as a little kid because we just moved, you know, it was a new world to me. And going around with my mom to all these different places where she was being interviewed to be a preschool teacher. And of course, I was entering kindergarten, so I was too old for these little preschool kids, you know, I mean, these little rugrats. But I was tagging along and looking at all these preschools and lo and behold, she landed at Children's Corner, which is in St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Was at that time. It's moved since then, but. And your mother was the one that gave my mom the shot. And my mom still is very involved with them some 40 plus years later. So your mom was a huge part. Huge part of my mom's life. And my mom indirectly as well. So I remembered your mom well. And when you were playing football too, I was fairly convinced you were Jack Lambert.

Right.

Thank you. All I heard about was how good you were.

Well, that was me talking most of the time about how good I was. That's right. I'm not sure if it was anybody else, but if I had an opportunity to self promote, I would, just as I do now.

It's important.

It is important. So, Jake, we are here to talk to our gappers. That's what our Get Attitude podcast is about. And you've been through a whole bunch of different stuff in your life, especially in the past 10 or 15 years. And people come to our podcast to get from where they are to where they want to be and to become who they want to be from where they are or from who they are. And so I think you might have some valuable life lessons that we can share. I know that you're going to have some great stories because I follow you and I've listened to you and I know you do some really, really incredible things in the community. You've done some really cool side projects that I've seen. I want to talk about those. So gappers, if you are ready to listen to Jake and his story and our conversation, I think you're going to thoroughly enjoy this. I always like to start out our podcast, though, Jake, because we get all. And here's another reason I want to interview, because you have a. Not a warped sense of whatever, but I know you're going to give me answers that not a lot of people give me. Talk to me really quick. What. When you think of attitude, like, what does attitude mean to you and who are some of your attitude. Your first. The first people that affected your attitude. Your attitude coaches, if you will.

Okay, great question. First off, I think I've never thought about it so spontaneously.

Nobody does. Right.

I think attitude is the level of belief you have in yourself and the level of display that you put out there of it. So if you have a strong belief in yourself, but you overcompensate in how much you believe in yourself by throwing it out there for everybody, they're gonna say, man, that guy's got an attitude. If you don't have much belief in yourself at all. And so therefore, you overcompensate by trying to belittle everybody else in order to raise yourself up. Bad attitude. Right. So I think attitude is something that can be positive, but it's a matter of how much you allow it to come out of you. Now, for me personally, I had two people that greatly. Aside from my own parents.

Sure.

Okay. That goes off the. That goes without saying, because I've had great parents and great experiences. But when I was a senior in high school, I had a bad attitude. I was as arrogant as could be. Everybody is when they're senior, right? Sure. But I was. I was a cocky kid and I was doing a lot of radio and TV work at North Central High School. And I didn't want to. I didn't want to have to do the little things that everybody was having to do in our class. And so one day I balked at an assignment and said, I'm not doing it. I don't have to do it. I'm the guy that talks into the microphone. I don't have to do the editing. You know, those kinds of things. And so I was sent down to the principal's office. And the principal at that time at North Central high school was Dr. Eugene White, who later went on to become superintendent of Washington Township and IPS and then the president of Martin University. And Dr. White. I get sent down to the principal's office and he sees Me. And he says, what are you doing here? And I said, well, they want me to do this, they want me to do that. And I'm angry, right? I'm just a typical high school kid. So he calls me in his office and clears his schedule for like 30 minutes and shuts the door and he says, jake, let me tell you something about your attitude. And he said, I know you feel like people are out to get you, right? And you feel like you're being asked to do things you're not supposed to do and you feel like you're above all of it. And I said, yeah. And he said, okay. And he said, but the way you handle people and the way you handle the situations and the way that you, you know, determine where you're going is a direct reflection of who you are on the inside. And he said, when I was. When I was your age and I was a senior in high school, he said, I grew up impoverished in Phoenix City, Alabama, with a speech impediment as a black man. Now, if I allowed what everyone thought of me to dictate my attitude, would I be right here right now as your principal in high school? Wow. But you need the younger you are. When you learn to filter out what you are portraying to other people versus sucking it up and doing what's asked of you, the better off you're going to be. So long winded and circuitous. That is the person that most directly affected the way I handled in the future, my attitude regarding things.

And I love that story. I think that's good. Oftentimes people say, of course, Glen, it's my parents. And I do like to go there because you know what? I think we never. Parents are unsung. I think some of our greatest lessons, some of the greatest, most poignant stories can come from our first two attitude coaches that we don't get to picture, mind you. And so I'm just curious, like, when you think of your mother, your father, what were the two attitude lessons they both taught you?

The number one, I can tell you right now, I was watching the news with my dad. I was probably, I'm gonna GUESS I was 9, 9 years old. We're watching the news. One night there was a story on the news about a Brinks truck that was on an overpass and the doors flew open and money is flying out. And so all these people are. Monies are falling from the heavens for people, right? I think it was in California somewhere. And I said to my dad, man, dad, like, what would you do if all of A sudden, like hundred dollar bills were falling out of the sky. Think about how much money you'd get. My dad said I wouldn't get any. I said, what are you talking about? My dad said I wouldn't take any of it. I said, you're crazy. You're crazy. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Why would you not take any of the money? And my dad said, because, Jake, it doesn't belong to me. And my integrity is worth more than that.

Oh, nice. Right?

And I've never forgotten that.

Awesome.

I was nine years old.

Awesome, awesome. Attitude lesson gappers. I think we all know at times in our lives maybe we have taken when we shouldn't. And that affects your attitude not only for the time you do it, but for the rest of your life. And that shows up in the form of regret, and it shows up in the form of lack of growth. So unbelievable attitude lesson for Mr. Query. How about mom? What did she give you?

My mom? Actually, you know, the thing about my mom that I think I didn't realize at the time, but I had when I was in school and growing up and whatever else, I mean, look, I was a pretty arrogant guy. I don't know. I mean, I was never a bully by any stretch, but I would. I would rib people and jab with people as well as anybody. Right. But I never did it for people that I thought were overly vulnerable. Right. And you know, to this day, Glenn, I've been very fortunate to have one of these. Right. I've had a microphone for the better part of my adult career. And I have always felt that that microphone came with it, a responsibility to use it for people that don't have one of their own. And I don't know exactly how or where, but my mom made it very clear to me from a very young age that when we would do things or when I would have birthday parties or whatever it might be, she made sure that everybody was included. And she made sure that I went out of my way to make sure that every kid was included and that the underdogs were the ones that I always gravitated towards. So, you know, I think in that regard, my mom made it very clear to me that no one was invisible.

Cool.

And so I think I've always tried to carry that.

I love that. And then, not to go too deep in the family tree, but we get some of our best answers. I don't know if you were close with your grandparents. Everybody has four grandparents. But if there was one lesson or two, Lessons depending on the grandparents. What did your grandparents do? I would love to. I love to know this. And it's so amazing, the answers we get. Like, where were they from? What did they do? And then what? What did they teach you?

You know, my grandparents on my. Like a lot of people, you know, I. As a child, I was exposed more to my mother's parents because they lived in Indianapolis. My dad's parents had moved to Florida before I was born. And they were older. So my grandfather, my paternal grandfather passed away in 1982. I was born in 72.

Right.

My grandmother passed away later than that, but I didn't see her as much. But I know that my grandfather was a hard working guy. He had 10 kids. My dad's one of 10 kids.

Oh, my gosh.

So lots of uncles, lots of aunts and uncles. Yep.

And I mean, probably made you arrogant. That picked on you as you were growing up.

Let me tell you. Let me tell you something, Glenn. You can't swing a dead cat in Ravenswood and not hit a quarry. Okay? So my dad from Ravenswood. My dad was from Ravenswood.

Oh, my God.

So my dad was from Ravenswood, and my grandfather built a house in Ravenswood that all 10 of them lived in. All 10 kids, although they were spread out. So right there, just knowing that and knowing what my dad overcame showed me the lesson of hard work and sticking by your beliefs. And my dad, the watershed moment for my dad, I think, came when he met my mother, because my maternal grandfather was a buyer at Allison.

Wow.

And his rep was a young guy by the name of John Brown that was selling my grandfather steel. And so when my parents started dating my grandfather, my mother's father said, hey, John, I got this young guy that's dating my daughter, and they're getting serious, and he's a nice guy, but, you know, do you think there's any openings in the steel business? And that opened the door for my dad. And he worked 41 years as a steel salesman for O' Neill Steel out of Birmingham, which was originally Shelby Steel out of Shelby. Boy.

Oh, doggone.

And he was great at it. And he paid for three college educations, including mine and my two sisters. Two graduate schools with my two sisters case.

Wow.

I shut it down before he had to pay the final semester there. Glenn.

God love you.

Graduate degree. But, you know, my dad didn't go to college.

Yeah.

But he's self educated and a brilliant guy. But he and his dad, I think, showed me the value of hard work and just base hits. Everybody Wants to go out and hit the home run, right?

Sure. Especially today.

Base hits, base hits, base hits. And my dad was Tony Gwynn. And my grandfather was, you know, Pete Rose or who, Rod Carew, whoever's a great base hitter. And those guys are in the hall of Fame, so.

Another unbelievable commonality. You know what my father did for a living?

Worked in the steel business.

He sold steel, I'm telling you. First Steel parts out of Tipton, Indiana.

I'm telling you this, it's crazy. In the. In the 70s, the number of kids that I grew up with. Right. Whose dads were in the steel business, I mean, it was all over.

Yeah.

You know, Jay Ferguson's dad. My buddy Jay Ferguson, Ferguson Steel. Matt Churchman's dad, Churchman Steel. You know, Marshall Gephardt. Dad worked for Bethlehem Steel. I mean, Andrew Shreve's dad. J A and N Steel, I mean, they were all steel. Business was huge, man. Right. I'll never forget, we were on vacation in the early 80s when US Steel closed.

Yeah. That's big.

My dad. I mean, I was a little kid and I saw the look on my dad's face and he's like, this is a game changer.

Yeah. Terrifying. Terrifying.

It was a game changer.

So when we move on a little bit in life, to the cocky high school kid, you go to the University of Kansas as a freshman, and all of a sudden you go, I don't think I like it here. Or things don't work out. Right. We have one of those moments that are what I call gap moments, where you go, I'm going to have a personal reversal or an educational reversal. Tell us a little bit about that. And what was your attitude at that time on how did you get comfortable with saying, I need to make a change? And how did you make the change?

The change was kind of made for me. But do you remember. Do you remember when we were. Well, when I was a kid, you would have been probably an adolescent. The HBO sketch comedies of Super Dave Osbourne.

Oh, yeah.

Okay. My freshman year of college pretty much went off. Like, any stunt of Super Dave Osbourne did not go well. So I was an average student in high school. I did not apply myself, but I knew from the time that I was in the sixth grade that I wanted to be a sportscaster. And so I had all my eyes and all my visions on that. And I worked hard at that aspect of it, but that doesn't mean I worked hard in other areas. And so when it came time to start figuring out where I was going to go to college. And I was very lucky, Glenn, that I grew up in an environment where it wasn't a question of are you going to go to college? It was a question of where are you going to go to college? And so I went to B. Dalton Bookseller and I bought one of those huge books of college, all the college reviews. It's a true story. And I took a ruler and I slid it in there to the least competitive section in terms of the application. And then I used the ruler for three quarters of the book were out the window, right. Like the major state universities that actually had admission requirements gone. So that narrowed it down to me to Kansas, Indiana State, Alabama, Ball State. I think I was waitlisted at Ball State. Those are the three that I applied. And a lot of people said, and I was a huge IU fan, right. And I think I made the critical mistake at a young age of thinking that the athletic fanaticism for a school means that it was the best school for you. So I thought, well, if I can't go to iu, then what's a school that's like iu good in basketball? A major state university, hour and a half from a metropolitan area, Kansas. And it's Kansas and Alabama were the two that had the least competitive, you know, 92% acceptance rate.

Nice.

I gotta make that right.

Yeah, hopefully.

So I walked down in my parents living room one day. Both my sisters were out of the house and away at college. It was just me and my parents. And I said, I decided where I'm going. I'm going to go to Kansas. And my mom since has told me, jake, when your father and I dropped you off in Lawrence, we hadn't even gotten to Kansas City yet on the drive back, and we both looked at each other and said, this is not going to work.

Right.

But I was too far from home. It was a different era, you know, it was. You dropped off and it was, hey, we'll see you at Thanksgiving. And I was so close to all my buddies and all my people that I went to high school with. And it was kind of a big fish in a small pond. And I didn't do well with it. I was too immature.

You're an orphan at Kansas?

Yes. And virtually everyone I pledged right away. And my pledge class was 32 guys and I was one of four that was not from the state of Kansas.

Right.

So it was very incestuous.

Sure.

Like iu. I'm sure for people that. But at any rate, I just was Homesick. And for the first time in my life, I was depressed, and I was up against it, and I just didn't do anything. I didn't go to class. I didn't do anything. I mean, I went to class on exam days. And so after the first year, my parents, at the semester break, my dad basically said, listen, this is what you said. You want to do. You got to ride it out for at least a year. And so I went back for the second semester and wrote it out, literally. And then I had to come home. And the first thing I did was. I mean, I was depressed because I was a failure for the first time in my life, and I was a complete failure. And all my buddies, you know, are coming back, and they're talking about how wonderful their year was, and their fraternity's great, and they got this new girlfriend, and things are awesome. And, you know, and I'm thinking I picked up, like, three credit hours, right? Total disaster. So I had to get my stuff in order, man. And so I came home and worked at a coffee store and went and saw a counselor once a week and eventually got myself into IUPUI and got my grades up to the point where I could transfer to Bloomington. And then the next year, what should have been the first semester of my junior year of college, realistically, was my second semester, my freshman year in Bloomington. And I did well in Bloomington. I enjoyed it. I made great friends. You know, I had a real. An experience. But, Glenn, from the time that I arrived, I just felt to myself like I was ready to go for what I wanted to do for a living. I didn't feel like there were classes that were necessarily going to better my preparedness. Right. And I don't mean that arrogantly. It more so it's about the fact that I do a job that doesn't require a lot of skill.

Right?

But. So that was a challenge, but a.

Lot of talent nonetheless.

But I don't know about that either. I mean, honestly, it's. You just talk.

What? Well, so you went to iu. Was. I want. What was your. You said, I want to be a sportscaster. You knew it. And I think there's people that listen to this that go, God damn it, I know what I want to do.

Right?

But I'm not doing it because I need to go to Kansas first for all the BS that comes with it, right? So, like, when did you get in front of your first microphone? Was it in college? And you said, all right, this is it. This is what I'm doing. I'm Good.

When I was in the sixth gr, there's a guy, there was a sportscaster in Indy named Ed Sorenson.

Oh, yeah? You kind of sound like Ed.

Oh, man.

Don't you think so? Have you heard that before?

I've never heard that before.

You kind of sound like Ed Sorenson.

Really?

Bring up at a audio of Ed? I think you kind of sound like Ed.

Well, when I was in the sixth grade, I called Ed on the phone. He had not been in Indy long, but I watched him every night. Yeah. And I thought he was great. I watched him and I called him and he answered the phone. Sports 3172691434 was the phone number. And I said, is this Ed Sorenson?

Yeah.

And I said, my name is Jake Quarry. I've told this story a lot, but I said, my name is Jake Quarry and I want to be a sportscaster. And he said, buddy, everybody wants to be a sportscaster. And he hung up on me. And I called right back and said, did you just hang up on me? Because I'm your customer. I watch you every night, and you were rude to me, so why would I ever watch you again?

Right?

And he said, what is your name again? So I told him, and he said, well, Jake, why don't you have your dad bring you down here sometime? And the next day, my dad took me down to Channel six.

I'll be doggone. No kidding.

And I walked in and said, I'm Jake Quarry, the guy that you hung up on yesterday.

You got him.

And so we have Ed. Ed's the best. I got something here. I'm not sure what it is. And so.

So at any rate, he's a sportscaster. That's a different Ed Sorenson, by the way.

It's S O R E N S E N. He used to get so mad when people talk.

I think you two sound alike.

But at any rate, so Ed, I was shadowing. I was just going down there and hanging out all the way through high school. And then at North Central, we had wjel, which was part of Jay. Over at Light, we had a radio and television.

Sure.

You know, as I mentioned, class. And so by the time I had graduated from North Central, I had done 75 basketball games on the radio, probably 35 or 40 football games, myself. And Adam Alexander, who now does NASCAR on FS1, he and I were classmates, and we were the first high school broadcasters to do the Indiana, Kentucky All Star Game on the radio, because we applied for it. And I remember they said, well, we've never let high school kids do this before. And I said, well, how many have asked?

There he is.

There's Ed right there.

Let's do a comparison for people listening. We're in an April trailer. She was just enormous in this pressure filled game. Top rank, late Central and 2nd right Martinsville. Both went in.

That's right. Well, you need your headphones on. That's why you can't hear it.

Well, that's okay. Well, those of you are listening, we don't have.

Listen to those golden pipes, man. Ed was the best. Ed was the greatest live talent I've ever seen. He was unbelievable. But at any rate, so I had done all that. And then when I went to iu, I did not major in broadcasting, I was an English major. Because I figured if anything else, I need to have a command of the language. I need to know how to write it and, and, you know, speak it. And I also didn't know, you know, what happens if it doesn't work out for me. What can I do as a fallback? Well, I can teach if. Or I can write if I'm an English major. So I was an English major. I took no broadcasting classes. But my junior year at iu, during spring break, I took a stack of resumes. This was back when you had to do that, you know. And I went to New York City. I had a friend who had a cousin living in New York City. I'd never been to New York, but I did my spring break in New York City. And I got up every day for four straight days and went to every television and radio station in the city of New York saying, my name is Jake Quarry, I'm from Indiana and I want to do an internship this summer.

Really.

And eventually, I think they felt sorry for me. But Viacom, which was MTV Networks, wow, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, they had MTV Sports. And I remember the receptionist at Viacom said, well, you know, those applications were all done like in December. And I said, oh, I didn't know that. I came out here. Da, da, da. And she said, you know what, hang on just a second. And I remember the woman's name, Jeanette Primus was the intern coordinator came out and said, wait, you're here for what? That's why I came on spring break to try to get an internship. And I've gone to WCBS and I've gone to Sports Illustrated and I've gone to wabc and I've got, you know. And she said, are you willing to live in New York? And I said, Yeah, I want to live in New York City and intern over the summer. And she said, I'm not going to lie to you. We were full on this three months ago. We had a thousand applications, and we take 22 interns or whatever. Unbelievable. And she said, but the receptionist said, you were really nice, so if you can move here, you can intern here.

Isn't that something?

So I lived in an NYU building for the summer. It was the summer of the Reggie vs Knicks, Spike Lee choke.

How fun, right?

The best. Yeah, it was the best.

Were you in Madison Square Garden when that happened?

I was. I was not. I was not at the game, right? I was in the bar that's attached to Madison Square garden. I turned 21 six months before I moved there, right? So it was the first summer of me being able to. To be out and, you know, go to bars and things like that. And I met a buddy. The first day that I was there, I met two guys. One went to James Madison, one went to Williams College, and we just spent the summer together and living in this building. They were interning on Wall street, and we went to go watch the game, and I wore my Pacer shirt. And it was. I'm telling you right now, that now all of a sudden shaped me and gave me this inner confidence that I never had, that I knew I could do it at that point, right? And. And so then I came back. I was still hanging around Channel 6. And about two years after I was done at IU, one day, Ed walked in the office and said, why are you still sitting here? And I said, what do you mean? And he said, all you've talked about since you were in sixth grade is how you want to be a sportscaster. And now here you are, you're like 26 years old. You're still hanging around. Why are you still here? And I said, well, I just. I'm waiting for the opportunity. He said, you're not waiting on anything, Jake. You're afraid. You're afraid of somebody telling you you're not good enough. You're afraid of being rejected. You're afraid. Afraid of finding out you can't do this for a living.

Wow.

And I said, yeah, you're probably right. And he said, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go right now. We're going to go into this. He said, you've done this a million times. Because I would always rehearse his sportscasts, right? And he said, we're going to go in and I'm Going to tape you doing my sportscast, and we're going to send it to every television station in the United States. And he had a list of affiliates. And I went in and did a sportscast. One, one, one sportscast.

And boom.

Send it to every tape. I sent 200 of them out, right? And five months later, I got a phone call from. Well, the first one I got, I had two. Two messages in the same day, oddly enough. And I had just gone to 62nd and Keystone and filled out an application at O Charlie's because I figured I was gonna have to become a waiter. And I was working at Channel 6 doing what I could behind the scenes, but I wasn't making ends meet. And I came home one day and my entry machine was blinking, and I was like. And I hit it. And one was from wbay, a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Wow. And the other one was from Fox Sportsnet in Los Angeles, California. And they needed a reporter in St. Louis.

Wow.

And 10 days later, I lived in St. Louis.

And then you did it. So you may or may not be familiar, but our first season was all about the attitude boosters. And I have 10 things that if you do each and every day, it boosts your attitude. Attitude booster number one, be nice. Attitude booster.

Jeanette Primus agrees.

There you go. Jeannette Primus agrees. Attitude booster number five, have a mentor and copy them. Which you did with Ed Sorenson. Right. So, Gappers, as you listen to this, I mean, here's a prime example of no matter what you want. I mean, what I saw is proximity is everything. Cut the distance. Get in front of the people that can say yes and then make that happen. So you're in St. Louis doing. You're a sports reporter then in St. Louis, how long was your run on different TV, being a sportscaster and all that before that ended or before you decided that wasn't for you?

Well, I was there for two years, and then at the end of two years, my contract was coming up, and I knew that Channel 6 had an opening.

Cool.

So I moved back to Indianapolis. And Ed was still there.

Right.

But Ed was on his way out. I knew that Ed was on his way out. Dave first.

Sure.

Who's like a brother to me.

Oh, cool.

Dave knew that it was on his way out. Channel 6 management did not know that it was on his way out. So Ed basically said, if you're here and you're hanging around when all of a sudden they realize I'm not coming back, they're gonna have to hire you.

Right.

And they're gonna have to make Dave the sports director. So that was kind of by design.

Sure.

I mean, it wasn't by design.

Where did Ed go? Chicago or something big?

No, Ed. So Ed, I don't want to take up too much time here, but I will tell you this. Ed one night called Dave first and I in 2000. Well, it was 2000, I guess. And Ed called up Dave first and I and said, I need you guys to come to the station at like 2am it was not unusual for Ed to call you at 3 o' clock in the morning.

Right.

He was nocturnal. So am I. So I said, well, Ed, they're redoing the wiring in the building. There's no lights at Channel 6. If you remember, the power is going to be out tonight. And he said, I know, that's why I need you guys to meet me there. So Dave first and I and Ed meet up in the building. And Ed had a miner's helmet with a light on it.

Oh my God.

And he said, here's the deal, guys. He said, I've been here for 16 years and all I've wanted is to know that when I leave here that it's going to go over to my guys. Cool. And he said, they think I'm going on vacation for three weeks to go into Portland to take care of my parents. But in reality my contract's up in three weeks and I'm never coming back. So by the time they figure out that I'm not coming back, Dave, you're going to be having anchored for three weeks. Jake, you're going to be reporting for three weeks. They're just going to. It's just going to transition like that.

Wow.

So we put on these minor helmets.

Great, dude.

And went in and cleaned out his desk. And I mean, we're going through stuff and we're helping and carrying out boxes. And we got out to his car and Ed said something to Dave, I presume the same thing he said to me. And then he turned around to me and he said, look, man, there's two things you need to know. One is that I love you and totally believe in what you can do. And the other is that I simply ask that you never try to find me or talk to me again.

Wow.

And we hugged and he got in his car and drove away. And that's the last time I've ever spoken with him.

Edna something.

So he, Dave and I forever.

What a story.

Forever. Dave and I were like, where do you think Ed went? Like, where do you think he went. We know he didn't go back to Portland. So we always just kind of, you know, we always wondered. And then one night, I'm watching the Pacers game eight years ago or so, five years ago maybe, and my phone blows up. And I look down, it's Dave first calling me. And I'm like. And Dave's like, you see it? What? He goes, ed's at the Pacer game. They're playing the Mavericks in Dallas. And they just showed Ed in the stands. Chris Denari had seen him, had recognized him, and had the camera guy zoom in. He's like, hey. A former Channel 6 sportscaster, Ed Sorenson, taking in the game tonight and then very shortly thereafter. So, I mean, it was like a buzz on social media. Like, Ed Sorenson was spotted. You know, he hadn't been seen in 20 years.

Unbelievable.

So he ended up in Waco, Texas. He got married, and his wife was a nurse, or. No, I'm sorry, she was a doctor. She was a doctor that did her residency in Waco at Baylor Medical. And so he move to Waco, and then like, three years ago, I guess, he got the itch, and he ended up as the sports director at the Waco television station. And he was the same old Ed man he was. And so he emailed me. He fought. He was. He had to open a social media account, which I know Ed. That had to have been. But anyway, so he emailed me. We had a line of communication. He sent me a T shirt from Waco and a Baylor shirt and, you know, asked what I was doing now, and, you know, we kind of caught up. And then I said, hey, like, I'd like to have you on my radio show. And he never replied. It's the last time I ever heard from him. So we didn't actually speak on the phone, but we did email back and forth.

Yeah.

But I loved him to death. I learned things from him, both good and bad. I mean, there were things that Ed would tell you that I learned by observing him in terms of the way he handled some things that I learned that that's how you shouldn't do it.

Right.

Because I saw what it meant, what it meant to other people and his co workers and things like that. But anyway, so long winded. That was. So that was the deal.

So you were a sports reporter at Channel 6 for how many years?

Five or six. And then I was laid off from six. And I was very lucky because I got laid off. And that was. That was crushing to me because that was my Life, I mean, I. Channel 6 just meant the world to me because I'd been there since I was a kid. I'd poured my heart and soul into it. And I know Dave had the same reverence for it. And Dave and I took a huge pride in what we did. We worked hard. We were two guys in a market where most sports departments were six, eight people, and we were competing with them, and we were putting out product, and we took pride in what we did. And Dave and I worked well together. I think the world of Dave and his talent. We became thick and thin, you know, best of friends, like brothers, like I said. And so I was let go from there. And it was devastating to me. I was angry, you know, I thought there were a couple times I, like, had a dream that I was. That it was all a dream that I woke up, you know. Oh, man. I'm still not working there. But I was very fortunate in the fact that a week or two afterwards, Vince Welch called me. Vince Welch, who had been working at WIBC and was doing ABC stuff for IndyCar racing. And Vince called me and said, jake, look, man, I'm leaving WIBC because I'm doing the racing stuff and TV stuff full time. I think you'd be a perfect candidate.

Wow.

So he recommended me. WIBC reached out to me, and fortunately I ended up at wibc. So now I'm working in radio and not television.

Right.

And I enjoyed it from the get go. I didn't like getting up in the morning, but I enjoyed it. And I figured my number one Glenn, from the time I was this big, my number one goal, aside from being on television, was I wanted to call the Indianapolis 500 on the radio.

Right.

And so I thought, well, I'm working for emis, which is wibc, which is the flagship for the IMS radio network. Like, this will be easy peasy. I just walk in and tell them, like, hey, I'm here. When do I start? Didn't work that way.

When's my show? Right, Right.

But I was able to parlay the job at WIBC into working for the IMS radio network and starting doing the 500. And so that came to fruition for me.

And so you are IMs. That's what you're doing now, full time?

Yeah, we're never actually, technically speaking, full time. We're contracted employees. But I have been with the network since 07.

Right. So that's a long time. So I've been listening to you call the race for the past 14 years. Is it turn three correct.

Yeah.

Right. Okay. So gaffers, also, I'm telling you, like, my favorite thing to do is listening to your team call the Indy 500 for 17 years at this point. And for those Indianapolis people that listen. And thankfully, we got people all over the place, but huge IndyCar fan. Huge fan of what you guys do. Has it been all four same guys in the four same turns?

No. Pretty close. So as it stands now, in 2021, Nick Yeoman, who started two years after I, is the pin guy.

I'm wondering, like Wally Yeoman and the Yeoman family.

He's from Lafayette.

Okay.

All right. He's from Lafayette, bigger family, and went to Ball State and then. And he. Nick had a similar journey to mine, where he reached out to Mike King, who was the anchor on IndyCar radio when he was in college. And so Nick was hired two years after I was. And he was young. He was only 24 when he started. He was in the pits for a number of years and then moved to the turns. But Nick is in turn one. Jerry Baker was in turn one when I first started.

Right. Legend.

Legend.

Yeah.

I was in turn two at that time. So I would take the toss from Jerry, which is a huge thrill for me. Mark James was in turn three. Eventually, Mark James moved to the anchor position. So I was moved from turn two to turn three. Jerry retired. Nick Yeoman took over turn one.

Right.

Michael Young, track dude. Michael Young took over in turn two. And during all of that change, Chris Denari was always in turn four.

Sure.

So I have one of the real thrills for me, Glenn, to be honest with you, over the course of my career, doing the 500, in radio terms, we call it taking the toss from. So the person that you speak after I have taken the toss from, obviously, Sid Collins passed away, the Original anchor, In 1977, when I was actually. I take that back. He passed away. Yeah. At 77 in. In May. So I was only four and a half.

Right.

But Lou Palmer, who eventually did it for. Did it for two years, also is deceased before I was working it. But I have taken the toss from Paul Page at different. At different intervals.

Yeah.

Bob Jenkins. Wow. Mark James, who is currently the anchor. Mike King, who was the anchor that brought me in, and Jerry Baker, who's a legend.

Right.

I am well aware, and I will not accept anything other than the understanding of this. I'm well aware of the fact that I am in no way, shape, or form in the stratosphere of those individuals. From a broadcast standpoint, I'm just Not. And so to in any way be linked to them in that toss is extremely gratifying and humbling to me. Not just because of the broadcasters they are, but particularly, and I want to make this clear, Bob Jenkins, who you may or may not know, but Bob was the anchor for the IMS radio network and then moved into television and did NASCAR and IndyCar stuff. Bob Jenkins is the finest human being I've ever met.

Cool.

And Bob Jenkins has the greatest disparity between his level of accomplishment and his level of grasp of where he ranks to the good side. And to be able to see the way that he conducted and carried himself and the appreciation he had for the event that we were calling and the respect he had for people that had a respect for him meant everything. To be able to see that just lays the footprint of you say to yourself, if I can conduct myself at 50% the way this guy did, I'm going to be fine. Bob Jenkins is currently involved in his own journey, which he's been public about with brain cancer. And Bob Jenkins has earned the right to go through that journey in whichever pace he would like. But any day that Bob is able to be around us and be at the racetrack is a better thing, not only for those of us who are fortunate enough to be with him, but just for his overall presence, for the event itself makes everyone in that place better.

And so a lot of meat on that bone to pick at. But Obviously, the Indy 500 is special. Obviously, you are now focused on this thing called the irl, which it's not. That's going back just a few days. There's only how many races in the season now? Is it 11?

I think it's 19.

Oh, it's 19. Well, that's better than I thought.

But. But that's not to say 19 venues, because we do double headers at a lot of them.

Right.

So we go double header at Road America. Double or not Road America, double header at Detroit. Double header and Indy. I mean, there are different places where we do two at the same track.

And so is in terms of track and atmosphere. I mean, Indy's Indy. What would be some of your favorite side?

Long Beach. Long Beach. Not even close. Long beach is. You go to Long. First off, it's Southern California. Right. Right. Typically it's in April, so it's. You know, you're jumping for the perfect weather. Right. But it's a. It's the. And I understand. I totally understand and respect the fact that most people, especially outside the 500, are novices. When it comes to auto racing. Sure.

Yeah.

Easiest way to say it. There's three kinds of tracks. There's a road course, which is a permanent fixture. There's a street course, which is a temporary course that uses the streets of a city.

Right.

And there's ovals. Yeah, there are ovals. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the most traditional and history laden oval in the world. Right. In the United States, the most historic and longest running street course race is Long Beach.

I'll be darn.

So it's the Indy 500 of street course races.

Okay.

And it's the Indy 500 of the West Coast.

Right.

And so the people of Long beach and of California, it's a, it's an event to that. It's race week. You know, if you go into Long beach, they say like, oh, race weekend, you know, I mean, it's a huge deal to them. Now does that mean that I need to get there?

I'm going there.

April, I mean, it's unbelievable. Everybody walking around, eating a turkey, like drinking a Tecate. I mean, it's great. It's a huge festive atmosphere.

That is.

And then for the road courses, even though we don't go there currently, but it comes back and forth on the schedule. Probably Watkins Glen.

Yeah.

Because it used to be a Formula one points race. It's a very historic track.

Right.

Road America in Wisconsin is also pretty special.

And then what would be the most modest track that you could do where you're going? Oh, boy, gotta saddle up.

That's a great question.

You're like, we're staying at a dollar in. There are no hotel. There's got to just be a very. I'm not using the term I want to use, but a modest.

We don't go, we don't go to Iowa Speedway anymore. But Newton, Iowa, it was weird to me one time in Newton, Iowa when I was checking in at the Super 8 and I looked next to me and Elio Castro Nevis was checking in and I thought, how often is Castro Nevis staying at a Super 8, you know what I mean?

And getting ready to race.

Is he. Does he have a super 8 points card that he gets out and he's like, hey, I get, you know, one more stay and I get a free one. Right. So Newton, I was up there. Although I like the track. Belle Isle is beautiful, which is off of Detroit. The island itself is beautiful. I have no idea what it's like the rest of the year, but we have to stay in downtown Detroit. And I know that Roger Penske Signs my checks. And he is doing what he can to revitalize Detroit. Yes, and I can appreciate all of that, but there are not a lot of dining options in downtown Detroit after 9pm I understand.

I've been in downtown Detroit many of night, speaking and doing things like that. You have interviewed some unbelievable people in your life and on different venues. I'd love to know, when it comes to attitude, right? Like, who are the people you got done interviewing that you went, oh, my God, what an attitude. Or that just, you know, shook you or remade you or made you rethink? Who are those people?

Dr. John Carlos.

Ah.

Who was the track and field 1968 Olympian that raised his fist in the air.

Okay.

Wonderful. He was so generous and kind and introspective and educational. John Wooden. John Wooden's one of the few people that I've ever spoken with where, when I walked away, I thought to myself, I think I'm a better person than I was 20 minutes ago.

No kidding. Was it a TV or radio or television. Wow.

And John Wooden, I remember. Here's a little tidbit. When you work in what we do, you don't get autographs, right? It's like rule number one, right? It's the most understood thing. You just don't do it. There have only been three people that have asked for their autograph.

Mm.

John Wooden was one.

You had the itch. You said, I gotta do this.

Right. Right. But I didn't say, can I have your autograph? I said, Mr. Wooden, if I were to send you a photo, would you be kind enough to sign it for me?

Oh, that's a nice way to do that. Thanks for the tip, Jake.

And he said, I'll have to give you my address. No, I'm just kidding. But anyway, so he says, sure. And he gives me his address. And I thought. I think this is his home address. Like, he gave me his home address. Right. So I got a photo of John Wooden, but it's a photo. It's a fairly famous photo of him. But I got a photo. I purchased a photo of him as a player at Purdue.

Yeah.

And he's in his defensive pose at.

Purdue wearing his Purdue Jersey, number 10, I think.

And I sit.

I don't know. I can't remember. Maybe not.

That might be right.

Actually, I think it is.

But anyway, so I sent it to him, and he sent it back, and he signed it to Jake Quarry with warm wishes, John Wooden. But I thought this was so cool. Purdue, class of 32.

That's pretty cool.

So he didn't put UCLA, put Purdue, which is pretty cool. Right? So John Wooden was one. Dr. John Carlos is one, quite truthfully. And I hate going there because I know that the world we live in, things get divisive. But if you're just simply talking about people that had an energy about them and a vibe that was somewhat infectious. Barack Obama's very eye on the list. Yeah, I mean, he had a. He had.

When in the hell did you interview Barack Obama?

You know, I was. I hosted the morning show on WIBC during the 08 campaign.

Oh, my gosh.

So he came on, matter of fact, I'll tell you this. I get it.

I don't. I don't care what your politics is. That dude is infectious.

So this is a true story.

Had to be a little nervous.

Well, it was all on the phone because it was radio.

Right.

So the first time. And I will give Barack Obama's campaign credit, I mean, he went after Indiana hard, and he carried Indiana. I mean, that's unusual, right? He turned Indiana blue in 08.

Yes.

And so at any rate, I was the morning show host along with Terry Stacy at wibc, and we were to interview Barack Obama during the primaries. And so we, you know, 1:15 or whatever, and we did a morning show, so it was on tape. So, you know, 1:15 in the afternoon or whatever it was. He's gonna call in and you guys need to be here. So I'd get there, and he calls in, and no, Dis. Terri was not around.

Right.

And so I said, oh, my goodness, that might have even been that. He called in early. I'll give Terry benefit of the doubt.

Terry interviewed me once. She was awesome.

And so she's very cool, right? Yeah. But she wasn't there. And so I said, well, what are we gonna do? Like, he's calling right now. And I said, no, you want to dub her in later? You know the magic of editing. Right?

Right.

And they said, no, no, no. You got to do it with both of you. So Obama, we answer the phone.

Holy crap.

And I'm like, well, how do I say to this guy, listen, can we call you back? You know what I mean? So I say, so. So Obama's on the other end. And I say, senator, this is. I'm terribly sorry to say this, but unfortunately our computer has frozen, and so we can't record right now. And so.

So you lied to him, Correct? Yeah.

Why not? And I said, look, I got to protect my co worker here. Right?

Of course. You're loyal.

Terry's out Smoking on the loading deck.

Nice.

Not really good, right?

I love her.

So I say we can do one of two things. Can I. Either. We can either call you back in, like, 15 minutes, or if there's another time, you can call us. I'm very apologetic, and he says, or you and I could talk about basketball until your computer's working.

Oh, my God, you're kidding.

And I said, okay. And he, without pause, said, I want to know if the Pacers are going to trade Jermaine o'. Neal.

Really? Did you record this, too?

I'm sure we have it. Yeah. Yeah. So we. So we talked basketball for probably 10 pacers. Basketball Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks. I remember there was something going on with the Hawks at the time. Some drama.

Always our nemesis.

Yeah. And so he. We talked about it, and then Terry finally came in, and I said, oh, hey, our computer's running. And he said, that's what I'm talking about.

Let's go.

Let's go. And we did. And then. So that. That began a rapport of probably. We probably did four or five interviews with him. He came on, like, three, two weeks, and he was doing every interview. I mean, he was. He was blanketing Indiana. So we were not. It was not exclusive to us. He was doing interviews everywhere. But he. He just had an energy about him where you're like, man, this guy. Your politics aside, when I saw him on tv, it was like. It was like, man, I feel like I know that dude.

Right.

I mean, I don't.

Yeah.

But he was up there.

Those are a good top three. Anybody else you want to mention real quick?

My favorite interview I've ever done was David Letterman, but that's just because I'm a huge fan of David Letterman.

Right. And radio, tv, or which one was.

It for David Letterman? I did. I mean, I've done it several times because he's an Indy car owner.

Sure.

But it was radio, and I did it actually when they closed Broad Ripple High School.

Oh, my gosh.

So I interviewed him about that and could not. I went and sat down with him just like this for probably 20 minutes or so. And he could not have been cooler in Broad Ripple. We actually did it. We actually did it at the Sonoma Raceway the day before the vote was to happen. But we knew that it was going to happen, and it aired on the day of the vote itself.

And so that's Jake Query on the other side being who he wants to become about the Jake Query on the person that he was. Because we can't Become the person who we are until we really recognize what was the worst interview, that you were the most unprepared for that you're like, man, I'm sure you're really good and really talented, but I'm sure there. Was there one or two where you're like, God, Dan, I don't think I really did a very good job there.

You know, there are times when someone would say something like kind of a smart ass reply. And you think to yourself, like, george Costanza with jerk store. You know, you're like, this is what I should have said. You know what I mean? Like, the jerk store calling. They're running out of you. Right. Like, I gotta set this meeting back up. I gotta do it. That's happened. It happened to me with Randy Johnson when he was. I was in St. Louis and Randy Johnson was with the Diamondbacks. And he was just. He was just an ass.

Yeah. Didn't want to do it.

Yeah. And in hindsight, I look back at it and I think, man, I should have handled that differently. I think it was more so that there have been times when I was in television and I was anchoring. I was trying too hard. I was trying too hard to be edgy. I don't know that I've ever found. I don't know that I'm successful. I don't know that that's for someone else to determine. I succeeded in being able to do a lot of what I wanted to do. But truth be told, Glenn, I don't know that I ever succeeded or was able to accomplish any of those things and any of those goals until finally I just quit being anybody other than me.

Right. Right.

I just was me. And I think when I failed, it was when I was trying to be. And I'm not saying that I am for success.

Great lesson.

You know, by being me, I was okay being me. When I failed.

Right.

If I failed, it was like, hey, but you know what I was. That just means that I was around Peg. And that was a square hole. So now I got to find, you know, where's our round hole? And so that, to me, was much more comfortable than the times when I had found what was deemed as a success. But I knew that I was an imposter.

Right.

That sucked. And I've been there.

Yeah.

I've been in situations where people thought I was doing a good job. And I thought to myself, but I'm not doing a good job. The guy that I'm playing is.

Right? Yeah. Imposter syndrome.

Big deal.

Right. And So I think the message that Jake gives us gappers is authenticity is really the way to bridge the gap. To be the person you already are is the way to be the best person that you can be. So I think that's very, very smart. I want to touch on real quick because I want to respect your time. I know you got to get rolling. You went through a pivotal time with having a massive heart attack. And for those people that are out there listening, and we're building a great audience, I'm so proud and thank everybody for continuing to listen, to post, to share, to subscribe, or do whatever the hell we're supposed to be doing. What was bridging that gap like, number one? What's the message to those people that aren't getting checked that maybe they should? What was your attitude before you had the heart attack? What was your attitude going through the heart attack, and now what's the attitude afterwards?

Well, I can tell you this. I'm fairly confident in saying this, and I'm not saying it to pat myself on the back, but rather as a lesson, my attitude through all of it is the reason why I'm sitting here, because I had on October 22, and believe me when I tell you, you never forget the date when it happens to you. So on October 22nd, I was at Blind Owl Brewery at 62nd and Benford. Great place.

One of my favorite places.

And it was a nice day. It was one of the last really n nice days of the year. So it was like, hey, we got to go out to dinner and. And sit outside. And I remember I was wearing shorts, so that tells you it was nice out. So it's, you know, Indian summer. And so we went and I sat down. I was with my girlfriend Shannon, and my buddy Matt Kingle was in town, who lives in Dallas, and we. And then another couple, and we. We. I remember we had told Max, six o', clock, be here at six. And was scrolling my phone because I'm like, man, he's not here yet. Did I tell him six o'?

Clock?

So it must have been like five after six is my point. Anyway, Mac came in, and right when he walked in, my left arm went numb.

For real?

I don't mean right. I don't mean, like gradually.

Mm.

It was like an invisible tourniquet went on my arm and. And had it this, like, Jesus. And so I knew right away you did. And I said, I didn't wait for a lowland conversation. I didn't wait for it to be appropriate. I just said out loud and this is as Mac is, like, doing the greetings and introductions. And I said, my arm just went numb, and I'm really bothered by this, and I think I need to. And then I sat back and took a deep breath, and Mac said, do you want to get some fresh air? And we were kind of sitting outside anyway, and I said, I do. And I took two steps, and my legs were like jello. And I looked at Mac and said, we got to go. And so Mac drove me to Community north to the Heart and Vascular Hospital. And I walked into the hospital and said, I'm having a heart attack. And they put me in a wheelchair, and they wheeled me up to the window, and the lady slid it open and said, okay, now I'm going to need your license. And then if you have your insurance card and your date of birth. And I said to her, hey, how about instead of my date of birth, if I tell you my effing date of death because I'm having a heart attack. And the guy with the cart, then I heard him say, like, oh, man. And I must have gone gray, and I was profusely sweating, so they took me back. Now, the reason I say all of that, that was the last time throughout the process that I displayed an attitude.

Right.

I've known since my dad was 49 and had his first stent put in that this was a reality for me.

Oh, okay.

So as I was feeling it, I knew what it was, and I said, I'm having a heart attack. And then, Glenn, I just made this cognizant decision right then. Look, this is what life is thrown at me. And I got two options here. One is, I can freak out. It's probably not a good option. Or the other is I can say I have no control over what's thrown at me, but I have all control over how I handle it.

There you go.

And so I just went in and I said to them, here I am. Let's go. And so the doctor came in and said, here's the deal, man. You've got a 100% blockage of your widowmaker. So two of the panels of your heart have started stopping, and we need to get your heart opened back up. And when we do, you're going to feel a lot better. And the cath lab has been paged, and they're on their way in, and when they get here, we're going to take you in, and that's what I'm going to do. And I said to him, now, when you say, paged from where Are we talking? Right.

Right.

Greenwood, Fairly critical, you know.

Right.

And he said, they have 20 minutes. The clock's already started. We're at 16. So this is going to be done within the next 16 minutes. And I looked right at him, Dr. Benjamin Motman, and I said, so tell me. Shoot me straight, Doc. Am I going to die? And he said, I'll tell you. You're in the best place that you can be if that process begins. And I said, that really didn't answer my question at all, which kind of answers my question. Right. And so I made. You know, he and I chatted a little bit, and I called Shannon and said, you should get up here. And then I thought to myself, my place is a pigsty, and I'm embarrassed. My parents are going to have to go through all my crap. Oh, and Dave first is supposed to be like. Like the wolf in Pulp Fiction. He's my cleanup guy.

Right, Right.

And I'm like. And Dave is at the IndyCar race in Florida. So my place is gonna be a pigsty, and my parents are gonna be going through it, but whatever. But I just knew, look, this is. This was in the cards for me, and so I gotta respect that. Everybody's doing the best job they can do.

Right?

And I basically. And so I remember he came in and said, hey, the cath lab is open. And I said, you know, this is going to go one of two ways. I'm either going to come out of this or I'm not. And I looked at him and I said, well, let's go. That's what we did.

And that's attitude booster number six, ladies and gentlemen, control your emotions. So it sounds like, yeah, you could have freaked out, but you, for some reason, had that inherent strength to say, I'm going to control my emotions and make it happen.

And listen, I'm not. I want to make clear here, Glenn, I'm not in any way, shape or form stating that I had some strength.

Sure.

It really came down to this. In that moment, I was able to. And I'm very thankful that I was able to do this, but I was able in that moment to really look back at where my life is, what I've been able to accomplish, you know, from Kansas, I mean, kind of what we've done here, right to where I am. And I just knew in that moment that if that was it for me, that I couldn't be ashamed of it, because I was pretty happy and pretty proud of being true to myself. And so in that moment, I realized if this Is it? My only regret is that I didn't live longer. But I left no stone unturned. And I left no relationship open ended. And I left nothing unresolved because I've been honest and true. Not all my life, but in the last handful of years, that's how I've lived my life. And so in that moment, it gave me a piece of knowing that there was nothing that I had left to do.

Cool.

And that gave me a peace that I would hope for everybody in that moment when they're in that room. Because I didn't know if I was going to get out of that room. But I think that peace is what got me out of that room. That room.

So what we're going to do is how I close every interview. It's called knowledge. Through the decades, I've done this with 70 different people that we've interviewed. And what I ask people is what is the attitude lesson from each decade in your life or when you turn that age now, the toughest one that comes up for people. And we're edited so, you know, this is meant to be fun. It's meant to like, come on, whatever is off the top of your head. And so we always start with birth. I'm sure you don't probably remember your birth, but what do you think the attitude lesson, attitude, as we explain, and I explain in my book, is the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think. That's the definition of it. And I always like to go back, obviously start at birth. When you think about childbirth or new life or you being born, what do you think the attitude lesson is from childbirth?

For me, I don't know if this is where you're going, but I will say this. I was the youngest of three, so I had two older sisters. And as a result of that, my memory is that of like an elephant because I had a lot of milestones that I can remember. I remember observing the examples that were being set in terms of school and athletics by my sisters and using that as a template for how I should go about doing things.

Okay, and that's good. That's good. A lot of times we get, you know, creation, new, whatever, but I like that. And we're going to probably blend that into you being 10. I want you to remember. What school did you go to?

Allisonville.

So you're at Allisonville School. You're 10 years old.

I don't remember my creation, if that's what you're asking.

That is correct.

Right. I've never asked the specifics of that, nor do I necessarily want to know it. And I find it odd when people do. When people, when you hear people like, you know, I asked my parents actually when I was conceived, and I'm like, yeah, I don't. I'm still kind of holding out hope that my parents come to me and they're like, you know, we're adopted and we're just good friends. Okay, cool. I'm cool with that.

Well, we. I have people in our family who actually filmed the birth of their children with their best friends in the room, which is absolutely. That's a little. Let's overshare. But I want you to go back to when you were 10.

Better than filming the conception.

That is, truth be told, I don't know. Actually, I think I'd rather watch the conception.

That's probably true too.

Maybe better.

You might have friends that have done that as well. You just don't know. Right?

There's no question. Well, I think if we scan the, if we scan the Internet, we may find it maybe Jason, our producer has some, some video on that.

Let's see if he can do a better job pulling that up right now.

Jason, can you pull that up, please? So let's go to 10. You know what? Think about yourself as a 10 year old. What was the attitude lesson for you when you were 10 that you may have learned from a coach or a parent or a friend or yourself or a teacher?

I do remember this. I. When I was 10, I was 10 and I struck out in little league and came back and threw my helmet down. And Mr. Kinghorn, my coach, said. And I was, I started to kind of whimper. And he said, what's the matter, Corey? You getting outplayed? And I looked right at him and said, hell no, I'm getting out coached. And. And he, I remember he. Afterwards he said, it was like a couple practices later, he said, man, I got to be honest with you about two things. I said, okay. And he goes, you never should have said that. It was the wrong thing to say. You know, you got to respect authority. Da da, da, da. And he said, but that was such a quick win, man, that was strong. I mean, he was like, I was strong.

That is money.

So he. So, So I learned at that age with my attitude that sometimes an attitude in you is inevitable or maybe just inherent, but you got to know when to, when to flex it well.

And you've always had a quick wit. I think maybe the attitude is, wow, I got it. I've got a quick wit. And when I ask that, but it.

Doesn'T mean I always have to show it. Right?

That is correct.

Right.

Or that it's appreciated.

Right.

But you'd be amazed at how many, how many people I've interviewed, dude, when we go to 10, talk about baseball stories and usually, yeah, usually the coaches, you know, yanking on them or getting.

Pissed or whatever, I mean, that's kind of the purpose of sports, right?

Yeah, exactly. I mean, to help us, to help us go. So when we talk about, now you're 20 years old, you're probably leaving Kansas, going to Indiana, you went through some personal growth, which, you know, I heard. What was your attitude lesson at 20?

I think my attitude lesson at 20, at that point was that not only is it okay to be vulnerable, but it's important to know when you are.

Right. Yeah, I love that.

And prior to that, I had never, I had never allowed myself to be vulnerable because I thought it was a weakness. So I had to learn at the same time, not only that being vulnerable was not a sign of weakness. The only sign, the only weak part about vulnerability is when you don't recognize it or you run from it.

Right.

That's what I learned.

Let's face it, there are people listening right now who the only thing holding them back is their vulnerability. And the only thing that is keeping you from being your authentic self, which is what you just shared, is the fact that you're not vulnerable enough to let yourself be yourself and to accept the criticism. So good. We're learning from 20 year old Jake Query. Now let's go to 30. Do you remember where you were at 30 when you had your birthday party or whatever? And Maybe in that 30th year, what was your attitude lesson from being 30?

At 30? I was just coming back, I was working again at 10, channel 6. And so things were starting to kind of come together for me. But I think I was learning that in fact, I did have the luck to, to be where the road was opening up a little bit, but I knew at that point that I had to still keep it in the correct lane.

Right.

You know, I, I had managed to, to avoid a couple of exit ramps and stay on the interstate. But now I could start to see the destination. But I knew that I had to make sure that I had learned from 10 and 20.

Yeah, I get that. And obviously there's people like that right now that are going, it's in front of me. I'm close to my success, I'm close to my destiny. The opportunities are showing themselves and I Just don't need to eff it up.

Right, right.

And so now you turn 40. I'm sure you're going, oh, my God, I'm 40. And where were you? Did you have a birthday party? And what was the attitude lesson of you being 40?

When I turned 40, the two things I remember about it, I was doing the radio show that I did for nine years, which I enjoyed. And that kind of was the last career stop for me because I haven't, you know, other than doing the Indycar radio stuff that I have not picked back up since then. But I went skydiving for my 40th birthday. Yeah. So it was cool. But I think the thing that I could most easily say about 40 is attitude lesson. At that time, life, in fact, I think had really come together for me, and it come together for me because I quit worrying about whether or not it was going to come together for me.

Yeah, cool. And you were just. Well, that's called surrender. Right. The ability to surrender certainly brings you all kinds of gifts. Let's talk about jumping out of a perfectly good plane.

Yeah. I've done it twice now, actually.

After your heart attack?

No, it's a good question. And not during it, either. I did it for my 40th birthday, and it was. I don't. Have you ever done it?

I've never done it, but I saw Jenna Bush do it on the Today show because they replay. They're replayed every day for the next week, I'm sure.

Fair enough.

Right.

I did it for my 40th birthday in Greensburg, I think.

Sure.

And it was cool. I was good until I got there. And they said, well, you know, we're running a little behind. You're in group seven or whatever, and. Okay. And I was fine until I made the mistake right before it was my turn. And I looked up and I watched the group before me, and I see this little plane and these dots coming out, and I'm like, wait a minute. Like, that's what I'm about to do. Yeah, that was rough. So I did it, got through it, and I actually said to myself, okay, I don't need to do that again. And then about a year, maybe two years later, the speedway called me and they said, hey, we're promoting the Red Bull air race.

Right.

And the Red Bull skydiving team is going to be promoting it. Would you have an interest in skydiving with them in tandem?

Wow.

Into the oval?

No, you gotta do that.

And I said, well, how many people have skydived into The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And they said, well, no one's ever done it, right? And you're gonna be one of, like, six that have ever done it. And then we probably won't do it again.

Yeah, that's awesome.

And I said, okay, I pretty much have to do it. And I remember the day before, I was thinking to myself, please rain, please rain, please rain. So they cancel it. And I have no excuse, right? And I literally walked into the Eagle Creek Airport in shorts and a T shirt. I walked in, and there were these two guys and all this Red Bull get up. And I said, I think you guys are looking for me. And they said, are you, Jake? And I said, yeah. And they said, all right, let's go. And I walked, like, at 10 after 11, I walked into the Eagle Creek Airport.

Oh, my gosh.

And at, like, 11:30, they were dropping me off back at the Eagle Creek Airport after I had skydived into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, gotten in a car and been driven back. It was crazy.

And you're just like, I can't believe I just did.

It was pretty cool.

You have had some monumental marks, monumental interviews. You've been fortunate to have some great relationships in your life. So, jquery, thank you so much for being a part of the Get Attitude podcast. You've been dropping bombs. I think you've helped some people. I think there's a lot of folks that can listen to this podcast and relate to where Jake has been through his life. I think being in the media has its own special set of problems and its own special set, set of mind. Mess is what I call it. And it was neat to talk to a personality that has been into that. And so we always like to give our guests one last shot to give a message of hope for the people that are out there, that are maybe that aren't doing so well right now, that are listening to this podcast because they want to get from where they are to where they want to go. There are plenty of successful people that listen to this, but what's your message of hope? Or what's your Jake query mantra? I don't know if you have a mantra, but what would you like to just tell our gappers in closing to carry on with the rest of their year in life?

Well, I appreciate it. It's very surreal, and it's a little bit incredulous to think that anybody would want or ask for my advice. Right. But, you know, I think a lot, Glenn, about the fact that because I had a heart attack and I faced, you know, that kind of makes you reevaluate a little bit. And I just realized that I've been really lucky. I've been surrounded by great people, great friends, great family, great bosses. And all of that came with. It did not come without challenge. But through the challenges and through the difficult times and through the depression, which I've had on a couple of occasions, I never lost sight of where I wanted to be, but I never lost belief deep down that I could get there. And I also became more appreciative and more aware and more magnetized to those that I could see, had a belief in me. And it was those people that allowed the final push to get me there. But I had to keep that belief in myself for them to see it first in me so that we could work as a team to get there.

Yeah, that's cool. That's cool.

But it'll. It does work out. And I always tell people, when you're down and you're depressed and you're thinking about it, it makes it that much more rewarding when you get there.

Yeah, I. And one thing I, I was remiss in, and I don't know if there's any way to find these, but Jake has done some really cool stuff. Philanthropy wise, attitude booster, number 10, be a part of something bigger than yourself. Is there a. You did like interviews with homeless people. You've done some pretty cool. Can you just tell us about 1, 2 or 3 real quick some of the cool stuff you did and where could people go? Is it on YouTube? Where could they go to find the lessons that you had done?

I do it on Twitter, just on my Twitter account, which is Akequery J A K E Q U E R Y Cool. I did them a year ago, the Wheeler Mission. I just, you know, when I, when I got laid off for my radio job, everybody was asking me what I was going to do next. And I really didn't have any idea. And I still don't know. And so I had seen a story on the news about a homeless guy who had been killed downtown. And I just heard people saying like, that's another homeless guy. And so I called Steve Kerr, my friend at Wheeler Mission, and said, you know, I think that people think the homeless are just like this invisible group. So if in fact there are people that are curious what my next move is going to be, I don't know what it's going to be. But if I have the opportunity to have eyeballs right now, then why don't I put those eyeballs on the group that's invisible. And why don't I just come down and every day for a month have lunch with a different homeless person and share their story? Because nobody wakes up and says, you know, I think I'm going to be homeless.

Right. Or do they wake up and go, hey, I think I'm gonna have lunch with a homeless person. Well, pretty amazing.

I looked at it as I enjoyed it. Hotbox Pizza was great about helping me. I got up every day and I went down to Hot Box and picked up two pizzas. And then I went to different people that Wheeler Mission set me up with and sat down and slid a pizza over to him and just said, hey, man, I'm Jake. Like, you know what's going on.

Right.

So where are you from? Tell me your story. And people were very open with me. I bet they were very honest. And so I called it 30 lunches in 30 days. So if you go to Twitter and you search the 30 lunches in 30 days. Yep.

You'll get it.

You'll see each of the different profiles that came out.

And so, because I have to ask, what was the one attitude lesson that came out of those 30 that. I mean, I know there was a lot. I know there was one in everyone, but what was the one that hit home the most?

The thing that I most noticed.

Boom.

The thing that I most noticed was the number of people that had childhood trauma.

There you go.

And so they now are in a shelter because a childhood trauma led them to substance abuse or other such things. And they finally got to the point where they realized that it was time for them to control the narrative.

I love it.

And that's why they're there. And then this other thing here down below this year right now, what I'm doing is, you know, the other group of people that I think are kind of invisible are people with mental disability.

Sure.

And, you know, people that have cerebral palsy or autism or adhd, you know, these are things that they didn't choose.

Right.

Going back to talking about, you know, their attitude from the get go, they were forced. They were given a hand that created an attitude, perhaps for them. And so I got together with a group called the Erskine Green Training Institute, which works with people with disabilities, empowering them and giving them the training necessary to get out into the world and to make their own kind of blaze their own path. And so right now, I'm in the middle of. I'm 11 into it, and I'm doing 20. This one I'm calling 20 triumphs in 20 days. So I'm featuring those 20 people in their own personal triumph.

We do a lot of work with the disabled or the mentally challenged. You know, the thing about CP kids, the thing about Down's kids, the thing about kids that suffer or people like this, their attitudes are better than normal people.

No question. No question.

I mean, I went to a prom with disabled children and nobody cared what their dress looked like. Nobody was backstabbing. They were all happy. They all did. I'm going to. These kids got the greatest freaking attitudes.

We should be learning from them. Right, right, right, right.

Totally. That's the Erskine Green. Is it?

A Erskine Green training institute is based in Muncie and what it is is they take. They have an 11 week and a 13 week program. So basically it's a post high school training institute where it allows for the student good to. For many of them, it's first time they were away from home, away from mom and dad. So it's, you know, it's their college experience and they learn, they have programs where they set them up and train them, working in the hospitality industry or working in the restaurant industry or working in the hospitals and housekeeping and things like that. And it allows them to get jobs throughout the Muncie, Lafayette, Indianapolis areas.

I love it. So, ladies and gentlemen, that is the one and only Jake Query. Now look it, I know that Jake has more in him. I know that he is going to do something. I think it's, it's going to be a Emmy award winning something, something that's going to be fantastic. I know that he's not seeking it, but I don't care how famous you get and how great you are, just don't move out of turn three for me, man. You promise?

I can tell you right now that is they'll have to pull me out of there kicking and screaming.

Jake Query.

At 80 years old, that's the greatest job in the world, man. It's the biggest honor that I have is to be able to call that race.

That's cool. Jake, who is not to be with you.

Likewise.

From integrity to inclusion from your father and your mother's number one thing. It was, it was an awesome interview. Thanks for coming to the Get Attitude podcast.

My pleasure.

We'll check you guys all out later.

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