The Caddies of Life - [Glue Guys, EP.31]

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I say, guys, I used to make a living garden guys known by one name, Kobe, Carmelo, KD, LeBron. Now I get Alex and Ruby.

There's a very good topic to go deep on today, which is the recap of the fourth annual Commissioners cup golf tournament that Shane has called the premier amateur golf event in the country. I think that that might not be true if we're being honest about it, but it was an amazing trip. We just got back and we thought we'd talk about some of the lessons learned. But Alex, I think we have. The two of us are champions. So should we start or should we have the runner up? Start with.

I think we need to just break down what this thing is for anybody out there listening, man.

Okay. Okay, good.

Well, first of all, I just want to say, like, you know, we had amazing time in Cobtown, Georgia, and I. I hadn't even landed, you know, touchdown in Charlotte without getting the text that we should do the next Glue Guys on the Commissioner's Cup. So I'm just throwing it out there for our audience there. You know, the ink was barely dry on the bill I paid, and he always. He just wanted to talk about it.

So. All right, so long time listeners of Glue Guys will know that the way that actually a big moment, probably the founding moment for Glue Guys was, you know, a Commissioner's cup. But basically this is an event that Shane graciously hosts along with myself, my brother and you know, Michael park where we bring together 12 to 16 friends and we do like a Ryder cup style tournament at a hoopy match club which is a super special place and it's all about bringing great people together and having a ton of fun and then also I think doing something fun as a group, you know, and the golf is fun and competitive and then the food is amazing and the hang is great. But basically what has happened up until this year is that Shane has held it over our heads that he was a three time champion. Three zero, undefeated untouched. I mean we have heard this for literally three years and 362 days or something. Alex, would you agree? I know you only heard the last year, but would you agree with that?

No, no, it's pretty fairly accurate. Yeah, he, you know, he's confident in his abilities as he should be and he's won, you know, he's a three time, you know, defending champ. So he let us know.

What'S amazing. First of all, I'm not the best golfer there. I'm a decent golfer. I get around six, you know, six handicap, whatever, seven handicap. And you know, I always tell people in golf now, okay, that's pretty good basketball player. I'm a hack as a golf golfer. But the what the reason I love golf is because I get the competitive best out of everybody. You know why? Because every time we're at the first tee, I know, I know Ruby wants a story that I beat the commish, I beat Shane Battier. So like, like in life you hope you get someone else's best. Okay? And we, we learned that at Duke. You know, every time we, we, we laced them up, we got everybody's best. And as a competitor there's nothing better than getting someone's best and still besting them. Okay. And you know, and so this is like, this is all we have now. So like whenever I play a golf tournament now, I Joe always joke in the first tee. I go up to the guys I'm playing with. I know they want a baddie, a story. Even though I'm like, I'm a mid golfer and I say guys, you know, I used to make a living garden guys known by one name, Kobe, Carmelo, KD, LeBron. You know, now I get Alex and Rubby.

Well, here's all I know and we'll get into the lessons and the real takeaways because I can't imagine people want to hear all the details. But I will tell you a couple of things. That were fun. 1. Shane and I now have the same record at our four Commissioners Cups. Three and one. Alex is one and one, if I'm not mistaken. So you're getting there. But the best part during our match, Shane, was when it was me and my brother against Shane and Michael in the Founders match. I think at about the 14th hole or maybe the 12th hole, Shane looks at us and he's like, you guys have my full attention, you guys. I am, I am here. I am locked in. And that, that felt good. It felt good that we were getting your best too, you know, Shane.

Oh, you always get my best, you.

Know, but I mean, there was something, this was a notch higher, I thought. I, I liked it. I, I, you were, you were in it. We, we were giving you something to deal with.

Well, the weather was not great, and so I commend you on keeping your focus. I, I pulled the rip cord. I'm not gonna lie. I pulled the rip cord. I said, forget this crap is too cold. I can't feel my hands. And if they beat me, they beat me. So I, I commend you guys on your fortitude, your grit. I used to be a tough guy. I'm now, I'm just a soft golfer now.

All right, well, so I think the first thing we should talk about in all seriousness, just because I don't think people are going to want us to go hole by hole. That doesn't seem like it would be that inclusive. I actually think, Shane, this idea of sort of like, what, why did we start this? And why do we think it's important, particularly for men, I think, to do this kind of thing? And I think you have a really good articulation of that. And so I'd love if you talked about, like, the value of fellowship and activity and this kind of thing and maybe just some of the history.

We all live very, very busy lives. And, you know, in the words of Ferris Bueller, you know, if you'll stop to look around every now and then, you miss it, right? You miss life. And so there's no better place than to hang out with people that you love than a golf course. My golfers out there, you get it. If you have, you don't play golf, you're probably saying, you know, what are you talking about? You have four hours with somebody and, you know, for the most part, you're not checking your phone or you're not returning emails. You're just, you're, you're just focused on, on competition and being around each other. So, like, I I love, I love, love, love going away with my. With my guys and just spending time with them. And so when. When Ravi came to. To me one. One day and said we should. We should do a tournament, I said absolutely. You know, and. And as much as it's about the golf, not about the golf, it's about curating an amazing group of people who get it right. And I can honestly say, like, 99% of the people that we've brought the last four years. Golf is just a minor part of what makes this weekend so great. It's just about meeting some really interesting people, sharing experience, experiences of fatherhood, of being a husband, being a professional. Right? And like, in life, there's just not that many forums that. That we get to talk about these things in, in an intimate setting. And you have four hours in the course, and then the cigars and the drinks afterwards and the late nights. And it's so important that, you know, as. As busy fathers, as busy professionals, as. As busy, you know, just people that we create space for that. And so that this is. This is why I love this weekend.

And it's sacred.

You know, despite taking a loss this year, I had an absolute bl blast. And, you know, this is how we met Alex. And so, you know, I would love to hear Alex's perception of. Of these two guys saying, hey, guys, we're going to hang out. You know, we're going to be intimate, we're going to talk about these things and play some golf, too. Like, it's not for everybody at first glance, right?

No, totally. You know, for me, as I was thinking about this, this idea of, like, curating time, like making the time, especially as men, you know, with your group of friends, to lean on each other and talk about stuff in life. Right? And. And so often, I think with, like, masculinity and priorities, this stuff just never happens. And the unique thing for those of us that they were fortunate enough to play sports for a long time, it was kind of built into our jobs. And the locker room was a place I never had to do this. I never had to be proactive about it. Right. It was one of the amazing benefits of just going to work and having this. Right? Especially in football, 53 guys in the locker room, 80 plus, you know, if you count practice squad and all the guys. And just, you know, all the different walks of life and personalities and the camaraderie that comes with that, especially trying to do something hard. And then this is, you know, we talked about this a lot. Transitions being so hard and this is certainly something I think that almost every ex professional athlete will tell you they miss the most. Is exactly that.

Right?

Certainly just the time spent together, that camaraderie and fellowship and you know, all of a sudden now like again, life goes on, kids get older, life is busy and it's hard to find time and make time for things like this. And so when it can be done, you know, and this golf just being the excuse for it. And I don't care what your excuse is, whether it be fantasy football or like annual boys trip to spring training or like whatever your thing is, you know, I think finding time to prioritize it with the right people, you know, and being proactive about it. And I know like again, just like there were so many, just thinking back this last week, there were just so many moments, shared moments of connection with different guys. And this one's cool because you guys brought me into this and I, I mean, I don't know everybody in the group, right, like, and which actually kind of makes it even more interesting, I think in makes you more curious and there's so many different people from all over the place and again there for like I think the same purpose. Right. And so just found it, you know, again how much I miss this, right. Like miss that shared experience and so cool to be a part of it. It was nice not to get my ass kicked this year. Everybody out there, Shane on the final day you play head to head matches. And somehow I got Shane and just on his, you know, on a course he knows well, got just absolutely shellacked. So it was nice this year to get a dub. But like again, it just obviously has absolutely nothing or very little I should say to do with the experience and just fun. Fun to like, you know, be real. Right. Like. And the cool thing about golf that I love the most is like the phones are away.

Yeah.

It just kind of makes you be present at least for the most part and connect and talk. And again, I think just like life and for us all, like all the guys are roughly in the same kind of stage of life, but different career paths and arcs and journeys. So it was, it's just fun to learn and take it in and be goofy.

So Robbie, like, you know, thinking about this week, this weekend, I think of Coach K. He talked about like speed to trust me.

Oh yeah.

Such a good, you know, so like it's so weird. It's so weird. You know, we're describing this thing and we're all strangers. So like Ravi's bringing some people, you Know, Rajam's bringing some people, Michael Park's bringing. So, like, we're all bringing people from different walks of life, and we've thought really hard about this. This curated group. All right? We don't. We don't want to bring, you know, a total dud, but, you know, talk about, like, what we do, which I think is really, really hard. Again, as men who are not used to opening up, used to being, you know, lifting the kimono, as I call it, and allowing people in, not. Not literally figuratively lifting the kimono. The emotional.

Between this and the touch, the people, you know, and stuff. Shane, you got to explain a lot of your. I know.

Lifting the. The metaphorical kimono and letting people in, you know, but with our group, it's like, you know, hey, where you from? All right, let's go. Tee it up. All right, you're up. Let's go, let's go.

So.

So, like, how do you.

How do you make that. How.

How do you. How do you. How do you get speed to trust in a group of strangers and a group of guys all very, very successful, all alphas, Right? Right.

Yeah.

I think you're weird. Phenomenon.

Yes. Yes. So one thing before we get to that channel, I'll tell you, I think the other value of this that you talked about, this is the way we met Alex. Like, look, dude, if you don't have some activity, how do you make a new friend? Like, you know, I knew Alex a bit from, like, our hometown, but, like, what are you going to do to become close friends with somebody? Like, really? Are you gonna be like, hey, do you wanna hang out for three days in a row? Like, that's. That's just so weird, right? Whereas, like, if you actually are like, hey, we're gonna go do something, right? It's an activity that you, like, would you like to join us? Then, like, the likelihood of them saying yes, definitely higher. And then all of a sudden, like, a real fantastic set of friendships can get created. And it sort of, like, again, gives you some. It gives you some reason to spend time together and to have frequency. We've talked about how friendships, the function of frequency and vulnerability. How the hell do you get frequency? How the hell do you get vulnerability? It doesn't matter if it's golf or whatever, but something, let's go do something together as a group. And then for. Somebody has to ask. We had to ask him, and then he has to say yes. He has to go home and tell his wife, like, yeah, I'm going to go on this Trip, like, but it's not with my closest friends at the time and I'm going to be gone for 48 hours. But it sort of requires a joint buy in. So I do think that's always something I like about it. Of like it sort of required us to ask you and it required you to say yes, you know, to something kind of weird. Which that was one. But then Shane, on the speed of trust, I think this is something I feel proud of. I think that there are a couple of tactical things that actually make it better. I think one thing of like making everyone wear the gear, you know, of like we have, we. We like really go all in. You know, my brother, the chair of the apparel committee, you know, he like gets shirts for everybody for each round or for each day. And then Shane is like, you have to wear this color shorts or pants. And so everybody's dressed like you're on a team and you're like dressed the same way as everybody. And sometimes the shirts are amazing and sometimes they're a little. They're not amazing. You know, historically there's been times where they haven't been amazing, but you're all wearing the same stuff. And I think like the buy in of like nobody being like, I don't want to wear this, you know, like, so that's one thing I think that helps.

Helps.

And then I think the second thing of like just putting you on a team, like doing something together. You talk about buy in all the time. It's like you have a teammate you might have never met, but the two of you are in this thing. And like Alex, before we started, Shane, we didn't tell you this, but we had a little team text chain, you know, going up against you before this round. And mind you, there, there's. There's a bunch of people Alex has never met on this team. Text chain. Right? So we get all the people together and now the first text they get from captain Alex Smith. Alex, do you think it's okay if I read it to the. Is it okay if I read it to the group here? Do you want to read it? I like it in your.

Go for it, go for it.

I kind of like it in your voice. Okay, well, so Shane, like, just think about speed to trust. These are people that have never met Alex. Okay. And. And Alex sends out a text to this group and apologies for the bad words here, but I think it's important for this to be there. So it starts in typical Alex Smith fashion. Fellas, it's a great honor to be Named captain of such an esteemed group. Like, a really nice start. Hopefully this text gen can help set the tone for the upcoming competition. Again, like, just as nice as can be. We're less than two weeks out, and everyone needs to get their priorities straight. Okay, so he's starting to. Starting to get a little more heated. We're not around this year. There's no way we're putting up with Shane talking for another calendar year. He thinks he's so cool playing with Tiger Wood. Well, we're gonna go full eland on his ass. I know he's tall, so we can't be afraid to go low on him. Big tree, fall hard, Whatever it fucking takes. That's leadership and that's speed to trust. Because all of a sudden we have, like, you know, something that the eight of us are doing that feels like we're connected, you know, So I think that all jokes aside, that kind of stuff, it makes a difference, you know, and all of a sudden, everyone's friends and they're texting before they've even met each other, you know.

Well, I'm glad I could do that for you guys. Really. That was the difference. We got our. We got shellacked, you know, 3722, you know. You know.

I think there's so much. There's so much. So much goodness there. But I hadn't thought of that.

I think the team aspect is something that's, you know, like, different, that's unique about this. That, like a bunch of, you know, again, the guys that, you know, even we traveled out together, the West Coasters, and like, I hadn't met him before, but, yeah, all of a sudden, like, there is a bond. Like, we're. When we had obviously established it a couple weeks prior, and, you know, there was some good back and forth and memes that got thrown on there. Shane, we'll, you know, we'll leave those to us.

Sounds like, Alex, that Captain Caribbean shout out to Danny Carubian, but not in a positive way here. Sounds like Captain Caribbean didn't have you guys on a text chain prior to the. Prior to the round. So Danny's got some.

We didn't think we needed it, to be honest with you.

But, Alex, I agree with you. I think the team aspect's very real.

Totally. And I think where else? And again, this is like, also, we talked about this a little bit with Cheryl. Like, it's a safe space, and I think that's the only place that you can get vulnerability. Right. Like, there was an element, obviously, of Trust that. I knew you were going to invite some, yeah. You know, idiots on this. So, like, I could kind of be myself on a text that I didn't think you were going to read aloud. We were going to be publishing, however.

Right.

Like, we're so guarded, I think, so often.

Yeah.

You know, in everything we do in life.

Right.

Like, you're worried about what people, what you look like and what people are thinking and like, it was just fun to let your guard down. And again, I, I go back to like the sports world in the locker room. You're not hiding anything. Literally. Right. Like, this is, this is, this is, this is who I am. And like, so you, you only have a choice, right? And, and in all of this, the best is like the smack talk and giving each other totally. And again in life, it's hard to find those. It's hard sometimes to get those. Always at work in a professional setting.

Totally.

So where else do you, do you get this stuff? And so I think being again, engulfed is being the forum here, whatever your deal is, but like, I think taking the time and conscious about doing it, because I don't. You. Like, that's the best part.

Right.

Like, the best memories are like the shit talking around the dinner and totally, you know, out there jabbing one another. And that's the stuff that again, like from the locker room setting that you miss so much, you know, pranking each other and stuff like that. Shane. Like, I don't know about you and I don't know about like a locker basket room. I mean, a locker. Basketball locker room. Excuse me. In some ways even more intimate, right? Smaller and tighter and on the road together so often. But it's like, that's the stuff that I feel like you end up remembering even more so than games sometime.

Why, why is it so hard? Why is it so hard to. To have more of these moments when you, when you go through them, you're like, that was awesome. Like, no, I, I can't do this every weekend. My, you know, Mrs. Badier would not approve of that. No, my, my. Maybe my liver wouldn't approve of it more, you know, more importantly. But like, like, you know, it's such an amazing experience. Everyone comes away, you know, at the last day. It's like summer camp, you know, everyone's hugging each other. We didn't know each other 72 hours before. Right? Like, so why. So like, why. Why is it so hard? Why, why, why can't we create this in a more everyday manner in a. In our lives besides just being Too busy.

Yeah. So I think sports actually are a good through line here because. Have you guys seen Moneyball? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's this great scene in Moneyball where the guy is talking and he's sort of like, everyone gets told at some point he's talking to Billy. He's like, everyone gets told at some point they can't play this game anymore. For some of us it happens at 18, for some of us it happens at 40, but everyone gets told. And I think that, you know, so for me, obviously it happened at 18, right. Rather than, you know, where it happened for you guys. But I, we talked about this. Sports are like this version of the world that's sort of like a tighter feedback loop. Like, like it, it all happens in a two hour or four hour span. Like. And I think, I think doing something together with competition is so valuable because it's the avenue for the shit talk. It's also the avenue for the joy. Like, you know, Alex and I've done all sorts of things together when we. Playing together in the first round, playing together in the last round, like the, the joy and the high fives, you get the, the sort of like thing. We're doing it together, it's just different. I mean, one of my partners from Sequoia came with us and you know, we do all, we work together every day, but this made us closer and we were talking about it. It's because like, you don't ever do something where you compete in such a tight time frame together. And so I think, Shane, that one thing that makes it hard is sort of like you don't have some small microcosm of life in competition. I think sports actually really create some goodness and connection point there.

What do you think being thoughtful about who you bring into a fold begins with that? Right? I don't think that what happened last, you know, last week would just happen with, with anybody. Right. We were very, very thoughtful about, about who we let into the group. But I think the leadership of like, yeah, we're all here, we're wearing funny shirts, all right? And we're, we're, we're chanting stupid things. We're playing for a trophy that has, you know, d. Like, like it's, it's, it's so like ridiculous if you try, if you never met us. And we're trying to explain what this thing is, but it's, it's real, you know, and that's the lesson. Like I hope people, you know, for all of us, and I certainly say about you, Alex and Ruby, you guys are real and you're authentic. And, you know, that's why. That's why I'm friends with you, why I want to hang out with you. And so when you get a bunch of people who aren't, you know, who are very secure in who they are and not afraid to make fun of themselves, don't take themselves too seriously. Just easy to trust people and say, yeah, okay, this dude's cool.

Yeah. One thing I was just thinking about. You just said it so true. I think one thing, when we picked the group, it's funny, it's not like, the most successful people we know, like, know by profession. It's the people that we think are most likely to be great friends, right? Like, that. That's the thing we're looking for is, like, people that will enjoy it and buy in. To use your language, Shane. But, like, also, you know, the first rule of improv, I guess, is, like, you have to say yes, you know, And I think there's a lot of that, too. Like when James, like, one of the new guys, you know, came and he brought his guitar. Well, you know, we're sitting around freezing our asses off around a fire, and this dude starts playing the guitar. It's all guys, you know, like, you know, and he starts playing the guitar and, like, has to start singing, right? And this dude starts singing, and. And I love James, but it's not easy to just, like, be in a group of people you barely know, start playing the guitar and start singing. All of a sudden, everybody's singing Free Fall and everyone's singing Country Roads Shane's leading Us and Don't Look Back in Anger, complete with, like, keeping us on beat. Like, I don't know. Like, I don't sing that often in public, you know.

Never. Never.

Yeah, right. And, like. But it takes somebody bringing the guitar out, and then it takes somebody starting to sing, and then it takes everybody kind of getting into it. So I. Yeah, Shane, I'm with you. I think that, like, the people and then each of them doing the kind of improv thing of just, like, saying yes rather than, like, nobody was acting cool. That I can promise you. Yeah, nobody was acting cool.

And so it's so common, I think, for our wives or girls to have, like, these big groups of friends, but as you get older so many times, totally. Men. Men's circles just get smaller and smaller and smaller. At least I. I know that's true for me. And so golf is funny. Like, again, although this isn't about golf, it is this One socially accepted excuse. And it's certainly an excuse that our wives accept to go do this, you know, like, and. And, you know, again, to your point, Robbie, like, when else are you going to invite somebody, hey, let's go, you know, go walk outside for, you know, four hours?

Totally. I think the cultural point. I hadn't thought about that. Of, like, I don't know. It's sort of like, I actually think the excuse is really important.

Yeah.

Because if you were like, can we please spend two or three days together so that we can hang out and talk for hours, like, I would never say yes to that. Like, I don't know, man. I don't need this therapy. I don't even know you people. What are you talking about? Right? And I think having an excuse of, like, you don't have to say anything, just you want to go play golf, but all of a sudden, you get to talk to each other. You don't have to look at each other. I think being able to, like, look forward and not, like, look at somebody when you're talking to them is actually a pretty big unlock, you know? Like, I really think. Don't you think, like, you imagine talking about some of this shit while, like, staring into somebody's eyes the whole time versus just, like, walking toward. I'm just walking to my ball, man, just making conversation, you know, I think that stuff makes a huge difference. I think part of the reason golf was created was to give men an excuse to talk to each other.

You know, I think about, like, my dad and my dad, like, who's the best? But, like, I can't really remember, like, my dad's closest friends that were. That were men. Like, you know, it's sort of a certain point, like, my. My dad's life was like, my career and my brother and sister's career, but, like, I can never remember him being like, hey, I'm going. I'm going with the fellas, you know, for. For a couple days. We're gonna. We're gonna talk about you guys and. And we're gonna hang out. You know, I might have a. Go have a beer with somebody. But, you know, I think that stuck with me, you know, subconsciously. They're like, I. I don't want to necessarily be that. That guy that my. My dad was, especially at the end, you know, my dad passed away a few years ago, and I. You know, people were sad when he passed away, obviously, but in a lot of ways, I felt he was isolated and didn't have close people outside of his family. Around And. And your point, Alex? That's kind of like, you know, the. The baby boomer generation of. Of. Of stoicism, and it's. It's really hard to let people in. I don't. I don't want to live that way. You know, I want to be around, you know, my. My family, but my. But my. My guys, you know, and. And the joy that I get from, you know, hanging out with you guys is something that, you know, my family can't replicate. It's just a very different way. In a fart joke, you know, bad shot kind of way, which has value, as stupid as that sounds.

There was a nice element of, like, rookie hazing this year, you know, for, like, the newcomers. There was a guy that went to a, you know, a rival school in North Carolina, you know, that took a lot of flack.

Yeah.

And I think there's a little bit of test on how you handle all that stuff. Of course, for everybody. Of course I do. This coming back, it's hard to find any of that stuff. And again, professional world. And again, so cool. Like, you just miss that. Like, that's like the first thing you get in a.

In a.

You know, you step foot on a sports team.

And.

And for the record, we're going to protect his name. You know, we're not going to go after the. The innocent here. But said rival was amazingly gracious. Coming into.

Amazingly gracious. Yeah.

You know, a hostile Duke, Blue Devil den. A lot of people connected with Duke, all right? Not a lot of people connected with his.

He was a prince. He was a prince.

And he was. He could have been more gracious and classy, and he even, you know, gave the commission.

I don't know.

I don't know if you guys saw this. He gave the commission a gift with Titleist. 31 balls. You know, number 31, which is my college number that was retired. And then he, you know, just in case I ever forgot my record, which was very good, he printed my record against his alma mater on the side of his ball. And so it was. It was an unbelievable act of humility and grace. And, you know, I know he's listening because he listens to all of our. All of our glue guys. I. I appreciate you, Bob. You're okay in my book.

You know what? The other thing he did that was cool was on your. Like, how you handle it. I was killing this guy. Killing this guy. You know, he's my brother's guest, too, and I'm killing him. And so he did two other things that Deserve shout outs. One, you know, had a tough first day. Tough first day. And I was like, look, man, you know, we certainly didn't bring you here because you're college, but we brought you here to perform and like, you know, if you're not going to perform, we're going to send you back, right? And this guy just came out on fire the other day. So he responded to some feedback, which I give him a lot of credit for. The other thing is he didn't like, back down. He still brought his ugly blue bag. You know, I told him, I said, listen, I don't want to see that, that color on the beautiful course of a hoopie. And he brought it anyway.

And I like that.

I like that he stood up for himself a little bit there. He's still proud. You know, he brought it. And yeah, I agree. He was, he really, he did a good job.

Shane, any good rookie hazing stories?

You know, I brought a couple. Well, I think I was hazed by one of the rookies. And so, you know, usually, you know, you make the, the rookies, you know, show their metal. But I think one of my rookies, you know, he bought me a lot of tequila and, you know, I think I was hazed as a founder. He was hazing me. But my, my favorite moment of the day was invited my old college teammate Chris Duhan, who was a freshman on the National Championship Team 2001. I was, you know, a senior and in sea doo from Louisiana. Awesome, dude. Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome guy. Good golfer. But he was a late addition to the group. Someone, someone had to cancel. So I called him up and he's like, yeah, I'm in, I'm in. I drove in four hours and just, you know, fit right in.

Yes.

And, you know, just amazing spirit. And my favorite moment was, look, I, I take a lot of, I take a lot of grief as the commission, okay? Everyone wants to take the commission down. I don't know why, you know, maybe because I talk a lot, a lot of way more than I did when I played basketball. When I was basketball, I played basketball. I was stoked. I didn't talk any crap. I talk, I chirp a little bit on the golf course. And so in singles matches, I put myself up out there, said, who wants to play the commission? And without hesitation, my teammate, my freshman, my fellow national champion, Chris Duhan, stands up, I scared of you, and puts his name amazing. And I say, well then, well then, there you have it. And so I respected him stepping up as a rookie, taking on the commission I mean, I did beat him like a drum. Like, like I beat Alex last year. I wasn't even close. I'll take all three points against him. And so. But I respected that, the, you know, the bravado. And he was trying to fire his team up, and he was awesome. He took it on the chin. He took it on the chin. So. But I. I love cdu, but again, you know, that's. That's who you want to hang out with. You want. You want to hang out with enthusiasts, I call them enthusiasts who are like, you up for. What are you up for? I'm up for anything. Let's go.

Let's do it. Alex, you should tell the best part about that story. Shane. So we're doing the draft for who goes up against each other in singles, and Alex was our captain, so he's the decision maker. And so when it comes time for, like, who's going to go up against Shane? Like, honestly, none of us wanted to go. Right, Right. Like, you should tell it, but, like, nobody, nobody, nobody wanted to go, you.

Know, because you don't want to hear it. You didn't want to hear it if things went badly.

You want to lose and you don't want to do it. And so Alex, like, you know, you and I were sitting next to each other, and then CDU looks over and he's like, I want it, I want it, I want it. And before Alex said yes. I mean, this is the best part. Alex is the decision maker, right? He's the captain. CD is like, oh, fuck all that. Just gets up himself and goes and puts his name on the board, like, just with real theatrical bravado. But it was cool. It was. It was a real moment.

It was a real glue guy moment because he definitely could see the apprehension that we didn't want to send anybody up there.

Nobody wanted.

He definitely took one for the team. Totally, you know, and I think it was a big piece in the.

In the W. Yeah, I agree. I agree. He deserves. None of us wanted to go. All of us wanted to win our singles match. We all felt pretty bad about the odds of beating the commission on, you know, the last day. And Sea Doo jumped on the grenade, which we thought was an amazing Glue guy move. I think Alex was actually asking you about if you were ever hazed as a rookie in the NBA.

Oh, I thought, I thought, you know what? I was not. You know, I've talked about how bad we were as a team, and I was the sixth pick in the draft, and so I think I was A little protected. I didn't need protection. But I think that, you know, Paul Gasol was the third pick in the draft, obviously hall of Famer, and Powell was brand new in America. So they kind of left Pow and me alone. I had to bring, like, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but, like, no big. No big deal. Like Krispy Kreme donuts, you know, I was much worse hazing rookies than my. My. My vets were to me, all right. The next year, you know, I was in charge of getting the popcorn. So I went to, like, the Memphis Popcorn Factory, and I thought they were talking. They meant like, the shipping peanuts.

All right.

They wanted to empty out, like, you know, like a. Probably like 10 bags of shipping peanuts. You know, the styrofoam.

Oh, yeah.

That are horrible for the environment into the cars because it's pain in the ass and you're cleaning it out for days and yada. But I went and got real popcorn.

So I was.

Because they said popcorn. And so I thought, you want popcorn? I'm like, all right, well, I'm going to get, like, unbuttered, you know, unsalted, but it was still, like, greasy. And those. The veterans who were. Who made me go get the popcorn, they dumped in 10 bags of popcorn to fill up these cars to. To the rim. Oh, wow. Totally ruined. Like, like nice cars, you know, interior, leather. It was hilarious. But I felt bad and I never had to do anything like that. But I. I escaped that rookie hazing because. Because we were so bad. We were kind of the.

The.

The cornerstones of the franchise and they let. Let us be a little bit.

What about you, Alex? I know we got Dollar Bill and.

Yeah, I told you guys, like, yeah, you know, you buy a lot of dinners, you buy a lot of food. You know, we were the number one pick. It was like I bought everything, like, even on the road. So, like, I bought the Krispy Kremes, but, like, the, you know, the undrafted guy had to go get it. So, like, that was at least. At least a perk, but one of the best, like, again, to go to the kind of the. The pranks that happen and it can happen in a sports world, right. That make it so unique. I haven't told you guys this, but after my. My rookie year, we signed Trent Dilfer as a quarterback, right? And again, he was the veteran quarterback that we find, like, finally brought in a veteran after my rookie season. And he was pretty crusty at this point, you know, old wiley vet. Like, he was kind of, you know, Last couple years. And he had played a lot of football though he'd been a first round pick, obviously. He had won a Super bowl with the Ravens and had a, you know, I had a great career but was kind of brought in to help. Help me at that point move along and. And he was like, same thing. You get older, you get much better at appreciating, right? Like the locker room and again, even the QB room and, and the relationships and so it was early. So it's ota. So it's springtime, right? We're kind of still getting to know one another. I think I'm the first one in the building.

Okay.

And it's a, it's an OTA day and I come in and for everybody out there, when you going to. It's like going to. Alex, it's an off season training activity.

Is the point is it's optional.

No, this is like spring balls.

This is a spring practice.

Sorry for everybody out there. This is a spring practice. And so you come in and again, Shane, I don't know about you, but it's like going to a factory, right? Like I again, I could roll out of bed and wear my sweats, but when I get to work I have to put my kind of, you know, factory uniform on, so to speak. You have a, you have a net bag, right? You have your laundry net bag that gets done every day and it's got your number on it, right? And so I grabbed mine and because it's hanging in my locker and I'm gonna put my, you know, my team issue gear on, right? Which is like what everybody has to do. And so it's kind of the first thing you do when you get in. So I'm, you know, I put on my, my, all my team issue gear and it's really early and again, this is like before my. I hadn't really. I was so young. I didn't even drink coffee at this point. And so I'm like fully dressed and I. First thing I do is I go into the bathroom and I'm going to throw water on my face. Like I'm tired. I look like I'm fucking tired. So I like turn the sink on and I'm throwing water in my face, kind of like trying to wake up, right? And I'm like splashing water in my face and I kind of catch a glimpse. I like open my eyes again because it's early and I look down in the sink and the entire sink is a like deep, deep dark purple.

Okay?

Deep dark purple. And I'm kind of like, holy, like, what they're coming out of sink. I don't know. And I look up, okay? And I'd been splashing water on my face, and my entire face is stained purple.

Purple.

The dark. And my hands are purple. And I'm. I'm, like, freaking out in the mirror. I'm like, what in the hell is is going on here? And I'm like, it is everywhere at this point. And I'm like, you know, and again, like, I had been privy to, like, again, jokes and stuff in the locker room, and it does immediately hit me that, like, oh, somebody's done something, right? And so I like, I got all.

This shit on me.

I got purple, right? Like, I go, I got to get out of this. I got to go get in the shower. And so, like, I get out of all my stuff and I'm in the shower and I turn the water on, and it's no longer just on my hands and face. It is everywhere, everywhere. Like, the entire shower room has got purple all over the place. It is coming off of every part of my body, okay? Like, again, stained. And I don't know what the hell is going on. I'm scrubbing it profusely. It's not coming off, like, not even close.

Okay.

At that point, I had heard. I had kind of heard whispers about a prank similar to this and that there's this, like, invisible powder that they use that all of our security guys and this is usually everywhere, are ex law enforcement, right? So they're all XPD guys, or they're ex FBI guys. They're our security. And so they had access to certain things and that there was this powder they use in. In kind of money exchanges, right? So anytime there's like a ransom event, they put this invisible powder on dollar bill, on. On dollar bills, right? On money. And for anybody that touches it, it's. It's moisture activated. So it's invisible, but, like, it never comes off. And as soon as you start sweating or you get wet, it stains you. And so anybody.

Anybody, that's what wow, the money is.

You can trace it. And so Trent Dilfer, this, right, like, he and I, leading up to, by the way, it had a couple little back and forths, like, talking to each other. And he had kind of always said, like, you know, he's like, all right, rook. And then he was going to come over the top. And so here I am in the shower, and again, it is coming out.

It is.

It is coming out of everywhere, okay? And I go Back and change, right? Like, I get fresh clothes in the, in the equipment room, and I've got, like, purple lesions all over my body, my face, my hands. We have practice this day. I go out and practice in this.

You're the starting quarterback.

These guys coming out, the other number one thing. These guys come in. I'll never. Trent comes in, and he's got the biggest shitting grin on his face.

Oh, man.

And he had gotten this powder again from our security guy. And instead of putting it on dollar bills, he had put it on dollar bill, and it put it all over my, My laundry bag. And it was in everything. It was in my jock strap, it was on my shirt, it was in my socks. My feet were stained purple for, like, I mean, weeks. This didn't come off for weeks, you know? And you go out to practice, and when you come in from practice, like, you're soaked, right? You're soaked. And so I'd come in and it would just. Every day, there'd be fresh new spots all over me. And, like, listen, like, again, it's a locker room, and, like, you just. You gotta wear it. You just wear it. And so. That was the best one that ever got done to me. It was. Let me tell you this, though. You learn, you know, you learn your lesson. It's like the story of the Eskimo kid, right? You get burned once, you don't mess with it. So that was the last I. That was the last time I messed with Trent Dilfer.

Did you ever get him back? No.

That's what I'm saying, Revy. I learned my lesson.

You know what Alex feels like. Feels like now's the time, you know, maybe, Maybe we can find a way to get him back.

Get him.

Maybe Shane can invite him to Augusta or something and then not go.

I wish.

No, that was a good one, though.

Yep.

And again, vulnerability and trust. You got to try to.

Oh, yeah. That's a pretty good rookie hazing story.

Not nothing in the. The financial industry, Robbie. Similar.

No, no, no, no. Nothing like that. I think, you know, you can't even follow a story like that. You know, there's nothing, Nothing Whatever. One thing I was thinking about also, though, Shane, from the last few days, I do think we've been talking about this. A caddy's as ultimate glue, guys. Oh, yeah. I mean, the, the caddies at a hoopie are just the best people in the world, right? They're there.

Shout out, Dave.

Shout out. Shout out to Luke, my guy. Oh, my God. I, I, Luke was. He's with me all four days or all. All four rounds. And I know you have Dave all the time, Shane, but the rest of us don't have assigned caddies. Right. Because you're the member. But for me to get Luke is awesome, but these guys. Yeah, think about it. They're just, like, there to help you. They're. They're there. They're fully excited about the match. Right. They don't want any of the credit. They. They give you all the reads. They tell you at the end. I wouldn't even telling me distances. You're just giving me the club. You know, And I think about it, and, like, I told you guys this, but I think that they're like, there's a value in, like, a life caddy. These guys, they can tell. They can tell your mood. They can tell what you need in that moment. The kick in the ass versus a pat on the back. You know, they're just. It's about much more than golf, you know?

I mean, how many people in your life can. Can you name that? Are there just to help you.

Yes.

Are there just to help you. Like, to help you win and, like, not gonna judge you if you don't. Right?

Sure.

Like, if you have a bad shot. Oh, don't worry about it, man.

Like, yeah, you got the next one up. Right.

It takes an amazing.

I don't know.

Humility is the right word, but just, like, it's. It's a. It is a. A superpower to be 100% helpful, you know, on the journey.

Yes.

All in.

Yes.

Right. Speed of trust. Right. Time to. You know, to get up to speed. The first tea. I need you. Right. For four hours every minute. And it's an. I respect caddy so much.

Me too.

And there it is. Amazing spirit. Their spirit is amazing.

Yeah. I think the other thing, like. Yeah, they got to figure it out the first one. They got to make judgments as to when to tell you stuff, when to not. At one point, I hit a terrible shot, and as I'm walking, like, oh, man, you know, as a mistake, I closed the club face or whatever. And Luke's like, there are no mistakes out here, man. We're either winning or we're learning. We just. We're learning there. And I'm like, I could use that anywhere. I mean, that's not. That's not specific to golf. This guy's teaching me about life, you know? Like, it's. These guys are as good as it gets. Caddies.

Yeah. We need more caddies in life. That's a great Metaphor, don't you think?

I think we do. We do, Alex. We're gonna, you know, future guest caddy.

Coming, coming down the pipeline.

I think that's gonna be big.

Maybe one of the most famous caddies.

Because that was my first job. My first job, I was caddy and I was a terrible caddy. Like, well, first, yeah, my first job, I was.

I didn't know that.

I was 10 years old. 10 years old, and I was caddying at Birmingham Country Club. And I'll never forget my first. And I was, I was big, okay? And so like I was 12 years old, 6ft tall, 12 years old. Used to doing double, double bags, right, with the old, you know, tour bags. This is back like in the 80s, you know, late, late 80s, early 90s, where everyone thought they needed a tour bag. Those big ass Wilson bags, big leather strap that just like burned your shoulders. So I was, you know, I'm thinking myself, I'm gonna walk for four hours. May as well just, you know, double my fee. And I, I had no idea how to read a green. Okay. I had like, I didn't even like, like golf. That was when I first started to play golf on caddy Mondays. So I didn't know golf. You know, the members would ask me, you know, hey, give me a read here. I'm like, yeah, I think it's gonna go left. No, no idea. I didn't care. Like, I was not like Dave or Luke. I didn't care if my guy played well or not. And if for me, it was just, it was very transactional. And so I have mad love for caddies because that's, that's where I started.

How much? Shane, what would be the typical tip for a bat for a two bag at that time?

Well, for a single bag, I'll never forget. You know, this is back in stone age. It was, it was $20 for four hour loop.

All right.

And then you got tipped. You know, usually like a good tip was like, like 15 bucks. 15 to 20 bucks.

Oh, wow.

And my first loop I ever did at 10 years old, I never forget guy named Don Highwig. I'll never forget this guy. My first loop. I'm so excited. You know, I get my $20 fee. Tipped me $4. Oh, I was hot.

I was hot.

Oh, it's hot.

You weren't reading any greens. That's the problem. Don't you think into this point on kind of like what it takes to be a good caddy. Like there's probably, there's so many teachable lessons oh, for being a young kid, you're like learning how to conduct yourself.

Yep.

Right. And deal with different personalities and different people. And like, you know, I probably 100.

Oh, dude. I think every kid. So I was a waiter. You know, my first job. Well, actually my first job was working at Champ Sports in the mall. But my second job at like 15 was being a waiter. I think everyone, same idea, you, everyone should have to do some job in the service industry because you got to deal with same thing. I deal with lots of different kinds of people. You got to keep a lot of stuff in your head. You know, you have to deal with things that aren't your fault. You know, the food comes out is not right. And maybe it's because the food, like someone didn't cook it right. You got to take the blame. And I think that, I think those kinds of things are very formative, you know, to do it. What was your first job, Alex?

First check I ever got was from the Salt Lake City Parks and Rec. It was in college. Sadly, I had a deal. My parents had made me a deal that I didn't have to work in high school if I was like, if I was playing a sport and I got good grades. And so luckily I, I opted for that route. And summer after my freshman year, he stayed up there. And so I was taking summer school. But you could get these jobs, you know, like every program kind of has these summer jobs. Well, at Duke, you get to go to Wall Street. When you're at University of Utah. We're at University of Utah. You work for the Parks and Rec. You're like babysitting kids. Summer camp. And we were track and field. So.

So I worked at Walker Brothers Pancake House. Okay. Which is a great pancake house in Illinois. Suburban Illinois. All right. And I'll tell you this, this is, you know, there's a real lesson in here from this job. So I would get the Saturday or Sunday shift, 6am to 12pm and BE. It's a great shift. Great shift because you got people coming in after church, this, that big groups, no alcohol, of course, usually because, you know, pancake breakfast. But anyway, that six hour shift I would make, I mean, I would make like $50 an hour in. Once you include the tips, which is insane. I mean, it's like a 15 year old kid. Like one day, six hours of work, you're making 250, $300. Incredible. I couldn't believe it. And so anyway, one day, and this is not a great, not a great reflection of my character, but There was a guy who went to my high school who worked in a luggage shop and was stealing from the luggage shop, okay? And so he was selling things out of the back of his car, okay? Stealing from the luggage shop. He never admitted that, but he just had a bunch of stuff in the back of his car. Anyway. So he's like, hey, you want to buy something? And I was like, what do you got? And he's like, you know, I have this wallet, this Tumi wallet. I'm like, how much is it, this Tumi wallet for, like, 100 bucks? And he's like, no, no, $10. I'm like, done. So I buy this Tumi wallet for $10, and of course, I'm a kid, right? I come home, and my dad's like, where'd you get this wallet? I'm like, oh, someone gave it to me. I mean, can you imagine? Just like an idiot. So I'm sure my parents were like, something is going on. Anyway, not two days later, I go to work. I fill up this Tumi wallet with $300 in cash, right? And I go after work, I go to play basketball. So we go play basketball. We're playing, like, some outdoor court, and then I stopped by the 711 afterwards, and a bunch of us get Slurpees. Okay, great. I go home, and I get home, and I'm like, where the hell's my wallet? I can't find it. Lost my wallet. Turns out while we were sitting in the Chicago sun in the summer, I had my wallet on the top of the car and drinking my Slurpee, and I left it there. And then I drove away. So then I drove away, and my wallet flew away with the $300 in it. And to this day, I went and looked for it, never found it. To this day, I believe that was God talking to me, being like, hey, man, I'll give you this one warning, okay? Don't buy stolen. That's not. That's not who you are. Because that Toomey wallet ended up costing me $310, okay? And I didn't even get to keep it. And I think that it was. You know, we Hindus, we believe in karma. I think that that was God telling me, don't do that. Don't give you this lesson. And, you know, since then, never bought anything stolen. That was, I think, the good lesson for me.

That's a great lesson.