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Pilot Episode - Baseball Talk
Bobby Roberts (00:01)
All right, so here we go. Welcome to another edition of the Fuzz and Barrels podcast. I'm your host, Bobby Roberts. And today we have a very special guest. He's originally from Seoul, Korea. Just kidding. He's a good friend of mine. He's originally from Radcliffe, Kentucky. I don't know if he's originally from there, but that's where I met him at. He now resides in Barrington, Illinois. He is a
financial services specialist, a CPA, please welcome to today's podcast, a special guest, Mr. David Robbins.
David Robbins (00:42)
the
is an honor.
Bobby Roberts (00:45)
There you go. So this is gonna be a little bit off the chain because Dave and I go way back. We probably met, I don't know, seventh, fifth grade, something like that, in middle school. And we've actually been friends ever since, worked together for a period of time. He's bouncing around right now on the camera, it looks like, so he doesn't know how to set up something steady, which is not surprising. But we've known each other now for, I don't know.
Long time, 40 years probably, so not to date each other. So I don't mean date that way. I meant date as in how old we are. But so there you go. So Dave, how are things in Barrington?
David Robbins (01:27)
Oh,
you know, mid fifties and that's really good in February in this area of Chicago land. But, you know, the people, you know, people say we're in the Midwest, but I told them that technically we're not. But the Midwest spring is coming and it's usually last for a day. And then next thing you know, it's 80 degrees in the summertime. So I'm just hoping the snow stays the way. We really haven't had much snow, so it's been really nice.
Bobby Roberts (01:51)
Yeah, you know, that's interesting that you say that they call it the Midwest. They think Kentucky where I'm at right now is the South. So a lot of my work colleagues, you know, they're up in places like, you know, people think I do baseball for a living, you know, baseball is what I love to do, but I actually have a real job. But a lot of my colleagues are up in, you know, the real Northeast, like New York and things like that. And so they think that Kentucky is nice and warm. And they say, they say I'm in the South.
David Robbins (01:58)
Yeah.
Bobby Roberts (02:17)
So while it's more southern than they are, we still get all the all the all the those the seasons here I should say and so today it was rainy but yesterday it was 72 degrees which I'll take that all day long in February, right? Now
David Robbins (02:31)
Yep. Yeah, because it's like I know your thing is about baseball and you know I've got a lot of friends here and at the gym I go to I do crossfit in the mornings and there's a lot of baseball.
mom and dad's in there and they're already talking about because the kids are getting out and this is like perfect because they're like how great it is for the kids to be able to get outside and play a little bit of baseball. I'll never forget for my son, he played a little bit of baseball as a youth and going out there and he's wearing a full-on winter coat and he's six years old and I'm like, there's no way he's enjoying this. I'm like, of course I'm not enjoying it. I coached for a while and just sitting there thinking about this crazy weather and how
We just have to go indoors or we just have to wait to be playing baseball or just getting outside for any sport because it's that weather. It's like the kids are just so disinterested and they're too cold. And I don't, now my son is like 19 years old and I kind of miss those days. But then again, I don't because of our crazy weather here. And it's really, I, for the most part, I love the sports. I love getting outside. But when you have the winters that we have here in the, in the Midwest or in Chicagoland.
It's not enjoyable because it usually doesn't get nice until probably late April. That's when you can kind of count on it. But usually sports start up late February, early March. So I spent many days in the stands or on the sidelines, freezing, you know, winter coats. I used to have my whole back in my car with three, four coats, extra jackets, extra pants, hoodies, hats, gloves. I had all that stuff. And it's kind of nice now because now my back in my car is a gym bag.
and golf clubs believe it or not because I've been playing in indoor golf league.
Bobby Roberts (04:09)
Wow, so um you hit on a bunch of stuff right there so first off So how so your son that was 19 now, and he didn't play baseball and you coached
David Robbins (04:20)
I did. I did. And I have, it's funny because he tried out for travel ball and it just wasn't his thing. And, you know, looking back, I was kind of happy about it. But then I was sad because he didn't make it. But then he was like, I'm going to work at it. And I was his coach and we did a rec ball one more year. And we had a lot of fun. We had, I was with a couple of dads and I'm really good friends with them now. Like one of them is actually my doctor. And we, they do like a little draft, which was kind of kind of fun to do it because you rank the kids, there's like a tryout and then you do a draft between all these dads.
And we felt like we had a stacked squad. And I think, I want to say this is like third grade. And it's funny to look back because a couple of those kids, they're not playing in college or anything, but they're really good athletes. And they did really good at the high school. And a couple of them just graduated. My son was a year older than them. And like one of the kids, his dad was a coach. He was like a star receiver for the football team. And well, I guess he's a senior right now. So the baseball season is coming up. So we'll see what he does.
But it was a lot of fun, you know, doing that kind of stuff and being involved in baseball. And I was a coach, you know, standing there on the sidelines. And it was just, those are the best memories as a father, you know, standing there with your kid. And, you know, everybody thinks their kid's going to turn into something. And you have these outside hopes that, you know, maybe they'll play in college. And I know you're lucky enough that your son's going to play college baseball. And that's really fun as a father to kind of watch your kid do that kind of stuff.
Bobby Roberts (05:43)
You know, it really is. And you know, I'm just thinking back, you know, there's a lot of things, you know, my son's a junior in high school. And you think back at a lot of these things. And you know, those are the memories that we're going to have really in our family is just all the travel ball stuff. But you know, I
It's a lot, it costs a lot, there's a lot of sacrifice. I haven't taken like a real vacation. Like you always make fun of me, you're taking all these vacations. And I'm like, my vacation is somewhere, is in Lake Point, which baseball people that are listening to this, they know exactly what Lake Point is. Or, you know, it's at the WWBA, perfect game. They know exactly what that is. I know that you probably don't, but you know, some big tournaments down in Georgia, but you know, that's my life and I wouldn't do it any other way. But so back when you were coaching, I know that you mentioned that a couple of the kids
playing baseball and some other sports. So I know they were at a young age, but even at that younger age when you were coaching, could you like...
just see the mannerisms of the kids and even though it was baseball but just see how they were reacting to athletics in general and you could kind of like say okay this kid's probably going to be something this kid's probably going to be something this kid probably needs to start you know playing chess and get really good at that because i don't think athletics is going to be good for him did you could you see that on these kids at an early age do you think
David Robbins (07:03)
Oh, 100%. I mean, you knew the kids that were really into sports at a young age. And the kids, like my son was really into sports. He's really focused. And, you know, even playing baseball as a first or second grader, he was the type of kid that paid attention.
you know, wanted to make the play and you know, sometimes he would, he would field the ball and like the first baseman is just not there and not paying attention. And I said, you got to throw it. I said, you throw it, you do your job. The kid needs to pay attention. So yeah, we definitely had some kids that were really into it. And like the one kid that I'm thinking about that's the senior right now and the really good athlete that was on the football team, he was way into it. And this was a, the kid is kind of funny. Um, because looking back, he showed up first time I ever seen the kid. This was flag football.
He had goggles on, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar goggles. And I'm like, who is this kid? And then we started playing a little football. I'm like, wow, this kid's a great athlete. And then now he wears contacts and all that stuff. But back then I just thought, man, look at this little dorky kid with glasses. And he just was a phenomenal athlete. But yeah, you could tell some kids bring it and they're just more passionate than others. And I'm sure at that young age, some kids do change. And there was one kid in particular that I remember that I'm like, there's just no way he should be out here. And from what I gather, he was adopted.
His dad was like a big Michigan guy and he played football at Michigan. So he was like big, huge guy. And I just thought, man, what's, what's up with this kid? He's not very athletic like his dad. And then I found out he was adopted. And then, and then I have to tell you offline some other stuff that's happened that I've heard about him over the years, but I knew that he shouldn't be playing sports and he didn't go on the chess team either. I don't know what he did, but he, he was just, he was in the wrong element.
Bobby Roberts (08:33)
Yeah.
You can almost tell, you know, some of the kids are twitchy and some stuff like that. And, you know, one of the things that I see is that a lot of these kids, which is really unfortunate, that you can tell from an early age that they're just a gifted athlete. And so in all those sports, when they're young, they can just show up and just play and be one of the best there, whether it's baseball, basketball, football, it doesn't matter what it is. They just show up and they're really good. And then...
they stop working. And so that talent will only get you so far. And like baseball, for instance, you pretty much, if you're a good athlete and you got good eye-hand coordination, you got a decent arm and all that stuff, you really don't have to work that hard to be good up until you get on the big field.
David Robbins (09:20)
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. presentation of the
Bobby Roberts (09:31)
And so we see a lot of kids that, you know, they were dominant when they were younger on these 200 foot fences using these juice bats and all this stuff. But then when they get on the big field, things start catching up to them. And you start seeing the kids that really put in the work that start passing those kids who had the effort because that hard work just, it almost always seems like it just surpasses that talent.
when the talent doesn't work. I know there's some goofy phrase for that, right? Like, the talent that doesn't work and the hard work will pass that or whatever. I can't remember what it is, but it's true, right? You see that and you see it in almost anything. You see someone who's just naturally smart and you're in school and you're like, damn, this dude passes every freaking test and doesn't even have to study and everything else, but then...
you know, he just stops doing, you know, stops learning. And then before you know it, he turns into an idiot like me. And then, you know, you go to college and you know, you're a CPA and all that stuff. And then like, you're smart and everything. But, you know, it's weird. Like I wish that there was a way that you could, you could motivate those kids a little bit more, but you know, you see that all the time. Did you ever see any of those kids that you were talking about that were like, you knew that they had something, but I don't know if you followed them a lot that didn't really.
continue to have any driver passion and just kind of fell off.
David Robbins (10:51)
Well, yeah, I think that goes on.
in the play with just about anything in life, you know, with kids that have the talent and they just don't take, have that ability, whether they're smart or they're really good at something or really good at sports and they just don't work at it because like anything, any good craft I think people have to have that work ethic. And I say that all the time, like even about my own dad, like, you know, he might not have been the most talented guy or the most smart guy that you'd meet, but no one could outwork my dad and my dad has like the best work ethic and it was always kind of fun to watch him because I, you know, I don't
I don't think that I'm that smart. I just think that I work hard and I had to work hard at learning and studying and I had to study harder than maybe another guy that maybe it came a little natural to him. Over years you get experience and then you become really good at your craft. But I think it takes time and effort no matter what it is, whether it's sports or your career. Just like you, you could say something about not being smart or whatever, but I don't know anybody that doesn't work as hard as you do and can figure things out.
like you do and I've always said that about you to even my kids and my friends and I'm like, Bobby figured stuff out, like even the TikTok thing, you figured it out and you know, I just know that when you and I worked together and you were in that one room by yourself, you know, starting the company from scratch and I was over there doing accounting, I was like, he's gonna figure it out and you did. And we had like, we had a big company and we were doing great things and that was a lot of fun. We made a lot of good friends and a lot of good memories and it got me out of my shell from just being a.
basic accounting guy sitting in a cubicle thinking this is what my life is going to be working for somebody else to make me really think about, you know, what's it like to be personable, you learn a little bit about sales, you know, dealing with people and I learned all those things under you at the APB and it was like those were great years and you know, a lot of things that I look back and I think, I don't think if I did that I would be doing what I'm doing today, you know, owning my own company and you know, there's just eight of us but you know, I've got eight people that rely on me for jobs.
I'm one of the eight, but that's pretty neat. And I've got almost 2,000 clients that come to us and that's really neat to, and you're one of my clients, it's fun to do this kind of stuff and be in this kind of industry and going back to the whole sports thing, I've got a couple clients that are in the minor leagues right now and that's kind of fun to text with them and see what their journey's like and even see like their W-2, see what they're making. It's like, wow, that's kind of cool.
It's just interesting. So it's fun to be on this side. And at the end of the day, going back to what we're saying, it's like, you got to, no matter what it is, people got to work. You can't just be a natural talented person. Cause even someone like LeBron James, he works. He's got to work hard to keep playing at the level he's playing. Even today, he's got to work, work. I mean, you see these videos. I saw a video showing about Christian McCaffrey and what he puts his body through. It's insane, but that's why he's like the best running back in the NFL. I mean, because he works hard.
Bobby Roberts (13:47)
He does. I mean, like LeBron James is like 60 years old. He's been like through four hair transplants. I mean, he still does. I mean, the guy like dominates, right? Like it's unbelievable. And you know, just all the stuff that these guys go through and like these athletes catch all kinds of hell sometimes. It's like they got to take a day off and this and that. Oh my God, they're, you know, they get paid all this stuff and they're going to take a day off. Do you know how hard it is? Like if you've ever been to an NBA basketball game, right? Like we all play basketball. Well, you go to an NBA basketball game.
And these guys, they don't look like they're even trying a lot of times, but like, there's these guys are like superhuman. They're twice as big as me and you combined. And like you just look at the at the lane where someone's going to drive into. There's nowhere to go. They're so big and so long. And so why do you keep just drive in? I mean, it is hard and it's a physical game, but, you know, it's crazy. But you were talking about, you know, back in our in our work days.
And you brought up that, I totally forgot about sitting in that, I mean, I didn't even have, when we started that company, I was just sitting in a conference room. I didn't even have an office. And I took, and I don't, and you'll probably remember this, but I took out a, it was a flip chart. And I, and I did a map of where, an organizational chart of where I wanted that company to go. And it was like four regions, and all over Florida, and all over Texas, and all over this, and it was an org chart, and it was taped on the back of that door.
David Robbins (14:50)
Yep.
Bobby Roberts (15:08)
And anytime I'd interview someone, I'd say, hey, here's the blueprint of the company. If you come on and you kick ass, you can put your name on this chart wherever you want it and we're going to grow it. And it was funny and I'm not going to name their names, but you can think about the first people that we hired. We're still friends with every one of them today. All that became VPs and it was like, you know, everything we talked about, you know, happened and you know, we had some unfortunate circumstances with financial crisis and all that stuff. But you know, at the end of the day.
David Robbins (15:25)
Yep.
Bobby Roberts (15:37)
We all, I mean, not that financially, it didn't really affect us that much because we got out and all that other stuff. But the thing was is that everybody there learned, I mean, did you ever think when you were going, when you were doing your CPA stuff, that you would ever be in a job interview and someone would pick up, and this is from our buddy Fazz, I'm not gonna say his whole name, he wouldn't care, but.
I still remember when we got together many years later, he told the story about when you interviewed him, you took out a crushed Coke can that was in the garbage, and you put it on the desk and you said, sell me this. You made him do that. Could you ever imagine that you would be interviewing somebody in your career when you were taking the CPA exam where you took a crushed Coke can out and said, hey, sell me this and see if you can sell, then maybe we'll give you a job. Did you ever think that you would do that?
David Robbins (16:25)
No, no.
No, there's no way, but that's because I learned it from you when you said, you see this pen, sell this to me. And then.
Bobby Roberts (16:32)
And that's like famous now in like Wolf of Wall Street or whatever movie that's on. We were doing that shit back before it was cool, man. Like I was wearing those crazy socks before it was cool. Hell, we invented Twitter, remember that? We did something on the phone where we were doing text messages before that even existed. Yeah, we set up like AOL Instant Messenger or something.
David Robbins (16:39)
I know it's kinda crazy.
On our old PalmPilot, I had a PalmPilot phone and we were text messaging or something. AL is the messenger, we had installed that on our phones and we were messaging and we had all kinds of stuff going on so we didn't even know what we were doing back then. See, that's why we're not that smart, man. We were sitting there past, we let this thing pass right by us. We could have been saying, man, we should turn this into something.
Bobby Roberts (17:00)
And we figured it out!
I know Elon Musk would be interviewing me right now man. I'd probably be Tesla or something. I don't know man but oh my gosh that's some good time. So let's go back a couple steps here. So you had said you were coaching baseball and then your son was playing and then he was looking at travel ball and stuff and then I don't know maybe baseball wasn't his thing like he wasn't I mean not everyone's good at baseball it's hard to be right so he's
David Robbins (17:32)
He was a heck of a fielder, he was fast, he was a defensive player. And when it came to hitting, he just didn't practice enough. I mean, he was in third grade and he just didn't think that, he just thought it came natural. And he didn't realize how hard it was. And as the kids got a little older, even though it's third grade, the ball was going a little bit faster.
Bobby Roberts (17:38)
Yeah.
David Robbins (17:53)
And I told him, I said, let's work on it and let's just figure out if you're gonna do it. And he just, he's playing too many sports at the time. And he, and he's a hardworking kid now, especially with the studies and, but he just didn't really work that hard at it. The only sport he ever worked at was soccer. When he made a transition over to soccer, he would be in the backyard doing it. And he just didn't do that with baseball. So that's where I think the passion came and he started realizing, oh, I'm a little bit more passionate about soccer. And at some point he's.
Bobby Roberts (18:12)
Thanks.
David Robbins (18:20)
flipped the switch and went 100% to soccer and he played that for, I don't know, seven, eight years. And, you know, I did a lot of coaching there and then he played travel soccer and that's where I wasn't the coach because the travel soccer here is like real paid coaches. But I did indoor soccer with him and it was a lot of fun. So those days were a lot of fun and, you know, he was a really good athlete and he could have done something with it. But in the long run, you know, that's probably...
You know, he's got the bad DNA. He's got me, you know, I'm just an average sports guy that was okay at some sports in high school and, you know, play some intramurals and, you know, beat you in intramural soccer and became the champion. That's, that's all. That's my, that's my biggest memory of college was being the intramural champion and you, you were the goalie and we beat you.
Bobby Roberts (18:59)
Here we go. Here we go.
So here's a couple things. So first off, okay, so now that you brought that up, now I gotta bust your balls about something. Here's what I kinda heard in the whole story about the baseball, and look, I loved your son to death and all that stuff and everything, so. But here's what I heard. I heard that he played baseball.
and that hitting the ball was kind of hard, which look, hitting a baseball is very hard to do, right? Hitting a round ball with a round bat is difficult. And then when you actually do it, you got nine people trying to get one person out. So it's hard to do. So here's what I kind of heard in that whole thing. People that are not very good at hitting a baseball, that's why the soccer exists, right? Because the guys who get cut from the baseball team go play soccer, is that what you're saying?
David Robbins (19:40)
the
No, I think they go through a lot of other things. I think a lot of them end up playing chess.
Bobby Roberts (19:58)
Okay, yeah, all right, so I knew soccer teams existed for a reason, and now it's all making sense. The guys that got cut from the baseball team go play soccer. That's that.
David Robbins (20:02)
No, but it's I played baseball Well
Yeah, I don't know. I think I saw one of your TikToks that talked about athleticism and if you're good at baseball, you're probably good at a lot of sports. And I would have to say that's probably pretty good because if you're a good athlete in general, you could probably play a lot of different sports. My oldest daughter played a lot of sports. She was a good athlete and she was able to transition a lot. And then my middle daughter only played soccer and she was a really good soccer player. But when it came to doing anything else,
Especially had to do with like throwing a ball or anything. No, she couldn't do it. She was so uncoordinated She still can't throw right now and it's kind of funny, but she was like when it comes to her feet phenomenal she has the she had the greatest foot skills you would ever see in a soccer player and But that's just because that's all she ever did but I played I played baseball. The only reason I played baseball I played one season and I was in Germany and Because soccer for some reason they didn't have soccer. So my mom signed me up for this baseball team
And the unfortunate part is back then, they realized I wasn't very good. So they didn't spend much time with me trying to teach me. And to this day, I remember I had one hit and I didn't care if I was playing or not. Cause I was having a fun time just being part of the team, being a dugout, doing all the chants or whatever we used to do. And we were on the best team. We ended up winning the championship. And I didn't care that I was playing or not because I just liked to win. So I was part of this winning team, but I did get in.
I got this one hit, it was up the middle, it was a double, and I'll never forget it because I realized how hard it was to hit that baseball, but no one ever taught me how to do it. And so when I just blindly swung and hit it, it was the greatest thing ever, and it's a great memory of mine as a kid. And then, you know, we obviously played a lot of softball together and a lot of funny stories about softball and all that stuff, but I never really learned how to hit. So even when I played softball, obviously it's a slow moving ball, I had to kind of teach myself.
And I just try to use brute strength to try to hit the heck out of that ball. That's all I could ever do.
Bobby Roberts (22:11)
So I'm glad you brought that up because that was part of my little show notes here that I don't have but You know, I've never been a note-taker or anything like that I just start talking because if you're telling the truth and you're having fun, I don't I never need notes I don't take notes. I just that's just not me But one thing that I was definitely gonna ask you about I you brought up our softball So back when I when we had the company we had it, you know It was a co-ed softball league and I'll never forget. I was pretty decent and so I was hitting home runs over the fence left-handed and
the teams got pissed and said hey you're cause you had, oh, so you had a bat opposite hand is what it was. So if you were a right handed bat, the guys had a bat opposite hand so I was a natural right handed hitter but I could hit both. So I was hitting them over left hand and then they tried to turn me around and I said I'll kill the third baseman. It was a girl playing third baseman. I said I'll kill her if I hit a line drive and then they turned me around, I hit one about 500 feet. But anyway.
You played with us sometimes if I'm not mistaken. I don't think you played all the time, but maybe you did play all the time I can't remember but I don't think I don't think you did either
David Robbins (23:11)
No, I don't think I play it all the time because definitely if I could barely, I mean, I wasn't very good even hitting it right-handed. So to make me hit it left-handed, forget about it. There's just no way I would have hit it.
Bobby Roberts (23:22)
So help me remember, because maybe I misremember, but there was this one evening and something happened. I was over at your house. You had to do something kind of special. You were mowing the grass also that day. I can't remember what it was. But I know that you came out and you played with the snaffs of that night. Walk us through your first at bat if you don't mind.
David Robbins (23:41)
I don't know what you're talking about. So that has been some kind of...
Bobby Roberts (23:47)
He's drunk out playing slow pitch softball!
David Robbins (23:49)
Yeah, well, hey, when you never swing lefty, you're definitely gonna strike out. And it goes back to the whole thing of coaching. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even know that's what we're supposed to do. So I would blame you for that. If you would have been like, hey, Dave, we swing left-handed, you know, maybe you should practice a little bit. I probably would have been, could have been coached up, but no, you just threw me out there, made me look like an idiot. And I just remember your cackling, laughing, because that was pretty embarrassing.
Bobby Roberts (24:19)
Well, you know so it was for those of you that don't know these co-ed, you know leagues They're all their beer leagues, right? and so everyone's drinking and all that stuff and so when Dave goes up there cuz I'm pretty sure you were talking smack too before You went up there cuz that's just what that's just what we do. So he's talking smack. He's gonna hit it farther than me I don't know what I don't I can't remember But anyway, he gets up there strikes out and our whole dugout we were just laying down the ground laughing people were spilling beer I mean
David Robbins (24:34)
Oh, yeah, 100%.
I'm sorry.
UGH
Bobby Roberts (24:46)
Fantastic. So man, those were some of the best times, you know, when you put...
David Robbins (24:49)
I still got a lot of issues from that, you know, and I'm, you know, I probably should be in therapy for that session that just that one night it really kind of messed me up. But yeah, you're right. Those are those are great times. And this is a great thing about sports as a youth as an adult, you know, even today, they bring people together, you know, no matter what it is. I mean, just like the Super Bowl, you know, people are the fans of the Chiefs, you know, bring brings people together. I mean, sports are like that. And I miss that with my kids playing sports.
Bobby Roberts (24:57)
Yeah.
David Robbins (25:18)
and being around the other parents and just being a part of that because you feel like you're part of the team, even coaching young kids, it's great. There's nothing better. And I'm a firm believer in people being involved in something sporting because it teaches you a lot. Because when we get to our age, even being part of teams at work, when we were building that company and you were building it and I joined in, it was just, we're part of a team and we're working toward a common goal, just like sports teams, they're all trying to work toward a common goal and it's kind of...
It's a lot of fun and it brings a lot of good core values to all of us.
Bobby Roberts (25:52)
And you know, I think it's, you know, teams and everything for kids growing up, if there's any kids listening to this or the parents that listen to it that, you know, are thinking about should I get my kids involved in sports or not, you know, I'll tell you, and you can attest to this too, and you probably still do it today. When we're looking to hire people.
You know in companies and things when I would see a resume that came through that said, you know I would I was a collegiate athlete or I was a high school athlete or I was all state and I was the team Captain and all that kind of stuff That that stuff really went a long way with me when I was when I was hiring because I just thought okay Not only did this person play and compete they wanted to win. They were a captain, you know that goes into
David Robbins (26:21)
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation.
Bobby Roberts (26:39)
the business world into whatever career you're going into. Not only competing and winning, but then being part of a team. And so, everybody is part of a team, regardless of what you're doing. And that really teaches you to do that. Wouldn't you say that if you take a look at some of the people that you've hired over the years, there's been many of them. Not saying that they all have to be athletes and all that, some great employees aren't, but over time, would you say that you see some similarities in someone who was a great...
athlete, team captain, etc. And then their level of success in their professional careers as well.
David Robbins (27:16)
Oh, 100% because you know, you learn the things from, you know, not only working and practicing and becoming better at your craft, you know, it translates perfectly into the work world because you already have this mindset of I want to be better at something.
and then you go to work and every day you should want to be better at work. You should want to present the best version of yourself. So I think that correlates very well, you know, the sport world to the professional world.
Bobby Roberts (27:43)
Absolutely. So, now you said that after baseball you were in soccer and you were coaching soccer and I don't know if you just coached your son, but I think you maybe have coached your daughters too, but even if you didn't, I know that you've been up there. All three of your kids played sports and they played it at a high level and all that. Did you ever encounter some fans that were a little bit, let's just say, overzealous or maybe just flat out crazy in the stands?
David Robbins (28:11)
Oh, that's everybody. I think that's you've always seen that and we've seen crazy stuff at some of the games that I've been to and I remember I'll never forget one and this is actually the Gracie's team my middle daughter playing soccer and one of the kids got hurt.
And actually what's interesting about this kid, she's playing soccer at Notre Dame now. I don't know if she's playing, but she's on the team. She's in Notre Dame playing soccer, but she got pushed several times and she finally fell and she ended up breaking her arm and we had some crazy parents just going crazy on the side. It was I think it was a grand grandparents because even after the game, they were like yelling at the ref like in the ref's face like and I was like, oh my gosh, it was so embarrassing like because they and I get it because they probably were in the natural instincts. I want to protect my grandchild.
But you see that all the time, whether that's one example, but just people, they don't like a call. I mean, most times these people, these aren't professional referees. I mean, they're trying the best. And it's, to me, it's a little crazy that people would yell like that. And I'm sure I did it. I'm sure I did it. And at some point you're just like, you're looking back, I'm like, are you, am I crazy? But I think people just become so passionate, parents become so passionate to watch your children, that sometimes it's hard, but that coaching from the sideline,
It's terrible. I mean, the kids, my kids used to tell me that Grace would get so mad at me and her mom. You know, they would, she would get so mad at us for saying stuff and she would say, don't talk. Or there's been times in the game she looked at us and gave us an eye because we're saying something. And I learned, I don't know what grade or what age, but I just shut up. I just stopped.
Bobby Roberts (29:47)
You know, here's the thing, you know, coach is coach, players play, parents cheer, that's what it needs to be. But there's those lines that get blurred just because, like you said, you're passionate. And I think, you know, it's embarrassing to the kid, right? And I've tried to help kids and I have not, you know...
David Robbins (29:53)
Yep.
Bobby Roberts (30:09)
Part of what I do is, and I don't really do it that much anymore, but I'll try to help some kids fulfill their dreams and try to play in college. I know a lot of college coaches and all these different things, and so it's like, hey, I can help you out and I can tell you what to do, get videos here and there and all that kind of stuff. But I will tell you what, a couple things. If you're coaching from the stands, you hear it all the time, like a dad's going to tell the kid he's batting. He's like, get up in the box, get back in the box, get your arms up, all of a sudden. And one, I don't know what they're really doing anyway for the most part. But when they're coaching from the stands...
David Robbins (30:32)
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. first item, which is the
Bobby Roberts (30:39)
What they're really doing is they're alerting everybody that who's there that my kid is not ready to play on his own. He can't prepare on his own. So I've got to try to coach him through this because he's not ready. That's what everybody hears. And that's what the kid hears too. And they're like, shut up, dad, but they won't say it. But the only one who doesn't realize that is the one who's saying it because you just don't know. Because you think I'm just trying to help my kid do the best. But someone like that should just go stand out on right field.
And just watch from out there if they can't keep their mouth shut because I will tell you when they get older This is a true story So I was this past summer. Um in lake point. I was standing there talking to a college coach About some kids on our team Um who I was like, you know, this kid's doing this and this kid's doing that And then they were also watching a kid on the other team. Okay And um, he was like, all right, this kid's coming up the bat. Um
David Robbins (31:13)
So, thank you.
Bobby Roberts (31:34)
I'm gonna, you know, we're gonna see how he does. And then he talked to his assistant coach and he looks over and he points over to the stands. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, that's his mom over there. We're gonna see how she reacts to on this. I said, how do you know it's the mom? He's like, you always know who the mom, she's the one with the camera recording it. And I'm like, okay, all right. And then mom's recording it, the kid's batting. The kid hits a pop-up, okay. The coach is standing there with a stopwatch. The kid hits a pop-up into the infield. As soon as he hits it, click.
the kid is running as hard as he can to first. Click, when he gets there, he's like, man, he just had like a, I think it was like a four or five, home to first, whatever. This is a play where some kids hit the ball, they throw the bat, they don't run hard to first. That was the only at bat that coach saw of that kid that he wanted to see play. He didn't care that he popped it up. You're not gonna get a hit every time. But he cared how fast he ran to first so he could get real time on him. He looked at the mom afterwards. She just said, she sat down.
He kept watching her. The next kid came up, she started clapping her hands, like, come on, Jimmy, or whatever his name is, wasn't angry that her kid didn't get a hit, didn't do all this other stuff, started cheering for the next team. And I don't know what he wrote on his little notes, but he liked everything that he saw, and the kid had a little weak pop-up. But I'm telling you, they're watching the parents when you get to the high level. So parents, if you're out there and you got a kid that you're trying to get to the next level, just, and you can't hold it together, go out and right field or something.
David Robbins (32:54)
So, thank you.
Bobby Roberts (32:58)
But don't do any of the craziness in front of the stands or around the kids because people see every little thing that you do, so. Right, yeah.
David Robbins (33:06)
Yeah, I agree. I agree. There was one time I remember Grace's soccer coach had a meeting with us after one of the games and he literally was telling us, you guys need to stop. I'm the coach. You're telling kids stuff they're not supposed to be doing. They're telling me at halftime that my mom said this or my dad said this.
And I'll never forget that day because there's certain parents that we all kind of like joked and looked at them after the thing. So you're getting us all in trouble because you're the one that's talking. And looking back, like this one particular mom, she had played college soccer and had a pretty high level. So she just coached the heck out of her kid on the sideline when it was actually against what the coach was trying to tell her to do. So it's like, yeah, it's really terrible. And some people, I think they just project themselves too much on their children that they hope that.
They're helping them, but really, like you're saying, they're not.
Bobby Roberts (34:01)
No, they're hurting them, they're embarrassing them and everything else. And you know, look, at the end of the day, these parents are living vicariously through every at-bat. And I can't, I'm not going to say that I never did. When like, you know, fortunately...
My son has been pretty good and so but he struggles sometimes too. They all do right? I mean they'll have that they'll go strike out three four times in a row. I mean it's it happens it's baseball but um you know the worst thing that you can ever do is just like let them see that you're that you're not pleased with them. The best thing that you can ever say to your kid I promise you is never like you know a lot of times he's car rides home now he drives on his own now but these kids on the car rides home you'll hear some horror stories.
The best thing you can ever do to your kid is just say, hey man, I really enjoy your love. I enjoy watching you play, man. It makes me happy. Regardless of how good they do, I enjoy watching you play. I'll never forget this one. So when we play, like, you know, you probably, you never see the signs on the coaches, but they're doing all this other stuff and you know, but you know, it all means something. On our travel team that we're on, I know the signs because I help out in practice, right? I don't get anywhere near the dugout during the games because my son would kill me.
David Robbins (34:46)
Yeah, I agree.
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. presentation of the
Bobby Roberts (35:08)
but I know what the signs are. And so, and this even happens on our high level elite travel team that we're on, that some of the parents still get a little bit too, a little voicey, I guess. Is that even a word? Is voicey a damn word? I don't know. They talk too damn much, right? But anyway, but it's very rare. But this one dad, so I'm looking at the coach, he gives a signal.
And then here comes the pitch and it's right down the middle, a fastball right down the middle, a pitch that normally you should hit, right? And he didn't swing at it. And the dad's like, swing the bat! And I look over at him, I was like, he had the take sign. Like, the coach told him, don't swing at this pitch. Because he was the first pitcher to hit a bat. The pitcher, the guy before him walked on four straight pitches. So the coach is like, we're making him throw a strike.
David Robbins (35:48)
Yep.
Bobby Roberts (35:59)
And so he gave him the take sign, he didn't swing, dad yells at him for not swinging. And I could almost just look at the kid and see the kid just like wanting to just say shut the F up man. Like I had the take sign, I couldn't swing. So parents don't know what's going on all the time either, right? Like they're being told, let the coaches coach. But anyway, so hey, you used to live in California, right? So okay, so do you think that, totally switching gears a little bit, but
David Robbins (36:20)
Yep. I went to high school out there.
Bobby Roberts (36:29)
So the weather's obviously, what part of California was it in? Was it Southern California, SoCal where it's warm? Okay, all right. So it was 76 and no humidity and no rain, you know? Yeah. So they got to, you guys got to play outdoor sports all year long. Do you think?
David Robbins (36:34)
Yeah, I was in Orange County.
Yeah, it barely rained.
Yeah, even my school, like we walked out of class when I was outside.
Bobby Roberts (36:49)
So do you think the kids that play there, play in Florida, play in South Texas, do you think that they have a competitive advantage playing the outdoor sports because they get to do it all the time? Or do you think that possibly since they get to do it all the time, they don't, they take it for granted? And I say that because the kids around here are just chomping at the bit to get outside and play baseball. They've been inside of Smash Zone baseball, plug.
you know, all year long, right? And so they don't take it for granted because they only get to do it for a long time. So do you think that it's a competitive advantage to be able to play all year long like that? Or do you think sometimes it might be taken for granted? I'm just curious. I don't know the answers to that.
David Robbins (37:32)
Yeah, I don't I don't know if there's a right answer right or wrong answer on that. I don't I don't I want to say no because especially with the facilities that we have today.
that weather really doesn't matter as much. I mean, obviously there's nothing that's gonna, you know, like playing baseball indoor versus playing baseball outdoors. It's an outdoor sport, so to be playing inside in a building is not the same, and you're not gonna get the same atmosphere and all that stuff, so I don't know. I mean, obviously you hear and you see, like especially on, you know, people playing Division I, there's a lot of kids from Texas that play football, you know, for instance, or Florida, or just in the South in general, because then they say, but I don't know if it's the...
I can't say that it's going to be because of the weather. I just think that there's a culture of that sport being really popular in the South and a lot of kids playing football. And Texas is a huge state. So you're going to have a lot of kids that end up on D1 rosters and it's going to say Texas because it's a huge state. Even California is a huge state. So it's hard to say that. So I would say no, just because the facilities and people have the training facilities. But at the end of the day, sometimes it comes down to money.
You know, so now when you get to the point where you got to go indoors that cost money and, you know, not all the kids have the money and the resources to do that kind of stuff. And I know there's a family here in Barrington. Their kid was, is actually on the Packers right now. And I think they do all right, like from a financial standpoint. And I remember when he was going through high school and I remember the dad talking about he's taken him to all these specialists to train him.
Bobby Roberts (38:36)
Yeah.
David Robbins (39:02)
to build his body, to do a lot of different things. And I may have the whole story wrong, but the kid was working hard and you needed those resources to be able to do that stuff. And I think that definitely helped him. Whether he would have made it to the Packers or played at, he went to Iowa, if that would have still happened, maybe, but I'm sure having resources and the money helped a lot. And a lot of people don't have that. So I think that's really where the competitive advantage might come from.
Bobby Roberts (39:29)
Yeah, you know, that's a great point. You know, I see a lot of, you know, baseball's getting expensive now. I mean, it's not, you know, back when I played, I mean, I remember, I remember, I literally remember Tommy Wheelock, our good friend Tommy, who's my partner in Smash on Baseball. You know, his dad was our coach when I was like 10 years old, right? And we had like two bats.
And he, you remember though, your dad was in the military, my dad was in the military, Tommy's dad was in the military. Do you remember those big green duffel bags, those army bags, right? That was our equipment bag. And in that bag, literally, okay, literally there was a one cup that the team shared, okay, disgusting, right? But we didn't know. There was like two bats, a glove, and it came in that duffel bag, right? Coaches were smoking, wearing jeans, I don't know if his dad was, but I mean, it was just crazy.
David Robbins (40:05)
Yeah.
Bobby Roberts (40:26)
And so it wasn't expensive back then. But now like I saw this one guy on TikTok or somewhere and it was a hilarious, it was a hilarious, uh, little skit he did. He looked over at the dugout. He's like, these bats are $400. He's like, we got, we got, he said, there's 10, there's 10, $400 bats in that dugout. There's $4,000 worth of bats in that dugout. We got two damn hits. It was hilarious, but baseball is an expensive sport. And you know,
There's something that I gotta give these guys and I'm gonna butcher the name of it But it's called speedball or something and it's because the record the rec leagues are dying down because everyone's in travel ball now and they're really bad and It's a way that to try to get kids involved Where it's a lot less expensive and I'm gonna look in that and try to get him on one day and try to find out What they're doing because there's a lot of kids especially the inner-city kids, you know that are unbelievable athletes
David Robbins (41:02)
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation of the first
Bobby Roberts (41:21)
that are just, they're just not into baseball because, one, you can't play baseball on your own. It's easy to go outside and play basketball on your own. Right? And basketball is pretty cheap. You know, half the time it's free. You just go out and find it, or you have to have a basketball and a hoop. And it's free, so like, you can do these things on your own, but baseball and stuff, but I'm gonna try to look into that because I think that would be, I think that would be an interesting thing, not interesting, but a.
a noble thing to do to try to figure out a way to help these kids that are less fortunate be able to get involved in baseball because you know it's the barrier of entry is difficult because you show up to a tryout and you don't have your own bat and your own stuff you're not getting on the team, right?
David Robbins (42:03)
Well, it's also like anything, it's having the facilities too. So like, you know, you can obviously, you know, you and I, we didn't need much to play baseball. I mean, we could just go find a thing. But nowadays, their facilities are top notch.
and kids are being attracted to that kind of stuff. And then you got places that they may not have access and they're just not even gonna have bases and just this dirt field and the lure is not there. So the kids, maybe if we're going to inner city, the kids just end up playing basketball or just playing football, which kind of surprises me that they would play football because football is not cheap either. So I don't know. I mean, but it's, the access is important and money, at the end of the day, some of these kids are.
If you come from affluent stuff and you've got all the training in the world, it can help you a lot, but it still comes down to the person. Do they have the ability? Do they have the work ethic? Are they going to put the work in? And for the most part, it's because you think about the number of percentage of people that actually make it to D1, it's so small, and then even making their pros, it's really small. It's almost impossible to get there. And I don't care how hard you work because you have to have a lot of talent.
and you gotta work really hard. I don't think there's any professional player that lacks one of those. That's just a really good talent, but they're lazy. There's just no way. You gotta be talented and you gotta work really hard.
Bobby Roberts (43:25)
Yeah, I mean, you know, I know some of these guys that either train with that smash zone that I know that are playing in college or kids I know who are committed to colleges and things like that. And, you know, I can speak on behalf of some of these kids that are like that are in high school right now, but they're committed to play college baseball, right? I know a couple of them, right? And so these kids, without anyone telling them, are up at 430 in the morning. They're at the gym at 530.
They're working out until seven, they're hitting the shower, they're going to school at eight, they get out at three, they go straight to practice, they eat, and after that, the majority of the time, they'll go find another place to hit and do more reps. I mean, that's just what they do. It's a way of life. And, you know, there's a point to where like
David Robbins (44:07)
So, I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation. So, I'm going to start with the presentation.
Bobby Roberts (44:20)
when they're younger, I remember, like my son for instance, I would push him when he was younger. And then it comes to a point to where it's like, okay, I have reached my stopping point, I can't help you anymore. Now at that point it's like, okay, now you gotta decide if you want it. Especially when they start driving, because it's really easy to turn left and go to a girl's house, rather than keep going straight, rather than keep going straight and go to the gym, right? And so it's like, you gotta do both. I mean, you gotta do both, you gotta be a kid.
But you know, you gotta stay focused too. And it's like, okay, let's just see what they're gonna do. And some of them fall off. And some of them are like, no, I know what I gotta do. So it's.
David Robbins (44:58)
I mean, it's just like anything, like even me, like if I go to the driving range, because I like to get better at golf.
After about 15 minutes, I realized I'm not gonna get better at golf because I don't wanna keep hitting balls. You know, you get bored. It's like, I don't, so that's why I knew at an early age that I'm not gonna work hard to become a superior athlete because I just, I don't know, it's not in me to work that hard or do something. So, you know, just like a kid that goes and will swing a baseball bat, I don't know how many times they swing it on a given day, but I would not do that because I get bored too quick.
you know, and I'm like, I'm just not going to do it. So that's why I never was going to excel at sports because I wasn't putting the extra work in.
Bobby Roberts (45:40)
That's why you just want to play soccer.
David Robbins (45:42)
Well, I played soccer until about 8th grade and then I switched to football, so...
Bobby Roberts (45:46)
So here's what's funny, before we wrap up, so you brought up where you guys beat us, our dorms or whatever, in the intermural, isn't that in the archives at University of Louisville or something and you posted it or something?
David Robbins (45:56)
We definitely did.
It is. It was in the student center for the longest time. And then I don't know who found it, but someone found it. And there's a picture of us that, not you, sorry, because you didn't win, but of my dorm as the dorm champions of maybe it was 1990 or 91. And we were the campus champs.
Bobby Roberts (46:22)
And that was the goalie.
David Robbins (46:23)
And you were the goalie, so if the way I look at it, you were the reason that you guys lost, because you were the goalie.
Bobby Roberts (46:28)
No, the reason we lost was Mad Dog 2020. Shouldn't have been in the goalie's hand.
David Robbins (46:35)
It was rainy that day and that was so much fun. I remember like it was yesterday. And, but we were in the showdown in the final. I don't know what the final score was, but I know you lost and I won. And I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. You can't ever take that back.
Bobby Roberts (46:53)
Dave won, bobski nothing on that one I guess. All right man, well hey look, thanks for joining us, for joining in today. It was a lot of fun catching up. I mean we see each other all the time on FaceTime and all that stuff and we get together a couple times a year it seems like. We need to do it more. But before I get off, if you wanna do a little plug, I mentioned earlier that you were a CPA and financial planner. So what is it exactly?
David Robbins (46:57)
Hehehehe
Bobby Roberts (47:23)
again.
David Robbins (47:24)
Yeah, I'm a wealth manager and we specialize in small to mid-sized businesses and their owners for the most part. We do a lot of tax and wealth planning and all that fun stuff. So that's what I do by day and I enjoy it because I enjoy working with people and helping people. So that's really when I think about what I really enjoy about what I do is because I like to help people. And that's really, it's not really about the numbers. I mean, I'm good at numbers and that comes naturally for me and it just happens to be
But at the end of the day, we're good about helping people and helping them to be successful in their business.
Bobby Roberts (47:59)
That's awesome. It sounds like you're a perfect candidate to be one of our show sponsors, right?
David Robbins (48:04)
Yeah, once you start to get some traction, I'd love to do it.
Bobby Roberts (48:07)
Hey, well look, I've got 180,000 followers on TikTok now. I think this will catch on.
David Robbins (48:11)
No, I don't doubt it because you turn TikTok into something and I don't, I'm pretty sure you're going to turn this into something. I'm pretty excited to be, you know, one of your initial people that you brought on. And I look forward to watching you grow in your success.
Bobby Roberts (48:25)
Absolutely, so David Robbins our guest today. I'll throw his contact information in the show notes and Thanks for tuning in make sure you subscribe to the channel. We're gonna have a lot of good stuff and so That's it. Let's go
David Robbins (48:40)
Let's go!