Tony on the Mic

Hello folks – if you have ever played little league, had kids play little league, coached little league or even heard of little league – today’s podcast is for you! Three former league presidents sit down and reminisce about kids, parents and coaches and try to stay civil and semi discreet. This was 3 hours of letting off steam and laughing, cut down to about 90 minutes. It could have been a whole podcast series on its own – and might still be! We namedrop and tease some people we like and respect, we edit out many others and try to stay on track sharing what it is like to run a youth sports organization!  - Complete with outtakes at the end... 

Kon'nichiwa people! Today I am joined by Takato Kido, star receiver for the Panasonic Impulse and his sidekick QB Anthony Lawrence ahead of the big game – the Rice bowl, The Japanese Super Bowl.  We navigate the language divide to learn about American football in Japan, how it’s integrated in the culture and how it compares to the American version. We learn about Japanese food, movies, music and more! We pay homage to a Jackie Chan reference (even though Jackie Chan is from Hong Kong, and Kido is Japanese, the bit still holds up… pretty well…) We dump on the city of Irvine and try to coax Kido to come to San Diego! Kido wades through the language gap and the foolishness and shows a sense of humor that almost matches his football prowess.

On today’s episode, I am joined by 2 of the biggest web-heads on the planet – no, not internet website guys, but Spiderman fans Jarrod Weintraub and Richie Lawrence. We spoil Spiderman No Way Home – if you have not seen it – don’t listen! Just download because I need the numbers, then come back and listen later. I crown it my favorite superhero movie of all time. We have several covers of the iconic theme, spoilers and Easter Eggs galore, internet chatter and call backs. Anthony unwittingly chimes in from Japan via text. If you like Spiderman, you should listen. If you love Spiderman – you HAVE to listen! 

Make sure listen (or fast forward) to the end for a nice Christmas / Spiderman song parody by Chris Pine – How did I miss this? 

Today my guest is my brother BJ! We start out talking about his impending hip replacement (his second) and do some “hip” puns. It quickly devolves into story time about adult softball, what happens when you don’t warm up and trying to get your body to do what your brain still thinks it can do. We chop it up about the time he chopped it up with Donnie Most – you may know him as Happy Days’ Ralph Malph, being on Game shows, being called onto the stage to sing during a Michael Franti and Spearhead concert, and we complain that our father was too noble, and not enough Joel Osteen. We also answer the age-old question – is listening to a book on tape the same a actually reading a book? 

Today is the return of the Doc – my wife’s favorite guest, doctor Davey! We talk about the latest on Covid (a little) and he shares some fun tales from the ER (No, he was not an ER Doc, but it sounds more catchy than “tales from the virologist and contagious specialist”) We talk about myths and facts in the supplement fields (yeah, you are probably wasting a lot of money, I was) The placebo effect, Keto versus Mediterranean diet, Cryotherapy, B-12 shots and more! We also learn that to be a drug, there has to be a controlled series of tests, but supplements and other stuff need no such tests. So if you have a general question, Davey is the perfect guest of patient and funny, but VERY non committal about results – he relies 100% on data and test results, no emotion1 He is like Spock and Dr. McCoy had a baby! Follow him @ DaveySmithMD on your socials.

Today my guest is Jennifer Mutter, she went on a years long journey in search of her birth parents and the results will surprise you! She shares a tale of a series of remarkable coincidences and a story filled with laughter, tears and inspiration. With her trusty personal Sherlock Holmes (our friend Nelson Dean) she delves into the internet and ancestry websites and more to unlock a part of her past. We had to condense some of the details for time, I found a fun and funny way to do that. We also learn about her, her kids, her first crush on Little “Wonny” and who wins the celebrity crush battle – tops seeds are Bradley Cooper and Vince Vaughn. That and lots more good stuff

Hey Folks – I’m back! Sorry for the downtime, but an out of town funeral, followed by a covid scare and – three count ‘em THREE negative covid tests, then an accidental overdose on cough syrup that landed me in the hospital … well… it has been a month. My brother Bj helps me navigate this episode as I try to describe my first “TRIP,” and defend my honor and integrity against the accusation that I was trying the sizzurp, lean, or “Purple drank” for fun, because it was no fun at all. (Fun fact – in 2019 an estimate 1 out of 10 teenagers used cough syrup or cold medicine to get high) … Anyway, my family thought I was having a stroke, I thought I was dying and a few days in the hospital later – they found a cyst on my brain… good times… 

This Episode is part two with Reverend Dr. Tom Owen-Towle. He does seminars on graceful aging and mindful dying, and we talk about preparing to die … seriously, it is more fun and more interesting than that makes it sound. Nobody wants to talk about, or plan for, death. Tom points out all data and science points to death happening in 100.00% human lives. Talk to those nearing the end. Mend fences. Spell out your wishes. Tom tells us all the things we should be dealing with, celebrating and getting rid of – material possessions as well as emotional baggage. 

This touches home as I board a plane for Massachusetts to say good bye to my Uncle Cliff who passed away. Talking with Tom helped me formulate my thoughts and feelings and prepare to say good by to a close relative. 

My guest today is the Reverend Dr. Tom Owen-Towle. He has written books on Conscious Aging and Mindful Dying, as well as many other books on spirituality and living. The timing on this is a bit distracting as I had a death in the family shortly before recording. If you only listen to the first couple minutes, hear this: Say I love you. Make the call. Make amends and mend fences. It sounds cliché, but it is so important. Also, take care of the practical – do you want to be cremated? Buried? If so where?  What kind of funeral? Formal? Casual? Theme? Try to arrange for payment of most if not all of it and make sure it is easy for those left to have the information. Do you have a will? If not, make one? Be as specific as possible. 

Check out www.TomO-T.com to get books and more info on Tom.

To those left, communicate your feelings early and often Ask questions. Ask for what you want, don’t expect it, you may not get it, but let them know it means something to you. Don’t be a turd and ask for the most expensive things they own, but ask for something that means something to you. The valuables will hopefully sort themselves out. Letting someone know they have something that means something to you is a wonderful gift. For me it was one of Uncle Cliff’s signature hats. I am not the only one who wants one, and I already have one, but I wanted a few. He had several and I would ask him when is going to die and to make sure I am in the will for those hats. It is not as funny now that he has passed, but anyone who knew him, even for a minute, knows he is laughing at that right now. 

The 2021 GHS cheerleaders share their reflections about walking onto the field for the last time as Foothillers.