Akil and Hong welcome their first guest: Rocco Constantino, SBCC Athletics Director; besides discussing all of the changes coming to the athletic calendar as a result of COVID-19, Rocco also takes time to discuss a wide range of topics, including the magic of Sunday gravy, and why everyone needs more "Dream Makers" in their lives.
Discussed in this episode:
Sunday Gravy: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/sunday-gravy/
Congee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee
Century Egg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg
Pozole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole
Stony the Road: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575769/stony-the-road-by-henry-louis-gates-jr/
Breaks of the Game: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/david-halberstam/the-breaks-of-the-game/9781401309725/
Dream Makers: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dream-Makers/Jim-Morris/9781682617960
Ball Nine: https://www.ballnine.com/
Transcript provided by Zoom
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Hong Lieu: Hello and welcome to another episode of NSPCC kiddo voices as always I'm joined with my co host the keel Hill and today's guest Rocco Constantino NSPCC athletic director
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Hong Lieu: How's it going, Rocco everything good
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Rocco Constantino: Good. Great. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, Akil I listened to your first podcast, the pilot. It was great. So I'm really happy to to be asked to be on and talk some sports pop culture news, whatever food, whatever you guys want
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, we were in and students in particular but timing is perfect because today is opening day. So we're all invested in professional sports as well as campus sports.
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Hong Lieu: And, you know, basketball, we starting up soon. But today's baseball's day and we all three of us we rep different teams right so I'm an angels fan.
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Hong Lieu: Akil you are evil, evil empire of
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Rocco Constantino: Evil
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Akil Hill: All the way.
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Akil Hill: All the way.
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Akil Hill: Through and through through and through.
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Hong Lieu: And broccoli. On the other side of town in New York. Right.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, that's fun, isn't the triple aim match, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: Say we
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Rocco Constantino: Match angels and Yankees all a pretty pretty high expectations for the year, at least I had high expectations they let's play the Yankees a couple days ago and it was freakin bombs over the Bronx and yeah that's got beat up a little bit.
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Hong Lieu: I think that the Yankees offensive just that good. They're pretty locked in this year. So it's going to be especially in a short season, it'll be tough to kind of gain ground on a team like that. That's how I feel about the Astros my division. So
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Akil Hill: Yeah yeah Yankees always usually have good bats. It's always their issues always pitching you know i mean that's what's kind of been
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Akil Hill: Always their Achilles heel and stuff. So like when they went out and sign status and I was like, we don't need another bad that's too many strikeouts between him and judge how we need arms. So I was happy to get a wing got cold an offseason and
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Akil Hill: We'll see how it all plays out, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, they're this, you know, and there's such a short season like this, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: The pitching. I think it's going to be so important and having a strong bullpen which Yankees do. Yeah. So it's just you know they have seemed like they have a good complete team and there'll be tough to beat, that's for sure.
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Akil Hill: Now, since they don't have cameras in Houston, we're good.
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Hong Lieu: And and and we'll be doing some interesting things. They're like, you know, they're allowing you to upload your photo to be in the stands there they're allowing you to use an app to
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Hong Lieu: Boo or applaud and they will pipe in the appropriate grandma. So theoretically, you could still do the Astros if you're so inclined. You just have to pony up you know for the ticket.
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Hong Lieu: To be my hands and add the crowd noise but but it is some pretty unique things, you know, like having to adjust to these to the to the comin times we're living in.
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Hong Lieu: And that kind of segues into our, our news and events section SPC see news, the big, the big thing here and what one of the reasons we're here to talk to you a Rocco is the CCC AC California Community College Athletic
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Hong Lieu: Association yeah CCA that's what it is. Yeah. They have announced that they are there. They're moving all their sports to spring. Is that, is that what it is.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that's what it is they they essentially took the spring 2021 semester extended the athletic calendar by about six weeks.
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Rocco Constantino: And then divided that half so window one runs from first practice January 18 to April 10 and that's going to be where all the fall sports play
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Rocco Constantino: And then window to practice starts march 27 and runs to June 23 and that's where all the spring sports will play so it's it's going to be tough to manage but but we're we're working our best on how to do that safely.
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Hong Lieu: And this was decided what a couple weeks ago. So the college is still kind of figuring things out working things out. But this is completely unprecedented right. I don't think there's any like this has never happened before. I don't think
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, never happened before, where they had a move an entire season like this decision came down July 10 from the
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Rocco Constantino: And we had been planning for months on the athletic director level on the state level and our athletic department has been meeting every single Monday for two hours.
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Rocco Constantino: Since we shut down and it's pretty much been you. At first it was dealing with the shutdown and then we turned our attention to how can we safely get our students back to
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Rocco Constantino: Competition and I could academics and athletics safely whenever the three seats, where I came down with their plan.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, it's one of those things where it's kind of in, you know, sports, a lot of through the games are the most you know the things that people think about the most
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Hong Lieu: But the backend stuff takes up most of your time. I imagine where the actual playing of the game is almost like the last piece. So it's like it's like the last mile almost, you know,
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Hong Lieu: It's the the hours and the days and the weeks of the month, you put it into lead up to that. And now to have that on the back end logistics side as well as practice getting you're
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Hong Lieu: Getting the kids and shake keeping them, you know, getting them keeping
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Hong Lieu: Right academically, it just a lot to cram into one semester. So it's, it can imagine it's just a lot going on.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah and that that's a great point to it's, you know, and we hate we see what we see or what fancy or the athletic competitions, you know we we see the scores agree that the website.
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Rocco Constantino: But what they don't say is all the academic stuff that goes into it and all the preparation. So we, we get a student
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Rocco Constantino: It's an SPC student, just like any non athlete or somebody that's involved in something else. And we are supporting them from the time they get here, whether it be July or August
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Rocco Constantino: Straight through and, you know, as we all work at SPC, we all have a common goal to help our students get to the next step in life. We want to prepare them.
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Rocco Constantino: as best they could, for what they want to do in life. So with our athletes. That's the way we view them. We get them in July, whether the returners or no.
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Rocco Constantino: And we put them on a path academically to go on to the next step and then athletics happens to be a part of that that allows for structure discipline.
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Rocco Constantino: Exposure and things like that. And we have a great success rate of sending our athletes on to the next steps in their lives.
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Rocco Constantino: Whether it's a four year school to compete or a four year school just for academics are some like to go to work right after whenever they want to do. We custom their path.
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Rocco Constantino: So now it's that whole path has to be adjusted to fit into the coven times which is difficult. It's not just the sports of it and
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Akil Hill: You know, also to, um, you know, one of the things that I do is I actually look at a determine the athletic eligibility for each student right and so
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Akil Hill: You know, look, thinking about the thought of processing football which there's usually roughly around 80 guys 90 guys
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Akil Hill: Baseball around 8090 guys and people don't really pay note to this sport, but their numbers continuously go up and that soccer.
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Akil Hill: men's soccer. That's like around like 50 guys. All of that is going to have to be fit into, you know, a smaller window. And so it's a lot on the back end, along with, you know, the triple C double A standards of, you know, GPA units. So it's, it's going to be a heavy left come spring. So, but
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Akil Hill: But we do have people, you know, we have like our academic counselor joining ground. She does an amazing job. The coaches Ellen, the whole PE department. Definitely it's out on the front of a lot of things. So it's gonna be a lot, but I think we'll be able to manage it.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, that's definitely where the student focused nature of NSPCC really really will shine, because we you know we are dedicated and focused
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Hong Lieu: And committed to the students in helping them grow but yeah it's it's a big. It's a big mountain climbing, but I'm sure we'll, you know, we'll all get there somehow, someway, are they practicing right now there's no summer practice. Right. Yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: No summer practice. We're not allowing any contact with students whatsoever.
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Rocco Constantino: The only athletic competition that's going on right now at any of our facilities is the Santa Barbara foresters baseball team, which is an active area collegiate summer baseball team best one in the country, actually.
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Hong Lieu: Champions.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, they're great so so. Nothing NSPCC no practices, no weight rooms just zoom meetings. And that's, you know, we're not going to be able to do anything, at least until the start of the fall semester. If things stay the way they are.
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Akil Hill: And then Rocco. Can you, I know that there's been some coaching changes and stuff. So do you want to maybe elaborate a little bit on that too as well.
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Rocco Constantino: But yeah, we've
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Akil Hill: Got another
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, we had
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Rocco Constantino: We have 20 sports in at City College. We had a beach volleyball. A couple years ago. And that was our 20th sport. It's one of the biggest departments in the state.
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Rocco Constantino: And we have seven teams that have new coaching situations. This year, so we had a couple of coaches take advantage of the early retirement at City College.
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Rocco Constantino: We had a couple other part time coaches receive full time job so they weren't able to dedicate time. So, yeah. So this year we have new coaches for men's and women's cross country men's and women's golf men's volleyball.
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Rocco Constantino: Softball and
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Rocco Constantino: I think that's it. Yeah. Men's men's basketball team.
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Yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: So a lot of changes which is also a level of complexity to do in all this and
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Rocco Constantino: So we're trying to scramble and get all this stuff in place.
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Rocco Constantino: With new coaches. So the good part is we had so many qualified assistant coaches already at the school that we were able to fill some of those positions with assistant coaches, so they already know the lay of the land, a little bit. So I'll make things a little bit easier.
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Hong Lieu: And there's no like system changes in terms of like offensive philosophy defensive philosophies, they're not coming in with a whole new game plan, so to speak, are they are
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Rocco Constantino: Some sports. Yes, some sports now probably different I each one's a different case. I know in track and field. We're going to have a different recruiting philosophy.
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Rocco Constantino: We hired Dan Willis, who was our assistant football coach former NFL player play 10 years in the NFL, but he was also a division one track and field athlete.
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Rocco Constantino: So real excited about that. And he's he's really going to go out. He has a lot of connections in the local community for for track and field that we hope he's going to use
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Rocco Constantino: Because that's another team. I don't mean to break the bad news, who killed, but those numbers might be going up and there's there's
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Rocco Constantino: More eligibility packets that we're going to be processing with with that.
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Akil Hill: But just bring just keep continue bringing the swag Rocco and then
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Akil Hill: That's a sweater to X right here to X right here.
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Too.
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Rocco Constantino: I know it's exciting. I mean, some sports here and we're again at some new blood in there and our excited to see what we could do we, we've had a lot of success, and we're going to see if we could take that next step.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah. And, and, as always, students student athletes and the folks that here will always come first. And that's one of the great parts about coming SPC and work at risk PCC.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that's a great
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, as you said, it's a great point, too, because, you know, that was one of the reasons why we felt so comfortable elevating some of these assistant coaches to head coaching positions.
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Rocco Constantino: Besides, it's not just that they know the lay of the land and know their sport, but their student athletes really enjoyed working with them.
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Rocco Constantino: Each assistant that we elevated has a tremendous rapport with students and not just as athletes, but they also serve as academic mentors.
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Rocco Constantino: tutors and things of that nature. They really buy into that whole approach of developing the student and preparing them for the next step in life you know
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Akil Hill: You know, I'm from Santa Barbara. And it's, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, in Santa Barbara High School. Shout out to SB HS
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Akil Hill: But it's also a good time to be a student athlete, you know, I mean, you can
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Akil Hill: graduate from your high school and and come to City College for the first few years under the promise and get your textbooks and and then you can
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Akil Hill: Continue to transfer on and then compete at a high level.
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Akil Hill: at Santa Barbara City College and and move on. I know our programs have done an amazing job of transferring local high school talent on to d one schools and
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Akil Hill: Other schools as well so
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Akil Hill: You know, you know, we know that in light of covert it's it's it's a definitely a game changer. But also, it's always good to know that Santa Barbara is not an option and a legit option, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Absolutely.
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Hong Lieu: So with that, with that being said, we're going to move on to the next section which is food.
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Hong Lieu: Hope you came prepared Rocco.
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Rocco Constantino: I did. I did.
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Akil Hill: Listen Rocco's always prepared. I called him.
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Akil Hill: I called him earlier in the week I caught my man driving in his jeep eating. In and Out Burger.
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Akil Hill: So Rocco. You better have something good for you. Good for
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Hong Lieu: I haven't been in and out since since the stay at home started so it's been about three, four months and I'm
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Hong Lieu: I'm feeding, man. I don't even need the fries. At this point, you know that I'm normally I'm normally a lightly well guy, but I'll just, I'll take him. However, you can just put them raw
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Hong Lieu: The double double
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Hong Lieu: Double Double grilled and raw and
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, it's great. I was just, I was back east visiting family I come back, and then my car went right in the shop that next day to get some work done. I want to kill call me.
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Rocco Constantino: I literally I picked it up in Galena was driving back towards Santa Barbara and saw that in and out and just my car just veered off that way. I'm like,
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Rocco Constantino: I gotta have that
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Hong Lieu: Yeah.
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Akil Hill: It went on autopilot started driving for you.
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Hong Lieu: You know everyone's always talking about Shake Shack five guys, the thing to me is the value and the quality
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Akil Hill: That absolutely
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Hong Lieu: The price. You can't beat the price. Shake Shack or run your 15 bucks for a combo.
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Hong Lieu: And even five guys if you start blowing it up, it starts adding up
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Akil Hill: I'm not a fan of five guys
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Hong Lieu: I do like five guys but
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Akil Hill: Expensive. Yeah, I can see that.
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Rocco Constantino: Little, little greasy for my liking through but I kind of, I like I do like the five guys fries better than the than in and out for us.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I like to have it because I'm a shredded lettuce guy.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I'm
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Rocco Constantino: Nice habits good too. Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: Alright, so you want me to talk Rocco. Was that your choice, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: ad libs conversation. Now I'm going to kill this talking about food. I was, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: But the thing that means the most to me with food is I'm Italian. Obviously here and Sunday dinner Sunday macaroni dinner. And that's my number one, go to thing.
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Rocco Constantino: It's the way we were raised. It's part of our culture. It's a simple food. It's just macaroni and pasta and nothing, nothing too complex, but but still even being out here and being on my own.
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Rocco Constantino: Every Sunday I sit here and make my my Sunday gravy and I'd sit down, have a bowl of spaghetti and then keep my my gravy for the week and it's a big Italian tradition Sunday dinner, you see it, it's stereotypical it's in any mob movie, you'll see
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Rocco Constantino: That
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Rocco Constantino: That was real life. That's what I grew up with. And it's, you know, two o'clock on Sunday afternoon is when dinner is it's a super early dinner. You go to your
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Rocco Constantino: You know the matriarch in the family. You go to their house and you usually their basement is set up like a lunch and common area that's a, that's a tradition and it's you wake up at the crack of dawn and make gravy for six hours.
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Rocco Constantino: And and that's always a debate to do you call it gravy to call it sauce. People call it different THING MACARONI or pasta. So you know the real story. I always tell people with Italians when when we talk
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Rocco Constantino: Southern Italy is the red sauce, the gravy that we call it gravy, most people call it sauce northern Italy is like the Alfredo type of sauce. So my family is southern Italy.
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Rocco Constantino: They call it gravy. It's red sauce and each each branch of the family has their own different little tradition. So kind of when the Italians came over to immigrate to
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Rocco Constantino: New Jersey, New York City, you know, they came over with nothing for the most part, they were pretty poor. They were plumbers Mason masonry, and then spaghetti, macaroni is cheap.
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Rocco Constantino: So, and it's filling. You know, you can see the whole family with a box of spaghetti so
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that became a tradition and then I grew up in my family spaghetti and meatballs every Sunday, and then two or three times a week just easy to do and
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Rocco Constantino: But every single Sunday, no matter what was macaroni dinner at two o'clock early dinner and the, you know, older people sit around. They have some Sam buco coffee espresso, you know, Italian pastries.
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Rocco Constantino: And it just brings back great memories I could smell that that setting. And it just was a full almost like a giant family reunion every single Sunday.
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Hong Lieu: And and the sauce gravy recipe is pretty. I mean, it's pretty unique to each family to everyone throws little curveball in there, you know, here and there, right. So you got surprised some secret herbs and spices that you're not divulging to anybody. When you make your sauce.
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Rocco Constantino: It is your right and it's, um, you know, my family and I grew up. There's a big debate among Italians when you make your meat balls.
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Rocco Constantino: The mix pork and beef or is it just the beef meatball. And my family was just the beef and my father, man. He made the best meatballs. They were just like perfect, you know, texture size everything
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Rocco Constantino: And, you know, my mom. She, she's like 90% accurate. My dad has passed away.
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Rocco Constantino: Hers are really good all the as many of them as as I could but you just see can't nail down your specific recipe. And so that's we were just a gravy a meatball family. Some people throw sausage in there.
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Rocco Constantino: You know any different kind of me garage or things like that.
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Hong Lieu: And that's attrition. I can definitely get behind.
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Akil Hill: After, after Kroto Lee's oh maybe 2021 I'm expecting some meatballs from you.
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Rocco Constantino: My meatball stink. I'll make them, but I'll try. I can't get them right. I've had tutoring lessons from my family and I just I can't get them right but I do try my best.
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Rocco Constantino: I might. I might have my one and she lived to be about, you know, 90 she died a few years ago.
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Rocco Constantino: She heard me making me Paul's was a multi day
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Rocco Constantino: multi day tasks which you would do is like all the Italian woman, she would grow over fresh herbs in the garden.
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Rocco Constantino: She would take bread, let it become stale break it up, she would make her own bread crumbs, basically. And then, you know, soak a chair this whole process. And it's, it's something that they took a lot of pride in
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Rocco Constantino: But I'll make macaroni for you I my coed softball used to do a big 200 person fundraiser dinner and I used to make macaroni for the whole whole group. So I'd be happy for the
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Akil Hill: Word to you. What about you,
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I was. I'm actually in a similar vein, I got a tooth removed yesterday actually so through some bad decisions made it up 1015 years ago where I didn't think I needed to go to the dentist.
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Hong Lieu: invincibility of youth I'll blame it on because I was like, maybe like grew up poor, but now my, my family has good teeth. So yeah, I lost yesterday, but I was forced to eat.
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Hong Lieu: Mostly soft foods, not much chewing. So I went back to a classic conjured which is a joke in our language. It's like porridge is basically rice and water as the basic you boil it, and makes like the slurry.
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Hong Lieu: And you just throw in whatever else you want. So my house we most of the time and just a little bit of fish sauce to flavor the water
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Hong Lieu: And then you can throw whatever toppings in it. My favorite actually was the thousand year old egg. If you've ever heard of it becomes century eggs. There they look disgusting and they probably disgusting, but
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Hong Lieu: Actually pretty good, but for me yesterday, I just took a little bit of cooked rice water, some fish sauce. Crack an egg in it. And that was my dinner, and that was after my lunch today as well so
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Hong Lieu: It's one of those things where like you grow up, you grow up a certain way and you're used to it and like
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Hong Lieu: It's very simple dish. And it's probably not much nutritionally but every bite is like so nostalgic and comforting. They're like,
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Hong Lieu: It felt really good. And maybe you want to buy like some of those entries, even at the Roman there but yeah
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Hong Lieu: I don't know of in very many restaurants in town where you get it China billion might have it on their weekend dips a menu. But it's so simple. It's not hard to make it home.
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Hong Lieu: You just cook rice. Yeah, I mean, you can use chicken stock instead of water, but my mom was always using water.
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Hong Lieu: I mean, I do remember certain nights. It was just, it was congee and peanuts was like a meal. You know, like when you had it.
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Hong Lieu: Like you're hungry, and that's it. That's all we have in the house. And it got me by anytime I was sick. That's what my mom would make anytime there is anything really wrong with me. My mom would always be like, Oh, you need less complex food. Just something
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Hong Lieu: Strange and it was always that there was always that warm, comforting, like, you know, it felt it felt really good. So
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Hong Lieu: It wasn't the best circumstances where I had to eat it again, but it was nice because even with the whole stay at home revisiting. A lot of my family recipes
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Hong Lieu: And finding that you know they're really not that complicated. It's not that much to them, but they really hit the spot and it's nice to get back to that.
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Akil Hill: It kind of reminds me it sounds a little bit like a otsuka you know
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Hong Lieu: Yes, it's very similar.
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Akil Hill: To Japanese rice and warm water and
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Akil Hill: Almost like a porch. Yeah, I had that a couple days ago in the morning for breakfast.
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Akil Hill: I think that's a common thing in the Japanese culture. I was born in Japan. So I have
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Akil Hill: You know, some
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Akil Hill: Japanese food that I I lean towards you know and and some but yeah that's what it made me think about when you were talking about the porch.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, that though they're absolutely similar SOME WAY. I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY DIED versus at a certain point, but yet rice and water for for people with the working class is definitely kind of a go to stomach filler.
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And
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Hong Lieu: Add car ad carb to something and stir, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Full bellies.
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Akil Hill: But the secret to me is like, it's so simple, but it
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Akil Hill: Your family, the way that you're like your grandmother or your family has prepared the food. It's hard to, it's hard to do some of the simplistic.
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Akil Hill: Food is the hardest food to
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Akil Hill: Get to taste the flavor of chess, right, you know,
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Hong Lieu: And and that's where it's like the little, the little bit of practice repetition and and really putting in the work to kind of like if people want to really get it down to a science, so to speak, and there's a lot more feel to it. It's like the analytics versus watching the game.
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Hong Lieu: You know, like analytics will only get you so far. Analytics will get you like
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Hong Lieu: 90% of the way there like you can you know the outcome but but that last 10% that's where the magic is, you know, that's the secret sauce, where
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Hong Lieu: You really got to like play the games you know you gotta, you gotta let things play out and how things actually unfold. There's, there is a beauty to it. And that's really where the magic happens.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, so
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Akil Hill: My, my pic. This week I I've been really trying to be with this, you know, the case is going up. I've been really trying to be mindful of just being at home.
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Akil Hill: And enjoying the time with my family. And so I i've been in the kitchen, a little bit more earlier in the week I did kind of like my take on a chicken put solar
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Akil Hill: And I boiled, I started off a boil the chicken for a while and then I obviously I started putting it back into the pot with the broth from the chicken and I threw in some harmony cut up some peppers.
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Akil Hill: Put you know, and just made it, you know, kind of like a su you know and and let it simmer for, like, you know, four or five hours and
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Akil Hill: And just got the radishes, the cabbage, the limes.
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Akil Hill: The Mexican sour cream. Some people probably, you know, don't use our cream, but I got the Mexican sour cream, which is my favorite sour cream, by the way.
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Akil Hill: I remember we were having a potluck in an admissions and I was, I was like someone sign up for sour cream. I'm like yo, kind of pull them aside.
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Akil Hill: I'm like,
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Akil Hill: I'm like, I know what you're talking. I'm like, I need for you to get the Mexican side though. It's kind of like the liquid creamy like so a little bit of that I use a little bit of that and
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Akil Hill: That's what, that's what was my meal of the day, I still got some in the refrigerator and waiting I purposely let it sit for a couple of days because you know the receipts are always
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Akil Hill: The best where the sauce is allowed to marinate and you throw it back on. So, you know, I'm going to get into that a little bit later tonight. I'm gonna watch the Yankees and then nationals.
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Akil Hill: And so that's that's what my evenings going to probably look look like, but that was my dish.
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Akil Hill: I think I Rocco and I are friends on Facebook and stuff. So I'll
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Rocco Constantino: See if you can say, I see that all the time. I see I sorry to cut you off there. But you're posting pictures and I'll you know I'll notice the picture first and be like, man, where's the kill it tonight.
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Rocco Constantino: So just something that you eat at home, but you know, you go all out and preparing those dishes. It's pretty good to say looks professional
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Hong Lieu: Akil is the Yelp whisper to he's a great home cook but also when I when I went to London last year he was sending me restaurant recommendations, like, Yo, you gotta check this place out
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Hong Lieu: They were, they were amazing. I
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Hong Lieu: Was like, man, every time. He's been
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Hong Lieu: He's been sending your recommendation for sure.
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Akil Hill: I love
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Akil Hill: I love. Yo, man.
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Hong Lieu: What to do an episode on Yelp secrets with the keel because yeah i mean i try to look at only the photos and analysis of the reviews but your science is probably, probably more more legit than mine.
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Akil Hill: It's analytical on is the analytical
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Hong Lieu: Yelp. Yelp above replacement
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Hong Lieu: Yes, he neither of us from the people that are actually helping above replacement level. Yeah.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, yeah. He told me he was going. Was it Britain was in England. In England, you're going, you're
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Hong Lieu: Yeah yeah
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Akil Hill: It was London right
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Akil Hill: I didn't. So he called me and I was like, okay, he will. He's going to the arm column to the
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bullpen.
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Akil Hill: I was like, hey, I'll close it out for you. I'll close it out.
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Rocco Constantino: Mm hmm. Yeah. That's a very
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Hong Lieu: Efficient ships place you recommend it was really good.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: It's funny, I was sitting here talking all about Italian food right at my desk. They got a bag. These are $2 so if you guys ever had them before.
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Rocco Constantino: Italian after dinner, hard to even explain what they are kind of like consistency of a hard pretzel, but with a glaze and fennel seeds and
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Rocco Constantino: Anytime I go back to visit you know I leave some room in my bag. And I bring back, you know, five or six bags tunnels, because you can't get them out here and these raw co op two dolls from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
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Rocco Constantino: They soak up the somber one
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, these are after, after dinner things and you'll break your teeth on them, but
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Rocco Constantino: There.
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Rocco Constantino: Are you are you
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Hong Lieu: Good. Are you a tailor ham guy to
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Rocco Constantino: I we call you know you got to be Taylor him.
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Rocco Constantino: That I don't eat it. But there's a big war, New Jersey. If you're from North Jersey you call it Taylor hand.
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Rocco Constantino: From South Jersey you call it pork roll.
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Hong Lieu: Portfolio chopped topper yeah pork.
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Rocco Constantino: Chop it
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Rocco Constantino: And you get to tailor handbag and cheese on a plain bagel and that's like a go to staple of the blue collar community, I'd say.
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Hong Lieu: All right, so that that, uh, that that was a thoroughly makes me hungry.
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Hong Lieu: I want like I want a red sauce.
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You know,
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Hong Lieu: Yeah. But moving on to our culture pics
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Hong Lieu: Any preference, do you want to start Rocco or
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Hong Lieu: Keel
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Rocco Constantino: I can go. I started the last one. So what do you guys if you want to
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Akil Hill: Go, I
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Akil Hill: Started. I haven't. I just purchased a culture pic is a book is this week.
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Akil Hill: That I just picked up. I've had for a while, but I just started reading. I haven't, you know, just a few pages in but it's called the Stoli the road and it's about reconstruction white supremacy in the rise of Jim Crow and it's by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
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And
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Akil Hill: It basically talks about, you know,
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Akil Hill: The reconstruction period and how laws and rules have been set up that were set up in place and
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Akil Hill: Surrounding you know
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Akil Hill: Black people. So I'm really interested in getting into that can offer more than that because I haven't only read that like the back of the book and the first couple pages, but
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Akil Hill: Looking forward to, to getting into that and sharing it with future podcast about what what that's about, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I don't know if you guys, he's he's well known.
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Akil Hill: dealing with issues surrounding race and and genetics. He has a few shows. He's on PBS and he taught at Harvard. He has multiple books out. So a well known author
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Akil Hill: And scholar, so I'm looking forward to to get into that. That's my piece.
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Akil Hill: On culture for the week.
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Hong Lieu: Excellent. Yeah, it's good to have that more these conversations are kind of bubbling up
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Hong Lieu: And we can have more conversations with with more facts because it is true that a lot of this stuff wasn't really
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Hong Lieu: I mean, it was kind of glossed over growing up. I don't know how much American history, all of us took but
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Hong Lieu: You only hear you hear little things here and there, but only. Now are these kind of longer academic works not just coming out and more frequency, but also being read by more people so that we can have these kind of discussions.
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Akil Hill: Absolutely.
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Hong Lieu: Which are long overdue and, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Nice to nice to kind of fill in those gaps of American history, as someone who, you know, was born in America, but his first generation.
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Rocco Constantino: It's, it's
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Hong Lieu: It's nice to have more more of the story told in that way. There was a lot of digging that had to do my own you know People's History United States and all those
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Hong Lieu: Books like that. But in terms of actually having these things come to the forefront. They're, they're passing a lot of ethnic studies you know requirements for certain areas. And so it's good to kind of have that plurality of perspective be and be more of a part of learning.
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Rocco Constantino: Absolutely, yeah.
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Hong Lieu: All right, I'll go next. Since I was since you started rocket will let you will let you finish the last
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Hong Lieu: My book this week.
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Hong Lieu: Since you were coming on and I wanted to be somewhat somewhat sports related mbu books since we did film last week breaks with the game by David Albert still
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Hong Lieu: Have you read it all it's
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, it came out 1982. It was about the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers
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Hong Lieu: And
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Hong Lieu: I only started reading it because I grew up in LA in the 80s and 90s and I was a Laker fan, but after a while they were winning so much when I was growing up that I started to kind of route for underdogs
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Hong Lieu: And I was born in Portland. That's where my parents ended up when they came to America and the sponsor family was there and they got jobs in Portland.
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Hong Lieu: So they moved out of there before I was, you know, could even was conscious because I was we they were Portland and went to San Francisco and settled in LA.
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Hong Lieu: And they both both Portland, San Cisco, they couldn't handle the weather, but because that little nugget where I'm bored in Portland. I kind of gravity to the blazers, that's my second team.
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Hong Lieu: And they were kind of underdog, but they were still making the playoffs. It was a good team to root for.
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Hong Lieu: So as I got more involved kind of rooting for them. I kind of felt like to not be a poser. I had to do some research.
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Hong Lieu: And so, there weren't there weren't many books about, you know, the blazers, or just basketball in general for me. Besides those like little kids library books about, you know, the biography books that picture books can be grown up.
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Hong Lieu: So break. So, the game was really the first. I kind of, quote unquote adult sports book I ever read.
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Hong Lieu: And it was really illuminating kind of portrait of not just that team, but also Halberstam did a great job of wrapping it around kind of where the league was at that time where they had just gotten a TV deal and
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Hong Lieu: And they had just done the NBA NBA merger. You know, like five or six years before that. And so it was the league was in a moment period of flux
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Hong Lieu: And they were trying to build a TV audience. They were just about to sign their big TV deal and, you know, and in 7980 that was Magic Johnson and the rebirth.
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Hong Lieu: rookie year. So that was kind of the turning point for the NBA in a lot of ways was the
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Hong Lieu: Magic and Larry gateway to Michael which gateway to, you know, to now so that 79 season was before, before that the glory days, so to speak. So it was kind of
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Hong Lieu: Kind of rough. You know, there were a lot of things about it and and it was still a predominantly
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Hong Lieu: You know, it was, it was a game of dominate black players on TV, trying to be trying to win over up a white audience that had never seen that much basketball before. So there was a lot of
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Hong Lieu: Cultural racial stuff in the back end there and Albertson does a great job kind of mixing it all up and breaking it down. And it's a really great book.
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Rocco Constantino: That's cool. I've always heard of the book. And I'm, I'm an MBA guy too and and that that's a real interesting time period because like you said it was
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Rocco Constantino: You know, a sports kind of initial board at the time and I mean they would show games on tape delay.
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Rocco Constantino: In the late 70s, early 80s, probably you were all about the same age, we probably call it the end of that tape delay NBA games and you know when when you have that transition from the 70s to the 80s and then magic and bird come in and Jordan.
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Rocco Constantino: Then that that shoots the NBA, up until where where it is today.
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Hong Lieu: And WATCHING THE LAST DANCE. That was on recently and there were a lot of parallels in terms of
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Hong Lieu: The brakes of the game that 79 blazers team. I mean, there was a Maurice Lucas was on that team. And he was a really good player, but he was being paid like a quarter of what Bill Walton was, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Like the
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Hong Lieu: Really, you know, the clinical stars on the team are making that reminded me of watching Pippin IN THE LAST DANCE and how he was kind of
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Hong Lieu: Guy had this really tiny contract and everyone else but you know you play it and you're hoping to get paid.
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Hong Lieu: And you hope it's with that team. But then, you know, and the back end side of sports is a business where I you know as a kid growing up sports was just like, you know,
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Hong Lieu: The game is this and that and it was all about the game and then that was what
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Hong Lieu: As an adult book, quote unquote, he was one of those up my eyes are like, you know, sports as a business. These owners are really looking out for that. Bottom line, more than anything, where I thought the championship was the number one, and that was
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Rocco Constantino: An eye opener for
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Hong Lieu: A lot of ways, you know, and criminal Washington was on that 79 blazers team and you remember criminal Washington was the punch you know when you
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Hong Lieu: Get out of it. So he was
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Rocco Constantino: Really to
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Hong Lieu: Me. He was painted as this like angry, angry man who was out there punching killing everybody. And it was just, you know,
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Hong Lieu: They break they break down his story really well where it's really just he he had a, you know, he had a rough upbringing, he was, you know, put in situations that people are not you know not everyone went through. So
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Hong Lieu: His unique experiences, kind of, he reacted in a certain way that if you grew up a certain way. It's kind of a natural reaction.
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Hong Lieu: But seeing it on a national TV screen in the middle of a quote unquote game. You just like oh my god is, you know, angry violent man is just terrorizing but it's just the layers and nuance beneath that are kind of
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Hong Lieu: Where, where is when it was an interesting subplot to the book. And one of the things I really do remember because yeah I couldn't even there was no YouTube. And so I couldn't look up the punch.
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I didn't even know what they were talking about.
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Hong Lieu: Like it took me a while for I couldn't even watch a video that because it had been scrubbed for most video feeds it took a long time. Or I can even see what they were talking about when I was reading about i was i was in rapture, so
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Yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that, that, you know, DR. JACK Ramsey was a coach. I think at that time.
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Hong Lieu: Yes.
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Rocco Constantino: Did they would they be was that the Sixers
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Hong Lieu: Yes. Yeah, and 77, I think it was the Sixers so
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Hong Lieu: This was the team, two years later. So Bill Walton had gotten injured and 77 and play to the injury and he they won the championship, but he was never the same. After that, so it was so this book kind of picks up on the aftermath of that.
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Hong Lieu: Right before he went to
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Hong Lieu: The San Diego clippers.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: So yeah, so there was a lot of. There's a lot of support to that book and the thing with the thing in the book about jack Ramsey. That's so interesting is that
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Hong Lieu: He was such a you know he was a coaches coach. He knew he knew the X's and O's. But he also was rallying the team and and it kind of the sense of he had this perfect team and 77
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Hong Lieu: And and he wanted all he was at the top, and he just thought it would just keep going. And so, as it unraveled
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Hong Lieu: You know, as a coach, you're trying to still keep everything together you're trying to do the best you can with what you got. So as these pieces changes Waltons foot kind of didn't, didn't come back to what it was.
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Hong Lieu: A certain players were disgruntled that they're playing time and this and that he had the perfect team. He had the perfect offense for that team.
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Hong Lieu: And as it unraveled and him trying to keep those pieces together as best he could do it was a pretty good portrayal of DR. JACK in that book to
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Hong Lieu: Always loved him on on the play by play. But that book was issued as a coach.
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Rocco Constantino: Right.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a good point that we, as you know, people that watch sports are involved with sports is something that's really understated is the ability to actually
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Akil Hill: Repeat. You know, you win at once, and you just automatically assume that you're going to be, you know, you're up for it again next year in the fact that all the certain little nuances that you don't see about playing later into the season.
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Akil Hill: You know people's health. Like, it's an in the following season you know you. Everyone knows. Once you win it. You have the target on the back. So you're getting everyone's best night out.
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Akil Hill: It's just not a. It makes me now appreciate more of the people who are able to build dynasties, because it's not easy to do. Although I can't stand the Patriots, and I think
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Akil Hill: Rocket I, Robot.
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Akil Hill: Or on that on the same page with that. But you know, it's something that is and then he's plus you throw in like salary cap issues and all these other things that are factors, it's really
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Akil Hill: You know, amazing that teams are able to establish dynasties. Now, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, as a niners fan. We went to the Super Bowl and we lost this year. It was kind of heartbreaking. And everyone's like, oh, you'll be back next year. Like, there's no way. There's no guarantees in life you know like
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Akil Hill: If you lose.
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Hong Lieu: You have to seize the moment you know like
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Akil Hill: Yeah, and
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Hong Lieu: Thinking back to the 1990s blazers teams. I think about the Buffalo Bills and 90s blazers teams were like that where they. Yeah. Almost there, almost there.
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Hong Lieu: Like you know 889 they lost the pistons in the finals or not it was 1990 less the pistons next year they lost the Lakers and the Western Conference Finals in the Lakers loss of the bowls.
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Hong Lieu: And then they lost in in the blazers loss of the bulls, the year after that. So that was three or four years of so close, you know, and as a kid I mean those rip my heart out
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Hong Lieu: And that and that was that was the kind of thing where now that I'm older. Looking back, and and you know there's nothing wrong with that, you know, like these guys.
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Hong Lieu: YOU GET TO THE FINALS. You know, like you did really good. Yeah. You didn't win the championship. But there's nothing to hang your hat about. Yeah. You have a lot to be proud of.
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Hong Lieu: So it helps temporary a little bit because I used to listen to all this, like,
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Hong Lieu: A dragster again, it's all about Jordan and yeah Jordan is the growth, the greatest of all time, yada, yada.
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Hong Lieu: But there's nothing wrong with being Clyde Drexler, the guy got his ring with the rockets. He's still probably one of the top 10 shooting guards of all time. I mean, as a kid you I yeah
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Hong Lieu: And then later on in life, you realize how meeting this I'll is, you know, if you're great. You're just great. You know, like, it's you. You mentioned it's a measuring stick but it's not the sole kind of measure of a man, so to speak, you know, so yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah. Do you know you mentioned getting your heart ripped out I'm even though I'm from New Jersey. I'm a Utah Jazz fan.
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Hong Lieu: So,
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Rocco Constantino: Oh, those, those couple
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Rocco Constantino: made those runs to the finals, they
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Rocco Constantino: They sent over the jazz. And I'm sitting there in New Jersey. That was when I was in high school, I think it was two years in a row, early on in the early 90s where the jazz also the blazers and then the jazz finally get through and make it
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, cuz you have done those games against the rockets do, they'll see when the rock back to back, you went, you had two great series with them and then you got your chance. Yeah, I have cousins in Utah. So they were
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Hong Lieu: Black. Yes, man. So
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Hong Lieu: I, I kind of followed them for a while too and yeah
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, like alone and stock to know is that are great.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: And the West, the whole West was great. I mean,
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Rocco Constantino: Yes, yet you know that the tail end of the Lakers dynasty, they were still really good, but the blazers are good, the jazz or good the Sonics were awesome.
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Rocco Constantino: The rockets it, you know, it was just pretty much everybody. But the clippers. It seemed like
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Hong Lieu: Yeah and now the clippers now.
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Hong Lieu: If I have to pick another team I root for the clippers and it's kind of weird them being good. Again, I kind of enjoyed when they were more doormats because it was easy to root for them because now every time you say your clippers Family Affair weather. Yeah.
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Akil Hill: Yeah.
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Akil Hill: Well, I used to like, I like it when they weren't good because it would be easy way to get it could go catch a game, man.
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Akil Hill: Yep, that's
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Hong Lieu: As a pork in LA. The top secret.
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Akil Hill: Yes, I know. Now they're all good. I'm an opinion of the clippers need to move back to San Diego or a different market, but that's just my thoughts on
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Hong Lieu: I wouldn't mind San Diego, and I also wouldn't mind even Anaheim. These two their preseason games at the pond. You know the answer. And, and I feel like you need a separate identities. I mean, they have their ego.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, flex. Now, which will be at least. Yeah, you need something different. You can't, you can't play in staples with the Lakers banners hanging around and try to build your own identity. No.
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Hong Lieu: No, like that. It's just not going to happen. So, yeah.
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Rocco Constantino: It's funny you mentioned the ticket prices and go into clippers games. My first I moved out here for four years ago now and the first ball. I was here, I want to go to the staple center.
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Rocco Constantino: And the clippers are playing that jazz. So I want to go see my team and it happened to fall on the same day as a Dodgers HOME WORLD SERIES game.
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Rocco Constantino: So I went to the jazz Clippers game on the first, you know, the World Series I I had, I was sitting about four or five rows behind the net and tickets for like 30 bucks and
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Rocco Constantino: There was just nobody, you know, everybody was on the Dodgers there so
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Hong Lieu: Anyway traffic, the traffic wasn't too bad.
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Rocco Constantino: Traffic well the Dodgers game ended early so
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Rocco Constantino: I got, I watched the end of the Dodgers game in
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Rocco Constantino: You know in the in the staple center and then by the time that jazz game was over everything cleared out. So it was staggered starting time. So it was good.
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Akil Hill: And we all know Dodger fans leave early show
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Akil Hill: So please leave early.
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Hong Lieu: I will say some of these ghosts la Dodgers games because like you can they don't let you tailgate, but you can bring food into the stadium. So I really liked that as a perk.
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Hong Lieu: It's hard to get in the stadium, like when the game is going on the traffic is just nuts and if you if you park. It's still a long walk. But if you don't park there and you walk up to the stadium. It's a long walk. So
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I
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Hong Lieu: sympathize. A little bit of someone who thought they were gonna get there when the game started ended up at the fourth inning, like, Oh no, what have I done yeah but but I do like Dodger Stadium because of how you can bring your food, and they have the all you can eat pavilions which
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Hong Lieu: May be changing.
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Hong Lieu: As a coven. But yeah, I do like I like all you can eat.
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Akil Hill: I also like Dodger Stadium.
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Akil Hill: Just the nostalgic Phil, you know what I mean, just when you walk in, it feels like, wow, it reminds me of the old Yankee Stadium in some ways, you know where these places that these ballparks there's only a few left, right, there's like Fenway, there's a
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Akil Hill: The cubs.
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Akil Hill: Chicago and
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Akil Hill: La those three stadiums still have that old retro baseball fill everything else other than that it's all been updated plush
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Akil Hill: Yeah, just a different different type of feel when you enter a baseball stadium, you know,
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Rocco Constantino: That that's a great point and I, you know, I'm a baseball history guy. I love that and I miss the old Yankee Stadium, even as a man, man, I just that was
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, historic not only been to Fenway once and Wrigley once and I had never been to Dodger Stadium. So right when I got out of here out here. That was one of the first things I did. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, man, I'm going to be in this stadium where Sandy Koufax was pitching.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah, it was always like Sandy Koufax always legend. To me, I go to the game and freakin I'm sitting on the first base side and Sandy Koufax is sitting right there by the Dodgers dugout.
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Rocco Constantino: You know tall guy looks for years younger than he is. You see the gray hair. And I'm just sitting there going, Wow, man. All this history, Sandy Koufax Tommy Lasorda sitting right there. All this stuff and it was great.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, you do feel the history when you walk into
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Hong Lieu: Digesting feel you feel some of the quirks of an old stadium. But that's, I mean, the new stadium experience is it's really one of the things that hammers home to sports as a business because
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Hong Lieu: You had sweets. Yeah. These luxury boxes, you're making good money because you can have a firm rent out a suite and have, like, you know, a little buffet table while you watch the game.
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Hong Lieu: But most people that are watching on the TV. You know, like you can't even looking out the window. The view experience is not great. So
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I mean football stadiums. I've done it to seeing how the fans are so much farther removed from the field. So, I mean, you don't get that definitely crowd noise but you have more sweet and luxury boxes you know that's NC licenses, but yeah.
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Hong Lieu: Nothing like live sports.
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Rocco Constantino: Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: Alright, Rocco. I think you're up.
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Rocco Constantino: Alright, so the book, I wanted to talk about today is something called dream makers, it's from a former Major League pitcher Jim Morris, I just read it, about a week or so ago. And the reason I will the way it came across this book was I'm doing some i'm also work as a baseball writer.
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Rocco Constantino: So I'm doing some writing during the quarantine. I do a column for a website every week. It's websites called ball nine BA LL, and I need calm and every Friday I have an interview with a former player.
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Rocco Constantino: And I publish it. You know, it comes out, it's a it's a great site for baseball history. Anyway, interviewed one week baseball player Jim Marrs he was a lefty pitcher and he was the inspiration for the movie The rookie
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Rocco Constantino: With Dennis. Dennis Quaid probably from about 2000 2001. This was the guy who was a minor league pitcher, he's hurt his arm in the 80s gave it up and then became
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Rocco Constantino: A high school teacher and baseball coach and he had promised his team and like you know I forget late 90s that if they won the district championship. He would go try out for the major leagues.
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Rocco Constantino: And he ended up winning or the team ended up winning. It was their first championship. So he went and upheld is bargain and little did he know he had a 98 mile an hour fastball
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Rocco Constantino: So he went to this open tryout is like a 30 something year old high school teacher and was a lefty
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Rocco Constantino: And started throwing 98 mile an hour fastball up there and a couple months later he was in the major leagues at like 30, you know, in his mid to late 30s. Anyway, he lasted a couple years had a lot of pretty good accomplishments
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Rocco Constantino: But then the book dream makers is covers the 20 years after Major Leagues after he left the majors still today and it's like absolutely fascinating. He had some personal struggles. He had to have he went, he's been through 58 different surgeries.
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Rocco Constantino: He's his back is I mean everything
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Rocco Constantino: You know, and he talked about he developed an alcohol addiction you luckily never developed opioid addiction.
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Rocco Constantino: But, you know, he ended up in rehab and one of the most fascinating things that I found was
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Rocco Constantino: He was diagnosed with CTE induced Parkinson's.
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Rocco Constantino: And it said three years ago. It got to the point where it was so bad. His mother had the bio McCain, to be able to walk, just to go for a walk around the block.
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Rocco Constantino: And you know anyway he it's all in the book, but he ended up recovering from this Parkinson's in miraculous almost like a scientific unexplained miracle type of thing.
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Rocco Constantino: But this whole book kind of goes through that he's now running lifting jogging doing motivational speaking. He's overcome his alcohol addiction.
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Rocco Constantino: It's a super inspirational book, my favorite books are nonfiction. I love reading about people that overcome odds and things like that and
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Rocco Constantino: Like you, you know, I was reading his, his book dream makers and you know there are points where I'm sitting there reading with my mouth open.
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Rocco Constantino: And to me, those are the best kind of books and you know I put it down and then there's portions of the book about surrounding yourself with the right people. And, you know, associating yourself with dream makers, instead of dream killers.
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Rocco Constantino: And I put out like somebody like a keel.
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Rocco Constantino: And just, you know, to put this in reference to me, Akil classified in the book would be a dream maker. I can go to a keel and say, hey, kill
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Rocco Constantino: The students in this difficult situation. What can we do to help them out and it's and it happens a lot with athletics and
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Rocco Constantino: You know, start of each semester we run into that multiple times with the keel. And it's always. All right. Let's work together to get this student
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Rocco Constantino: Out there playing and and make this student happy and make him reach his goal, whereas the opposition, if, if a kill was a dream killer. It would be sorry to bed that kid that do it go away.
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Rocco Constantino: So it's about surrounding yourself with the people who want to help other people
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Rocco Constantino: On top of all the other messages in there to really interesting book. I really enjoyed it.
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Hong Lieu: And it's a great selection in terms of yet not just and just illustrating
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Hong Lieu: How much goes into helping students student athletes like you know you're trying to make them the best on the field and the best physical condition.
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Hong Lieu: But to build them as better people and better students to allow that work that goes in there, you really need a lot of dream makers in their lives, you know you need their their their their teachers their coaches.
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Hong Lieu: Their family you need you need to be makers all around you to get to that point where you can perform at that, you know, top 5% in the state city, county country, whatever.
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Hong Lieu: It's, you know, it's, it's not going to happen on your own. You need a lot of help. And that's something that yeah book like this can really not just help you with that and show you. You know, like build
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Hong Lieu: influence how you build your department, how you, how you develop that. But also, it sounds like it goes a lot into how in the post athletic life where
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Hong Lieu: He had a 10 year break where he
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Hong Lieu: A teacher, and he had to figure that out in between careers. Then he came back and then he left again and had to figure out with do after you know the life after sports is tough and even
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Hong Lieu: Be with my missing tooth in my 20s, I thought, oh, I don't need to go to the dentist on their revenue problems and I hear him 10 years just 10 years later, I'm not
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Hong Lieu: I'm 39, you know, so it's not like I'm like, you know, and I'm Senior losing teeth because of
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Hong Lieu: Decisions that I thought I was invincible. And I thought, oh, physically, I'll never have any problems.
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Hong Lieu: And these are the kind of things you have to plan for. And that's, those are the things that were student athletics.
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Hong Lieu: Not doesn't just help you to be a good, a good person and athletes student in the moment could build you as a human being for you the rest of your life if you if you allow that to kind of kind of change you you know
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Akil Hill: That's a, that's a good point, you know i i also think to kind of in line with what you guys are saying is like
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Akil Hill: With athletics. It's important to know like when we see athletes compete and we're watching and they're entertaining to us that we're only seen a sliver of that person and and we sometimes get caught up in the limelight of people's ability to throw a ball or
448
00:52:42.180 --> 00:52:45.330
Akil Hill: You know, or, you know, hit, hit the ball.
449
00:52:46.230 --> 00:52:55.980
Akil Hill: But we don't understand or we don't see that other side of just life of what that person has gone to just to get to that level and
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Akil Hill: And so what we do is we create I feel that sometimes we create that by making it is the ultimate success and it no doubt it's, it takes a whole lot of people to get to people to that level. But the reality. Also too, is when the cameras are off and and and and
451
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Akil Hill: You know the crowds are gone. How are people really being looked after, you know what I mean.
452
00:53:21.900 --> 00:53:28.530
Akil Hill: There's, you know, we know historically. I mean, how many books that we read and heard about professional athletes that are that
453
00:53:28.890 --> 00:53:38.670
Akil Hill: Are competing at the highest level. But then in the in the depths of the night, they're suffering from substance abuse, not really loving what they're doing.
454
00:53:39.450 --> 00:53:46.170
Akil Hill: These type of things, you know, but they're still out there competing and winning, but we don't know or we're not privileged know what is like going on.
455
00:53:46.710 --> 00:53:56.460
Akil Hill: Behind the scenes. And for me, and I can speak with in regards to rocket for this is like, I think that's where we find the beauty in it is being able to assist
456
00:53:56.970 --> 00:54:04.830
Akil Hill: The students and helping students to compete and in most cases, we know that students compete because they can escape certain realities.
457
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Akil Hill: You know, you talk to some of these athletes that come from just tough situations and and playing ball or or whatever they're doing is, is actually their sanctity. You know where they're just away from all of that lifestyle, you know,
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00:54:20.880 --> 00:54:24.180
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that that's great too. And that's something that a lot of people don't see
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Rocco Constantino: Them. You know me and you are privy to a little bit working in athletics, you know, like I said, a lot of people will see the website and see the final scores and things like that.
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00:54:33.630 --> 00:54:52.740
Rocco Constantino: But they don't see a parent, you know, single parents sitting in the football coaches office in tears thanking our coaches for getting their son on the right track or, you know, an international student parents. I was on a call with an international parent group.
461
00:54:53.790 --> 00:55:01.680
Rocco Constantino: A student an international student came here played sports and then they're going to go on to a four year school to play sports and you know this parent
462
00:55:02.250 --> 00:55:17.730
Rocco Constantino: These parents were in tears because they're their son was realizing their dreams and that happens over and over and over on every sport and people just don't see that, you know, they see the final score, but there's so many personal stories of success.
463
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Rocco Constantino: That that happen and it's people like you, people like me, people like our coaching staff that I really believe make that possible. And when I was reading that dream makers book.
464
00:55:29.850 --> 00:55:35.490
Rocco Constantino: That's what I was kind of in my head, identifying in my department. Oh, this person's dream maker this person's one
465
00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:48.390
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, they sent the book or, you know, let tangerine crag a couple of our coaches, like, hey, this is an awesome book. This is what you guys do you should read about it. So they read it, they want to share it with their teams. It's been good.
466
00:55:50.100 --> 00:55:55.710
Hong Lieu: Yeah. Athletes especially. But in general, all people could benefit from just more positive voices in people's lives.
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00:55:56.220 --> 00:56:08.670
Hong Lieu: And and most of the successful stories. You see, they will always, you know, in a memoir it over thank of not for this person and not for this teacher who gave me a chance this person when everyone else that I was with nothing. They took a chance on me, it's always that
468
00:56:08.700 --> 00:56:18.750
Hong Lieu: Chance called. You know, that is the big difference. And that and and people remember that I remember. You know, I have memories of certain teachers in certain moments where people could have given up on me and they just kept going. And, you know,
469
00:56:19.050 --> 00:56:21.420
Hong Lieu: They were probably should have given up on me, but I'm glad they did it.
470
00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:23.220
Hong Lieu: So those
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00:56:23.370 --> 00:56:24.750
Hong Lieu: Patients are much appreciated.
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00:56:25.380 --> 00:56:32.370
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, and I think we all have that we all have times where people gave us chances that maybe we should have had shouldn't have had whatever
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00:56:32.700 --> 00:56:46.800
Rocco Constantino: But those were people that gave us a chance to shine and and we failed. That was one of my favorite quotes from that book dream makers. It was, if we are failing. We are, if we are failing. We are learning and we were trying so it kind of
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00:56:48.990 --> 00:56:59.250
Rocco Constantino: You know it, it did not encourages you to fail, but says if you're failing. Don't worry, you're learning and you're moving forward. And I think that's really important too.
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00:56:59.400 --> 00:57:10.650
Hong Lieu: Yeah, it's a it's a great metrics. I know like we do, like I did like 3D printing and like make your stuff when I was working at the library and they were always the philosophy, like it's okay to fail. You just have to fail better next time. If
476
00:57:11.730 --> 00:57:15.540
Hong Lieu: You learn if you learn a little bit and try again and you make an improvement in some way.
477
00:57:15.840 --> 00:57:22.860
Hong Lieu: Then it wasn't in vain. You know the worst thing you do is failed the same way, repeatedly, then you're then you're not getting anywhere. But if you fail once
478
00:57:23.100 --> 00:57:29.370
Hong Lieu: And then learn something failed better next time you at least have made some improvement and that'll keep you going because there's nothing more
479
00:57:29.640 --> 00:57:41.040
Hong Lieu: Like that will just break your heart and make you want to stop doing something then failing the same way over and over and over and over again. So if you could just feel better and feel like you're improving that'll keep you on the on that motivated path as well so
480
00:57:41.640 --> 00:57:41.820
Yeah.
481
00:57:42.840 --> 00:57:43.500
Akil Hill: Absolutely.
482
00:57:45.090 --> 00:57:49.020
Hong Lieu: And and another message I get from that book is if you're if you're lefty and you can throw fast.
483
00:57:49.110 --> 00:57:49.830
Hong Lieu: You will have
484
00:57:53.040 --> 00:57:54.210
Rocco Constantino: 100% accurate.
485
00:57:54.330 --> 00:57:57.810
Akil Hill: The fastest way to get to the show, man. The fastest way to get to the show.
486
00:57:58.080 --> 00:57:59.430
Hong Lieu: Is be lefty here.
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00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:03.750
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, that's, that's for sure, but it's cool, you know, he recounts
488
00:58:04.950 --> 00:58:10.860
Rocco Constantino: That whole path and the beginning part of the book. And then he talks about how he was how he fell into these deep
489
00:58:11.490 --> 00:58:22.770
Rocco Constantino: dark places in his life and battling the Parkinson's and then he talks about where he is now and it's all about surrounding yourself with the right people, that when you are failing, like you said,
490
00:58:23.790 --> 00:58:29.670
Rocco Constantino: There aren't people beating you down. There are people encouraging you saying you know fail better next time.
491
00:58:30.780 --> 00:58:35.940
Rocco Constantino: So again, you're right. We do need a lot more positive voices in our lives, for sure.
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00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:43.200
Hong Lieu: And I do think that's something that SBC and all the other folks. I've dealt with on campus and around that are involved NSPCC in any way.
493
00:58:43.590 --> 00:58:50.100
Hong Lieu: They're really like they really have the students back or, you know, everyone here is always looking out for the students presenters and where we're trying our best
494
00:58:50.610 --> 00:58:59.610
Hong Lieu: To be there for them. So that's, that's something that's always been instilled to me just on all the people I've interacted with the short time I've been here and it's it's good, it's good to be a part of that community for sure.
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00:59:00.240 --> 00:59:08.610
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, I agree. Most people here that I've dealt with are all about the students and you know where where the dream makers for the students.
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00:59:09.480 --> 00:59:11.760
Akil Hill: Absolutely, absolutely.
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00:59:13.680 --> 00:59:15.330
Hong Lieu: Yes, excellent, and
498
00:59:16.680 --> 00:59:19.230
Hong Lieu: I was gonna make another point about being a lefty picture but
499
00:59:22.080 --> 00:59:33.270
Hong Lieu: Yeah, oh yeah, I was gonna ask about How do y'all feel about the DH going away next two years next year I think next season with the he goes away as part of the agreement they signed. Is that is that is that really happening.
500
00:59:34.080 --> 00:59:37.500
Rocco Constantino: I think, are they doing it this year I forget what they ended up deciding on
501
00:59:38.850 --> 00:59:45.870
Hong Lieu: Oh man, if he'd be vicious that'd be rough. I like I want at least one more year of I like to do it. I mean, I like the DH split. I mean, I
502
00:59:47.460 --> 00:59:48.390
Rocco Constantino: I like the difference
503
00:59:48.450 --> 00:59:52.800
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, like the different strategies and it's, you know,
504
00:59:53.610 --> 01:00:01.080
Rocco Constantino: They're it's a different brand makes it makes the game interested or interesting. I like it mentioned a little bit of analytics. I feel like that's
505
01:00:01.440 --> 01:00:09.720
Rocco Constantino: Making everybody a robot type of saying every, you know, everything's computer base. It's taking the heart out of the game and the DH is one of those little
506
01:00:10.110 --> 01:00:19.560
Rocco Constantino: nuances that makes things interesting. And, you know, people argue, you know, do you really want to see a picture go up there and bad. Oh, at, you know, you know, he's going to strike out
507
01:00:20.040 --> 01:00:33.570
Rocco Constantino: And yeah, I could get that point of view, but it also takes a bit of strategy out of the game. And every time they slice into it like that, it loses a little bit about the past. So I like to see it. Stick around.
508
01:00:34.890 --> 01:00:36.630
Rocco Constantino: I don't think it's going to, but
509
01:00:37.770 --> 01:00:42.090
Rocco Constantino: You know, it's just another game evolves and it's just another point of evolution.
510
01:00:44.190 --> 01:00:47.370
Akil Hill: Yeah, I mean I wish they would have taken a way back when. Big Papi was in the
511
01:00:49.800 --> 01:00:52.020
Hong Lieu: Yeah, yeah, you'll have a lot more players hanging on.
512
01:00:52.110 --> 01:00:57.150
Hong Lieu: As a DH they'll be able to just do it for a little while longer, as opposed to, you know, like Albert pools are my team.
513
01:00:57.360 --> 01:00:58.680
Hong Lieu: Is basically the H at this point.
514
01:00:58.680 --> 01:01:08.940
Hong Lieu: You play to play that for maybe you know once or twice a week. But yeah, he's easy. So yeah, it'll allow guys to prolong the careers, but I do agree in terms of like the baseball record books are so sacred
515
01:01:09.360 --> 01:01:14.220
Hong Lieu: Yeah, just, you know, like it's going to skew. A lot of things I used to like watching picture to go up and tried to bunt or like that.
516
01:01:14.250 --> 01:01:20.220
Hong Lieu: When a picture when there's a guy there to try to squeeze him home. That was does tense. You know, so, but yeah.
517
01:01:20.880 --> 01:01:31.920
Akil Hill: I'm always for me when I think of the DH position, it always makes me think about the possibilities, right, because you're like this guy can can mash and
518
01:01:34.140 --> 01:01:40.710
Akil Hill: What how's that going to look like. Right. So you have to pitch to them. We're going to pitch around them. And then if you pitch around to them, then who's like
519
01:01:41.550 --> 01:01:57.420
Akil Hill: Who's up next and then I always think about a Big Papi and Manny Ramirez how that was just like, and I'm a Yankees fan, but that those two, man. You just didn't want to be facing that that those two guys when when runners are on. You know what I mean.
520
01:01:59.340 --> 01:02:09.360
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, it's definitely true. And it's, it's just takes that dimension out I well you know that's a good point too, though it does add another dimension because like with the Mets.
521
01:02:10.470 --> 01:02:12.870
Rocco Constantino: You know, I'm a Mets fan and yo and assess, but as
522
01:02:13.500 --> 01:02:23.850
Rocco Constantino: He wasn't really you know he was there. We didn't have any expectations for him. This year if you went back six months, you know, he was recovering from injury that's in that now with the DH
523
01:02:24.390 --> 01:02:35.430
Rocco Constantino: He's your cleanup hitter, you know, he doesn't have to run around the outfield he could stay healthy. So it's, it's just a different you know different evolution of the game and more guys are going to be able to hang on.
524
01:02:36.360 --> 01:02:43.530
Rocco Constantino: When Mookie Betts is playing out the end of his nice long new contract, he might be able to you know he'll probably be at the H2 so
525
01:02:44.670 --> 01:02:47.820
Rocco Constantino: Just the way pools is doing now and La, la,
526
01:02:48.780 --> 01:02:53.370
Hong Lieu: The Red Sox Red Sox. We definitely have some regrets about letting letting movie com sure but
527
01:02:53.730 --> 01:03:10.050
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, interesting point. I mentioned that I do these articles every week with my baseball writing my article next week is supposed to be with a man named Ron Bloomberg and he was the first ever designated hitter, a major league baseball history so
528
01:03:11.490 --> 01:03:21.660
Rocco Constantino: He's still was 1973 he was on the Yankees. So I've been in contact with him. We've been emailing back and forth. And I want to talk to him to get his thoughts on. Hey, you're the first guy.
529
01:03:21.660 --> 01:03:29.880
Rocco Constantino: Yeah. When did he, he looks like it's coming to an end. What do you think so. So that'll be interesting if I get the chance to talk to him about that.
530
01:03:30.900 --> 01:03:31.830
Hong Lieu: That'll be exciting. Yeah.
531
01:03:31.860 --> 01:03:33.840
Hong Lieu: Edgar Edgar Martinez. The Hall of Fame.
532
01:03:34.410 --> 01:03:37.860
Hong Lieu: Ah, Mr doubles. I remember our team pitching me up.
533
01:03:38.190 --> 01:03:40.560
Hong Lieu: Doubles off the wall opposite all
534
01:03:41.850 --> 01:03:42.210
Akil Hill: Yeah.
535
01:03:42.570 --> 01:03:48.900
Rocco Constantino: And that's, that's true, that's a good point, too, because you get guys like Edgar Martinez and pool holes and Ortiz, you know,
536
01:03:50.040 --> 01:03:58.470
Rocco Constantino: Frank Thomas they, you know, they wouldn't be the guys they were without the DH position because you know they're not the best fielder's
537
01:03:59.340 --> 01:04:12.420
Rocco Constantino: They're able to stay on and advanced age and and you know they get to stay healthy because they don't have to run around out in the field and then just, you know, sit there and Jackson home runs and jog around the bases and wait for the next time.
538
01:04:12.720 --> 01:04:17.940
Akil Hill: Yeah. And then we also know two people that I met people buy tickets for
539
01:04:19.260 --> 01:04:23.400
Akil Hill: For the show right so if you got you can want to extend people's career.
540
01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:33.210
Akil Hill: Because they can DH to that sells tickets, because people were like, look, you know, Big Papi is is I want to come watch them play arrow come watch them head and
541
01:04:33.960 --> 01:04:40.620
Akil Hill: It's kind of interesting that that it's going in that direction, because to me it's like, that's how you get fans in seats. You know, people want to see the home run it.
542
01:04:41.850 --> 01:04:42.240
Akil Hill: You know,
543
01:04:43.290 --> 01:04:49.680
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, without and that's how you get the new generation of all through you know that that's been a problem with baseball
544
01:04:50.820 --> 01:05:02.220
Rocco Constantino: The younger generations are gravitating more towards NBA and football. It's faster paced, it's more exciting baseball. You know, you're sitting down and watching for three and a half, four hours sometimes and
545
01:05:02.790 --> 01:05:18.780
Rocco Constantino: That generations, not into it, you know, they want to see the home runs. They don't want to see pictures you know my managers figuring out whether they're gonna have to pinch it or bond or what are you going to do, you know. So it's a way to get the younger generation involved too.
546
01:05:19.380 --> 01:05:23.850
Hong Lieu: Yeah. And the irony is baseball is especially this thought of is like America's pastime from the past.
547
01:05:24.150 --> 01:05:30.630
Hong Lieu: They were on the forefront of a lot of technological things, you know, and will be TV and all the online stuff they were they were one of the first to do it and do it well.
548
01:05:30.870 --> 01:05:35.400
Hong Lieu: You know, they're doing all this stuff with the fan experience. Now you can get your picture in the seat and the do with the crowd.
549
01:05:35.400 --> 01:05:41.430
Hong Lieu: NOISE So so they really do find a way to be kind of tech tech forward with a lot of things. So they're really kind of staying on the cutting edge.
550
01:05:41.790 --> 01:05:51.120
Hong Lieu: And it's just a matter of, you know, getting getting more folks, kind of, kind of, into the flow of the game. I actually got into baseball because he was the one sport where I could while I was doing my homework. Watch for a little while.
551
01:05:51.750 --> 01:05:57.540
Hong Lieu: Not pay attention for three hours, come back in the game was still beyond and get right in the heart of the matter. I mean, that's what got me into it. I could
552
01:05:57.930 --> 01:06:05.040
Hong Lieu: Just be on in the background. I could follow it slowly. And that's how I kind of got into the game. When I was younger, while he joined her help too. But, you know, but
553
01:06:06.270 --> 01:06:06.750
Rocco Constantino: Yeah.
554
01:06:06.990 --> 01:06:14.130
Rocco Constantino: That was a great yeah the 60s in there and quality joyner a great season to be an angels fan. I'm a bit lost in the
555
01:06:14.520 --> 01:06:16.110
Rocco Constantino: Mail so
556
01:06:16.260 --> 01:06:18.570
Hong Lieu: Tough series Donnie Donnie Moore Donnie.
557
01:06:19.770 --> 01:06:20.760
Hong Lieu: Oh,
558
01:06:21.270 --> 01:06:32.370
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, but I mean that those are. That's one of the best postseasons in baseball history when you take a look at both League Championship Series and the World Series. And I'm not just saying that because the Mets one
559
01:06:34.080 --> 01:06:36.150
Rocco Constantino: Yes, you are. Yes, you are.
560
01:06:38.220 --> 01:06:38.790
Akil Hill: Yes, you are.
561
01:06:40.680 --> 01:06:50.640
Rocco Constantino: Every series man came, came down to it was everything was so high pressure and every series was so dramatic and a l&l in the World Series.
562
01:06:52.020 --> 01:06:54.270
Rocco Constantino: It was just, it was great to see but
563
01:06:55.440 --> 01:07:00.720
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, it's it'll be it'll be interesting to see what happens. This year, that's for sure. Yeah.
564
01:07:00.750 --> 01:07:04.920
Hong Lieu: That's, that's definitely a good note to sign out on you can talk about hype up the 86 Mets championship team.
565
01:07:09.120 --> 01:07:11.250
Hong Lieu: Thank you very much, Rocco for coming on the show.
566
01:07:13.680 --> 01:07:13.980
Rocco Constantino: Yeah.
567
01:07:15.360 --> 01:07:15.720
Rocco Constantino: Sorry, I
568
01:07:16.440 --> 01:07:17.100
Hong Lieu: got excited
569
01:07:17.490 --> 01:07:21.930
Rocco Constantino: But now, thank you to you guys for inviting me and talking. It's
570
01:07:22.800 --> 01:07:31.020
Rocco Constantino: You know, we've been doing our best with the shut down and locked down and. Well, one of the things I miss the most is being able to interact with our students, you know, and like
571
01:07:31.410 --> 01:07:43.200
Rocco Constantino: My friends at work. So it's always great to be able to, you know, talk to you guys. Informally, and not on zoom meetings or things like that. So yeah, it's it. This is a lot of fun. I really appreciate it. Yeah.
572
01:07:44.460 --> 01:07:47.250
Rocco Constantino: Yeah, it's a great. It's a great idea that you guys are doing to
573
01:07:48.690 --> 01:07:49.230
Hong Lieu: Get back
574
01:07:49.320 --> 01:07:53.160
Hong Lieu: Get back to planning the crazy spring that awaits you. So, yeah.
575
01:07:54.000 --> 01:07:56.520
Rocco Constantino: That's for sure. And that's, that's exactly what I'm going to be doing.
576
01:07:57.540 --> 01:08:04.860
Hong Lieu: And as always, we will be student focused and the SPC community will be will be there for everyone. All right, thank you so much thank
577
01:08:05.100 --> 01:08:05.220
You
578
01:08:06.720 --> 01:08:07.500
Hong Lieu: Until next time.
579
01:08:08.910 --> 01:08:09.930
Rocco Constantino: All right. Thanks a lot, guys.
580
01:08:10.020 --> 01:08:10.320
Hong Lieu: All right.
581
01:08:10.380 --> 01:08:11.520
Akil Hill: Thank you. Bye.