Akil and Hong welcome SBCC Vaqueros baseball coach Jeff Walker to talk athletics and what it takes to play and be involved in college baseball and beyond. From there, the conversation shifts to Halloween scrimmages in full costume, Guicho's in Carp, Metropulos in the funk zone, Blender's in the Grass, Mangione's Italian Ice, Tondi Gelato, and everyone's first customer service jobs: Blockbuster video, Wienerschnitzel, and Von's.
Mentioned in this episode:
SBCC Baseball - https://www.sbccvaqueros.com/sports/bsb/index
Santa Barbara Foresters - http://sbforesters.org/
Santa Barbara Sky Soccer Team - https://www.independent.com/2022/07/12/introducing-the-santa-barbara-sky-football-club/
Student Transfer Tracer - https://statenews.com/article/2022/03/what-and-how-does-the-transfer-portal-work
Vaquero Transfers - https://sbccvaqueros.com/sports/bsb/vaquero_transfers
Paul Goldschmidt - https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/goldspa01.shtml
Tyler Gilbert - https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gilbety01.shtml
Loyola Marymount University - https://www.lmu.edu/
SBCC Baseball Halloween Scrimmage - https://sbccvaqueros.com/sports/bsb/video/SBCC_Baseball_Halloween_Scrimmage
Guicho’s Carpinteria - http://guichos.com/index.html
Metropulos Santa Barbara - http://metrofinefoods.com/
Blenders in the Grass - https://www.drinkblenders.com/
Blenders Secret Menu - https://www.drinkblenders.com/secret/
Coastal Cone Ice Cream Ventura (pineapple float) - https://www.coastalcone.com/
Mangione’s Italian Ice - https://mangionesitalianice.net/
Granita - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granita
Tondi Gelato - https://tondigelato.com/
Blockbuster Video - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_LLC
Aliens - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_(film)
Top Gun - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gun
Shawshank Redemption - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption
Wienerschnitzel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wienerschnitzel
The Forever Story by JID - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_Story
Ms. Fat Booty by Yaasin Bey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZvjiLbDQq8
Black Radio 3 by Robert Glasper - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Radio_III
Von's Montecito - https://local.vons.com/ca/montecito/1040-coast-village-rd.html
Captions Provided by Zoom
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Akil Hill: Hello and welcome to another episode of SBCC Vaquero Voices, a podcast highlighting the unique voices that comprise our campus culture, and how we're all working together to serve our students and the community at large. As usual I'm joined by co-host Akil Hill. What's good y'all?
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Akil Hill: And today we are honored to welcome Jeff Walker to the show. Welcome, Jeff:
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Akil Hill: Yeah, thanks for having me guys. I've been waiting for this podcast,
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Jeff Walker: hey? Uh first time call or longtime listener.
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Akil Hill: Yeah,
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Hong Lieu: I love that. I love that. So you are the baseball coach at Sbcc.
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Jeff Walker: And what where the season runs roughly in terms of timeframe. Are you? Are you like raring up right now, or where? Yeah, Well, the competition's competition where a spring sport. So we will start the end of January, but we have off-season training, which starts the first day of school.
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Jeff Walker: Um. So you know California, community, college baseball is a a year round or a college baseball in general is a year-round commitment.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, So So folks are technically off-season But you're already. Working. You're already putting in those bases and we have A. I mean, It's a pretty successful program. Here. We have a lot of players that go on to you know bigger and better things, and and sounds like You've been pretty successful through the year. So I mean, what does it take from you and your team, I mean, is it just
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Hong Lieu: that guy's just all in. I know that, but I mean it's It's it's hard to kind of understate or overstate how much they're how hard they're working. Even now in the quote Unquote off season as we start school, and they've got all the things going on educationally, but they've got to really put in that work, you know on the side, too. So that's just a huge time for me. It's got to be
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Jeff Walker: Yeah, I mean playing college athletics is, you know it's It's it's a full time job, you know, for a student athletes California community, college baseball is a long history and long tradition of success and moving guys on to four-year level moving on to pro ball. I mean
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Jeff Walker: everybody from you know. Tom Siever played community, college, baseball, Jackie Robinson play community, college, baseball. So California community, college baseball. So there's we have a lot of a lot of past history and success around the State. California is a baseball state because of the weather and and population. So it's fortunate with that. What it kind of starts with is,
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Jeff Walker: you know, I mean having people, you know committed, and you know, looking to enhance their opportunity. So which is, you know, I play California community college baseball, and the reason I do what I do to open up avenues and create opportunities for the student athletes coming in whatever their opportunities, is either attending a four-year school or playing at that four year school. We consider our hands as our our program as ah as a multiplier, and you know, enhancing those options with guys.
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Hong Lieu: Does it help having a team like the foresters in town, or is that kind of negligible
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Jeff Walker: in terms of Well, the way we kind of look at it is, You know, the success of Ucsb. The success of the foresters, and the success of Westmont does, you know, help attract players to our school? You know Santa Barbara, you know, and
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Jeff Walker: you know, when we look at players. There's always some sort of association with guys that
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Jeff Walker: you did. They knew someone that went to our school and you something That's one of the questions I asked for reading process starts. So there's usually some association with something. So having, you know, a team that is successful on like the Foresters, you. Csb: Success for Westmont. Uh. I've been successful for the last couple of years. I think all those things to help uh draw people to our campus. Um, and it's kind of the first that we use. We recruit locally, but we track national. So Um: yeah, the success of our program, the success of those other programs
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Jeff Walker: certainly helped put Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College on the map. We've even gotten some stuff with somebody who was driving north on one on one, and they saw I saw science at the Sbc. City costs. I would to look you up and give us a call. So even the freeways. Language can help draw some kids some interest to our school.
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Hong Lieu: Oh, yeah, I work in a marketing. Communications and pictures of the campus
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Hong Lieu: are definitely a huge selling point, I mean, even if you're like the football stadium being right by the beach, I can see they announced that deal with the Soccer Club coming next year, and everything which is a beautiful location on a great place to go to school. So, in terms of you having the players for two years.
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Hong Lieu: Do you have priorities, or it just just depends on the player, or in terms of like, or you know you don't get them as long as some other places. What do you hope to impart on them, or what do you get, You know, accomplished while they're at City College?
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Jeff Walker: Well, you know It's It's one of those uh
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Jeff Walker: things with the, you know, just when you see them just starting to get it and figure things out. It's time for them to move on. So two years is kind of a ah a short span, as far as developing them as a player developing them as a person. Um, but I mean the things and the habits, you know, on and off the field
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Jeff Walker: that they develop here. Those are the same things that they're going to take with them when they do transfer to four-year schools. So i'm a community college athlete when they play you know at a higher level division, one school, a power Five school,
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Jeff Walker: you know. Those coaches are looking for those guys to come in and and play. But more importantly, they're looking for those players to come in and meet because they are, you know,
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Jeff Walker: I would say, on the older side, they are juniors rather than a freshman right from high school. So we try to. That's one of the things that we try to instill in our program is, you know, developing leaders, and so they can take those things with them when they do transfer, because again they're they're they're going to have to solely rely on their athletic ability or their skill, and they go to the some of the schools it's you know they did. Those coaches are recruiting them
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Jeff Walker: from our program because we've had success, but they also know what they're getting with the product, and I think that's one of the things that they value the most. With that,
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Jeff Walker: you know. Culture of our program is our guys, you know they generally have a good time. Um repeat, Business is a big, strong thing where we have former players that go on to four-year schools, and maybe some of those kids Aren't having the best experience. They'll draw them back to our school. We just had one recently from A. You know, a former player that you know Keel knows pretty well to play it with Guardino Brian, or you know, and you know he contacted us and said Ryan had good things to say about our school, so he's looking to
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Jeff Walker: to transfer in. Ah, hopefully. Next week, when we started school, I said, I've got to get going a little bit, Guy. Um, but those are some, you know, some certainly positives. Um that we have in the repeat business, and you know the student's success that we do have on the field,
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Akil Hill: You know. I I feel that you know um, you know i'm one of the things I do is athletic eligibility for the college, and and so I I get a you know I get to see how it all kind of plays out, and and and what I think I really recently kind of come to. The conclusion is that
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Akil Hill: the community is small. I feel like the baseball community is small. And so, while you think of the Santa Barbara. Maybe, you know, in terms of population not that big of a city or a town, but I really feel like everyone, especially in baseball
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Akil Hill: are really inter woven in a lot of ways, and it's a small community. It's not as big as you know. We think it. It actually is, you know I got a tracer for Ryan Gardino on my desk right now
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Akil Hill: that I sent out to University of Alabama.
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Akil Hill: So
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Akil Hill: that's a girl tried that's a shot out to
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Akil Hill: It's a turn out to Jeff, too, because I know he runs an amazing program. I see a lot of tracers from Ah, from kids that were once in a program that have, you know, moved on to four-year Ah D, one schools and a lot of schools there's a lot of schools in general not only deep one, I think. Sometimes we caught up, and you have to go d one, but there's a lot of places and a lot of tracers that I get constantly for baseball guys um moving on to uh, you know,
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Akil Hill: for your school. So that's a shout out to you, Jeff in the program. I'm a big fan of what you do.
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Jeff Walker: You know you? You touched on something, too. I think that's important, is It's not just you know, with the four-year schools or the division one schools. It's other schools that they get an opportunity to play or maybe possibly pay for college, which is an important thing as well, but I mean we have a lot of guys, too. I mean, we had two alcoholasters team that got into Ucla that they didn't get into Ucla at a high school. So
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Jeff Walker: you know, coming to our our campus and and being a part of our our program and our structure, you know, allowed them, and that's what we're about like decisions, so I can play at this school, and maybe the degree is not the best, and I go to this school. Maybe it's a little bit there. Those are all good things, and those are all good choices, and you know
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Jeff Walker: even the guys that go off and play at, you know, really cool schools that play football on Saturdays and our Vcs schools. They always say, you know, like of how creative experience they had, you know, at our school and our program, and that's that's really the really cool thing. And then how tight the relationships are with those players.
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Jeff Walker: You know the the the Jc. Bond. I mean It's It's It's a real thing with those guys, too,
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Hong Lieu: and and that's one of the things that people you know it. It mirrors the other side, too, when you go to the schools for a degree, and you want to get a job somewhere like in in the moment, you think. Oh, the school really matters. The degree really matters in the grand scheme of things. It's just the experience of going to school like. If you're playing community, college, baseball, you're playing,
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Hong Lieu: you know, four-year ball at d one to two d three You're playing like college athletics. I mean there's a level of excellence there that you had to get to, and it's It's just amazing matter what it's like when you get your degree. It doesn't matter what school you got from you finish that degree. I mean you. You need that. That's correct to get a job at a lot of places. I mean that just just be able to to make the cut and and just just hack it in a full blown. That's a you know, like It's not professional sports, but it's right knocking on the doorstep in a in a like semi-professional locker room,
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Hong Lieu: being able to to come together with a bunch of folks and make something happen and compete at at the highest level. I mean that that goes a long way, and especially because for a baseball player, especially the path
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Hong Lieu: to professional employment like it goes through the minor leagues, and the minor leagues is not always, you know it's not always the rose tinted glasses of college athletics, where they'll probably be looking back on their college experience like it doesn't matter what school that was, that was way better than you know, like hoagies out of a gas station, convenience or all. I'm on the bus getting on the next stop on it in single a or something. So yeah, it's it's It's
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Hong Lieu: a definite concrete, no matter what. And And the program sounds sounds great. So
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Hong Lieu: good job. Yeah, coach jelly.
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Jeff Walker: I appreciate it. So
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Akil Hill: hey, do you keep a running tab of like. How many players you've transferred on, or how many players that you have been drafted professionally? I mean, I would think that you would baseball. You're yeah, we have on our website. We we try to update as far as Guys transferring on, and the majority of them are, you know,
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Jeff Walker: guys to transfer on to play at a four-year level, and actually in the process of kind of trying to change their updates on that website and stuff, too, because I don't think that's you know you got kids that transfer on to you know again before your school or degrees degree. Also family mail. Personally thing is, you know, guys that graduate from those schools who might use it.
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Jeff Walker: Dirty secret. I use it recruiting. It's like I have, you know, got Copfield graduated from Ucla, and, like he's, got his degree, and he sends it to me and I. I show parents like, Hey, listen. He's got a degree from Ucla. You know he doesn't have a stamp or an asterisk because he went to Junior College, you know. So we we use that.
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Akil Hill: You know of the people on, you know, in Santa Barbara City, you know that's on our website,
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Jeff Walker: you know, overall, and you know the fortunate, you know, to the path to get here, you know, coach some, you know. I think it's. I don't know. Sixteen or eighteen guys have a fortunate to, you know. Make it to the the big League level and play, which is pretty pretty cool to see. Probably most noteworthy player and coach in the summer with Paul Goldsmith. So
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Jeff Walker: Wow, yeah, Well, a little little little known back. Then there's no chance. He listened to this, but uh, we actually he was. He's a gold lover in the Big Leagues, and he was actually really, I mean, you could always hit that wasn't the greatest defender, and we actually uh had defensive replacements for him at the end of the game. So shows you, if you work on your craft uh how you can kind of turn those negatives into a positive uh the guys that I just an all star with a gold glove when they're in big leaks.
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Akil Hill: Who knows? He may listen to the podcast, Jeff don't you never know don't sell, so don't sell a short,
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Akil Hill: so so for kidding one one guy that is a big, you know, advocate of our school and resource that we use as a guy that pitched for us in thirteen and fourteen Tyler, Gilbert Um. From Santa Cruz area. It came down and played for us Uh. Transferred to Usc. And then got wrapped in, signed at a Usc.
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Jeff Walker: Pitches on the Arizona diamond backs. He threw a note, hit her last summer in his first big League start. So that was pretty cool.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I remember watching that on Espn I saw that I was like, Wait a minute. I see the tracer out of this guy
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Akil Hill: the name, the name it was all to. And then I think you sent me a text, and you were like you had set the article in. I was like I I knew him by his name just from sitting in the the tracer. Usc: Yeah, that's pretty awesome. That's pretty cool,
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Hong Lieu: so I guess, in terms of for kids up and coming before they get to city college or playing high school ball, or just. But even even before that. Is there anything that you could in terms of tips to prepare them for the college athletic experience? I mean, because they're you know they're always doing the fundamentals of doing this and that. Are there any like variables or intangibles that you can just kind of
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Jeff Walker: just pass on just any advice you could pass on to folks who are getting ready to make that transition.
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Jeff Walker: Well, I I think that you know the being able to. You know It's easy to say. Put the work end, or or embrace the grinds um, and brace the process of it. But I I look at kids that you know don't have as much success
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Jeff Walker: when they do get to college or people that want things really quick and Aren't necessarily willing to put in the work, I think
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Jeff Walker: two is, you know, playing college athletics is a big thing. It's not for everybody and our school's not for everybody in a program for everybody. So one of the questions that I ask in coming kids are possible Recruits is, why do you want to play college baseball? You know? What do you want to do afterwards. And I think you know
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Jeff Walker: kids, you know, have to understand the you know the you know. I think community college, you know, especially me and community, college baseball or caliphate people. Maybe we get sold a little bit short, and I don't realize how how competitive it actually is. And
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Jeff Walker: you know I had a kid, you know, a kid, I guess maybe one of the things don't take it lightly a story. I had a kid that he actually went to the same high school. I did, and he was an outfielder. Same position I played, and I recruited him
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Jeff Walker: first week. He was taking groundballs at third base, and I was kind of like You're an outfielder like,
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Jeff Walker: you know. What are you doing at third base? It goes well. That was high School. My high school was really good, but you know it was just junior college. I could play a third base. He lasted four days, and then he was like this is, too. You're too good. I got you got to go someplace else. So
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Jeff Walker: it was, you know, taking things, I think, a little bit lighter than they are. And understand this. This is, you know it's It's a It's a big time commitment committing to, you know, not just the fall. So that we ask for guys right now commit to the fall like don't worry about.
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Jeff Walker: You know where guys are not going and who's not calling, or or those things you got to get through, especially freshman,
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Jeff Walker: You know that fall semester of their freshman year, and we kind of benefit being a spring sport. I think There's a lot of things that we can do to put in place to, you know. Help them transition into college,
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Jeff Walker: especially if they're from out of the area where you know Mom and Dad Aren't waking them up. You know they they got college classes, you know everybody at the beginning in college class. They don't think that they're you know. They let those things pile up time management skills. Those are all things that you know
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Jeff Walker: we're trying to develop as they get, you know. Go through and and come here. So I mean those are, you know those are, you know, adulting, you know you're an adult like you're eighteen to twenty, one years old, of learning some of those skills to to make you successful. You know, when you leave here, and that's the things that you get with with athletics, and I think Keel said is
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Akil Hill: maybe you know some people have lost sight of. You know the importance of that. So it's why I was early to this zoom, you know, or this podcast is like I'm still afraid my coach is going to run me because I was gonna be late, You know I've played in a long time. So you know just some of those those those things that you do get from that.
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Yeah,
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Akil Hill: one thing. Ah, no, go ahead. You know. One thing that I, I think, is, you know, really understood, stated, but such a huge thing, and and why, you know. I think that our our sports programs are so good in that sense is that
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Akil Hill: you you're automatically. If you're an athlete, you're coming into a built-in community, you know, and and and so you
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Akil Hill: you know, whereas the the traditional student that's not involved in athletics, you know they come to the institution, and they're kind of like, you know. You worry about trying to find people similar friends, and if you, if you're an athlete that's already built in for you, you know you're already around a bunch of athletes that have, you know, been working on their craft just as much as you, and it's a built in support system,
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Akil Hill: and that's one of the blessings of being a student athlete at Santa Barbara City cost as well as other institutions.
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Hong Lieu: And it's a great story That's a great story you told Jeff, because it really highlights
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Hong Lieu: the fact that I mean you can peak early, and you can, and you can't take success for granted, because I mean at peak. Athleticism is doing your best always, and really pushing yourself to be better than your best at all times, seeing what else you can squeeze out looking for more efficiencies, you know, and the reason you have. You know your teammates in the middle of that camaraderie is looking at what we'll see how they work and and getting tips from them, and and really always trying to be better every day, you know. So when someone comes in thinking i'll just I'll just take Grandma's a third, and i'll be there.
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Hong Lieu: You have to work to be the best outfit that you can be. I mean you haven't made it. You haven't made it anywhere. You're not on the show. You're not doing this. So what is this like? I'm good like. I can just kind of post on my laurels like your laurels. Aren't aren't long enough to be really kind of like acting like you. You made it to anything in this game, and that's that's kind of like. It's a good-limited test. It's it's, you know it's It's something that It's a good point that you brought up. Another point you mentioned is is that fall semester? I mean to jump up in terms of not just athletically, you know, high school to college athletics, but academically
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Hong Lieu: jumping up for taking classes in high school. Or maybe you were taking like basketball, leaving for your six period, you you. You went home after lunch to your first fall semester at at City College. You're going to be working. You might have to be going office hours. You might have to be asking for extra help tutoring sessions. I mean, that's a lot of time where, yeah, you have to be really diligent and discipline to kind of maintain both that academic excellence, excellence, as well as keeping up with the physical aspects of athletic competition that you may change.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, it's.
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Jeff Walker: It's. If you mentioned it. It's a grind, and and you've got to be willing to put in that, you know. Put in that work and write it out. I mean me Personally, I am absolutely not able to do that. I have terrible time-manage skills. And I you're talking about making people run I haven't run since. Yeah, I I can't think about the last time I went for an actual run run that wasn't involved in playing a game. So yeah, I could never do it. But I I applaud all the athletes to do it, and I applaud you for for helping help, and be a a guy along the path to
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Akil Hill: well, as it kind of. There's a couple things that you know we say with the has to the commitment, as you know, you say. If you if you do things right. You work hard and do things right. The game will reward you. But the the contract you sign with that is, you don't get to pick when that game rewards you, and you don't get to pick for how long
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Jeff Walker: and so that's kind of the thing is, if they're all in, you know it might be one year. It might be two years. It might be a game. It might be a week, but it will reward you at some point. But you don't get to pick for how long?
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Jeff Walker: Um! And I think a lot of times, you know kids will come in and they're afraid to, you know. Jump in. They just want to, you know. Put their toe in front of there, and you know kind of go,
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Jeff Walker: you know. And then the other two things. As I say, it's kind of a a negative thing which is a reality, and some of them it kind of you know, hits them. And then you know they kind of regroup from it is I. I'd say that their baseball career is ending. I'm just starting,
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Jeff Walker: you know. I'd say, Hey, this, You know. You guys don't maybe be fortunate enough to play for four years College and a freshman maybe kick it around a year or two, and especially. Maybe some guys will, you know, make it to the Big Leagues, but they've been playing baseball since they're six years old, you know. They're eighteen and twenty one. Their career is any. So this is a path to, you know,
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Jeff Walker: you know. Figure out, you know, where to go or to graduate from. Develop those skills and kind of move on. And what that's saying is what Keel said is the support system that they do have of being on a team.
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Jeff Walker: You know the resources that we do have in our institution are phenomenal. Um, you know I I've heard other people speak on here is almost like you have to try and fail. You know what the resources that we have for students I mean student athletes is another thing, too, that I keep. You know.
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Jeff Walker: You know we have kids that will, you know. Sometimes they'll just quit, you know, and say, you know I use. They kind of quit before they fail. Maybe things get too too hard, or they don't really see that they're going to start. So why am I going to put in all this time and effort. And the thing they always say is that I don't need to focus on school,
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Jeff Walker: but they always say, and so I mean It's been maybe less than half a dozen and twelve years that have quit. Ah, like during the season, or you know, right before the season, and they keep a running toll and their gpas when they're on the team. We're much higher than when they're off the team,
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Jeff Walker: and so that's the only thing I always go back is, you know that's a support system, that they that they that they have with that So um, and it's great, and then those resources and the other, you know thing is in, you know. We haven't, you know, and a keel knows this we always have. We had almost one, but we haven't had anybody ineligible academically,
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Jeff Walker: which is an awesome thing to do with the resources that we have with. You know our academic advisors, and you know Joanne and Michael, and you know, and that's a That's a pretty cool thing as well.
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Jeff Walker: That's definitely something to hang your hat on. Because again, even as a student without any athletic possibilities. I was not able to keep my Ga above back, you know, like I can have a probation levels for of quite a few quarters. So yeah, that's that's that's a great accomplish definitely Something hanging your head on swells. All the transfers, because I mean a championships are great, too, but number of people, and you know human lives that you've changed or made better. I mean, Yeah, that's That's
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Hong Lieu: That's why we do it here at City College. So
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yeah,
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Hong Lieu: Well, but
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Hong Lieu: we'll be looking forward to the season when it gets started in the spring, but until then we're going to segue to what brought you at Sbcc. So, coach, if you want to kind of run through your path here. I know you mentioned before the show that you were from the Bay area. But Ah, what brought you South South down in these parts?
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Akil Hill: It sounds like a an interview question. Um, like I said, I was a community college athlete at the at Roy Lamar, which is a small division, one great experience there to experience being a college, which is why I do what I do
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Jeff Walker: after graduating, and a chance to play Continue playing um, you know. Independent ball could have signed for maybe some, you know, a plane ticket or or peanut. But I I kind of was at this point. I I knew I wanted to coach
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Jeff Walker: baseball. I didn't necessarily know what I wanted to do with baseball, so I
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Jeff Walker: at twenty three I started coaching high school and back in the bay area, and it starts over high School, and then they were kind of like, hey? Why don't you substitute teach? So I sort of substitute teaching, or the Gb. Coach, and then they're like, hey? We have a classified job on campus, and they did that, and the next year the ah Rc. Coach left, said, Hey, I want you to be an athletic director. Oh, we also have a peeing classes over. Why don't you go to your credential?
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Jeff Walker: So
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Jeff Walker: five years later i'm an athletic director, i'm a varsity baseball coach, and i'm doing a lot, and Those were great experiences and those great great people that I work with. And I was kind of like, you know.
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Jeff Walker: I think I want to do coach, college, baseball or community college baseball. I switched schools and started teaching a different school in the East Bay and started coaching at a community college as an assistant. So two years of that I also found out I had one master's
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Akil Hill: in education. I got a part of my credential, and then I found out that I need to get another masters in kines for exercise science to be eligible for a full-time faculty position when a job came open. So I went through. Got that
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Jeff Walker: um interview for some some jobs and community college jobs their full time. No one ever leaked So those jobs don't open, too off. So you kind of look at the part time Route
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Jeff Walker: um
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Akil Hill: apply and interview for some spots. It kind of looked at my resume. What was missing off my resume that maybe some other people had, or experiences that they had, and that was division. One experience, four-year experience in the summer of years
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Jeff Walker: kind of go through it. It's eight, nine, ten, eleven, nine, ten, eleven. So I think this summer of two thousand and eight. There was a coaching change in my Alma Mater Weaylor, Marymont brand new head coach.
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Jeff Walker: Um I to be on a staff. You retain the other two assistants, and I was working as a number three assistant, which division one says it sounds pretty cool, except the pay is zero dollars. So I packed up.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I packed up all my stuff. I put it in a storage unit. I moved out of my apartment. Um slept on the buddy's couch. I took the oath of poverty to ah better myself. It was a great experience. It was very experienced coaching, you know, high level
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Jeff Walker: and division. One players get that experience on my resume. So I did that for parts for three seasons down there, while everything with the goal of hopefully getting a community college job again. Not a whole lot of jobs open up the community college,
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Akil Hill: and that's it, maybe on average two a year in the state of there's eighty. Ah, because again, when when guys get these jobs they don't leave for for good reason. They're great jobs with fantastic jobs. They tell everybody I have the best job in college baseball, and then let's work. If there was an opening at at Santa Barbara.
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Jeff Walker: There was a long time head coach here. It was a long time, I guess. I'm a long time. Head coach now in year. Twelve. A guy was here ten years Teddy Worker. He left for Cal Poly, and then there was a guy in between for one year, and then the job opened up. And here, aunt, so I wasn't completely, I mean my brother went to Ucsb. So I was familiar with Santa Barbara.
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Jeff Walker: Um, You've been to Santa Barbara, and you know again I I couldn't. I always talk about all the the places that I didn't get junior college jobs. Were not the most desirable place to live
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Jeff Walker: So in something. You tell your student athletes, as things do happen for a reason. So again, Don't get to pick when their game reward you. But it will reward you at some point
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Hong Lieu: that that's a great story, because I mean
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Hong Lieu: in terms of that that turning point when you were a number three assistant. You knew it was good experience. You had paid evidence, but you were making zero, but you know Zero, and you you talk about embracing the grind and and working, you did what you had to do to make that situation work for you, you you couchs, or whatever you had to do to survive on on zero dollars for X amount of years, and and you wouldn't be here today, if not for that experience. But how many folks would look at that situation and say,
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Hong Lieu: this is unreasonable. This is unfair like this is not just, you know, like i'm out, I can't do this like I need to be making money, but I mean the sacrifice you had to make and make that work, and and you know it worked out, But, holy cow like. If I had that choice, I would have made the wrong decision, because you made the right decision in terms of where it led you on the daylight, and you had to keep making right decisions after that, of course. But, holy cow, that's that's quite a
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Hong Lieu: crisis of confidence right there in terms of what are you going to do? How are you going to get it done? And you just did it? You moved out. That's hustle right there. That's amazing.
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Jeff Walker: It's kind of the same thing with kids that choose to go to community college versus if they have a four year opportunity is they're betting on themselves, Um, you know, and that was kind of what was told to me out of high school We had a couple of four-year opportunities, I think goal was to play division, one level baseball, and someone said, Hey, what? Those other places will still be there
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Jeff Walker: after two years and anyways, we'll see how it kind of how you could go, and I think that was the way that I looked at it, too, whereas what I was doing I can always go back and teach high School pe someplace,
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Akil Hill: you know. I might not get the opportunity to coach the division one school, or let that go forward to what my dream was to to, you know, teach and coach at the Community College.
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Jeff Walker: Um! And it's just amazing that. And the other part of The story, too, is actually got turned down for the job once. So um I They brought me back a year after, and I was like they're asking me the same questions they asked me before, and i'm like Well, you didn't like me the first time, like you know. So it's just again. It's just one of those one of those things
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Jeff Walker: you know. It's easy to say now, when you go through it, of being patient and working hard, and you know good things will happen, and that's kind of the message that you try to convey with people that you're on. Certainly the the student athletes that you are, and I I tell my story with my players, you know, and I go through the list of places. The the nose that I got
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Jeff Walker: um actually an ironic one
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Jeff Walker: is. Ah, my! My high school, my Alma Mater. I applied for a job there, and didn't even make the second round of interviews, and at the time I was a high school head coach, and I knew we all have those dear John letters, or the rejection letters, but I I have it laminated, and it sits in my office, and
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Jeff Walker: you know I see the athletic director that said, No, I don't know. Years ago now eighteen, nineteen, twenty years, and I was.
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Jeff Walker: I don't know if I' to say thank you, or that's kind of a thing. But I do have that just to remind myself, or be thankful for the opportunities I didn't get.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, yeah, that's a brilliant point, because, you know, you know, I think sometimes like what you're saying with. You know a lot of young athletes coming in. They're just not patient with the process. And for me, um! A part of the process, too, is
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Akil Hill: having setbacks or challenges. Right so, and and and and sometimes people hang it caught up in those spaces. That's never the end of the story. If you're if you believe in you. You know your buildings. It's never the end of the story, but it
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Akil Hill: it's a part of the story, and that type of of you know, being rejected or not getting what you felt, you should have
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Akil Hill: um that. Actually, I think a lot of growth comes out of that, and sometimes we just don't see it. And so we're actually on the other side. You know what I mean. Like the the opportunities that you like. All this will be perfect. You don't get it,
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Akil Hill: and then you go back to Plan B, and then you end up where you want to be, and then you start to think about. You know what i'm glad you know that wasn't for me at that particular moment in time, you know. And then I also like the piece that you're talking about to kind of,
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Akil Hill: you know, when the students are betting on themselves when they come to the Ah, you know Community college for two years, and how other institutions, or four-year institution or other colleges will still be there after two years. You know I feel like we're we're doing our students. Ah, our student athletes and disservice by telling them all the time that there's only one way to get to college. It's like basically trying to tell me it on the freeway, and everyone's, you know, every way. This is the only way. We know that there's other alternate routes. Um, and we gotta really start. You know,
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Akil Hill: kind of changing the narrative about community college, and especially for local kids. I mean It's It's the best thing for them, you know, and you know. I've been in Santa Barbara for a long time, and you know, shut out. I'm glad You' to mention Teddy Worker, because his family is a local baseball, like Legend family with Ted Orcher and his all the sons, but
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Akil Hill: just really being like changing the narrative around our community in college, you know, for a lot of the students. It's the best thing they can do. They like you said, Come in for two years, mature, Understand how to study, learn all the time management
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Akil Hill: I mean such a great opportunity, you know, and we got amazing coaches here at Santa Barbara City College. You know.
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Jeff Walker: The other thing, too, is, I think, that some of the local kids think the rest of the world looks like this.
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Jeff Walker: You'll explain to them. It Doesn't:
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Akil Hill: Yeah, yeah. And the weather is like this other places, and it I mean It's like twenty five degrees hot in la, right now. That's an hour away.
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Akil Hill: I get it when you're eighteen. You want to be like, I'm trying to spread my wings. You know what I mean. Sure, Yeah. And And that's where this message really resonates, because I mean
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Hong Lieu: everyone in their life has had to make, you know, go through similar kind of make a process, and really kind of go through similar. I mean not similar, but a lot of folks, you know, especially folks who are struggling There's a lot of situations that really feel like every just in it feels like a life depth, moment or spell going back, and I don't know what, and I don't know what to do. I don't know what the outcome is going to be like I I met a lot of those students growing up, and in the time I I you know at the time I wasn't sure if I made the right or a decision, and and us three, we all look back at the decisions that we had, and we we can see whether we're right or wrong with those keys in that moment.
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Hong Lieu: I mean, we feel that stress. We know how stressful to be, and we know, I mean just thinking about you, you coach you talked about. You had the choice where you could decide to, you know, to play more. All like, go to Minor League to do, you know, try to play more ball that way, But you decided not to do that, and it went around another way. I went to the coaching route. So there's there's always other path There's always a system made. You may not get them all right, but if you keep grinding and keep betting on yourself like coach did. I mean it. Things will kind of work themselves out. It may not be the one hundred percent ideal scenario that you'd visited
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Hong Lieu: for yourself but eighty ninety percent. I mean, that's still, you know, As an Asian parent A mine is still an A. So you know, eighty, eighty, nine, ninety percent. You still do it right, you know, even a even a B minus in this world. If you look at the health Sc in some areas of the world like we're doing good for ourselves, you know. So yeah, you're You're not trying to to optimize your outcome for one hundred percent success.
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Hong Lieu: You're just trying to survive and be successful. And yeah, nobody knows the answer to the decisions in the moment, especially because young folks don't listen to all folks like us. We can try to give all the lives in the world they want to live it. They want that empirical experiential experience evidence. I'm not going to deprive any of that. I want to the same thing. So yeah, you make your decisions. But you know, if you don't keep having to make those decisions like every three months, or every like You' on a regular basis, and keep pushing for success. Nothing's going to happen, no matter what I mean it. This is not just. There's not like one single decision where you say. Oh, yeah, I had regret it.
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Jeff Walker: It's like like thirty or forty big time. Life decisions that guide the path, you know, to where we are as old fogies today, you know. So it's one of the things where just I mean coach coach can have summoned it up any better. Bet on yourself, Brine work, and you and you lean on the people around you to help you work and grind and make better decisions in your life in the moment. Yeah, Because because you all young folks don't listen to those all folks. But some of the people around you. They this is the people around you you trust. And then in six months, when it turns out some of them you can't. You can't trust.
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Hong Lieu: Then revise and try again. But yeah, that I mean,
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Akil Hill: yeah, definitely. So coach Uh:
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Akil Hill: I got two things one you got to tell the listeners because i'm listening to you. And there's Bay area. And then there's also Los Angeles, because obviously Lmu is in. La: So yeah, I think I need to. I'm gonna to expose you and and ask you so. Are you a giants fan, or dodging fan
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Jeff Walker: transparency?
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Akil Hill: So I grew up with Giants fan grew up in the candlestick bar.
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Jeff Walker: I'm not as you know. It's one of those weird things right where it's it's,
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Jeff Walker: you know. I think there's people that are more majorly based. You know I look at the game in in a different different lens or a different perspective, because it's what I do professionally, and and I consider myself a teacher, so I always say that I I got into you know I I coach, which allowed me to teach. Now I teach. It allows me to coach. Ah, but yeah, I'm i'm a giants fan. I you know. So you can say what you want about what they're doing the last couple of years, and
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Jeff Walker: you know I can agree or disagree with them again. My brother's a Yankees fan, too, so you can't be too hard on me with that one
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Jeff Walker: as well.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, Yeah, no. That's cool. And then and then going to Lmu I mean most of our our roster. We had some guys from, you know, bay area and Northern California. But most of our roster was probably Southern California roster, so I had to had to go to college sharing it from. Ah, all the guys that were Dodger fans.
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Akil Hill: And then, secondly, I, you have to tell the the listeners about one of my favorite things. I think at Santa Barbara City College is what Jeff does with the baseball players every Halloween that's you gotta give. You got a You got a lot of people the listeners know to know about this and how they got started. This is an amazing thing.
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Jeff Walker: Well, i'm. I am a traditionalist, so we we do it on Halloween, which this year, I believe, falls on a Monday or Tuesday, which is great. So um we scrimmage and full costume,
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Jeff Walker: and it was something that I brought with me from a previous place that we had. It's kind of a thing that's kind of taken off,
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Jeff Walker: you know, with not just college, but high schools, you know.
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Jeff Walker: I was doing it before the social media explosion. Um, but we, our guys come in costumes. They play in costumes. Um, you know my costumes are usually the the sweetest um. I've seen everything from data to the Cookie Monster,
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Jeff Walker: and so do you let them choose the level of costume like, and they just put on one of those masks with a little elastic on the back and call the tossing. Are we talking like these guys are sweating in full makeup. They're like they're like. So don't get into it. So it's just also one of the weird things that I explain to them is the guys that are are the most into it,
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Akil Hill: or the teams. I should say that. Put the most thought behind it, and not, just, you know, show up with, you know they drag us some polo shirt on and say, i'm Coach Walker, or something like that
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Jeff Walker: the the ones that are most creative. I mean, those teams are generally go the farthest, and are the closest, and are the coolest, you know, with all that stuff. In one year we had a full on Jamaican bobsle team.
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Jeff Walker: They want to pull on like they They made the the bobsled. They were all like in unison, like they, you know, so that's always a cool one, too, and they have like theme costumes, and I don't know if the theme is going to be this year, but that's Ah!
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Jeff Walker: And then we pass our candy. So this is October the thirty first. If you're around Brushing Park, come, watch some baseball and costumes, and get some candy
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Akil Hill: i'm pull, i'm pulling up. Yeah, you enough, said costumes, candy, and high-level athletic play i'm sold,
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Jeff Walker: but I can't believe I I say to my desk and i'm swint bullets in the Halloween cost. But I can't imagine getting up and actually having to to play, especially if it it can be high in California and Halloween like it, it should try. Hit and try hit and pre-game. Ah! With a full on Cookie monster outfit, is that really test your your hand, eye coordination. But
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Jeff Walker: yeah, you got You got to. You got to lower the jugs for me. But there's videos, and there's a pictures. I mean doing it. So
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Hong Lieu: it's
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Hong Lieu: nice.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, I actually have what Cookie Monster dots as well. And I think I know which one you're talking about, for that thing is all Sweat City. That's Sweat City. Yeah. The The soup thing stopped bidding me a while ago, so I didn't you when you were the suit, and when you were the suit and the mask. Oh, that's my city right there. That's true. We'll have to. We'll have to try to dig for it and put it in the showdown because they they go viral.
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Oh, I'm: sure they're on my
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Akil Hill: Yeah,
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Akil Hill: yeah, yeah, So we'll have to do big for that
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Hong Lieu: awesome speaking of cookies segue into a good eating our food section. So a coach, any ah memorable meals that you've beaten at a restaurant, or cooked or grown up. If you want to kick us off what you got
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Jeff Walker: well, I mean before the note before the show is like, and they're probably my favorite one of my favorite places in town I live in, carved with, and um is guitar. So that's that's a solid solid spot, you know, as far as probably eat there too much,
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you know.
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Jeff Walker: Do you have a go? Do you have a go to there, or you get everything? You know what? Anything for them? There's there's really nothing bad there to be honest with you. It's almost like my my other one. Here in town is metropolis, so I keep there and then to make something.
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Akil Hill: Ah! That I won't eat! I don't even, you know I don't like fish, and I will, or order the tuna sandwich, and then they still it was so good. So um. And the droplet is good. Yeah, Yeah, my travel is is good. And then, you know, at home i'm
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Jeff Walker: like the barbecue. What can I say? So
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Jeff Walker: I mean Ah, I have a friend of mine who's a former coach, and actually an athlete director at another institution, and we send each other barbecue picks and see who's at?
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Jeff Walker: This grows a little bit a little bit better.
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Jeff Walker: Are you a pierced, Is it Weber, or bust, or what do you got?
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Jeff Walker: No, no, I'm getting, I guess I mean. And now the the
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Jeff Walker: I understand that you know that the when you do go with the Weber when the charcoal there's some positives at it like it gets you out of the house a lot longer,
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Jeff Walker: that's for sure, especially you know, you know, with a wife and mother-long kid, I can see that. But now we go, guys, that's fine.
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Jeff Walker: Yeah, It's convenient. And there's a lot of ways to get that smoke flavor on a gas grill again. You're not hurting for flavor on the gas. Go, and you can't beat the convenience only problems. If you don't have enough back of propane tanks, and you know there's always that reserve in the Okay, I always have someone warm it up in the whole pan.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, that's a that one a long time minimum, two tank minimum, two tanks, minimum, two tank rotation.
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Hong Lieu: You want to be running and halfway through a cook trying to get another tank, because I think that something always mess up with that tank, or it'll be a dud or it won't feel right? Yeah
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Akil Hill: with the the microwave is not an option.
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Akil Hill: I I will. I also live in cart, and I will confirm Jeff's story about bleachers. I see I've seen him multiple out of multiple occasions, walking out with a brown paper bag, or walking in or scooter in his, on his way to greetchos and around town. So he he does speak. The truth we chose is definitely a good choice. I Ah, you can't go wrong with me for anything from there as well.
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Hong Lieu: You can't beat their portion sizes. And then just the style of food is just that classic like, really clean, but really just delicious. And yeah for me, I mean it's. The portion sizes are my number one, but the food is just legit excellent, and across the board. You're right. I've had the I've had the Parmesan. I've had just their pasta
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Hong Lieu: red sauce. Pesto: Yeah, it's all good, and then metropolis. I remember when they used to at least only do the euro like on Fridays or one day a week. But now it's an everyday thing. So I definitely go to metropolis more than I used to as well, because yeah, they
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Akil Hill: they've been. They've been all the they were definitely in the fun of zone before when it was still funky. So yeah, they're part of the I I think about it. Yeah, no. I got. I got a a farm system. I got a I got a six man rotation. I got minor leagues. Yeah, there's a rest of like seven eleven in the single a like. I'm going. I get to ketos every now and then we got the chicken wings.
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Jeff Walker: They're not. They're not going to get the call up any time soon. But yeah, they don't mind they don't mind and hop on the bus for me. So yeah, when I need they're like a replacement player.
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Jeff Walker: They're the they're the player of your name. Later, you know the player would be new and a bucket of balls. They're the player to be named later in the trade. So for sure,
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Akil Hill: what i'm struggling the place is closed.
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Hong Lieu: Uh, thank you for that. Um. You want to go next to keel. You want me to go.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, i'll go next. All right. Um, i'm going local this time, and um and i'm sure anyone that lives in Santa Barbara knows the spot, but I felt like I have haven't shown it or given it. It's it's love, but local spot. It's since it's ninety degrees outside. We're in this heat wave.
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Akil Hill: I'm going to go blenders in the grass as my choice for this week blenders excellent movies. I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret
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Akil Hill: uh which this is like my own favorite uh one there. So on the menu they have a fifty. Well, first of all, they have a secret menu which you can find online if you just type in blenders uh secret men menu a whole bunch of different ones that will pop up that aren't on the traditional menu in the in the store
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Akil Hill: will come up like they have, like a lemon meringue one, they have a whole bunch of different ones. But you
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Akil Hill: this is my go-to, and and i'm i'm hoping they would at some point put this on the menu.
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Akil Hill: So I love, you know the fifty over fifty, like the like the cream sickle.
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Akil Hill: But this is what I do. I Usually I
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Akil Hill: I asked him not to put the orange shirt and asks or substitute the orange shirt for pineapple shirt. So basically it tastes like a dolewit, because you have the pineapple server it, and you have, like the like the cream from the you know the yogurt so that's my go-to. That's my own personal appeal hill for blenders in Santa Barbara. It's like a dolway. You as to substitute the orange sherb for pineapple, sherburn, and habitat
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Akil Hill: it that way. It basically takes like a dole whip. And so that is my choice. For the week I was talking to some of
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Akil Hill: the college of baseball or basketball players. I ran into them um on campus, and I met them and kind of exchanged phone numbers, and then one day they hit me up. They were like
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Akil Hill: Ah! They asked me where to go, and I saw you guys younger. You said, No, we're not that hungry. We just want something. So I I told him to go to blenders. And sure enough, like fifteen minutes later, there's there's too many photos of lenders um, and they're like they love it. So it's that's a state. One Santa Barbara.
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Akil Hill: You can't get out of Santa Barbara without ever trying to blender, So that's my pick for the week.
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Akil Hill: Blenders in the grass substitute
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Akil Hill: the orange sherber for a pineapple, Sherber, and it gets you a dull. It will taste it. Tastes just like a dull whit.
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Akil Hill: Yup and hungry.
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Hong Lieu: The
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I. There's a place in material, an ice cream place on the Harvard that will do dull whip, you know, and ordered as a dull. I maybe can't even call it that, because it's a Disneyland thing. But
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Hong Lieu: it will do like to actually like dole whip. Looks like in the cup. But I, when I get that crazy. I'm not trying to drive down a material, so I will definitely go to. I didn't know that pineapple sherber. I didn't know. I guess I don't know all the various flavors of Sherwood that exist in the world, so I never ever got that deep with it. But yeah, that's that sounds amazing. I don't know why I wouldn't get kind of up all the time.
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Akil Hill: Yep, try it, man. Tell me what you think. You know. I wouldn't need you a straight?
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Akil Hill: Oh, yeah, no, I haven't done it yet. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon.
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Akil Hill: What you got for us, because it's so hot. Yeah, on that same similar vein. I mean, Yeah, it's It's hot and cool down. I'm in a couple of local picks. Um place just open. They've been in construction for a while. Downtown on State Street in Santa Barbara, Mangiones, Italian ice, Italian ice. Italian ice is the time because, based on Uh
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Hong Lieu: Granitea or it's a Sicilian kind of chave ice dessert, but it's mainly in East coasting. Started in Jersey or in New York somewhere whereabouts there. But it's basically yeah, just
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Hong Lieu: like really finely shaved ice, but with fruit, flavors, or cherry and stuff like that they replace it a much a lot of place that's across the street from where the Mcdonald's used to be on Saturday over by the Granada Theater. But Italian Icbm. Had it. It's just really smooth, really flavorful, and just
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Hong Lieu: really really good when they got a lot. All the fruit flavors. They have some cream bass, but the ones I get are always the water-based, you know. It's like cherry strawberry, all the classic flavors. So yeah, mangion is tiny Nice. I'll put down the show nuts, and then along with for Gilado,
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Hong Lieu: saying they put it through Job. There's another J out of place on State tree, called Tone de Gelato. They're in Italian Galata place, and they were highly recommended to be by someone I know an Italian man that works at a bilateral, but he used to have. Ah, he used to run that Sri so Italian place, Nyla vista, and he says that's his. Go to Gilada Place. And when I went and tried out like
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Hong Lieu: it was very good, like, very good. And yeah, I guess the Italian stamp approval from him. So you got Tony Gelato and man dione's Italian, us
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Akil Hill: nice. Those are my picks.
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Hong Lieu: And with that we segue to higher learning. So, coach, you kick us off again. Piece of culture. Doesn't, You know, movie book Tv music, anything you got that has moved you over the years or yeah, that you're thinking of now.
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Akil Hill: But you got that's moved me over the years. There's a lot of things that they move me over here. We can. We can hit a ball or just
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Jeff Walker: um, you know I you know, coaching profession, teaching profession. I think there's you know, a lot of books that, you know breeding that kind of gets a lot of different things shoot back here. So it used to be much of a
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Jeff Walker: much more avid reader before it.
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Jeff Walker: You're gonna tell me twice. There was a point in time. I don't know if this is movie, but it's just a part of the coach. Walker trivia was. I worked at blockbuster people that even remember what blockbuster. So there was a time I literally saw, I think, every single movie ever made. And so I,
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Jeff Walker: you know, had my blockbuster employee pick. So maybe that's a trivia question, too, is, what was Coach Walker's employee picks back when he went to blockbuster in, you know, twenty five years ago. So he was aliens top gun,
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Jeff Walker: Shawshank redemption.
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Jeff Walker: These are some old movies,
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Jeff Walker: And just to confirm you're saying aliens with the S. That's not alien. I got it i'm sure. There's like one thousand. Now
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Hong Lieu: let's See, there's the four mainline ones, and then the alien versus predator, and then three new ones that you have to do the Prometheus alien resurrection. And you are like Ali. They have so like Seminar,
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Jeff Walker: just the second one say with just the second one:
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Jeff Walker: Yeah,
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Akil Hill: don't go past that, even if you
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Jeff Walker: Oh, come on, they're all pretty good, Everybody
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Akil Hill: I love it. They'll go past that
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Jeff Walker: locked into that one, and now they keep. They keep keep going forward with it.
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Jeff Walker: I I listen to a lot of podcasts, obviously. Um, you know.
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Jeff Walker: So I mean those are things I I continue to do during this day I mean i'm, you know, listening to talking to other coaches, I mean, you know. Again, coaching and teaching is a profession, so it's like It's a constant
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Jeff Walker: change, and it's not just sports specific things like I said a lot of things that we do try to instill with our players. You get kind of inspiration of, you know, other leaders or podcasts about leadership, and you know
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Jeff Walker: sport performance and a lot of those things that kind of go into that as well.
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Yeah,
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Hong Lieu: it picks it picks.
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Jeff Walker: Ali: you're talking about my blockbuster picks, of course.
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Jeff Walker: Yeah.
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Jeff Walker: So you saw the activities
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Jeff Walker: because there's people listening to what the blockbuster is. Zoom
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Hong Lieu: I had. I had one of my best friends who, when I worked at Blockbuster, and, like
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Hong Lieu: all the Perks, were great. But then, when he was working at the store like, he spent most of the time just like going around touching the videos because they were like being off on the shelf a little bit, so he'd have to like, poke him and like. Put him back straight and like sorting and and al advertising. I was like man. This must be the best job ever, and and he's like, you know It's It's It's pretty good. Yeah. Cause Because then, as blockchain kept expanding, he's getting access to everything you get, you get access to video games, and you got like the the the snack counter kept growing. So yeah, So
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Jeff Walker: my my favorite was they they made, you know they're living off of people that are forgetful right, and forget to return their videos. And you know pretty elaborate process back in the day. Right? They turn the videos in, and you you scan them, and then they just
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Jeff Walker: sake with the late feast. And then, when people come up, it was like, Hey, I have a late fee of eight dollars and fifty cents, and they're always shocked.
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Akil Hill: What? Yeah. Kind of like at a restaurant when you get the bill. And you're like, Wait, This can't be right like,
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Jeff Walker: Yeah, yeah. And the one
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Akil Hill: and the one thing he said is he would never charge in the rewind fees, because those will be the biggest fights because they'd always be like Tim Reynolds. You're crazy because I and and like it's not a. It's not a lot of money to be like fifty cents or a dollar, but it was always like the biggest fights where he was like. Okay, after a while i'm just not even bothering with that, because, like they fees. It's hard to argue with, but the rewind fees is like like that tipping point, where, like, if they're on the edge of they had a bad day, and you're trying to charge the the reward fee. Oh, they're definitely breaking something.
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Jeff Walker: We're scattering some videos. There's there's something that's those are funny things to think about it. You get you to talk about earlier. You know
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Jeff Walker: the experiences that you have. You know you try to help you know your your students and your student athletes out, and sometimes, you know they they. They want your advice, and they really don't, but they really don't want your advice. They've already made up their decision, and their parents have already made a decision that comes with the recruiting kids in. They always think back
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Akil Hill: those blockbuster days when people come up with two movies, and they say, have you seen either one of these? It's like, Oh, yeah, I've seen both of them. This one's good, and that one's not. And they're going to look at it and be okay. And then they put the one that I said, Wasn't any good up there right?
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Jeff Walker: Okay? Why'd you ask my opinion?
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Akil Hill: Oh, yeah, it's funny that. And then And then if you see when they come back and you know I told you right? I told you. I mean, you got to trust. You got to trust that knowledge like That's the thing nowadays. We have. Internet So the Internet's like this fount of knowledge like you, you can be an expert on anything and thirty, a quote unquote expert on anything in thirty minutes. But in the in those in the olden days you really had to trust to counter people the people that worked in the video store, the people that worked at the record store. Those people had time to listen to the things that you did not listen to you, and they could tell you
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Hong Lieu: whether I mean there were some things I mean, because just I mean,
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Hong Lieu: people feel like time is really really fast now. But even back then time was being very fast where we? He didn't have time to listen to everything. So you should trust that advice that people give you. If something is good or not, you know, like it wasn't much different than it was day in that respect. We're always going to be too busy, you know. Capitalism demands ever more efficient lifestyle. They just more and more efficiency. So we're always trying to optimize. So yeah, you got to trust that advice. But yeah, like I said earlier, if you're young, you want. You gotta live. You want to live it. You want to know for yourself,
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Hong Lieu: and with especially with film, the movies that are so bad they're good. I mean those ones that you stumble on, I mean like tremors and stuff like that which I term It's just the classic me, anyway. But it's one of those movies where, like, even if you don't respect it on that level like you gotta respect. Yeah, the the A tourist vision code, or like that. So with film you get that pass. Or maybe they were going for that. Yeah, with other life decisions there's no so bad it's a good life decision that involves like smoke cracking.
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Hong Lieu: So don't get it twisted.
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Akil Hill: And that's good advice.
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Akil Hill: So yeah, that's how the pics work. Any any knowledge you mean anything like that blog Buster just brought up this this whale, and that's that's what higher learning is all about It's the it's the pieces of the wisdom when you pick out in the margins, you know, like in those jobs like,
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Hong Lieu: Yeah,
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Jeff Walker: I think I think all those things you know, those experiences you have with positive and negative kind of shape. And again, if you don't don't dwell on the negative stuff, or the maybe the setbacks that you have. I mean, you use that information. There's those things going forward. So those of us that have work customer service shots understand that, you know, through
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Jeff Walker: not great jobs, because people, as you, you know, are your
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Jeff Walker: they? They are sure they rewind to that that video. They could not have possibly not rewind the video it does give you, you know experience, and you know, working with other people just like being on a sports team. You have a team that you have to work,
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Jeff Walker: you know You're not always going to like everybody on your team, so we say it's. You know you're not going to be friends with them all. But you have to figure out a way to work together as a common goal, and, you know, put the team first before your own needs, you know, and that can be a difficult thing, for you know, an eighteen to twenty one year old male,
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Jeff Walker: you know, in a time where everything is about them, you know. So that's that's certainly a
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Jeff Walker: you know, a task with developing a team, and that team chemistry and things, you know one of them. I do want to share a story. I remember Usb. About the foresters earlier. We had a couple of reformer student athletes playing on their team a couple of years ago. One was at Ucla. One was at University of Arizona and the foresters. They have players, high, level players from division, one schools around the country, and they play at our field of Christian Park
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Jeff Walker: call it feel, I guess, and um and then players They're asking, you know, what was it like, you know, because they were Junior College. But what was it like playing here? Like? Kind of like,
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Jeff Walker: you know, because they don't know they're for your schools, and they both said, and They're both again at High High End institutions or division, one schools and high level players, they said. Man, if I could have stayed for four years I would have stayed for four years, and they both said that, and the guys were kind of like going away like Wow! That's not good of an experience. The cat. It was they had to be an absolute glass. It was.
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Jeff Walker: They love their teammates. They love the school. Everything that the school, you know, provided them and to get that opportunity going forward.
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Hong Lieu: Oh, yeah,
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Jeff Walker: And I know they don't say that at the time they're always always thinking about where they're not. So that's I think that's human nature, too. So another thing that we try to instill is being present. Present, mind, focus and be where your feet at. But you know, try to skip steps and be on to the the place that you're not.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: I mean, there's definitely parts of the experience of living here and and playing here, and and going to school here that you can't even describe, you know, without having lived it, you know, like. So yeah. So it's one of those things where you just tell people. Yeah, if you can do it, and then like, See for yourself, you know, like you,
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Hong Lieu: there's There's a lot of intangibles there, just like, you know. There's a lot of parallels there,
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Hong Lieu: so my, i'll go next because I was gonna I have a pick, and i'll get to that pick, but I want to dump it on top of of coaches, pick of customer service. My first customer service job buy a a summer job. One time city call for my first customer service job with a Wiener system.
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Jeff Walker: So just just to tie into that above
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Jeff Walker: higher learning the things I learned that we in your system have stayed with me my entire life, and it's probably the most important job I've ever had guaranteed, because every single job after that job is not half as hard as we. Your system, like. Every job I've ever had is like a bat like the worst run down Terrible day I've ever had in the back of my hand. I'm like
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Hong Lieu: at least i'm not at winners, I mean, and not to say that I mean, it's a job. It's not like it wasn't the worst place ever, but it's just It's just It's just customer service, and making food,
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Hong Lieu: and the thing about some, some fast food restaurants, some some places. You have front of house back about it like a restaurant. You know. People handle money and people make it food. When you just say you do both you handle money, and then you have to go. Make the food so it's like
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Hong Lieu: you take an order. You take their money, you watch your hands, you make the food you're giving the food. You watch your hand like it. There's a lot of money taking and food making, and it just blends into one. And when when the crunch is on you, you're relying on the team and everything. And And yeah, when I mean when times are good they're okay. But when they're bad Oh, man, it's the worst. But
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Hong Lieu: it is it is the central for who I am as you would be, because in terms of testing the idea, like you know, when I was a kid I was like I I i'm a survivalist. I'm here to work hard. I'm here to i'm i'm a grinder. I'm here to get it done and winner, since it was that test like, am I really down for this, because, like two weeks in, I was like I need to quit. I don't. I don't want to do this anymore. This is silly. They're not paying me enough. It's not enough money for me to do what I want. Thought I was gonna be doing with this money,
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Hong Lieu: but I stuck it out. I was there for like two years. It was the job I had dropped most of my later high school years. And yeah, I carried that with me everywhere.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah,
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Jeff Walker: Food service, do you Still, can you? Can you still look at a hot bar In the same way? One hundred percent people always ask that they like, do you not you, to be just anymore? I like, I love that food. It was all, and it's, and it's, you know, objectively, not great, but I I I make that chilly, you know you have to. The the way they used to make. I don't try to do it now. Is we a chance of repair, Chili, and we would take Hamburger paddies that we have from our Brutus Burger stations. Chop them up, throw them in the Chili burned it up.
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Hong Lieu: I made that chili hundreds of times. I still eat. Actually I'll eat with the food by itself. I flirt it. I don't even care like I I i'm generally shameless. That's my disclaimer like maybe more discerning. Folks might not go back any more. But yeah, I get down. But all the sandwich. They used to have a chicken sandwich, I mean, she said. That was.
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Hong Lieu: It was amazing. Probably the best chicken sandwich I had before our modern chicken sandwich Renaissance within the past few years, where everyone's got delicious chicken sandwich now, but back then, Winchester was my number one pole, which was good hamburger. So. Yeah, but I
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Hong Lieu: But the things I learned when working that job in terms of you know, even my boss was like I would hook up people I knew, and my boss would have to pull me aside. But, like you know, the margins on fast food it's like I make. Nothing like My profit is like, you know, one or two. You may think i'm just rich, you know, getting off high off the hog, and you know, like those kind of
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Hong Lieu: lessons about how the world really works when you pull back the curtain, you
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Hong Lieu: you know, like when I was growing up I thought anyone owned a restaurant was rich,
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Hong Lieu: guilty, rich, and he won that anyone that had their own business. Anyone that did things of that, because, you know, I I came up with nothing. My mom's garmin factory worked, and my dad works in a restaurant six days a week, ten to ten. So like everything to me, I thought everyone was rich. So just peeling back that little capitalist curtain a little bit, and seeing that everybody is struggling, everybody is like this close to to, just like being
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Hong Lieu: totally upside down. The margins are really that bin because of the ever-efficient nature of squeezing every last bit out of everybody. You know everybody that you can
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Hong Lieu: I had, and I didn't know that until I was actually in in the mess, and being like Oh, man, it's, it's hard for me. But then, seeing it looking around. It's hard for everybody. So that top taught me a lot, and i'm grateful for it, and like I said, every job I've ever had. It's not half as hard as that job. But so i'm grateful for that lesson as well.
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Hong Lieu: So, yeah. Besides that, I was also going to pick the new album from Jid. The forever story.
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Hong Lieu: The man is a hip-hop, Mc. He's on a a truly amazing run he's. Got two albums and two mixtapes within the past three or four years. He's got the never story, Vicaprio, one to capture two, now the forever story, all classics, he, I He flipped a most f sample the misfat booty that that I know I get. He flipped that sample. I thought that sample was untouchable. You could never do it again like you never did better the most. And he he did it justice. He did it where, like where he did it, where i'm not even mad at him for doing it, for at first I was like,
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Hong Lieu: How could you? Sacrilegious? But not he. He held it down so I mad at him. He even got most I mean a Ah, Yassi Bay. He got Yasty Bay on the record, so it's his fit. It's been a verse two. So yeah, J. I d the the forever story, and ah! And we understand sometimes called Turtle Wenders. It's a one of the folks that I remember back when I had the dirt on it. But yeah,
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Hong Lieu: those are my pigs.
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Akil Hill: I think you're the first person i'm speechless.
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Akil Hill: I'm like, i'm really like. I don't even know what to say right now. I'm like i'm speechless. I think you're the first person I have ever met that worked at fast food that was
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Akil Hill: still eat the fast food. Oh, yeah, that's the first person to tell me that
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Akil Hill: you're not the first person to tell me that you're the first person I think I've ever heard them be like, Oh, yeah, I would eat it now.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, And I and I go to other witnesses, and it's like, Oh, yeah, I work to start one hundred and forty four. Yeah, you guys are going pretty good.
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Hong Lieu: I'm: that shameless. Yeah. So
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Akil Hill: that's funny.
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Akil Hill: So i'll throw. I'll go real quick. Um. So my pick I've been really into uh, and I think I've I've mentioned this before Ah, or selected this before. But Robert Glasper Ah, Black Radio three, I mean kind of listening to that a lot just amazing
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Akil Hill: uh album, just with a whole multitude of different various artists. But the album speaks to me. Um the very first pieces of spoken word. Um! That's worth listening. Just a great album. Anything that he touches is his goal. Um! And so that's my choice black out with three. Robert Glasper. Um! He's done one and two. This is the latest, I think. This came out a few months ago, so it's been out for a while, but I really just recently started to give it in some
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Akil Hill: like really started listening to listening to it. And it's really great. So you know, if you're from the road this weekend, you know what I mean. Ah, just popping in and listen to it. It's some good, easy listening music
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Akil Hill: the guest list on that you got. You got the smoke on there. Well, I got d smoked. You got a whole bunch of people in there, man that's you know. You got your buzz on there.
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Akil Hill: The Dc's on there comments on there. So a whole multitude is just all the black radio that
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Akil Hill: the ease and multiple artists. So But yeah, that's that's what I got,
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Akil Hill: and i'll save everyone the story about my first job, my first customer service.
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Akil Hill: What was it at least, was it Nordstrom, or something else that wasn't our? So it was. Ah bonds! When I was in high school. I don't know how to wear the bulletie and everything in Monte Cristo.
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Akil Hill: That's so.
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Akil Hill: Yeah. So
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Akil Hill: and then,
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Akil Hill: yeah, i'm sure there were lessons learned, and and so they union. Then, too. Is that your first Union gig? It was a Union gig and a There it is. So uh, and the schedule would come out military time. So That was the first lesson I had to learn. Like they would have poisoned the regular hours. Their schedule they would give you scheduling
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Akil Hill: in military time. So I was like, Ok, this is different.
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Akil Hill: You show up to work at the wrong time the first time.
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Akil Hill: No, I just remember all he had to do was to track two. So that was the first lesson. I think that was the first job.
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Akil Hill: So But uh, yeah, um. So
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Akil Hill: funny stories, Man: Funny stories about that, but i'll say that for another show.
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Hong Lieu: Yes, so uh
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Hong Lieu: thank you, coach, for your time on the show. It was honor to have you, and we wish you, you know, success for the for the upcoming season when it comes in the spring. Any final words from you have shout outs, plugs, anything like that.
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Akil Hill: I don't have any books to sell, so
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Akil Hill: not yet, but Halloween, that's a Halloween person, Park. So inviting anybody listening. Come, get some candy and see what my costume is going to be this year.
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Akil Hill: We'll definitely do that and definitely encourage everyone to come out and check a game out. I mean Vaqueros, baseball, very successful. But even if they weren't, I mean you got to represent support. Your team, support your school, and and they always put on a show. So come out and check out a game. Thank you again, Coach. Thanks. Go ahead. Thank you. Akil, as always