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Speaker 1: No open today, no sponsors, and we appreciate our sponsors

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Speaker 1: for allowing me to air this commercial free. This is

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Speaker 1: an interview and a topic that means a lot to me,

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Speaker 1: and so today I always say listening is optional. Not today. Today,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you to do something because this

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Speaker 1: is super important to me. I'm going to ask you

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Speaker 1: to do something that I do a very poor job

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Speaker 1: of doing. I'm simply going to ask you to listen.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. February fourteenth, twenty and eighteen. A day I'll

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Speaker 1: never forget. A day my city we'll never forget. I

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Speaker 1: remember that day so vividly. Driving down the saub Essex Breasway,

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Speaker 1: like I do every single day driving home from work.

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Speaker 1: I was two maybe three exits away from Parkland, Florida,

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Speaker 1: where I have lived for over a decade now. I

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Speaker 1: was talking to my friend Tom. Had an odd feeling,

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Speaker 1: this is it's a tough part right here, because it's

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Speaker 1: something swept over me. And I'll never forget that feeling,

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Speaker 1: as if suddenly I was the only car in the expressway.

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Speaker 1: So I looked at the rear view mirror and realized

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Speaker 1: that was not a feeling, it was a reality. And

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Speaker 1: what I saw when I looked through the mirror coming

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Speaker 1: up behind me. It was a fleet of police cars, ambulances,

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Speaker 1: military vehicles. I quickly he pulled to the side of

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Speaker 1: the expressway and I let him go by and jump

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Speaker 1: back on the expressway, continued the conversation with my friend Tom.

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Speaker 1: Didn't think much of it. I want you to think

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Speaker 1: about that the expressway had completely cleared, and what was

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Speaker 1: screaming up behind me two to three exits from my

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Speaker 1: house was a fleet of cop cars, ambulances, military vehicles.

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Speaker 1: And yet I didn't think much of it. I just did.

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Speaker 1: I had no idea where they were going. I would

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Speaker 1: quickly find out. I ended my phone calls. I got

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Speaker 1: off at Coral Ridge Drive, like I do just about

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Speaker 1: every single day. I stopped the same Starbucks that I

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Speaker 1: stopped at every single day. And for the purposes of

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Speaker 1: giving you my proximity, our proximity to what was going on.

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Speaker 1: The Starbucks off of Coroller's Drive is just, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: a few football fields away from Stoneman Douglas High School.

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Speaker 1: It's a place parents will stop at before they pick

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Speaker 1: up their kids from school, or close enough that the

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Speaker 1: kids will walk to the Starbucks to meet their parents.

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Speaker 1: That wasn't gonna be the case that day. But as

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Speaker 1: I'm walking in and pulling in again, everything's normal. Everything.

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Speaker 1: So I walked into the Starbucks. The line, like it

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Speaker 1: is every single day at that time, long, really long.

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Speaker 1: I was almost out the door, That's how long the

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Speaker 1: line was. That line quickly evaporated as everyone's phone started

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Speaker 1: to ring, and just like that, in an instant, I

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Speaker 1: became the only person online. Our city and our town

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Speaker 1: would change forever. The scene was frantic. People were crying,

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Speaker 1: people were yelling, people were confused, people were scrambling. People

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Speaker 1: really didn't know what to do, because there is no

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Speaker 1: preparing for what it is we were about to go through.

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Speaker 1: You could watch it on TV. Your heart drop. You

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Speaker 1: feel for the victims, of course, you feel for the families,

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Speaker 1: but until your city becomes one of those cities, you

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Speaker 1: have no idea what they went through. Zero I thought

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Speaker 1: I did. I did not. Everything stopped everything. I saw

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Speaker 1: the horror. I saw the pain unlike I've ever seen naturally.

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Speaker 1: I wondered what was happening, and then I heard someone scream,

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Speaker 1: there's a shooter at Stoneman Douglas. Students have been killed.

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Speaker 1: I walked out of that Starbucks, and all the police cars,

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Speaker 1: all the military vehicles, all the ambulances that I saw

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Speaker 1: on the expressway. We're now strategically positioned all over my

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Speaker 1: city and around that school. Maybe ten minutes earlier. Remember,

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Speaker 1: those things flew by me, and I didn't give it

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Speaker 1: much thought. I didn't know where they were headed. Where

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Speaker 1: they were headed was to my hometown, to my city,

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Speaker 1: to a place I care deeply about the new start

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Speaker 1: of the break. I called my wife. Together we cried

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Speaker 1: on the phone. And while our kids do it out

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Speaker 1: of ten Stone in Douglas, we have many friends whose

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Speaker 1: kids do, many friends whose kids are friends with our daughters,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know what to do. The scene was frantic,

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Speaker 1: kids of all ages running from the school, trying to

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Speaker 1: find their parents, trying to find anyone that they knew.

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Speaker 1: Parents frantically looking for their children, trying to get news,

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Speaker 1: trying to get updates. Friends of mine who were so

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Speaker 1: far away from the school at the time, calling me

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Speaker 1: asking me to walk in this dom in Douglas to

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Speaker 1: get their kids, to make sure their kids were okay.

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Speaker 1: And I would have, and I tried to, but you

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Speaker 1: couldn't get there. You just couldn't get there. Getting back

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Speaker 1: to my house, which is really less than a mile

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Speaker 1: away from where I was at Starbucks, was nearly impossible.

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Speaker 1: I tried to help anyone I could. I saw strangers

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Speaker 1: helping strangers. I said it on ESPN. I saw acts

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Speaker 1: of kindness that that will stay with me for a lifetime.

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Speaker 1: I eventually got back to my house, and once I

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Speaker 1: got there, I was not allowed to leave. I tried

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Speaker 1: to leave. I actually tried to go help one of

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Speaker 1: my friend's kids, tried to get them back to home,

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Speaker 1: tried to get them back to safety, tried to get

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Speaker 1: them to their parents. But there were cops outside my house.

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Speaker 1: They told me to get back inside. I asked why.

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Speaker 1: They said, the shooters at large, and he might be

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Speaker 1: in your neighborhood. I said, Officer, I just wanted to

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Speaker 1: try to get one of my friend's kids from the school.

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Speaker 1: He said, sir, I understand you ain't getting anywhere near

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Speaker 1: that school. Get back inside your house. So I did,

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Speaker 1: and I watched the news and I cried, and I

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Speaker 1: cried some more, and then I cried some more, and

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Speaker 1: the crying is never really stopped. I'll never be able

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Speaker 1: to erase the look of terror. I saw on people's face,

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Speaker 1: the look of concern, the look of a parent wondering

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Speaker 1: if their child is alive, wondering if their kids were

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Speaker 1: one of the victims, wondering how the hell this could

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Speaker 1: happen in our town, in our city, at our high school.

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Speaker 1: Never forget, As I also said on a ESPN the

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Speaker 1: next day, it is nearly impossible to go from point

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Speaker 1: A to point B without passing that high school. It's

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Speaker 1: right in the middle of our town. We are constantly

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Speaker 1: reminded of the horror, of the pain, of the suffering,

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Speaker 1: of that awful day. It lingers. It's always here, it

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Speaker 1: will always be here. You don't bounce back from something

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Speaker 1: like this. You don't recover from something like this. You

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Speaker 1: just learn to cope, deal and live with something like this. Sure,

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Speaker 1: maybe it made my city stronger. In fact, I'm pretty

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Speaker 1: certain it did. But I could speak on behalf of

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Speaker 1: everyone who lives here. We'd rather be weaker and have

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Speaker 1: that day never happen. Time doesn't heal on this one,

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Speaker 1: but moments do, or at least they have a lot

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Speaker 1: more impact on the community than time ever will. There

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Speaker 1: have been precious few since that day, precious few, but

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Speaker 1: on May twenty third, two thousand and twenty one, a

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Speaker 1: year in which the graduating seniors were the last class

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Speaker 1: to have gone through that horrific day. Our city had

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Speaker 1: a moment the varsity baseball team, which has eight or

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Speaker 1: nine seen years on its team, which means some of

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Speaker 1: the kids went through the horror of that tragic day.

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Speaker 1: But that team, the varsity baseball team, after an incredible run,

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Speaker 1: winning countless close games, providing our city with many goosebump

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Speaker 1: moments pinch me moments, they won the state championship and

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Speaker 1: provided us with a much needed jolt to feel good

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Speaker 1: and pride. And no, it didn't make us forget. In fact,

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Speaker 1: it forced us to remember, forced us to remember the pain,

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Speaker 1: forced us to remember the victims, forced us to remember

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Speaker 1: the family, forced us to remember everything. But it also

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Speaker 1: allowed us something we haven't had in a long long time.

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Speaker 1: Some feel good, some pride in our city, some pride

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Speaker 1: in that school. People did what they had to do

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Speaker 1: on that day. I've spoken to them, whether it was

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Speaker 1: teachers protecting their students, coaches giving up their lives on

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Speaker 1: behalf for on behalf of some of the kids' lives,

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Speaker 1: whether your kid went there or not doesn't matter. We

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Speaker 1: all went through this together. We all live in the

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Speaker 1: same city, we all drive by that school on a

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Speaker 1: daily basis. The varsity baseball team knew what they were

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Speaker 1: carrying around, knew how much this meant. And even while

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Speaker 1: knowing all that carrying around, that burden, that pressure of

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Speaker 1: trying to make the city feel good, of helping the city,

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Speaker 1: just for a single goddamn second, forget that day, they

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Speaker 1: still went out and won a state championship. With all

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Speaker 1: that said, it is my honor, it is my pleasure

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Speaker 1: to bring on the manager of the twenty twenty one

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Speaker 1: Florida state champions Todd Fitzgerald. How long have you been

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Speaker 1: the manager of the Stollma Douglas baseball This is my

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Speaker 1: tenth year, okay, tenth year, and I'm guessing that you

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Speaker 1: have not had a better feeling than the feeling you

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Speaker 1: just had yesterday winning the state championship. Is that fair?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty fair to.

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Speaker 1: Say biggest winning your career, right.

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Speaker 3: Actually, the regional playoff game was probably the biggest, most

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Speaker 3: exciting win in my.

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Speaker 2: Career, But obviously yesterday.

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Speaker 3: Set what was today my Saturday, was probably the biggest

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Speaker 3: you know, other than my first one in two thousand

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Speaker 3: and eight.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, man, it's unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: So the regional game is interesting. It's the quarterfinal game

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Speaker 1: essentially that got you to the final four. Put us,

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Speaker 1: put us where you were, like, put us inside Todd

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Speaker 1: Fitzgerald's head. As you're down to your last strike, you're

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Speaker 1: down a run. Bottom of the seventh high school baseball

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Speaker 1: they only play seven innings. You're trying to get to

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Speaker 1: the state semi finals, trying to make it out to

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Speaker 1: the West Coast and Fort Myers. What are you thinking

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Speaker 1: as your number three hitter comes up, You're down a run,

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Speaker 1: You're down to your last strike. Put us in the dugout?

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Speaker 3: What do you think of I'm coaching third, So he

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Speaker 3: took He just came over to me, called time out.

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Speaker 3: Santiago called time out and just came over to me.

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Speaker 3: Put his head on saw.

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Speaker 2: He's a coach. I got it. That's it. We're going

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Speaker 2: right here. I got it. Really, I said, all right,

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Speaker 2: we get it.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 3: And he first pitch he saw it over the pit

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Speaker 3: and that's exactly how he said it.

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Speaker 1: Wait, you know, he wait, wait, fits to you? Are

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Speaker 1: you telling me what two strikes he came to you,

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Speaker 1: it said, coach, I got it.

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Speaker 2: He didn't have two strikes.

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Speaker 3: He had it was he didn't even have it was

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Speaker 3: the first pitch he saw right yeah, and had the

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Speaker 3: two strikes and the guy fell down. And when that happened,

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Speaker 3: Santy said, coach, huh, we're going win it right here,

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Speaker 3: I guess.

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Speaker 1: And what and what were you thinking to yourself?

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Speaker 2: I'm like, please gotta go get it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, I gotta tell you that kid's

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Speaker 1: got balls. I want to like, I would sign him

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Speaker 1: right now if I was a major league manager.

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Speaker 2: Very confident.

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Speaker 3: He knew his last at bat was he went down

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Speaker 3: in the previous at bat, the guy throwing three straight

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Speaker 3: sliders and it was a really bad at bat for him.

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Speaker 2: And he said that he wasn't gonna let that happen again.

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Speaker 3: And he was looking for it and a guy hung

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Speaker 3: it and he hit it over over the fence.

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Speaker 1: Fits. I mean, what a great moment. Consider you what's

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Speaker 1: happened to that school the last two years of what's

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Speaker 1: going on in that school? And listen, we're never going

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Speaker 1: to heal, but you, guys, he gave us a feel

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Speaker 1: good moment. You you allowed us to forget for a weekend,

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Speaker 1: but for that kid, in that moment, with everything riding

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Speaker 1: on his at bat to come to you and have

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Speaker 1: the poise and the confidence to say, Hey, skip, don't worry,

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Speaker 1: I got it. What was your reaction to that, Like,

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Speaker 1: that's goosebumps for men. The hair is standing up on

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Speaker 1: my arms, right.

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Speaker 3: I just think that's that's how we try and teach

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Speaker 3: our kids to not let the moment be too big

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Speaker 3: for you in any situation, you know, And we put

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Speaker 3: those guys in situations at practice, you know, we try

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Speaker 3: and train those guys in those situations. So just don't

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Speaker 3: ever let the moment be too big for you. You know,

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Speaker 3: you're a big time player, you know, go out and

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Speaker 3: do what you do and.

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Speaker 2: We have success. We have success.

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Speaker 3: If we don't, then you know what, it's not because

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Speaker 3: of lack of effort. And he was ready for the moment.

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Speaker 3: He wanted to be in that moment. He wanted to

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Speaker 3: be that guy.

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Speaker 1: After he said that to you, were you still doubting

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Speaker 1: just a little bit because the game's weird? It's baseball?

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Speaker 3: No?

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Speaker 1: Really, not wow.

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Speaker 3: I've had one other player say that to me before

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Speaker 3: and came through with a home run too.

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Speaker 1: Really, Now, we were talking right before we started here

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Speaker 1: about one of his Here's Jake Clemente, who is my

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Speaker 1: daughter's boyfriend, and I have conditioned to rip him. But

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Speaker 1: Todd will tell you this kid is too nice, he's

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Speaker 1: too good. Like Todd, I have frustrated. I can't rip

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Speaker 1: Jake because he's such a nice kid and such a

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Speaker 1: great athlete.

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Speaker 3: Oh man, you can't the kids like. He's the most respectful,

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Speaker 3: most like. He takes everything in that you tell him too,

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Speaker 3: like he wants like. He's such a pleaser. He wants

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Speaker 3: to be so good, you know. And yeah, you don't

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Speaker 3: even have to yell at him when he does wrong

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Speaker 3: because he already knows. So Michael, anyway, just to do it, Mike,

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Speaker 3: what do I.

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Speaker 1: Do with a dad here? What do I do? Like

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Speaker 1: everyone like, I'm conditioned to rip my daughter's first boyfriend,

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Speaker 1: But this kid's perfect. I don't have to tell you.

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Speaker 1: Let me get this straight. You're upset that you like

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Speaker 1: the good kid that your daughter is dating. Yes, because

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Speaker 1: I gotta tell you it could have been an antitheu

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Speaker 1: she brought home. It's a good point. I could have

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Speaker 1: brought myself home. You're right, Yes, it's a very good point.

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Speaker 1: Uh fits I'm wondering, can you talk about just how

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Speaker 1: life is changed at Stoeman Douglas and really inside the

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Speaker 1: city of Parkland since that tragic day back in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and eight. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So, you know, this is the last senior class that's

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Speaker 3: gone through, and it's it's been a really rough ride

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Speaker 3: for those kids.

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Speaker 2: And I, you know, I coach all the I teach.

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Speaker 3: I teach freshman kids too, so you know, the school

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Speaker 3: has slowly gotten back.

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Speaker 2: To some kind of normalcy.

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Speaker 3: Now with this whole online learning platform that we're going through,

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Speaker 3: it's kind of set everybody back a little bit.

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Speaker 2: But they did do a nice thing for the seniors

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Speaker 2: the other day.

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Speaker 3: We had a nice little prom gala type deal at

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Speaker 3: the school. Try to give those kids something that they

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Speaker 3: could have because they didn't have that, you know, the

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Speaker 3: last couple of years. And then you know, I had

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Speaker 3: that going on with the regional game. So you know,

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Speaker 3: just just seeing the kids around school, for me as

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Speaker 3: a teacher, like seeing kids around school is great and

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Speaker 3: I can't wait till we get back next year because

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Speaker 3: I teach to be around the kids. I don't really

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Speaker 3: teach to I just want to have an impact on

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Speaker 3: some of the kids' lives. Man. I mean, that's that's why,

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Speaker 3: you know, That's why I teach, and I love coaching ball,

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Speaker 3: and I like knowing every kid at the school, and

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Speaker 3: it makes them feel good when their teachers know them outside.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's our administration's awesome.

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Speaker 1: Were the kids aware? Did you talk to them as

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Speaker 1: you made this incredible run to a state championship? Did

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Speaker 1: you talk to them about the impact they could potentially

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Speaker 1: have on the city and on the school?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they knew. I mean we were playing.

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Speaker 3: We were not only playing for the seventeen We were

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Speaker 3: playing for some other things we had.

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Speaker 2: I got two players on my team.

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Speaker 3: Whose grandfather was Rennie Stennett, who passed away, the great

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Speaker 3: Pirate legend passed away right before we go to the

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Speaker 3: final four. My very good friend Danny Moore passed away

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Speaker 3: a week before. Like, we were playing for a lot

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Speaker 3: of things, and we had a lot of a lot

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Speaker 3: of spiritual stuff come our way.

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Speaker 1: Man, did you hear from anyone cool? After you guys

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Speaker 1: won the state championship?

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Speaker 3: Ozma, Eric Osmer, Facetimes and our team Rizzo. Rizzo obviously

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Speaker 3: tweeted of several former players alumni.

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Speaker 1: So the kids were aware, they were aware of the

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Speaker 1: impact that they were that they were making on this community.

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Speaker 1: Because top we all agree, like it's never you can't

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Speaker 1: drive from point A to point B. In fact, I

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Speaker 1: just came back. I was out picking up my dog.

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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, from the grooming place. You

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Speaker 1: can't drive from point A to point B in Parkland

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Speaker 1: without passing that school. And when you pass that school,

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Speaker 1: it's impossible not to be reminded of what happened at

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Speaker 1: that school back in twenty eighteen. So your kids, it's

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Speaker 1: pretty impressive. High school kids mature enough, aware enough to

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Speaker 1: know that they were carrying that around with them, and

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Speaker 1: they knew how big of an impact that they were

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Speaker 1: making on this city. Because we'll never recover, but we're

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Speaker 1: just looking for some feel good every now and then.

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Speaker 1: And we had some feel good over the weekend.

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Speaker 2: And it was awesome.

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Speaker 3: You know, you got you got six, seven, eight or

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Speaker 3: nine seniors that were actually here on that day. You

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Speaker 3: know that are now seniors. So those those guys actually

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Speaker 3: lived it here on campus, and you know the other

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Speaker 3: younger guys, you know, they were across the street at

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Speaker 3: West Glad are over at Coral Springs Middle.

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Speaker 2: School or you know, just across the streets.

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Speaker 3: So you got your eight guys that really lived it,

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Speaker 3: and and it was so happy. It was so so

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Speaker 3: more so exciting for me for them to get a

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Speaker 3: ring and for them to win, because, like you said,

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Speaker 3: they haven't had anything to be over cheered about in years,

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Speaker 3: and this was really good. Like you said, it's just

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Speaker 3: a feel good thing, man, and something they'll remember for

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Speaker 3: the rest of their life.

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Speaker 1: Did you hear from any of the families of the

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Speaker 1: victims family victims in terms of what this meant to

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Speaker 1: them winning a state championship in baseball.

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Speaker 3: I have not, and I'm not a big social media

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Speaker 3: guy either, so maybe there was something on social media.

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Speaker 2: I have Twitter and.

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Speaker 3: I can barely use that half the time, so but no,

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Speaker 3: I did not.

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Speaker 2: I didn't hear from them.

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Speaker 3: But to the coaches like Coach Fice, like Willis May,

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Speaker 3: and all the coaches, the football coaches, Coach Short and

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Speaker 3: all those guys, and obviously the administration and so some

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Speaker 3: of the big guys downtown too, you know. So it

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Speaker 3: was good to see all those guys cheering for us

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Speaker 3: and supporting us at the state championship.

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Speaker 1: Fits, I imagine, and even even the opposing teams that

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Speaker 1: you beat, the managers that you beat that in some way,

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Speaker 1: shape or form, they were kind of happy for you guys, right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think I think at the end

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Speaker 3: of the day, they are, you know, especially after everything

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Speaker 3: that we've gone through.

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Speaker 2: And I got, man, I got like over three.

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Speaker 3: Hundred and fifty texts on my phone from coaches all

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Speaker 3: over the country, high school coaches, friends. I mean, it

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Speaker 3: was just and so did these kids. It was really

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Speaker 3: really special.

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Speaker 1: How'd you celebrate?

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Speaker 2: We we just went back to the hotel.

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Speaker 3: We had a big Italian dinner for him, just hung

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Speaker 3: out and just families and friends and just hung out

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Speaker 3: to about one one o'clock in the morning and got

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Speaker 3: back on the bus and came back to town.

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Speaker 1: So once once you kind of got rid of the kids,

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Speaker 1: though the Todd Fitzgerald just opened up a twelve pack.

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Speaker 1: It just started slamming beers.

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Speaker 3: Not really, I mean had a few with you know,

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Speaker 3: with family and friends and stuff, but not not too many.

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Speaker 3: Just it just you know why, because I think for

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Speaker 3: me on this one, it was, like you said, it

383
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Speaker 3: was just more special just because of everything that had

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Speaker 3: tied into what we were trying to achieve and what

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Speaker 3: we were playing for, and it was just so emotionally exhausting.

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Speaker 3: You know, I could have fallen asleep right after. I

387
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Speaker 3: mean I was just totally drained emotionally. And I'm sure

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Speaker 3: the kids were too.

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Speaker 1: Did you cry with their tears? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I had no doubt. How about the kids, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: there was some tears. Bitter sweet tears though joy bittersweet.

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Speaker 3: You know, just when you when you do something that's

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Speaker 3: positive for a community and it's for your high school

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Speaker 3: and and you and you have something that you're going

395
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Speaker 3: to have remember for the rest of your life. You know,

396
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,120
Speaker 3: our ten year reunion down the road from this victory

397
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 3: will probably be something that's you know, it'll be very

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Speaker 3: special down the road.

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Speaker 1: So it's I told Jake, You'll have a few days

400
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Speaker 1: in your life that will be better than the day

401
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 1: that you just had. He had a game winning run,

402
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 1: he had a base say, he had the only base

403
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: hit through I think five innings and then you guys

404
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 1: kind of broke it open late in that stay final.

405
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Speaker 1: But I told him to tell his teammates, you might

406
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,400
Speaker 1: have five days the remainder of your life that will

407
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,719
Speaker 1: be more memorable and happier than the day you just

408
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Speaker 1: had on Sunday?

409
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Speaker 3: Is that fair to That's that's really fair to say,

410
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 3: because you know as well as I do how hard

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00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,480
Speaker 3: it is to win a major or a championship. Look

412
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Speaker 3: at Phil, you know, fifty years old, you know, I

413
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 3: mean Lefty.

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Speaker 2: You know how happy he was and everybody was happy

415
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Speaker 2: for him.

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Speaker 3: You know, like it is something that it doesn't come

417
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 3: around very often, and when you win something big like that,

418
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 3: it's something you have to cherish and remember because, like

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Speaker 3: you said, you probably counted on your hand how many

420
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Speaker 3: times in your life you get that opportunity to do

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Speaker 3: something like that.

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Speaker 1: Fitz, if there's a message that you could send to

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Speaker 1: the country, this will be heard by millions of people.

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Speaker 1: So if there's a message you can send to the

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00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,040
Speaker 1: country about what the last two years have been like

426
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 1: and what Sunday meant to you, meant to the team,

427
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: meant to the school, and meant to the community, the

428
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 1: floor is yours. You would say, well, I.

429
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,719
Speaker 3: Would just say that, you know, all things come around

430
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 3: full circle. You know, It's it's just too hard to

431
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 3: put in perspective what has gone on from two four

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00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 3: eighteen to now. But I just hope that we as

433
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:34,320
Speaker 3: a as a program represented our city, our community, the

434
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 3: families of the fallen, the administration, and more so Broward

435
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,640
Speaker 3: County than we could imagine. And we wear you guys

436
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,960
Speaker 3: on our shoulders every day. We pray for you guys

437
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 3: every day, and hopefully you got to smile and be happy,

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00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 3: even for a brief moment. And we're gonna keep doing it.

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00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 3: We're gonna keep We're gonna keep trying to make our

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00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 3: city proud and make.

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00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 2: Our school proud in our community. So we're here for

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00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 2: you always.

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00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: It's a great message. You have certainly do more than enough.

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00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,679
Speaker 1: I could tell you there's not a single person in

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00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,719
Speaker 1: my family that attends Stoneman Douglas High School, yet we

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00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 1: were all glued to. My daughter was at the games,

447
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 1: Me and my wife and my other daughter were watching

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00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,199
Speaker 1: the games online. I actually went to one of your

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00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,399
Speaker 1: playoff games leading up to the state semi finals. I

450
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,800
Speaker 1: was there in person, but I could tell you it

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00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: was there were tears in this house. There were goosebumps

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00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 1: in this house. And there was also celebration in this house.

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00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 1: And we haven't felt that in a while around here,

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00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,120
Speaker 1: and for someone like me whose mom just passed away

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00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:32,199
Speaker 1: of COVID back in January. Fits thank you, no, thank you,

456
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: because I needed it, the city needed it, the school

457
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: certainly needed it. I know you needed it, and the

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00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: families of the victims absolutely whether they reached out to

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00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 1: you or not, they needed it as well. And you

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00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: know that. So congratulations to you, and congratulations all the boys.

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00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: You made us proud. Man, you really did.

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00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,160
Speaker 2: Thanks hope would continue doing it.

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00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,960
Speaker 1: To the players and the coaches on the baseball team,

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00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 1: thank you. And to the seventeen We'll never forget