Speaker 1: From the King of sports Books comes the key sports
Speaker 1: podcast Unleashed, presented by MGM. Here's your host, Olivia Harlan Decker.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Unleashed. Boy. This is a big week,
Speaker 1: you guys. This is a week we've been waiting for.
Speaker 1: I've been waiting for. I'm so excited. We have a
Speaker 1: new co host, my partner and crime. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: doing this every week. You're gonna be listening every week
Speaker 1: and you're gonna have a good time with us because
Speaker 1: we brought in funny man Janice Papas. You heard him
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago on the John Stamos episode.
Speaker 1: By the way, I hate to say it, that's been
Speaker 1: my favorite episode yet for obvious reasons. If no one
Speaker 1: has listened yet, make sure you go back and listen
Speaker 1: and help me. Welcome in my new co host, Jana's Poppas.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Olivia. I'm excited about this. Yeah, yeah, goes wild.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry you guys couldn't get the real John Stamos,
Speaker 1: so I'll just have to do. You know, I'm the
Speaker 1: lesser of the two Greeks, and I'm a huge sports fan.
Speaker 1: I had a sports show back in the day that
Speaker 1: I loved. I love speaking athletes, and I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of you, big fan of your pops. He's my
Speaker 1: favorite announcer. He makes it exciting. And I'm a big
Speaker 1: fan of your husband. So I was rooting for them
Speaker 1: in the National championship game. Unfortunately it didn't go it
Speaker 1: didn't go their way, and also I lost a lot
Speaker 1: of money on that. Well, that's the perfect convergence for
Speaker 1: now our show, because you've got a decker, you've got
Speaker 1: sports betting, and we've got you. Tell us more about
Speaker 1: your comedy history because I'm always curious. Everyone thinks they're funny.
Speaker 1: I think, when do you know you can be professionally funny?
Speaker 1: You know, there's not much of a difference. I would
Speaker 1: like to make him mysterious and be like, hey look,
Speaker 1: but it's like anyone could be funny. It takes a while,
Speaker 1: like you said, to be professionally funny. But I you
Speaker 1: I was funny from when I was very little, because
Speaker 1: that's the only thing I was ever good at. Usually
Speaker 1: those two things go hand in hand, where it's like
Speaker 1: you're not good at anything except that, and that's the
Speaker 1: only thing I like to do is make people laugh.
Speaker 1: You know, you start doing comedy, just like with sports,
Speaker 1: you go and train our our training is the comedy clubs,
Speaker 1: and then you fail in front of people, which is
Speaker 1: what makes comedy unique. Like in sports, you go to
Speaker 1: the gym, you're shooting alone, you're doing drills alone. If
Speaker 1: you're a basketball player, I imagine if you're a gymnast,
Speaker 1: you're on on pulse. You know. I don't know what
Speaker 1: they do at home. But comedy you go in front
Speaker 1: of people and people tell you right there you're no good.
Speaker 1: So it's like right there, You're like, I'm just practicing.
Speaker 1: They're like, no, this is a show for me. I
Speaker 1: paid for it, and you are no good. So you
Speaker 1: have to build up a thick skin, you know, go
Speaker 1: to therapy. You know. I think the same is true
Speaker 1: of sideline importers, because you messed up in front of
Speaker 1: a national audience as well. I will tell you if
Speaker 1: I have ever messed up on national TV, my Twitter
Speaker 1: will let me know very quickly. No, you're right, and
Speaker 1: you know what, I what I of the show. I
Speaker 1: had a show and I was with two journalists who
Speaker 1: were used to like doing that type of thing. You
Speaker 1: if you're talking about like a serious story or you're
Speaker 1: interviewing someone. When you're on TV, it magnifies everything. Like
Speaker 1: like if you scratch your face on television, people like,
Speaker 1: you know if I did that with you. Now on
Speaker 1: a podcast, it's much more relaxed environment. You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: you probably had a niche. But if we're on TV
Speaker 1: and like millions of people watching you like, is he
Speaker 1: a crackhead? Is he doing drugs? Like what? It just
Speaker 1: makes everything so even when you stutter or and I
Speaker 1: always admired that about reporters, that they just don't even
Speaker 1: stutter or like drop a word or an article because
Speaker 1: otherwise people like she's terrible at her job, that she
Speaker 1: forgot and before a word? Yeah right, right. Well, now
Speaker 1: you are married to a beautiful woman. I saw her
Speaker 1: on Instagram. I hope we can all get together, maybe
Speaker 1: go on a double date soon when we can all
Speaker 1: travel a bit. But you're married to a beautiful woman
Speaker 1: and you have a beautiful daughter. Tell us about your
Speaker 1: home life. Yeah, well, first of all, if we do
Speaker 1: a double day, I will remember to bring high chairs
Speaker 1: for me and my wife so we can all see
Speaker 1: each other. My wife is about five four. I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys are tall drinks waters right. It's great. She's um,
Speaker 1: she's supportive, she's great. At the beginning, she enjoyed my comedy.
Speaker 1: Now she's just sick of it, like she's heard it all.
Speaker 1: And I just help. Yeah, I just help her with
Speaker 1: the baby. I'm just I come off the bench. She's
Speaker 1: the starting point guard. She calls all the shots, and
Speaker 1: if I'm lucky enough to be running a wing, maybe
Speaker 1: she'll dish the ball to me for a dunk. But
Speaker 1: other than that, like she just I hear Jannie and
Speaker 1: I know it's like I need to come do something.
Speaker 1: And enjoying raising his baby during COVID it was you know.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the silver lining is that we were
Speaker 1: home with her, So that's cool. Yeah, I'm just getting
Speaker 1: ready to be told what to do. I have a
Speaker 1: female dog. I obviously have a female wife, and I
Speaker 1: have a female daughter. So it's like I am outnumbered
Speaker 1: and now I got a female co host. Hey, get
Speaker 1: any men to talk to me anymore? Must be unless
Speaker 1: it's John stay us lessons Johnston was I can get
Speaker 1: him to text me. Yeah, we text all the time.
Speaker 1: I love it. And we do have an incredible guest
Speaker 1: coming on in a bit. It is Olympics, so we
Speaker 1: are going to be talking with Carrie Strugs. She won
Speaker 1: the gold medal for US A gymnastics. Her story is incredible.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to talk to her. But you're honest.
Speaker 1: Since you are Mr funny man, I want to try
Speaker 1: to tickle your funny bone a bit with some Olympic
Speaker 1: headlines that made me laugh. Okay, there are a couple
Speaker 1: and I think everyone can agree already the years off
Speaker 1: of this year's Olympics, we're still calling in. You know,
Speaker 1: There's been a couple of weird things go on. So
Speaker 1: I wanted to see if you had heard about this
Speaker 1: one the Argentinean night Simone Biles. It's just the trials,
Speaker 1: right though. They're just like she didn't have to bring it,
Speaker 1: you know, because I was watching and I was like,
Speaker 1: she wasn't very Simone Biles, like, so I bet she's
Speaker 1: gonna really bring it when it's time. Absolutely, that's such
Speaker 1: a good storyline too. And again Carrie will probably have
Speaker 1: some good insight for us because watching it is kind
Speaker 1: of tricky to watch and say, well that doesn't look
Speaker 1: like an Olympic you know, performance or game face or whatever.
Speaker 1: But yeah, she'll break it down for us. She's like,
Speaker 1: the Willis Reed of gymnastics. Now, I like that, Are
Speaker 1: you going to tell her that? Yeah? If I remember to. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So did you hear about the Argentinean fencer. I didn't
Speaker 1: hear what happened? Oh this is good. This is so good.
Speaker 1: Maria bellin Perez Maurice. She lost. So following the loss,
Speaker 1: she was doing her media postgame interviews. When her coach
Speaker 1: proposes to her, she said, yes, I probably should have
Speaker 1: said that a little quicker. Yes. This was her quote
Speaker 1: after and this is kind of where I chuckled. She said,
Speaker 1: I forgot everything. I was like, oh my god. We
Speaker 1: are very happy. We are very good partners. Of course
Speaker 1: we have fights, but we enjoy each other's time. First
Speaker 1: of all, I wouldn't get in a fight with my
Speaker 1: fencing wife. Yeah, she says. We love each other so
Speaker 1: much and we want to spend our lives together. We're
Speaker 1: going to celebrate in Buenos Areas with a big barbecue. Ah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because they are Argentineans. So like they that they're vegetables
Speaker 1: are just meat. Next to meet, Yeah, you drained a
Speaker 1: beef stew. Yeah yeah. Wow. So he proposed to her.
Speaker 1: We won fencing right America one. I think we won
Speaker 1: the gold. Yes, we won the gold. So it's like,
Speaker 1: here's an Argentinian trying to upstage the gold getting proposed to.
Speaker 1: That was probably his movie. He was like, if we
Speaker 1: don't win gold, we gotta get on that wheaties box.
Speaker 1: Maybe I don't know what the Argentinian wheaties equivalent is,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a or whatever. It's like, look, if we
Speaker 1: don't win the gold, I'm proposed in to her, and
Speaker 1: that way we could make headlines and try to steal
Speaker 1: it from the USA. But make no mistake the USA,
Speaker 1: we are number one at fake fighting scene. Well, when
Speaker 1: I first read the story, I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: As a woman, I would not have liked to have
Speaker 1: been proposed to on a day with my athletic dreams
Speaker 1: kind of crumbled in front of me. But I later
Speaker 1: saw that he said she was so sad and he
Speaker 1: wanted to make this bad day a good day, and
Speaker 1: if she had one, he would have waited. So that
Speaker 1: made it a little bit more romantic. I thought, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit. Um, How did how did you get
Speaker 1: proposed to? Well? I seeing my husband and I kind
Speaker 1: of go back and forth on this because I am
Speaker 1: very extra like I wanted like the band, the fireworks,
Speaker 1: the photographer that blah blah. It could not have been
Speaker 1: more low key. And my husband said, I just didn't
Speaker 1: think you wanted all that. Do you know me? You
Speaker 1: know I would have done very sweet. If I was him,
Speaker 1: I would have been like this, what's that over there?
Speaker 1: And then you would have turned back and I would
Speaker 1: have went right between the eyes. I'm sorry. It's one
Speaker 1: of my favorites from you, pops. I apologize that was good.
Speaker 1: I would have just handed you the ring like that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I proposed a Christmas proposals like mine. I nailed it.
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest. I nailed it. Okay, she wanted
Speaker 1: it like in front of her whole family. She like
Speaker 1: alluded to it and like it's weird because comedians we
Speaker 1: were off stage, like I'm not I'm like kind of quiet,
Speaker 1: and I just kind of like a boring dude. And
Speaker 1: so I was sitting there on on Christmas Eve. It
Speaker 1: was on Christmas Eve, her whole family was there, and
Speaker 1: I started getting resentful. I was like, I'm not doing
Speaker 1: this in front of her whole family. It's embarrassing, So
Speaker 1: I waitedful. I was resentful. I was. I almost had
Speaker 1: the felm in Louise moment where I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna get in the car and drive off the
Speaker 1: side of the earth. I don't believe the earth is flat.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. It's around. Sorry, Kyrie Irving. But after
Speaker 1: all her family left, I was like, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: do it that way. After her family left, I was like,
Speaker 1: I got this present. Few of course I had the
Speaker 1: fake present. It was like a little purse and I
Speaker 1: started opening it and she kind of knew I might
Speaker 1: propose that. She was kind of looking for it. And
Speaker 1: while she was like looking for in the purse, I
Speaker 1: pulled it out. She was on the floor. I was
Speaker 1: in a chair. Soon as she turned around, boom it
Speaker 1: was eye level and bang it was perfect. Wait wait
Speaker 1: wait wait you got it back up? Yeah, you know
Speaker 1: the guy is supposed to kneel. You're telling me she
Speaker 1: was like perched uncomfortably on the floor and you're sitting
Speaker 1: in like a lazy boy. Right, Yeah, well I gotta
Speaker 1: be comfortable too, you know what I mean, Like, I'm
Speaker 1: I was comfortable. Yeah, you're right, she was Actually she
Speaker 1: was on the floor and I was sitting a Barbara. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I'm the king of the castle. And that's how
Speaker 1: I was like, it's this a Greek thing? What is
Speaker 1: you know what? I messed it up. Actually I handed
Speaker 1: her the card. She read the card and it said
Speaker 1: will you marry me? And then when she looked up
Speaker 1: from the card, I had the ring right there. So
Speaker 1: it was perfect, Just like I'd to forget exactly how
Speaker 1: he proposed, man, I married her making an important moment
Speaker 1: though it is an important moment. So yeah, fencing competition,
Speaker 1: she loses, she gets a ring out of it, not
Speaker 1: a medal. She might have wanted a metal more harder
Speaker 1: to get. Yeah, that's kind that's kind of funny in
Speaker 1: the when you get the ring, you're really hoping, You're like,
Speaker 1: it's kind of tough when your engagement ring is a
Speaker 1: consolation prize, right right. Well, here's another one that has
Speaker 1: to do with couples as well. So this is very
Speaker 1: on brand. So there's a US softball player, Jane Reid.
Speaker 1: She's the starting left fielder. She's playing for Gold on
Speaker 1: Tuesday night. This comes out on Thursday, so we'll know
Speaker 1: if the US Softball team won gold by then, but
Speaker 1: her husband is an MLB picture and he switched teams
Speaker 1: while she was in Tokyo. He made his major league
Speaker 1: debut earlier this month, but was claimed off waivers this
Speaker 1: week by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Dodgers. And
Speaker 1: I can't imagine getting that call. Also times O wise,
Speaker 1: probably middle of the night for her, she's getting ready
Speaker 1: for the Olympics, trying to win gold for USA. It's like, hey, honey, sorry,
Speaker 1: we're moving. Yeah, honey, look, don't want to bother you.
Speaker 1: I know you're doing you know, I know it's like
Speaker 1: once every four years or whatever. But guess what I
Speaker 1: got College hunks that move stuff. What's that? You ever
Speaker 1: see that truck? It's like, I think it's college Hunks
Speaker 1: that Move stuff is the name of the company. And
Speaker 1: it's like, I guess college dudes that move you. And
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, we're you know, yeah, we got we
Speaker 1: got a new house, got new people probably above that.
Speaker 1: Are you sure you're not thinking of like two guys
Speaker 1: in a truck? Probably? Yeah. Yeah. If you're a picture,
Speaker 1: you're probably going a little higher level than college on
Speaker 1: your stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I've gotten I know
Speaker 1: how she feels. I've gotten the call a couple of
Speaker 1: times for my husband. He was traded and then b
Speaker 1: a four times. And I got that call um once
Speaker 1: when I was about to board a plane, and you know,
Speaker 1: you've got your digital boarding pass on your phone, and
Speaker 1: my husband's trying to call me to tell me he
Speaker 1: was traded from the Clippers to the Calves. And I'm
Speaker 1: boarding a flight in New York to go home to
Speaker 1: l A. So I got a long flight ahead of me, right,
Speaker 1: And I'm about to show the boarding pass to the
Speaker 1: fight attendant, scan it and get on my flight, and
Speaker 1: I get the alert like ESPN alert Sam Decker traded
Speaker 1: to the Cavaliers. And I'm like, oh yeah, hang on,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go back with the people in row four
Speaker 1: hundred fifty and make sure that this news is accurate.
Speaker 1: And I call my husband. I'm like, what the heck?
Speaker 1: Why did I just find out on a an alert?
Speaker 1: And he said I was trying to call you, and
Speaker 1: I said, I was trying to board a plane. I
Speaker 1: couldn't answer at my digital boarding house house. This is
Speaker 1: actually like the perfect show for you, because you can
Speaker 1: do it from Turkey. You can do it from Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: You can do it from anywhere. So you got it perfect.
Speaker 1: That is something that you have experienced with it. I
Speaker 1: don't that's a crazy call probably to get your getting
Speaker 1: on it. It's like, by the way, I know, you
Speaker 1: just made a lot of friends. But yeah, yeah, we're
Speaker 1: headed to Uzbekistan. Don't bother like joining a book club
Speaker 1: or anything. Yeah yeah, hey, look you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: uh learn a new language and uh maybe change religions.
Speaker 1: But you know, I got a nice look condo, we
Speaker 1: have fun and and Dakistan. Okay, I got one more
Speaker 1: for you. So there's a new sport this year at
Speaker 1: the Olympics. Actually there are six new sports. Is it's
Speaker 1: women trying to destroy each other with fake compliments? Because
Speaker 1: that's my favorite sport. Is that like gold medal activity
Speaker 1: in New York or what's that like? I would love
Speaker 1: to watch that, just like, oh my god, I love
Speaker 1: those shoes. And then judges South would clear out if
Speaker 1: we made that just a domestic competition. I went to
Speaker 1: school at University of Georgia. I think the Georgians could
Speaker 1: do a good job. They can, They're good at it. Right,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I love that draft. Oh god, bless
Speaker 1: her heart. Yeah, okay, no, but so of the new
Speaker 1: six sports, which is crazy that here we are adding sports,
Speaker 1: but one of them is women's street skateboarding. I saw this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so guess who swept this year Japan? Guess how old?
Speaker 1: The star was nine, not far thirteen years old, and
Speaker 1: the silver went to a thirteen year old Brazilian. Bronze
Speaker 1: went to a much much older gal wise beyond her years,
Speaker 1: really seasoned, wrinkles around the eyes. She was sixteen. She
Speaker 1: was from Japan. Now, guests, we've finished fourth. I'm hoping
Speaker 1: it's the USA. It is a thirty four year old
Speaker 1: American who's a three time X Games gold medalist. And look,
Speaker 1: she's got a master's degree from m I t think
Speaker 1: about that field of competition. She could be their mother. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's you know what, It's kind of you know,
Speaker 1: we invented skateboarding. It's kind of like what's going on
Speaker 1: with basketball right now with the yeah, with the men
Speaker 1: and uh, you can if we don't meddle in skateboarding,
Speaker 1: I feel like we just Tony Hawk has to put
Speaker 1: on a wig and go out there. I mean, we can't.
Speaker 1: Skateboarding is like that's like Americans losing losing a Nathan's
Speaker 1: Hotdog contest, like we lost, Yeah, you know when then
Speaker 1: we had chess not come back and bring it home.
Speaker 1: I mean that's us, That's what we do. Or losing
Speaker 1: an American football game. Yea. Yeah. Now, I don't know
Speaker 1: what you were doing at thirteen. And again when we
Speaker 1: talked with Kerry Will know what she was doing at thirteens.
Speaker 1: I guarantee we both look like major late bloomers and
Speaker 1: maybe losers next to that. But when I was thirteen,
Speaker 1: I was getting my braces off, navigating politics of middle
Speaker 1: school hallways. Right. No, when I was there teen, I
Speaker 1: was smoking cigarettes, hiding it. Yeah I was. You are
Speaker 1: not a labor bloomer, you were advanced. No, yeah, back
Speaker 1: then you go in and I'd be like, hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, hey, my dad's in the car outside. What's
Speaker 1: pack of Marlboros? And uh so I just pretended like
Speaker 1: I was getting from my dad. But yeah, man, so
Speaker 1: they're really we need to train like a generation. We
Speaker 1: gotta get women into skateboarding so we can compete. I
Speaker 1: hope America. We got to motivate them somehow, like make
Speaker 1: a like give him like a TikTok deal. I don't
Speaker 1: know what you know, when the young American girls and
Speaker 1: it's like, look, if you win gold in skateboarding, we
Speaker 1: will instantly. You'll get to meet Addison Ray. You know.
Speaker 1: Whatever it is that motivate you'll get to meet Justin Bieber.
Speaker 1: Is something to get these girls cooking. Okay, I would
Speaker 1: start skateboarding if I could meet Justin Bieber, I would
Speaker 1: start right now. Years old, I would be I would
Speaker 1: be an old gal. They'd be wheeling me on my
Speaker 1: skatebo word wheelchair. But yeah, there's gonna be some poaching
Speaker 1: going on in kindergarten classrooms coming up. Ready. You're right though,
Speaker 1: When you watch Olympics and you hear how some how
Speaker 1: young some of these athletes are, it really does make
Speaker 1: me feel like a loser. You're like, jeez, what was
Speaker 1: I doing at Like I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't
Speaker 1: practicing anything. Well, that's a perfect transition to get into
Speaker 1: our conversation with Kerry, because I want to hear about
Speaker 1: how her career started, because I read that she started
Speaker 1: competing at a high level at four years old, So
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that's true or not. We gotta
Speaker 1: ask her, right, I guess she was climbing in her
Speaker 1: crib and stuff like that, like in her parents maybe
Speaker 1: noticed it and kind on the edge of the crib. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And being tiny is I guess a talent in gymnastics, right,
Speaker 1: because usually it's like being born tall for basketball and volleyball.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think she's like four ft seven. I
Speaker 1: don't know what that is in the metric system. I'm
Speaker 1: not smart, but she's small, So I mean it's either
Speaker 1: that or she's going to ride a horse if you're
Speaker 1: an athlete, right right right at that level, yeah, jockey
Speaker 1: or gymnast. But either way, she's coming on. Can't wait
Speaker 1: to stalk they We welcome in Carrie Strug. Now, she
Speaker 1: was a member of the Magnificent Seven, won the nine
Speaker 1: gold for USA Gymnastics for the first time ever in
Speaker 1: very dramatic fashion. I know you've seen the video. People
Speaker 1: still talk about it today, twenty five years later. She
Speaker 1: reflects on the experience with us, now a true legend
Speaker 1: in the sport. Welcome, Carrie Strug, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. Thanks for having me Olivia. It's great to
Speaker 1: be with you. You know, your Olympics story really started
Speaker 1: one month before the nine Barcelona Games. You were the youngest,
Speaker 1: I believe fourteen or fifteen years old. I can't imagine
Speaker 1: what that was like mentally. Can any fourteen year old
Speaker 1: be ready for that? Well? I think as a young
Speaker 1: athlete you're used to being mentally tough. You learn how
Speaker 1: to focus on the test at hand, and you're constantly,
Speaker 1: you know, pushing yourself past your comfort zone. And so
Speaker 1: you're taught from a young age too just focus on
Speaker 1: the routines and the actual skills versus everything around you.
Speaker 1: But obviously it's much easier said than done. And in
Speaker 1: the sport it's such a youthful sport that we've seen
Speaker 1: in the Olympics, especially when there's such a spotlight on it,
Speaker 1: it seems like that mental toughness is just ingrained at
Speaker 1: you all. When did you start competing really competitively in
Speaker 1: my day and age? You know, way back then, um,
Speaker 1: three decades ago. You couldn't start competing until you were eight,
Speaker 1: and so that's when I started competing, and then by
Speaker 1: ten I was already beyond that national level, trying to
Speaker 1: buy for a spot on the national team. But everybody
Speaker 1: progresses differently. There's been some Olympians that didn't start until
Speaker 1: they were seven, and you know, by the time they're twelve,
Speaker 1: they're amazing. You know, today it seems like the longevity
Speaker 1: is a lot different than a was back in the nineties.
Speaker 1: A lot of these women that we're gonna be watching
Speaker 1: over the next few days are in their twenties. You know,
Speaker 1: Oxana Chusavitna, she was forty six years old competing in
Speaker 1: her eighth Olympic Games. So I think with diet technology,
Speaker 1: learn how to train. We're not over training, but you
Speaker 1: have these peaks and valleys. It's really assisting young women,
Speaker 1: you know, to stay in the sport that they love
Speaker 1: because you put so much time and energy into it.
Speaker 1: It is kind of disheartening when you only got one shot. Um,
Speaker 1: if you don't accomplish everything you'd like, be honest, what
Speaker 1: were you doing at fourteen years old? Were you getting
Speaker 1: ready for an Olympics or something like that. I was
Speaker 1: not getting ready for an Olympics at fourteen years old.
Speaker 1: I was paying summons is for loitering at fourteen years old,
Speaker 1: and I was training for my private school basketball team
Speaker 1: to sit on the bench, which is always pretty hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: routing is hard. You have to train to root, and
Speaker 1: I was that those members of teams are very important.
Speaker 1: We all need those, you know, positive reinforcers. You can
Speaker 1: come in at the last minute should they need to.
Speaker 1: I started learning cheers, and then the guys were like,
Speaker 1: you don't have to do full cheers, you can just collapse.
Speaker 1: Did they call it after you did a couple of
Speaker 1: high kicks? Well carry, you win bronze in Barcelona. You
Speaker 1: know you're preparing. You know you still have a couple
Speaker 1: of Olympics left in you. At that point, you would think,
Speaker 1: what were the next years like preparing for Atlanta. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in all honesty, I was really disappointed with our results
Speaker 1: in Barcelona. But I think often times when you falter,
Speaker 1: that's just so much more motivation for many to then
Speaker 1: go full force, to sacrifice a little more so that
Speaker 1: you can get what you want. And that's kind of
Speaker 1: how it worked for me. I had originally always thought,
Speaker 1: you know, after the Barcelona Games, maybe I just go
Speaker 1: to normal high school and then go to college gymnastics.
Speaker 1: But after taking a few weeks off, which gymnasts usually
Speaker 1: never do, I realized, you know, I still love the
Speaker 1: spot and I had a lot more in me, and
Speaker 1: so That's why I was willing to sacrifice another four
Speaker 1: years of my adolescence to vibe for gold in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I think for me, knowing that the Atlanta Games, the
Speaker 1: ninety SI Games were going to be in the United
Speaker 1: States was really special. I watched Mary lou Retton when
Speaker 1: I was just six years old at the Summer Olympic Games,
Speaker 1: and I don't know, I wanted my family to be
Speaker 1: there because they're a big part of your training and
Speaker 1: they have to deal with all the sacrifices and things
Speaker 1: like that, and so for me, that was a big
Speaker 1: motivating factor. Knowing that they were here in the States
Speaker 1: and that everybody could participate. Gosh no, and what of
Speaker 1: sight that they all got. Everyone there that day. I
Speaker 1: can't imagine what was going through their heads. I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 1: It was just high drama the way you all won gold.
Speaker 1: And I please correct me on these numbers if I
Speaker 1: get them wrong, because it all fell on your shoulders. Mathematically,
Speaker 1: you needed to go on the vault. You were the last.
Speaker 1: I believe you needed a nine point four nine three
Speaker 1: minimum for us to win. You know, I don't know
Speaker 1: the exact scoring either, after all these years, because everybody
Speaker 1: kind of has different takes on it. I think at
Speaker 1: the time the Russians were not done competing on the
Speaker 1: floor exercise. It takes longer than the vault, so at
Speaker 1: the time we thought I had to go, and then
Speaker 1: after the fact it turns out that we probably would
Speaker 1: have won. Anyways, I don't think any Olympian when you're
Speaker 1: in a team competition, if you're not sure, there's no
Speaker 1: way under any circumstances, you're just gonna say, oh, what
Speaker 1: was me? Like? No thanks? So I think as the gymnast,
Speaker 1: but really as any athlete at that level. You know,
Speaker 1: you work through a lot of aches and pains, and
Speaker 1: you're used to dealing with adversity and if you fall down,
Speaker 1: you get back up and you do it again. You
Speaker 1: never just walk away if you're able to actually stand up.
Speaker 1: This wasn't just any competition again, this is the Olympics
Speaker 1: Team USA. The women had never won a gold medal.
Speaker 1: This is something I had wanted for the majority of
Speaker 1: my life. So um, I think for me it was
Speaker 1: important to at least give it a try. I'm glad
Speaker 1: it all worked out because it definitely could have gone
Speaker 1: the other way, and I realized that there's so many
Speaker 1: athletes that work their whole lives and then they get
Speaker 1: on the Olympic stage and unfortunately they have a bad day.
Speaker 1: I mean, that happens, you know. So for me it
Speaker 1: worked out and I'm forever grateful and very meaningful for
Speaker 1: me because as a gymnast, a lot of times I
Speaker 1: was known as the girl who was talented, but maybe
Speaker 1: it wasn't strong mentally, that always faltered in certain situations.
Speaker 1: So to finally be in that situation where all eyes
Speaker 1: were on me and to pull through was very self
Speaker 1: satisfying and it gave me a new boost of confidence
Speaker 1: to say, you know what, like you never know, you
Speaker 1: always got to keep going, be your best advocate, and
Speaker 1: you know, always believe in yourself because it may take
Speaker 1: a while for you to get there, you know, right,
Speaker 1: And you became the poster child then for strength, So
Speaker 1: any rumor or anything that was about you then you
Speaker 1: put to bed and you became the face of strength
Speaker 1: and stoicism. But can you walk our listeners through for
Speaker 1: anyone who's not so familiar with the story. After you
Speaker 1: under rotated on the first vault, you land your second
Speaker 1: one basically on one foot. But what happened in between, well,
Speaker 1: we had had an amazing competition starting on the uneven
Speaker 1: parallel bars. All the gymnasts on our team we're doing
Speaker 1: the best that they really could, and we were scoring great.
Speaker 1: Back in the day, it wasn't that ten Usa just
Speaker 1: completely dominated and we could have little bob poles or
Speaker 1: falls and still win by a milestone. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: today it's a little bit different, but back then it
Speaker 1: was really tight with the Russians, the Chinese, the Romanians.
Speaker 1: But we went on from the uneven bars, where everybody
Speaker 1: did their very best onto the balance beam, which you
Speaker 1: know that's four inches wide and or beat tall. So
Speaker 1: if there's one event you're maybe gonna get, we'll have
Speaker 1: some problems because you're a little bit nervous. That's the one.
Speaker 1: But again everybody went up. If the routine stuff there dismounts.
Speaker 1: The floor exercise, we were on the you know, home
Speaker 1: court per se and everybody was getting behind us clapp
Speaker 1: into the music. Then we go to the vault and
Speaker 1: right away there was problems in the warm up. They
Speaker 1: weren't moving the springboard and the mats, and so myself
Speaker 1: and my teammate Dominic Muciana, we couldn't warm up the vault,
Speaker 1: that we would compete at that level. It shouldn't matter.
Speaker 1: You've done the VAULTI million times, But to this day
Speaker 1: I wonder like to that do something to our psyche
Speaker 1: because then she went up and fell twice, which is
Speaker 1: pretty uncharacteristic for any gymnast that trains under Bella Carol.
Speaker 1: Then I go up. It was like monkey see, monkey
Speaker 1: do and I fell and you know, of course I
Speaker 1: knew something was wrong with my ankle, but thank goodness,
Speaker 1: you know, there's no time to evaluate and know what's
Speaker 1: really wrong. Kind of said a little prayer to myself,
Speaker 1: focused on the tax at hand. I said, you can
Speaker 1: and you will do this. You're gonna do this, you can't,
Speaker 1: you know, just positive affirmations, and then kind of went
Speaker 1: on automatic pilot. I was really lucky that my muscle
Speaker 1: memory had done this vault hundreds of thousands of times,
Speaker 1: and I'm very grateful that my coach made me do
Speaker 1: it when I was tired or when I didn't feel well,
Speaker 1: because I think that's what helped me pull through. It's
Speaker 1: such an iconic, iconic moment in Olympic history, American Olympic history.
Speaker 1: You guys sacrifice so much at such a young age
Speaker 1: to be gymnasts. When you retire, do you just party?
Speaker 1: Do you just party all that miss childhood? Does it
Speaker 1: just kind of let itself out for a little stage.
Speaker 1: So I think everybody's a little different, you know, how
Speaker 1: they released, you know, pent up stress or um, you know,
Speaker 1: regimented lifestyle that you've had for so long. For me,
Speaker 1: I've always aired more on the more serious, like stoic side.
Speaker 1: I think. You know, I did go to college right
Speaker 1: after it was culture shock. Let me tell you, I
Speaker 1: used to think it was really bad to have a brownie.
Speaker 1: I remember when I first started, my roommate was gonna
Speaker 1: go to a movie and it was a Thursday, and
Speaker 1: I was like, you're gonna go out on a Thursday?
Speaker 1: You know, you only do fun things on Saturday when
Speaker 1: you don't have work out on Sunday. So it took
Speaker 1: me over a year or so to kind of acclimate
Speaker 1: to understand that not everybody lived on, you know, this
Speaker 1: training regime that I was used to. How how great
Speaker 1: can have some fun and you know it would be okay,
Speaker 1: how did that first brownie taste? When you had it?
Speaker 1: I would say, all of us on t Musa after
Speaker 1: the ninety six Games, indulged big time in every carbohydrate
Speaker 1: that's out there. And you know, we're really petite, most
Speaker 1: of us, you know, five ft taller under, and so
Speaker 1: if you put on five it looks like a lot more.
Speaker 1: It's a challenge in that sense too, because you're used
Speaker 1: to being extremely lean and having a certain image of yourself,
Speaker 1: and then things definitely change when you're not working out
Speaker 1: eight hours a day and nor eating what you want.
Speaker 1: But it's you know, it all evens out, and I
Speaker 1: think in time you realize everything in moderation. You know,
Speaker 1: you can exercise for an hour a day and that's
Speaker 1: sufficient and then maybe have a dessert here and there,
Speaker 1: but not at every meal and then something. So yeah,
Speaker 1: about an hour a day. Is that way you're putting
Speaker 1: in right now? Be honest, Yeah, I do. Uh yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm a comedian, so sometimes I'll work like
Speaker 1: ten minutes at night and that's it, and training is
Speaker 1: just sleeping until the set. So it's a little different.
Speaker 1: But I know you're Yeah. One time I had to
Speaker 1: get a seventy six to pass a course, and it
Speaker 1: felt kind of like your moment where you needed that
Speaker 1: score for the gold and uh, I didn't get it.
Speaker 1: So but I repeated the grade and uh and I
Speaker 1: passed a second time. So you know, Okay, well there
Speaker 1: you parents. That's the key. That's what we want to
Speaker 1: teach all our young people out there, right, you don't
Speaker 1: make it the first time, try to try again. So
Speaker 1: I think, you know, oftentimes the Olympics give us that
Speaker 1: extra motivation. We see these stories of these athletes and
Speaker 1: what they've been through, and that's what I really like
Speaker 1: about the Olympics and what I'm trying to tell my
Speaker 1: kids this time around, because they're old enough to watch
Speaker 1: and kind of understand, oh, my goodness, they're the best
Speaker 1: in the world that what you're seeing in on that
Speaker 1: television screen is kind of the end of the story.
Speaker 1: What really should we should talk about is what's led
Speaker 1: up to that they didn't just get out there and
Speaker 1: swim really fast like they've been training for years. And
Speaker 1: it's not just training. They're also you know, having a
Speaker 1: certain diet and they're doing lifting weights and there maybe
Speaker 1: running their cross training, and um, I'm trying to talk
Speaker 1: to my kids about all the elements that it takes
Speaker 1: to become an Olympian, not just Oh my gosh, they're
Speaker 1: so lucky they want Olympic gold. That's so cool, you know.
Speaker 1: So I like watching stories and hearing about the child
Speaker 1: and tribulations that they had along the way prior to
Speaker 1: those Olympic Games. And I know I'm very biased because
Speaker 1: of my experience and whatnot, but for me, it's a
Speaker 1: lot of fun to see these athletes and learn more
Speaker 1: about them and what kind of invigorates them to keep
Speaker 1: going and do better, And hopefully it helps a lot
Speaker 1: of us out there in our own lives. That doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be athletics. You know. It can be your
Speaker 1: career or being just a better person with your family,
Speaker 1: or you know, your academics or whatnot. But I think
Speaker 1: we all can do better each and every day. But
Speaker 1: it's hard to push yourself all the time. So it's
Speaker 1: to have a mentor or a coach. I know my
Speaker 1: kids don't think a parent always nagging you, but I
Speaker 1: want them to have that internal drive, but it's not
Speaker 1: always there. It can't each and every day. So I
Speaker 1: think you have a strong support system or you know,
Speaker 1: a good team member by your side, it's a lot
Speaker 1: easier to achieve your dreams and achieving that dream. I
Speaker 1: can't imagine any sweeter feeling in the world than standing
Speaker 1: on that podium. But you work married off of the
Speaker 1: mat after you finally land that double vault to perfection,
Speaker 1: and the whole world was watching. Bella Caroli is carrying
Speaker 1: you off the mat your face and I was rewatching it.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine anything feeling better. But you're also in pain.
Speaker 1: You're probably shocked, um, you're probably exhausted emotionally mentally. What
Speaker 1: what do you think your face was telling the world. Well,
Speaker 1: I think I had a lot of contrasting emotions like
Speaker 1: you just remarked on. For me, I always envisioned by
Speaker 1: Olympic experience to be like Mary lou Retten's my Idol.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be so ecstatic and be grinning from you know,
Speaker 1: ear to ear and wave into the crowd and jumping
Speaker 1: up and down. And obviously that wasn't how my story
Speaker 1: went down, but I think it's that much more memorable
Speaker 1: because it goes to show a lot of people like
Speaker 1: things don't always go as planned, but it can still
Speaker 1: be pretty amazing. And I think it stood as a
Speaker 1: metaphor for like what becoming an Olympian or achieving a
Speaker 1: dream is you know, there's pain, there's sacrifice, but there's
Speaker 1: also so much joy and self satisfaction. And I had
Speaker 1: all of that up there on the podium because it
Speaker 1: was like, my dream is realized. But I hurt my ankle.
Speaker 1: I can't compete in any other events. I was hoping
Speaker 1: to buy for individual medals and that's over. So I'm sad,
Speaker 1: but I'm ecstatic that we won the team gold. And
Speaker 1: it's a complex thing and you have, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: five minutes up there on the podium. You always think
Speaker 1: it's gonna slow down like in the movies, and you're
Speaker 1: gonna have time to, you know, just really enjoy it.
Speaker 1: It went quicker than I had thought it would, but
Speaker 1: I tried to just be in the moment as much
Speaker 1: as possible. But obviously, as a youngster, I'm still thinking,
Speaker 1: how could this happen? Why didn't you know, Why didn't
Speaker 1: I competed the way I should? Why am I injured?
Speaker 1: There's always those self doubts too. I think many Olympians
Speaker 1: that's what makes them great is you it's never enough.
Speaker 1: You know, you get that one gold medal, then you
Speaker 1: want to you know, you win this there swimming, you know, freestyle,
Speaker 1: but now you you have to go on to the
Speaker 1: two hundreds. So it's those that are maybe never satisfied
Speaker 1: that it's you know, it's a catch twenty two because
Speaker 1: that's what makes you great, but that's what doesn't make
Speaker 1: you happy when you should be. So life is, it's
Speaker 1: always changing. You're always learning and trying to you know,
Speaker 1: enjoy the moment, but also move forward. Being a mom
Speaker 1: now having husband. Um, when you have a fight with
Speaker 1: your husband, do you ever to win the argument? You
Speaker 1: let them know that, Like I'm an olympian and maybe
Speaker 1: you should. You know, you don't want to disrespect your
Speaker 1: country right now? You use it as leverage? No, I
Speaker 1: don't think so. Um. You know, I met my husband
Speaker 1: many many years after the embits. Obviously, I'm very proud
Speaker 1: of what I accomplished and you know, try and implement
Speaker 1: it into my daily life in terms of being a
Speaker 1: hard worker, doing the right thing, understanding and I'm going
Speaker 1: to have challenges and falter, but I still have to
Speaker 1: keep moving in the direction I want to go. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: we've you know, created our life together in a different terms,
Speaker 1: and like everybody, you know, we have our challenges here
Speaker 1: and there, But overall, I'm really really lucky. It's been
Speaker 1: interesting though. I like to be in control, and so
Speaker 1: having two kids that also like to be in control,
Speaker 1: I've learned a lot. You know. I think I'm just
Speaker 1: used to doing what I think is right and following.
Speaker 1: You know, I followed directions and never questioned for better
Speaker 1: or worse. It's a very different thirty years later than
Speaker 1: it was when I was the youngest. Really good that
Speaker 1: are young people have a voice and that they're doing things.
Speaker 1: But sometimes I don't know, I wish maybe they weren't
Speaker 1: so independent. My two I'm like, just you know, please,
Speaker 1: But they're great kids, you know. I feel honored to
Speaker 1: be their mom. But it's just different in terms of
Speaker 1: the way I was brought up through the cool system,
Speaker 1: per se. And now do you think your kids can
Speaker 1: handle the coroles or that would be that this generation
Speaker 1: couldn't handle that type of no, you know, and no,
Speaker 1: I would do it over again in a minute, but
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want my kids to go through. So neither
Speaker 1: of them is involved in gymnastics. They love sports, sons
Speaker 1: involved in everything imaginable. I know we're gonna have to
Speaker 1: hone in and um focus on just one or two
Speaker 1: in the next few years, but for now he's having
Speaker 1: a great time doing ice, hockey, sock or tennis, baseball.
Speaker 1: You know, he does all of them in the different
Speaker 1: seasons and whatnot. We just like to get the energy out.
Speaker 1: And then my daughter's like most typical girls, like dance
Speaker 1: and gymnastics and cheerleading. We put her in tennis as well.
Speaker 1: But they're definitely keeping me busy and well documented. The
Speaker 1: corole camp, the strictness being regimented, Um, you all were
Speaker 1: so mentally tough going into that and through that. Now,
Speaker 1: as a grown woman with kids in sports, how do
Speaker 1: you view your experience. I know you said you would
Speaker 1: do it again in a heartbeat, but is there anything
Speaker 1: left on the table that has resonated differently now as
Speaker 1: an adult? Well, I think this team that's in Tokyo
Speaker 1: right now has shown that you can kind of do
Speaker 1: it on your own terms. There Um a little bit older,
Speaker 1: like we talked about at the beginning this interview, and
Speaker 1: I think many of them are extremely self driven. And
Speaker 1: that's not to say that they are not. They are
Speaker 1: working like very hard and they're very disciplined, but they
Speaker 1: also know if they want to have that longevity that
Speaker 1: they may be when they're a little bit injured have
Speaker 1: to take a break. And under the old system, I
Speaker 1: think it was just the more repetition, the more you do.
Speaker 1: Then you know, we can wake you up in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night and you can perform that routine
Speaker 1: perfectly because you've done it literally hundreds of thousands of times.
Speaker 1: But I think science has grown to show, you know,
Speaker 1: on some level that you need to rest and recuperate,
Speaker 1: and that really helps with your performance and obviously with
Speaker 1: your ability to compete for a much longer period of time.
Speaker 1: You know, was that ever done by the way to
Speaker 1: wake up in the middle of the night and perform
Speaker 1: your routine. Not in the middle of the night, but
Speaker 1: it would be it's six in the morning or nine
Speaker 1: at night, or in the middle of the day. It's
Speaker 1: just you need to be able to do this without
Speaker 1: any warm up and just be able to go kinda
Speaker 1: on automatic pilot. And I think for many that maybe
Speaker 1: aren't as mentally tough, it's extremely beneficial. It really is,
Speaker 1: because you just go um. But there's many that I
Speaker 1: think still would have prospered even if we didn't work
Speaker 1: that way. So you know, each individual is a little different.
Speaker 1: Everybody on the Olympic level is talented, but I really
Speaker 1: truly believe it's who puts it together when it counts most.
Speaker 1: And everybody works hard. I mean nobody gets a free
Speaker 1: lunch every right, just jymnasts, But those everybody you're watching
Speaker 1: on your television screen in Tokyo has worked really, really hard,
Speaker 1: no matter where they're from or what their sport is.
Speaker 1: It's a lifestyle and true commitment for not just a
Speaker 1: couple of years, but for many a decade or more.
Speaker 1: You know, it's pretty grueling, but they make it look
Speaker 1: easy when you watch them on your television screen. How
Speaker 1: does this team compared to the Magnificent Seven? Did you
Speaker 1: guys take them? Oh? No, and we're very very different.
Speaker 1: I think the skill level today is much harder, but
Speaker 1: back in the nineties we had to do the compulsory
Speaker 1: actors this which was much more technical. It's when everybody
Speaker 1: did the exact same routines, but they graded you on
Speaker 1: you know, the amplitude and the precision, whereas now it's
Speaker 1: much more focused on the difficulty level. They actually have
Speaker 1: the two scoring systems, where you know, one is based
Speaker 1: on difficulty and one is based on execution. But the
Speaker 1: skill is that these young girls are doing today. I'm
Speaker 1: glad that I'm watching because it is amazing. I just
Speaker 1: never thought that it was humanly possible to do some
Speaker 1: as these moves. So I'm in awe of these young
Speaker 1: girls and you know, their ability to push past their
Speaker 1: fears and then be able to execute them safely. Now.
Speaker 1: USA gymnastics has had a rough couple of years. What
Speaker 1: are you hopeful about in this new chapter? You've mentioned
Speaker 1: that women are having voices. I think now learning what
Speaker 1: we have learned, there's so much respect for your generation
Speaker 1: of USA gymnasts. What are you hopeful moving forward in
Speaker 1: USA gymnastics? Well, I think what we've seen there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of changes, not just in gymnastics but in
Speaker 1: women's sports in terms of you know, equality and in
Speaker 1: the voice and whatnot. So, you know, I think we
Speaker 1: have to grow and learn obviously from what transpired, and
Speaker 1: I kind of out of the mix, but I hope,
Speaker 1: and it seems like that's what has happened thus far.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I have a young daughter, and
Speaker 1: I can't imagine how I would feel if you know,
Speaker 1: she was a victim, so I'm so glad that young
Speaker 1: women came out and discussed what happened, and that things
Speaker 1: are in place now that hopefully something like that will
Speaker 1: never happen again. Really really unfortunate what transpired, But moving forward,
Speaker 1: I'm very hopeful we'll only go in the right direction.
Speaker 1: That's really well said. I think being a mother probably
Speaker 1: changes your opinion on most things. I always hear that
Speaker 1: I have, you know, siblings with children, and they say
Speaker 1: it changes the way you look at anything. Really, I'm
Speaker 1: curious if you watch the documentary athlete A and your
Speaker 1: thoughts on it. I did watch it, and you know, again,
Speaker 1: I think for me, that was not Mike variance. I
Speaker 1: have not. I was so fortunate not to be a victim.
Speaker 1: I'm not a survivor, so I I just I'm not
Speaker 1: comfortable speaking on their behalf because I have no idea
Speaker 1: what that's like, and I feel sorry for everything they
Speaker 1: went through. But I don't like advocating on their behalf
Speaker 1: because I don't think I can even begin to comprehend.
Speaker 1: I think I can, but I think until you're an
Speaker 1: actual victim, you have no idea what that recovery processes
Speaker 1: or what that impact it has on you, So you know,
Speaker 1: I commend them for coming out, and I think it's
Speaker 1: you know, crucial for these future generations that we don't
Speaker 1: forget and that we again implement safety measures to make
Speaker 1: sure not just the Olympians, but all athletes and whatever
Speaker 1: sport you're in are protected and that we can feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: because for me, I always feel like, oh, athletics is
Speaker 1: so positive. You learn, you know about time management and
Speaker 1: perseverance and dedication and this with your self esteem. But
Speaker 1: after you know, learning about all this, it can be
Speaker 1: detrimental for a lifetime. So I think it's important to
Speaker 1: educate even our youngsters, obviously in a different way, and
Speaker 1: then moving up the line to just remind everybody that
Speaker 1: you've got to advocate for yourself and make sure that
Speaker 1: you know, maybe you're intimidated by this coach or this person,
Speaker 1: but you know you have a right two to do
Speaker 1: what needs to be done. I appreciate you saying that.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it's very difficult to speak on and you
Speaker 1: are so eloquent, and you've been such a voice for
Speaker 1: future generations. Now I know you do a lot of
Speaker 1: work around gyms around the country, and and speaking of
Speaker 1: families and gymnasts. So your your work is so credible.
Speaker 1: Thank you for speaking about that with us. Yeah again, Mom,
Speaker 1: I think it changes a lot of things, but I
Speaker 1: don't not having had the experience that, don't like to
Speaker 1: dwelf too far because I have a very peripheral view.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not in not in that climate carry
Speaker 1: I've been. I've been watching the Olympics with my wife
Speaker 1: and like you said, it's watching people. These women do unbelievable,
Speaker 1: like superhuman things. I was watching Less Night and the Beam.
Speaker 1: How do you approach the fear of what could go
Speaker 1: wrong on the beam? Like I'm scared to go out
Speaker 1: on a terrorist because I'm scared of heights. How do
Speaker 1: you do that? Is that something that gets increasingly less
Speaker 1: scary or you are you just you just have no
Speaker 1: fear at the outset, you know. I think it's different
Speaker 1: for everyone. For me, I was really not a fan
Speaker 1: of the Beam ever. Um, it was my least favorite.
Speaker 1: But there's other gymness out there that just feel very
Speaker 1: comfortable and they love it. It It was their favorite, and
Speaker 1: you know, with all that pressure, they're not intimidated. They
Speaker 1: just go out there and they rock their moves. They're
Speaker 1: solid they're right over the top. It's nothing, but when
Speaker 1: I was competing, it is the one where after I
Speaker 1: completed the beam successfully, it was a huge sigh of
Speaker 1: relief for me. The floor exercise and the vault were
Speaker 1: always ones that I just felt much more comfortable from
Speaker 1: day one. I love flying through the air. I was
Speaker 1: much more powerful than graceful. Yeah, learning the tricks on
Speaker 1: the beam now it's a progression. You know. You obviously
Speaker 1: start on the floor and then you go to a
Speaker 1: low beam and then a higher beam with a mat. Again,
Speaker 1: the skills these crowns are doing today, I'm very grateful
Speaker 1: I'm watching from my chair instead of having to perform them,
Speaker 1: because I think I would be shaking literally while I
Speaker 1: was up there right before I had to throw those skills.
Speaker 1: But like anything, you know, you do it enough times,
Speaker 1: it becomes second nature. Karrie, can you give our listeners
Speaker 1: a little preview of what's on deck the next week
Speaker 1: for USA Gymnastics The women's team, Well, I know, um,
Speaker 1: you know, they had a few little bubbles here and
Speaker 1: there in the prelimbs, but it just goes to show
Speaker 1: you that they're human. I think we just become accustomed
Speaker 1: to them. Performing perfectly pretty much every time. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think in this day and age where the media
Speaker 1: is running seven with the various formats, you know, we
Speaker 1: got to come up with certain stories here and there.
Speaker 1: But for me, they're extremely strong. They're going to do great.
Speaker 1: It's a competition against themselves pretty much. Team USA is spectacular,
Speaker 1: not only in their difficulty level but their ability to execute.
Speaker 1: And because they're performing these tricks that are just so
Speaker 1: much harder than everybody else. You know, if they bobble
Speaker 1: here or there, that's still okay. They're still on top.
Speaker 1: Of course, we'd love for them to be absolutely perfect,
Speaker 1: but this is the Olympics. There's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1: They're out there on the world stage. We can't all
Speaker 1: always be perfect. But they're pretty close. So I guess,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe for a story everybody'd like to say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's gonna be tired. I don't know. Looking
Speaker 1: at the past decade or so, I think they're going
Speaker 1: to be a okay and bring home many many medals. Well.
Speaker 1: I love the way you romanticize the Olympics, because us
Speaker 1: as viewers at home, we certainly do. And it's very
Speaker 1: cool to hear it from a former gold medalist saying
Speaker 1: that and the lessons that you've drawn from your experience
Speaker 1: um is immortalized. So thank you so much for sharing that.
Speaker 1: That was really fascinating me. Appreciate you coming on the show.
Speaker 1: Carry Yeah, let me just say I remember ninety six.
Speaker 1: I watched it. This was a great experience talking to
Speaker 1: an olympian. And I hope Quentin Tarantino makes a movie
Speaker 1: Magnificent seven and you guys fight the hatefully and when
Speaker 1: you fly through the air and you win. It was
Speaker 1: it was an honor to meet you and speak to you,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much. Well, thanks you honest, Thanks Olivia.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your kind words. And go Team USA. Right,
Speaker 1: let's go. Ye. We love this segment. We bring in
Speaker 1: our betting expert from bet MGM Peter Andrew, who we
Speaker 1: are just discussing, is a little bit Greek as well,
Speaker 1: so it's like immediate bromance with Joannice. What's going on, guys,
Speaker 1: Yeah right here? Good class Sagapo, Sagapo, I love you.
Speaker 1: He's married to a Greek. So also, Olivia, you referred
Speaker 1: to me as the betting expert, but I think you're
Speaker 1: actually the betting expert. Now according to a couple of
Speaker 1: my colleagues from last weekend in Detroit, Oh yes, I'm trying. Okay,
Speaker 1: So here's the deal. I don't live in a gambling state.
Speaker 1: So when I went with our bet MGM family to
Speaker 1: stay at the MGM Grand in Detroit last week, I
Speaker 1: was really eager to go to our sports book in
Speaker 1: person and have fun on the app because before, you know,
Speaker 1: when I'm at home, I can't do anything. So every
Speaker 1: time we're talking gambling, I can see all the lines,
Speaker 1: but I can't. I can't put my money where my
Speaker 1: mouth is. That changed on Wednesday, and I did all right.
Speaker 1: Um My. One funny story is I was going to
Speaker 1: meet our crew for dinner and I had just kind
Speaker 1: of gotten everything all downloaded on the app, and I'm
Speaker 1: wanting to put together a monster of a parlay for myself,
Speaker 1: and I do like five different outcomes on all the
Speaker 1: MLB games at night, and as I'm running out, you know,
Speaker 1: grabbing my purse but not my lip glass going downstairs,
Speaker 1: I accidentally add like forty Niners to win Week one
Speaker 1: in this parlay. So this is now the weirdest combination
Speaker 1: of events. And I got down there. It's like, oh, shoot,
Speaker 1: because I wanted to like cash out this week, right,
Speaker 1: I wanted to do well, and now I've got to
Speaker 1: wait to weak one. Well. The good the good news
Speaker 1: is as an Honors fan, I know we played the
Speaker 1: lines week one, so you probably will play. I thought
Speaker 1: about that after, but I had a look. I was like, wait,
Speaker 1: who did they even play? Why did I do that?
Speaker 1: My my thumb did it. It's like when you have
Speaker 1: fat fingers and you text. This was that story in
Speaker 1: my life. But I did all right, And then I
Speaker 1: was texting you yesterday, Peter. I was driving with my
Speaker 1: husband from Wisconsin to our house in Kansas City. So
Speaker 1: in Iowa, I gotta have a little bit more fun
Speaker 1: on the app. And so now I'm I'm pretty I'm
Speaker 1: pretty into it at this point. But I've made a
Speaker 1: lot of future bets so I can just every time
Speaker 1: I travel for work hopefully be able to put my
Speaker 1: money in my mouth this some more. But speaking of
Speaker 1: which basketball, now, we've been looking ahead at some of
Speaker 1: the games coming up. After USA loss to France, how
Speaker 1: are you feeling about USA basketball for the rest of
Speaker 1: the games this week? Well, fortunately for them, I think
Speaker 1: they have Iran in the next game, which they are
Speaker 1: a forty one point five point favorite. They don't win
Speaker 1: that game, there's a bigger problem. I think Pop might
Speaker 1: get fired mid Olympics, going it was the first for everything.
Speaker 1: You know, five, it's a lot of points to cover.
Speaker 1: They're gonna win the game. They're gonna win it pretty handily.
Speaker 1: But it's tough saying a team is going to win
Speaker 1: by forty two points. So I may stay away from that,
Speaker 1: but I do like the under, so under one sixty
Speaker 1: six and a half. I think we know Iran is
Speaker 1: just not gonna score many points. You know. It's It's
Speaker 1: funny though, because you had some of the USA players
Speaker 1: saying people in the Olympics they play differently. They Evan
Speaker 1: four ye is an example. These guys are playing with
Speaker 1: some heart. And then you have the USA guys that
Speaker 1: are a little bit lazy. They obviously went through a
Speaker 1: full playoffs. They're they're tired, they don't have their legs
Speaker 1: under them. So the more you see that, the more
Speaker 1: they play a team like Spain or or in Argentina
Speaker 1: or a France, and those guys are gonna want it more.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be tough for them. I'm putting money
Speaker 1: on Iran. I think they're thousands to one to win
Speaker 1: a game on Daddy needs a new pair of shoes,
Speaker 1: let's go. I like, honest, if he can even just
Speaker 1: say anything, no punchline and like cracked me up. He
Speaker 1: just kind of looks. Because we are on zoom right now,
Speaker 1: we can see each other, and I love the way
Speaker 1: he just looks the camera and smiles and it just
Speaker 1: makes you laugh. And then USA plays Check Republic on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Same story. Yeah, I think the Checks are a seven
Speaker 1: and a half point underdog. I think they play France
Speaker 1: maybe in the next couple of days. It's going to
Speaker 1: be an interesting test for them if they keep it close.
Speaker 1: I think you have to take you have to take
Speaker 1: the Checks to keep it close against the US. I
Speaker 1: think it's just, um, you got these teams that are
Speaker 1: fresh again. They just want to play. They want to meddle.
Speaker 1: USA is playing waysy until they prove otherwise. You kind
Speaker 1: of have to fade them, which is crazy because they're
Speaker 1: still we were talking about this offline. They're still a
Speaker 1: heavy favorite to win it all, win gold, so they
Speaker 1: gotta prove it to us. But France is a favorite
Speaker 1: to win group a at minus five fifty. Would you
Speaker 1: take that? Yeah, I think that's a pretty big lock.
Speaker 1: They have a really good NBA team, they have four
Speaker 1: tum They gotta got a lot of decent guys go there,
Speaker 1: of course, so I think that's a pretty big lock.
Speaker 1: You have to put a couple of bucks on, but
Speaker 1: to me, that's a three hundred. Okay, I'm driving back
Speaker 1: to Iowa. Do you think also like chemistry problems for
Speaker 1: the US. I mean, it's like you've got two players
Speaker 1: on that team, they just went to war for seven games,
Speaker 1: they got off a plane. How do they instantly become
Speaker 1: teammates after in a lot of instances they were covering
Speaker 1: each other? Yeah, And then I completely agree with that.
Speaker 1: And then you have, you know, grumblings today that people
Speaker 1: don't like this san it's on your offense that Pop
Speaker 1: is running. So you combine those two things. Guys that
Speaker 1: are exhausted, they're just not schelling. You've got guys like
Speaker 1: Durant and Lillard don't want the ball and need the ball.
Speaker 1: They want the last shot. They didn't prove much of
Speaker 1: it because they were missing wide open threes and wide
Speaker 1: open eighteen footers. But all that that adds up, and
Speaker 1: then if you have an offense you're just not happy
Speaker 1: with or you don't like running and it's not the
Speaker 1: Shoshowsky offense they ran four years ago, that's all gonna
Speaker 1: make a difference. So I'm completely on board with that,
Speaker 1: and I think you have to look at it and
Speaker 1: say can they make it work? If not, then they're
Speaker 1: gonna be in trouble. Well after the last of France,
Speaker 1: Papovich is six and three since taking over Team USA
Speaker 1: from coach k We mentioned they play I ran Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Check Republic Saturday. Check out the bet MGM app to
Speaker 1: place your bets now. Peter Golf starts Wednesday. What should
Speaker 1: we know? Yeah, so a bit of a crazy week
Speaker 1: so far. Dshambo tested positive for COVID and then John
Speaker 1: rom tested positive for COVID again after getting it a
Speaker 1: month ago at the Memorial, already having a vaccine, already
Speaker 1: having COVID, So really, really terrible. But I think there's
Speaker 1: a couple of people you have to look at. Colin
Speaker 1: more Kawa is obviously and probably the best form of
Speaker 1: his life, just coming off an Open Championship win. He's
Speaker 1: seven to one to win gold. I think he's got
Speaker 1: a really good shot. Cameron Smith solely based off his
Speaker 1: new mullet that he put in uh for the Olympics.
Speaker 1: Today he's twenty two to one. But he's obviously been
Speaker 1: a great golf for this year. He's had some really
Speaker 1: good finishes, top ten finishes on the tour and then
Speaker 1: last one Hideki mate Yama. Winning in your own country
Speaker 1: is huge. If he's able to win in Japan, that's
Speaker 1: obviously a huge honor. I have them plus four hundred
Speaker 1: just to metal, so Bron, Silver, Argal. But I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna come take this really, really seriously. A lot
Speaker 1: of guys are having fun the experience. You got a
Speaker 1: guy like moncet Amo is pretty serious, and he obviously
Speaker 1: wants to win in front of his own, his own
Speaker 1: fans in his own country. Dude, do you think like
Speaker 1: it's in Japan so it's like I just remember that
Speaker 1: Roy Jones Junior fight in Korea where they gave it
Speaker 1: that was like the biggest robbery I've ever seen. Do
Speaker 1: you think the Japanese they're very good with technology, so
Speaker 1: what they do with the drones, you think maybe they
Speaker 1: juice his ball a little bit with like a robot
Speaker 1: to go right into the hall. Yeah, no slice. I
Speaker 1: think they can pull it off getting an extra fifty
Speaker 1: yards on the drive. I wouldn't be surprised. I'm betting
Speaker 1: on him nine Iran right here, you heard, I'm betting
Speaker 1: on him, and I'm betting on Iran that part that
Speaker 1: parlay might bankrupt. Thus, so if it hits, the Lord
Speaker 1: help us all. It's pretty bizarre that the golfers keep
Speaker 1: getting COVID right like the most individual sport, and here
Speaker 1: they are getting COVID. Why And also, I mean there's
Speaker 1: really no interaction with anyone except for your caddie, who
Speaker 1: if you have it, he's probably probably has it as well.
Speaker 1: I'm of the mindset of let them play, make sure
Speaker 1: they just don't handshake. They touched strong golf ball. They
Speaker 1: don't have any interaction with people. It's really, really weird.
Speaker 1: But that's for our politics podcast for for third you're one.
Speaker 1: If they move it to they should just if they
Speaker 1: test positive for COVID, they should just move the golf
Speaker 1: to Florida and just let them have at it, you know,
Speaker 1: and no one gets it in Florida. It doesn't exists here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Baseball and softball are two of the new sports this year.
Speaker 1: There are six new sports. Baseball and softball kind of
Speaker 1: count as one to some people, and they have been
Speaker 1: Olympic sports before, but now they're back with baseball. And
Speaker 1: how strong Japan is as a country in the sport.
Speaker 1: What are you expecting there? Yeah, it's tough because the
Speaker 1: USA obviously all Major League Baseball players are playing in
Speaker 1: season right now. Any of those teams like a Japan
Speaker 1: that have a lot of their professional players playing, I
Speaker 1: think you have to go for it. You've got amateurs,
Speaker 1: college players essentially playing for Team USA. I think the
Speaker 1: home favorites are are heavy favorite, rightfully so, so I
Speaker 1: think you gotta roll with them. A couple of the
Speaker 1: other sports pretty cool too. I love that skateboardings there now,
Speaker 1: and then um three on three basketball. I just feel
Speaker 1: like I'm watching basketball at the park. So maybe US
Speaker 1: three I'll get in for next Olympics in four years.
Speaker 1: The bar is low. Well, Peter Andrew, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining us, thank you for your betting advice,
Speaker 1: and thank you for getting me so hooked, especially this
Speaker 1: last week. I'm loving the app. You told me. Give
Speaker 1: any feedback. The app is incredible. If you don't have it,
Speaker 1: make sure you get it, and next time you're on
Speaker 1: a road trip going through just about every other steak,
Speaker 1: you can go ahead in place of bed. Having a
Speaker 1: lot of fun with it. Peter, thank you, Thanks, good
Speaker 1: luck on that parlor. Follow us everywhere at bet MGM
Speaker 1: and listen and rate review wherever you listen to podcast
Speaker 1: them BA