Speaker 1: Who are you dating these days? Uh yeah, let's not
Speaker 1: talk about me. This is about you. This is all
Speaker 1: about a rock. This is a rock. First of all,
Speaker 1: I want to thank a Rod for joining me today.
Speaker 1: He's a very busy man. He is one of the
Speaker 1: busiest entrepreneurs around and he has so many things going on.
Speaker 1: But do you have time to watch every single Yankee game? Oh?
Speaker 1: I wish, I wish. Did you watch last night? I
Speaker 1: did not. Do you know the score? Oh? You don't
Speaker 1: even know? The thing is Martha's like now, with my
Speaker 1: acquisition of the Minnesota timboo of the NBA team, I
Speaker 1: can only watch so many things. Bandwidth is only so much.
Speaker 1: And last night I had a two hour dinner with
Speaker 1: both of my daughters and we just laughed our ass
Speaker 1: off and that's my focus. Well that's good, But I
Speaker 1: would guess that. I mean, I went out to a
Speaker 1: restaurant where they have a big TV so I could
Speaker 1: be up to date on all the statistics of the Yankees.
Speaker 1: So I guess it was for naught since you're not
Speaker 1: even watching now. When you were a Yankee and active Yankee,
Speaker 1: I still consider you Yankee. I think everybody does. Were
Speaker 1: you as good as they are this year or better. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I think we were all over the place.
Speaker 1: I mean I think oh nine was the best year.
Speaker 1: We won the World Championship, the twenty seventh title in
Speaker 1: Major League history for the for the Yankees. And there
Speaker 1: was some years that we struggled, but for the most
Speaker 1: part we were always pretty good. And Eric Judge hit
Speaker 1: his league leading eleventh home run last night. Aaron Judge
Speaker 1: is one. I think Aaron Judge maybe my favorite player
Speaker 1: in the majors today. And there's a can I tell
Speaker 1: you why? Yeah? But first of all, like he's this
Speaker 1: like great, big, handsome, great face of Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: He's six ft seven two and eighty pounds, has a
Speaker 1: vertical of like thirty inches. He could have played football
Speaker 1: at Stanford and Notre Dame team and chose to play baseball.
Speaker 1: And now he's the face of the Yankees. He's the
Speaker 1: best player in the Yankee roster. And as you said,
Speaker 1: now they have the best record in Major League Baseball,
Speaker 1: but close second or at least equal, is the Mets. Yes,
Speaker 1: now you tried with j Low to buy the Mets.
Speaker 1: What happened, Well, we came in second, So I say
Speaker 1: we were the the second winner, and uh we ran
Speaker 1: into a bus off. I mean with a guy like
Speaker 1: Steve Cohen, who was one of the wealthiest people around
Speaker 1: in the world. He's a long time Mets fan and
Speaker 1: he won fair and square and he's doing an incredible
Speaker 1: job with that franchise. And it's good for baseball to
Speaker 1: have wealthy owners who are extremely passionate and are deploying
Speaker 1: tons of capital into our game. You're right, it's very
Speaker 1: exciting to see New York with two strong, strong teams again,
Speaker 1: because it was kind of boring we didn't have the
Speaker 1: World Series here for a while. Well, let me tell you,
Speaker 1: this could be a rematch of the two thousand Subway Series,
Speaker 1: which will be incredible. You'll be there. I will, And
Speaker 1: when I cover the postseason every year is hard for
Speaker 1: me because I have to keep it kind of like
Speaker 1: Switzerland and just be nutrient stuff. But it's hard when
Speaker 1: the Yankees are playing. I you know, Big Poppy goes
Speaker 1: for the Red Sox, and of course I go for
Speaker 1: the Yankees. Well, the last time I saw you was
Speaker 1: earlier this year at the Super Bowl weekend. You were
Speaker 1: at Shutters having breakfast and we just said a quick hello,
Speaker 1: and you seem to be enjoying yourself. How is life?
Speaker 1: We have to ask the question, how is life after
Speaker 1: j Lo? You know, Martha, thank goodness, no regrets. Life
Speaker 1: is good. I'm very fortunate. I wake up every morning
Speaker 1: and thank the Good Lord for my health, for my
Speaker 1: beautiful daughters who are now seventeen and fourteen. That is
Speaker 1: my number one focus and life. You know, my father
Speaker 1: left me and my mother and my two siblings when
Speaker 1: I was just ten years old, and I remember as
Speaker 1: a young man praying and saying, you know, dear Lord,
Speaker 1: if if you ever give me an opportunity to be
Speaker 1: a father, uh, that's gonna be my number one responsibility
Speaker 1: in life. And it's been the greatest gift. I'm very
Speaker 1: lucky to have a great co parent in Cynthia. She's
Speaker 1: one of my dear friends. She's a wonderful human being.
Speaker 1: She has a master's psychology. I paid for that degree
Speaker 1: because Martha I knew early on when we were married
Speaker 1: that we needed a psychologist full time in house and
Speaker 1: for me. So she's great. We have a great time
Speaker 1: co parenting Natasha and Ella. And what do the girls do? What?
Speaker 1: What grades are they in? So I have a junior
Speaker 1: and an eighth grader. Natasha is starting to look at colleges.
Speaker 1: Her top three schools right now are Michigan, in which
Speaker 1: we visited twice, Yale, and Princeton. So you know, it's
Speaker 1: hard to get into these colleges. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: we have our fingers crossed and we have other options
Speaker 1: as well. Is she an athlete? I mean, Michigan is
Speaker 1: such an athletic school. She is an athlete. She's athletic,
Speaker 1: but her whole mission is to follow Broadway into one
Speaker 1: day being Broadway in New York. To be a dancer,
Speaker 1: a singer, a producer. And both Michigan and Yale have
Speaker 1: great drama departments and that's why I go to the
Speaker 1: two O three. Oh great, Well that is so so great.
Speaker 1: And what about your younger daughter? My younger daughter, it's
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a hybrid. She likes the dancing,
Speaker 1: but she's really into producing, and she's really savvy when
Speaker 1: it comes to business, and she's really interested in the Timberwolves.
Speaker 1: I think one day she looks at Jennie Buss as
Speaker 1: someone who could potentially run the Timberwolves. So she has
Speaker 1: great ambitions and sports, entertainment and dancing. Wow, pretty fantastic.
Speaker 1: I advise you to spend a lot of time with
Speaker 1: them and teach them all you know, because you know
Speaker 1: a lot from the age of seventeen. So you do
Speaker 1: not go to college. I guess right out of high
Speaker 1: school you got a big contract to go and play
Speaker 1: shortstop for whom I was drafted number one one in
Speaker 1: nineteen nine out of Westminster Christian here in Miami, Florida.
Speaker 1: I was signed by the Seattle Mariners for one point
Speaker 1: three five million dollars, which felt like a billion dollars,
Speaker 1: especially when you grew up with very little. It was
Speaker 1: my mother and my brother and my sister right here
Speaker 1: in Miami. We shared a small apartment and then a
Speaker 1: small house, and off I went. That started my twenty
Speaker 1: five year career. And here we are. What are you six?
Speaker 1: Six now? Oh gosh, yes, but let's not say that
Speaker 1: six And he's had a twenty five year career in baseball. Guys,
Speaker 1: you're not old. Forty six is young. You're odd. Come on,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. You look amazing. Are you in
Speaker 1: the best physical shape you've ever been in? And look
Speaker 1: talking about amazing? I read your New York Times article.
Speaker 1: You look amazing. Thank you. You get better with age,
Speaker 1: like like a fine wine. The I'm in great shape,
Speaker 1: you know. I actually altered um my schedule a little bit,
Speaker 1: and I'll share with you. I've told my office that
Speaker 1: I don't want to look at my phone before noon.
Speaker 1: And the reason why is I was getting so consumed
Speaker 1: before nine am that I didn't have any time for myself.
Speaker 1: So now I get up, I have my coffee. The
Speaker 1: girls woke me up this morning. They go to school.
Speaker 1: I go to the gym. Then I try to get
Speaker 1: in the sauna, a little steam, a little meditation, and
Speaker 1: then my first meeting is right here on this desk,
Speaker 1: usually at twelve thirty in person or zoom and uh.
Speaker 1: It's brought so much more balance to my life. And
Speaker 1: one thing that I learned is that you can only
Speaker 1: make two or three decisions per day that are really
Speaker 1: good and solid. The many you start going too wide
Speaker 1: and shallow. I'd rather go narrow. Indeed, well, how broad
Speaker 1: is your office staff? I mean do you have do
Speaker 1: you have other people that bounce off ideas? How do
Speaker 1: you organize your office? I mean, if you look at
Speaker 1: our organization between real estate, private equity, and adventure, we
Speaker 1: have over five dred people spread all over the country
Speaker 1: and all over the world, but our management team, which
Speaker 1: sits between Miami, New York and l A is probably
Speaker 1: uh about Well, that's a sizable company. Can you go public?
Speaker 1: My wish is never to go public, although we have
Speaker 1: you know, a number of companies, well over thirty companies
Speaker 1: in our portfolio, in which the past few years we've
Speaker 1: taken about six or seven of them public, but not
Speaker 1: a Rod Corp. Which is our parent company here. It's
Speaker 1: just amazing in a short period of time. Since what
Speaker 1: year did you leave the Yankees? I left in August
Speaker 1: of two thousand and sixteen. My last game was a
Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium on August twelve, and it was one of
Speaker 1: the the saddest and also happiest days of my life
Speaker 1: because my mother was there, my two daughters were there,
Speaker 1: and friends and family from all over the world who
Speaker 1: followed me and supported me over a twenty five year career,
Speaker 1: and I was able to retire in the bright lights
Speaker 1: of the greatest stadium in the world for the greatest
Speaker 1: franchise in the world, and the fans gave me a nice, beautiful,
Speaker 1: loving exit and a nice standing ovation. I remember I
Speaker 1: remember I watched that game, thank you, and we were
Speaker 1: sad that you were leaving baseball. But boy, you must
Speaker 1: be happy that you have come out on top with
Speaker 1: such an amazing stable of companies with so many diverse interests.
Speaker 1: What made you invest in basketball? Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 1: a good question, Martha. Ever since I was ten years old,
Speaker 1: I've always wanted to be involved in in business and baseball.
Speaker 1: I never thought that basketball would be such an integral
Speaker 1: part of my adult life. You mentioned the Mets when Mark, Lorie, Jennifer,
Speaker 1: and Vinny Viola Micropolio, we had an incredible group of
Speaker 1: people that we're gonna buy it together. We learned a
Speaker 1: great deal. The process was almost a year long. We
Speaker 1: had great, great best people at the table with us,
Speaker 1: and it was a great educational process. And what we
Speaker 1: realized is that baseball is not just a sport, but
Speaker 1: it's a media and entertainment platform, whereas an octopus of
Speaker 1: opportunities that runs three And if you thought baseball was
Speaker 1: the only part, it was a big mistake because ultimately
Speaker 1: you're basically entertaining your consumer base, and you want to
Speaker 1: do that over and over, just like you do. Martha,
Speaker 1: you've done so well for decades. When we looked at it,
Speaker 1: we came up short. The team traded for about two
Speaker 1: point four billion dollars, and we were obviously very sad
Speaker 1: and a little depressed when we didn't get the team.
Speaker 1: A few months later, here comes the Timberwoel's opportunity. We
Speaker 1: were like a fine tune machine. We really knew where
Speaker 1: all the levers were in baseball, and we were very
Speaker 1: well versed, and when the opportunity came, we said, oh,
Speaker 1: my goodness, it's a great league, has tremendous tail winds,
Speaker 1: is a global sport, tremendous leadership with Adam Silver and
Speaker 1: Mark Tatum, and the value it's a billion dollars less
Speaker 1: for a billion five So Martha, Mark Lourie and I
Speaker 1: with Glenn Taylor and Becky Taylor, who are partners. They've
Speaker 1: owned a franchise for almost thirty years. They're born and
Speaker 1: raised Minnesota folks, fantastic human beings. Within six or seven days,
Speaker 1: we got the deal done basically in the back of
Speaker 1: the envelope, and then we agreed, shook hands, and then
Speaker 1: we went to long form and signed a deal like
Speaker 1: six weeks later. Wow, that is so you know, unimaginable really,
Speaker 1: but Minnesota. Do you like going to Minnesota? I do,
Speaker 1: and you with too, Martha. It is a great, great town.
Speaker 1: First of all, I love the Summer's best because it
Speaker 1: has ten thousand lakes. Is is the city of lakes
Speaker 1: and the state of lakes with over ten thousand of them.
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't know this, but the l
Speaker 1: A Lakers started in Minnesota, and Lakers is for lakes.
Speaker 1: So they started in Minnesota and then went to l A.
Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting, right, and then the Timberwolves came and
Speaker 1: is a wonderful city, has got great people. There's a
Speaker 1: great saying that people from Minnesota never leave and the
Speaker 1: few that leave always come back. Is the ninth wealthiest
Speaker 1: city in the country. You have eighteen of Fortune companies
Speaker 1: that reside right there in Minneapolis. And uh, it's a
Speaker 1: city of champions that is starving for a world champion.
Speaker 1: So do you think that Timberwolves are going to go
Speaker 1: to someplace else follow the Lakers? Great question, No, I
Speaker 1: don't think so. I think Mark and I are are
Speaker 1: really committed to Minneapolis. We love the franchise. Last year, Martha,
Speaker 1: you appreciate this, we only had twenty three wins. There
Speaker 1: is our first year of ownership. We had forty six wins.
Speaker 1: This year we had about seven team sellouts and TV
Speaker 1: ratings were up about fift Well, that's what you're talking about,
Speaker 1: entertainment and your ownership. I'm sure increased the interest in
Speaker 1: those in the teams so much that people are watching
Speaker 1: and coming and rooting for those Timberwolds. It's really great.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Yeah, we'll have good luck with that. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Do you think the stress and the challenges of being
Speaker 1: a pro athlete, I mean that they're intense, really made
Speaker 1: you a really better businessman. Look, I think with business
Speaker 1: just like sports, and you know this, Like they consider
Speaker 1: you and I pretty hard working people, but we love
Speaker 1: what we do and you can't fake it right. Like
Speaker 1: I love being at my desk. I love being with
Speaker 1: our team here because I love business so much, and
Speaker 1: I'm a student at hard like you. I like to
Speaker 1: read everything, understand anything. I understand what I know really well,
Speaker 1: but more importantly, I know what I don't know, and
Speaker 1: I surround myself with talent that's top tea and complementary
Speaker 1: to my set of skills. Um, But I think what
Speaker 1: what baseball helped me the most is Twofold Number one
Speaker 1: is a game of failure. If you fail seventy percent
Speaker 1: of the time, you end up in Cooperstown at the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. Now there's no other business in the
Speaker 1: world that you fail seventy and you end up in
Speaker 1: the highest form, which is the Hall of Fame. That's one.
Speaker 1: So I'm used to failing. I'm used to getting back
Speaker 1: up and being resilient and gritty and rolling up my sleeves.
Speaker 1: The second part that I think has been very beneficial
Speaker 1: is people think that like you and I work hard,
Speaker 1: and they say, well, Alex, how are you able to travel?
Speaker 1: And you come to the office every day. But this
Speaker 1: is nothing compared to my Yankee schedule. We played two
Speaker 1: hundred games in two hundred and thirty two days, and
Speaker 1: those thirty two days are not just days off. Half
Speaker 1: those days you're flying across the country, landing in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night, and having to play the next day.
Speaker 1: So there's nothing that I do here at Ara Corp.
Speaker 1: As a leader, chairman, and founder and CEO of this
Speaker 1: company that will ever compare to the grueling schedule of
Speaker 1: being a Yankee. I did not know that that's the
Speaker 1: schedule was that intense. Well, I remember when I visited
Speaker 1: your house in Miami. You had the most amazing gym
Speaker 1: into your inside gym there. What do you have now
Speaker 1: at home? I have a similar gym, more cardio equipment.
Speaker 1: I try to do a lot of stretching. I like
Speaker 1: to mix it up and in everything that I do.
Speaker 1: I am doing a little CrossFit, I do a little
Speaker 1: hot yoga, I do some running. I play a little
Speaker 1: pick a ball. Oh yeah, fickle Ball's fun. Don't you
Speaker 1: think it's like half court basketball? I like that. That's
Speaker 1: kind of my thing, you know, Yeah, that sounds like fun. Well,
Speaker 1: let's get off sports a little bit and into your
Speaker 1: ability to attract and also to respect strong women. You
Speaker 1: describe your mom as a real hard worker. Tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about your mother. Yeah, my mom was,
Speaker 1: you know, born in Dominican, spent a long time in
Speaker 1: UH the New York City. Bought my family here to
Speaker 1: New York where I was born in n I worked
Speaker 1: for General Mortars for many, many years, and then we
Speaker 1: UH ended up making the move to Miami when my
Speaker 1: father left at the age of ten. She ended up
Speaker 1: taking on two jobs and responsibility inheriting the responsibility of
Speaker 1: being a mother and a father, and she did an
Speaker 1: incredible job inspired me ended up being a secretary of
Speaker 1: the morning. She served tables at night. And you know,
Speaker 1: my brother and my sister, Joe and Susie, they kind
Speaker 1: of became like the secretary of sports and my sister
Speaker 1: became like the secretary of education. And my mom just
Speaker 1: kept the lights on for us, and uh and off
Speaker 1: we went. And then you have also dated really fabulous women.
Speaker 1: I mean every single woman that you appeared within the
Speaker 1: tabloids was a fabulous actress or performer or were you
Speaker 1: always just attracted? You just wanted the most beautiful women
Speaker 1: in the world on your arm. Let me take get
Speaker 1: a little coffee on that one, nick, Do we have
Speaker 1: any vodka this early in the morning. Who was your
Speaker 1: first serious girlfriend? Oh, that's a great question, My goodness,
Speaker 1: going down memory lane, you know, I would say my
Speaker 1: first one, which was my junior year in high school,
Speaker 1: was Amanda Kelly, a really nice young woman who was
Speaker 1: Irish and was really nice and uh, kind of was
Speaker 1: with me a little bit. And when all these scouts
Speaker 1: started showing up and scouting me and all of that,
Speaker 1: and I would say that, um, you know Cynthia, who
Speaker 1: is um my ex wife and one of my great
Speaker 1: dear best friends in the world today. What age did
Speaker 1: you get married? I got married around twenty eight. Oh
Speaker 1: so you you had a good ten years after signing
Speaker 1: your contract to meet women, go out with a lot
Speaker 1: of different women, and your rise to fame in baseball.
Speaker 1: And I spent almost thirteen years with Cynthia, were married
Speaker 1: for five. But you know today we're better friends today
Speaker 1: than we've ever been in them I'm really really proud
Speaker 1: of that because the most important thing in both of
Speaker 1: our lives is the well being of raising two strong,
Speaker 1: self esteem young women. Well you're long time relationship with
Speaker 1: j Lo. I mean I've I've met j Loo several times.
Speaker 1: She's an extraordinary woman, extraordinarily talented. And you were on
Speaker 1: the front pages of every single newspaper, tabloid, every TV
Speaker 1: entertainment show constantly for how many years? How many years
Speaker 1: did you actually live and go out with j Lo?
Speaker 1: About four years? And was it exhilarating? I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: sure it was exhilarating. You looked exhilarated in every single picture.
Speaker 1: You never look bored. I didn't see one picture where
Speaker 1: you ever look bored. I'm not listen. I never feel
Speaker 1: bored in anything that I do in life. I wake
Speaker 1: up every day and I feel just so grateful for
Speaker 1: everything that I do. But look, we had a great time.
Speaker 1: More importantly, we we always put the kids front and
Speaker 1: center and everything we do. But you mixed up to
Speaker 1: families really well. I thought it was she has what
Speaker 1: three kids? Two? We had two and two two and
Speaker 1: two kids are doing well. Here's what I will tell
Speaker 1: you about Jennifer. And I was selling some of my
Speaker 1: colleagues here the end of the day. Um, she's the
Speaker 1: most talented human being I've ever been around, hardest worker,
Speaker 1: and I think she is the greatest performer, live performer
Speaker 1: in the world today that's alive. And I think many
Speaker 1: people would agree with you. It's incredible what she does.
Speaker 1: So I when I saw you in California, didn't look
Speaker 1: like you were with anybody. Are you dating anybody now
Speaker 1: that you can talk about. I'm actually just spending a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of time with my girls, trying
Speaker 1: to be at home home, travel a little bit less,
Speaker 1: and putting a lot of my energy with Mark Laurie
Speaker 1: and my partner into the Timberwolves and I'll tell you this, Martha,
Speaker 1: I've never been healthier, happier, and more grateful for this
Speaker 1: incredible life that you know, the Good Lord has given me.
Speaker 1: And to live in the greatest country in the world.
Speaker 1: I mean, you look what's happening in Russia and the Ukraine. Uh,
Speaker 1: this awful pandemic that we've all had to live with,
Speaker 1: and all the pain in the world and in this country.
Speaker 1: And I just feel like I wake up every day
Speaker 1: and think the Good Lord that A I'm healthy and
Speaker 1: be that I'm an American and the greatest country in
Speaker 1: the world. What about your philanthropic interests. Yeah, so you know,
Speaker 1: I got some good advice from my mentor, Warren Buffett,
Speaker 1: and one of the things you talked to me about was,
Speaker 1: you know, do what you do really well, which is
Speaker 1: it is based on basketball and business. Do that and
Speaker 1: be focused and then let other people who are great
Speaker 1: at what they do do that. So I've picked two organizations.
Speaker 1: One is the Boys and Girls Club, where I entered
Speaker 1: as a nine year old boy here in Miami. I
Speaker 1: sit on the board today and we've done a lot
Speaker 1: of work and resources donated there. And then the University
Speaker 1: of Miami, which growing up here in Miami, we didn't
Speaker 1: have Theami. The Marlins in the University of Miami was
Speaker 1: everything to any kid that grew up here. So I
Speaker 1: built out the field there and it's called Mark Light
Speaker 1: Stadium Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Lake Stadium. And UH
Speaker 1: still very involved, almost twenty years on the board there,
Speaker 1: do a lot of work with a business school there today.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and thirteen, you had your contract worth
Speaker 1: more than a hundred million dollars, a World Series ring,
Speaker 1: and you were considered one of the very, very very
Speaker 1: best in your sport. After years of speculation from the
Speaker 1: public and denials on your part, you admitted to using
Speaker 1: performance enhancing drugs. That's an old story now, But what
Speaker 1: was it that finally induced you to just come straight?
Speaker 1: You know, one day, I know you've earned about nine books.
Speaker 1: I would love to maybe write a book with you
Speaker 1: one day, because I think one day, when I'm a
Speaker 1: little older, I'll be able to kind of write a
Speaker 1: book and tell my story kind of from start to finish.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to work on a business book now. I'm
Speaker 1: getting a lot of inquiries about you know, business sports,
Speaker 1: and I think there's a lot of great lessons between
Speaker 1: you know, sports and business. But going back to the
Speaker 1: suspension year, you know, I thought it was really really
Speaker 1: important to take full accountability for everything. You know, the
Speaker 1: details really weren't important, It wasn't I thought it was
Speaker 1: really important to just say, look, I'm guilty, I did it.
Speaker 1: Let me serve my suspension, let me get my head down.
Speaker 1: At that time, I had an opportunity to turn the
Speaker 1: lens inward started therapy. That therapy hasn't stopped, has been
Speaker 1: now over eight years. And like I always tell people,
Speaker 1: I'm rounding second base and I've got a lot more
Speaker 1: work to do. Um And you know, through this therapy, Martha,
Speaker 1: you realize that I'm a flawed human being, and that
Speaker 1: a lot of the mistakes, you know, go all the
Speaker 1: way back to when I was a child and when
Speaker 1: Dad left it at your ten for whatever reason, you
Speaker 1: think it's your fault. You sometimes think you're not enough.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that's been the
Speaker 1: biggest paradigm shift in my life is that today I
Speaker 1: know that I'm enough. That is great, and you're strong
Speaker 1: and you are honest with yourself and uh, and that's
Speaker 1: what you have to be. So a stumble is a stumble,
Speaker 1: but getting up and carrying on and exceeding in other
Speaker 1: fields is just an amazing feat. And you're that strong
Speaker 1: man that everybody looks up to now and that's the
Speaker 1: best result of anything like that, right, Yes, you know
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting people say, like, you know, do you
Speaker 1: have these regrets and this and that? In many ways? Um,
Speaker 1: if you have a career that just as sends and
Speaker 1: goes straight up to the right, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: a lot of lessons to learn there. I think, um,
Speaker 1: I do not believe that you can make lemonade out
Speaker 1: of lemons. So I just I just can't stand and
Speaker 1: that whatever bad happens, it makes you a better person.
Speaker 1: I don't go for that. Do you go for that? No?
Speaker 1: But I do think that when you fall, the gift
Speaker 1: isn't standing back up, and the gift isn't sharing what attributes,
Speaker 1: what it takes, what determination, work, ethic, grit, dark days
Speaker 1: to be able to come back and keep fighting and
Speaker 1: not giving up. Because I've thought about giving up. I
Speaker 1: think we've all been in that dark room with you
Speaker 1: say can I do it? And the the answer as
Speaker 1: you've got them right, you can do it. You gotta
Speaker 1: get up, and you gotta believe in yourself and start
Speaker 1: with one person at a time, and that person is yourself.
Speaker 1: But what I like about you you went into a
Speaker 1: totally different area and have succeeded amazingly. Well. You went
Speaker 1: into business in a big, big way and have succeeded
Speaker 1: so beautifully, and that's extremely admirable. A rod really and
Speaker 1: I always say that a rebuilding is harder than building,
Speaker 1: and you didn't have to really rebuild. You just went
Speaker 1: straight ahead and built something new, and that is fabulous.
Speaker 1: You know, if you think about Thank you, Martha, if
Speaker 1: you think about pat Riley talks about the capital stack
Speaker 1: in Succeeding right and how success looks like. And the
Speaker 1: first part of that capital stack is the upstart, which
Speaker 1: is the innocent climb, and then he goes into competing,
Speaker 1: and then he goes into winning, and then championships and
Speaker 1: then dynasty, and every single one of those levels has
Speaker 1: a covenants which the higher you get up in that
Speaker 1: capital stack, it gets harder and harder, and when you
Speaker 1: finally get to the top, as you know, it's very
Speaker 1: lonely at the top. So as you get up in
Speaker 1: that scale, it is much harder, to your point, to
Speaker 1: stay there, and it's very hard to rebuild it is.
Speaker 1: It's really hard. Well, you and your co host Michael
Speaker 1: kay Um read mean tweets on your show. I love
Speaker 1: that you read those mean tweets. I try not to
Speaker 1: read my mean tweets just because they either make me
Speaker 1: laugh or I just want to, you know, answer them,
Speaker 1: and you can't ever answer them. But reading them out
Speaker 1: loud is fantastic. And people do seem to have a
Speaker 1: real visceral reaction to you. You attract the good and
Speaker 1: the bad as I do. I mean, if I say
Speaker 1: anything anything political, boy do I get it. So people
Speaker 1: either love you or hate you. How do you feel? Well?
Speaker 1: I feel loved and uh, I feel like I'm in
Speaker 1: a good place. You know. I think the scariest thing, Martha,
Speaker 1: and I think you and I have not been this
Speaker 1: type of person where you walk in the room and
Speaker 1: there's no reaction. You walk in the room and people
Speaker 1: are gonna look and everyone's gonna have an opinion in
Speaker 1: in many ways, I feel like I'm the same way.
Speaker 1: And I don't see that as a bad thing. I
Speaker 1: see that as a as a blessing. All you can
Speaker 1: do is the best version of yourself. And some people
Speaker 1: are gonna like you and some people are not. And
Speaker 1: that's okay. I think when I was younger, you were
Speaker 1: so concerned whether people like you or not that it
Speaker 1: consumed you. You know, eight years of therapy and kind
Speaker 1: of getting a little bit older, you realize that, hey,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna win them all. Now. I wanted to ask,
Speaker 1: and I think it was two thousand and eighteen. I
Speaker 1: had a really nervous, good thrill. And when I had
Speaker 1: to throw out the first pitch at the Yankees game
Speaker 1: that you know that I they asked me to do that,
Speaker 1: and I got a coach and they showed me how
Speaker 1: to throw a baseball. I stood on the mound. I
Speaker 1: should have moved a little bit closer to home play
Speaker 1: because that's a long distance. So I didn't quite make
Speaker 1: the ball to home plate, but I did throw in
Speaker 1: a straight line, and it could have been a strike
Speaker 1: if I got if I got over home plate. But well,
Speaker 1: you nervous, Oh, of course I was nervous. And and
Speaker 1: and that stadium that what do you think of the
Speaker 1: new Yankee Stadium? By the way, I love it look good.
Speaker 1: I do too. It's a really nice stadium, but I
Speaker 1: was so nervous. What was your greatest thrill at Yankee Stadium?
Speaker 1: I mean, that's an easy one, right because A is
Speaker 1: definitely Game six of the two thousand and nine World Series,
Speaker 1: forty five thousand people going crazy, Marianna Vera, the greatest
Speaker 1: closure of all times at the rubber victory, no hitting
Speaker 1: for the Phillies, groundbot Acano to tick share and the
Speaker 1: Yankees are world champions for the time, and you think
Speaker 1: about it every day. Once you're a world champion in
Speaker 1: New York, you're a champion for life. And there's not
Speaker 1: a day that goes by that. I walk around New
Speaker 1: York City where somebody says, you know, firefighter or policeman
Speaker 1: or just come, and folk in the street says, hey,
Speaker 1: thank you for two thousand and nine and looks been
Speaker 1: the last championship we've had there, and uh, one championship
Speaker 1: in over twenty two years. Well, we look forward to
Speaker 1: seeing what else you do with your amazing life, Airod,
Speaker 1: and we really thank you very much for talking to
Speaker 1: us this morning, and uh we wish you well and
Speaker 1: every single one of your endeavors. And I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see what the Timberwolves get to do this year
Speaker 1: and next year, and with you behind them, I cannot
Speaker 1: imagine that they're not going to do really, really well.
Speaker 1: You are a great life coach. You are really well
Speaker 1: spoken human being, and you really know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: And I thank you so much. You are great, and
Speaker 1: I hope to see you soon. And I make one
Speaker 1: invitation to you before I go. Often go from New
Speaker 1: York to Minnesota back to New York in the same night.
Speaker 1: I would love for you to stay with me on
Speaker 1: the floor at Minnesota and then I'll bring you back
Speaker 1: to New York and let's do that. Let's do that.
Speaker 1: I would love that. Okay, thank you great, it's a date.
Speaker 1: Bye bye, no