← Bubba On the Lake
Bubba On the Lake
#32 Lauren Sisler
00:54:44
Bubba visits with Lauren Sisler of ESPN and talk about her new book "Shatter Proof" Thank you for listening. Please like, follow, subscribe and all that stuff. Please support our advertisers and let them know you appreciate them being a sponsor.
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- [00:00]
Sponsor Announcer
This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care, Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise Docs, bankers Bounty, and Dr. Thomas Dudney. Now back to Bubba on the Lake.
- [00:23]
Bubba
Hey, it's Bubba, Bubba. Bubba on the Lake. Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the Lake. Yay. Know, I gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places from Bubba's perspective on the lake. Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake. Let's go.
- [00:47]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, well, welcome back. It is time for Bubba on the Lake. I am your semi retired, mostly washed up host, formerly of the Rick and Bubba show and now your host of Bubba on the Lake and our other podcast, the Tailgate Tailgate show coming to you from the Melayella Studio. Our website is bubba on the lake dot com. We have our comment line 308 Big Lake. Always enjoy hearing those. Some will make it to the show, some will not. But they all are very entertaining. And as always, we ask that you follow us on all of our social media, cut on notifications, all that kind of good stuff. Instagram, Facebook, X, you know, all that stuff. Got to have all that now. And you know, it really does help when you subscribe and follow really helps the algorithms on all that. I know many of you just like to listen. You don't get into all that. But if you, if you click that notification when a new podcast drops you, you get a, you get a notification that it's there and you can go right to it. And when you subscribe it, it comes to your phone or your laptop or whatever automatically. Most of you know that. It's a pretty cool process. So we're excited about that. We got a lot going on. There was some news, things I wanted to comment on. But Lauren Sisler from ESPN is going to be our guest and she is very busy right now. She's made a special arrangement to talk to us for a few minutes. So we want to get right into that and then we may pick up some stuff toward the end of the podcast. Not sure we'll see how the time plays out on that, but Lauren Sisler from ESPN is our host or our guest, I should say. I'm the host. She has a book called Shatterproof talking about her family and she's going to talk about that on the podcast too. And all that she went through. Former gymnast from Rutgers, and you see her now on some of the biggest games on espn. She is doing a great job. So we're going to go ahead and take a quick break. We want to thank these sponsors that make this podcast possible. You hear their commercial but I want to thank them. Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Central State bank, guaranteed labels, Dr. Thomas Dudney, sunrise Docs, Banker Bounty, Southern Immediate Care and the Green Monster Light. Got some really good sponsors. We appreciate those folks. They got some great products and we hope you'll support them too. We'll be back in just a minute and we will talk to Lauren Sisler from espn. Your listing to Bubba on the Lake.
- [03:18]
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- [03:37]
Lauren Sisler
Mm.
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- [03:47]
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- [04:18]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
I am so happy to announce that Our family dentist, Dr. Thomas Dudney, has joined my podcast as a sponsor. My entire family have been patients of Dr. Dudney and his team for over 20 years now. I'm going to be telling you a lot more about all of his services and what he does. But I have to tell you, the veneers that he gave me changed my life. I had no idea how big an impact that would have. You can call him today at 205-663-6545 or visit him at thomasdudney.com and find out more. Well, we're back at Bubba on the Lake and we have a very special guest. This young lady has been very successful in her field. We've had her on a podcast back during the radio days, but we're glad to welcome her back again. Lauren Sisler. Lauren, how are you doing?
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Lauren Sisler
What's up? I guess I'd probably be doing a little better if I was hanging out with you on the lake, but you.
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Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Know, I have to tell you, my office view is incredible. I'm looking across about three and a half miles of beautiful shimmering water right now as the sunset man and I'll.
- [05:37]
Lauren Sisler
Tell you what, we're starting to get a little bit of that cool, crisp fall breeze. I was playing some tennis this morning as I flew back in. I've been all over the place, and I had a speaking event in Minnesota and actually record temperatures out there. It was really, actually very warm. But, you know, I've been all over the map. And so when I come back to Alabama, I'm always like, okay, when's it going to be full? And then I get back here and it's just like 90 degrees, and I'm like, what the heck? So, you know, we're here in October, so maybe we'll. We'll get some of those cool, cool temps here before too long.
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Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, it's been here. It's been cool in the morning and in the afternoons, and in the middle of the day, it gets up to about 80 degrees. 80, 83. But it ain't 93, that's for sure. And it's a whole lot better than it's been. And it's really good for pontoon riding or cart riding or walking or sitting on a swing, I'll tell you that.
- [06:26]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah. Because guess what? You know how we Alabamians are. And I have been in Alabama since 2011, so I feel like I have exceeded the decade mark. So I feel like I can say I'm an Alabama, I'm a Virginian originally. You're good, but Alabamian, you know, when it, when, when the temperatures drop, then it's like all of a sudden everyone's like, oh, you know, you get, you. You get a little taste of sweater weather, and then you're just like, God, bring back the warm. You know, so well, Lauren, that's how we do it, especially on the road during football season.
- [06:56]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
And you're. You're traveling all over the country. It's probably hard to outguess the weather wherever you're going. As you said you were in Minnesota.
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Lauren Sisler
Yes, it is.
- [07:06]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
You are living the dream that so many people that love SP to be and to do, and that is you work for ESPN and you're a sideline reporter, and you've kind of got into the groove of that. You've made a name for yourself. You've even. You do some content on the sideline, and you're now famous for your dancing.
- [07:28]
Lauren Sisler
I mean, it's wild. The sideline shimmy. Because I have told this story because there's a little backstory to it. So I dance on the sidelines. It's been these viral dances that just and there's no rhyme or reason. It's not like it's in trend. It's trending on social. It's just a total freestyle to whatever I'm listening to. I'm a. I was born in the 80s, lived in the 90s, so, you know, anytime a good old school 90s hip hop comes on, I'm just like, give it to me, baby. But it's funny. So this week I actually have Kansas at ucf, so we're going to the bounce house for a night game. And it's funny because I jump on the calls with coach Leipold at Kansas, and he says, hey, we're going to see those dance moves this week. Where did those all come from? And it's just so funny because I'm like, I kind of thought, like, coaches, they go into, like, head in the sand mode during football season, but that is about the eighth coach that has been like, hey, we're going to see those dance moves. And I'm like, so you guys actually are on social media during football season. It always makes me laugh. And I'm like, well, I guess that can be known for something then. It's dancing like a wild woman on the sidelines. And, you know, some people love it, some people hate it. And I'm like, you know, just. Just whatever brings the joy and the energy, and the football players can't have all the fun, so I got to get into it as well.
- [08:42]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, Lauren, you. You're kind of. I mean, you're a very upbeat, happy person. I mean, I don't find that completely out of your personality. I mean, I would expect it from you, really. And you're enjoying it. You've made it your. Your gig, you know, and now everybody knows you by it.
- [08:58]
Lauren Sisler
Hashtag, sideline, shimmy. Well, you know, you got to. You got to bring the joy. But honestly, it's. It came because of the nerves, right? And you've been in the media industry for a very long time. And, you know, when I stepped foot in front of that camera, you know, got my shot at espn, it was like, holy cow. Like, I thought I was ready, and my nerves were just, like, shot. And it's just like it takes over. And that would happen game and game and game. And of course, with more reps, it gets more comfortable. But I love that adrenaline rush and that thrill, so I don't want the nerves to go away. But it's nice because I use the shimmy to kind of redistribute things, you know, like all the anxious Energy, Right?
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Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
And you ground me in those moments. See, people don't understand, too. You're all wired up. You've got, you know, wireless mic. You've got ifb. You've got cables running down your back. Probably a backpack back there somewhere. And, you know, all of that, the shimmy kind of. Kind of airs it out a little bit, right?
- [09:56]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah. And a thousand things that could go wrong, right? A thousand things that could go wrong. It always makes me laugh, too, because usually when I have, like, you know, I'm on the sidelines and it's like our open hit right before kickoff or whatever. It's funny because my producer, piker Greg pike, will get in my ear, and he said, keep your head on a swivel, because you know what happens? There's all this stuff happening behind me that I don't see. And things can get crazy down there on the sidelines, especially when we start to kick off. It's like, hey, keep your head on a swivel so you don't get tackled on the sideline. And I'll say this because as a former gymnast, right, I laugh about this. And I always tell the training staff, I say, you know, as a former gymnast, gymnastics injuries, obviously, you know, injuries were very. Are very prevalent in the sport. Knee injuries, ACL injuries, very prevalent in the sport. And I said, you know, I'm 40 years old, and I'll be honest with you. I never took. I never was taken down with a knee injury in gymnastics. I'll be danged if it's gonna happen on the sidelines of a college football game. Getting tackled by a player because I'm not paying attention or I'm in my notes or have my back to the field because I'm doing a. You know, and a live hit.
- [11:04]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, how close have you been to being hit? Because it can. Change is quick down there.
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Lauren Sisler
It does. And here's the thing. You mentioned, Jacksonville State, the sidelines being pretty tight down there. When we talked earlier on the Dude I was at Oklahoma State and Stillwater, there is no sideline. Like, literally, I can't do my job and go behind the bench. That kind of stinks because. Because as a sideline reporter, like, I need to get behind the bench, listen to what the coaches are saying, listen to what the players are saying, get an eye on things. But you have to kind do it in a little bit of a, you know, like, nonchalant, kind of hide my microphone, sort of do the creep eye, like, as I'm walking by, just to kind of, you Know, make sure I'm not, like, totally blowing my cover. Of course they see me there, you know, and I'm not trying to give, like, away play calls and anything like that, really. It's just. It's just. It's just sights and sounds down on the field. What am I seeing? What's the demeanor? What are people talking about? And, you know, Oklahoma State, there was none of that. Like, I had to wait till a TV timeout to, like, walk. Like, walk through the sea, the forest of dudes that are 20 times bigger than me, and try to meander my way to the other side. So, you know, it gets pretty tight down there at times, you know, on the sidelines. So there's been times that I've almost gotten tackled, and, you know, I just. I've learned you just got to be really, really, really cognizant of that. But, you know, it's part of the game. And so being in the throes of it all, it's pretty fun. And, you know, getting to. Getting to be out there on Saturdays is certainly a blessing.
- [12:39]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Lauren, tell me, what were you doing when you got the call from espn and tell us about that call and how that made you feel. When you're going to the dance, you go into the big time.
- [12:52]
Lauren Sisler
Going to the big time, man. So I moved here in 2011 to Birmingham, essentially, like athletics, you get recruited, so to speak, recruited to. To you send out your recruiting tape, your resume tape, hope somebody likes you. And I got the opportunity when I was there was when I was in a local TV station in Parkersburg, West Virginia. So I got the call 2011. So I come here when the dynasty is being, you know, built.
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Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Yep.
- [13:21]
Lauren Sisler
Right. Being in a good place. And so it was just kind of like working my way up at CBS 42, getting. Getting acclimated to life in the south, football in the Deep South. Right. And, yeah, I remember it was in 2016 is actually when I did my first ever college football game for espn. And, you know, it was kind of crazy because, you know, just getting the call to go to this Auburn football game, it was in October, and it was just wild because, you know, I hoped for this, dreamed of this, you know, met with different producers and management at ESPN and said, hey, I want a shot. I really want a shot. And it just wasn't working out. Lining up for me to do it when I was at CBS 42, and then I took the job@al.com and, you know, they kind of opened up those opportunities and said, hey, like, you know, you can go cover an Auburn game for espn, and then you've got, you know, all the inside. Inside intel for us. You know, what. What better way to be close to that? And so, you know, getting that call, it was just like, whoa. Like, this is really happening. And I think that's something. I'll be honest with you, Bubba, is that it can get lost in the shuffle because, like, you do it and then you get a call back and you do it again, and then you work your way up. And I think at times it's really easy to, you know, get consumed in. What game do I have this week? You know, why do we. Why do we not get better games? Like, oh, this game is great. Oh, this game sucks. Whatever. Whatever. But I always bring myself back to, like, when I look at our rundown and our sheet every week, when we get our game assignments, usually on a Sunday and we're on a plane Thursday, I'm like, you know, I'm one of, like, 30 reporters on the sidelines for ESPN every week. One of 30 in the entire country. And I think, like, man, what a blessing and how cool that is. And so it brings me back down to earth when. When. When it's easy to get consumed in that. So I've learned, even in. I call it my old age, right? I've learned in my old age to just be really appreciative and, you know, finding the stories. I think that's what I love so much about my job. It's the stories and, you know, this being in your line, the stories that. That touch us and that shift our perspective. I think that's what the game has become for me, and that's what I love so much about my job when I'm on the sidelines, Lauren, my only.
- [15:42]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Complaint is you're doing a lot of games out in other places. We don't get to see in the SEC enough.
- [15:49]
Lauren Sisler
I know, man. I don't understand it either. It's crazy. Past couple of weeks, it's been a lot of Big 12. I actually have had more. I've had two SEC games so far. Two more than I had the year before. We may have had SEC game last year, I tell you, but having my analyst being Aaron Murray, who was a quarterback in Georgia, you know, figure we'll get a little SEC love, so hopefully. Hopefully we'll get a few more of those games along the way.
- [16:17]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Lauren, what does moving up the ladder look like to you? Is it. Is it better games? Is it bigger games? Or do you want to go to the booth one day. Do you want to do color? Do you want to do play by play? Where. Where will the Lauren Sisler story go?
- [16:33]
Lauren Sisler
You know, it's interesting you asked that because truth be told, you know, there was a point in my career and espn where it's like, oh, I want to do, you know, I want to move up more. Yeah. More games. Better games. And I hate to even say better games, but you know, just those, those headliner games. Right? And then, oh, let's do basketball, let's do baseball, let's do softball. You know, let's. Let's do it. All right. And I do some college gymnastics. And so I've had that opportunity. I still do some college gymnastics periodically, but that used to be kind of the dream and the hustle. And I was like, man, that's, that, that's what I'm aiming for full time. Let's go. Right? And then, you know, I think that as I've grown and just been in this role for a long time, there's also this thing called life. And you know that, right? You know, life, Life, right. I have a two year old at home, Mr. Mason. Mason Willard, here at home. And, you know, it's just being able to come home to that joy and that smile and that squeal of mama, mama, you know, it change, it changes you quite a bit. And I think that my perspective in life has changed. The priorities have changed. I love what I do at espn, but I also love being home with my family. And so it's finding that balance. Because, you know, on top of that, it's not just the college football, right. It's the speaking, traveling around. You know, I'm not so much just in this region anymore speaking. I'm all over the country. You know, I mentioned I was in Colorado two weeks ago, you know, Minnesota this week, and so just kind of bouncing all over the place. And so what, what, what that looks like for me, I think at this point is just continuing to grow my skill set, but also being mindful of, like, I get to do something really cool. And if that means that I, you know, continue just doing what I'm like, being content in that. And I think that's really hard for all of us, Bubba, in this life that we live. The word content, I think it gets confused sometimes with complacency, right? And I think that's where we really have to, you know, lean in and say, hey, like, I'm not complacent. I want to continue to grow and develop, but I can be content where I'm at and. And soak this in. So you're sitting looking out your window there at the lake like, you've earned that stuff, Spot. Right. You've earned that opportunity. I'm just old.
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Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
I'm just old. That's all it is.
- [18:59]
Lauren Sisler
Oh, no. Hey, let me ask you. So are you, like, a Lazy boy kind of guy? Do you have, like, the Lazy boy hanging out up there? You're a rocking chair kind of guy. Like, well, that look like we got.
- [19:09]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
All kind of things. I. I've been complaining because I lost my recliner to a couch, and Betty has agreed to replace it with a couple of recliners. So we're gonna get that recliner back.
- [19:21]
Sunrise Docks Commercial Voice
But.
- [19:21]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
So, Lauren, I feel that. Tell us. You and John need to come down sometime and spend the day, and we'll get out on the pontoon boat. And let me tell you, you haven't done an interview till you do one on the pontoon boat. That's a whole nother deal.
- [19:34]
Lauren Sisler
Oh, can we do that? And I would love to do that.
- [19:38]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Absolutely.
- [19:39]
Lauren Sisler
Let's go.
- [19:39]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
I got wireless. Okay, part two, we can just. We can swim as long as we don't get them wet. But, Lauren, tell folks, because they see you on Saturday, what does your schedule look like during the week? I mean, you have these other things going on, but as far as your sideline reporting, how much work do you do during the week? How much are you away from your family?
- [20:01]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, it's funny because, you know, I think the idea is like, okay, you know, so for instance, this week, right? So we got our game assignment. Usually game assignments come down Thursday or Sunday, so it depends on, like, the picks on tv, right? Where we're going to be. Be at. So sometimes we can kind of have the guessing going on, but we actually found out Thursday this week, that. This Saturday. This upcoming Saturday, you know, so basically we got a week and a couple days that we're going to be at ucf. That's our game, right? So of course, I'm focused on Oklahoma State at this point and in Baylor, so I got to get that out of the way. Well, then as soon as Sunday rolls around, I'm booking travel, obviously, for, you know, this upcoming game. Got to get to Orlando. You know, we book our travel, we get the hotel room blocks, all the things through espn. And then really what it boils down to is, like, now my prep starts, so Sunday I come home. And I'll be honest with you, bub, I used to be the person that's like, oh, fantasy football, NFL, all the things. Oh, no, my brain is just like squish right at that point. So I'm kind of like turning off the best I can when I get home on Sunday. So I get home from Stillwater, we go to the pumpkin patch, old Baker Farm. Love going there, took Mason out there, loved picking the pumpkins. You know, we're a little early to the game, but, you know, I figured we'd be. Beat the crowds, you know, and so turn off for a little while, but then it's flipping the switch right back on. Right. And so the prep, because, because here's the thing. Like, you know, I cover college football, but you, you got to think about this. Like, I'm covering a new team pretty much every week, so it's different. Like when I'm on the Alabama or Auburn beat, where I'm covering the same team every week and I'm in the same conference every week. Like, this is like you're just a roulette, right? Which, which team you going to? So it's kind of learning both of those rosters and real talk here, life is a lot different now when the player that the quarterback of the team was just at three other teams the last three years. So you're like, okay, speaking of travel, trying to like, yeah, figuring that out, like eligibility, where'd you come from, where you go in, like, it's crazy. So, you know, learning the teams top to bottom, you know, themes for that for the year, for the, for the season, for the, the particular game where they're at, you know, that's a, that's a big part of it. And so a lot of it's just leaning into that research, obviously, pulling clips online, you know, reading a bunch of stuff, talking to sports information directors. The sids become your best friends because they are around the program and they pretty much have the high, high level knowledge of, you know, some of the, the, the storylines and themes and really those human interest pieces that I'm interested in being able to, to lean into and tell as well. And so then it's that I told you you wanted to talk today. And originally we were supposed to talk earlier and I was like, I'm still waiting on the players to call me, so we're going to have to punt until later this afternoon. That is what the week looks like because it's gathering information from the coaches. We do coaching calls usually on Wednesday with the away team. So we had Kansas. And then on Friday we'll go into the facility and get Coach Frost and his coordinators, you know, at the facility in Orlando. So typically that's, that's, it's, it's a Wednesday, Friday push with a lot of these, and then the players are just sprinkled in. So I'm getting two, three, four players per team throughout the week and all of this. And so it's just a lot of research and really trying to lean into finding all that stuff. So it is a lot of homework, you know, like the people that tell you in life, like, oh, wait till you graduate from college, your homework. You don't have to do homework anymore. Yeah, right.
- [23:41]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
They're training us all to be workaholics, there's no doubt about it. We're talking to Lawrence from espn. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back with her. She's got a. The paper book version of her book is out. We're going to talk about that and a whole lot more when we return to Bubba on the Lake.
- [23:58]
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- [24:30]
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- [25:00]
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- [25:37]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
We're back at Bubba on The Lake. I am Bill Bubba Bussy, your semi retired, mostly washed up host, formerly of the Rick and Bubba show and now your host of Bubba on the Lake and another podcast, Loren, we've got to get you on, called the Tailgate Tailgate show, where we actually talk sports. And that, that is a whole nother animal in its in itself. Lauren, you have been very generous to join us and we appreciate that. Met you years ago, you had an incredible story. I don't know how much you want to go into that today, but you wrote about it in a book. Can you just kind of give everybody a nutshell of that? And your book is now out in paperback, right, like this week.
- [26:18]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, it's been a journey, man. I tell you, it's crazy because I feel like you and I, you know, we've been friends for a while and you know, I was on the show several years ago. Gosh, I can't even remember when. It feels like way back in the day, I think it was during COVID times, if I'm not mistaken. And like we're talking, yeah, five, four or five years ago. And so, you know, it's been a crazy journey because for me, you know, we talk about this ESPN sports reporter life, but there's another side to all of this. And when I talk about the story, piece of this and why I love to tell stories, it's because there was a point in my life where I was so ashamed to tell my own story. I was ashamed of my story because of what happened to me tragically and to my family on March 24th of 2003 when I was just a freshman at Rutgers, on scholarship and gymnastics at Rutgers and really living my dream, right? The dream that I had worked so hard for and really that my family, my parents, had worked so hard for. And so, you know, my mom and my dad, my older brother Alan, and we lived in Virginia, grew up in Virginia, and that what you would consider to be that white picket fence family, right, like on in my eyes, you know, we had everything we needed. You know, it was modest. We got what we needed. We weren't overly spoiled, but we were spoiled at times. And you know, but we got what we needed and were taking care of. And most importantly, the unconditional love from both of my parents. And little did I know that as I'm living my dream out at Rutgers, that I was going to get this phone call in the middle of the night from my dad letting me know my mom died. And it just came as a complete shock because I just Talked to my parents, everything seemed fine. And my mom was just 45 years old. Middle of the night, my dad said, get on the next plane you can, and I'll be at the airport to pick you up. And so I frantically, you know, get my things together, get on a plane, and I get home, and I find out from my. My uncle and my cousin that my dad. Dad, too, had passed away with just in, you know, five hours of my mom.
- [28:09]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Wow. That is incredible.
- [28:13]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah. So it's been, you know, it's. It's. It's been a journey.
- [28:16]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Yeah, that's not the call you want to get as a freshman. Got a lot to deal with.
- [28:23]
Lauren Sisler
A lot to deal with because, you know, 18 years old, I'm still a child, right? Like, I'm still a baby. Didn't have more than $50 in my bank account. Had to use my roommate's emergency credit card. Total chaos. And then just picking up the pieces. Everything, you know, the pieces that were left behind or lack thereof. Right. So my parents didn't have a will. The estate was in complete debt. So there was no, you know, the cars went into foreclosure. The cars went into. The cars were repossessed, house went into foreclosure. You know, everything got auctioned off to the estate. So we were essentially, my brother and I, left with nothing. And then really, what we were left with were a ton of questions, right? Like, how did this happen? What happened? And it would be months, months before the autopsy reports would reveal that my parents died of fentanyl overdoses. And I think that was the big kicker and the big shock because, you know, my parents were going to a pain management doctor. They were seeking help for their chronic pain, but there was no indication that they were abusing their medication. Right. And so they were prescribed OxyContin. Eventually it was Fentanyl. And this is back in, you know, 99 to 2004, 2003, really, when that opioid crisis started to tick upwards. And it just was not known to people that this was going on. And my parents were told by the doctors, oh, this is non addictive, non addictive. And yet this disease of addiction just engulfed them. And it was this just downward descent. And I think the biggest piece of that, and I said to you before, is that I carried this story with me, and it came with. With this shame. Well, my parents carried that same shame because of what they were going through. Addiction, what society tells us about addiction. And they battled this thing in silence. And I think that is really what called Me, over the years, after years of running from reality, years ignoring and denying the truth, that they died of addiction, finally recognizing that, you know, this is their story. They're not defined by how they died, but by how they live their lives. And my Auntie Linda, my mom's sister, really helped me to lean into that. And then, you know, here we are, you know, 22 years later, and, you know, I decided it was time to write a book, time to tell that story, because there were so many questions. And I even had to do a deep dive because this book became an investigative, you know, journalism in many ways, because there were still so many questions. I did not know about that night and what happened, how it happen. We got here and this book, Shatterproof, that, you know, I worked on for. For a few years, really came to light and, you know, just grateful for that, grateful for my team at Highbridge Books and, you know, my co writer, Holland Webb, who just have been so big on. On really just helping me tell that story and craft it in a way that meets people where they're at. I think that's the goal of the book is like, here is my story. But I also want to meet you where you're at in your story and help you to fall in love with your story. And that has been my message to everyone.
- [31:32]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
And it's a great book, It's a great read, and you really just lay it all out there. And I think folks appreciate that because a lot of people are going through the same thing to a version of that and don't know. And I'll be honest with you, I recently had a knee replacement, and I had to be on some pretty strong painkillers there for a few days. And, man, it's in my mind, I'm like, gosh, I don't want to take this stuff. You know, I don't want to. I don't want to get addicted to this because, you know, you know how easy it is, and you know, people that. That have got addicted to that. And it's a. It's a concern. Anytime you go to the doctor, you know, you've got to kind of be on top of it yourself and know what you're up against.
- [32:13]
Lauren Sisler
Well, and I think that's the biggest thing, the education piece of this, you know, knowing what you're getting into, knowing your body, knowing. Knowing what. What. I mean, because here's the thing, like, pain is real. Like, it. It is a real thing. And so pain has to be managed on. On various levels. And I think that's where the education piece comes in. And I think about this all the time, even when I'm on the sidelines as a former athlete that literally, you know, had injury, injuries, injuries, injuries. And we. We talk about, like, taking a knee out. Well, look, I, like, fractured my femur, and it started as a stress fracture and just grew because I trained on it for three months without telling anybody. And, you know, pain is a real thing. And I think about this with these athletes. Athletes, because you do push yourself. The expectations are real. You got to go out here and compete. You know, you're on the national stage, and as a player, it's like, hey, you know, I. I earned my spot on this roster. I earned my starting position. If I. If I get injured and I get, you know, I get. I get put on the bench, then what? Right? And so then I think these athletes push. Push themselves to the limits a lot of times and don't necessarily know the recourse, because also, be real. When we're 18, 19, 20, 21 years old, it's kind of like your mind is like, who cares? I'll be fine.
- [33:27]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Yeah, you. You think you're.
- [33:28]
Lauren Sisler
But when you're now 40, 50, 60 years old, it's like, dang fine. There's no such thing as I'll be fine.
- [33:36]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Oh, no. You just want to survive, get another day in, you know, huh?
- [33:41]
Lauren Sisler
Absolutely. So, you know, I think it's just important for people to know that. And. And again, the shame piece of it, I think, is what I really, really want to encourage people to step out of. I think that shame can be the very thing that. That kills people, takes them down, puts them in a corner and tells them to go, stay there. And I think that when we can pull that shame out into the light, it allows people to find themselves, know their story matters, know even the shameful pieces and the toughest parts of their stories have significance. And it's the thing. The very thing that shapes them into who they are and can and can be the strength and the catalyst list for good. But we've got to quit putting it on a shelf and ignoring it. So, you know, that is my goal, is to kind of break down those walls and those barriers and that stigma, to bring people out of that and show them a different way. And it's not hard. It's not easy. You know, it takes a lot of work, but, you know, just grateful for that journey, and so I appreciate the opportunity to share that with you and your listeners.
- [34:39]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Shatter Proof is the book, and it is available paperback I guess wherever you get books now and Lauren, as far as your schedule and speaking and all of that, how, how can people keep up with you? What's the best way to track Lauren Sisler?
- [34:56]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, well, Auren Sisler, you got to put a at in front of it these days, right? Everything's, everything's online, digital, social, all the things. Sorensisler also have a website too. So if you have any questions or want to share a story or just whatever, you know, hit me up my website. You can. There's a little form on there and it goes right to my inbox that I answer, it's me, it's not a robot. So you can hit me up there and I'd love to just hear from you. So you know, at Lauren Sisler and then you mentioned the book. It did just come out on paperback. But what's cool about it too is we got the hardcover that, that posted a year ago. We got the paperback now and there's the audio version. So those of you who like to listen, I actually tracked it. I, I did it myself. And so that is great. You know, it's five hours, I think 35 minutes. So if you've got it, if you've got a, you gotta either, you know, a short commute, you can do it in chunks or if you've got a long commute, my friends, you're heading out of the, heading out of the state, you know, give yourself, you know, six hours to listen to the old Shatterproof on, on audiobook and I'll, I'll, I'll lay it all out there for you.
- [36:01]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Lauren, I've got to ask you about one other thing that you've mentioned. You did, you were a DJ at one point.
- [36:06]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah. Uh huh.
- [36:07]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Where was that at that.
- [36:10]
Lauren Sisler
So DJ Sizzler, Wiki Wiki. I was a dj. I love music, love dancing. Obviously, full circle moment here with the dancing and the sideline shimmy. So actually DJed in, in Roanoke, Virginia. So when I, that that's where I'm from, that's where I grew up. And then when I graduated from Rutgers, I worked at CNBC for a year and then I went back home to start kind of getting my feet wet in this whole TV business is. Well, let's be real, like the whole $9 and 50 cents an hour ain't cutting it right. So at this point it's like, okay.
- [36:45]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
You know, you made that much. Wow, you were highly.
- [36:49]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, I know, right? Yeah, I know. Working my way up the ranks, my man. Let me tell you, that 20,000 a year. But, you know, the DJing kind of became like that side hustle, right? And I. I have. I am. I love cars. I. My dad loved. I grew up. My dad loved muscle cars, so my love for that kind of came. And then my cousins love the foreign cars, like the, you know, the Ferraris and Maseratis and all that fun stuff. So, you know, I loved cars. And it was like, in my mind, it was like, okay, my DJ job is my car payment job. So, you know, I just. I DJ at, you know, local establishments. Corned Beef and Company, where I met my then now future husband, John. You know, I won him over with my ability to spin a record. I, you know, push play on a digital music pad. You know, no big deal. No. But, yeah, I used to dj, and so it was a. It was a fun, fun deal. And so I'll be honest with you, when I go to stadiums, you know, people say, oh, well, how. You know, what. How's the atmosphere? You know? What's your favorite stadium? Well, one of the things on my checklist, you know, it's got to check a box. The DJ better be good.
- [37:59]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Yep, yep.
- [38:01]
Lauren Sisler
Because I'm. I'm paying attention. The DJ better be good, Lauren.
- [38:05]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
So, you know, at some point you were DJing, and John was like, hey, guys, check out the DJ AJ. And then. And then he made his move, right?
- [38:14]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, made his move. And then he's from Virginia. Seven and a half years my junior. You know, I. I got you a young one, huh?
- [38:24]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Yeah, young.
- [38:25]
Lauren Sisler
And. Yeah, people say, oh, you know, robbing the cradle, right? Well, it's funny because his friends say, oh, Lauren, you are robbing the casket. And I'm like. Or he's robbing the casket. I'm like, geez, either they ain't lying, you know, robbing the casket. So that's a new one. But, yeah, so it's. It's been a journey. And, you know, I convinced him, hey, come on down to Alabama. Because he's. He's from the. The Run at Blacksburg area as well. And so. Come on. Come on down to Alabama. And so he got his fill pretty quickly of life here in the south, and he loves it. He's got a roofing company and, you know, does really well with that. And it's just been. It's been cool to just kind of see. See him grow and kind of spread his wings here in the south as well. And so Alabama's home for us, man. I think. I think we're gonna be here for.
- [39:10]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
The Long haul, you know, it's not a bad place. We catch a little bad rap nationally sometimes. But, you know, I tell people we put that out just so people won't move here and learn it.
- [39:20]
Lauren Sisler
Uh huh. I know. I say, you know, Alabama is like kind of that, that, like that diamond in the rough or that hidden gem that people don't know about. And I call it a true treasure. Man, I love it here. The culture, the food, you know, just the people. There's just such a dynamic, eclectic mix of people that, you know, are just. It's just so cool. Like the connections and of course, Southern hospitality. Look, I don't get me wrong, like, I love going back to Jersey. You know, I love spending time there. I'm actually on the Rutgers foundation board, newly elected official, all the things. But it is cool to go back to my alma mater. I love doing that and love just being in the. In the throes of all that. But then. And you know, it is just a nice little reminder too, I love going back up there and seeing my friends, my teammates, my people. But, you know, the south is where I grew up and, you know, this is. This is where my first love, you know, even though Virginia people argue, like, that's not from the South. I'm like, come on, y'. All, it is where I'm from. 15 minutes from the West Virginia border. Yeah, that's from the South.
- [40:21]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
You just said y', all, so you qualify.
- [40:24]
Lauren Sisler
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, thank you. So, you know, life in the south is great. Love it here. Couldn't be more. More thankful for just being welcomed with open arms. And again, the Southern hospital, you just can't beat it. But I'm with you, man. We don't want to overpopulate this place, so.
- [40:41]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, we just want the right folks coming down, you know, that's.
- [40:44]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah, absolutely. We gotta vet you out first.
- [40:48]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
That's right. That's right. Lauren, you've been so gracious with your time. I won't keep you any longer because I know we're cutting into family time, but I hope that you. You write another book one day, and I hope that it somehow in the title has shimmy in it, like shimmy your troubles away or something.
- [41:04]
Lauren Sisler
I know, right?
- [41:05]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
You are just such a positive life force. I mean, you just locked the room up. I know people listening to this are just fired up listening to you, and we appreciate you taking time and I do hope that y' all will come visit sometime.
- [41:20]
Lauren Sisler
Absolutely, my friend. I'll be in touch as soon as football season winds down, we'll come hang with you. We'll get a boat ride in when the sun is shining nice and bright. And again, thank you for your friendship and your support. It always means a lot to me.
- [41:33]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Lauren, thank you for all you've done for us. Lauren Sisler from espn. Lauren, take care and be sure to dodge those tacklers on the sidelines. Be safe out there.
- [41:43]
Lauren Sisler
Absolutely, my friend. Love ya. One, two, three.
- [41:48]
Sponsor Announcer
We'll be right back.
- [41:52]
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- [42:22]
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- [43:20]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
Well, welcome back to Bubba on the Lake. That is a great couple of segments with Lauren Sisler. Have known her for a long time. She is just so full of energy and I hope you enjoyed that. She's such a pleasure to be around and I'm glad that we were able to share a little time with her and her incredible story. And if she don't fire you up and make you want to do the shimmy, I don't know what does. She is. She's quite a sight. But we do appreciate you tuning in. I hope you enjoyed that. Of course we're broadcasting from the Melayella studio. Our website, Bubba on the lake.com 308 Big Lake. 308 Big Lake is the comment line. That's 308244, 5253 or as we like to say, 308 Big Lake. We always enjoy those comments. Well, as we close here, we really don't have time to get a whole lot more started in this particular segment. But as we are doing this podcast, we're in the midst of another government shutdown. Now people, there's people all over the spectrum on these things.
- [44:31]
Lauren Sisler
Things.
- [44:32]
Bill 'Bubba' Bussy
There's some people that say good riddance. If the government shut down, they can't be screwing us anymore. Okay, I got that. I hear you loud and clear. There's other people that actually depend on those jobs that are not getting paid, and that creates a little bit of a problem. Now, they do eventually get paid when it's settled, but, you know, it's kind of hard when you're living paycheck to paycheck or almost paycheck to paycheck when that paycheck's not the there. It's really kind of silly, but I don't know how long this one will shake down. I really wish Congress would get together, Democrats and Republicans, and say we're not going to use these shutdowns for a wedge anymore and hurt people who are actually government employees. And that's what it always turns into. It just turns into a big tug of war and a shoving match. And each side goes out there and they try to make the other side look bad. I clearly see one side's point over the other one here. You need a clean bill to move this forward. You don't need a bunch of, hey, we want this. Hey, we want that. I mean, that's part of the legislative process. I don't think it really belongs in these continuing resolutions to keep the government open. And both sides have presented clean bills in the past, depending on what side of the equation they're on with the president. This time it happens to be the Republican saying, look, just, just move forward. Now the Democrats have come back and they're wanting all kind of stuff added to this. I mean, all kind of stuff. And the more you read, the more you see they basically want to undo a lot of the things that have been done in the big, beautiful bill in immigration. You know, they're wanting to give money away to, you know, like, normal to a whole bunch of folks. And it's just, it's a, it's a, a tool that you use in a democracy like we have. It's a representative democracy. But I really think the, the hammering back and forth just really turns most people off, especially those that are getting a paycheck. Now, the last time this happened, the Democrats kind of took the blunt of being responsible for it and they caved pretty quick after three days. They had a lot of members who were Democrats from red states and they decried the shutdown strategy and they called it a foolish miscalculation. Great article today. In the, in the. Let's See, where is this from the New York Times, I guess Carl Holtz has a story about it and he goes back and documents some of this and how it's going on. But he said this one may be a little bit different because he said a lot of those Democrats are gone. The party has moved to the left even further, which that's kind of hard to believe, believe. And they just don't see any reason not to get these things that they want in this. So they're not going to budge. Well, the Republicans who have worked very hard to get these legislative victories are not about to sit back and turn them all over again because it basically would undo everything they've done. And Trump feels like he's got the public opinion, popular support behind him, him. And he's even threatening, he said, look, if you guys are going to shut down the government, I'm going to make them permanent. I'm just going to fire these workers. In some of these states, primarily blue states, of course, you know how this game is played. Now, Trump does not mind playing hardball with the Democrats. That's something that you have not seen out of Republican in a long time. He will flat out go to the table and give it to them. And that's why a lot of people love him and that's also why a lot of people don't like him. But he, he is not going to cave on this. So it will be, it'll be interesting to see who is winning the PR battle or who is losing it. And that will really dictate how long this goes on. But I do think that if you're in this, first off, we should fix the problem. Let's not be playing with people's jobs every time the budget runs out. And we go through this over and over and over, get together during the sometime in the term and say, look, we're not going to do this. We're going to continue this. We'll debate these other things the way you should debate them in Congress and vote them up or down. But you shouldn't be holding people's paycheck hostage over it, I don't think. And it doesn't matter who's doing it, Republican or Democrat. Those people are showing up to work and they need to be paid. That was their deal. So we need to quit playing political football with them. And I hope that it will be resolved quickly. Folks, we appreciate you being a part above on the lake. We're going to wrap it up there. There's some other topics, but we don't really have time to go into it. Be sure to catch Lauren Sisler on the sideline this week. She will be at the Central Florida game and you don't miss that. What a, what a great lady. She just fired me up. I mean, I'm fired up after having her on the show. Show makes me want to get up and dance, even with a bad knee and, oh, I need to catch you up on the knee. The knee replacement was great. Had no problems. You saw how I could walk right after I had it done. Still just amazed at how they did that. But in the healing process, I had a 10 inch incision and I had a tiny spot at the bottom of my incision kind of break open. They glued the incision, broke open, got infected. And if you've ever had to deal with this with joints and all, it's a big deal. So I went back to Dr. Berger in Chicago, had surgery. He cleaned it out, stitched it up. So I have stitches right now, but it is healing up. It looks good and we'll get those out in a couple of weeks. But it was just, it was a pain to have to go back and do it. It's not a bad flight to Chicago and they get you right in, in, right out. Matter of fact, we, we land at the airport, we go to the doctor's office or we ever go to the hotel. So it's just, you know, I was doing so good with it. This has kind of been a little bit of a setback, but it's just part of it. I know many, many people that have had artificial joints and, you know, more of them than I want to say have had some kind of infection problem. But there was nothing wrong with the joint in the fluid around the joint. So that's all good, but it's just a little surface issue. But, hey, stitches, they're fun to have, especially when you're sleeping. But we're going to get there and I appreciate your support. I was going to say to drop me an email at Bubba Bob on the Lake dot com. Let me know how you like in the podcast. We're 32 episodes in now and I get a lot of feedback, but I enjoy that feedback. I'm going to share some more with you in the coming episode, so be sure to let us know about that and catch our other podcast, the Tailgate Tailgate Show. It's about college football. We have a lot of fun. Hunter's one of my guest hosts on there. So cool to be able to do that with my son. I've really enjoyed that. And I hope you'll check it out, tell somebody about it, and you will subscribe to that too. So next time, folks, we'll. We'll leave it there until next time and till we sail into port. And remember, God loves you and so do us, our family, the busies. We love you too. Take care and God bless, and we'll be in touch.
- [52:29]
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- [52:53]
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- [53:26]
Coke Commercial Voice
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- [53:44]
Lauren Sisler
Yeah.
- [53:45]
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- [53:56]
Sponsor Announcer
This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care, Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise Docks, bankers Bounty, and Dr. Thomas Dudney.
- [54:15]
Bubba
Hey, it's Bubba. Hey, Bubba. Bubba on the lake. Bubba on the lake. Jay's got it going on. Gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places from Bubba's perspective. This is Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Papa on the lake. Ain't Papa Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake.
- [54:36]
Lauren Sisler
Let's see.