← Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset
Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset
Glow in the Dark Success: Cory Cubano's Unseen Struggles and Triumphs
00:50:35
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- [00:00]
Shawn French
Audience, I want you to understand something. This man played Division 1 baseball at a very high level and then was exited from the game. During that time, he found ways to still put his brand out. He was being innovative, and it led. Finally, not after one year or one video, sorry, literally two years of doing that. He got a tryout, didn't make it, waited for the expansion, but he just didn't wait. He continued to make videos, honing his crap. My point to you guys is you don't have to get ready if you stay ready. That's determination. That's what the show's about.
- [00:34]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [00:34]
Shawn French
So what are you gonna do? Fold your tin up and go home and cry? Dude, this is amazing.
- [00:37]
Cory Cubano
Literally, being myself is what got here. I tell people all the time, push through it, push through. And on this whole journey, I was like, dude, this is me. Like, I'm not gonna quit. You know, then I'm gonna leave. I was never like that.
- [00:51]
Cory Cubano (rap segment)
Sh. French, what up? This one luck. I let the pain inspire me. I put my all in. Everything I'm doing up until it's done, I mean, for the entirety, I put in, over time, I'll be working. Just know I'mma go for mine. Cause I earned it. They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it. The whole society determined determine.
- [01:16]
Shawn French
What'S up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Determined Society. I'm your host, Shawn French, and just like always, an amazing guest. But before I introduce him, I need you to go follow the YouTube, the Spotify, the Apple podcast, and share this episode with someone that you know, love and trust. That would get a lot of value out of this. And I want to hear you and understand what you love about the show. So on Spotify, you can leave me a comment and it's me commenting back, so there's a little hack for you. Let's chat. Today I have an amazing professional athlete with us. His name is Cory Cubano, Real name, Corey G. I can't pronounce his last name because it's super easy. And it's okay because we comment. We talked about it before the show. All right, don't give me about it, but, you know, he. He was a college baseball player at Marshall University, then transferred to Ju and now he's a professional baseball player. He was with the Banana Savannah Bananas up until recently. Now he's contracted to go play in a Glow in the Dark League. And so, without further ado, Cory Cabana, welcome to the show.
- [02:11]
Cory Cubano
Dude, finally, baby, you're here.
- [02:13]
Shawn French
Dude.
- [02:13]
Cory Cubano
How long, bro? I've been dying. I've been dying.
- [02:16]
Shawn French
And we're so close, too. Like, you're in Miami, you're here in Naples. Yeah, but, dude, your schedule, man, it's crazy. My schedule is crazy.
- [02:23]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [02:23]
Shawn French
I'm just grateful you're sitting here now.
- [02:25]
Cory Cubano
I am so grateful to be here, man. I love what you do. I love this podcast. So thank you. Definitely honored to be here. For sure.
- [02:32]
Shawn French
Well, dude, it's. It's just. Dude, it's on brand, man. I'm. I was a ball player myself, you know.
- [02:35]
Cory Cubano
Absolutely.
- [02:36]
Shawn French
Didn't get to quite take it to where you have. But for the audience that doesn't know Corey G. Why don't you give him a little peek behind the curtain, man?
- [02:44]
Cory Cubano
For sure. First of all, you're not the first one to ever struggle with the last name. Don't worry about it.
- [02:48]
Shawn French
I know. You told me. Oh, I would have never that on air if I didn't know it was okay.
- [02:51]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, no, there's. There's. I have stories of that. But, yeah, I started out playing baseball in Miami where it's very competitive. And at a young age, I knew I wanted to play for a long time. I really fell in love with the game around, like, high school, and that's when I started getting attention of schools. And somehow I ended up in the freaking North Pole at Marshall University.
- [03:12]
Shawn French
The North Pole, exactly.
- [03:14]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Big culture shock.
- [03:15]
Shawn French
Yeah, I bet, dude.
- [03:16]
Cory Cubano
Big culture shock.
- [03:17]
Shawn French
I bet.
- [03:17]
Cory Cubano
But I loved it. I took it on. I was like, yeah, ok. But, yeah, I went up there. That's where I started my baseball career. I skipped. But before that, I had, like, some. Some injuries. That's what led me to go, like, way out of Florida. I was a pitcher. Tore my labrum.
- [03:33]
Shawn French
Oh, wow.
- [03:34]
Cory Cubano
So there was a little adversity there. But I knew that, you know, I was athletic enough basically to still go, like, to a Division 1 school and play outfield at Marshall. I was there for, I want to say, four years, and I played only two because I, freshman year, snapped my wrist.
- [03:51]
Shawn French
Okay.
- [03:51]
Cory Cubano
I was tearing it up. Snapped my wrist. More adversity. I basically ended up having three surgeries on one arm. But in that whole time, I was, you know, making videos in a time where there wasn't no TikTok. There was like vine and I think I had to delete vine my first day on campus.
- [04:09]
Shawn French
Oh, really?
- [04:10]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, I was getting roped for videos. Okay. But yeah, it was always me. I had that, like, in the back of my mind, like baseball. And this is what I love to Do. Yeah, I have ideas anyways. I'll circle back to that later. But from there, I. After those red shirts and injuries, I transferred to JU to go play with my younger brother, which was pretty sick.
- [04:29]
Shawn French
There's a cool story about that that I want to tell the audience.
- [04:31]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah.
- [04:31]
Shawn French
But keep going.
- [04:32]
Cory Cubano
That was amazing. My family was in heaven. My dad, like, I'll never forget those times. JU was awesome. Way better baseball program. I could tell you.
- [04:42]
Shawn French
That's great, man.
- [04:43]
Cory Cubano
I don't know about now. Times have changed, but the baseball there was awesome. I still have friends to this day. I'm literally going this weekend to JU alumni game. But, yeah, finished my career out there. And then when I was hurt, dude, I was like, starting to think, like, backup plan. Like, any what anybody would think at that point, I was like, you know, maybe the major leagues, which is what we all dream of.
- [05:05]
Shawn French
Sure.
- [05:05]
Cory Cubano
Maybe that's not set in stone with all these injuries and stuff. I got my masters while I was playing.
- [05:10]
Shawn French
Amazing.
- [05:11]
Cory Cubano
Finished school there. Finished on, like, a higher note because as I was, I was falling out of love of being with baseball at, like, Marshall, going through all this social media stuff, and I was getting, you know, in trouble with all that. But like I told you, I went to Ju and, like, it. It sparked a light in me, dude. That locker room, I was happier. I was able to make videos even though Tik Tok wasn't a thing. They were like, all right, we'll cut this crazy.
- [05:33]
Shawn French
Instagram was there, right?
- [05:34]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, Instagram was there. And, yeah, it was the way I always expressed, like, my emotions and. And told my family, like, yo, I'm doing good, even though I was away for college.
- [05:42]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [05:43]
Cory Cubano
But anyways, yeah, I finished there, and I finished on, like, a higher note. Like. Like, I was like, man, I love the game again, but, you know, let's see what the real world has for me. Started in the restaurant business. Believe it or not, that was my first job. I was.
- [05:56]
Shawn French
No way.
- [05:56]
Cory Cubano
I was a manager at first watch.
- [05:58]
Shawn French
So you went from playing ball at ju? Yeah, transitioned out identity shift into a.
- [06:03]
Cory Cubano
Manager at my first job. My first enter into the real world was literally a manager at first watch. I had to learn how to cook in the kitchen.
- [06:11]
Shawn French
No way.
- [06:12]
Cory Cubano
I was just like, kind of like, yo, I just want to make money. I'm tired of asking my parents for money to go eat Taco Bell. And, yeah, you know, like, I was just ready to make some money. And that happened to be the first thing that aligned. And I was really thinking, like, I Want to open a Cuban restaurant one day. Maybe I should learn how to cook, how to manage a business, restaurant. So I went under my. My dad's buddy, Bob Frame. He was like the guy. The owner at the time. And I learned all this stuff, hospitality. I quickly learned that. I was like, dude, this ain't me.
- [06:45]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [06:46]
Cory Cubano
So after a year, I promise I was like, I'm gonna make it through the year. Then the whole pandemic thing happened, and I was like, I'm really not going to be in the restaurant business. Yeah, not for me. But I did find out that I'm like a. I'm like a good. I was a good host. The front of the. The. I would kill. The front is what they call it. Not the back. The back is the kitchen where I would burn my finger. The front, dude. Greeting people, talking to people. Everybody wanted to come back. The next thing you know, I'm making videos. I. I never stopped making videos. That's one thing about me.
- [07:15]
Shawn French
Love it.
- [07:16]
Cory Cubano
Kept making content, even if it was in the kitchen, whatever I was doing. And then, you know, the. The rise of the bananas. This whole time. Yeah, happening. The whole Tick Tock era was blowing up. And the whole time I'm like, dude, this is so me. I'm like two, three years out of the game, but this is me right here. Maybe I could circle back to this. But anyways, let me finish out this year. Kept making content. Then I got an invite to. To go play Banana bar, to go try out, which was the most unique tryout I've ever experienced in my life. People were wearing costumes, a bunch of guys that are crazy like me, that are very athletic, doing backflips. You got a guy on stilts pitching the ball, hitting the ball. And then quickly I was like, yo, this is sick. This is like, I could definitely do this. I feel like I belong here.
- [08:03]
Shawn French
How do they hear about you?
- [08:04]
Cory Cubano
Like, so, yeah, since that whole time, I kept posting videos. Okay, I kept posting videos. Like I said, even in the. When I was in cooking or I was a manager, at first watch, I would literally still go to the park and make videos. Like, if I was still playing, I would go and relatable baseball stuff. Like stuff about a three, one count, whatever. I would go to the park, find someone to film me. Or I'll literally do a tripod and just film myself thinking that this could blow up. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do this. And then I started getting followers on Tick Tock. I got to like 40, 000 followers, I think pretty fast. And still, no, I don't have a jersey to be doing these dances that everybody else has a platform. I'm trying to get to, like, the Bananas. I'm trying to get their attention. Sure enough, after, like, a year of doing that, two years, then they sent me an invite. It was an email. And I was like, right away, I called off work. I was like, dude, I have to do this. I don't care what you say. I gotta go. And then I ended up killing it. I ended up killing it at the trial. Even though it was post. It was, I want to say three years. Okay, four years after not playing baseball and. But I did get in shape for it.
- [09:13]
Shawn French
How much time did you have to train, dude?
- [09:16]
Cory Cubano
Like, six, seven months, I want to say. And still work? Yeah.
- [09:20]
Shawn French
Light work.
- [09:21]
Cory Cubano
Yes. I was able to get in shape. Now, baseball shape is a whole different thing. A fastball, like.
- [09:26]
Shawn French
Yeah, that's different.
- [09:27]
Cory Cubano
I will say, like, that part, when I faced the batter or faced the pitcher there, it was a whole different ball game. I was. It was super fast. Like, as soon as I swung, the ball was coming again. I was like, this is a whole new world to me, let alone live pitching is. You can't practice that. I got in shape and all that, but live pitching. But what they loved about me was the fact that I was not scared to try any trick play. Right when you get there, they tell you, yo, we know you could catch the ball. Everyone here played at a high level. We want to see who's not afraid to try a backflip, try to catch a ball behind your back, all that stuff. So I had bruises everywhere. I think I caught a ball in my pants that almost hit my nuts.
- [10:03]
Shawn French
Oh, really?
- [10:03]
Cory Cubano
Oh, dude. I had a bruise like, that big, but it was so worth it. As soon as I caught it, everybody went crazy. But, yeah, I had, like. I just, you know, I was. I was very personable there, and I think that's what they liked. And they kept me under the radar, but they only had two spots. They kept one dude that signed over me and he got on the Bananas, and another guy got on the Party Animals. So there was no room. I kept literally getting in shape, kept posting videos like never before. Because now I'm like, all right, this is what I really want to do. So I went all in. When. When I went all in. The next year is when they opened the teams up and added new teams, and then I played on one of the new teams. They added the firefighters, and they added the visitors and then I was fortunate enough to play with the visitors, and it was nuts. I mean, it was the best experience ever on a baseball field that I've ever had because I was having so much fun.
- [10:54]
Shawn French
Much fun.
- [10:55]
Cory Cubano
I didn't have to worry about posting a video and someone freaking, you know, telling me like, yo, you know, you're a problem, or you're this, you're that. And I was just happy. And again, I was in love with the game the most I had ever been. Literally playing. I think I played in front of 50, 000 people.
- [11:13]
Shawn French
That's wild.
- [11:14]
Cory Cubano
In three games. Six. I'm sorry, six games, like crazy.
- [11:18]
Shawn French
Let me, let me, I wanna, I wanna pause for a second because I want the audience to key in on something.
- [11:23]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [11:24]
Shawn French
So it would be poor of me not to circle back to this.
- [11:27]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [11:28]
Shawn French
Right now, while it's, while it's prudent, audience, I want you to understand something. This man played Division 1 baseball at a very high level and then was exited from the game and wasn't too proud to go manage a first watch restaurant. During that time, he found ways to still put his brand out. He found ways that he can showcase himself. And what I heard from you, Corey, was like, it didn't matter. You're asking somebody at the park to film you, you put it on a tripod. He was being innovative and it led. Finally, not after one year or one video. Sorry. Or one month, literally two years of doing that. He got a tryout, didn't make it, waited for the expansion, but he just didn't wait. He worked in the background, See, he continued to make videos, honing his craft, getting in better shape, and he was ready. So, like, my point to you guys is like, you don't have to get ready if you stay ready. And he's epitome of that. And now you're, you're, you're still in it, man.
- [12:29]
Cory Cubano
Absolutely.
- [12:30]
Shawn French
That's, that's determination. That's what the show's about.
- [12:32]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [12:32]
Shawn French
It's like, what are you going to do? Fold your tin up and go home and cry?
- [12:34]
Cory Cubano
Absolutely. No. Yeah.
- [12:35]
Shawn French
Like, dude, this is amazing.
- [12:37]
Cory Cubano
Literally being myself is what got here. I tell people all the time, they're like, you know, what about when this guy, dude, imagine you're a freshman in college and your leader, the guy that you go to war for, is telling you, you know, you need to delete social media. You need to do this. And I'm like, dude, I'm not doing nothing wrong. I'm not posting. Like some people that Are, you know, going to the bars with a red solo coat in their hand. I was never doing, like, never posting none of that. I literally was like, bro, one day I'm gonna be right. Like, whatever. I will call my dad and he'll be like, you know, you need to get out of there, or whatever. But I was a guy that was like. I was like, I'm not gonna quit, you know, then I'm gonna leave. I was never like that. So I try to push through it. Push through. And on this whole journey, I was like, dude, this is me. Like, I know I'm doing. This is what I'm good at. I love creating. I love making videos. Whatever. Whether it's dancing or whether it's baseball, whether it's Spanish, whatever the heck it is. I like, I love this.
- [13:30]
Shawn French
I love your. I. Dude, you know what?
- [13:31]
Cory Cubano
I.
- [13:32]
Shawn French
The one thing that comes to mind when I'm listening to the story and getting to know you better is like, dude, you're a visionary.
- [13:37]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [13:37]
Shawn French
And a lot of visionaries, like, I consider myself a visionary. Right. And a lot of visionaries are often misunderstood and underappreciated. Right. And I think it's because, you know, coming from the outside perspective is like, it's a threat. Like, you're a threat at that point.
- [13:55]
Cory Cubano
Yes.
- [13:55]
Shawn French
Like, you were a threat to Wags at Marshall.
- [13:58]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah.
- [13:59]
Shawn French
Like, I want to talk about that because, you know, nowadays, you know, there's. There's a lot of tension around social media. I mean, hell, Carson Beck's going to Miami for $10 million.
- [14:09]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [14:10]
Shawn French
And in 2016, you were getting chastised for making a fun video.
- [14:14]
Cory Cubano
Literally getting me through that. Dude. Dude, I would literally talk about this forever, but. Well, now is when I'm really talking about it. Of course, I posted a video the other day, and a bunch of people were like, this is so relatable because again, pre Tick Tock era and all this, dude, it was not the same. You made that point. Like, this guy just got an nil deal to literally transfer schools to go play with his other Tick Tock famous girlfriend. They're making bank. No hate at all. I'm like. I'm like. I'm literally happy. I'm like, this is how it should be.
- [14:45]
Shawn French
That's.
- [14:45]
Cory Cubano
That's great for your likeness and all that. You should be getting something. I remember applying for a job, Sean, on at Marshall and to be a bartender, because I'm like, I need. I want to make money. And the next day, the NCAA or my coach was like, you can't do that. Yeah, you can't do that. I'm like, what? What if it literally doesn't affect any hours?
- [15:03]
Shawn French
Can't make money.
- [15:04]
Cory Cubano
You can't do it.
- [15:05]
Shawn French
I got suspended for working a camp for Coach Burtman. Skip Burtman. Skip.
- [15:08]
Cory Cubano
Unreal.
- [15:09]
Shawn French
I. I did. I. I made 50 at a camp or at his. At his batting cage. I mean, Skipman's legendary.
- [15:15]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [15:15]
Shawn French
I wasn't gonna say no to Skip.
- [15:16]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, I went.
- [15:17]
Shawn French
I got. I got in trouble.
- [15:18]
Cory Cubano
It's ridiculous.
- [15:19]
Shawn French
For a week, dude.
- [15:19]
Cory Cubano
So I. I was at Marshall. It wasn't the best baseball program at the time. No field.
- [15:27]
Shawn French
No field.
- [15:28]
Cory Cubano
No field.
- [15:28]
Shawn French
How do you not have a field in your Division one program?
- [15:30]
Cory Cubano
Insane. And they always promised for a while, like, hey, it's coming. And a bunch of people could attest to this, especially everyone from West Virginia or that played college ball against Marshall. Dude, we would travel an hour to play a home game. And what would you play at Power Park? It's. It was like a minor league field in Charleston, West Virginia. Neutral site.
- [15:50]
Shawn French
It's neat.
- [15:50]
Cory Cubano
But, yeah, we practice. We were practiced at the local high school, really, for a while. They opened up something at the YMCA. So I'm driving 20 minutes every day to practice, barely getting anything to eat right after class, trying to haul ass in these West Virginia roads in my convertible. That's Mustang. But, yeah, dude, it's crazy. I. I go back to that story and, like, I. I remember at the time, again, thinking, man, am I really doing something wrong?
- [16:18]
Shawn French
Right.
- [16:19]
Cory Cubano
I remember this thing called the Running Man Challenge came out, and it was really, really popular.
- [16:23]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [16:24]
Cory Cubano
This is 2016. This is when, like, people are kind of scared to be in front of the camera. And I'm like, the opposite. I'm like, dude, oh, my God. I have an idea. Let's do it. So I remember after a game, once again, no one's ever in the locker room. Like, if anything, I'm helping this team out, making it look like we are this amazing bonding team and everybody.
- [16:43]
Shawn French
And it wasn't really like that behind the scenes.
- [16:44]
Cory Cubano
No. No, it was not like that. Literally, the. Again, it's hard, though, because of the facilities. The locker room was under classrooms. It's not like your typical Division one.
- [16:53]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [16:54]
Cory Cubano
Atmosphere. But you would think still people get together in the locker room or, like, team bonding, stuff like that. That wasn't really happening. So imagine I make this video. It goes absolutely nuts. We. We play wvu. Our arrival, I want to say a week later, we go to Morgantown. And after I made this video that. That was blowing up on Twitter and Instagram under my fake name, because if not, Wags would have killed me if you saw that out on Instagram, dude. And we're playing, and I see, like, chicks in the stands and, like, kids, and they're, like, doing the. And they're like, yo. They're like. I'm like, I feel it. I feel that they're talking about it. Me, too. I feel it.
- [17:33]
Shawn French
And I'm like, dude, that's impacting.
- [17:35]
Cory Cubano
I'm like, look. I'm like. You see that? Some people are like, yeah, bro, that's crazy. We ended up losing 6 4.
- [17:42]
Shawn French
Huh?
- [17:42]
Cory Cubano
I swear, I forgot. I remember the score and everything. And we get on the bus, and WVU's our rival, and this starts going crazy.
- [17:51]
Shawn French
You Wags lost it.
- [17:52]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, yeah. He's like, you don't lose a W View. Whatever. All right, you're right. You're right. And then he's like. And some people want to make a. A video. I think it's more important then. Then this and this. And I'm like, bro, there's no way that this guy's literally blaming this loss or whatever on a video. On my viral video of something so positive.
- [18:13]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [18:14]
Cory Cubano
That I. I didn't curse. All I did was dance. Like, it was so uplifting, the video.
- [18:18]
Shawn French
It was awesome.
- [18:19]
Cory Cubano
You got people knowing about Marshall baseball that didn't know about Marshall baseball a week ago.
- [18:23]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [18:23]
Cory Cubano
And I'm here, like, in the back of the bus, like, this motherfucker. I'm like, this is my sign. Like, I need to get out of here. I'm like, I need to do something. I need to literally, like, transfer. I don't know what it is, but I can't be myself around here. Like, yeah, crazy. And then after that, dude, I was like, that's when I told you I was falling out of love of the game. And. And it wasn't the same. I got right, got healthy. And then, yeah, I transferred to Ju. And right away, they welcomed my crazy ass with open arms. Like, it didn't matter who you were in that locker room, dude. Right away, everyone was in there, let alone I was already like, first of all, I'm in a dorm where I walk to the field to practice.
- [19:02]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [19:02]
Cory Cubano
I'm like, it's pretty close. Oh, my God. You guys don't understand. They're like, what is a blessing for you? Yeah. They're like, what do you mean? I go, you don't understand how amazing this is. Like, I literally didn't have a feel, whatever. Then in the locker room, seeing my brother there. One. Unbelievable.
- [19:16]
Shawn French
Yeah, that.
- [19:17]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [19:18]
Shawn French
Okay. All right.
- [19:18]
Cory Cubano
That was the best thing ever.
- [19:20]
Shawn French
So you're. You're playing Florida.
- [19:23]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah.
- [19:24]
Shawn French
And you said it was at Florida, right?
- [19:26]
Cory Cubano
A regional game.
- [19:27]
Shawn French
At a regional. Okay, that's even.
- [19:29]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Three. So four games away from Omaha.
- [19:32]
Shawn French
Four games away from the Promise.
- [19:35]
Cory Cubano
Yes. Yes.
- [19:36]
Shawn French
And you hit a home run. And who's there to greet you?
- [19:39]
Cory Cubano
My brother. Dude. I'll never forget that. Dude, I get. You could bring that up forever, and I'll still feel the same way.
- [19:45]
Shawn French
What was. What. What. What about it? Right? I mean, obviously your parents were there, your brother was there.
- [19:50]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. So the fact that everything I went through, like, dude, you got me freaking good. You got me.
- [19:57]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [19:57]
Cory Cubano
Everything I went through, dude. And when I was like, oh, my God, like, this is it. Like, I don't know if I love the game anymore, to then have this hope of transferring to Ju in a short time, being able to earn a spot where there was already. You know, you go through fall because I transferred after fall.
- [20:14]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [20:14]
Cory Cubano
Then you get there, and it's like, you would think, like, who's this guy coming? He didn't come to the fall workout.
- [20:19]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [20:19]
Cory Cubano
And I'm there, just happy to be there, like, whatever. And, dude, to be able to be on the field and, like, playing interregional. Like, I earned my spot to be playing. Then my brother pitching on the same field. Like, dude, that dude is pitching, and I'm in right field. And normally I would run through a wall. I love the wall. I love crashing to the wall.
- [20:39]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [20:40]
Cory Cubano
But with this kid on the mount, it's like, bro, I will die. I would die, bro.
- [20:45]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [20:46]
Cory Cubano
And, dude, from playing Wolfle ball in the backyard to like, literally playing Division 1 baseball together in a huge atmosphere, huge game. When I was rounding those bases, I was thinking about all that.
- [20:58]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [20:58]
Cory Cubano
Literally all of it. I was looking at my dad, my mom. I was like, finding them in this crowd because they're the only little green jerseys. It's all blue and orange. I'm like, where's? And then at the bottom, I see my. I guess they all went like. I guess the whole team was like, bro, go out there.
- [21:13]
Shawn French
Yeah. Yeah.
- [21:14]
Cory Cubano
Like, they knew this was on TV or something. They're like, pushed him out, and he was the first one to greet me right there. And if you. I have the clip for you. I literally grab him and freaking give him a little kiss on the cheek and squeeze his ass. I love baseball.
- [21:27]
Shawn French
I love baseball.
- [21:28]
Cory Cubano
I was like, this is like. I. I tried it slow, bro. I was like, wow. All right. I need to enjoy this one.
- [21:35]
Shawn French
At that moment, though, did you realize the emotion of, like, the real emotion? Like, right now you're emotional. Did you have that. That. That tear in your eye when it actually happened, or is it kind of looking back perspective, like, look at now?
- [21:47]
Cory Cubano
No, like, I looked back at it because I was so. And, dude, we were down. We were at three one. I made it three two. I just robbed the bomb. I was on cloud nine.
- [21:56]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [21:56]
Cory Cubano
But then to have all that there and then see him, I was like, I did soak it in a little bit, but not, like, right now. I reflect back on it and yeah, like, damn, dude. Like, what?
- [22:06]
Shawn French
Enjoy that a little bit.
- [22:07]
Cory Cubano
That feeling, dude, is what is probably the best I. I talk about in the video.
- [22:12]
Shawn French
Like, I love that video, by the way.
- [22:13]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, it's probably the best.
- [22:14]
Shawn French
It's pinned to your profile. I love that video.
- [22:16]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah. There's. There's. There has been people reaching out about, like, they're like, yo, I have a brother, and I miss him. I'm gonna text him. And I'm like, damn. There's some people that are like, I lost my brother in a car crash. And this, like, this really got to me and reminded me of when I played my brother when I was little. Dude, that one video, that's the feeling I love. I love, like, impacting, like.
- [22:38]
Shawn French
Yeah. That's the thing that you don't realize right away. Like, you know, when we create and we're authentic and we're ourselves.
- [22:45]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [22:46]
Shawn French
We're doing it because it helps us heal.
- [22:47]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah.
- [22:48]
Shawn French
I mean, that's. I mean, that's how I am. Right. I shouldn't say we. Me, when I put something out when I have conversations like this, I'm drawing from my own experience and kind of like, everything that's happened with me and it helps me heal. But in doing that in an authentic way, the. The ripple effect is so much greater than we could even imagine. It's like, you make a video or you talk about your brother, it was your experience, but you just reminded somebody else in the Midwest that lost their brother.
- [23:14]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [23:15]
Shawn French
How important he was to him. So, like, when we serve or when we do things just out of the kindness of our hearts, and it creates such a massive impact. I truly feel that's what we're here to do as humans.
- [23:24]
Cory Cubano
Absolutely, man. I always tell, like, my. My dad, my brother, sometimes when I'm doing these videos and they're like, dude, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm different, man. Yeah, I know I'm different, though. I know I'm different. Like, I tell people all the time, like, I love that I'm different.
- [23:38]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [23:39]
Cory Cubano
I'm literally different.
- [23:40]
Shawn French
Why would you want to be anybody else? You know, I think too many people don't embrace the limited edition.
- [23:46]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [23:46]
Shawn French
The one of one. There's nobody else like you.
- [23:49]
Cory Cubano
Yep.
- [23:49]
Shawn French
Like, there may be a lot of other people that play baseball, but not every. Not anybody else has the exact skills that you do. You're not. Not. Nothing's identical. Like, I'm one of one. Everybody listening right now. You're one of one. You're a limited edition. And if you think you're not good enough, that's only because you're judging yourself based on somebody to the right or to the left of you. You need to look inward and understand the gifts that you have to bring to the world. And that's where the power comes from. And once you know that, not just know it conceptually, but actually live and breathe and embody it.
- [24:20]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [24:20]
Shawn French
The world in the doors open wide.
- [24:22]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah, yeah, Absolutely. I completely agree to that.
- [24:26]
Shawn French
Unbelievable.
- [24:27]
Cory Cubano
Like I said, dude, like, I know. Like, I remember, I was like, this is what I do. Like, I don't care what any. I don't care what WAG says. I don't care what anyone says. This is what I'm good at. This is what I love to do. And then, dude, it just speaks for itself. Like, like I said, being myself is what got me here. I wouldn't be with a bananas organization if I didn't think that way.
- [24:45]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [24:46]
Cory Cubano
If I. If I let other. What other people think, Literally. Oh, dude, you're still 20. You're 29, making videos, bro. You know?
- [24:53]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [24:54]
Cory Cubano
You know? Yeah. You know how much of that goes on in the world? Because that person that's saying that is scared to be in front of the camera.
- [25:00]
Shawn French
Well, they also don't understand it, too. They don't understand, like, look at the Pauls.
- [25:04]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, I talk about that all the time, dude.
- [25:06]
Shawn French
Look at him.
- [25:07]
Cory Cubano
I literally tell my brother and my dad that all the time.
- [25:09]
Shawn French
Do they just announce that they're fighting each other?
- [25:11]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [25:12]
Shawn French
Okay.
- [25:13]
Cory Cubano
Just insane.
- [25:14]
Shawn French
Let's just talk about the marketing skills of these individuals.
- [25:17]
Cory Cubano
I told my brother, I go, this is genius.
- [25:19]
Shawn French
They're the best promoters ever, dude.
- [25:20]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [25:21]
Shawn French
The moment you've all been waiting for. Just when you thought the. The. The Jake Tyson was the thing.
- [25:27]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [25:28]
Shawn French
Now the Brothers are gonna trade. Trade. Come on, dude.
- [25:32]
Cory Cubano
Oh, crazy.
- [25:32]
Shawn French
Like, people just don't understand the value behind.
- [25:34]
Cory Cubano
Probably text my brother right now, and he'll. I'll be like, hey, for this amount of money, would we go out? He'll probably be like, heck, yeah.
- [25:41]
Shawn French
Because I will kill you for that.
- [25:43]
Cory Cubano
I'll be like, I will kill you, Corey. I'll be like, just knock me out.
- [25:46]
Shawn French
Yeah, Just the other side. This is my good side.
- [25:49]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, dude.
- [25:49]
Shawn French
Are you guys roughly the same height, same size, or is he a little bit. He's a little.
- [25:53]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, he's six two, six one. I'm six five.
- [25:55]
Shawn French
You're six five?
- [25:56]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [25:57]
Shawn French
Dang.
- [25:57]
Cory Cubano
A lot of people don't realize, dude, you're six five. Like.
- [26:00]
Shawn French
Yeah. That's crazy. I know. You're tall.
- [26:02]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:02]
Shawn French
I mean, 6:3, but I suck at math. I suck at math.
- [26:04]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Yeah.
- [26:05]
Shawn French
Don't worry about that.
- [26:06]
Cory Cubano
A lot of people think they look at me, they're like, oh, pitcher. I'm like, no, no, you look like.
- [26:10]
Shawn French
A lefty hitter, dude.
- [26:11]
Cory Cubano
You think so?
- [26:12]
Shawn French
Oh, hell yeah, dude. Well, I'm a baseball guy, right. It's like, I see these things.
- [26:15]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:16]
Shawn French
I can look at you, be like, no, D ain't a pitcher because you're built like a hitter.
- [26:19]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:19]
Shawn French
There's a different build, man.
- [26:21]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:22]
Shawn French
Swag. Different swag.
- [26:23]
Cory Cubano
Exactly.
- [26:24]
Shawn French
You know, so, like. And this is what people won't even understand, but if you're a baseball person, like, lefty hitters move differently.
- [26:29]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:30]
Shawn French
You know, you. You can even have a. I mean, you have the best pitcher in the major leagues. Paul Skaines.
- [26:35]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:36]
Shawn French
Right. I mean, he's. I mean, dude, he's gonna get so much better, too.
- [26:38]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:39]
Shawn French
His swag is different than what a lefty here would be. People don't realize that.
- [26:42]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [26:43]
Shawn French
Brings me to good point. I'm gonna ask you about this because it drives me crazy of what's going on in Major League Baseball. I don't like it. I don't like it. I feel like when they change rules, they are bending to the people that don't have a attention span, that don't understand the game. It's like, I'm a purist.
- [27:00]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [27:00]
Shawn French
I'm a purist, dude. Do not widen the bases for me. I don't care how long the game takes. I get that people like, I don't want to watch a game. The hitter's grabbing his nuts, fits in his batting gloves. Remember Nomar Garcia, para.
- [27:11]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [27:12]
Shawn French
But, yeah, dude, I like that because, yeah, like, anytime I can be Watching a game or playing a game like that is an escape for me.
- [27:20]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [27:20]
Shawn French
And so I just don't. I don't like any of it.
- [27:23]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Yeah, I could agree. I mean, honestly, after playing freaking banana ball and watching baseball and stuff like that, I can't even watch baseball right now until it's, like, playoffs.
- [27:38]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [27:38]
Cory Cubano
I'm probably different. Like, I.
- [27:40]
Shawn French
No, I. I won't watch it until the World Series, dude.
- [27:42]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Yeah.
- [27:43]
Shawn French
I don't like it.
- [27:43]
Cory Cubano
Seriously. I think it's changed. I don't know. And especially after I. I'm like a big freaking. The. The crowd. The. This. That's why banana ball was perfect.
- [27:53]
Shawn French
Yeah. It's pretty cool.
- [27:54]
Cory Cubano
But, yeah, I agree. Like, the authenticity of baseball, it's being taken away.
- [28:00]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [28:00]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [28:01]
Shawn French
It's just not. It's not the same game. And it's like, I did a reel where I did a show with a piece of grit podcast, which is my production team's podcast way back in the day, maybe about a year. Maybe about a year ago. It's not that long ago before they were even producing my show. And we get into all that stuff, and the reel went viral, and I had so many people attacking me, like, oh, this guy's clearly doesn't know what the. He's talking about. Baseball's boring. They needed to shorten the game. That's why banana ball is so popular. Hold on. Stop. Hard stop.
- [28:31]
Cory Cubano
Whole different thing.
- [28:31]
Shawn French
Thank you. Whole different thing. If you need banana ball. Right. To go watch. I mean, I'm taking my son. February 14th, we're going. It's gonna be fun, but it's different.
- [28:42]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Yeah.
- [28:43]
Shawn French
Like, if.
- [28:44]
Cory Cubano
A whole different game.
- [28:44]
Shawn French
Yeah. You can't even compare it as someone.
- [28:47]
Cory Cubano
Who played in is completely different.
- [28:49]
Shawn French
It's not the same.
- [28:49]
Cory Cubano
No.
- [28:50]
Shawn French
You're. You're. You're playing on show. Thank you.
- [28:52]
Cory Cubano
We. We are a show.
- [28:54]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [28:54]
Cory Cubano
At the end, we're both celebrating.
- [28:57]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [28:57]
Cory Cubano
The win or lose.
- [28:58]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [28:59]
Cory Cubano
That's not. I mean, baseball is the competitive nature, the history. You can't change. You can't compare that to banana ball.
- [29:05]
Shawn French
This is what people say. They're trying to keep up with banana ball. And I think that's the problem. And they're not.
- [29:10]
Cory Cubano
That's a dumb first.
- [29:12]
Shawn French
They can't.
- [29:13]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [29:13]
Shawn French
Because it's completely different.
- [29:15]
Cory Cubano
100%.
- [29:15]
Shawn French
It's, again, apples and freaking oranges here.
- [29:17]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. But.
- [29:18]
Shawn French
But for someone who. Who needs banana ball to enjoy baseball, they're. They're missing.
- [29:25]
Cory Cubano
Complete different crowd.
- [29:26]
Shawn French
They're missing. Right.
- [29:27]
Cory Cubano
It's a complete different Crowd, you cannot compare it. Yeah.
- [29:29]
Shawn French
You cannot compare it.
- [29:29]
Cory Cubano
Complete different crowd. You talk to people that are competitors and love baseball and stuff. It's. They go, it's different, dude. I don't want to get into it, but you go sit in the. In a baseball game, you go sit in a banana ball game. You're there for two different things.
- [29:42]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [29:42]
Cory Cubano
You're literally there to, like I said on stilts, a show. And it's great and it's new and it's dope and it fast. I think that's what the attention span of everyone, like, scroll, scroll, scroll. Right. Like, dude, it's what Jesse's doing.
- [29:56]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [29:56]
Cory Cubano
Amazing. Like, they're going to be selling out football stadiums this year.
- [30:00]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [30:00]
Cory Cubano
Professional base, Major league stadiums this year. But that's a whole different show. Like I said, you're literally there to entertain. You can't compare a major league baseball player to, like, what's going on over here. Yeah.
- [30:13]
Shawn French
And I think. I think a part of the thing that drives me crazy is I cannot stand what people say. Baseball's boring.
- [30:18]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [30:18]
Shawn French
They. Because they can go to a regular baseball game.
- [30:21]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [30:21]
Shawn French
Or watch it on tv. Like, this is moving. This is so slow. What they can't conceptualize is when I come back and say on the field, oh, it's moving fast. It's a fast moving.
- [30:32]
Cory Cubano
Best game ever. Ever, Ever. There's nothing like. And to people that say, like, I mean, I. I understand where you're coming from. Where you go to a UFC fight, NFL. Yeah. There's action and then baseball just chilling. Right. Or you talk about, like you said that you take your time getting in the box and ball. But playing that sport, when you're going up to bat and all eyes are on you and you're. Or pitching and every. Everything's on you. There's nothing like playing that sport.
- [30:58]
Shawn French
No. And. But the game's not slow. That's the thing. Crazy.
- [31:01]
Cory Cubano
It's not.
- [31:02]
Shawn French
It's not slow. It's so fast.
- [31:03]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [31:03]
Shawn French
Especially, I mean, I was a catcher, so it was like.
- [31:05]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, that's.
- [31:06]
Shawn French
That's wild. You cannot take a pitch off, dude.
- [31:08]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [31:08]
Shawn French
Like, you need to be locked in. But like, but dude. So what else is going on with you, man?
- [31:12]
Cory Cubano
Like, dude, it's been a lot.
- [31:15]
Shawn French
You're not with bananas anymore.
- [31:16]
Cory Cubano
No. So I am transitioning to cosmic baseball, which is similar field entertainment baseball. Completely different. Completely different. It's going to be more competitive. It's literally in the dark. So we wear these like fluorescent jerseys. Fluorescent ball, fluorescent bases.
- [31:36]
Shawn French
Bats. Fluorescent bats?
- [31:37]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, everything. Everything. Batting gloves, tape. I black. My mustache is going fluorescent.
- [31:42]
Shawn French
That's. That's. That's hot.
- [31:43]
Cory Cubano
Insane.
- [31:44]
Shawn French
Yeah, that's hot.
- [31:45]
Cory Cubano
And it's. It's dope. I'm excited. But it's so. It's. You would think, like, this, this new thing, it's not necessarily brand new. It was on the Pat McAfee Show. Yeah, they. They went on, not a tour, but like an inner city tour last year. Now they're going all over the U.S. so now we're playing in Nashville, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, all over the place.
- [32:06]
Shawn French
Coming to Florida?
- [32:07]
Cory Cubano
No, but they're planning on expanding the. The year. The following year. Cool. But, dude, it happened really fast. Like, they sold out, like, fast. That's. Dude. So I'm pumped up about it. They have, you know, big league stadiums in the future too, that they're trying to do, but it's. It's. Dude, honestly, it's. It's more me. There's some banana ball guys coming over with me that they've already announced. There's some still that haven't announced, but similar aspect. Dude. Just entertainment.
- [32:33]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [32:33]
Cory Cubano
Who knows, one day those worlds might collide, but. But the whole entertainment baseball world is like on fire right now.
- [32:40]
Shawn French
Yeah, no, it's great. And dude, and it brings the families together. They have fun, they include the kids. Like that kind of.
- [32:46]
Cory Cubano
I will say it's more competitive. From everything that I've seen, the competitive part is definitely the part that I miss. Yeah.
- [32:53]
Shawn French
I was about to say, do you miss that?
- [32:54]
Cory Cubano
I missed that. In banana ball, we get competitive. Like, we're playing against each other, but, like, I don't know, it's different. Like, you. The show is big. In banana ball, this is going to be all about, like, putting on a show, but you're still playing normal baseball in the beginning. And then the lights shut off and then the whole stadium is glow in the dark. But you're still playing for something. You're still. Yeah, yeah. He's got a lot of stuff up his. Of his sleeve. Jason. Jason. He's the man.
- [33:24]
Shawn French
Do you so, like, ask you a question? Like, because I'm a baseball guy, I'm like, logistically thinking, like, how the heck.
- [33:29]
Cory Cubano
Are you going to.
- [33:29]
Shawn French
Well, how can you read the ball of the hand?
- [33:31]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [33:31]
Shawn French
Like, how is this safe?
- [33:32]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. We. We have our spring training coming up and that's where it's going to be interesting. I could tell you that, but I've seen some videos and it looks like from the guys that have done it, that have talked to me. They're like, dude, once those lights come on, then those jerseys come on. It's so fluorescent that like everything's going like a ball into the outfield. You'll see it all the way until it goes over the fence.
- [33:51]
Shawn French
Stop.
- [33:52]
Cory Cubano
I swear.
- [33:53]
Shawn French
That's so dope. That's exciting.
- [33:55]
Cory Cubano
I know. I'm pumped up. It's. It's different. And I'm all about it. Like I said, I'm a yes person, dude.
- [34:00]
Shawn French
I know, man.
- [34:00]
Cory Cubano
And whether, you know, I would have liked to play banana ball another year, but the opportunity, they. They felt like I wasn't able to be full time this year. And then to me, dude, I'm like, I'm an entertainer. I know. Whatever's next, let's go. And then this thing was like more appealing to me for some reason. Just everything, like the vibe about it is different. Yeah.
- [34:24]
Shawn French
So, yeah, I'm jacked up to see it.
- [34:27]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Yeah, you gotta go. You gotta go out to the game. For sure.
- [34:29]
Shawn French
Well, I'll fly out to see you somewhere.
- [34:31]
Cory Cubano
For sure. Durham probably is the closest one to here. North Carolina. It's like a two hour flight.
- [34:36]
Shawn French
That's sick.
- [34:36]
Cory Cubano
Nashville is going to be a great one.
- [34:38]
Shawn French
Nashville will be lit.
- [34:39]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. Nashville sounds, I think is the stadium the one with the guitar? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm pumped up for that, dude.
- [34:45]
Shawn French
What's your team? What's your. What's your.
- [34:46]
Cory Cubano
The Chili Peppers.
- [34:47]
Shawn French
The Chili.
- [34:48]
Cory Cubano
The Cosmic Chili Peppers.
- [34:49]
Shawn French
Out of where?
- [34:50]
Cory Cubano
Out of Virginia.
- [34:51]
Shawn French
Virginia.
- [34:51]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [34:52]
Shawn French
What the going on with Virginia?
- [34:53]
Cory Cubano
I know, dude. I don't know. Did you. This is where it was created.
- [34:57]
Shawn French
Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true.
- [34:58]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [34:59]
Shawn French
You're with the original team.
- [35:00]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [35:01]
Shawn French
Wow. Okay.
- [35:01]
Cory Cubano
The Cosmic Chili Peppers. And then we'll be playing. I think the team that we're playing against is called the Glow Mojis, which I haven't really talked about that yet, so you're hearing it first here, but it's like another Glow in the Dark team. We're kind of like. I would compare it to, you know how like the banana started with bananas and party animals.
- [35:19]
Shawn French
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:20]
Cory Cubano
We're starting with this, but it's. The plans are insane again. More competitive.
- [35:25]
Shawn French
Yeah. Is that the differential? The difference maker is like the competitive aspect.
- [35:30]
Cory Cubano
Yeah. And the fact that it's in the freaking dark.
- [35:32]
Shawn French
Well, that. That's.
- [35:34]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, yeah. But also the rules are different. The rules aren't like all these crazy insane rules. Which was cool about banana ball, but don't get me wrong. That was awesome. But like trick plays and stuff like that, those are all different. I think, like, if we do trick plays, it'll mean something. We're in banana ball. It doesn't really mean anything. There's like, we're thinking about doing stuff where like, if a batter gets hit, then there's a penalty, a player's removed from the field. Crazy stuff like that. We're just. I don't know what the official rules are.
- [36:05]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [36:05]
Cory Cubano
All I know is that it's in the dark and it's going to be fast paced. Similar pace, but it's going to be wild. Dude, when do you leave?
- [36:13]
Shawn French
It's pretty soon, right?
- [36:13]
Cory Cubano
I leave in April and our first game is April 29th, Durham, North Carolina.
- [36:18]
Shawn French
So very quick.
- [36:19]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [36:20]
Shawn French
Very quick turnaround.
- [36:21]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [36:21]
Shawn French
Not a lot of spring training. I'm guessing you're going to be practicing in the dark.
- [36:24]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, definitely.
- [36:25]
Shawn French
You get all day to chill, man.
- [36:26]
Cory Cubano
Oh, yeah, for sure. Just work out all day and.
- [36:29]
Shawn French
Okay.
- [36:29]
Cory Cubano
And chill.
- [36:30]
Shawn French
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- [36:31]
Cory Cubano
Dude, I love working out. I love hanging out with my dad and my brother. I'm a big family guy. My mom is awesome too. I try to, like, I'm this guy that will still go out and literally implement my dad. I'll go out with my mom, well, her friends. I'm like, close to my dad's friends more than like, I don't talk to anyone from high school. Like, my core friend group is literally my best friends from like baseball. That's when I was 8 years old and a bunch of these guys, some in the big leagues. Wherever we're at. One is a Realtor now that you stop playing professional baseball. Wherever we're at in the world, we've always been like, super close.
- [37:06]
Shawn French
That's incredible.
- [37:07]
Cory Cubano
Like my core group and we're all like the same, dude. We're all like, not normal, I swear.
- [37:11]
Shawn French
Well, I mean, not normal is good.
- [37:12]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [37:12]
Shawn French
Not normal good. You know, like, here's the thing, dude. And I don't want to. All these amazing things that you're talking about, the, the success and of being yourself and you have these opportunities, you know, with the banana ball organization and now the Cosmic Chili Peppers.
- [37:25]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [37:26]
Shawn French
Just amazing. But it didn't. It doesn't come without adversity. There was something that I think you maybe have told me, but there was a moment where you were injured to a point where you didn't know if you were going to walk it.
- [37:39]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, dude. Yeah. That was crazy. But like you said, all of this Stuff led me to where I'm at today. Like, there is no banana ball, cosmic chili pepper without social media part. That versus the red shirts. The tearing my wrist when I'm like. In a time where I'm like, why me? Why my labrum? This is another thing where I was like, dude, you know, what the heck is going on? So at first watch, when I started my big boy job. Yeah, like, no baseball, I was completely healthy. I was 25 years old and. And out of nowhere, dude, I started getting pain on, like, my lower. Like, my tailbone kind of, but crazy pain. And I'm like, what did I do? You know? Is. Is it something I worked, that I lifted? I don't recall anything. I never injured anything in my back. In baseball workouts, nothing, ever. Then it started getting worse. I started spending, dude, thousands of dollars on MRIs, on back doctors. Them telling me, oh, no, it's just. You got sciatica, you got this steroid shots, dude, Everything I did, this thing did not go away. And it got. It. It got so bad that I would wake up and, like, six days out of the week, I would wake up and, like, I can't even, like, move. And I'm like, what is going on? The pain was just insane, bro. Like, screaming pain.
- [38:55]
Shawn French
Wow.
- [38:56]
Cory Cubano
To the point where I'm like, dude, I started Googling stuff. I'm like, every pill I would get from a doctor, I would throw it out of the freaking window. Because I'm like, this ain't doing nothing. This ain't it. I go, something is really wrong with me, like, deep down that none of these doctors are talking about. And then finally, I would keep Googling, like, my exact symptoms, like, six months. My right side was, like, freaking half paralyzed. And I'm like, barely. I'm like, in the gym, pushing. I'm like, dude, I can't even work out. I, like, gain a little bit of weight in my face, and I'm like, really in a depressed mode where I am not a depressed guy, dude.
- [39:33]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [39:33]
Cory Cubano
To get me sad or mad, it takes a lot, okay? And I'm, like, worried about my health now. I'm like, I gotta find out what it. What is it cancer? Like, what the heck is going on, dude? Whatever it is, just give me a sign.
- [39:44]
Shawn French
Sure.
- [39:44]
Cory Cubano
And then, dude, sure enough, I finally looked up. Ankylosing spondylitis was one of the things I was like, what the heck is this? Sounds like a dinosaur. I don't know what that this is. And it says, to look at your. To go visit A rheumatologist, which is something I haven't seen before. Okay, the rheumatologist. Even the rheumatologist at first was like, does anyone in your family have this? Because this is very. This is like a trick question on our medical exam and stuff. Like, this is not normal. And I was like, again, I'm not normal.
- [40:14]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [40:14]
Cory Cubano
But I was like, you do it big baby. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, yeah, dude. Like, it's the. The pain is crazy, and it's really specific. I really want to see if I have this. He goes, well, there's a lot of tests we got to run through, but we'll see. First, you have to have this gene. And I'm like, okay. It's called HBLA27 gene. And for anyone with ankylosing spondylitis, you know what I'm talking about? They test for that gene. They're like, if you don't have this gene, then you don't have it. If you do, you. You. There's a good chance you have it. I'm like, all right, sure enough, I have that gene when I do the blood test. And I'm like, all right, does this mean I have this? Is this what I need to solve? They're like, we still need to do a couple tests. They do. Do colonoscopy. They do all this stuff to rule out everything. Finally, there's, like, one more thing, and it's to Humira. It's an injection. It's like a medicine. He's like, I'm pretty sure now that you have this, and this will tell if you have it. I took my first dose of it. It's like a. You literally pinch yourself, and you. It's like an EpiPen.
- [41:17]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [41:19]
Cory Cubano
So I take it. And the next morning, after a year of not being able to move, I could. I felt completely normal. And I said, yo. Like, whatever this is, I'm sure it's not going to last long, but I feel amazing. I literally. I felt like a newborn giraffe. My legs were like. I'm like, oh, my God.
- [41:35]
Shawn French
Look what I do with these things, dude.
- [41:36]
Cory Cubano
I ran outside, smelled the freaking dirt. I'm like, oh, my God, please. All right, so anyways, I'm thinking still, after a year of all this, I'm like, this is probably not. Like, maybe I have a week of this. Yeah, yeah, let me leave it all out. All out. And go play men's softball. Go crazy. Then he's like, all right, so you got to do this every Other week for the rest of your life. I go, fine.
- [42:00]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [42:01]
Cory Cubano
Is this going to be. He goes, you might have some. You'll have flare ups here and there. But this is like, the answer.
- [42:06]
Shawn French
That's amazing.
- [42:07]
Cory Cubano
I go, okay, dude, it's been four years. I've had maybe three flare ups. And I'm talking about flare ups to where you get a sign of what you had before, but it goes away. A lot of it is also your attitude towards. Okay, yeah, yeah, like stressed.
- [42:23]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [42:23]
Cory Cubano
Again, I'm not stressed out, so that helps. Being on top of it, even when I feel perfect. Still. Still doing it to this day. Every other Tuesday, I gotta inject myself every other thigh. But, dude, the fact that I was able to be completely normal again, that's when I really, like, attacked. Getting in shape and banana boy and all that that came after that.
- [42:44]
Shawn French
Because you were able to be you.
- [42:46]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, before that, I was like, am I even going to be able to walk again? Like, fraction of 25 years old. Like, dang, dude. Dude, am I going to be in a wheelchair? And then, you know, Google's the worst.
- [42:54]
Shawn French
Yeah, don't. Don't go to Dr. Google.
- [42:56]
Cory Cubano
I started googling what happens when you have ankylosing spinal.
- [42:58]
Shawn French
You're dying.
- [42:59]
Cory Cubano
You're dying in three days. You need to go say goodbye to your family.
- [43:02]
Shawn French
Yeah, yeah.
- [43:03]
Cory Cubano
I'm like, yeah. I remember my mom bringing me, like, pamphlets of, like, brochures, how to deal with.
- [43:10]
Shawn French
I'm like, this is not what I'm like, no, I love you.
- [43:13]
Cory Cubano
I'm like, I'm not dying.
- [43:14]
Shawn French
I'm going to get through this.
- [43:15]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, we're good. And I actually found ways to like. Dude. I started doing research like crazy. I saw. So with ankylosing spondylitis, which you probably like. What the Is that? Yeah, it literally. So your. Your spine locks, like, turns into. They call it bamboo spine.
- [43:29]
Shawn French
Okay.
- [43:29]
Cory Cubano
And that's why, like, older people, there's some that have it so bad that they're like, yeah, that.
- [43:34]
Shawn French
Yeah, yeah.
- [43:35]
Cory Cubano
So there's ways now, like, that they didn't know back then, but there's ways to reverse that stuff. And they said what saved my life was that I was active with baseball. If I was just a normal dude that sits on a chair all day or wasn't athletic, I literally probably would have already had, like, curves. Wow. They started showing, like, my X rays that there was a little bit there. So then I'm like, what. What else do I do besides this medicine? There's got to be more and Then there's a guy on YouTube that I found that was able. That his dad had it, his grandpa had it, and he was able to reverse the curve. So every day he does, like, these cobra stretches.
- [44:11]
Shawn French
Right.
- [44:11]
Cory Cubano
Which makes sense, right?
- [44:12]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [44:13]
Cory Cubano
Over time, you're doing this. Imagine every day you do this, you're cranking it back. You're not gonna get as bad. When I'm 80 years old.
- [44:18]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [44:19]
Cory Cubano
So I'm like, all right, dude. Every day at the end of my workout, I just do this. Stretches that are for that.
- [44:25]
Shawn French
Wow, that's so great.
- [44:26]
Cory Cubano
A lot of people don't know about that. By the way. If. If you have this condition, definitely do, like, cobra stretches, everything to reverse the curve of the spine, basically. But it's insane, dude. It's. I came across that video, and I don't know if it's that combined with the medicine, but I have been perfect ever since.
- [44:46]
Shawn French
Amazing. Amazing. One last question for you, man.
- [44:49]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [44:49]
Shawn French
Everything you've been through, the thing at Marshall, you know, the. The injury with. I can't even pronounce it.
- [44:56]
Cory Cubano
Ankylosing spondylitis.
- [44:57]
Shawn French
How about. How about bamboo spine?
- [44:59]
Cory Cubano
There you go.
- [45:00]
Shawn French
There with everything you've had, like, you've had to have an extreme amount of desire and determination.
- [45:07]
Cory Cubano
Yeah.
- [45:07]
Shawn French
How did determination dictate how you operated every day to get to where you're at right now?
- [45:12]
Cory Cubano
Dude, it's the biggest. It's the biggest reason why I'm where I'm at today. It's the biggest reason where I'm at. Determination. When you. Like I said, when someone doubts you or your leader at the time says you, this is wrong or this, in my heart, I knew was right, and I knew this is what I was put on this earth to do.
- [45:32]
Shawn French
Beautiful.
- [45:33]
Cory Cubano
When. When I don't know. And it's the way you look about things. Right. Like, I could have easily been like, oh, I'm hurt. I'm not going to go play.
- [45:39]
Shawn French
Shut it down.
- [45:40]
Cory Cubano
Oh, I'm this. Oh, I have freaking ankylosing spondylitis. Oh. Instead of that. That, like, attitude. I guess sports gave me that.
- [45:49]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [45:50]
Cory Cubano
But also as a young age, like, since I was young, I've always been, like, determined to make it.
- [45:54]
Shawn French
Yeah. You're not going to be a victim.
- [45:55]
Cory Cubano
I'm not going to be poor. I'm going to freaking make it. My. My pops came from Cuba. My mom born in Miami, but her parents, Cuban. They had to grind, dude. And they put me in a position to not just be where they're at. They Put me in a position to freaking kill it. So whenever, every day, dude, Even, like, when I was playing baseball, when I was not knowing what the heck my future is going to be, like, yeah. I was just like, dude, there's no other option. Like, I am determined to freaking make it and whatever I do and do it as best as I can. Incredible. So that's. I mean, bro, my inspiration is my parents, big time. Like, I talk about my parents a lot. They put me in the position to succeed. Have a good friend group, too, man. My best friends were all like, we wake up and we get after it.
- [46:41]
Shawn French
It's amazing, dude.
- [46:42]
Cory Cubano
Call it sports, coffee, whatever, call it whatever you want. But that attitude towards life, whatever, whatever you do in life, if it's not baseball or whatever it is. Like, for me, when I got news that I had this crazy, random one in a million autoimmune disease, you could literally, I literally took it as like, I'm different. This is how different I am.
- [47:03]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [47:03]
Cory Cubano
Like, I tell people, there we go, bro. I'm like, nah, bro, I told you I'm different.
- [47:07]
Shawn French
Here we go.
- [47:08]
Cory Cubano
Like, literally, that's. That's how I go about life, dude. I'm just like, this is just what happened. What if I didn't get those red shirts? What if I didn't have to transfer? What if, like, I got along with or the coach over there and it was great and I never got to transfer and play with my brother? What if I didn't get those extra.
- [47:25]
Shawn French
Years, would be sitting in this chair. Right?
- [47:27]
Cory Cubano
Exactly. What if I. When I got injured, I didn't get those two extra years? Then now I could play with my brother, dude, when I. When those things happen, that's what I think of. I don't think of why. Yeah, the heck is this happening to me? And this didn't happen to Johnny? Like, no.
- [47:40]
Shawn French
Yeah.
- [47:40]
Cory Cubano
I'm like, all right, how's it serving for a reason?
- [47:42]
Shawn French
Like, how is this going to serve me? Right?
- [47:43]
Cory Cubano
Yeah, so.
- [47:44]
Shawn French
So I think that's a great do that. Those are great points. And that's where I want the audience to kind of just pause. Like, dude, this has been an amazing conversation for sure. And I want everybody to understand that everybody's going through shit in their life. You know, no one can really honestly adhere or own the fact. It must be nice. We're all going through our shit. We're all on the grind. We're all determined, and we're really pushing towards things that we want. But the one thing that I would say, guys, is when things happen to you, instead of taking the victim mentality of oh poor me or why is this happening to me again, think about how is this serving me and how can I serve others in the midst of this and how much better am I going to be coming out of it so I can go make an impact in this world? That's where I want you guys really taken out of today. This man, he's going to continue to do great things. There's some big things coming from, from him that we can't talk about. Yeah, just keep watching. Go, go follow this man at Corey Cubano. His Instagram will be in the link. Go watch him play and really connect with him because he's an amazing dude. And guys, until next time, stay determined.
- [48:55]
Cory Cubano (rap segment)
Shout French what up? This one luck. I let the pain inspire me I put my all in everything I'm doing up until it's done. I mean for the entirety. I put it in overtime I'll be working Just know I'mma go for mine cause I earned it. They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it the whole society determined, determined.