Savannah Bananas Owner Jesse Cole Joins PLUS Our All-Time HR Squad & Coach/Director Rage

Summary

Podcast Summary: “Savannah Bananas Owner Jesse Cole Joins PLUS Our All-Time HR Squad & Coach/Director Rage”

Release Date: July 10, 2025

In this engaging episode of “Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara,” hosts Matt Leinart, a former Heisman Trophy winner, and Jerry Ferrara, known for his role in Entourage, delve into a vibrant discussion encompassing sports, entertainment, family life, and innovative approaches to fan engagement. The episode features a special guest, Jesse Cole, the visionary founder and owner of the Savannah Bananas, who shares his inspiring journey of transforming baseball into a non-stop entertainment spectacle.

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1. Welcoming Back and Personal Updates

• [00:00] Matt Leinart kicks off the conversation with a humorous take on altering traditional baseball rules to make the game more exciting, particularly criticizing bunting: “If you bunt are thrown out of the game, like literally, that's a rule. If you bunt are thrown out of the game, no one bunts.”

• [00:29] Jerry Ferrara shares his recent experiences, highlighting the rejuvenating effect of taking a couple of weeks off: “A couple of weeks off... I just felt like we've been chilling for two weeks.”

• [00:57] Jesse Cole reflects on his fondness for lake vacations, sharing nostalgic memories and the importance of these moments for his family: “It's my happy place. So I grew up... our favorite vacation again.”

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2. Family Adventures and Unexpected Challenges

• [02:25] Jesse Cole recounts a tense moment during a Fourth of July lake outing when his five-year-old son, Kayson, was injured: “One of our friend's daughters kicked him in the face... he's got a big old slash cut here.”

• [03:08] The conversation highlights parental instincts and responses to child injuries, with Jerry noting his methodical approach: “I bring the blue tent out. I run the concussion test.”

• [04:04] Jesse emphasizes the resilience of his son while discussing the balance between calmness and urgency in parental roles: “He is an absolute freaking monster. But psych trip. Amazing.”

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3. Spotlight on Savannah Bananas and Guest Introduction

• [06:24] Jerry Ferrara introduces Jesse Cole, the founder of the Savannah Bananas, praising his innovative approach to making baseball entertaining: “They are blowing up. ... how do I make baseball fun?”

• [07:04] Jesse Cole elaborates on his vision for the Savannah Bananas, focusing on fan interaction and creating a lively, competitive atmosphere: “How do we make it shorter? What can we do to interact the fans with the game?”

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4. The Genesis and Evolution of Savannah Bananas

• [24:45] Matt Leinart delves into the origins of the Savannah Bananas, detailing the initial struggles and creative endeavors that led to the team’s unique identity: “We launched a brand new team in Savannah... sleeping on an airbed, grocery shopping, which is $30 a week.”

• [25:21] Jesse Cole shares his experiences working tirelessly to infuse entertainment into baseball, inspired by figures like Walt Disney: “I started reading every book from, you know, PT Barnum and Walt Disney because I was like, we can't just be a baseball team. We gotta make it fun.”

• [26:09] The hosts discuss pivotal moments, such as Jesse’s proposal in front of a sold-out crowd, symbolizing both personal and professional milestones: “I proposed in front of a sold out crowd and stopped the game. Fireworks show in the middle of the game.”

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5. Innovating Baseball: Banana Ball and Fan Engagement

• [28:04] Matt and Jesse explore the concept of Banana Ball, an innovative approach to baseball designed to eliminate what they perceive as the game’s boring elements: “We played nine innings in 99 minutes our first game. And the players, that was the most fun they've ever had.”

• [32:39] Jesse discusses the integration of entertainment into live games, emphasizing the creation of unforgettable moments that keep fans engaged until the very end: “Our players celebrate everything. Singles, doubles, triples, Unbelievable. Big. You saw it, they're dancing and celebrating.”

• [35:57] A trivia segment engages listeners with questions about left-handed pitchers, showcasing the hosts' blend of sports knowledge and playful competition: “There's only four left-handed pitchers ever to reach 3,000 Ks. Kershaw obviously being the fourth.”

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6. Future Endeavors: Banana Ball Championship League

• [48:15] Jesse and Matt discuss the upcoming Banana Ball Championship League, outlining plans to expand the league with new teams and innovative formats to sustain growth and fan interest: “We're starting our league next year, Banana Ball Championship League, with six teams and we're going to play all over the country.”

• [49:26] Matt shares his passion for creating nonstop entertainment, drawing parallels with successful creatives who excel in their domains by being prolific and innovative: “We want to be prolific with creating new ideas every single night and doing things people have never seen before on a baseball field.”

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7. Personal Moments and Emotional Reflections

• [41:25] Matt reflects on memorable moments that encapsulate the mission of the Savannah Bananas, emphasizing the emotional connections and purpose behind their efforts: “It's the feeling of purpose that you've made an impact to bring people together for joy, for fun, for something good.”

• [43:48] Jesse highlights the accessibility and interactive elements of Banana Ball, sharing how the team's initiatives resonate with both children and families, fostering a love for baseball through immersive experiences: “Players are meeting people, having fun. It's those moments that matter.”

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8. Audience Interaction and Mailbag Segment

• [59:42] Jesse shares a memorable incident involving Coach Denny Green during a high-stakes game, illustrating the intensity and emotional highs associated with sports leadership: “Denny Green is going off... one of the most quotable ones for sure.”

• [63:02] Jerry Ferrara discusses a behind-the-scenes meltdown during a filming session, highlighting the pressures faced by directors and the importance of teamwork: “The kid just crumbled because we could not get it. He just collapsed because we could not get the shot.”

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9. Closing Thoughts and Future Plans

• [75:00] Jesse contemplates future coaching opportunities, expressing interest in mentoring his sons and fostering their passion for football, while also emphasizing the importance of proper technique and supportive coaching: “The highest level that I feel like I could coach and coach well and have fun is high school.”

• [76:47] The hosts wrap up the episode with heartfelt acknowledgments, anticipating future collaborations and sharing enthusiasm for upcoming events: “Shout outs to Jesse Cole again. Awesome episode. Hopefully I'll be seeing you in Pittsburgh and Matt. It's good to be back, bro.”

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Matt Leinart [00:00]: “If you bunt are thrown out of the game, like literally, that's a rule. If you bunt are thrown out of the game, no one bunts.”

• Jesse Cole [44:45]: “That was a moment... it's about the connection with the kids, with the fans.”

• Matt Leinart [38:27]: “Most people are afraid of what people think or what they're going to say. No, just do it and learn and then get to that next at bat.”

• Jesse Cole [71:14]: “It's hard to teach 5, 6, 7 year olds like proper technique, tackling technique.”

• Matt Leinart [50:18]: “I'll try to leave it for everyone else. I'll try to create the platform for everyone else to have those moments.”

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Conclusion

This episode masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes, professional insights, and innovative ideas, offering listeners a comprehensive look into the dynamic world of sports entertainment. Jesse Cole's journey with the Savannah Bananas serves as an inspiring testament to the power of creativity and passion in transforming traditional sports into captivating fan experiences. Meanwhile, Matt and Jerry provide relatable narratives and thoughtful discussions, making this episode a must-listen for sports enthusiasts and casual fans alike.

Transcript

[Matt Leinart]

We gotta change the game. And so I looked at what were all the boring parts of a baseball game. Batter stepping out of the box, mound visits, walks, bunting, you know, swing the bat, right? We say bunting sucks. If you bunch are thrown out of the game, like, literally, that's a rule. You bunch are thrown out of the game. No one bucks.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Back. Maddie. Couple of weeks off. A couple of, Couple of weeks off. I, I think I know now.

[Jesse Cole]

I remember this too.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Even, like, you know, doing Entourage and Power and all those shows, like, you get a week off, it's kind of awesome. But now I felt like we're an NFL team that had, like, an easy win and then a bye week. I just felt like. We've been chilling for two weeks.

[Jesse Cole]

We have been chilling for two weeks, man. Vacation. I was at the lake for a week, just enjoying the rays, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're such, like, a Manhattan beach dude, though, to see you on the lake. I think we talked the other day. I'm like, dude, I like lake life liner. I'm used to, like, the beach. You have a lake life vibe.

[Jesse Cole]

I did. You know what? It's my favorite. I, I, I posted it this week. I, it's my happy place. So I grew up, I grew up going to Lake Shasta and houseboating, and my uncle had a boat. So it just was like, it was just our favorite vacation again. We were, we weren't, we didn't have a lot of money growing, so it was like the one vacation we went on a year was a summer, was like a week and a half in the summer on a lake. And as I got older, I got a boat. I bought a boat, like, in 2007 or eight. I actually sold it a couple years ago. But, like, the lake life is like, what? I just, I can't wait to get to that week every summer. And we've been taking coal, so Cole loves it. Our, our boys love, love it. Josie grew up on the ocean, right? She grew up in the Keys and Florida and all that, so it's much different. But she loves it now. So we went up to Bass Lake and we did the fourth there. So it was the first time. Typically, we're always there, like, the after the week after the 4th. But I, I post about this. They do a fireworks show on the lake, and we were in our boat. So imagine, like, I mean, it's a beautiful lake. It's not very big, but there's houses everywhere on the water. We have an awesome setup. So we're just kind of, you're cruising about 5 miles per hour. Every boat has their light on. The sun sets, it's beautiful in the mountains and there's about 500 boats just kind of idling and then watching the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

The show.

[Jesse Cole]

The show for like 30 minutes and then honestly it's like 405, dude. It's like LA traffic trying to get back to your house at like 9:45 at night. Just bobbing and weaving and boats and pontoons and people partying, music and all that. I will say this. I just thought about this. My. My five year old Kayson is a animal dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like you.

[Jesse Cole]

He's so. Let me tell you what happened. This poor kid, he's. He's the one that we're more afraid of because he's fearless, right? He'll do anything. So throughout the week he got. I think he got a bug bite on his face. He had this big mark on his face which whatever he couldn't control. One of our friend's daughters kicked him in the face and like scratched him.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Big kids getting lumped up. This whole friend.

[Jesse Cole]

Then I'm pulling, you know, like I'm, I'm. Obviously I've been driving a boat forever. I'm super safe, but I'm going. It was, I think it was 4th, 4th of July day or the day before where it just gets really crowded on this lake. So it's like the water's choppy. It's not. It's just like gives me anxiety pulling kids behind the boat when there's about 100 yards behind me.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You have to be on.

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah. And, and I always am. But I was going like 10 miles per hour just starting. And it was one of those tubes where they sit. You kind of sit up. But I didn't realize these things can freaking fly, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, they catch the air under it.

[Jesse Cole]

They're pretty sick, but they're not meant for five years. Point is, is Kason hits a bump and he goes forward instead of like going back or goes forward. His whole neck and face land on the rope. Like that's pulling it. And he is. I'm telling you, Jerry, when I say he's tough as nails, he's tough as nails. Toughest kid I've ever met. He was bawling, crying. We're like, okay, he got hurt on that one. We bring him in. This dude had a whole rope.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Rope burn.

[Jesse Cole]

Oh, like this. So he's got this whole neck that looks like he got strangled. He's got a big old like slash cut here. But it looked like he went five Rounds with Tys, dude, and just. And by the way, gets out of the water, kind of calms him down. He's like, daddy, I want to go again. And we're like, yeah, buddy. Let's probably. Let's set this one out for a couple hours because we, like, he might have got concussed. Like, we were, like, kind of watching him close, but. Kid's an absolute freaking monster. But psych trip. Amazing. Fourth of July was amazing. Sad it's over, but, you know, happy to be back with you, bro. How was your.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you guys do the same thing as. I mean, I breeze. Much more calm when the kids get hurt. I am. I'm hurt. I bring the blue tent out. You would give me. They go right into concussion protocol.

[Jesse Cole]

You and Josie are the same. You and Jos are the same.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I. I bring the blue tent out. I run the concussion test. I'm just saying, oh, this kid's definitely got cte. Now, you.

[Jesse Cole]

You, Jo, she would tell you this. This. You guys got to do a segment on this. She gives me so much more stress anxiety than the actual situation.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you and Briar like that. Now.

[Jesse Cole]

Now, again, I. To give her credit. Like, one of us has to be that way now to give her credit. She definitely reacts quicker to everything. So whether. Whether he's actually hurt or not, it takes me, like, I'm very well aware. Like, I saw the whole thing happened. It scared him. It screwed up his neck, but, like, he was fine. I'm. If it was, like, an emergency, I would be calm, but I would act fast. But a lot of times, I kind of act a little slower. I kind of like, hey, let me look at the situation really quick and then, like, assess it. She is, like, about to jump out.

[Jerry Ferrara]

The boat, and then the kids panic more when they see the parents.

[Jesse Cole]

I tell them, like, you have to de. Escalate the sit.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you're such a quarterback, bro. You're such a. That's like, quarterback. I just feel like you're in the huddle being like, guys, I am telling your whole line to calm down. Stop jumping.

[Jesse Cole]

No, she. I'm just so. I'm very calm. I. I mean, I have my moments. And there's moments where if, like, I panic, then she knows, like, oh, something's wrong. But, like, even in that instance, I'm like. I'm like, babe, calm down, like, 1. Tell him how great he did. Like, he's crying because he got scared. He's not hurt. We know that. We looked at his eyes. We're like, He. He's got a. He's got a burn that was pretty bad. But, like, you know, he'll live. Like, it was, like, it was fine. So, yeah, you, by the way, you just. You telling me that gives me anxiety. Like, like, you guys need to fucking relax.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Just relax. I got a couple of quick recap stories, but I don't want to bury the lead on the episode. We got a great guest today. And this comes from the liner life, because a few weeks ago we talked about. You threw out the first pitch of the Savannah Bananas game. You threw an absolute strike with a football.

[Jesse Cole]

Yes, I did.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Which started the next batter 01. Those are banana rules. The first p. The celebrity first pitch counts in the game. And you had the great idea. You said we should talk to Jesse Cole, the founder, creator of the Savannah Bananas, because they are blowing up. And we had a little sit down with them that we're going to drop for you guys right after the first break. But that was. I love his stories. Outstanding.

[Jesse Cole]

It's. It's what a. Like, I mean, what a visionary, right? Like, just incredible where they started and what his vision was for. Just like, really, like, it's simple. Like, how do I make baseball fun? Like, how do I make this fun for people, for the fan, for the viewer, right? Like, how do you make it shorter? What can we do to interact the fans with the game and like. But still have a competitive style of game? He's incredible. Like, what he's built and continues to build and where this goes from here. He's. He's a really fascinating human being, you know, really fascinating what he's done. And I, we talked about it the week, like, like when I. That I was like, I have a million questions for this guy. Like, just like, like, he's such a fascinating person. And they're blowing up, man. Like, they're like stadium tours.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you know, has this ever happened to you where I was like a little aware of them, but when you threw out the first pitch, that's where I really started. Okay, let me check out their social media. Let me figure out what this is. And then inadvertently, it's like when you put things out there in the world, neighbors, friends. I'm running into, it would come up in conversation without me bringing it up. I'm like, that's so crazy you bring that up. We have the founder on the podcast and my co host, Matt. I love it. They're like, oh, who liner? I said, like, my co host, Matt. And they're like, oh, you mean Matt Leiner? And I've now since heard about them from 15 other families. And a bunch of us are going to try to go down to Pittsburgh. You gotta go to pnc, which is an amazing baseball stadium by. With all the kids.

[Jesse Cole]

What's that drive. What's that? A couple hours and a half.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Hour and a half.

[Jesse Cole]

Dude, you gotta, you gotta go hit them up. You hit up their PR guy who's great. And your boys will have. Even if, like I would. This is what I would do. I would start to watch a little. Like, let them watch.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We've been watching the Social. Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

Instagram so they can get a feel for that. Like, like, because that's what we did with the boys. And then when we were there, I mean, they are just their first class, man. You guys will be in the dugout, like you'll be in the dugout during the game and see it all from like even watching it. Like, we were, we had a, we had a suite at Angel Stadium, which was awesome too. Like the whole in game experience is, is so incredible. But you're gonna be like, they're so great. He'll take care of you. Like, the boys will be like, even Brie, who's like, probably has no interest in what it is. Like, Josie walked away. He's like, wow, that was amazing. Like, I would.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, no, they can get Brie. They could lock Brie in. As a fan, she. This, she'll lock into.

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah, you got. Dude, you got to dial in. Yeah. And get the merch.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, I'm about to say something else that I don't think you' to say. Do you know what else I have been enjoying? No. Basketball.

[Matt Leinart]

Golf.

[Jesse Cole]

Have you been golf?

[Jerry Ferrara]

No. Yes. Look at my tan. I. I swear, since the Knicks season ended, I obviously watched the finals. Been a few weeks since we dropped an episode that was such a grind of fan. I. I have enjoyed. Okay. It's 8:00 at night. Kids are getting ready for bed. I don't have to gear up. Like, I'm going to fan war. I mean, of course I want more basketball, but it got me thinking. I watch a little. I keep up with the Yankees and stuff like that. But if you could just say for one year. You know what? We're gonna air this sport for two months in the summer. Besides baseball. Which one?

[Jesse Cole]

Live or just like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, yeah. Let's say for two months. We're gonna do like, we're gonna do two months worth of games. That'll count toward the regular season.

[Jesse Cole]

Oh, football. Easy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It would be football. For you? Yeah, Yeah, I think so too. Specifically NFL knockoff, right?

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah. I've talked, I've talked more. I've watched. Joking aside, I've watched more and talked more basketball in the last six months with you than I have in my whole entire life. And I gotta be honest. No, I know. And I gotta be honest. It is nice not to have to talk. Although Nick's did get a new head coach. But just, you know, like, let's just, let's just, let's. Well, it went right from the summer, man. I mean, you know, the m. I.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Mean, the NBA Finals went seven games, right?

[Jesse Cole]

Which was the long.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It was the longest playoff that we had in a very long time. It went right into the NBA draft almost instantaneously.

[Jesse Cole]

And then free agency. It's all.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Free agency was bananas. It was.

[Jesse Cole]

I didn't realize. I love, I love NBA free agency.

[Matt Leinart]

I love it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think it's so fun.

[Jesse Cole]

I didn't re. Like, maybe it was because I was on vacation, but like, it was like the finals ended, okay. Then the draft happened like a few days later. Then I was like, I thought there was like a build up to free agency. I'm like, oh, I can't wait for agency.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Just happened.

[Jesse Cole]

It just happened. I was like, what the, what the Just happened. And then I'm seeing like Lakers get Deandre Ayton. I'm seeing LeBron might leave. I'm like, what are we, what are we doing here, man?

[Jerry Ferrara]

What did any of the moves stand out to you? Like whether it was the Lillard wave and stretching his contract or Kevin Durant now on yet another team, you know, it really has a good squad now. Fine. Like, you know, there's no excuses. That team is really good.

[Jesse Cole]

So Cam Whitmore, right? Where did he just go? He just read.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They let him walk to Washington where he might average like 28.

[Jesse Cole]

So this is, so this is a total random. But I went. Remember the, I went to the Clippers Rockets game. Which you were supposed to go to.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes.

[Jesse Cole]

And you, you, you cheated on some guys.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Not play though.

[Jesse Cole]

No, but, but my point is, is I remember watching that game and yeah, like, none of, like, well, actually all, all the, all the Rockets played. Like Jalen Green played. Sengun didn't play, but Jalen Green played. Cam Whitmore played. And I remember, I, I, you not. I remember watching this. I'm thinking like, this kid is freaking good. Like big six, six big body. Like, he was, he looked the part. I was like, I remember him in college, I think, but I was like, who is this guy? And then I looked at his body, like, he doesn't play. So then when this deal happened, I'm like, dude, this dude is gonna be a star. Like, he's gonna. And that's why, like, they were like, I don't know what they got for him, but I'm telling you, like, nothing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think like a second round pick.

[Jesse Cole]

He'S gonna be 20 to 25 a game. Guarant watch next year. Like, he was that good because he had like 15 that game. I'm like, but he never plays. He got a shot to play.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's in a place now where he might have the green light. He's.

[Jesse Cole]

He's a good player, man. So, like, they got right in. But yeah, kd, the Rockets are stacked. They. They're like, that's a team. Well, again, look, you have to. It's kind. It's like the. Okay. It's okay. See, like, how do you beat okc? They have eight or nine guys deep. They play great defense. They're long. Like, you need depth, you need to build, like. And the Rockets are building that, man. It'd be interesting.

[Jerry Ferrara]

When do you start to. I know you're always like keeping up with college football because it's your job and stuff, but when do you. Are you locked in yet? When do you really start to lock in for like big noon and because it comes up a little quicker than NFL, obviously.

[Jesse Cole]

We're eight. I think we're eight Saturdays almost. We're eight Saturdays away from football, which is crazy. Two months.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So it's almost time for you. Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

Like August, like, we will do our retreat, our FOX retreat, first week of August, which is awesome. It's all the NFL guys. It was. It's all college. It's like a big two day party, kind of a summit thing just to get everybody together, talk about kind of. We have our college football meetings, kind of talk about what's new, blah, blah, blah. It just. But it really kind of kicks off like, all right, boys, it's. It's like go time. We got about three weeks. So I actually. I get like. So Phil Steele has a great magazine that I just start reading a little bit. You. I just start notes and reading because it's a new.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's just. It's not like the NFL where, you.

[Jesse Cole]

Know, like, it's all different every year, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Drop of studs all over.

[Jesse Cole]

That's the crazy thing about college. It's like the transfer portal has just made it way more not. Not more difficult to cover.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But for your job, it's. It's different because.

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah. You know, but like, we got.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Talking to one person.

[Jesse Cole]

We got Texas, Ohio State, week one in Columbus, which you should go to.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm coming.

[Jesse Cole]

I'm 100%. I mean, that's 1 versus 2. I mean, it might be 1 versus 3, but, like, that's the biggest. Might be the biggest game of the year, you know, to kick off the season, which is awesome. But, yeah, I got. I got a couple more weeks, buddy. I got some stuff, you know, a couple more weeks and then I'll really. Once August hits, I'll really start to, like, I'll read a lot more. You know, just read, research a little bit and kind of get ready, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, I don't know about, you know, usually for me with the NFL, it's when you start. And I already got that first email of fantasy football. Yeah. When are you. When are you available for the fantasy draft? I have a league for us, by the way, if you want to split a team, which would be fun for.

[Jesse Cole]

Us, but is it. Is it, Is it. What kind of league is it?

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's auction league. I. Trust me, just. I'll run it. You could just be with me on it.

[Jesse Cole]

I will.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I will make it a big time commitment for you, but I think you'll enjoy it. It's a good group of guys. A lot of. A lot of Hollywood types in there.

[Jesse Cole]

I want to learn more about the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Auction, but, yeah, I feel like this is the latest because usually with like, the Knicks always being so bad, I'm. I'm ready for football by July because I'm starved to have something to root for. I'm slow. I'm slow playing it with football. All right, it's now time for the flavor of the week presented by Wendy's. Find your new favorite frosty fusions flavors today with choices like Oreo brownie caramel crunch and pop Tarts strawberry. You know, we don't talk a whole lot of baseball on this show, and I was a little surprised to find out Clayton Kershaw became the 20th. The 20th pitcher in baseball history to reach 3,000 strikeouts. I thought it was probably more and.

[Jesse Cole]

You know, 3,000 strikeout, dude, he's been playing for 20 years.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, I know it's a lot, but for some reason in my head, I just. 20 didn't sound like enough. But I guess when you really think about it, that is a lot. And then it got us thinking, you know, you're a lefty. We all know that. You're one of them. Yeah. You're one of the more famous.

[Jesse Cole]

I saw Kershaw in Manhattan Beach.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's like your boy. I feel like that's. That would be your boy.

[Jesse Cole]

No, I. I ran into him on the street. He was awesome. He's with his kid. I think he's got a. He's got a place there. He rents or he bought whatever, but he's there. People see him all the time. So he might be. I don't think he lives there full time, but, yeah, I saw him just walking. Like where you and I were walking. I talked to him for like a minute, like, just, you know, whatever. But it was before he started going back. Yeah. Just a great dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, as an exercise, being that you were a lefty pitcher, lefty quarterback, start thinking, I don't know if you were going to make a rotation of lefty pitchers or even just some of your favorite lefty pitchers, however you want to throw. Think about it. Where is Kershaw on that? And what's Matt Leinert's rotation of lefty pitchers? You gotta run a few people. Who you running out game one.

[Jesse Cole]

I mean, Kershawn is prime, probably.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

Randy Johnson, the big unit.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's gotta be. Yeah, he's your game one.

[Jesse Cole]

Sandy Koufax, arguably the best pitcher of all time. That's three right there. Oh, Tom Glavin.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think if you're running out there. Yeah. I think Koufax starts game one. I think Randy Johnson starts game two.

[Jesse Cole]

Kershaw, pivotal game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I think you can go Kershaw pivotal, game three. Maybe it's a road game. And then it starts getting interesting. Glavin. I mean, who else? I. I put my guy Cece in there. Sabathia. I give him a little. I mean, for a playoff pitcher. Johan Santana.

[Jesse Cole]

Johan.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's awesome. Go look at the Johan Santana numbers, Matt. There's not a lot of lefty pitchers. I didn't see Steve Carlton. I'm sorry, I didn't. I didn't see some of the great lefties. Let me see, for 1985. I don't know. So I can't really throw them up.

[Jesse Cole]

There because I. Bum Gardner.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Bum Gardner. I mean, what about Don. I know. I'm just saying. Don Trail is a very accomplished playoff lefty. And he could hit, as we know. Fan of throwbacks. We had him on the show.

[Jesse Cole]

You're right. There's not really.

[Jerry Ferrara]

There's not a lot, like all.

[Jesse Cole]

Like all time. All time. Like hall of Fame, like Steve Avery. Steve Avery was Good. I'd say Glavin. Glavin would have been my fourth.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Glavin's four. I'm telling. I might go. CC Sabathia might be my game Five. If we're running a five man out there, I think CC makes the.

[Jesse Cole]

Did you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I got Yankee bias.

[Jesse Cole]

Trivia question. Did you already answer your own trivia question? Do you see there's only four left handed pitchers ever to reach 3,000Ks. Kershaw obviously being the fourth, I would say. I don't know. They said Randy Johnson probably Kofax maybe.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't know.

[Jesse Cole]

Laughing. I think it's the four.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you have the answers? Do I need the answers?

[Jesse Cole]

Can we get the answers in the chat?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay. Randy Johnson.

[Jesse Cole]

Randy for sure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No. Koufax. No. Sandy Kovacs. Keep going and you run it out there.

[Jesse Cole]

Chris Sale. No. Oh, Andy Pettit.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, Cece Sabathi is on the list.

[Jesse Cole]

Andy Petty.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, no, I think those are like just good lefties. The list is.

[Jesse Cole]

No, I know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Johnson 1. CC Warren Spawn, Steve Carlton, Carlton and now Kershaw. By the way, maybe we slept on Andy Pettit. Or is that more Yankee bias for me? Think about those.

[Jesse Cole]

No, Andy Pettit was, I mean talking about big game pitchers for sure. Like he was a, he was a beast.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And this is for the baseball nerds.

[Jesse Cole]

He also, I mean he also best.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Picked probably of all time. Andy.

[Jesse Cole]

He also juiced.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Andy Pettit did, didn't he? Juice probably.

[Jesse Cole]

He got.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's for injuries though. He was injury maintenance. He was not Bulk. We're gonna maybe talk. We'll, we'll talk some baseball steroids in a minute. But now it is officially time to get Jesse Cole, owner, founder of the Savannah Bananas. Let's go. If you love Wendy's classic Frosty flavors, we have some big news for you. There are all new Frosty Swirl and Frosty Fusion flavors. So it's the same creamy treat you've always loved now with the flavor refresh.

[Jesse Cole]

So what are these new flavors? Well, thanks for asking. There are a lot, so I'm just going to list them. Okay, we've got the Frosty Swirls strawberry brownie batter and caramel. Then we've got the blended Frosty Fusions, Caramel Crunch Oreo Brownie with swirled thick brownie batter sauce and crunchy Oreo cookie pieces and Pop Tart strawberry with a sweet strawberry sauce and chunks of crazy good Pop Tarts pieces. Not to mention that, yes, you can still get your classic vanilla.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Try them all. To find your favorite. Are you going to be a Strawberry Swirl Girl? A caramel. I said caramel. Crazed Fanatic Brownie Batter Buff Pop Tart Strawberry Fanatic Oreo Brownie Stand. Anyway, whatever flavor you're craving, odds are we've got a Frosty for it.

[Jesse Cole]

So clock in for sweet treat time with Wendy's. All new Frosty Flavors. A refresh on a classic. It's got to be Wendy's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay. Typically you don't associate speed with quality. For example, I remember being a kid, I try to do my homework real fast. Ultra fast, someone would say. And there would always be a decent chance you'd find more than a few mistakes. Or even now if you're using automated translation tools to quickly translate a text. Just it's not always going to be right. Well, there is an exception to this unwritten rule. If you're hiring, you can find candidates fast who are also extremely qualified at their job. Just use ZipRecruiter and right now you could try ZipRecruiter for [e-mail] throwbacks and.

[Jesse Cole]

Also Jerry, with ZipRecruiter's advanced resume database, you can actually proactively find and connect with qualified candidates in just minutes. So there's very, very little waiting. You want to meet with a standout candidate, you can unlock their contact info instantly. How about this number two? 320,000 new resumes are added monthly, which means you can reach more potential hires and fill roles sooner.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Experience, hiring speed and quality. With ZipRecruiter, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within their first day. And if you go to ziprecruiter.com throwbacks right now, you could try it for free. Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com throwbacks ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire this episode is brought to you by State Farm Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like getting a speech from your third cousin's plus one at your wedding when you needed a speech from your best man, you wouldn't settle for just any speech. So don't settle for just any insurance. When it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. All right. Jesse Cole, thank you for joining us. I was, I was hoping you were going to be decked in yellow, and I should have never doubted that for one second, right? Not one Second, should I have doubted that?

[Matt Leinart]

It's all I got. I own nine of these yellow tuxedos. You know, I got an extra one in case, you know, I lose one.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That was my next question. How many you have? And honestly, a, it's great for what you do, but also like, I would like the idea of not having to wake up thinking, what am I going to wear today? You know, what you, you know what you're wearing.

[Matt Leinart]

If I'm going to work, Yellow tuxedo. If I'm being a dad, I'm in full dad mode. So this is a work day, so.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'Re going to, I was going to.

[Jesse Cole]

Ask, what is, what does your closet look like outside of, outside of the yellow tuxes? Just, Just normal, everyday clothes.

[Matt Leinart]

Yes, I can be normal people. Don't most people I work, I love, but I can be normal for a few days.

[Jesse Cole]

Well, first of all, thanks for joining us, man. I had a chance. You guys are incredible. I had a chance to meet you a couple of weeks ago and I, my boys are still talking about it. By the way, my oldest son, I think, I think you guys had like, like, he's like, dad, a football doesn't work out. I want to, I want to be a part of banana ball. They don't have a football element to this show. Like, I think I could bring that. I was like, that's actually not a bad idea, buddy. But I hope, I hope football works.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Out for your sake.

[Jesse Cole]

But, and I, and I know you've talked about this, Jesse, but just, just the, the birth of banana ball and you know, was there in sports we always have kind of like an aha moment when you make it or something that changed. Like, what was the aha moment for you when you're like, hmm, this, this is my vision. This could actually work.

[Matt Leinart]

Well, we're still learning that every day. I mean, people don't realize every day we're failing with things. When you do 10 to 15 brand new things every night, certain things don't go well. I mean, I, I don't need to get into the living pinata promotion or the pregnant woman dance off and I could keep going. But the reality is, you know, I was, I played, you know, I played Division 1 baseball, hope to play pro ball, and tore my shoulder, ended my career. And everyone thought I was going to go into coaching. And I realized someone I was coaching, I was like, I am bored out of my mind. Like, I, you know, playing a game is one thing, Matt. You know, like, you're playing the game that's just watching. It's like I want to be in the action, I want to impact the game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And I'm just sitting there coaching.

[Matt Leinart]

And I remember I was coaching the Cape Cod League and some of the best college players in the country. And I was like, wow, I get the best seat. I'm in the dugout, I'm watching some of the best players. I have an idea of what's about to happen in the game and I'm still bored. Imagine how many fans are bored as well. And so that's when I had a long road. I worked with a small team in Gaston, North Carolina, 10 years. Just tried a bunch of things. Grandma beauty pageants, flatulence, fun nights, Salute to underwear nights. You know, I started reading every book from, you know, PT Bar and Walt Disney because I was like, we can't just be a baseball team. We gotta make it fun. And so then luckily I met my wife and Emily and I future wife. I proposed in front of a sold out crowd and stopped the game. Fireworks show in the middle of the game. The umpire, I'm like, this is our moment. We're going to own it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

Thank goodness she said yes. And she surprised me. A trip to Savannah. And that's where Savannah started. We launched a brand new team in Savannah. Proceeded to fail, Sold two tickets in our first three months. Ran out of money, missed payroll, had to sell our house. Sleeping on an airbed, grocery shopping, which is $30 a week. I mean, this is nine years ago. And it was brutal. I was like, you know, I proposed to her, we got married and that was our first year of marriage. Like, what a terrible husband. Like, I can't provide anything. Like we're on this airbed with $30 a week. But we had a vision and I was inspired by Walt Disney and you know, he always said it's kind of fun to do the impossible. And I was like, what if we just made baseball non stop entertainment, non stop fun, unlike anything else. And so yeah, we named the team the Bananas. Came up with a senior citizen dance team called the Banana Nanas, which they just groove, they're fantastic. A male cheerleading team called the Mananas. Mascots named Split. A banana baby that we lift up before every game. Yeah, A dancing break, dancing coach. And that was the start. And so we started selling out games, but we were playing regular baseball and people were still leaving games early. So even with all the entertainment, everything, I mean, it was, we went nuts. Players were dancing. A lot of the stuff you saw, Matt, they were still. I was like, we gotta change the game. And so I looked at what were all the boring parts of a baseball game, you know, better stepping out of the box, mound visits, walks. This is debatable. But bunting, you know, swing the bat, right? We say bunting sucks. If you bunch are thrown out of the game, like literally, that's a rule. If you bunch are thrown out of the game, no one bunts. And so you just wrote down these rules. And we said, let's test it, let's just do it. And yeah, we played nine innings in 99 minutes our first game. And the players, that was the most fun they've ever had. And then a one city world tour into seven cities and a 33 and a major league stadium. You just keep trying to get better and try to make the game better. And that's where it started. And now, I mean, any of our company is Fans First Entertainment. It's all, how do you create the best experience for fans? And that's what we think about every day.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, that's something. You just mentioned Walt Disney. I've, you know, listened to like, I'm an audiobook guy, right. So I listen to a lot of Walt Disney books. I'm currently listening to the Disney War, which is like the battle for control. But a lot of everything talks about Walt and his feelings of just. It is about the customer, the fan, how do we give them an experience? And you know, you mentioned, like, what are the boring rules of baseball? Like, I, I wonder, like, what, what interactions have you had with anyone from Major League Baseball? Whether it's a player or just someone within New York, like Major League Baseball itself. Like, how is that go between the two?

[Matt Leinart]

Well, it started, we did a one city world tour in Mobile, Alabama. And why do we do Mobile? Because it was the only city that wanted us. Like, they were willing to like take us. And the mayor was a fan. He read my first book, he connected me with Jake Peavey. So, you know, a Cy Young Award winner.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Taught, you know, top one of the best pitchers in the game for a long period of time. And because he was from Mobile and we talked, he's like, all right, this is kind of interesting. Well, yeah, I'll come out and support this. So he came out, I had him throw the first banana. And because not a first pitch, threw a first banana. And his, his nephew was at the game and his nephew had just quit baseball. His nephew, he was a great player, just quit. He was at the game. And afterwards he came up to him and said, I want to Play again. This, this right here, this is fun. I want to play. And he watched his nephew, who quit play because of just watching one game of banana ball. And banana ball wasn't that great back then. We were still learning. And he became an ambassador and started telling everyone and, you know, that we had Roger Clemens and we had Ryan Howard and we've had other Scion Award winners and, you know, MVPs and Shane Victorino's and so many people join us over the years. And that was a start. So every, almost every city we go to, we have a major league player that joins us, a former star. And then, yes, Major League Baseball. All the teams were working at 18 venues. We've heard from all of them. And, you know, I, I think, you know, it's a great working relationship. They have the best baseball players in the world. We have arguably maybe the most entertaining, you know, and that's what we're trying to create, the most entertaining game. And so I think it's good marriage. I think we're going to work together more in the future.

[Jesse Cole]

Jerry and I were talking about how Jerry is a big guy on how he can fix things in sports. How do you fix the NBA All Star Game?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I spend my time Jesse, gosh, he's.

[Jesse Cole]

Always just like, I, I have.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

And a little bit of a visionary. Probably not as much of as a visionary as you are, but definitely not even, even All Star Baseball and like the Home Run Derby and how it's always changing and Jerry's like, MLB should hire Jesse to, to literally change the way the All Star Weekend is. Is played because of just the, the what you've been able to build with entertainment and fans and real competitive baseball. Like, no one is doing that. What if they called you and said, hey, can you come on board and help us engage the fans in a different way? I mean, you're signing up for that, right?

[Matt Leinart]

I think the reality, my bandwidth is a little full right now with. So we're starting our league next year, Banana Ball Championship League, with six teams and we're going to play all over the country. And so that's awesome. Which is going to be exciting because I mean, even like the party animals, they have more followers than every Major League baseball team on TikTok. So they've got, they've got 6 million followers. And, and so we're building different fan bases. So. But the question, you know, I think it is we're in a TikTok world. Everyone's scrolling every seven seconds. And so I want to create something where you can't, if you look away, you're missing something in a typical sporting event, whatever it is. I mean, even a football game, which is unbelievable, the viewership, it's still a three hour game, but there's so many commercial breaks or so much action. How do you make it. It's non stop that you can't look away. How do you make it so fans want to watch more, they want to stay till the end. And you know, when I thought about baseball games, so many people leave before the game's over or they come late. You don't go to a movie and say, oh, that was a great movie. I left in the middle, you know? You know, like, oh, man, I love Entourage. Yeah, Yeah. I just, I only watch the first half usually.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, you stick through the end. You even don't even go to the bathroom sometime because you don't want to miss a part a hundred percent.

[Matt Leinart]

And so the same thing with a great comedian, a great show. So how do you make the game even better all the way till the end? How do you make it nonstop entertainment? How do you get the players more involved where they're, you know, they're interacting more and celebrating more and having fun and not just this is the way it has to be. This is the way it always used to be. No, engage, have fun. Kids want something to gravitate towards. So our players, they celebrate everything. Singles, doubles, triples, Unbelievable. Big. You saw it, they're dancing and celebrating. And your kids, it's like, that's fun. You can't take your eyes off it. We've all seen home runs. Everybody's seen home run. But have you ever seen like a guy tumbling into a backflip, into landing at a home plate in home run, like, all right, I see you. I want to watch.

[Jesse Cole]

I mean, gosh, there's so many. I was, when I was in the dugout, honestly, during the game, I was talking to one of the coaches and just the players. And I think I told Jerry after, I was like, gosh, I have, I have. I could sit down with you guys for days and just like be a kid in a candy store and ask a million questions. Because I'm just, I think it's so fast. And, and also just as a dad, like my kids, like my, my five and four year old every night, which my wife gets a little mad, is like, dad, can we watch Bananas tonight on Instagram or Tick Tock? And I'm like, I sneak in like five minutes. I'll sneak in like nine or ten Videos and they have their favorite players and all that. Yeah, I am, I, I found out a little bit about the week and, and I'm fascinated about the schedule.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

The week of. Because you said there's so many elements of this show, whether it's dancing, whether it's the fans of it. What you, I mean you, I told Jim like Jesse is like on the mic, the whole game. Like you are, you are the, you are the ringleader. No, you are making it go and like moving on and moving on. And you know, being a part of a show, I understand a little bit of how elements are throughout a show. What is like honestly a day to day week look, look like for you, for the team, for the coaches. I know you mentioned table reads. I know you mentioned all of these types of things. Look like, like, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

It's dramatically different because we have an obsession on ideas. Ideas drive this company. So we actually took inspiration from Saturday Night Live. I watched the documentary, I had our team watch it. Think about Saturday night. Every Saturday it's a completely new show with a new host, new talent, everything. Getting creative with us. And so how do we do that? And so they would come up and pitch ideas on Monday, then they'd start writing them. Then they'd have a table read. Then they'd start the rehearsals. Then they do a rehearsal in front of an audience. And then they'd actually, Lauren would move things around. Then they would adjust. I was like, okay, we got to do three completely new shows every single week. So what does it look like? So we travel on Sunday, Monday, but Tuesday is our idea day. Like we go nuts from 9am until 5pm it is different ideas. So we have our creative team gets together. Each team gets together. So the firefighters will have their own tt, the tailgaters have their own tt, the party animals almost, because we're all trying to bring five to 10 new ideas each way. Then we get together with our leadership group of it and we say, all right, we like this, we like this, we like this. Then we start writing down how do we make it better. We get the videos, we produce them. And then at 4 o' clock on Tuesday we have our table read in front of all of our team. And it was like, all right, here's the script. Then we finish the scripts, then we start writing more. And then we start our rehearsals with our players every single week. And they got to play a game. Like they're also going to play like actually, you know, as you know, very athletic. These guys are some first round top Players. But we want fans to never get bored of the show. So you have to do brand new things every single week. And it's an obsession. If you look at the greatest producers, the most successful people in the world, they're prolific at something. Taylor Swift, for instance, prolific a songwriter. She's written so many songs. That's what she. That's her best thing. Mr. Beast, prolific with YouTube. Unbelievable. We want to be prolific with creating new ideas every single night and doing things people have never seen before on a baseball field. To do that, you got to put a ton of energy, ton of time into it. I mean, we're doing rehearsals like crazy all week and then we do it again and do it again and a lot of things miss. Some things don't hit. But when you put out and produce 40 new things a weekend, you're going to have some gold. And that's why, you know, we're growing a million plus followers every couple of weeks and we're at 30 million followers because fans are seeing new things and they want to see what's to come next as opposed to, well, I hope the guy has a good game. No, what are they going to do next?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right?

[Jesse Cole]

How much, Real quick, how much? How much? Say, do the players like, do you sign off on everything that the players do because they're doing, you know, they're doing all their own thing, or do they come up with their own, like tick tock dances and this and that? Or do you sign off on it or do they.

[Matt Leinart]

Oh, no, and again, I don't. I. I used to be unbelievably involved in every single rehearsal. Our team's been with us, our creative team, our director of entertainment, our vice president of marketing, our creative director, been us at four or five years. They've been with us since that One City world tour in 2021. We know what the gold standard is. The gold standard is it's amazing for the live crowd and also can win for the digital crowd. So it has to play big for a crowd. But it also have you film a tight. It's gold. So they have a. They're running a lot of the rehearsals. They're signing off on stuff. I'm just editing, you know. Walt Disney said, I used to walk around someone, a kid asked, well, what do you, what do you actually do with your days? It was, well, I kind of just go around the studio acting like a bee, collecting pollen and sharing it and helping. Like that's my role. And so I can see things and I'll work with Our broadcaster and say, oh, what if we edit this? What about this song here? What are this? Just little notes. Our team is unbelievable and how much they've learned. So that's. That's what we do. But yeah, it's. It's not signing off on it. It's literally, we got a test and then we. We have the audience. Does it hit live? Does it hit digital? We know every single weekend what works and what doesn't work. And then we report back and we talk about it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, also, too, it seems like you're doing what I think, you know, in my terms, thinking just with acting and movies and film and tv. It's like the best versions are like, you're saying where you have all these ideas and then they're put on paper and scripted. But giving people the room then to act in the moment, which I think you have, because a. The game outcomes, like, they're really playing. So you could only control so much. And who's going to hit a home run here or there? Even, like with liner. Liner comes in with the kids. Like, who was it that was like, hey, you know, Matt, why don't you throw out the first. And instead of a first pitch, let it be a football. Which I thought was genius, because as much as I want to see Matt throw a baseball, I really enjoy watching him throw a football. Like we all have for 100% 20 years now.

[Matt Leinart]

It's the series, our company, our 11th fan's first principle is always plus the experience. So everyone we look to plus again. It's a Disney term. He said, well, always. Plus the show. Disneyland's a living, breathing thing. It'll never be complete. So when I. We're just looking at it. He was out there playing with us. I was like, all right, well, you know, we got some other surprises coming with us, but we don't have a first pitch. We said, all right, well, first of all, how do you plus that make a first pitch actually count? So that a few years ago. So the first.

[Jesse Cole]

I mean, and I threw and I threw a strike. Just listen. So.

[Matt Leinart]

So that was the first thing. But then we were like, okay, we've had like, Travis Hunter threw one last a few weeks. Other players. We've had a lot of people throw them and it's. It's okay. And I was like, well, how do we plus it again? And then obviously, what you were known for, especially in the area, is football. It's like, all right, who cares? Throw a football. Let's see what happens. And so it's just you got to see those things and just do it. Most people are afraid of what people are think or what they're going to say. No, just do it and learn and then get to that next at bat, and then we learn from that. And Fenway, in a couple weeks, I'm doing another thing where we're going to even take the first pitch to another level, because how do you plus that again? And so those are the why, as you see. And it's like, got to make it better, because what you're doing, trying to do is the greatest creators create something that they would love and that they never get bored of. And so what I think about is, like, if I've already seen all this, I'm bored with it. How do I create where I can be a fan and watch? Like, when you threw that strike, I was like, yes, big moment. Awesome. And you get excited for it, and so you want to plus it so you don't get bored. I don't want to have other people just keep throwing footballs. We got to figure out how to make it better and more exciting and more fun.

[Jesse Cole]

What. What is if you can take off your Jesse cap and the banana and the hat and kind of take a step back and look at what one. What you've built. And I know you have a team and what this team is built, but this stadium tour and these sellout crowds and these NFL stadiums in Clemson, which was, what, a month ago and massive. And Jerry was looking at your schedule.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Fenway, I might be hitting you up to come to Pittsburgh at the end.

[Jesse Cole]

You got it, man.

[Matt Leinart]

We'll have some fun.

[Jesse Cole]

Jerry wants to know when you guys are going to Cleveland.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, Pittsburgh's an hour and a half away, so I'll make a drive.

[Matt Leinart]

I love it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I love it.

[Jesse Cole]

You know, we always get asked this. Like, it's just like, do you pinch yourself? And you kind of. Do you ever take a step back? Because I know you're grinding that day. That's a. That's a. That's a lot of work that goes into that day, seeing it firsthand. But you take a step back and just be like. Like, holy. Like, we. This is. This is. And you're not stopping. That's the great thing about you. You just keep going. But, like, do you ever just take a step back and just smile like you and your wife be like, wow, look at. Look at what we're doing.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah. Yeah, we do. I think it's moments. You all have moments. And I. I think when you can take those moments Last year at Fenway, you know, I grew up south of Boston, was a bat boy for the Red Sox or honorary when I was five years old.

[Jesse Cole]

Awesome.

[Matt Leinart]

You had the dream to pick when I. My moment. And that was a. I don't wanna say stressful, but that was a challenging night. There was a lot of things we're trying to make right and it didn't go as the way we wanted to, but our yellow moment. And Matt, you probably remember like when we.

[Jesse Cole]

I was about to say, it's incredible. Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

So we, we. And again, that was not great the first few times either. It was like, get the fans to sing yellow. What? That's just weird. And I was like, no, Coldplay yellow. Yeah, look at the stars. Look how they shine. You. I was like, it's going to work. Just we got to try it and try it and try it. And so at Fenway, I'll never forget. So I know I walked out to the field and said, all right everyone, it's time to light up the sky. And the lights turn off. 30. It was the largest crowd of the year. Fenway 37. It was full capacity, standing room. And I looked out there and the stadium that I'd come to over 150 plus times as a kid, everyone was singing yellow as loud as they could. And I'm on the field. I. They knew, our staff knew.

[Jesse Cole]

By the way, I'm getting a little teary eyed right now.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah, I see they had a camera on me and they could see. And I actually ended up putting it out. It was like the, this. That from Pursuit of Happiness. This, this right here, this is happiness. And, and it was like that moment. And I have those. When you come out at Clemson and I saw 81,000. It's like it has nothing to do with money, has nothing to do with profits. Like I don't even know what's in our bank account. It's the feeling of purpose that you've made an impact to bring people together for joy, for fun, for something good. And so every night when I come out to the plaza, we do a March and there's 10, 20,000 people four hours before the game. And I come around and get on that stage and see a whole street covered three hours for the game. I'm like, look at what we get to do. That's when I get fired up. That's when I start like, you know, mess around with the guys. I'm like, this is what we get to do. And it's those moments. It's. It's Everybody could cherish those moments. And I. I look for those every night, even though it's really hard. What's the moment tonight that we can look around and say, look at what we get to do?

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what I was. I've been going through this for, like, the last two weeks where my kids finally watch the sandlot, and we're old enough to kind of understand the movie, right? And they're playing T ball and coach pitch and all that stuff. And, you know, I've taken them to a baseball game and they've enjoyed it, but they're kind of young and what's. And I started thinking, like, we don't really see any more of those 90s, early 2000s kids sport, like, sandlot, Mighty Ducks, little Giants, all that stuff. Why? I don't quite know. But then, as I've continued to since Matt, even throughout the first pitch, watched the Banana. It's like, that's the core memory that I'm looking for. And I. I don't know if that was ever part of your plan of, like, hey, how do we, you know, do something for the kids or for just organically happen? But I could see myself bringing my kids to that game and unlocking that core memory that could make them love baseball the way I did as a kid when I just even got to see Yankee Stadium for the first time. And that's something special. And that's what I was thinking. Like, we don't see these movies anymore. But you know what? This is the. A better thing, because it's a live moment that you're involved with.

[Matt Leinart]

They get to feel it. And I think, again, I have three kids under 7 years old. And what are those moments? And you try to create something you love, but also kids love. And it's like, what is it? It's the connection with the players. You know, we literally program the upper deck every night. Our players go up there two to three times a game. Our cast, our man Anna's, our dad bod cheerleading squad, which they've become fan favorites are.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm good for that, by the way. I feel like I'm good for that.

[Matt Leinart]

They can rock it. So, like, how. Imagine I go to the upper deck every game, too. So, like, you're just coming up there. These people that are sitting at upper deck and just kind of watching the show, all of a sudden, you're right here with a player taking a picture, having fun. Like, those moments matter, and we can't touch all 40,000, all 80,000 every night. But, like, I think about that. And so, and that's why at 2:00 clock, when we open the gates, we actually have players meeting people. At 2 o', clock, we open up the plaza, you're greeted by players. Like, that's crazy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, no one's doing that.

[Matt Leinart]

Those that if you're gonna come at 2 o' clock and be there for the next eight hours, you're gonna meet players, all right. You're gonna create it right away. And so like it's those moments that and I signed to the last fan leaves, which is at 11 o' clock plus at night. And it's like, you gotta show it what matters most. And to us it's that connection with the kids, with the fans. And we have people come up to a cry in every game. I'm like, just, dude, give me a hug. Just dance. Let's, let's, let's, let's bring the joy. But it means something. And I think that's why I know we're going to do this, you know, as long as we can and continue to spread it and have fun.

[Jesse Cole]

I think the accessibility that you're talking about was really, because being an athlete, like, you know, playing in the NFL and all that, like, I get it, like, it's hard and like, you know, we're, you know, kept from fans sometimes, you know, signing the autographs, trying to get all of those things. But I was blown away by even a batting practice the day before. Like my oldest son, Jerry Cole was out there learning trick plays from their guys, you know, and like just the accessibility and the fact that you brought and I'm sure and you do this to a lot of people, which I thought was great, like just bringing everybody in and getting and allowing us to experience that. And I'll say this, the, the I, I love. I'm on Tick Tock and social and I love the 5, 6, 7 clips, the Dan, all that stuff, it's great. My kids love it. But, but being there live was truly a unique experience. I've been to a lot of baseball games. I love baseball. And, and you got a fan in my wife, because my wife loves baseball, but she just, she didn't really know what to expect and she left and she goes, wow. Like that, that was just, that was a. I don't know what her exact word was. It was a show that was incredible. That was an experience. It was a core memory. It was, it was, it was unbelievable. All that being said, you just talked about this. You just, you want to keep doing this. What is. What, what does this banana league championship league look like what is the next five, 10 years? How do you continue to just continue to grow this thing?

[Matt Leinart]

Well, yeah, if I asked five years ago, I would not say we're doing this. So I never like going too far ahead five, because we test things and we try things. And so, you know, again, and I think back to you as a player, I want to go back to that. You were measured by your performance on the field. Everything was performance on field. Our players are, I don't say measured, but what we look at every day is how are they creating fans first moments? So everything is about fans first moments. And that's on social, that's live, that's digital. We are on a Quest to create 1 billion fans. Not to be a billion dollar company, to create billion fans. So again, when you have a different intention, that's what we're doing. And they just happen to play great banana ball. The games happen to be very competitive. That's a byproduct of doing what's best for fans. But yeah, to look ahead, you know, I constantly think about, you know, what are the challenges whenever you're innovating. You got to start at the friction points. So the friction points in sports, too long, too slow, too boring, the season's too long, people lose interest. All those things are there stakes? You know, so I look at when I create a league, how do we have stakes throughout the entire entire season? How do you create more moments? How do you play at places people never imagine and you actually put stakes on those games. How do you create like the showdowns? You know, I don't. You don't have to see that. But that's pitcher versus hitter at the end of a game with one fielder that we don't go to more baseball. We go to actually a literally one on one showdown action. You know, could that be a whole showdown event that creates something. How do you make the draft interesting where there's something happens after the draft instead just getting drafted. Could there be something else? Like, I don't want to go too much because these are all part of what we reveal. But you look at everything that is not interesting for fans and how do you make it interesting and exciting and different and then how do you go where others won't go? Why can't we play in all 50 states? Why can't we bring banana ball to, you know, Oregon and Wyoming and North Dakota and all over? Like it doesn't make sense on paper, it financially, that makes zero sense.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right?

[Matt Leinart]

If the game's to create fans. Why don't you bring your game to the fans? And so, you know, eventually that'll be international. But, like, I just love bringing our show to more people and people seeing it for the first time. Or returners, which travel around the country right now. Like, we have a group like I, inspired by the Grateful Dead, the Deadheads. We have a K club, thousands deep that they bring signs and they travel.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Around the country, travel cities.

[Matt Leinart]

It's wild. Like, I'm building this for them. I'm building it for these new fans. And so that excites us. So the league will start next year. There'll be some big announcements, big surprises. Two new teams, which is going to be fun. They each create different brands. I mean, the Tailgaters, the greatest pregame in sports in Texas. Like, they. They've. They're growing like crazy because it's all they do line dances. They come out in trucks. You know, you create these different points of view. And so you can tell I'm passionate about it because I'm not bored. It's a great challenge to try to create this, which is fun and it's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Got to be awesome for, you know, guy who is chasing some baseball dreams. Maybe, like you were saying, like, even your story, it's like, now you actually get to play baseball, but also be an entertainer, which I always believe. The common point between entertainers and athletes, I always say, this is understanding the moment. They both, whether it's in a pro sport, like Matt knowing, hey, it's fourth and one. This is the moment. This is what we need to. Having that thought similar with an entertainer. Oh, there's a moment happening here that's maybe not on the script. Let's go with this. And I think you're meshing both in a beautiful way, Jesse and I know you gotta get to your kids right now, but I think you're doing.

[Matt Leinart]

There you go. I will share the funniest about understanding the moment. This is something people don't even know. We actually rehearse and practice when someone gets hit, which you'll get hit on purpose. We have actually dances and bits after you get hit. And so, like, imagine in the offseason, the prep season, it's like, all right, Like, Happy Gilmore going into this. All right, you get hit. Now dance, Dance. Now act like it is crazy. I watch these guys, but they were like, no, if we get hit, there's an opportunity to create a fan.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like, opportunity.

[Jesse Cole]

It's so good.

[Matt Leinart]

They'll get down it. They're okay. They tap their head and then they fully go into something and it's just, I can't believe they're doing it. But our players understand create a moment no matter what. Even if you just got drilled with a 92 mile an hour fastball in the back, if you're okay, create a moment. And that's why I love and respect our team because they're always thinking about those fan moments.

[Jesse Cole]

The last thing I want to ask you, and I know you're a baseball player, are we ever going to see you take the mound in a banana game? Can we, can we see you do a real pitcher in inning?

[Matt Leinart]

Man, I've been asked that question a lot at Fenway because I always had the dream to pitch at Fenway and I've got asked that question a lot. I got to, you know, I've thrown at Fenway. My dad, I took him out on the field. My son, we've thrown a lot. And after surgery, you know, I could, I could probably get it going. My wife and I say it's, it's, it's, it's not about me, it's about the others. And so while people want that, I'd rather create those moments for others. I know we've got a lot of fans pushing for me to try to do that, but I think I'm going to try to leave it for everyone else. I'll try to create the, create the platform for everyone else to have those moments.

[Jesse Cole]

Fair enough. Fair enough.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Amazing. Well, I may be reaching out to you when you come to pnc, which is also an awesome ballpark, by the way. Way one of the nicest, prettiest day with the bridge in the back. It's an incredible.

[Matt Leinart]

Who would be your favorite? If you could have any pirates, who would you want that. A former Pirate. Pirates. Because I haven't talked to anybody yet, so I don't know if they put. But who would be your favorite to come out?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Former Pirate?

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I would need to think about.

[Jesse Cole]

That because I like to comes to mind.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Leinart]

Probably the first one you think of the last 20, 20 years, I would.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Say, I would say McCutcheon only because it's just. I feel like the different generations will know it. Like the older dads. Like I think that gives you a lot of generations. It's a good call.

[Jesse Cole]

I mean if Paul Skeens is in town, you can just maybe get him over.

[Matt Leinart]

Hey, don't go pitch with the team. Come with us. Yeah, we'll have some fun.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll do it. Thank you so much.

[Jesse Cole]

Thank you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Jesse, we appreciate you man. And I'm definitely gonna come out and see you guys with the boy, with my boys real soon.

[Matt Leinart]

Let's make it happen. That'd be a lot of fun. Appreciate you guys.

[Jesse Cole]

Thanks, buddy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right everyone, listen up. It's time to flex your ruggedness in the Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.

[Jesse Cole]

Whether you're going off road up a rocky trail on a weekend trip with your boys, or driving through a snow covered road trying to get the kids to school, the Pathfinder Rock Creek can handle it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, that's right. The Pathfinder Rock Creek comes equipped with 18 inch beadlock style wheels with all terrain tires to help you handle the tough conditions on and off road.

[Jesse Cole]

And with a tubular style roof rack that has up to 220 pounds of dynamic capacity. You'll be ready to haul the gear you need to your next adventure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm telling you, this is the one. It's the Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.

[Jesse Cole]

Let's go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Intelligent four wheel drive. Cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions. When you speed while driving, you have less time to react to whatever comes across your path. A sharp turn could take you by surprise, causing you to veer off the road. Another car could turn out in front of you, you leading to a fender bender. A truck could break, suddenly injuring you and the other driver. A pedestrian could be walking their dog and your foot on the gas might lead to a tragedy.

[Jesse Cole]

You may not think any of these things could happen to you, but you won't see them coming until they actually happen. When you're speeding, you don't have the time to course correct and it only takes an instant for disaster to strike. The speed limit isn't just there to protect you, but everyone around you too.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So slow down, obey the law and keep everybody on the road safe.

[Jesse Cole]

Speeding catches up with you. Paid for by NHTSA.

[Matt Leinart]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, it's now time for control your game presented by nitsa. When you speed, you have less Time to react. Follow the speed limit to keep other road users safe. Speeding catches up for you. Paid for by Nitza. All right, who's been in control of their game. It really got me think, well, you know, there's somebody on the Seattle Mariners who's been in massive control of his game. He tied Ken Griffey Jr. Cal, Raleigh. I'm talking about. For the most home runs in Mariners history before the all star. Big 35.

[Jesse Cole]

That's crazy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Currently on pace for 64 home runs, which should surpass my boy Aaron Judge's AL record of 62. And he's going to be in the Home Run Derby. Matt, you're. We're almost the same age. You must have been a Home Run Derby kid, right?

[Jesse Cole]

The Home Run Derby, I would say as I've gotten older, not as, not as I don't invest in it as much, but that in the dunk contest when we grew up was like the two greatest things that you could watch during a sports season. Right? Like, the Home Run Derby, to me was awesome. The dunk contest was awesome in the 80s and 90s. Yeah, I. I mean, Griffey, you know, the swing back then.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, here's question for you. Better. Better. Chris Burman, NFL prime time highlight package or Home Run Derby? Back, Back. Backpack. Backpack. Just. I go Berman Home Run Derby. I think that's peak Berman.

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah, I'd say Prime Time. The highlight. Yeah, that's just. He was an OG for that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, let's make some. Let's make like. All right, we're gonna run some. We're gonna run our all time Home Run Derby out there. Maybe three guys. Your three versus my three.

[Jesse Cole]

We're gonna draft.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Just. Yeah, drafted. Or even just three of our favorite performances. Whatever you want to classify, but I'm gonna let you go first because.

[Jesse Cole]

So I get first pick.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Go ahead. First pick.

[Jesse Cole]

I'll probably go Sammy Sosa.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That would have been my first pick too, bro.

[Jesse Cole]

Was it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I went on a nice YouTube deep dive. Sosa didn't win in. Oh, my God. Well, no, what I mean is the, the famous one that I saw was Giambi won it, but it was in Milwaukee and Sosa led off with like a 540 foot. He was hitting the ball in places that it just never was supposed.

[Jesse Cole]

He just had absolute fucking monster shots. I would say Sosa. I'm not, I'm not basing this on the number of wins, because I don't even remember.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, no, this is who you are running. Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

I'm putting sos out one. All right, you get two picks. Now we'll do a little snake.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, if you're going to do that, I gotta steal Griffey from you because I know you're gonna take it. Him. In 1993, hitting the warehouse in Camden Yards in Baltimore was one of the best. And then if I'm gonna be a dick, I'm gonna go, Mark McGuire.

[Jesse Cole]

I was gonna say, I hope you go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I like my first two, and I feel like I'm gonna get one of my next two. So let's see how you round it out for your next two. Finish out your team. There's some good current guys, too, by the way. I. Pete Alonzo's out there. We.

[Jesse Cole]

Oh, I mean, gotta go Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds, prime roid with the head, just absolutely hitting nukes. And then I'm gonna go for my final pick because I get two. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go. Bryce Harper.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, he's got. He's got a fun win in him. Yeah, he won.

[Jesse Cole]

How many years ago he won. It was like one of the sicker walk offs. I remember watching that. And. And he got all he. I think he won it in his home, in his home park. And like, he threw the bat. He started, like, getting fired up. So I go, what do I got? I got Sosa, Barry Bonds and Bryce Harper.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's a good team so far. I got McGuire Griffey. I'm gonna end it with Aaron Judge and go a little modern day because I feel like we have to put him on the squad.

[Jesse Cole]

370 right now, which is crazy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, do you know there's a. There's an account that I love. I don't know what it's called. I'll get it and I'll post about. But it's on Instagram where they just post, like, it's all about how awesome the lineups were in the 90s. And they'll just post quick hits of the lineup with the stats right before they're at bat. Like seeing, like, the old Cleveland Indians. Everyone on that team was bad. Albert Bell, Kenny Lofton, Albert Bell, Sandy Alomar, David Justice Tome.

[Jesse Cole]

It's like, what a team.

[Jerry Ferrara]

First of all, how did that team not win a World Series? My God. And then everyone's batting, like 310 or higher.

[Jesse Cole]

Everyone's, you know, we got to go back to. In All Star baseball is. And maybe they have. Maybe I'm just not paying attention. Their own uniforms. Everyone wears their own home. Remember the old, old school. Just you wore your home uni. Oh, so sick.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Because you loved seeing, like, you know, Jeter. Flip it.

[Jesse Cole]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Or whoever is at, you know, whatever you're seeing. Yeah, I agree.

[Matt Leinart]

Who's.

[Jesse Cole]

Okay. So who's winning that derby? I. My. My three or Jerry's three? We'll find out.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you get. You went Bonds, Bryce and Sosa.

[Jesse Cole]

Bonds and Bryce.

[Jerry Ferrara]

See, the Sosa thing screws me because he's probably like the alltime.

[Jesse Cole]

Although Bonds wasn't like a great Home Run Derby. I don't know how many home.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But it's still Barry Bonds.

[Matt Leinart]

Yeah.

[Jesse Cole]

I was. You know who I was going to go?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Vlad Guerrero Jr. Vlad Guerrero Senior.

[Jesse Cole]

Yes.

[Matt Leinart]

He.

[Jesse Cole]

That was kind of my era. He was good. He was a big time Home Run Derby guy. Junior Beast, too.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you know who else was good, too? Current day. I. I don't think I. Because he's never. Well, John Car Stanton had some, like, in his Padres days, had a few performances. I'm gonna watch it. I could tell you that right now. I'm watching Home Run Derby this time. All right, thank you again to nhtsa. We're gonna hit a quick mailbag here, sorting through these. The one that stuck out. Because we can both take this one. And you might have talked about this a little bit, but I want to hear more. Steven in Las Vegas wrote us. This one's for both you guys. What's the angriest you've ever seen, a coach or director? I didn't have a whole lot of coaches getting angry at me unless I was dropping a fly ball. So I feel like I know your answer. We discussed it, but I'm wondering if there's anything sneaky out there or if you want to dig a little further.

[Jesse Cole]

It's got to be Denny Green. We are. They are who they thought they were, and we let him off the hook.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And where were you again for. Were you like.

[Jesse Cole]

I was right outside the media room. Right outside. And like Mark Dalton, who's our PR guy at the time, who's great, was like, next up, Matt Liner. And I walked in, I'm like. It was just like. You could hear a pin drop in that room. Right. And we lost Monday Night Football to the Chicago Bears. Quick backstory, and maybe I've said this before, we played them week three, preseason game in Chicago. Week three back then was the game that all the starters played. You played about two and a half, three quarters. Like. Like real game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Full dress. Yeah, you're full dress.

[Jesse Cole]

That's a full dress rehearsal. Like, I played erlacher Briggs, like, all that, that. And we beat him. And I played really well. We beat him like, I don't know, 27, whatever it was. So we, like, knew going into that was like, week five or six. We were one and four. We were. Just lost the week before on a field goal, which was my first start. So, like, we were okay. We finished 5 and 11, but, like, we were competitive in a lot of games. And we knew going into that, Even though they were 5, 0, they ended up going to the super bowl that year because their defense was that good. We're like, we could beat these guys. Like, we've played them. We can beat them. Like, we know we could beat them. It was our Monday Night Football. The stadium was rocking, and we. And honestly, we had it. And then we just. We kept the foot off the gas. Devin Hester returns that punt. Yeah, we missed a field goal to tire to win at the end again. And then we were just devastated. So then after the game, you know, you do all your stuff and just. Denny Green is going off, you know, and it's. And rest in peace to Denny. He was awesome, man. He drafted me, but that shit was hysterical, dude. I easily. There's a lot of great rants out there. It's got to be. Top one or two rants of all time.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, that might be a good question for Social. Give us your top coaching rant slash meltdowns. That's probably the most quotable one for sure. I mean, they are who I think I say once, if you want to crowd them, the crown them. I feel like my wife, last week, she said, Brie said something like, you know what? You never do that. I'm like, you know, I am who you thought I was. Was. That's what I yelled at her. It didn't really go over well. Yeah, it's hard to beat the Danny Green meltdown as something I've seen, I gotta say, in my. In my acting career with directors, I. Directors. I think there's been some horror stories publicly of big time directors and actors fighting and all that. I can't say I saw, like, angry, yelling director behavior. I've seen a director just devastated and crumbled to his knees because we were shooting the Entourage episode with Chuck Liddell, right, where we're punking Johnny Drama into thinking Chuckle Dell wants to kick his ass. And we get to the part where. And this is like early. Like early UFC days too. Like, Chuck Liddell is by far their biggest star. So we have this, like, octagon built. We're doing this whole thing. It's like a charity event. And there's this shot that our director Dan Adias, who. He's probably done 4,000 episodes of television. This guy's like a television director hall of famer. And the shots are so many moving parts where like all right, Dylan's going here, Chuckle Dell's going here. And then the charity in the show is a kids charity. So we had a lot of like 15, 16 year old kids who have never acted before as extras. But they're.

[Matt Leinart]

It's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's a big important part of the shot. And this one kid just, he just kept missing a mark. He was looking right into the camera. Oh, it's now like take 14. We have to get the shot now like the days ending.

[Jesse Cole]

Can't you just take the dude out.

[Jerry Ferrara]

At this point we're committed to it because he's like established in the show and like so the shots going. And it's so funny when you do these big oners. You could. It's similar to like a play in football. Everyone could do their job correctly. And then one person misses an assignment play is a disaster. Like Dylan hits his spot. Lidell does his thing, mean the guy. And then he lands on the kid. And the kid again just shoots one right down the barrel. Looks in the camera. Dan Adas who's like on the walkie watching's watching. The kid looks down. He just crumble. I. I saw him go to his knees and put his hands like this. He might have been crying, I don't know. He just, he just collapsed because we could not get.

[Jesse Cole]

Did you ever get the shot?

[Jerry Ferrara]

We finally got it.

[Jesse Cole]

And if I just said we'll make it work, Chop.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's chopped up too heavily edited because there was just so many. Oh man, it was a good shot but he just folded. He just collapsed. So I'm sure he could have yelled.

[Jesse Cole]

That poor kid was probably just feeling the pressure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't even think. Honestly, I don't even think he knew. I don't even think he kind of knew really what was at stake at all.

[Jesse Cole]

You know what, like you talked about this like not remembering your lines, whatever, but like in, in a. Because I've been around enough sets where it's like you just. If one person it up like that, you have to start everything and then like to roll tape. It's just like it's a lot dude. Like it's a lot where sports and.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And because there's a famous story about someone not knowing their lines and it was Not. It was a co star. Right. It was only. It was someone who was doing one scene with a few lines, and she. And her scene was with, like, James Cameron or something, and she had a hard line. It was like a was. The sick is like a lot of were. It was just. And I mean, take 20, 25. It's almost like a. A play. A pitcher who hasn't. Who's walked the bases loaded, or a quarterback who's thrown four picks in the first half. It's like everyone's looking at the person. We're all rooting but in the same breath.

[Jesse Cole]

It's like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's tough. It's tough. I haven't fortunately been on that end yet. I've struggled here or there, but I usually get it. But it's a horrible place to be. It's a horrible place to be.

[Jesse Cole]

It's a lonely island.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Still, not as bad as when you get the giggles and the laughs. Once that happens a set, it's over, like, call a wrap. So good stuff, Stephen in Vegas. Good question, man. That. You were right up on the podium before Danny Green. That must have been.

[Jesse Cole]

Dude, it's wild.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I gotta try your interview after that.

[Jesse Cole]

I don't even remember. Yeah, it was like, I. You could hear Mark Dalton in the background. All right, next up. Just walked in and, like, obviously I was pissed. You know, I was like, right, we can't win.

[Matt Leinart]

But I didn't.

[Jesse Cole]

I didn't even hear. Like, I didn't hear him, if I remember correctly. Like, I was outside. Like, I could hear him, but I wasn't really, like, ear to the wall, paying attention. I was just, like, waiting there, standing there, and so, like, I could hear him a little bit. And then when I watched it, I was like, oh, dude. He was just.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Do you feel like that happens, though? You brought up something. A good point. Because I don't think you guys were a 5 and 11 team. Right? Whatever your record was, that team was better than that. Right. But you said, like, you started off, what, 1 and 4 and you lost close games. Does that happen to a T? And then you lose that Bears game, so you're one in five. Not that you guys are, like, giving up. We don't have enough. But it's like, man, that's such a unfortunate start. And we should be like 4 and 2 at least. Does that. That must really be a mind for a team when you're like, we know we're good and we're somehow 1 and 5.

[Jesse Cole]

That's tough, man. 1 and 5 is not a place you want to be in the NFL. I mean, 1 and 3, 1 and 2. You're like, all right, we got to start. I've told you this. Like you, you back then you had 16 weeks. You break it down in quadrants, right? Like if you go two and two, every quadrant, you're eight and eight. Eight and eight is close. You can sneak in now if you just, if you get a little extra win here, whatever, all of a sudden, you know, 10 and 6 is getting you in the playoffs almost every year. 9 and 7 won our division a couple times to get us in, you know, so like you're just, you're that, that, I mean, that's just the difference between, in football, you're, it's so much parody that you're a player two away, you know, and like we were a punt return away from winning that game the week before. We were a field goal away from winning that game. All of a sudden we're three and three. It's a much different feeling, three and three than one and five. One and five. You're like, then you're like four and nine and you're, then all of a sudden you're just the last. And then you're just playing like to put film on and just get through the season at that point, you know, like, yeah, it's, it's tough, man. It's a tough place to be. Yeah, that's why you all, that's like the Bengals last year, man. Remember they started like 1 and 3 or 1 and 4 for like 3 or 4.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They should have been a playoff team and then you should have fight in.

[Jesse Cole]

The playoffs, Fighting Claw just to get back. And it's like, you gotta start fast, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So you know what, all this football talk though, maybe this is the introduction to starting to get ready because I'm.

[Jesse Cole]

Getting, by the way, football is going to be here before you know it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Dude, I can't wait.

[Jesse Cole]

I can't wait to play fantasy football.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I want to do something with you. I, I, you know, we've never really watched a football game together yet in our friendship we've watched basketball games and stuff like that. At some point I want to do like go to a sports bar on a Sunday morning in LA and let's just, let's do fantasy, play some bets, let's watch some games. Because I wanna, I wanna pick your brain while watching.

[Jesse Cole]

Let's do it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay, it's time now for all time adventures Driven by Nissan, the 2025 Nissan Pathfinder. Rock Creek Adventure. Ready and Free from tariffs. And I feel like that's a pretty big deal. I don't want to over. I don't want to understate that. Free from, from new tariffs, I should say. So you put something out on Tick Tock that I thought, I'm like, wow, I match it. Have literally have a whole Q A for this and we won't do a whole Q A. But you pose the question to parents, you know, basically, are you letting them play tackle football? You got some awesome. Tons of comments. I just think it's a, like, I think a lot of parents have those conversations. But to have that conversation with the parent who played football at the highest level, whose son is also playing football, I just thought that that's a conversation I want to hear.

[Jesse Cole]

I would say a majority of, I mean between all the social media handles, like I probably got thousand comments and I would say a majority of them were all absolutely right. Yes, without a doubt. Now there's variants that my whole thing on this and this is just my opinion, it doesn't mean it's right. 1. I didn't play tackle football till high school.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's what I wanted to ask you for your adventure. Like, do you remember when you started playing tackle?

[Jesse Cole]

Dude, I put I modern day high school, which is an absolute powerhouse and we were a powerhouse back then. I, I didn't even know how to put the pads in my pants the first day of practice. No, I remember this.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Freshman year of high school.

[Jesse Cole]

Freshman year, high school. Never played. I played flag. I did play flag for the school. I was a baseball player. Whatever. I didn't play, I didn't play. Football wasn't a part of my childhood. My brother didn't play. Cole, my oldest son didn't play tackle football until freshman year. High school. Now it's a lot more competitive and stuff and all these sports that we're seeing in baseball club and you're seeing all this like it is, like it's, it's definitely a different time. My, my, my biggest thing is this, like I'm all for tackle football regardless. I think it's the greatest sport in, in the world. I think it's the greatest team sport in the world. I think what it teaches you is, is there's so many great things football teaches you that you can take. They just, it just is. I've lived it. I continue to live it. It's amazing, the young age stuff, like people playing at five or six years old. Like I can't imagine like Cason right now playing at 5. Like it's not necessary. And, and the biggest thing and I had a lot of these comments in the conversation was really, to me it's just like, it's really hard to teach 5, 6, 7 year old, maybe even 8 year olds like proper technique, tackling technique.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's just, it's almost hurt.

[Jesse Cole]

It's just like, like what? Why? Like they don't need to like play flag football. It's an agility, it's, it's fast, it's great for skills, all that. And then when they're old enough to at least comprehend and understand, like in the moment in a game, hey, I can use this type of like tackling. I think that's an issue. And I still, I just, I know a lot of shitty ass coaches, dude. I know a lot of coaches who don't care, you know. And like there's a lot of great.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Young like that, but they're young.

[Jesse Cole]

It's like, it's like I don't trust my boys going with some random team in LA to play tackle and they're doing the Oklahoma drill at like 6 years old. I'm like, you know, and I'm not saying, I just, it's just like to me it's about coaching and like if you have a great coaches that can teach the game properly, Flag is so fun.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm excited for them. Our kids are not going to be very big. I don't know how much that factors into it from parents perspective. But my, my nephew back in New who never really cared or played any sports, he's been on this pod months ago, right? Freshman year of high school, he's like, I want to start playing tackle football. I'm like, what dude? I'm like, dude, you first of all, you don't know anything about football. And he was really small and just, I'm like, that's just a horrible idea to just, hey, I want to start. I've never even really caught a football and that's where I want to start. However, unfortunately, Knock on Wood hasn't been hurt, but what it's led to was he got really invested in his health and his athleticism and his body. Like he's in unbelievable shape. This was like a kid who played a lot of Fortnite. Yeah, like a lot, a lot of Fortnite summers. Playing Fortnite where he didn't is probably the main thing he did and that like he's gonna come visit us soon. He's like, I have to be there before August 15th because I got football camp and it's his senior year, so like, I love it and I just love the commitment. He's made great friends. It's, again, he's in unbelievable shape and it's just something I never thought he did and he didn't start until freshman. Now he's probably not going to go on. If he's listening, I would love you to go on, but I don't know if he's going on to play college football, but I just think he's gained a lot from it that he'll take with him.

[Jesse Cole]

Like you said, my, my three, like some of my best friends are from high school football still to this day, right? And I think, like, to your point, like the commitment, right, you commit to something. The, the, the, the discipline that it teaches you that you have to have the work ethic that it teaches you. It's hard, right? But you're, you're rallying with your guys. You're like, like there's something about it, like a team sport, the camaraderie and like selflessness too. Just doing something. Yeah, exactly.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So like someone else, all of that's.

[Jesse Cole]

It's much different than I just had this conversation. It's much different than individual sport athletes, right? Like, I've come across not all of them, but they're, they're very different. It's all about them. Like golf, it's all about you, you know, tennis, it's all about you. And like, you hear some of these stories, you're like, like some of those people are a little bit different personalities.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Even Annalee with pickleball, like, she was kind of like, yeah, doubles is great, but I wanna, yeah, they're all like.

[Jesse Cole]

Not all, not all, you know, individual athletes are like a certain way, clearly. But there's a lot that are just like, it's all about me and I don't care about anybody else, you know, like, yeah, you can't have that in a team sport. And if you do, you will get chewed up out of that team so quickly. So yeah, it's, it really is an interesting, interesting topic, you know, but yeah, I mean, I'm all for it, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I just keep throwing out that stuff on Tick Tock.

[Jesse Cole]

I think middle school, I always say, my, my thing is like kind of middle school, I say like for me, I think 12, sixth grade is probably the earliest I would do because they're old enough. 6th, 7th, 8th grade. Like, I would have probably went back and played in eighth grade if I could have. Like, I just didn't. But like, I think that's where you get to sixth grade. It's like, all right, like, if you want to, you're starting to grow, you're getting bigger, you're going through puberty, all these things. And you're. And you're smart enough to understand now at least what coaches are trying to teach. And then you just got to have good coaching, man. You got to have coaches that can teach it the right way. Well, that's the hard part.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Last thing for you before we wrap up off of that. And I know you said you were very psycho in coaching flag football, but if your boys do want to play tackle at a certain point. Do you ever see yourself coaching?

[Jesse Cole]

Oh, even your coach them.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But like, tackle. Not even flat, like, tackle your kid. Would you A, coach your kids on the team environment, whether it's high school or B, like, are you just not into, like, you more flag football or do you want to.

[Jesse Cole]

It's such a great question. It's really a tough question because with. With Cole, I coached his flag football for years, and I was like.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you were into it.

[Jesse Cole]

Oh, it kept me up at night. I was an OC when my boys are old enough, like, who knows what I'll be doing in my career and all that kind of stuff. Like, I. The highest level that I feel like I could coach and coach well and have fun is hyper school. Like, if my boys in 10 years, 11 years are at high school and they want to play football and I. And I can hop in there and help assist and all that, that would be. That would be a lot of fun for me to do. Like, I could. I could totally see myself do that. Volunteer and just do it. I will coach all their. I mean, I'm coaching. I'll coach football and baseball pretty much every year when they, you know, they're playing now, like, I coached Case, obviously, in football this past spring at 5 and 6 years old. But the first, you know, as, you know, like the first couple eight, like four, five, six, is kind of hard. It's just hard with sports. Right. It's a lot of kids running around.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. Chasing birds.

[Jesse Cole]

Chasing birds, man. Picking flowers and chasing birds.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But keep throwing out those tik tok questions like that, because I think you stir the pot.

[Jesse Cole]

If you got one, let me know. I got.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I got a few for you. I think it's good to have. And then we could bring some of these questions deeper on the pod. Yeah, that's it for us. Shout outs to Jesse Cole again. Awesome episode. Hopefully I'll be seeing you in Pittsburgh and Matt. It's good to be back, bro.

[Jesse Cole]

I. I enjoyed the vacation.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Time. Time. But we're back now.

[Jesse Cole]

We're back, baby.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right. See you next time.