S2 E6. The Brothers Byrne; Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne & UVA HOFer Steve Byrne, Part III.

This is the third and final installment of our interview series with Coaches Gerry and Steve Byrne. In this episode Steve describes what it was like, after graduating from UVA, to play for the famous North Hempstead Lacrosse Club for Harvey Cohen. A team that Steve states “Was always 2nd banana to the Long Island Lacrosse Club,” and how one season they banded together and beat them to win a Long Island championship. “It just about brought Harvey to tears,” states Steve. 

Coach Gerry Byrne discusses how he made the major life decision to leave all the success he helped build at Notre Dame behind and strike out on his own to become the head coach at Harvard. He explains the principles that guided him and the desire to help teach a diverse group of young men, who come from the full spectrum of the socioeconomic scale, the benefits of working together towards a common goal. He reports he loves to teach young people that with hard work, dedication, humility, and a focus on continuous improvement they can overcome adversity, and become even better than they ever thought they could. Thus far, based on the improvement he’s made to the Harvard lacrosse program, he’s well on his way to fulfilling that promise.  

Steve Byrne next explains how lacrosse was “Literally a life line,” for a guy traveling from city to city as he worked for General Electric. When he moved to Dallas, TX, lacrosse connections provided him with not only a team to play on but also a roommate who became a lifelong friend he is still in touch with to this day. 

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Transcript

Jay: 0:01

It's time for get the La Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know. In the game of lacrosse, we take LAX seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join hosts, big Dog and Jaybird, and the biggest names in the game. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Ron Doish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the sports found. and Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All-American Midfielder Brown. He was a captain of the US Junior National team and is the founder of J M L. And joining us in the studio, Steve gfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Helping the next generation cross players. Get to the next level.

1:00

Hello everyone. And welcome back to the show. We are super excited to bring you the next interview from our series with coaches, Jerry and Steve Byrne. You will find this interview in progress. So, Steve, as you mentioned, you traveled quite a bit, as you were working at General Electric and now have been coaching in high school In the, Cleveland, Ohio area now for fifteen years. And then as we said in the opening, you've played and coached in twenty different states. So Give us a little bit of your perspective on the growth of the game and and what it's like in all these different regions around the country. Yeah. I mean, know, with with g with GE, they sent me you know, I was, in a I was twenty four, and it was, I quit my job in retail. But the first time I played out of state was in Florida, And I was working at Lord and Taylor, and they sent me down to a a store to be the manager of the men's department, if you can imagine that. That's why I had the swab. No. No. Alright. But, yeah, let's get a gun. Levittown. Let's put him in charge of fashion. What? That makes tremendous sense. What is that? No. Do you know what a Levittown three piece suit is? Jeans, jean jacket, and Chuck Taylors. Nice. I love it. Uh, that was great. So so, you know, the the the lacrosse was, like, Everywhere I went, I went to, I don't know, four or five different cities in, like, ten years. I found a lacrosse club. So in Florida, I I found the West Palm Beach Club. Still friends with guys there. I met one of my best friends who was in my wedding. He played at Carolina. He he was playing for the, Miami team and and he and I were actually living in the same town. Um, I got to GE. They they basically took all thirty, newly trained salespeople, and they sent us Opposite of where we were from. So I'm thinking it's a thirty day training, and then they're gonna send me to Long Island. I can live and And hang out with all my high school buddies and have a territory, and my career is going. So they they they go, okay. Uh, Byrne, you're going to Dallas, Texas. And I'm like, what? Why would I go to Dallas? Right. So that's that's what it was. They shot me to Dallas, and my territory was Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Holy cow. So for a year, I would fly and travel all over the place. But as I got there, I the first thing I I got I gotta find it's gotta be some lacrosse players here. It's gotta be a club of some sort. So I ended up finding a club a few a few months after I was there late late eighty four or Eighty five. And, And they had one there in Dallas. And I'm in Dallas, and I I met a guy who, uh, you know, I I talked to today Kenny Loberg. Jerry knows him. He became one of my best friends. We lived together, and I was able to I only played there a year. It's only it was only there for a year, but I would I would any away game, I would set up calls there so so I could fly there or I could Drive there and not not spend any money. But it was Right. It it was it was tremendous. One of the guys in the team played W and L, and he owned a bar in this this cool area of of Dallas. And after the game, we would you know, that's where we would go. And and that was great. So then I then they moved me from Dallas to Cleveland. I found the Cleveland Lacrosse Club. I played with them, and then they've been begging me ever since to come back. I played in nineteen eighty seven. I said Wow. On that flight. Right. Right. Get to a certain point. I actually almost I almost Was gonna go down to Florida in January to play with these guys, but then I said, you know what? Probability is not not with me. So, again, you you you you build community. For me, it was building community. So then from there, I went to, back to New York, I played again with with Harvey at North Hempstead Lacrosse Club, with a bunch of Levittown guys and a bunch of knuckleheads. And, you know, we were always second banana to Long Island lacrosse club, But the one the one year we won, we we beat Long Island, and Harvey was it was the hap it was like the greatest moment because Harvey Cohen Right. Was overcome with just joy. And, uh, so That's awesome. Played there. I played for Brian up in up in Boston for two years. We went to the club championship two years in a row. That's great. That's also on YouTube. I watched that. Uh, Yeah. So, I mean, the The the game has grown tremendously from a coaching standpoint. Honestly, I I have to give a lot of credit to Jerry on that. I I got I got begged to coach, Gilmore Academy, which was Catholic school, a hundred kids a class, fifty boys, and this guy's son was a good lacrosse player, was going in, and he was so I I said, okay. Because I was running a business at the time, and, so I took it, and they had won two games a year before, one game the year before that. They were and I'm like, oh. So so I remember talking to Jerry. He goes, I just got rid of the seniors. So I'm like, alright. That's not a big idea. But I couldn't get rid of I couldn't get rid of all of them Because Yeah. I only had a handful. Right? Because it was fifty boys per class. But these these guys, all they needed was somebody who cared, who could teach and could hold them to account. Right. And that's what happened. So the parents were, like, overjoyed. They were, like, baking me cakes and giving me cookies, and it it was as we're actually scheduling like today for you, Jerry, you get a lot Cake and cookies from. I mean, you know? For sure. You got some stroke in those chips. That's that's the last guy this is the last guy you wanna give sweets to. Get them hyped up. Like David he's like David Blaine. It just disappears. So, I mean, that is one it was one of my one of my favorite, Years coaching was this group because they understood that they I mean, I and I had to, you know, quote, unquote, break them. I said, look. I'm gonna quit. You guys obviously are are still trying to, you know, not do what you you know you need to do and you can do, And it snapped. And we went on this magical run to, uh, a state championship. That's awesome. And it was we ended up losing to a to a very good team. My goalie would made twenty seven saves. We lost by three or four goals. But it was it was tremendous. And and that that joy of having, you know, Help them achieve this. I see the boys every now and then. I'll get a I'll get a message on LinkedIn Seeing how I'm doing. And and so it it they still talk about that. Right. That that that that season, you know, which which was great. So then I stopped coaching there. We brought them up to a good level, probably the best level they could be, um, given the size of the school. So then I said to my wife, I said, you know, the worst lacrosse program in the area is Shaker Heights where I live. I I I can't I can't bear it anymore. Gotta go watch them, and and they were just Plans and not you know, they they they didn't have really skilled coaching. So this is where Gerry comes. So I I take the team over, And I'm like, there's just cancer everywhere. And so Jerry what Jerry did at South Egan was, Alright. You guys are out. Right? Right. And then juniors, you're I'm I'm happy to have you here, but If you're not willing to do what we're trying to do here, then you're out too. So I got rid of all the seniors, and I start picking off the juniors. And I said to And and my town is is, fifty percent, uh, black, fifty percent white. So it's it's an integrated community. So I I targeted these five or six African American kids who were freshmen. I go, you guys are gonna be playing a lot. And so these are the these guys and and and bunch of other guys, they talk about that rise from where, you know, getting your ass kicked to competing to competing well and and and ultimately winning, you know you know, big games Yeah. And what it taught them. And I took them I took, uh, a team out a couple years with, uh, at to Notre Dame for these for these camps, These team camps that Jerry would would run. Mhmm. And, um, and I exposed these guys as sophomores to Here I brought I had friends whose kids were playing. Two of my high school buddies had, uh, two really good high uh, college players. Timmy Mueller was in a defenseman of the year at Maryland. Jack Kelly was the goalie of the year at Brown. Yeah. You guys know. Yeah. So his dad played with me at at in Levittown. There's only one degree of Levittown in in,, lacrosse. Right. So they got they got to see What these players can do and how they they comport themselves, and they've just opened their eyes up. Right. And so That's amazing. You know, I I I'm proud of the fact that I I dragged shake of lacrosse out of the, you know, the worst cheer of lacrosse in Ohio, which, you know, is also saying a lot up to, you know, in the top quartile. Right? Typically, with my pro our program is we get the type, Catholic schools will take three or four of our best So, say, Ignatius is on the west side of Cleveland. We're on the east side, and we got so we send typically six of the best players or top ten players out to other schools, private schools. Right. But, You know, like Jerry, it's, uh, it's really heartening to I have there's two defensemen on the team now. Uh, one is six two. The other one is, like, five seven. And they both can easily play division three, and I think the Tall one might potentially be able to play division one. I don't know where his head is right now, so that's part of my challenge this spring. I gotcha. Well, that's awesome. That's great. Turning it all around. It's time for a brief JML commercial break. Mentioned earlier, we put together a Patrion page for the show. This will allow those interested in supporting our efforts to do just that and to get exclusive access to unedited interviews. Big discounts on JML online courses and merchandise from our new online store. We have big additions to the JML course catalog. Now we have a defenseman's course taught by none other than UVA head lacrosse, coach Lars, Tiffany, and to goalie course taught by former two time All-American and two time national champion and UVA assistant coach kept Turner. You can check out our Patrion page with the link that is listed in the description, as well as taking a look at the online store again, with the link listed in the description. We will return to our interview in progress. So, Jerry, obviously, you, you were a head coach way back at at at Saint Anselm's, and also, you know, spend a time as a as a head coach at in the high school ranks. And I, you know, I know being around the game, Harvard wasn't your first opportunity to leave South Bend. So what was it about this moment in time And this opportunity that led you to wanna take the leap back into being a head coach and leading a program yourself. I don't think I don't I don't think you make those kind of decisions using, like, a ledger or some sort of, like, checklist. It was it was something that I had thought about. You know? I I love Notre Dame. You know, my wife went to school there. Two of my three children were student athletes at there. I went to graduate school there. So, like, deep roots and deep connections There, whenever you leave, anything like that is really, uh, difficult. But I but I also thought, like, you you read a lot about how do you how do you keep your mind fresh, how do you keep your your passions alive is by trying new things. I'm learning new things. You know? Mhmm. You know, my brother and I are the oldest guys on this thing, and whether it's Doing crosswords or learning new skills or travel, all those things kinda keep your your mind Fresh. So the the the idea of an adventure, a professional adventure at a new place in a great city, At a at a place that had, you know, moments of of real success, you guys probably maybe you won most of your games against Harvard, but and they were they were never they were never great, but they were never not pretty good. You know? And so Oh, yeah. Part of it was new time, new place, new adventure. And, you know, I don't the the the process of building something, I find much more exhilarating than The actual consummation of that is a in a weird way because you can really see the incremental prod process and the And the brick building and the relationship building. And, you know, I've I've done that, I think, for a really long time at Notre Dame, and I still Love that. I've you know, I went to several weddings of my former players at Notre Dame in the last year and a half, and so those that connective tissue is never gonna go away. And but I I just I was looking for the next adventure for the last part of my professional Life, um, this seemed as good a place. It's an iconic, you know, institution of higher learning that that people aspire to. And if I could tap into that and energize the the program and and recruit, you know, the kind of people I like to coach. You know? I think we could We could create something, and I think we've we've we've transformed the mindset around the way people look at Harvard now from a lacrosse standpoint. Unfairly, I think it was viewed as as a place for dilettantes and, you know, future investment bankers. And I don't think that is even though our guys are very successful professionally, they they put the work in. And it's you know, we've had, I don't know. Six or seven ranked wins, and and, you know, I think I've coached, like, trying to figure out how many games I've coached. It's Somewhere between, like, twenty and twenty five in four years. So it's still in kind of formative, nascent stage Right now, but culturally and recruiting and the type of people and all of those things that are really Thrilling for me, personally, are starting to kinda coalesce, and so you can you can see the signs of Something really great that's germinating. And as a coach, it's it never happens as fast as you What? Right. Right. Not like a movie. At the end of the two hour movie, everybody's cheering and, you know, you're raising a trophy. You know? It'd be nice if it was It was like that. You have some ups and downs and some some challenges as we're putting this thing together, but those moments of real kind of Inspiration and transformation, they're happening, and they're in that we're in that phase. We're like A startup that's really it's got all the capital. It's got the product. We're putting the Salesforce together, and it's just about to just about to happen. So yeah. That's exciting. I'm thrilled. You're in an exciting phase. And and to be with really impressive Young people who are not, like I think about my brother, you know, going down to Virginia. We have guys on our team that are, you know, public school. You know, dads are civil servants as as well as the whole other spectrum. You know, children of whose parents are, you know, And or one percenters. You know? But each of them learn from each other. Some of the toughest guys I ever coached were, You know, weren't not always the blue collar guys. That's a mythology. You know? Mhmm. But we have a little bit of everything on our team. We've got guys from all over the country from different ethnic and religious and socioeconomic and that stuff. The great thing about a locker room is that all that stuff goes away when you're Yeah. Right. Working out. It's it's it's great equalizer. And, Um, but I but I our guys bring as my brother did, when he you know, being at a great place like Virginia, He could have pried in his pillow and came home, and my parents would have kicked his ass right back to Charlottesville. Or You meet with the teacher. You have that humility that that athletes know better than most. It's why athletes are so impressive, and the athletes at elite schools are even that much more impressive because on the surface, they don't belong. But they find a way Through humility and hard work and disappointment and failing and keep on showing up, all of that, I hunk that feeling in those kinds of guys Right. Because that's where we come from. You know? Yeah. We, I mean, we we saw how hard our parents worked. And without our parents ever having to say that you better work your ass off, you just saw that modeling. My mom was a A bank teller on Hempstead Turnpike at Williamsburg Savings Bank, and my dad was a, you know you know, New York City fire Man, lieutenant, and they just got up and did the work. Right. Yeah. No attribution, no promise of a raise, or You got your two weeks of vacation, and you shut your mouth. You know? And Mhmm. But, you know, we were able to be beneficiaries of They're all their hard work. And so Now let me ask, is there any adjustment, say, for the formula for success at Harvard versus Notre Dame as far as Sounds fairly similar, but they're two different institutions. Is there any change in strategy or anything along those lines? No. You know, I think I think successful like, you know, listen. Some of the some of the variables that we have to review or, you know, a little different. Um, but I think the mindset of successful people at really good schools is that they've learned humility and gratitude for the people who helped them. Like, they really get that. Mhmm. And they they also know that they're not perfect. And that That embracing of imperfection means that they can keep on showing up to practice when they're getting killed or yelled at or the shot's not going in or you're not making saves. They keep on coming back, and they bring that same mindset when they go to the academic side of campus where, like my brother, they might feel like they're years or months behind, and then we we didn't let that that reality didn't let that cripple them, that they they did extra work, and they met with Teachers, and they ask questions. And, like, it it's and and I say it to my guys all the time. It's why You're gonna be unbelievably successful in what you decide to do when you leave Harvard is because the calluses that you've Developed are thick. They keep on getting ripped open. You know, you slap some tape or a Band Aid on it. You keep on showing up. It's it's kinda why at the really good schools, there's this this healthy you know, not rivalry is not the word, but, like Like, the the athletes are successful not because they showed up necessarily with elite credentials. Their elite credentials around effort and competition, curiosity, humility, And just the willingness. How many how how many hours do I have to study? How many practice tests do I need to take? How many times do I need to meet with the tutor? They don't ask. They're they're trying to figure out just like they asked the coach. How hard do I have to shoot? How accurate do I have to shoot? What should I work on? What can I do better to get me on the field? The same thing. And that you know, watching that happen and being a part of it is one of the great things about being a coach. Right. That's awesome. Good stuff. Are we ready to bring Steve on for a few quick I think so, guys. We got a we got a so much. A final segment that takes a little bit of a The different twist from I I think you'll learn that the mahogany is, I think, fake wood when you when you get these nice questions. Those are not lacrosse books Back there. They don't let me ask any of the cross related questions because I don't know what I'm talking about there. But we like to wrap up the podcast with a game that we call pass, fail. Uh, this game is named in honor of the SNC grading option at Brown. With the necessary changes being made for a Harvard guest, tonight we're gonna call it Fail or easy a? So we'll bring up a few different subjects, and, um, I want you guys to give each subject Either a fail or an easy a and then maybe, uh, justify the grade with some commentary. So the first subject, I'm very interested to hear your take on this because, two elite defenders. Subject number one is the new rules for twenty twenty four, specifically the goal prohibitions and the contact to the head and neck. Uh, it seems like these rules are just trying to make it harder to play defense. What are your guys' thoughts on that? Go ahead, Steve. I thought you're gonna talk about the stick. I mean, Uh, you know, the the I I would say it's a fail. It's just, you know, how much more Restriction can you put on a defender, short stick or a long stick in the game? I I I I think it's a fail, and I made this clear. We just had our coaches be mentioned and things like that. It's just too Like like, you know, people always ask, could you play like, these guys are so freaky athletic now. Like, it's a completely different game. The the the referees have a really hard job. There's only three of them. These guys are launching themselves. They're trying to determine Where was the foot? Where did he land? Where was contact? Was he pushed? Did he launch himself? Like so I, You know, I've made it clear that I I don't love that rule. Relative to the contact to the head, there's gonna be a video review on that. Be there'll be video review on some of the the the the jump dive as well is, you know, Like, because guys are so athletic and so physical now, I think it's really good. I think that's a pass That's that's a really good thing. There'll be video review to determine whether someone's gonna be ejected or whether it'll be a one, two, or three minute penalty. So I think that's a really healthy thing. It should be interesting to see how that plays out. Alright. Uh, subject Number two two, this is mostly for Jerry, but, uh, the subject is Matt Damon's character in Good Will Hunting. Uh, is it plausible that a janitor is walking the halls of Harvard who could casually solve an unsolvable mathematical hypothesis. And, uh, have any of your players fit mold of getting into a lot of bar fights while all also maintaining a four point o grade point average. Uh, is this a fail or an easy a? Well, I mean, I know. I think that I think that's a that's a that's an easy, hey. You know? Uh, they they they hired a guy from Levittown to coach Harvard, so That that means anything could happen. Maybe it could happen. Um, the The guy four o's, we had, I think you know, we led division one in GPA for the last we led all of college lacrosse and GPA, five hundred teams, The highest GPA in in college lacrosse. So I know we probably at least half of our team had four o's. Wow. Last year. As far as the the fights, I would I would hope that they would turn the other cheek and and walk the other way so they don't get rejected from from Harvard. So I you know? No. I do not believe that there's full on, uh, brawls going, uh, going on the weekends, I think we're Just just like you and your brother would have done it in Levittown, turn the other cheek. Right? I mean, you know that I mean, that it's exactly what was the the spirit of Levittown as I understand it. There was not a lot of good teeth. The dentist was the most well paid guy. I I I got I got I got into a fight Six weeks into UVA, and I broke a guy's nose, and I and I was sitting in my room going, uh, what am I gonna tell my father when they throw me out? But the guy didn't press any charges, so I was I skated away. Thank goodness. Was it was that the guy that asked you if you if you if you guys were gonna rob him? No. He was on the other he was on the other hall. Alright. So, uh, subject number three is mostly for Steve. Uh, the subject is the Velvet Underground, uh, two members of the band of the band having graduated from Levittown Division high school. Is this music, uh, your cup of tea? Uh, and a follow-up, what kind of, uh, music did the early eighties UVA Teams, listen to in the locker room to get pumped up for games. Uh, the big fan of the Velvet Underground for sure. So that's That's I'm down with that. I I I think I knew. I thought there was one guy. I didn't know there was two guys who were part of the Velvet Underground. Apparently, yeah, the founding member, Uh, was the guitar player, but a, uh, a later drummer for the band was also a graduate of division. Wow. Well, we know we know Nico wasn't in that Because we were not just walking around town. Um, could I ask you? I'm sorry. So we had, um, you know, half the team was from Long Island. The only half primarily was from Baltimore, um, you know, prep school guys. So there was always a battle in the in the, uh, locker room, but, uh, we usually won. And so, like, Southside Johnny was was a a big one. Um, you know, Springsteen, um Nice. You know, the clash, we we would bring the clash in, but south side was, uh, was a was a big one. And he ended up coming to play there in eighty two, I think we saw him. Oh. It's outside Johnny and Yasmin Jukes. Yeah. What? It's outside Johnny and the Jukes. That is awesome. I I have to jump in on the music thing because I'm basically Steve Burns' spirit animal when it comes to to music. When when we were younger, Like so side story, when I got into Chaminade, my parents bumped my oldest brother who didn't play lacrosse. He was a New York City fireman as well. My brother my two oldest brothers got moved, had to share a room. I got my own room. Yeah. Woah. And Wow. Right around right around that time, You know, WLIR, which was the new wave Yeah. Music. So, um, you know, My my my my my brother used to like to have the parties, and they used to Biko by Peter Gabriel was the last song. I knew that's when I to start cleaning up the party before my parents came on. But and, you know, it's like an eight minute song, but, like, WLIR was playing, you know, The Smiths and The Cure and The Clash, and, Like, I became totally immersed in that. So, like, I live in original Velvet Underground album, the banana album, which was, you know, designed by Andy Warhol. I had no idea Got two guys from Levittown. And, Steve, you I had no idea, and I'm like, I know useless trivia like that. Steve did his homework. I'm I'm I'm going deep on that. Trust me. If if Steve Grisolfi will find you slash trivia that you don't know. Trust me. I'm I'm that's another great thing about Levittown. I didn't know. Well, the the other thing is, uh, Billy Billy Joel hung out Levittown at the West Green. Pity. He's a Hicksville guy. Right? There's a line that right? There's a line in the song, um, hanging out at the village green on one of his hits. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Engineered boots, leather jackets, and tight blue jeans. Right? Yeah. That's it. That that that was that was because he lived on the border of Levittown and Hicksville. Right? Awesome. Awesome trivia. I love it. Alright. So, uh, the final subject, and this is one, uh, that I'm sure is a, It's a pressing question that I'm sure a lot of our listeners are now dying to know. Uh, who would win in a fight right now between Steve or Jerry? Not in your prime, Like, today. He works out all the time. I'm I'm you know? He's a big brother, though. Yeah. Could be a liability maybe, though, at this point. My my brother was a tough mother, and he's boxing. My my dad tried to get me into into the boxing. I didn't like I didn't like to get hit in the face. Break your glasses. My My my brother, like, you know, my my dad was you know, God rest his soul was you know, he mellowed a little bit when he was age, but he was a scary cat. And so when When he would go away for these forty eight hour and seventy two hour tours, and, like, when we were bad, man, oh, like, He'd throw us in the backyard. Like, I mean, he was like, you didn't you weren't bad very often. Right. Right. Yeah. And but so my brother ended up, You know, taking boxing lessons with Paul Goldsmith, who's a great another great winner. Was the, uh, division three player of the year at Roanoke, Steve, right, or something like that? Techman The New York Road up. And Steve and Paul Goldsmith boxed in East Meadow. They went you know? And and my Steve would show me Some of this stuff, but, like, he was a bleeder. He he I think Yeah. He he was annoyed. Yeah. My nose just hit my nose. My my dad loved it because he would come. He would take me there if I couldn't get a ride. Um, and he you know? Because that's him and his brothers grew up in Yorkville on you know, up in, uh, up on ninetieth and second Avenue. And, uh, they were just brawlers. And that was that was kind of the coin of the realm back in the forties and the fifties is you gotta you gotta be good with your fists. And, uh, those those guys were very good with their fists. Every every story growing up from, like, the confirmation party and, You know, the Christenings and things like that was and then the fight broke out every every day. Halloween. Jacket. Yeah. Hold my jacket. So Hold my jacket. So Nice. Yep. No. My brother my brother would kick my ass, I think. Well, when you see where that Long Island toughness comes from, you know? I'm the son of a New York City cop. These are two firefighters' kids, and, You know, we're not going to Saint Paul's or Gilman and putting our coats and ties on. Look. Look. Here's the thing that I always struggled with. Okay? I I hated those guys in Baltimore. I was a, you know, I was a Catholic school kid from Annapolis, Saint Mary's High School. I couldn't stand it. Saint Mary's. Yeah. Oh, yeah. See? Ricky Burnette. See? That's right, baby. Yeah. I played I played summer league with Michael Burnette. He walked out there in this old helmet An old crappy stick. All these young kids think they're gonna dominate him, and he was just still like, he was I mean, how much older? He's just ten years older. Yeah. I cut I covered my I know I literally just got a text from Mike Burnett, like, two hours ago. Really? Wow. Legend. I got I got a picture. Mike Mike Burnett, uh, my first year, we didn't really you know, there was no scouting back then, really. And Carolina had gotten all these guys in, and so we had a really good team. So we drive down to Chapel Hill, And, um, Mike Burnett is, like, got springs on. So the starting, uh, one of the starting defenders covering him who's, you know, gonna be the third team all American. He's getting smoked. And, um, the our first team all Americans covering This, uh, this other guy is very good. And, uh, they throw me in a mic on Mike Burnett, and I had never seen him before. So he, He just smoked me. Uh, you know, like, I had never been smoked before. Oh, okay. So smooth, man. He he's So so over four years, I always say he won round one. Uh, he won round two on points, And then I won round three, and then one round four was a TKO. Nice. Not the last last I I I I I remembered everything he did. I mean, I would look at the film and because there was no way that was happening again. Nice. I like it. Guys, well, you know, this is it's a great way to end because, you know, as you guys were going along, Mike Caravanagh is the guy who recruited me, Uh, Jimmy, me as well. Me as well. And, uh, and, you know, Jerry, You know, Andrew Perry, one of your great midfielders who I know is going through some tough stuff physically, this year. But I I played football with his dad, you know, at Brown, his dad tragically passed away. And I was an administrator of Moses Brown where, you know, he he ended up going for his last couple We are some I was just I was just at his house six hours ago. How's he doing? He's great. My the son lives in Providence, so I went down to see him, and I stopped in Barrington on the way, back. He's you know? And, again, his dad's picture, I didn't I kinda probably knew that that you guys would have overlapped with Andrew. He's out he's he's gonna be out this whole year with he had double hip impingement, so he had double hip surgeries. But he's he's back training, and He's you know, so is so is mom, Rosalie. So, yeah, the small world. Pete Lasagna, who you guys all know. He's one of my great Friends, one of the great people in the history of the game. Just super smart and kind and very you know, almost like the conscience of the game in In many ways, Pete Yep. My wife and I celebrated our thirtieth, um, anniversary this summer. We had a vow renewal, and Pete came and Did the Oh, that's awesome. Ceremony. Oh, it was reverend Pete? That's great. Reverend Pete. That's awesome. That was awesome. At this, You know? Uh, you know, I think That's awesome. You know, the connection. On a connective tissue. Hey, Ron. Ron. I, uh, I just had dinner with Mike Caravanna last week down here in, Granville. Really? That's that's awesome. Yeah. Mike I haven't seen Mike in a long time. I saw him a couple years ago at a UVA, uh, reception, you know, like, At a lacrosse game, he was doing well. He's a great guy. He's recruited a bunch of our guys from Willis Brown, and then and then, you know, Andrew's brother's playing for my I got a brother who's seventeen years younger than me. You know, Scott who's the RPI is the head coach, and and, uh, you know, Andrew's twin brothers, This is the goalie there. He's a he's a freaking great player. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, this is why we do this, guys. It's just fun. You know? We're all we're all talking about if there's One degree of separation from Levittown. It's like a half a degree dribble across world. So Steve, did you play with Matt Raynus? I did. Yeah. Hey. Come he he used to come back and coach. I'm from Lindbergh. So, uh Yeah. No. Matt Matt's, uh, he was a He was he was it was like it was like covering Sasquatch. Yeah. You know? He he's like six Three he had these big rounded shoulders, and he, you know, he was he was, uh, you know, he was just manhandle here. Super nice guy. Alright, guys. Well, hey. So much for your time. This has been a ton of fun. Totally awesome, guys. Really great. Thanks so much.

Ron: 38:02

until we meet again, here to, hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the Get the LAX coop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.