HE TURNED DOWN A BRAND DEAL TO HELP A SICK KID (IT PAID OFF)

Welcome And Brand Deal Frustrations

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Okay, so welcome to our podcast. This is a little bit different today because this podcast is a spin-off of our radio show.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Do you have like a welcome you have to say? Like, welcome to the John Jay show. No, bro. I just roll. I just roll.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

We just roll. What do you mean don't get me started on contracts right now? Why?

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Just the it's funny when like you start creating content and brands start reaching out to you, want to do stuff. They're like, we'll give you full creative control. My great. And then you send them videos and they're like, no, we don't like this video. And it's like then they send you an email like two or three weeks later, like, hey, the performance wasn't as good as we thought it'd be. Yeah, because you took away everything I wanted to do on it. Like, and it's just like so frustrating because, like, let me make my videos that I think will be successful. Now, obviously, sometimes videos flop, it's part of the job. Not everything's gonna be successful, but it's just funny when you're like, Yeah, the reason it flopped is because you took out everything that makes me makes my videos great. You took everything out because you didn't want it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

You know, that is extremely relatable to someone in my profession. What happens is you get people that like, you know, so I I'll do commercials on my radio show, and people they hire me to do the commercials, and then they don't like what I say. And I'm like, you're hiring, like, you know what you're getting. You're hiring this personality. Let this personality do its thing. Exactly. So with you, they like what you're doing, but they don't want you to do your thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Exactly. They they're like, Yeah, we like what you're doing, but then like like I pronounce the word wrong, and the brand's like, take it out. I'm like, have you watched my content ever? Like, I pronounce things wrong, everything. I pronounce everything wrong.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

That's just part of my brand. Have you ever done it and won that argument or no?

SPEAKER_02 1:56

It all just usually comes down to what the contract says. So, like if I sign a contract, I you I these days I put like things in it where it protects me, but not really. I will I will say in the last month, there's been a few, not last month, last like few months, there's been two different situations. One of them went the way I didn't want, and then one of them went the way kind of yes, I did win an argument. They they approached brand approached me to do like a brand deal together, and all these ideas they sent me were absolutely terrible. Like I was like on these calls, I'm like, guys, this is gonna do like 10,000 views. No one's gonna watch this because there's like it was the hot dog brand with uh bar as hot dogs, the dying back sponsor. So we kept going back and forth. We probably got another five or six phone calls, and then finally I was like, you know what? I have a really good idea because they wanted it, they wanted me to give away some VIP tickets to the dying backs and sit in that suite behind uh the umpire, like your the TV suite. And I was like, you know what? Dalton, there's this kid named Dalton, he's had like three or four open heart surgeries.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, I went to go see him in the hospital.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Yeah, I went to see him too, and I promised him you get out of the hospital, I'll take you to the dying backs game. So I called his mom, I was like, hey, I got this really cool brand deal. Do you guys want to be a part of it? And we'll surprise Dalton with tickets and stuff. So I called him back after like the fifth division we've made to the contract. I was like, guys, I have a way better idea. Let's give Dalton's family the surprises Dalton's family this amazing VIP experience. We'll take them to the game. Dalton and I make some fun content. And at first they were like, eh, and then they called him back next day, let's do it. And they actually sent me an email the other day saying, I'm glad we listened to you. Because like this whole office like saw the video, and like a few people were like crying because like Dalton's stories are so crazy. So I guess I have won it once, but it took that was like before we made the video. I just called him, I was like, guys, these ideas are just not the best. We can do better. And they actually trusted me, and it performed 10 times better than it would have performed any other way.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

And when you do a brand deal like that, are you getting cashed or you're getting paid?

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Yeah, so that one I did receive some compensation. Uh, but I also got to bless a family, a full family with amazing tickets.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Well, what I'm what I'm getting at too now is that now uh I mean, I guess let me start from the beginning.

The Dalton Idea That Won

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Well, I mean, like you and I, when we first went and had lunch, you were just capital girl. You still you still you had another job. I still have a job. Oh, you still have a job. I thought you were gonna get rid of it.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

I I I I would love to one day. I just make too much money.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Oh, you make too much money in your real job. My real job, yeah. But now you're now you're making money on the job.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

I need my social media to make 3x what it's making right now to quit my job.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Do you I interviewed a girl a couple weeks ago that's pulling in 80 grand a month on TikTok?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

TikTok is we were talking about this earlier. TikTok and Facebook is where the money is the most at right now. For you or for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

What's the most amount of money you've made so far on one of the apps?

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Ooh, one in one month. In one month, I think TikTok, when I went to Fnatic Fan Fest on TikTok in a month because I just had a lot of videos pop. Um, but like last month I made bucks from TikTok. It's very up or down. I think that's the issue with content, is like the money. Everyone's like, oh, you're gonna make a lot of money. I'm like, I don't know, it's 2026. I think I've made me, which is still money, but so far from which is still good money, I'm not complaining. But also like I've had to buy a brand new iPhone just for content, I had to buy a new camera just for content, plus all the meals and travel I pay for out of myself.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Like the profits probably like maybe you bought a separate iPhone just for content. So now you have your normal iPhone that you talk on and you made one just for content. Why? Why not just use the same one for both?

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Uh, because a lot of times when I'm recording, I want to look something up. And if like I'm talking to the camera, because I use my iPhones for everything, it's like, how am I gonna look it up? So it's just got easier to just have one phone for recording and one phone for life. Like, only thing I do on that phone is recording. I don't do anything else.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

The phone that you record on, does it not have a phone number?

SPEAKER_02 5:50

No, I don't I don't even put a number on it.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

And it's better to do it like that on an iPhone than an actual camcorder.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

It just depends on the type of content creator you want to be. Like a lot of people want to be creators that their stuff is top niche, top top, uh quality, like 4K and all that stuff. Um, that's not me. I'm just an authentic dude who likes to make videos.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

You are so you know what about you? You have beautiful eyes. Oh, thank you. Do you get that a lot? Not from men, but from sometimes from women I do do good. Well, that's like with the way you have the lighting on your I'm seeing it now on here, but when you do the lighting on your videos, when you have it really close up, you can know your eyes pop up. I need to start like looking at the camera like this now on my videos.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Like, good morning, guys. Look at my eyes.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Wait, let's start, let's get to your origin story,

Money, Gear, And Keeping A Job

SPEAKER_00 6:33

bro. Because I'm so this will be fun. I feel since you and I had that first lunch at Capitol Grill, I think you exploded after that.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

I think Yeah, you were you gave me really good advice too, and I I will always greatly appreciate that because we were when we were when we were sitting there, you you were like, I kind of felt like you're being a little bit of a dad, and it was really cool because like that's just for me, like people who give me advice, I always appreciate. And you just like there was like a 60-second window that you were just like, dude, you have something so great going for you. You have you've stumbled upon something so cool, don't f it up. And I was like, I needed to hear that. So um, no, I it's definitely has changed so much since the time that we went out to lunch. And now, like, even if you look at from probably March to now, I think in from March to now, I gained like a hundred thousand on Instagram. That's great, man. That's insane numbers. And just to think, like, dude, I have stuff on my phone, I still haven't even posted that it's gonna go viral. Like, I interviewed Bobby Lee and I still haven't even posted it.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

The comedian? Yeah. Oh, yeah, you know, we had him in our studio and he took off all his clothes and got naked. See on YouTube, you can see it.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

It's gonna be a really funny clip because I asked him, I was like, What's your favorite restaurant? He's like, This some Korean barbecue spot or something. He's like, Have you ever been? I was like, no. He's like, Oh, because it's because you hate Koreans. I'm like, no, I Bobby, I did not just say that. That's just who he is, though. He's a hairyest guy. But like, I don't know where I was going with that, but I just think like my content's even gonna get bigger. I've slowed down a little bit right now, but like September to May is like prime time out here. I just think like next like nine months. You mean for athletes and athletes, celebrities, meetups. We also have so much coming here. Like we have UFC here next weekend or in two weekends now. That'll be a big event. We'll have a lot of people in town for that. Next year we have the Rumble. That's gonna be insane with content. So is uh base management again. Then we have the NBA All-Star game here this next year.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

You're gonna be rocking. And then I'm Are you getting credentials or you just still bombard people like you like you did?

SPEAKER_02 8:30

I I will say what's funny is everyone likes when I find people naturally more. Uh-huh. Whenever it's like set up privately, the comments are always like, Oh, you guys met up outside the restaurant. I'm like, Yeah, because you guys I set things up privately. So people still seem to like when I find them natural, but these days I mostly just send emails to PR people, get it set up, and it is cool when you when you just come up to people and say, Hey, so and so.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Those are the best clips.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

I mean, those are those are always the best clips.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

You're getting them real, it's authentic, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Those are always those clips always do five X the numbers than anything else because you get such a different reaction. Like, you can't, like, if you don't know what's coming, then you just you give me such a better reaction. Like, it's fine, I'll do it the other way, which I uh it's easier, it's a lot easier just to send an email, get it set up. But like if I'm at a sporting event and I see X, Y, and Z person there, it's just so much better. Like, same thing with like when I met Dana White. Uh, he didn't know what was coming, he didn't know the question was coming the first time. So I got a great reaction. Even the second time I met him, like I just bumped into him, and it just is such a great reaction because it was so natural. So, like, I prefer bumping into people like that, and then instead of setting things up, but at the same time, the bigger is bigger you get, the bigger you want to scale. Those people don't have as much time, harder to get a hold of. So you got to kind of set things up.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

But now you're doing like when you're you you ask them what's your favorite restaurant in Arizona, and then when you're out at different places, like when I think you're in New York, New York, you were like, What's your favorite restaurant in New York? Or do you yeah?

SPEAKER_02 9:59

So I want to expand, I want to take this a little bit out of Arizona. I think it'll always be heavily Arizona, but like I think the first two markets I want to capitalize on are Vegas and LA. So I think everybody who lives in Arizona, you're gonna go to Vegas looking for restaurants. You're gonna go to LA, you're gonna go to San Diego looking for restaurants. So I think the first expansion is gonna be let's do some heavy LA content, more Vegas, more San Diego, and maybe try to take Mr. AZ Sports to like the southwest of the United States for a few years and just expand it that way and then see see if maybe that's big enough, and then maybe in a few years reevaluate to see if I go United statewide. But like at the same time, like I'm gonna go to Florida sometime soon because Tebow told me a restaurant in Florida, I still haven't posted it that I need to fly out there and go try it. I'm going to Canada in October to go film two videos.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

So, like I you say to go for film two videos. You've got two interviews set up already.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

No, I actually just I've already have the people's interviews on my phone and I just need to go to restaurants.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

You should try the food. Yeah.

Scaling Up Beyond Random Run Ins

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Do you reach out to the restaurant and see if they'll comp your meal?

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Uh actually these days, I I I would say for the last year, I usually asked it to be hosted at most restaurants. Now I'm actually just starting to pay for it all because I'm making money. It's like I might as well just pay for it all. Because what's also more fun is when I'm there, not on a hosted experience, I can kind of be just myself. Like I can be like, oh, you're charging $400 for a tomahawk ribeye? That's ridiculous, but I would still pay for it. Like I get I felt like always bad talking prices when I'm on a hosted experience. So like I've actually kind of gone back to where like so then you can be as authentic. You don't have to. I don't have to worry about anything. I don't need to worry about. Of course, I'm going to always try to be super positive and not like, oh, this is the worst thing in the world. I don't like when people do that. Because like, who am I to judge one per one place and be like, this place sucks? I'm not like that. But I just I think it's way more fun when I can just go there. Don't have to worry about some manager coming out and be like, hey man, I don't like how you said that. Like, if I'm on pain on my own, I can just be I can just be myself.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Exactly. I don't have to worry about it. So when you you so you said you look at all the analytics, right? So so which which which athlete is your highest performing athlete?

SPEAKER_02 12:04

You know what's always funny is those everyone, anytime that I think of this one's gonna go really, really viral, I'm like, oh disappointed me. And then the ones I never suspect go viral are the ones that go viral. Right now, probably my most successful video, at least this year, was Jake Plummer's.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Oh, really? Yeah, but what about of all time?

SPEAKER_02 12:24

All time what was Jake Plummer's favorite restaurant? It's called Casey Renoja, Renosis, it's in Tempe. It's this hidden Mexican restaurant. Unbelievable. Really? Okay. It blew up so much that I believe I need to call them to make sure, but we're doing a news segment there on Thursday. Oh, good.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

About how the I love how you got all of a sudden you're everywhere, dude. I'm everywhere. I know.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

That was uh uh Kenny Dillingham's nickname for me for the first two years was you're the everywhere guy before he met my name, before he knew my name. And then one day he comes up to me, I need to know your name, bro. I'm like, I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Well, you know what happened with me and you. So you had been DMing me a while to do this segment. And then my son comes home from Hawaii and he says, Dad, have you seen this guy? And I go, which guy? And he goes, Mr. AZ Sports, he interviews everybody. And I was like, Here's my 21-year-old son telling me that you're cool. And I'm like, he's been reaching out to me, really. So I was like, Yeah, let's do it. So it was really so so okay, wait, wait. So your biggest one of all performing this year is is Jake Plummer.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Jake Plummer. I don't know of all time. I think it I don't I would have to go look at numbers, but like Jake Plummer did three million on Instagram. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Um, that's so far is I think it's been the peak for at least Instagram for athlete or overall, overall because you had if you've had some actors on there too, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

I've had some actors. Steve O did like a million, which was fine. I I thought I was gonna do more because did they share it? Did Steve's share? Oh, he shared it on his uh account. He didn't accept the collab, but he shared on the story. Oh I thought it was gonna do more because like I met him Thursday, Jackass was coming out Thursday, right? And I ran into him at the premiere here, right? And then I literally booked a flight on Friday afternoon at four o'clock, flew to Vegas to film the video and flew back and was home by 10 p.m. Because I was like, this video is gonna go hell viral. It did a million, I'm not upset by it, but like I spent like a thousand dollars filming that video and made like 200 bucks, and I was like, Because you went to the restaurant that he recommended that day, and I just I bought a last-minute flight, which you know, if you buy a flight same day, those are just expensive, expensive as heck. So I thought it was gonna do more, but not complaining with a million views. I just thought, like, with Steve O jackass coming out, oh, this is gonna maybe do like 10 million because it's so viral right now, and it did like one million. I was like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

When you did Jake Plummer, did you just bump into him somewhere?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I actually bumped into him in New Orleans when the Cardinals were out there last year at the week one. It was like last September, and just it usually just takes me a few months to post videos. I just want to make sure it's right timing and think of a story. So I just sat on it for a while, and then one day we were in tempee and we're like, let's just go, let's just go here. We're already, I'm already here, and it popped off. So yeah, we're doing the news reached out and they want to do a segment

Ethics, Backlash, And Restaurant Impact

SPEAKER_02 15:04

on it. Cause I guess this is why I always I'm doing a speech on this tomorrow or Wednesday at a festival, like a food conference. But everyone's you'll you see those videos. Oh, influencers suck. Influencers suck. And it's like, okay, you see all these videos. Why is no one ever made uh video saying, Yeah, this creator changed my restaurant? This restaurant was sold out for like three months almost every night because you're posting it because of my video. Wow, and they said they now we're doing like a news there, and like the owners are like, We're this random dude just came in, made a video, and for like three months our whole business was changed. I had to hire more people, and like we're still busy because of it. We've been busier since then. I'm like, okay, you guys all say these all these people are like creators suck, which I get it. There's bad apples, but like I can tell you like five or six restaurants that have reached out to me afterwards, like, dude, our numbers the last two months, thank you. Thank you. So, like, that's why I always get frustrated when people are like, Oh, creators suck.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

I'm like, Well, there's some creators like the one, you know, and I think it went viral because the woman reached out to the restaurant and said, If you pay me, I'm gonna come to your restaurant, do a good review. And they're like, We don't pay for reviews, and then she trashed the place.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah, that's not right. I don't think I don't I one, I'll never I would never say, Hey, you give me X amount of money, I'll give you a good review. If you don't, I'm gonna give you a bad review.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

That's that's what I like about you is that you got morals, you got integrity, you got boundaries.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Yeah, that's just morals and integrity. Like, I don't I I've I've only charged like one or two restaurants to even come in. And every time I've charged them, it was because I've gone in before, brought them a ton of business, and they've offered. And I was like, okay, I'll take it if you're offering. I usually like I like I said, for the last two years, all I asked was like, hey, caught my meal, and now even so I don't even ask for that anymore.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

I just pay for it because so you you will charge a restaurant to to go in there and do a review or just to come in there and eat.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

It if it's somewhere like I have really no desire to eat and they're really asking me, like they could pay me to come in.

Fasting And Staying Healthy Eating Out

SPEAKER_02 16:52

But I like I said I've only taken two of those.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Let me ask you this. So I I like I I like what you do, and I've often thought about doing stuff like that. But my I'm trying to eat as healthy as I can. And I remember I used to watch man versus food, and I'd be like, I could take on this man versus food guy, I could kick his ass. I said, but I think I'd gain so much weight.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

So how are you maintaining your health and well I'm up I'm up like 15 pounds since I've started, so that's not the best. Well, how long have you been doing it?

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Two years?

SPEAKER_02 17:18

About two and a half years, yeah. It's not bad. That's not bad, no. And uh I eat so I am I typically go through phases about from like September to May. I'll probably lose all the weight because I'll start running again. Okay, that's what I mean. Um but I also do intermittent fasting. Oh yeah, so do I. I haven't eaten yet today.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Neither have I.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Oh, I have, I have. See?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Oh, I'm I'm when do you eat? I'm on 18 hours.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

I eat, I I first usually meal about five and that's about it. Oh, wow. So my routine is I have a double shot espresso at 8 a.m. I have a power pop diet coke at 10 a.m. And then about one or two o'clock, I have a 32 ounce green tea, and that will hold me over till about 5 p.m. I'll have dinner about 5:30, and then sometimes at 7 or 8, I'll have a little snack if I'm is your dinner at home or at a restaurant? It's usually always out and about at a restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Like, so where are you going today?

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Uh Kid Sister. They just want a Michelin bib. Oh, wow. And I've ever been.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

So are you going by yourself?

SPEAKER_02 18:11

No, my buddy Hunter from Capital Farms. So Capital Farms, who I think has the best burger in Arizona, supplies the meat for to Kid Sister. So he wants to go check the burgers, see how their meat is doing. So we're going to go there tonight.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

So you've made some friends doing this.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

I've made some of the cool I've met that's the best part. It's not the any money, it's not any status or anything. It's meeting all these people and how many people have become friends and how many like Chef Joey. You know Chef Joey, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:40

You want to hear something funny about Chef Joey? I don't think I've ever met him. Oh my gosh, I'll we'll change that tomorrow. But but let me tell you, I have I our paths crossed 30 years ago, I just found out. So his dad is Yeah. Who's his dad? I've I Tomasos.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

I only know Chef Joey.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Tommaso's, right, Blake? Yeah, his dad had a legendary restaurant called Tommaso's. Okay. My wife and I got married 30 years ago. And um, I found out from my father-in-law not that long ago that Chef Joey and his sister like catered our after party. That's crazy. 30 years ago. So I've been waiting to talk to him about it.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Yeah, we but I haven't seen him. You want me to face some? He'd pick up right now. I've been to his restaurant. That's that's that's like my guy.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

So like uh what's he have?

SPEAKER_02 19:18

I've been to a couple Italiano, he's got Mexicano, he's got oh my gosh. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Is it where's the one where we went and ate all the meatballs? The big meatball. What's that one? Is it is it Sicilian Butcher? Sicilian Butcher says to him. He's 22. Well, tell him I said hello. I look forward to meeting him.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Um, but like Seth Joey and I, we partnered together, and we uh last it was a Saturday night, we did what I don't even know what we called it, but we just basically did this food food festival where it was pretty much was an open bar, but we didn't weren't strict about how many people can have. But for $150, you can come have a few cocktails, and then we serve 15 dishes family style, and we sold 212 tickets at $150 a piece and had about 230 people there. And every single person was like, This was one of the coolest nights. Somebody got engaged, so there's gonna there's gonna be a wedding out there that says, Yeah, I got engaged at Mr. AZ Sports Festival.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

I'm like, Oh, that's what it was called.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

I we we didn't really name it. We I called I named it like Mr. AZ Eats. I don't know. We just threw something random on it. That's great, man.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Chef Joey Smart for partnering with you. Yeah, smart.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

So stuff like that. That's the stuff that's like the best part is like meeting people like Chef Joey now that he's become a dear friend.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

We gotta talk to his dad his about his dad's like a legendary restaurant here. I didn't know that. Yeah, I mean, legendary. Tomasos was a legendary restaurant for many, many, many, many, many.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

I mean, it makes sense. He's good at everything he does. Yeah, I don't know his whole story, but ask him. I'm beginning with a podcast.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

So let's go to your

The Origin Story Behind The Question

SPEAKER_00 20:46

origin story. How did this start? Because I I mean you're Mr. AZ Sports, you're not Mr. Foodie.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Yeah, so when the Dyingbacks made the World Series in 2023, uh we were at a draft party, not a draft party, a watch party for game after game two when the Dyingbacks played the Rangers. And there was a our first baseman, Christian Walker, was like one in 41 in the playoffs this year, struggling. So we were leaving the watch party, and the news was out interviewing people. And I was with my roommate. So they interviewed my roommate and then they interviewed me, and I'm like, we need to give Christian Walker, Christian Walker Sandy Ovation. He's struggling. We need to get the city, needs a rally behind this guy, it'll help him get going. And the news people were sitting there like rolling their eyes at me, like trying to brush me off. I kept pulling the microphone away, and I got I got so mad. Still to this day, it still pisses me off. So I get home, I go to bed, I write a tweet that says, if you're going to game three or four, game, if you're going to game three, four, or five of the World Series, we need to give Christian Walker standing elevation. I send it at 12, 11 o'clock at night. I go to bed, wake up about 8 a.m. I have a hundred text messages, 45 phone calls. I'm like, what is going on? I pull up it, pull it up. In eight hours, the tweet did a hundred thousand views. And they're talking about it on 98 7 Cam Cot. Made a video about this, and this one I was this is literally when I was like a thousand followers, a fun account on X.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Were you Mr. AZ Sports?

SPEAKER_02 22:07

I think I still had the name Mr. AZ Sports at that time because that that started from we can get into that from a second, asking about the tattoos. But so I so I'm at the gym working out, and I get another phone call like, Oh my gosh, 987's talked about it all day. So I was like, okay, let's make a sign. So I made a sign that says give Christian Walker standing ovation and walked, walked outside, walked around the World Series game for two hours. And then Christian Walker comes up to bat, and 47,000 people stood up and gave him a standing ovation. He gets a he misses a home run. Here's the yellow line, it hits right here. It would have been the craziest moment of my life if that actually went over this close. So I get home and I'm like, okay, if I could do that with this much of effort, if I could get a whole stadium to give a standing ovation, what could I do if I put a little bit of effort into social media? So it took about six or seven months about just figuring out like how to make a video, what's horizontal, what's landscape, how like how to even write a script, what is a hook, how do you edit a video? So I was starting to make content here and there, but like I wasn't consistent at all. And then June came of 2024, and I had this idea like, you know what? All these people right now, the trend back then was to break into social media, you had to do like weird challenges. Like the there was a guy on social media who was going viral because he ate Chipotle for a thousand days. Right. So I was like, okay, what could I do that could give me credibility to break into social media? I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go to every Arizona Dyingbacks home game, Sons home game, Cardinals home game, ASU football, ASU basketball, go to 150 Arizona sporting events in one year, and let's just see what happens. I was single, really didn't have much going on in life. So I was like, forget it, I'm just gonna do it. So I went to every game, 150 games from for one year, and about 75 games into it, I was like, So for dying backs games, you could bring outside food in. So I would bring like tomahawk steaks, I'd bring shrimp, I'd bring sushi, bring full buffets of barbecue at the games. They were like, what the heck? This is awesome. This guy just goes to games and brings random food. So I did that for like 60, 70 games. Then I was like, okay, there's there's a there's a lifespan on this. There's only so many meals you can take to a dying backs game to be entertaining, there's only so many things you can do. So I was like, I gotta think of the evolution of this.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

So smart. You're so smart.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

I think I think through everything. So about 70 games in, I'm like, okay, every single game, I've like ran into an athlete, ran into someone famous, ran into X, Y, and Z. I don't want to be that guy that takes photos because everyone does that. So at home last night, oh not last night, one night. I was at home one night. I wasn't the most sober if people can understand what that means. I took a Starburst. Okay. Um, and I was watching Daniel Mack. Do you know? Do you know Daniel Mack? I have no idea. He's the guy that goes up to everyone in their cars. Hey, what do you do for a living? What do you do for a living? Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

And I was like, dude, this is so great. It's a short bit, people engage with it, and he's made his whole career about it. I'm like, okay, I don't want to be that. I don't want to do what you do for a living. But I'm like, there's gotta be a simple question. What do I like? Food. I'm just gonna ask him in their favorite restaurant. So next day we were sitting pre-game at the Suns game. Rex Chapman was next to me, and I was like, all nervous. I got my phone out, like, hey Rex, like you could watch the camera. The camera's like going up like this. It's terrible. And I'm like, hey Rex, what's your favorite restaurant? He's like, Richardson's. I'm like, what do you get? Bacon wrapped shrimps. So next day I drove there, went to Richardson's, filmed a video, had 5,000 followers. It did 60K. I'm like, oh boy, we might have something here. So I was like, oh, I know where Tom Chambers is. So I go to go go over there. I go to Tom Chambers. I'm like, Tom, what do you where's your favorite restaurant? What do you want? Great clip. Great. Still to this day, Tom's like, I was one of the first. I was like, yeah, you were like the second, you were the second one and the most successful one that made me want to go all in on it. So I forget his restaurant off the top of my head. I go to there, I go film it, does half a mil. I'm like, okay, I've really got something here. Waste management comes. I meet up with Tori Lavelle, meet up with Zach Gown, get a bunch of content, Miguel Matera, and it continues just to steamroll and steamrolls. And it after about two months, I was like, this is it. This is my this is my bit. Like I've created, I've created something. It's not big yet, and it just kept it's kept going and going. And now it's gotten to a point where it's like, it's crazy, man.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

So are you more of a sports guy or are you more now of a food critic?

SPEAKER_02 26:24

I like making content. That is what I like to do. I I wouldn't say I'm anything. If because like when Salad and Go's story broke, I went and just covered Salad and Go for like four days and just made a bunch of content.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

I'm still under the umbrella of food.

unknown 26:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Have you done anything that has nothing to do with sports or food?

SPEAKER_02 26:40

When's I guess I guess it was still food when zips got rated? I did the same thing. I covered zips. I just like making content. So like I I would say I'm probably more of a food person now, but like, is that gonna change in a year? It absolutely could. I think I'll always have what's your favorite restaurant. That's gonna be something I always want to develop, but I don't like being put into just one box saying you have to do food or sports. Like good. I like just making content. And like if tomorrow I decide to make a video covering something else, I that's what I want to do. Like, that's why I like I like to I just like to make videos. I just like to be entertaining and like to provide good information.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Have you done a video yet on the best movie theater popcorn?

SPEAKER_02 27:19

No, but that's because I don't I can't really eat popcorn, and I still am a little upset about uh movie theaters.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Why? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_02 27:29

I got fired from one when I was 17 years old.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

What which one? Harkins. Really? Yeah. Should I connect you with Dan Harkins? I work out with Dan Harkins a couple times a week.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Well no, it's uh we were we were young and dumb. We took home, they let us take home popcorn. So we took his mom's recipe. Yeah, we took home like five gallon, 20 bound bags of popcorn, and we put it on someone's house and we decorated their house with popcorn. So it's just all popcorn, like a look like a snow, but popcorn kernel. It was hilarious. And then we found out that dad used to be the vice president of Harkins. So we made one phone call, and you just see me walking out with these popcorn bags out of Harkins, and they're like, Yeah, what happened? And I was like, Yeah, well, this is I'm gonna get fired.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Well, you were 17 and you played a proper joke. That was because here I have this thing with uh Harkins popcorn is so delicious, but Roadhouse popcorn is really delicious too. And I thought it'd be kind of cool to have you tell me which is better. That's it. You and I will go to movies now. I'm I'm I'm always down for I'm a big movie guy. We'll go to the movies, we'll have popcorn, we'll review the movie, review the popcorn. I I'm big, I'm a big movie guy. Well, that's a freaking fascinating story for me, man. For to hear that story for you. It's just fantastic, man.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

The the what the origin story? Your whole origin story. Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

It's but what about your when you said you have

Access, Tickets, And Chasing Booker

SPEAKER_00 28:44

a real job? What's that?

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Yeah, I do insurance. So I settle injury claims. So uh if you get in like a very serious accident, it comes to my desk and I gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

So you actually go to work nine to five?

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Or do you have a living room, but yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Yeah, so you see your living room.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

Yeah, it's in my living room. I work about like I probably get in about 6 30 and work anywhere from like two to three. Every day?

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

Even on weekends?

SPEAKER_00 29:07

No, Saturday to Sundays I'm off. So what about when you go to all these ball games and it's late at night? You still get up to do. Just get up and grab your living room.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

I I I I I will say I don't usually stay out late that much anymore. Like if I'm going to a game, I'm super lame these days. Unless I have like a courtside ticket, about like the fifth or sixth inning, and I'm like usually leaving now because I'm just like, I'm just too tired.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Are teams giving you tickets now? Nope. You just buy your own tickets still. Buy my own tickets. I think that these teams at this level now are gonna want you.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Sun Sun sometimes will text me and be like, hey, we have something super cool in XY and Club. Where are you? We'll take you down there or give me a wristband or something. Like the Sun sometimes, like the it's not even the Suns, it's like the EV group, the managing group behind all the food stuff. Like if they're like, hey, we have a really cool the like they had a really cool fish down there the other day during the Suns game. So they text me like, Hey, are you here? We'd love for you to just like even post a photo of it on your story. So fish? Yeah, they had like some really cool fish, I think it was. I don't remember exactly what it was, but like they had a really cool fish, and then they also had like a cheese wall, a ball cheese ball of butter or something. And they're like, hey, just post it on your story, come on down, we'll walk you down there for a few minutes, post it. But yeah, I don't really get tickets from anybody, and typically when I do get tickets, I usually just give them away.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

I've seen the uh a couple of the videos. I think you've tried to get Booker a couple times. Did he ever come clean with his favorite restaurant? So we're working on it. Uh but you've got him a couple times. Did he not give you an answer?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

No, he still is not giving me an answer. But he said it's very tough for him because we're gonna go, we're gonna he said we're gonna go do dinner together. So we're I'm waiting to hear back from him. I've been in con talk with his team for a while. What I found out is it's which I get it. It's Devin Booker's probably the biggest name in Arizona Sports right now. He can't go anywhere without getting bugged. So he kind of doesn't really go much. We actually I actually lost a bet to his dad about it. Because I his dad early on told me he's like, There's no way my son will ever answer that question. I'm like, I'll get him to say one. He's like, I'll bet you anything. I was like, bet. We'll just do a friendly handshake, bet. I'll see if we can get him to answer it. And I ran into Booker three times. And first time I asked him, What's your favorite restaurant? He's like, that's a good question, and walked away. I was like, Mother. And then two days later, I run into him again. I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna ask him again. I doubt he saw it video or whatnot. I'm like, hey, Book, what's your favorite restaurant? He's like, You asked me that two days ago and walked away. I'm like, You come on, Book, like you're killing me. So I was like, whatever. So I let it go for a long time because I just I didn't run into him. And then at I was at the UFC from the McGregor fight, and I'm sitting there, like, where the VIPs walk in, because that's where I get a lot of content, because it's just a good spot. And Dylan Brooks walk in. I'm like, ooh, Brooks is inside. I was like, I mean, Booker might be coming in. So then I see a security guard in the bathroom. I was like, oh, Book's here then. And then about five minutes later, Book walks out, and this is the only opportunity that would ever happen like this because Book would get killed anywhere else. But like, because it was in Vegas, no one knew it was Book. So I was like, I just had a one-on-one opportunity and we sat there and talked for like two minutes. And he's like, We'll go out to dinner. So we're we'll get a setup. I haven't a really good.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Oh, you talked for two minutes not on camera.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

We talked for like 20 seconds on camera, and then when the camera turned off, we talked for like two minutes. He went to watch the fight, and then after the fight, he came out and we just talked for a minute or two about the fight. We're like, this fight was so dumb. He's like, I can't believe I just paid that money for that. Did he give you an answer on their favorite restaurant? No, we're good. No, you're we're what about you?

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Where's your favorite restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 32:30

I go where I I have communed yet. Because I'm out to dinner. Dinner for me is not like uh, oh my gosh, I'm going for the best food. Like, I eat good food every night.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

So for me, if I'm gonna go to a restaurant that on my own for fun, I go where it's like community. So two two typical spots I go to. If I want to impress somebody or take somebody out who's like, I'm like, oh, I want to take them a good meal, I take them DiMaggio's. I haven't been there yet. I've heard of you who owns that place, uh Brandon DiMaggio, not Brandon DiMaggio, that's not his last name. Frank DiMaggio.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Somebody wants us to go to dinner there. Was it Carly? Carly and Nico.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

Well, anyway, I haven't been there yet. But Frank DiMaggio, and then the Brandon's a co-owner chef, unbelievable. So, like, if I want to impress someone, I go there. If I'm like shorts and a t-shirt, half asleep, and don't want to be seen, I go to Mexicano with Chef Jelly.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Okay. I was there once for a cigar de Miley.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

I I just like that spot because it's right by my house. Chef Joey, I go in, Chef Joey just takes care of it, takes care of me, and I just I can go hide.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Well, let me tell you something. When you asked me, you said, What's your favorite restaurant? It was such a hard answer because I Oh, you gave me like 17 answers.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

You said the best view in the valley, you go to Thaya, yeah, you go to Capital, Capital Grill for the steak. You also go to this breakfast joint over easy for the Wolfpegancakes, and then for dessert, you said something else. I'm like, John, sushi.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

I had an answer for sushi. I'm like, brother, like I just needed one. And I I actually like sometimes by myself when I'm alone, I pretend you're asking me, and I can't give, I can't get a straight answer because I love I love food so much, but there's like some. I'll ask you again sometime one day. But like to me, I think like overall, if you were to ask me my favorite restaurant, overall, I have to say steak 44. Everything they have there is fantastic. Yeah, but but my favorite steak is Capitol Grill.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

So how can you say it's your favorite steak? How can you stay?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

You had that steak with me.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

You're right. But how can you say steak 44 is your favorite restaurant when you don't even go there for the best steak?

SPEAKER_00 34:25

I because I can't get everyone else to go eat the same steak I have. If we if I have other people with me, if I dude, I was going to Capitol Grill by myself getting that steak. I love Capitol Grill. That was a great steak to earn it, but it's a great steak. Yeah, right? By the way, I think I started the trend of the people that like you ask them and then they go meet you for lunch. I took that. Yeah, you were the you were the first one. I was for I said, you were this is my favorite steak, and I'm gonna meet you there and take you to lunch.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Yeah, you were the first one. That was I was not as uh I'm much better at that content now than I was back then. Back then. Still, even funny is like unless the person has a really good personality, sit-downs don't really do well for me.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Oh, you mean on on the post? Yeah. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Unless they have a really good personality. Because a lot a lot of people, which is fine, they just don't have that like you're you're an electric person, you you have a very good personality. A lot of guys are quiet, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with being quiet, but like especially when you bust out a fork with a microphone. I get it, they get camera shy or something, but it's like it's hilarious because I'm like, oh, this video's gonna go hell viral because they went with me. I'm like, oh, that didn't do well at all. But okay, so it's very interesting. I gotta like pick and choose those because like it just seems like it's like a waste of time for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

No, yeah, you don't want to waste your time and you know what hits. Yeah. Uh is there a celebrity that has pissed you off?

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Oh, there's been a I mean, dude, it's it's life. You're not gonna, you're not that's been the hardest part for me to accept is not everyone's gonna like you, and you have to be okay with that. 50% of people are probably gonna hate you for no reason, and that's been the hardest part. So as a rare celebrity, it pissed me off. Not really. Um, I'm not gonna say who, but there was one guy who I literally thought might throw hands at me. Um, and it was just a complete disaster. Did you post it? No, it has never been posted. Is it an Arizona person? It's never, that's you're never gonna know. Come on. Why can't you say Arizona? Because I just maybe they had a bad day. Because I've had bad days. Like it's never seen him again? I haven't seen him again. I'll ask him again if I see him. I don't care. So you're like, what's your favorite restaurant? And they were like, get out of my face. Pretty much. And they were like, it was like, I was like, hey, what's your favorite restaurant? He's like, Why do you care? I'm like, okay. And then we had like an event, so I had like an opportunity to ask him again. I'm like, hey man, what's your favorite restaurant? He's like, Why do you keep bugging me? I was like, Okay, I will, I will go. I'm like, just so you know, the brand is the one who said they're gonna introduce me to interview you. So like it was in like the contract that I was gonna interview you, but okay, I'll let it go.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

So you have brands sometimes set up the interview, they've got deals with these.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

Yeah, so we're doing I

Brands, Awkward Celebs, And Big Plans

SPEAKER_02 36:58

can't say who yet, but we're doing I'm doing one with probably like six people here soon with a brand.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

And they six athletes? Yeah, six different athletes with one brand. Yeah, it'll be three and three. What does that mean? Like a group of three and a group of three. So you're gonna be like, hey, what's your favorite restaurant? What's your favorite restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 37:14

Or I don't know exactly how we're doing it yet, but I do get a lot of emails from brands saying, hey, we have like James Harden just opened a restaurant. Oh, yeah, in Scouts. Yeah, they they said, hey, something like that. Some sandwich spot. They're like, hey, do you want to come to the opening? Harden will be here. We'll introduce you to him. Unfortunately, it was just in Vegas, but they reach back out and said, We're gonna have an event, X, Y, Z Day, I forget the day. Harden will be there. We'd love for you to do something hardened. That'd be cool. So, like, stuff like that happens all the time, which I absolutely love.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Well, you can answer the restaurant he's at.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Yeah, but you can make it fun. You can make it fun, you can still make it fun. Like, I can still I can ask him that, do that deal, and like, hey, James, now what is your favorite restaurant that you don't own? Like, you can there's other ways to do it, or be like, so it's just like, yeah, he might he'll say that because he wants to promote his own business, but there's also a way I can interview him, ask him other questions, and just make a really cool video. So it's just like, sure, he's gonna say his favorite restaurant right now is the one he opened, or just have him say that and then be like, James, tell me where do you go when you don't? Um, James is such a big name, I wouldn't be surprised if he just has a chef. Um, James has so much money.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yeah, but he also goes out to the clubs. I always hear about him.

SPEAKER_02 38:20

Yeah, we we I can't do strip clubs for no, I don't mean strip clubs. That's where he goes, though.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Yeah, but he also goes to this one hookah uh this one hookah place. I remember I remember the uh he went to ASU and I think he dated one of the Kardashians. Ask him, what's your favorite Kardashian? Who's your favorite Kardashian? No. Have you ever had an athlete or a celebrity give you an answer you were like, whoa, you were surprised by good or bad?

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Yeah, all the time. Like Jake Plummer's Casa Reno's Renosas. Yeah, what else? Give me another one. I was very surprised. Uh I've got a lot of Lolo's chickens and waffles.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Freaking love Lolo chicken waffles. I've had Lolo on this podcast. He's my neighbor. He's a great guy.

SPEAKER_02 38:54

I just am surprised how many people are obsessed with that restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

It's so damn good. Uh maybe I did it wrong. Cheese, the banana pudding. Oh, you maybe I did it wrong.

SPEAKER_02 39:01

I'm it was fine.

SPEAKER_00 39:03

But like every time I go there and eat there, it's like Thanksgiving times 10. I can't breathe, I can't move. I need to I have to lay down for a couple hours, maybe a day or two. Yeah, I gotta go back there soon. What'd you get when you went? The chicken and waffles.

SPEAKER_02 39:15

Just chicken and waffles.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Oh, there's so many other things on that menu that's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Yeah, that's what I that's what I've learned. Like the comments were just like, you ordered this wrong, you did it wrong.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

I'm like, okay, I'll have you been to his other restaurants?

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Uh what else does he own?

SPEAKER_00 39:26

He's got Sip and Brunch.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

No, I haven't been there.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Oh my god, dude. They've got a wait, they got a and Warren's Stupper Club.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Warren's Supper Club. I went down to there the other day. That was actually That was pretty good. That was actually pretty good. I was surprised.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

But uh Sip and Brunch, he had this right off of Indian school. He has uh French toast with um fruity pebbles on it. And pancake.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

It's freaking I I'm uh I'm just a simple dude, man. Like, I don't want this elaborate stuff like that. I'm just like uh I'm like a burger pizza who owns hash kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

Hash is Joey. Oh, really? Oh, I've only been there once, and I remember my son got a lasagna omelet, and I thought it was freaking phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02 40:01

Hash has some of the most unique stuff.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

That dude owns hash kitchen too? Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

I go to hash probably a decent amount too.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

You ever go to Le Grande Orange, LGO?

SPEAKER_02 40:11

LGO, I like it. Uh I just there's never parking, so I just get so frustrated. You can park in my house, you can walk there. Sorry, John Jay I didn't know you lived half a block away from there. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

It's two miles from there, but it's a little good walk. Burn off some of the food you eat.

SPEAKER_02 40:26

Um I love LGO. I just it's so hard to get in there. And I don't get that many of them, but yeah, I like LGO. That was the Bell of Twins' favorite restaurant. Oh, it was? Yeah, both of them love that spot.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Like you said, what's your favorite restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 40:39

Yeah, they love LGO. They both love LGO.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

I'm trying to think of any restaurants that would shock that you haven't heard of. You probably know them all now, huh?

SPEAKER_02 40:46

No, I mean mostly. I I want to start making content a little bit, a little bit less of what's your favorite restaurant, just do more, just like basic stuff, like kids' sister tonight. I've never been there, so I'm going there just for fun. What about Chino Bandito? Chino, I get all the time now. I freaking love that place. I love Chino.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

Do they still just have that one location? They used to have a couple. It's up north now.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

I don't I think there's I think there was one down here in East Valley or something.

SPEAKER_00 41:07

The original is 16th Street, I think.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Yeah, it's on 16th Street now, so it's that's where it is.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

But okay, so I we got your origin story, but what about where you grew up, where you're from? Chicago. You're from Chicago? From Chicago. When did you move here? I was five.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Oh, so Arizona's home.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

Are your parents here?

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Uh my mom unfortunately passed away 12 years ago. And my dad's like two miles from my house. Are you close with your dad?

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Yeah, we're good. What's he think about the stuff you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 41:32

Oh man, that's an interesting conversation. He he uh he grew, he he he actually when he was like 10 years ago, he grew a Facebook page to like 300,000. So like it's kind of like I don't know, it's just like randomly in our family, I guess, if we're good at social media. Um my dad and I are very different people. I love my dad a lot. We're just very different people. Like, if you said the F word, he would freak out. If you said this sucks, he thinks that's terrible. So like my content sometimes he'll be like, that was way too edgy. And I'll go back and watch the video. I'm like, there's nothing edgy. What was his Facebook page on? Uh just some Christian stuff. Like also he's a Christian hardcore. Yeah, he makes a lot of stuff about Bible about verses and stuff. Super cool. Like, it's really cool. He grew something like that. But like Where'd you go to high school? Horizon.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Oh, yeah. Great baseball team. Great baseball team. I used to work out there, run the stairs there, the stadium stairs. No, I wasn't at school that much, but I went. Uh what about you tell me about your tattoos if you had a story in your tattoo?

SPEAKER_02 42:29

Yeah, that's actually where the Mr. AZ Sports nickname started. I got the Suns D Bax and uh Cardinals logo, and my buddy next day after he saw it, he's like, Oh, you're like Mr. AZ Sports. I was like, that's a great nickname. I'm gonna go grab that on social media and see if that's available.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Do you have a trademark and everything now?

SPEAKER_02 42:44

So I don't have a trademark, but I don't think I'm gonna I think I'm gonna rebrand the name anyways. To be bigger because I just think Mr. AZ Sports people think Arizona, which is fine. And I think I want to expand, I could tell you like Southwest.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

But let me present this to you. You got Arizona Ice T. They're all over the country. I know they're still like you know, there's that whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

That's why I haven't changed it yet. I I did have to I on Facebook you can't use like Mr. AZ sports, you have to like use like your real name. So like Facebook, I have it under something else. But that's why I haven't changed it yet because I I understand the argument of Arizona Ice T and stuff. Like you can just it's Mr. Beast, like it could just be a brand name. So like I changed my profile picture just so it doesn't look as Mr. Arizona Sports, just to see if maybe that helps. But I I don't know, we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

I'm all I think it's cool that you're trying to expand, but also gotta remember, you know, what brought you to the dance. Who brought you?

SPEAKER_02 43:32

No, this will always be home. This will always be 75, 80% of my content. It's just what I don't what I learned early on was I was limiting myself when I said what's your favorite restaurant in Arizona because I'd run into people who don't live here. And they'd be like, I don't have one. And they just keep walking. So I was like, I have to just ask what's your favorite restaurant? And they get usually what happens if they're not from here, they'll be like, Where? I'm like, anywhere in the United States, preferably. If you have one in Arizona, that'd be awesome too. But like, I don't want to put myself in a box like Miles Teller, the guy from Top Gun. Yeah. When I met him, he asked me, like, where, Mike, and we were in Vegas. So I was like, ah, just anywhere. I don't want to ruin a potential clip just by being like, oh, they don't have something in Arizona. I'd rather record it, at least have it, whether I post it or not, whatnot. Whether I go there or not is a different story, but I just don't want to limit myself to just Arizona because there is opportunity to grow it outside.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Who is the biggest celebrity overall that you've interviewed?

SPEAKER_02 44:36

That's a tough question.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

I don't think it is. I have an answer for you.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Dana White? Does that count?

unknown 44:41

No.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Bigger.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

You? No. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Barkley? No.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

Bigger.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

No, bigger. Who's bigger than that? Michael Jordan.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Oh, Jordan didn't even answer anything. You still got him on the interview. Jordan, what's your favorite restaurant? I don't have one. Did you hear Thea last night? No. Then why am I looking at a photo while you're at Thaya last night? But okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

What's your favorite type of food? Are you like a reporter? Dude, that's an interview. It's Michael Jordan. He's the biggest celebrity in the world. One of the things.

SPEAKER_02 45:10

I think the issue was he got in trouble like two days prior when we met him. He did? Yeah. When we were there? Yeah, he got.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

Oh, that was the he was innocent. But he is that what you're talking about? With the the shirt pulling?

SPEAKER_02 45:24

I I all I remember was like two days prior, there was some type of incident that went viral with Jordan. Yeah. And I think that's why he was extremely standoffish. But yeah, I just sat there and watched him. That was that was cool. So cool. I'm hoping to get back out to NASCAR this year. We'll see.

Rapid Fire, New Series Ideas, Closing

SPEAKER_00 45:40

I have I wrote down some questions I wanted to ask you. No, it's never going to be. So far everything's no, no, no, no, no. This is I I it was more like um fire questions, you know, like um what do you call it? Rapid fire. Okay, so you can't think, and I haven't done this with anybody before. I'm just doing it with you. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Or guess who just guess who just texted me? Uh Charles Barkley. Chef Joey to see if he picks up. Oh, you're gonna FaceTime him?

SPEAKER_00 46:01

Good. I haven't met him yet. I don't unless I I believe I have not met him yet.

SPEAKER_02 46:05

I really hope he picks up. I don't think he's gonna do, but he literally just texted me two seconds ago. Whatever. Do it again. Come on. Tell him he'll probably FaceTime me back mid-question.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

I'm gonna ask these questions you cannot think you have to answer. Oh, I don't like these. Ready? No. Cardinals or sons? Ooh, sons. D backs or cardinals? D-backs. Best Arizona athlete ever. Ever? Randy or Luis?

SPEAKER_02 46:29

Gonzo. Luis Gonzalez.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

Oh, Randy or Luis.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Most overrated Arizona athlete. I'm not answering that question. Best looking Arizona athlete. Best looking? I'm not. That's that's not my lane, sir.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

You can still answer. That's not my lane. That one guy, the coach for the down backs, that dude's really good looking. Everyone loves that guy. Well, there was one guy. Who? There was another guy. Cliff Kingsbury, yeah. Cliff Kingsbury. Oh, that guy. No, that guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the Cardinals guy. Cliff Kingsbury would be worst fan base.

SPEAKER_02 46:54

In Arizona?

SPEAKER_00 46:55

Yeah. You're taking too long. I'm gonna put the dog shot collar on you and ask you these again. Best sports city in Arizona.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

Best sports. What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 47:09

Tucson? What about you? Oh, Tempe. If you're going to Tempe versus Tucson, Tempe all day. Best wait, one athlete you'd want to have dinner with. Devin Booker. One athlete you'd never want to have dinner with.

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Ooh. Uh ever? Dude, I don't know. That's a tough question. Come back to that one.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

Biggest Arizona sports heartbreak.

SPEAKER_02 47:31

Biggest Arizona Sports Heartbreak was the Super Bowl. 2008. 2008. Yeah. I was there. Controversial. Was his foot down or not? That was the biggest heartbreak ever.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Who wins the championship first? Of the state? Suns, Cardinal. I mean, D-back right now.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

No, honestly, I got a hot take for that. The only hope I think the state has to win a championship somewhat time soon would be ASU football or Arizona basketball. Those are the only two I think actually have a legitimate shot because of other issues right now. Because like the Suns, they don't have draft picks to really go do anything much. So I think the Suns will be competitive, but I don't think they're going to be anything. I think it'll be like a fourth or fifth seed, but I don't think they can get over that hump this year. Juve basketball right now is stacked.

SPEAKER_00 48:16

They got a really good.

SPEAKER_02 48:17

Yeah, but you guys were stacked last year and you choked again. I know. Like, I know. What about GCU? They're good. They're just not gonna ever be not not ever, but it's gonna be a just it's hard to do what they're trying to do. Like, I just don't think they can ever win a national championship.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Who'd you say you said Uve basketball and who else? ASU football.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

I like that guy. Kenny? Yeah. Oh Kenny's gonna be able to get away.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

I've never met him either. Oh my gosh, Kenny's the best.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

Kenny is I'd like to interview him sometime.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

I could probably talk to him, ask him.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

And Chef Joey too.

SPEAKER_02 48:45

Chef Joey's easy. I can Chef Joey will do it. Kenny's a little bit busier. I'm trying to. That's actually one interview I'm working really hard on to get set up is doing a dinner with Kenny.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

Oh, but you've done him before, interviewed him with his favorite restaurant, right?

SPEAKER_02 48:56

When he grew up here, you must have a few. Kind of. Um he has a they have ASU's got a lot of brand deals with food restaurants, so he just doesn't want to.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

So that's tough then for you. For him. Yeah, sometimes it is.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Because he can't, they're not gonna get the answer. I texted Kenny the other day about some stuff. We're gonna do something here soon. We're just getting it set up. The Cardinals coached. Um, what's his name? Oh Matt uh LaFleur? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah, good guy. Great dude. One of the smarter football minds I've ever met in my life. Unbelievable, dude. I met his brother at a Suns game. Yeah, he was at the uh uh he came and he was at Robah room that one night too. He came in the rabba room. Same night? Yeah, yeah. So I walked right past him and I was like, oh, I should ask him his restaurant, but I didn't, and I regret it.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

I was so I was talking to the dude forever and I had no idea. I knew that his brother was the new Cardinals coach. I didn't know that he couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

I have a way better story than that. What do you got? I was at the open and you I was on hole 16 on Wednesday for the program from like 8 a.m. to like 6 p.m. And I didn't move because I was just doing interviews all day. And like I'm walking to go get a drink because like it's about shot of glory, time stuff's calming down. This dude's like, hey you! I'm like, what's up, man? It's like you're the you're the restaurant guy. I was like, Yeah, hey, nice to meet you. So you want to do your do you want to do the interview? I'm like, what are you talking about? Like what are you? He's like, You're like Isaiah, you're you're Isaiah's guy. I'm like, Isaiah, Isaiah Hoggins, like from the Giants. Like, yeah, you came to. I'm like, oh my gosh, Christian Kirk, I'm so sorry. Oh I'm like, Christian Kirk, I just embarrassed myself so much in front of you. He's like, no, no, you're good. I'm like, I feel like an idiot, but yes, can we please do the interview? I'm so sorry. I felt so bad. And did you ask him his favorite restaurant? Yeah, I did. It was Tutie Santee clip, but clip did Clip did so well for me, but I was so embarrassed. I was like, I just can't believe I said who are you to Christian Kirk.

SPEAKER_00 50:42

Maybe that could be a new thing now, interviewing people and even though you know who they are, pretend you don't know who they are and insult them.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

I've actually been sort of thinking about doing that because there's this guy called Hard Knox. Have you seen him?

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Oh, oh yeah. Wait, is Hard Knox the guy that asks people when you made your first million dollars?

SPEAKER_02 50:56

Yeah, that guy. Yeah, I like that guy. So I I would I really like what he does, which I kind of want to incorporate somehow. All his stuff is scripted.

SPEAKER_00 51:02

He's really polite.

SPEAKER_02 51:03

He's very excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. Yeah, that's right. That's where I get the excuse me from is because him. Okay, but like I really like how he when he always says is like he's like after he got rich, and he sometimes he says, Who am I here with? You're right. I kind of I kind of like that. Like I but I always think it is all scripted, right? It it from my I'm guessing from my experience of in the industry, the names he's getting is most likely scripted. And the way he walk, they walk out of rooms. Like, I do the same type of content. Like with I when I was with Sam Fox, I had him walk out. He did something like that.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

You know what's funny about this. I was gonna say about that, Sam Fox, when I watched it. The dude's got a microphone on his shirt. We did a sit-down, yeah. But the boy where he walks out, and you're like, what's your favorite restaurant? Wait a minute, he's got a freaking microphone.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

We did a sit-down before that. There's like a whole another video coming. So it's like, oh yeah, put it in the video. What was his favorite? Some place in New York I've never heard of that. I need to get out there and go try it. Oh, I'll get out there and go try it.

SPEAKER_00 51:56

He's a he's a great guy. He's so smart. Are there any restaurants coming to town that you know about? You got a sneak peek? Anything coming up?

SPEAKER_02 52:03

Honestly, no. Um the my favorite restaurant group, one of them just opened Roman and Tempe, which is unbelievable. Yeah. I saw stuff on social for that. I know Peyton Manny's an investor in a new one up in Peyton Manning up in Peyton Manning? Peyton Manning, yeah. Oh he was here the other day for the opening. I couldn't get a oh he was which restaurant? Stone and Ivy or something. I don't remember the name. It's up in uh Paris I mall. I tried to get an update. Uh I went camping with him. Peyton Manning? Yeah, like a month ago.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

You know Peyton Manning? Just the way you're saying his name is weird. No, you know, you know the guy.

SPEAKER_02 52:36

You know the guy I need you to introduce me to still. Who? Dirks. Dirks. Oh, Bentley? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

Oh. Oh, that's why you always DM me want to go to the city. Yeah, that's why I'm always saying, Yep, let's go to Dirk's concert because I want to meet him. I want to interview him. Are you going to his concert? I'm like, freaking he's coming on at 10. I'm not going out at 10.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

Yeah, I'm like, let's go. Let's go hang out with Dirks because I just want to interview him.

SPEAKER_00 52:54

That's the guy I need your help with. He's uh come over to my cold plunge a couple times. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Like, he comes cold plunge to me. We sit there together in our speedoes and cold plunge.

SPEAKER_00 53:02

I'm like, pilot adopted a dog from our rescue, our dog rescue. That's awesome. I love the all you're doing, those dogs. Yeah, why don't you come by do do a you should do a dog thing? Should get back to the community a little bit. I need to get another.

SPEAKER_02 53:11

Oh, yeah, but there you go. Um, no, there's that there's one pizza to the rescue. Oh, they're great. They're great. Yeah. $10 pizza during happy hour.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

Yeah. I did that one. That one went crazy for me. No, I'm saying, I think what Blake, my wife, is saying is what if you did like a segment, like a series of restaurants that are dog friendly.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

Yeah, I have a video I really want to do, which I'm gonna I'll just say it, but I haven't done it yet. I want to kind of mess with the internet and be like, all right, guys, I'm going out with a dude tonight. He's ready to go. And I go pick my dog up. Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

And be like, oh, here's there's my little guy.

SPEAKER_00 53:45

Oh, yeah, you got a great doodle, right? I have a doodle. You know, I was just thinking, because I know you've you talk about the Bella twins, but most of your content is guys.

SPEAKER_02 53:54

Yeah, I I I'm a dude. I don't follow much of women's stuff like that. Like, I it's nothing against it. I just don't know, like, I don't know. Like, I interviewed Molly Miller. I know you had her on recently. She's awesome. I love Molly Miller.

SPEAKER_00 54:07

What about doing like going to New York and going to the US Open and getting Serena Williams and Venus Williams?

SPEAKER_02 54:12

If I can get that close to him, I would. It's just it seems like the women I want to interview are very, very like like Serena Williams would be like impossible to get to.

SPEAKER_00 54:23

There's quite a few famous women that live here that not necessarily sports. Like who? Gina Lee Nolan. She was in Baywatch.

SPEAKER_01 54:31

I don't know who that is. You don't know who but Gina Lee Nolan. I've never seen Baywatch. What? Here we go. This is where I get in trouble. Start talking about movies.

SPEAKER_00 54:39

This is the clip on this podcast that's gonna go viral. This guy's never seen Baewatch. I've never seen Baywatch. You come over to my house, we'll watch a watch Baywatch. Friends, they used to do that on Friends. You ever watch Friends? The TV show Friends? You've never seen Friends? Maybe like one episode. Part of the the two best friends used to always run home to watch Bae Watch together.

SPEAKER_02 54:57

Oh, I've seen How I Met Your Mother. That was cool. Oh, so you're not a TV guy. No, no. Um, there's that NASCAR driver who lives here. Oh, Danica Patrick? I interviewed her, I haven't posted it yet. Oh, good. Um, so I need to post that one soon. I I have nothing against interviewing them, I just don't know who. Like, it's it's just one of those things is like they could walk through the door, and I probably honestly just don't even know who they are, too.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Because like you just said someone, I'm like, I I like So you gotta then what you so what you're doing now is when you're going out and seeing these celebrities, you're just recognizing them going. You're not researching, you're not starting to because when you go when you do UFC next week, when UFC comes, there's some there's some female athletes that follow UFC. Yeah, it's like you find out who's coming.

SPEAKER_02 55:38

I'm starting to do a lot more research. Um I'm pretty good at when I'm in a room, being able to tell if something's like like someone's in the room because like what happens is if someone's walking around an event, if they're famous, they'll people are gonna stop and take photos with them. And what you can easily do is just ask the person who took a photo with them while they're walking away. Like, who was that? They'll tell you. So I so I do a lot of stuff like that, or I'm just like, I have a really good eye for things that's just like you can just see who you can just tell if you pay a lot, if you pay enough attention, you can tell to people who are acting a little bit strange. Maybe that's because I did private security for many years that I'm just like very observant. But like when the famous person's walking down a concourse, they're usually a little bit more buttoned up tight because they don't want to be recognized. Maybe the security guard ever tell you back off all the time. Oh what about JD? JD can't be. I love JD, he's the best. Does he even give you a heads up? I mean JD doesn't give me a heads up. He JD is one of the best securities in the business that you can hire because he won't even he won't even tell me anything. He helps us with our Christian. And there's been there's been times that JD's has pushed me off because he's doing something. I'm like, I respect what you're doing. I love JD. I fun fact, I worked for JD when I was 20 years old. Really? I did overnight security with him before uh before I when I was like 20. So I'd worked for him, we did work for him, I worked private for Larry with JD. Like JD's my guy, I love JD, but he has a business to do, he has to protect the people. Did you get Larry Fitcher? I got Larry a long time ago. It was he says that's stake 44, though. You don't like steak 44. What's your problem with it? I don't not dislike it. I just think once again, we go back to your comment of like, oh, it's my favorite place, but I don't even get steaks there.

SPEAKER_00 57:14

No, I do get steak.

SPEAKER_02 57:16

But your favorite steak's somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Yes, I would like them to put my if they put my steak on the menu there, I would go there.

SPEAKER_02 57:22

I just think it's funny because I always hear stuff like that. It's like, oh, I love steak 44, it's the best, but you know what? My favorite steak's not there. It's like, huh? Like, I just I I personally just think there's better places to go to eat. Like, I think what steak 44 has built is unbelievable. They have a cult following, people absolutely love it, and it does, it's really good. But we were just there the other night and my bill for like a steak and I think two sides. I was at with a drink, I was at like 225, 230. It was really don't get me wrong, I I I eat food out every night, but like the steak I just had at Roman with it was like a ribeye for 73. I almost rather had that than the steak I just had for like 115 at steak 44. I don't know. I'm just I don't go to steak 44. I go there, people want to go there, but I just think there's better places.

SPEAKER_00 58:07

Well, on that note, brother, to follow you on social media, how should people follow you? Mr.

SPEAKER_02 58:12

Mr. A Z Sports, M-R-A-Z sports on all platforms. No underscore, just no underscore on Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 58:17

It's Nathan Yaps. Nathan Yaps, you want to put your last name on there?

SPEAKER_02 58:21

I just I don't know if that actually matters or not, but if you hate me that much, you want to know my last name. I want it, I want you to take an extra step to find it. Okay, good. I have no idea if that actually matters or not.

SPEAKER_00 58:31

But well, you asked me, I don't know, six, seven, eight months ago. You go, put me on your podcast. You're here, brother. You're here. You I'm grateful. I'm grateful to you. You're good guys. I appreciate you, man.

SPEAKER_02 58:38

You've you you you're one of the first. You've always been nice to me. Yeah, right on, dog. All right. One of these days we'll do a Sun's game. We'll go sit up our deck because I know that's where your seats are.

unknown 58:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:49

We'll trade tickets sometime.

SPEAKER_00 58:50

Yeah, sure. You got it. You got it.

SPEAKER_02 58:52

Yeah, John Jay going in the non-courtside game would be hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 58:56

That would never happen.

SPEAKER_00 59:03

Okay, so welcome to our podcast. This is a little bit different today because this podcast is a spin-off of our radio show.