Open Play Ball Superstitions | Roger Belair w/ Pickleball in Prison & PICL

speaker-0 (00:00.438)
I said, I just don't like all the ball thing, you know, and he's like, you know, I'm kind of a ball man, you know, and I was like, it's just pickle ball.

speaker-1 (00:08.301)
This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go.

Big Dink Energy starts now. Well, they do say that America runs on Dunkin'. Guess what? You can walk, sit, mosey, or stand with the Big Dink Energy podcast. You don't need to be doing all that running. We are the official podcast of Pickleball here in your ear holes. Turn us up.

speaker-0 (00:54.156)
All right, well, thank you.

speaker-2 (00:56.165)
Thank you for that introduction.

speaker-1 (00:57.774)
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speaker-0 (01:34.19)
so let's talk about a memory that I have. all right. And I did since I have the beta version of Dinkin' Dash. I already put this in my Dinkin' Dash diary. do. We do. I'm normally an alpha.

speaker-1 (01:45.838)
We do have some betas out there.

I'm mostly an alpha. I'm waiting for Jen Alpha to come out.

speaker-0 (01:53.486)
So I want to talk about open play psychology and it's just driving me crazy. So we played in a scramble recently and so fun. There's at the scramble, there's a bunch of different levels. So there's like a two, five to two, nine and there's three, three, five, four, whatever. So normally I play in the two, five with my friends that I go to pickleball with. Yes. Well, I guess they were.

speaker-1 (02:01.23)
Agreed.

speaker-0 (02:22.974)
missing some people in the threes and they needed more people. So they bumped me up. That's not the story. Okay. And I'm trying to say that like, I got bumped up.

speaker-1 (02:31.022)
Matter of fact, the shine of your medals is in my eye. shut up. Can you move those, please? my god. Pickleball of royalty in the house,

speaker-0 (02:41.318)
Anyway, it's not a humble brag. They just a break. The two fives to two nine, the group that I normally play with, they go up to the courts upstairs, paupers and peasants. had to go where I stayed down in the little bubble area that the other people are playing. So I was like, OK, whatever, which is fine. And the people I played with, they were great. They were nice. I had a good time when I went. I had a break. So I went out and I went up to visit Paddle Princess and my sister and son.

speaker-1 (03:09.909)
all the vagrants and the tumbleweeds.

speaker-0 (03:11.502)
And it's just, it's just better. It's so much more fun. The vibe is so much more, so much more better. The vibe is so much better. And, and it's nothing against the people that are higher level. But I mean, again, this is like the whole pickleball joy thing. Shout out to pickleball Nikki. So the biggest thing that I was like, this is why I just can't be in here. And I just don't want my duper to go up because I, so you know how the balls roll onto everybody's courts. That's fine. You pick them up and you hand them to them.

speaker-1 (03:15.853)
The vibe.

speaker-0 (03:40.61)
Well, this ball rolled over to our court and I already had a ball in my hand. So I threw that ball to the guy and then I went to go run to get the other ball. And he was like, no. And I was like, you down. Yeah, I was like, and I just kind of looked at him like I thought he was kind of joking at first, like we would have done. You know, and and he was like, it's a ball thing. And so he had to go get the ball that they were already using for their game. Now, this isn't like a ball he brought from home. This isn't a special ball. This is the

speaker-1 (03:51.446)
No.

speaker-0 (04:10.178)
basket of balls that they already have, because they started the game with that ball, that was the only ball they could use. Whatever. So whatever, I mean, it's fine. People have their own things. I don't really care. But here's the funny part. An hour later, a ball rolls over to our court. Our ball rolls.

speaker-1 (04:16.874)
Very superstitious.

speaker-1 (04:25.026)
this comeuppance.

speaker-0 (04:33.942)
and another ball rolls all at the same time into this little area. And he goes over there and I go over there and I just kind of look at him like, what are you gonna do now? one? He didn't know, so he, what did he do? He just grabbed one. So it doesn't really matter. And it just aggravated me so much. Because, and you know what, like,

speaker-1 (04:43.022)
Which one's

speaker-2 (04:45.441)
Did you mark it?

speaker-1 (04:53.75)
That guy is sponsored by Massengill.

speaker-0 (04:57.614)
to each their own, but here's even funnier. So then I went and told the owner, you know, I was like, it's just funny. Cause he's like, how is it going? And I was like, it's fine. said, I just don't like all the ball thing, you know? And he's like, you know, I'm kind of a ball man, you know? And I was like, it's just pickle ball. Like it's a scramble. It's not a tournament. It's not.

speaker-2 (05:15.042)
Not duper rad. None of this matters. We're just having fun.

speaker-0 (05:20.022)
And so was like, why does it even matter right now? Right. And so that's what I was thinking. Like, I don't want my duper to go up. Like, I'm still a 2'5". I'm probably better than that.

speaker-2 (05:29.55)
They are way better. Like you held your own with the four

speaker-0 (05:32.492)
Like I don't even play in any duper things to get my duper rating up. So I don't even care. And apparently now you gotta pay to get your shit fixed. But anyways, that's a whole different story. So I was just thinking to myself, like, I don't...

I don't wanna be like that. Like I love playing up because I love being challenged. But you know, I like to have my own little personal tantrums where I like, da da da, and bounce around and joke and laugh. And they're just so damn serious that I'm like, it is just not fun. I did not come here to have my cortisol raised.

speaker-1 (06:04.462)
What are their scouts on the sideline here, dude? Calm.

speaker-0 (06:07.246)
I don't know, but I just was like, I just want to play with my fri-

speaker-2 (06:10.738)
No, I totally get it. Like when we went to open play last Friday and there was that lady there who was obviously higher level than I was and the other two people and she just kept getting so irritated with me and I'm like and it makes me like go into a shell and kind of shut down. anymore. I don't want to play with you anymore because you just you literally just take all the joy out of it you vampire sucker. Yeah. I don't want to do it.

speaker-0 (06:34.348)
I just, I don't know. was just, it was a different experience to me because the vibe, the tension, the atmosphere, the aura, like whatever you want to call it down there is so just, I don't know, thick. I don't know how to say it, but I was just like, come on. Like honestly in my head, he was like, it's a ball thing. And I was like, it's a douche thing. And I just was like, I can't eat with you right now.

speaker-2 (06:57.218)
I get it.

speaker-1 (06:58.03)
Yeah, I don't ever want to take it that seriously for sure. Of course I don't. I show up in swim shorts, you know what I mean?

speaker-0 (07:04.302)
I mean, a tournament, I get it, like it's a little bit higher level and you know, you're paying to be there or whatever, you know, or if you're in a four, five, five-o tournament, whatever, take it serious. I don't care. But we are talking about a Tuesday night scramble at six thirty. Come on, folks. do not. We do not. Like, we should be focusing on just having a good time being away from our families and kids and just being ourselves and having a good time and laughing and joking. And I did not. I just wanted to go upstairs. No, we...

speaker-2 (07:20.162)
that series.

speaker-2 (07:33.176)
I you.

level players. missed you. It was a lot of fun though.

speaker-1 (07:40.024)
peasants up there.

speaker-0 (07:41.078)
It's not. It's not, peasants. It's more fun.

speaker-2 (07:43.59)
It is, it's a lot more fun because like I said in the Just the Tip on last episode, it's we laugh at our mistakes. We aren't super serious about it. when there are people who are super serious at an open play or at a scramble, when you mess up, you feel like, shit. I just wanna laugh and be like, yeah, I completely whiffed that while doing arabesque and spinning at the same time. I look like a fool and that's what makes it fun.

speaker-0 (08:02.998)
Yeah.

speaker-1 (08:03.532)
Like I'm trying

speaker-1 (08:12.75)
Yeah, I'm trying to, like, is he logging this ball and the, it was 68 degrees tonight. This is the ball. I initialed the ball and dated the ball and I keep this at home.

speaker-2 (08:20.59)
It doesn't have your name on it.

speaker-0 (08:21.934)
It just, like, I totally, when he was like, it's a ball thing, and I was like, oh shit, you're serious. I was like, I know my face showed it.

speaker-1 (08:33.837)
That then is my opportunity to whack it across the court even further. Well, your ball's over there now.

speaker-0 (08:40.142)
Have fun. I was like I'm over you right now

speaker-1 (08:43.566)
Please don't be too serious out there in the courts. I get it. If you're in a tournament, you're trying to win, that's your drive, that's your motivation, but do not take pickleball too seriously. It's a fun sport and we need to keep the fun in it. Go check out Pickleball Nikki for some of that stuff too.

speaker-2 (08:56.204)
And I think that when people take it too seriously, they turn off lower level players. Yeah, for sure. Because people are like, well, it literally makes them retreat and not want to come back. And I think that everybody should just be there for fun and encourage each other.

speaker-0 (09:09.526)
You can still be good. absolutely. And have fun. Yeah.

speaker-1 (09:13.501)
Absolutely.

speaker-2 (09:14.09)
And be kind and not be like you said, a douche. Exactly. just be kind and have fun.

speaker-1 (09:18.99)
What is that scent you're wearing? Vinegar and water?

speaker-0 (09:21.194)
Or like, did you label your ball Vagisil? I was over it. Anyway.

speaker-1 (09:29.646)
That's a nice summer's eve out here.

speaker-0 (09:34.818)
We didn't say any names. No, we're good.

speaker-1 (09:37.358)
So be honest, are you ball guy? Are you one of those guys that are ball guy or gal? Let us know. Get up in the, get up in our webpage as a matter of fact. Go check out the new redesign of our webpage, bdepodcast.com, bdepodcast.com. Let us know.

speaker-1 (09:55.342)
yeah, fan mail. We love fan mail. Keeps us going, honestly, other than the coffee and the wine and all that kind of stuff. This from Greg Mather and the team over at Arizona Pickleball Players League. said, we're incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue to spread the word about our team-based leagues. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. And so this goes out to them. Thank you all for those kind words. And to you all, if you have something you want to share on thebdepodcast.com, don't think it's too small. Don't think it's too big.

We'll let you know if it sucks or not and you can be on the podcast. Bdepodcast.com if you wanna come on and Bdepodcast.com you can send some fan mail. We may read it on the air.

speaker-0 (10:34.166)
Just the tip. Just the tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. So open play is not squid games. No one's getting eliminated. There's no cash prize. You don't get a medal for surviving the round. It's four people and a plastic ball. So you win. Cool. If you lose, you're still rotating in. Relax your shoulders, laugh a little bit and remember why we play pickleball. Just the tip.

speaker-1 (11:07.392)
It's time for Pickle Pal!

speaker-1 (11:13.102)
Listen, what if I told you there's a place where gang members who were sworn enemies are now playing doubles together? Yeah, you'd lean in and you should do this part of the podcast. Laughing and tapping paddles at the net, where disciplinary issues have dropped because inmates have themselves kept their good pickleball privileges. There's a warden at 170 year old maximum security prison played for the first time in history. Yeah, we're going to talk about all that with tonight's guest. Made all that happen. He's a retired banker who's taught pickleball to over 4,000 inmates in some of America's toughest prisons.

From Seattle, Washington, Roger Belair, founder of Pickle PICL and the subject of an upcoming documentary called Pickleball in Prison. Roger, thanks so much for being on with us.

speaker-3 (11:52.672)
to be here today. I'm really looking forward to the interview.

speaker-1 (11:55.296)
Now, I did my research ahead of time and I found this very interesting. So you're kind of a husband like me who sits with his wife sometimes, watch a show and you see something and you comment on it and you get an uh-huh and that's it, right? And the uh-huh could mean a bunch of different things, could mean a hundred different things to us. A lot of times I hear, especially if it's a good idea for me, I'm like, okay, she meant go with it, right? Go spend all the money.

speaker-3 (12:20.302)
Maybe she might go with it. I can relate to that a lot.

speaker-1 (12:24.344)
So you were watching 60 minutes, you saw inmates at Cook County Jail sitting around bored. You said to your wife, they should be playing pickleball. Well, who shouldn't, right? Most people probably would have changed the channel, but you didn't. You decided to do something about it. Tell us about that.

speaker-3 (12:37.326)
Well, first of all, Cook County Jail is in Chicago. A lot of people don't recognize the name. And they're just sitting around playing cards. So I said to her, I'm going to write them a letter, the sheriff back there, bring all the equipment and teach them pickleball. She said, don't be disappointed if you don't get a response. Sure. You know, and here's what's got a cute story. He never heard of pickleball, puts a letter on the side of the desk. That night he mentioned to his family, got a letter, something about balls and pickleballs.

speaker-1 (13:07.266)
Ha

speaker-3 (13:07.758)
Eight-year-old daughter says, I'll tell you about pickleball.

speaker-1 (13:11.118)
Yeah. Well that's, so what was the timeline from that? You're sending the letter, him picking up the letter and figuring out what pickleball was to you actually doing something.

speaker-3 (13:19.648)
About three months, probably. Wow. We're dealing with bureaucracies.

speaker-1 (13:24.206)
Yeah. Well, I was going to say a lot longer. I was going to suggest maybe six months, but man, that's fantastic that the warden was so open to it. I think wardens get a bad rap because of movies, kind of like a lot of professions, right? So that's good that he was up to it. And so then how did it go down? How did you get into the prison? How did you decide what you were going to bring? Just kind of walk us through that.

speaker-3 (13:45.538)
Well, of course they sent me clearance and I lined up the equipment, sent it ahead of time, arrived at the prison, looked up and said maximum security. And I don't know if you've ever seen Cook County Jail in Chicago, but it is like 70 acres worth. That's a sign. And go through clearance and all of sudden I'm standing in front of 25 guys who've been charged with murder or attempted murder.

speaker-1 (14:08.856)
How did, so what goes through your head in that situation? Is it like a, crap moment, or is it like a, I hope they like this moment? What, mean, kind of give me that mentality.

speaker-3 (14:18.67)
Well, first of all, I look around and it's what the hell am I doing? You know, none of them had ever heard of pickleball, you know, and so they wouldn't make eye contact. They weren't interested. I, you know, I didn't know what was going to happen. Maybe that night I'd be on my way back to Seattle, not knowing what to do. said, well, let's sit the courts.

speaker-1 (14:37.095)
And then, so there's gotta be a little fear and trepidation that comes in also where you say, all right, let's put some weapons in these guys' hands.

speaker-3 (14:45.664)
Yeah, I guess that thought didn't go through my mind, but we were not connected. I came from a professional speaking background, so I'm used to standing up in front of people, but you can't even make eye contact. You got an uphill battle. the magic's in the game.

speaker-1 (15:01.866)
Is that when the energy shifted, like when you showed them how to serve and then how to rally, how to dink, when you started showing them some of the skills, is that kind of when the energy shifted?

speaker-3 (15:13.014)
You know, it shifted even before I said anything. They were out there just whacking the hell out of it, of course, because that's what guys do. And all of a sudden they turned into like third graders on the playground. And they went from not listening to anything I had to say to, you know, listening to everything I had to say.

speaker-1 (15:31.544)
Wow. Yeah. This is such an amazing story because you've created it other places. One of the things I want to talk about before we call out some of the other locations you've been to is the four rules, right? You have four rules, kind of the centerpiece of what you do. Tell us about the four rules, why it's so important for the environment.

speaker-3 (15:50.766)
Well, you are really going to enjoy this story with your background. And I'm a storyteller. You want to give people information, a little bit of time, well connect. The four roles are serve underhanded. You have the two balance role, get them out on the court, let them do that, bring them back, teach them about the kitchen. And then after scoring, we play mini games to seven. right? And they're just as guys would be, just so excited. And I pull everybody in almost like a football huddle.

And I said, guys, how many rules are there? How many did I tell you? Some guys say three, some say five, some say four. I said, you're right. There's four rules. How many you know? Three. Okay. So, you know, we have the winners and we have those that came in second place. We meet the net and we have a group hug.

speaker-1 (16:36.75)
There you go.

speaker-3 (16:40.782)
These guys froze. I bet. You could hear a pin drop, you know, they went from sky high to reality in about 13 seconds. And they didn't know what to think. So what I did was I put my paddle up, we tapped paddles. said, guys, that in pickleball is a group hug. It's one of the four rules and you will do it. And just follow what Roger says and nobody will get hurt. Of course that breaks the ice. That's great.

speaker-1 (17:02.179)
Nice.

speaker-3 (17:09.006)
You know, I've done that in many prisons, but I got to tell you, the most enjoyable part for me of the day is when I leave and I hear, group hug everybody, group hug.

speaker-1 (17:18.591)
Yeah, you know, we've also we've we've said it so many times on this podcast that pickleball is one of those unique sports where you don't know you don't have to know anything about it. You've never had to play before. You don't even have to have the right equipment. Right. Everybody everybody at some point had those wooden paddles from Wal-Mart. Right. Came in a mesh bag with three balls and you just started and the community is what really keeps you going. know, and those guys in those situations, they.

You know, they have the four walls all day long. They have a routine all day long. It's all planned out for them. Every single day is the same, pretty much. And, you know, something like this, a bright spot comes into their day. And then now they're building some camaraderie and relationships around a sport. Man, I think that does so much for the human heart for them and for their, you know, for their soul, I'm guessing, too.

speaker-3 (18:07.438)
Yeah, you know, Chicago, know, Chicago is a tough place. They have 50 gangs there, 50 gangs, you can believe it. And of course, rival gangs don't have anything to do with each other. That was the case before pickleball was introduced. Right. And I'm sitting on the bench with a guy. said, look out there, Roger. I'll look out there. I don't see anything. says, you don't understand. These are rival gangs and they're playing with and against each other. How heartwarming is that? You know, that just has to do some good for our society.

speaker-1 (18:37.356)
Yeah, maybe some healing is going on there. Maybe some actual conversations are happening in those moments, you know, or even the unspoken conversations where like, hey, we can exist. We can exist in the same space together. We don't have to try to kill one another. You know, there's so many messages, I think, that can be translated out of this. And I really hope they are. I'm sure you're doing a great job of that. Now, you went to Sam Quentin also. That's an old everybody. I mean, there's so many movies about Sam Quentin.

It's not even funny. It's been around for over 170 years. Warden showed up with a headband on. Greeted you, ready to play. Never played before.

speaker-3 (19:10.446)
Is that right? well, you know, the Chicago story ended up on the front page of USA Today, front page, and publicity moves the needle. So I ended up in places like New York and Cook County Jail, which, of course, you're familiar with. Stan Quentin reached out to me. And know, what was ideal is if I can get the staff involved with the incarcerated on the court. I asked that, and Stan Quentin, the person who I was working with, said,

We've been around for 170 years. There's no way that's gonna happen. He's never played on the court. I show up, it's like a press conference. There's microphones being put in my face as I walk through the gates. Work my way to court. This guy has a headband on, it's a warden.

speaker-1 (19:52.462)
That is amazing. And there's no, there's no better way to lead from the front to be out there like that, to show not only the inmates, right, the incarcerated, but also to show his staff, hey, these are, these people are people. They happen to be here and under our care and control, but they're people too. And so today we're going to act like everybody is a person.

speaker-3 (20:14.546)
Absolutely. And what happened is the corrections officer saw him on the court. They said, well, we can play too, you know? So here they are in full uniform. You know, there's a podcast out of San Quentin called Uncuffed. And they said in that podcast, your people can find it online. Perhaps that's the day that changed the culture of San Quentin.

speaker-1 (20:33.048)
Maybe it is. I'd like to think it is for sure. mean, what other things have? I mean, people escaping and all those kinds of things, or something that brought everybody at that space together around a combined mission and goal.

speaker-3 (20:46.606)
Well, the warden later told me, you know, we've become friends. said, Roger, I recently retired, but the day you were at San Quentin, that's one of the five highlights of my career. He's so excited about the benefits of bringing people together. He even built four courts outside the walls so the staff can play before and after work.

speaker-1 (20:54.958)
That's amazing.

speaker-1 (21:05.474)
Wow. Wow. That, mean, that's just great for the health of his staff, you know, getting to decompress, getting a little physical activity in before work that man, that's fantastic. That guy is such a, he sounds like a great leader. Sounds like a great leader. So, I mean, you've taught over 4,000 inmates by this point. Is there any one story that just rises to the top where you're like, man, this, this really impacted me. This stays with me forever. This is, this is the story, you know, that

speaker-3 (21:15.295)
Yeah, you understand. You got it.

speaker-3 (21:20.686)
It's terrific.

speaker-1 (21:34.702)
kind of tell people who I am.

speaker-3 (21:36.846)
Well, you mentioned 4,000, I've topped 4,000 people, but they all haven't been in prison. All right. Yeah. So there's a distinct, most of them frankly, on the outside. You know, I guess,

speaker-1 (21:48.768)
Some may be on the inside now though.

speaker-3 (21:50.926)
Yeah, you know, what do I have? Do I have one story that encapsulates it? I guess probably I received so many letters from people that said pickleball has helped change my life. I don't know how to put it into words, you know, because it gives me something to look forward to. It gives me hope about looking to the future, about making friends, about looking forward to getting out and, and, have a different life than I have in the past. And so that's a generality, but

You know, when I get letters like that, you know, it's really moved me.

speaker-1 (22:24.29)
Yeah, for sure. It tells you you're on the right path, for sure. So, Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League, 76 facilities or more now, right, across 16 states?

speaker-3 (22:34.678)
you let me tell you what happened. People kept coming to me and said, this is terrific what you do. I want to get involved. Will you tell me what to do? And I say, of course, I love to tell people what to do. Sometimes I like to tell people where to go. So I would act as a mentor. say, well, you know, we've got to identify the prison, which is close to you. Let's write the warden. We don't want to call because we'll get stopped by somebody.

you know, and give them a package of information and say, I'm going to work as your mentor. All right. So we had one, then five people, and then we decided to form a nonprofit. And right now what we are is we're in 79 different prisons in 24 states, and there's about 150 people, volunteers doing exactly what I

speaker-1 (23:21.198)
Wow. Well, you know, with that kind of machine going, I mean, there's no end in sight, I'm sure. And there's obviously there's no end in sight for prisons and the people that are in prisons either, unfortunately or fortunately, however you land on that coin. Let's talk a little bit about the documentary though, right? Pickleball in Prison. And what the tagline is, more pickleball equals less crime. And I bet you there's some correlation or even causation there. Tell us a little bit about that.

speaker-3 (23:47.042)
Well, let's see, three years ago, I did a tour of Florida. They contacted me and said, we'd like you to go into several different prisons. I was shadowed by a reporter from the Washington Post who wrote an excellent article and people can find it online. After that came out, I was approached by a couple of different producers about doing a documentary, all right? And I agreed to do Daniel Ostrop in Hollywood, signed up with him. We've been in...

probably about a dozen different prisons. He's got all this footage. He's putting together the documentary. And I'm not sure exactly when it will come out. We're still filming, but what it's going to do is create a lot of exposure to what we're doing and how it's working. And I can't wait for it to come out, of course.

speaker-1 (24:35.214)
Absolutely, us too. We're gonna be looking forward to that one. So five years from now, what's going on with you, what's going on with Roger, and what's going on with Pickle?

speaker-3 (24:45.89)
We're just going to continue to grow. You know, the number one sport on the inside right now has been basketball. Because most of the kids grew up with it, right? But as you can imagine, basketball is a real contact sport on the inside. There's so many injuries. There's some prisons want to ban it. You know, they say because of the number of injuries. Yeah, for sure. By comparison, pickleball is something that everybody can learn in an hour or two. Practically everybody can play.

They don't have the injury problems that they do in basketball. And it's going to be the number one sport, I'm told, in prison. I've been told that by more than one warden. So it's just a matter of growing the process. But look at what the good is doing for those individuals. Oh, yeah. know, the disciplinary problems are down right now because if guys get into trouble on the inside, they can't play. Right. They want to play. So, you know, you're getting better results with a carrot rather than a stick.

speaker-1 (25:42.092)
For sure, for sure. How anybody wants to get involved with this or know more about it, where are they going to go? How can they connect with you and Pickle and everything you're doing?

speaker-3 (25:50.946)
Yeah, well, the Google Pickle, is P-I-C-L-E-A-G-U-E dot org, or please send me an email. know, my email is B-E-L-A-I-double-R at Gmail. I'd be happy to talk to anybody. spend a fair amount of time every day, you know, answering questions, helping people get on the inside.

speaker-1 (26:12.76)
Well, Roger, no doubt that a rate of recidivism is going down because of what you're doing. The people that are impacted in our world is going up because of what you're doing. You're impacting hearts and minds, and you're helping people get out of difficult situations, at least for that 15, 20 minute time frame at a time when they're playing. So thank you so much for everything you're doing, and thank you for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast.

speaker-3 (26:35.01)
This has been great.

speaker-1 (26:37.803)
It's

speaker-1 (26:43.15)
Thank you, Mr. Announcement Man. Pick six is where we take one question, each bring two answers and immediately regret agreeing to this segment, just like most of the podcasts. Today we've got for your ear holes, Victorian insults that would still work today. Victorian insults that would still work today. And I think we're gonna try to read them in voices.

speaker-0 (27:02.51)
I'm gonna use these on the pickleball court. Okay, so my first one is you rank ill-natured varlet. Why do I sound like Yusuf and Husey?

speaker-2 (27:05.289)
specific exit.

speaker-3 (27:17.198)
You

speaker-0 (27:17.742)
That was wrong guys!

speaker-1 (27:21.106)
gosh. Put your six shooters over there and your red mustache.

speaker-0 (27:24.766)
It's okay.

speaker-2 (27:26.584)
I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

speaker-1 (27:31.763)
I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed.

speaker-0 (27:38.478)
Well, you're about as useful as a chocolate teapot. There you go.

speaker-1 (27:43.744)
Chocotipa.

speaker-2 (27:45.546)
envy those who have yet to make your acquaintance.

speaker-1 (27:49.038)
You, I believe, have delusions of adequacy.

speaker-0 (27:55.182)
Why can't I get the accent? Okay, you absolute clot.

speaker-1 (27:58.626)
You want to try one more?

speaker-2 (28:03.97)
Clot? Clot. Blood clot?

speaker-1 (28:05.198)
Like a plot? No, a plot is a clump of dirt.

speaker-0 (28:09.056)
of dirt. you absolute. feel what was the lady's name in Jane? What was that show you used to watch? Calamity Jane. What show was that?

speaker-2 (28:10.023)
First thing I came up with.

speaker-1 (28:17.831)
yeah, that one. yeah, yeah. How is HBO series and what?

speaker-0 (28:24.408)
Anyways, that's how I feel like I sound.

speaker-1 (28:27.374)
Yeah, less swearing and less slurring.

speaker-0 (28:30.914)
There you go. Anyways, that's how I feel like I could not get there.

speaker-1 (28:33.678)
BD podcast dot com BD podcast dot com tell us your Victorian insults that would still work today and send us a voice memo if you want

speaker-2 (28:42.644)
Yes, we would love to hear your accents.

speaker-1 (28:45.166)
Hi.

speaker-0 (28:49.782)
News you can use.

speaker-3 (28:51.209)
Woo!

speaker-1 (28:54.094)
Hot off the presses, hot off the presses, just, just in.

speaker-0 (28:57.752)
Pickleball continues to collect the most random celebrity crossovers. Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock were spotted playing pickleball together.

speaker-1 (29:06.964)
yeah. Bald eagle in the background.

speaker-0 (29:10.808)
Photos and clips made the rounds online mostly because people weren't expecting those two to be bonding over dinks and third shots, but they also did like a whole thing about their workouts and all of that. So no scandal, no controversy, just pickleball being pickleball, the great unifier of unlikely duos. At this point, if you're famous and not playing pickleball, are you even trying?

speaker-1 (29:31.694)
Yeah, ball with the ball, the paddle, paddle kitchen. god.

Yes. Never. Replay that in your radio.

speaker-2 (29:38.872)
Yes, please.

speaker-0 (29:40.302)
I'm sorry.

speaker-2 (29:43.028)
I just want to know was Kid Rock like I need to talk to the agent like

speaker-0 (29:47.704)
Well, think, mean, politics aside, I don't even care about all that. But I mean, they both are in great shape. Yeah. So I think it was a whole fitness thing about how they stay in shape and especially, I mean, they're older. Yeah. I mean, how old is RFK? 70s. 70s. Dude is stacked. Yeah. know, mean, yeah. And Kid Rock is...

speaker-1 (30:02.094)
70

Yeah.

speaker-1 (30:10.043)
I go to him for wardrobe advice. Yeah. Kid Rock, love it. I love a chapeau and a wife beater.

speaker-2 (30:16.898)
my god.

speaker-0 (30:17.166)
I mean, I thought it was just cool because it them playing football and they play so.

speaker-2 (30:22.99)
to know the backstory of how they became connected, because I think that that would be really cool.

speaker-0 (30:26.978)
Yeah.

speaker-1 (30:27.406)
I'm sure it's through the president of some, you know, they're in those circles now where we're, you know, America is America now. So don't come at us for that. Yeah. Don't come at us at all. That's it for this episode. Unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong?

speaker-0 (30:36.6)
Don't come at us, it is school.

speaker-1 (30:44.236)
Have a better take, we wanna hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, samezies. If not, maybe try again, we grow on people. So you know the deal, follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time, keep the dink soft and the energy big.