Pickleball Consent & Mascot Trivia | Soren w/ The Pickleball Agent

There's a little bit of pushback. An article came out in one of the cities just pushed back on some of the open play hours because of the noise complaints. And so what we're going to be doing is delivering earplugs to all the neighbors.

Yes. That is the type of energy and pettiness we like here. This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense in all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take your stuff 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. I'm your private dancer. We are the Big Dink Energy Podcast, the official podcast of Pickleball coming live for free right now into your ear holes. And listen up, we've got a sponsor because we are a professional. You may not think so by the end of this, but we are. This episode is brought to you by Dirty

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Hi.

You guys ready? Yeah. I thought it was time. I think some of our listeners, and if you do, if that's you out there, I think our listeners like quizzes when we do the quizzes around here. I think you're gonna learn, I think you're gonna learn something. And I know you two probably do

Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week

not like quizzes, but that's what I put together for tonight is a little quiz. We're gonna go over. I'm gonna give you the description of an iconic mascot or brand mascot. Okay. Right. And as soon as you know, ring in with your buzzer. Your name is your buzzer. Test your buzzer. Stephanie. Test your buzzer.

Paddle princess.

Okay, very good.

That's hard to say.

Your buzzers are working. Okay, very good.

I'm just gonna say the answer.

All right, yeah. Maybe you will. All right, let's. I'm gonna launch you an easy one right off the bat to get us into this to ease us in, ladies. All right, here we go. This guy was born in 1958 and was originally designed by a ship captain from Chicago. Say that three times fast. Ship captain from Chicago. He never spoke a single word in any of his commercials for the first 50 years of his existence. He has a first name, but nobody knows it.

Captain Crunch.

No. Who was it? Use your buzzer?

I don't have a buzzer, it's broke. Is that Captain Crunch?

No, he's one of the few brand mascots who is a human, not an animal, not a cartoon character, not food, just a very large, very muscular man. He wears all white, has a single gold earring.

Oh, that's Mr. Clean.

Mr. Clean for the win over here. Almost never seen without crossed arms and a smile. His first name is Veritably, Veritably Clean. Procter and Gamble held a naming contest in 1962. That's what won. The original design was inspired by Navy Sailor, which explains the earring, the bald head, and the muscular build. Modeled after a tough, no nonsense military man who could scrub a deck clean, especially a poop deck, I bet. Which is an actual deck on the show.

Now it's it's gotten a little bit more um Yeah, they've gotten away from Mr.

Clean. Yeah. He's toxic masculinity out there. I don't know, ladies, you tell me. You want Mr. Clean scrubbing your house while you put your feet up? You tell us. Okay. All right, here we go. We ready? This mascot was created by an ad agency copywriter in 1965 who imagined what would happen if you did something. I'm not gonna say what that is. He's only 8.75 inches tall, according to his official character profile. No. What's your buzzer? Who is this? He has a real name that sounds like it belongs to an English butler, and he has a wife, two kids, a cat, and a dog. He wears a chef's hat and a scarf, and he's made entirely. Chef boy no. You already failed on round. Wait for the completion, please. He's made entirely of dough.

Oh, Pillsbury double.

When you poke him in the belly, he giggles the most famous giggle in advertising history. Yep. Uh real name is Poppin' Fresh. His wife is named Poppy Fresh. And his kids are Popper and Bun Bun. And his cat is Biscuit and his dog is F.

Bun Bun?

Yep. His dog is Flapjack. The belly giggle was originally performed by voice actor Paul Freeze, who also voiced Boris Badinov from Rocky and Bullwinkle.

They need more of Bun Bun.

Oh, yeah. I want to see Bun Bun. That'd be fun, fun.

Oh my gosh.

You guys liking this so far?

Yeah, we're we're doing okay.

All right. Okay. What about this?

This I'm horrible at these kind of things.

This mascot was created in 1894, taking you in the Wayback Machine here.

Your era.

Yeah, my era for sure. I remember when he first came out. I was seven. Um, making him one of the oldest brand mascots still in use today. He's over 130 years old, just like our dog. Uh he was originally depicted as a menacing figure who drank glasses of nails and broken glass and early advertisements. Advertisements for you Americans. Uh he has a real name that most Americans can't pronounce correctly. He was uh nope, not gonna say that. Popeye? He's white, puffy, and made entirely of tires.

Oh, the Michelin tire. The Michelin tire guy.

Michelin man. Yeah. Michelin man.

Michelin man. How long ago? 1894. 1894.

His real name is Bibidem.

What?

Bibendem, which comes from a Latin phrase meaning now is the time to drink. The original ad showed him holding maybe a little uh here's a little uh trivia within trivia. The original ad showed him holding champagne glass full of nails and broken glass with a tagline suggesting Michelin tires drink up obstacles. And he originally wore pince nez and a cigar. What are pince?

Um pinstriped pants.

No.

Oh, sounded good. Boulder dash.

Paddle princess, pince nez.

Um suspenders?

Pince dot dash nez. No, those are those glasses that are only held on by your nose bridge.

Oh, like um uh what is his name?

No, you're thinking uh Benjamin Franklin. Yeah, okay. Yeah, Ben. Oh, Ben.

Yeah.

Hey Ben. I only I know him as Ben. I didn't recognize it right away.

Hey Franklin.

Hey Franklin. All right, here we go. Here we go. This character first appeared in 1954, but decomp didn't become a version we know until 1975. He's committed more property damage than any mascot in advertising history.

Mayhem.

He weighs an estimated 11,000 pounds when full, based on his size and the density that he carries. A Hulk? You're my density. Back to the future. Uh he burst through walls uninvited. Kool-Aid man. There you go.

Oh, yeah, that's a good one.

And his catchphrase is two words that every kid in the 80s screamed at least once.

What is that?

What is it?

I don't know. Um, hey, hey, hey. No, that's that Albert. It's um give me the first word. I know it. I really do. I really know it. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Uh I knew that.

Advertisers calculated that if the cool bayed man were real and filled with liquid at his depicted size, he'd weigh approximately 11,000 pounds.

Damn. Good lord.

At that way, he wouldn't just burst through a wall, he'd collapse a foundation on most residential homes.

Kool-aid, my 600-pound life. Oh my gosh.

This guy, born in 1952, wasn't supposed to be the star. He was one of four mascots competing for the job. The other three candidates didn't make it. Uh they all lost. His daughter's name is Antoinette. His voice actor for 50 years was a man named Thurl Ravencroft. Thurl Ravencroft, also famous for You're a mean one. Mr. Grinch. He sang that song. Also, um, he's a tiger who wears a red bandana and has catching it.

You're great.

You're great. It's his tag his tagline is there were supposed to be four of them? Yeah. Katie the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the New. Newt the Ganoo.

That's weird. Could you imagine? Yeah. What that would be like now, Frosted Flakes with Newt the Ganoo. The Ganoo. No kid's gonna remember that.

Yep. You want two, one or two more?

Do another one.

All right, here we go. Let me see. I'm gonna pick a good one here. Okay, this guy, uh before he became famous, worked as a farmhand, streetcar conductor, soldier, railroad fireman, lawyer, insurance salesman, tire salesman, and gas station operator.

Okay.

He was fired from multiple jobs, including being let go as a lawyer after getting to a fist fight with his own client in a courtroom.

Sounds like my friends.

He's based on a real person who didn't start the business he's famous for until he was 65 years old.

Dang.

Yeah, still hope for me to be famous. He wears a white suit, white hair, go tee.

It's Colonel Sanders.

Colonel Sanders. Yeah. And his title is a military rank he never actually earned in the military. Stolen Valor, Colonel Sanders. Harlan Sanders was not a military colonel. The title Colonel was an honorary Kentucky Colonel, I do declare. Designated, given to him by the governor of Kentucky in 1935 for his contributions to the state's cuisine. No wonder y'all look like that out there. He drove around the country cooking chicken. Wow. One more. Here we go. For you playing along at home. This is for all the points. All the points. All right. This is all those were one point each. You've got one point each for those.

Okay.

Now this one's worth 10,000 points. Stephanie's got all the points. This is worth 10,000 points. This one right here. This character was introduced in 1986, but the product he represents has been around since 1948. Uh-huh. Product he represents was invented accidentally when the creator of the machine that made it noticed that something happened when it hit the air. He's been described as a Joe Camel of junk food because how effectively he markets the children. He wears sunglasses, is impossibly cool, and walks upright with the swagger of someone who knows the coolest person in the room.

Cheeto Cheeto guy. Cheeto tiger man.

Almost. So close.

Not Cheeto Tiger.

Throwing darts. You're getting close to the Pringles guy? No.

Sunglasses?

Yep. Very cool. Very cool. Pink Panther? Hard to resist. It ain't easy. Being cheesy.

That's the Cheeto guy.

That's not his name.

Well, you could assume his mother gave him a first name for a reason. It's the Cheeto guy. Nobody knows the actual name.

Uh Chester Cheetah? Yes, everybody knows. Uh-oh. If you eat Cheetos with your nasty with your nasty fingers all orange. You gotta bite them off. You gotta bite the cheese off your fingers.

So I have 10,000 and five. Good job. I did get it. Good job.

Cheetos were invented by accident in 1948 at a Fritos factory in San Antonio. An employee named Charm Charles Doolin noticed that when moistened cornmeal was pushed through the manufacturing machine, it hit the open air, it puffed into curls. Flavored them with cheese, and these things that normally were on the factory floor are now in your mouth. Wow. Orange dust that gets on your fingers. Fingers only if you're lucky. Right. Oh, you gamers out there. All right. I thought that was fun. Yeah, that was good. Tell us what you think at home. Did you learn something? You're walking away with something new? Did you guess all of them? Did you get to 10,000 points at the end? Let us know. Get all up in our socials, bdepodcast.com.

Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)

Well, a little bit of sad news from the mailbag. It's empty. That's the problem. We would love for y'all to give us a review and some stars. That helps keep the podcast going. Helps me go really. It's all about me over here if you haven't figured that out. So please get into our comments about how great Guy is. That's the word you want to use when you're commenting on the podcast. But no, we just want to hear your comments. Want to know if you're even listening to this thing. Uh go ahead and do that now, especially if you're driving. Pull up your phone, put it in your hand, and get into our socials and comment.

You can't tell people to text and drive.

Oh, bdpodcast.com.

Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom

Just a tip.

Just a tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before no it. Most rec players drop their paddle down after hitting over to your side or somewhere else. Your opponent sees open space and attacks when you do that. Keep it at chest level. You're ready. You look ready. And you can block or punch back faster. Boom.

Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer

It's time for pickle pals. Oh, yes, it is time for pickle pals. We've got a two for one today. Our guests have favorite lines about the whole favorite line that I've heard, so, uh, from you all is pickleball is where washed up athletes go to feel alive again. Love it. I feel alive out there too at my solid 1.5 duper score. Soren and the pickleball agent turn uh the energy into a pickleball agent persona and a text, and and we're going to talk all about that. A very loud character built to grow the game across the central coast using AI and text messages to turn strangers in and tourists into regulars from the sunny shores of San Luis Obispo. We got Soren Dickens and the pickleball agent today on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. Thank you all for being here.

Guy, thanks for having us.

Oh, this is gonna be, I can already tell it's fun. When anybody dresses up as the pickleball agent and we have the pickleball agent here, I mean, how can we not have fun with this? This is this is right up our alley. This is Big Dink energy energy for sure. And if if you guys are just listening in your car, this is the time where I'm gonna tell you go over to your socials and check out what's going on on the screen from what you heard in your car. So, how do we not get right away into who is the pickleball agent and how did it start?

That's a good question.

Well, do you want to take over or you want me to go on here?

I wanted to get guys uh you know a hot take on the outfit. First of all, we need to we need a critic. You've had a lot of guests on the show here, and I know people who are listening in right now, they're not gonna be able to see it unless they go on to socials and look at it. So give us a rating.

Now I have a different take because I spent uh I in a previous life I was with agents of sorts uh in in the dark arts. And so I'm just gonna tell you right off the bat, mustache is fire. Okay. Right off the bat, the mustache is fire. You could be an agent, a pickleball agent, or you could be a firefighter with that thing. I'm just gonna put that out there. Now, the jacket, I mean, how do you not take someone professional? You can go anywhere if you have a sport coat on. Everybody should know this. You want to go in someplace, put a sport coat on, make your hair look neat, you'll walk by most checks that are going on at the front door. Then you got a hat that says pickle on it, and the shades. I mean, come on. This is this is the whole I don't know why I'm not wearing this, to be honest with you. And if this was a Halloween costume, I saw at Spirit Halloween, this is the one I'm going for.

I would love to see you as the pickleball agent on Halloween.

You'd love to just see me. Soren, I mean, the outfit, I I mean the hat that says fun, I feel like you're phoning it in. So that's just where I'm gonna leave that.

All right. Shout out fun. They're from California.

Tell our listeners about the pickleball agent. What how did this start? Was this just a drunken night and you got a text message you say I can do something better than that? Or how did this start?

Yeah, so it started beginning of the year, you know, there's all this AI craze coming around with uh talking about different agents that can do different things and you know, pickleball on the rise, but there isn't like that over-the-top sports agent that is in the sport of pickleball that represents, you know, rec players, you know, people 65 plus that are looking for the next deal with a potential retirement home or you know, a knee brace company or something like that. I figured, hey, I played pickleball with this guy named Q, and he is this guy even without the outfit. So what if we got this outfit? Slapped it on him and uh started to represent, you know, rec pickleball players in a joking way, but then also with more serious note behind it to actually help people find games or find opportunities in a place like the Central Coast where pickleball isn't as accessible because it's very fragmented. We have these small towns across the central coast that are 25-30 minutes away from each other with their little pickleball pockets of people. And um we're like, how can we kind of sew this together and bring people under, you know, not one ecosystem, but under one structured database where we can help people find games, especially at like that three, five plus level where maybe there aren't as many players at that level looking for games? We're like, let's figure out how to do this. And so we put our heads together, and next thing you know, we have a guy wearing a pickle hat and a sports coat on the pickleball court.

It's a gentleman's game.

Yeah. You know, I I don't know how, where did you get the money for the budget for this thing uh to begin with? I mean, how do you how do you budget for an outfit like this? Is it just uh loose change in the couch cushions or how you know how does that go?

I've been riding my bike a lot. I haven't been driving. You know, uh, we're in California, so those gas prices are pretty high. Right. You know, I'm looking at a Prius right now. So, you know, to have multiple sports coats this nice, uh Fabletics, if you want to send one, you know, it's hard. It's hard to stay this fish.

Shout out Fabletics. Yeah, I mean, I I feel I'm glad we're not in the same room. I feel like I could be cut by the sharpness of your outfit for sure. And your wit. I don't want to miss that either. So, I mean, we just can't be frat boys joking around on here. We've got to get some actual content out. So it is an it's an app, right? And it's it's essentially hey, I want to play pickleball. Text this, text the pickleball agent. He's gonna interact with you and tell you where to go.

Is that right? That's right. It's a headless app that works through SMS. And so right now we're working through a couple different things in terms of like verification to get into a larger group of people, but you text the number, it's similar to how you would text a number at a restaurant or you would receive a reservation confirmation. And so you don't have to download an app, you just text the agent, say I want to play a game, and the agent will then start looking through players that have similar availabilities that have a desired location similar to yours, and then also fit within your rating range, and it'll just text people until uh someone else confirms, and hopefully you can get into a singles, doubles, or a drill session.

Okay. So it's not a dating app per se. I mean, if you find love on the court, that's on you. Um and you say headless. So explain that to our listeners so they understand what headless means.

Yeah, headless means that the the user interface is is in the in in that cloud. There is no user interface, it's purely text-based. Nothing to download. Nothing to download. Right. Once you build your profile through text message, text it, hey, this is my name, where I'm located, and my availability, my rating, and your information is then stored in the secure profile. And when you text the agent uh the next day or later that day and you're looking for a game, it has that uh information stored in your database to then look for other players uh that could fit the game that you're looking for.

So essentially you're the agent for that person who reached out to you. You're you're the agent, you're pimping them out to I don't I don't want to say that. You're you're getting them involved with other people that also like pickleball. I yeah, I don't know what the rules are in California, so we gotta be careful. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's it's a way like I show up, I'm going to a conference or something like that. I want to get some reps in with pickleball. I'm gonna get with the pickleball agent. He's gonna rep me and put me in with some people, right? Exactly. I like that. Now, uh, Agent, for you specifically, do you um do you mind if I call you agent? Is it Mr. Agent?

You know, just whatever you want to call me today. That's fine.

Okay, good. So, Agent, I imagine in your world you get out with some other so-called mascots, like the Geico uh caveman. Did you did you get to hang out with him and you know him? Or, you know, is he how is he beh off the camera?

You know, we go way back. Uh back in the day, me and the caveman used to get out on the pickleball court. He likes to make fires.

I bet you there's a lot of raw meat, a lot of clubbing of people if he doesn't win.

Uh yeah, he's never lost because he only plays with me, so he's never lost. Mostly a lot of body bagging. Uh no clubbing, a lot of body bags.

Awesome. So I saw on the socials you guys have oh, well over 250 people waiting uh on the agent on the app itself. What's next steps for for that?

Yeah, next steps would be uh the onboarding in different waves. One of the issues that we've had in the development, like I mentioned, was a compliance issue with like the text messages. So, like without people, yeah. People have to then like re-opt in. So right now we're just gonna be onboarding people in waves so that we make sure, like, hey, you're on the you're on our wait list, but can you re-opt in? Because in the beginning we were just using an actual iPhone where people can text our iPhone and then we would put them in groups. And so we have to re-onboard players that were sitting in different groups into the actual automated process.

I gotcha.

So we're looking to do that here in the next couple weeks, and we have a couple events that we have in the pipeline that we're gonna throw to bring people together on the on the central coast that may or may never have played pickleball before. And we see this as a way to bring people into the platform, get them into the database, and um hopefully set up pickleball games on people's schedules so that we're not fighting over our limited rec hours that we have here on the central coast.

Now, what brings people mostly out to San Luis Obispo? Is it is it you have a better quality uh unhoused person, homeless person? Or what what is the draw out there for you guys?

Yeah, we have we have the walking dead outside. Right.

We have we have but uh but you guys have a better quality though, right?

We have a much better quality. Well, you're on Texas, right? Yes.

Anything else that's important out there? Like what if I'm not going to a conference that I'm made to go to, what what do I come out there for?

Okay, we got some of the best wine country in the world. We have Pasarobles, which is about 20, 30 minutes north of us. South of us, we have San Inez Valley, which again is great wine. It's right uh inland from Santa Barbara. We have the best weather probably in the world. We got 10 months of summer, two months of spring. Yeah. No humidity. We're not dealing with, you know, I don't know where you are in Texas, but I've I've lived in South Carolina for a little bit. The no heat and humidity here. It's outdoor pickleball twenty four seven weather. That's awesome.

And Do you guys in that area do you have more op uh indoor courts or outdoor courts, would you say?

We have right now only outdoor courts, but shout out to the hangar. The hangar is gonna be the Central Coast's first indoor pickleball facility. They're gonna be opening here, I think, in September. And we'll have a place to play when it rains, when it's a little bit hot, or when it's windy because we do get a lot of wind. And I think it's gonna be a place where more of the competitive players congregate and um help build like groups. So we see this as a really big opportunity to kind of stimulate the growth of pickleball on the Central Coast.

I got you. You've mentioned a court. Any other courts you're you guys are partner up with or working with on this adventure?

We're working through the cities right now. So our our playground is the public parks. So when you mention the homeless people, you know, we do have an audience. So the pickable agent has an original fan base. Yeah. And, you know, we have nice public courts. The city treats us fairly well with that. We're looking to, you know, meet people who want to build more courts, whether that's private courts at their homes. The pickable agent, you know, he can tell you a little bit about some of the invites he gets to private courts. I don't unfortunately get the invites. I hold a little resentment towards those people who leave me out. But what do you think about that pickable agent? What do you think about some of the private courts?

The private courts out here are I'd say top tier. We're basically playing in some beautiful areas and country themed, but with mountains near the coast. The weather's beautiful, and just playing at a private court here is awesome. But you know, I enjoy getting invited to the private courts, but at the same time, the public court is uh where I come from. That's my home. So we want to represent the people at the public court and uh trying to get them organized games on their schedule.

Agent, I bet you it's got to be just hard. I've been around some celebrities before, and certainly Starstruck now. And I saw you working out ahead of the interview today, so I want to make sure I point everybody to your socials to go see that. But do you find it, you know, can you go in public now or is it just too hard and you and you almost have to you're at the point where you need um a a body man, so to speak, a bodyguard.

Yeah, it's a pretty small area here. So I mean, going out in public, I'm I'm definitely getting recognized. When I I show up to the park, you know, it's like I have a parade of people just waiting to say hello to me. You know, I played a little baseball. I played at the University of South Carolina, so I'm used to giving a little autograph here and there, but I will say being uh the pickleball agent now at my local park, I'm probably given more autographs because I didn't do too well at South Carolina.

Guy, you have a background in security, right?

I do, yes, I do. Yes.

Well, what do you think? Would people even sign up to protect this the pickleball agent? Or do you think that it would be someone like jumping the other way if bullets started flying?

So, you know, there's different levels. You know, there there are the guys who want to break into the industry, and so they'll take anything. Don't settle for those, right? That's too far downstream for you. Come up just a little bit upstream, and you know, if they have, I'll just tell you this: if they have a black suit and a black tie and black sunglasses and a tight haircut, that's who you're looking for. I know it it can seem cliche, but that guy has his stuff together. If he already owns if now, if he owns a suit, that's top notch, right? If he's just renting, you know, you might want to steer clear of that. But someone who owns their own black suit and a and their own earpiece, I mean, there are days when you share an earpiece, but you know, when when you're top notch, you're not sharing an earpiece anymore, that's for sure. So yeah, you'll you're definitely you you've got guys waiting, I guarantee you.

So you think we're like above mall cop? Oh where do you think he would fit?

Yeah, so you have different waves too. You have different um different rings of security. Mall cop would be the first one that goes in, make sure the area is clear for you. Then he sends the signal to your body man outside and says, okay, it's it's clear to bring the agent in. So yeah, definitely above mall cop for sure. Now, is it above Segway scooter? I'm not sure about that. You know, how do you feel rant riding tandem, holding onto the guy's waist? I mean, that could be your getaway vehicle. So so if we go, if we're let's let's go a year in the future, you've got, you know, obviously a hundred different pairs of sunglasses, you have two sport coats now, and uh three t-shirts. What does that look like for the agent app, though? How many are in there? What's going on with the app? What's the new features? Tell us, tell us a little bit of crystal ball action. What are you guys hoping for the future?

Man, that's a great question. If we were to stick to the timeline, which is always tough to stick to the timeline because, you know, long games at the bar, groupies, definitely long nights, groupies, it's you know, it's tough. But I would say success for the pickleball agent would be tying the Central Coast pickleball scene together, getting a little bit more representation from the city. There's a little bit of pushback. An article came out and one of the cities just uh pushed back on some of the open play hours because of the noise complaints. And so what we're gonna be doing is delivering earplugs to all the neighbors.

Yes. That is the type of energy and pettiness we like here on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. So please tag us in that. I want to see how that goes.

I'm gonna go door knocking. So we have the we have the earplugs, and uh that'll be coming out soon.

Yeah, you could say something like, Hey, we've heard your complaint, right? Here's some of your plugs. I like that. How are people gonna find you? What's all the socials people need to go to to find you and get involved with this?

My pickleball agent. We're on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube.

And and now would be a good time, right? Because as you're growing, I'm sure the the the opportunity for you to personally sign all your headshots and send them out is is gonna dwindle. Yeah. Um so now is the is the I'm just gonna make a call for it right now. If you're listening to this, you may have missed your moment, but I would go over, get on the socials, and ask for the signed headshot of the pickleball agent while he's still signing them himself personally without the auto pen.

Exactly. The auto pen. It's getting pretty popular. My wrist is getting a little sore. Yeah.

I know a guy that used to like the auto pen. Sorin, Mr. Agent, my pickleball agent. Love having you guys on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. Love the energy. Can't wait to see the earplug pass out and everything you guys are doing. And when we get out there, obviously we're gonna hook up. We'll see what uh slow, as it's known, is all about.

Sounds great. We'd love to have you out here. Yeah, let us know.

Let us know when you're heading out. Thanks for being on.

Thank you for having us.

It's time for Pick Six.

Yes, the segment you all like at home. You've told us that.

Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)

Uh pick six is where we take one question, each bring two answers, and immediately regret to this segment. Tonight's pick six is pickable things that should require consent. Pick-aball things that should require consent.

So my first one is from personal experience, and that is signing your partner up for a tournament. Because I signed my sister up for one, it had no levels, and we drove two hours and I didn't tell her. And so when we got there, she was like, Are we all are we playing against everybody here? And I was like, Yep, yep. There you go. No consent from her. Yeah.

Yes, I I would agree.

Needless to say, we did not win.

What? Surprise, surprise.

Mine is gonna be giving uh coaching advice, coaching somebody. Like, you need my consent before you do that, because that's just rude. Agreed.

I like that. Mine is also personal, uh, not to me, but to you. Filming someone without asking.

I ask every time. I ask every time.

I bet you that one guy says you didn't.

I did ask. Anywho, I think switching somebody's paddle, like moving their paddle in the paddle stack, or yes, or just that is so rude. Moving people's bags and and stuff like that, like wherever you're sitting, you know, you could simply just be like, Oh, can I put this over here? But like, don't be touching other people's stuff. Yeah, yeah.

Um, I guess mine would be similar to that, but telling people that their paddles are illegal and they can't play with their paddles.

That that happened to me. You can't play with that in a tournament. I was like, dude, I don't care. It's open play. Take a breath. Like, damn.

Yeah.

It's cute. That was funny.

My next one is uh the butt tap after a good point. I get a lot of weird looks.

Yes, you should probably get consent for that.

Tell us what you got. What do you think? Pickleball things that should require consent. Get all up in our socials with that.

News you can use.

News You Can Use

Stand by for news.

So everybody should know by now that we're we're new to this sport, so only like a year and a half in. So we're still learning all the what's real and what's not.

But veritable virgins over here.

So because there's like a national feed your dog ice cream day and stand on your head day, and somebody's kid made all those up and now they're on a calendar. We saw the National Pickleball Day pop up, and our first thought was, is this really a thing? Or is it pretty much a paddle company trying to sell us something? But it is a thing. So it's August 8th. Nice. So it was a couple weeks ago, and I did see it, but I wasn't sure if somebody was just, like I said, creating it or whatever. So a woman named Dee Morris created it in 2021. She's a certified coach, a USA pickleball ambassador out of Lafayette, California. She noticed the sport didn't have a day, so she went through the National Archives and got it one. The eighth day of the eighth month. Easy to remember. So that was her whole strategy.

Would you say pickleball eight?

Eight, yes. Oh, yeah. No problems.

Ah, yeah. So give me my flowers.

So what she said is her ask is that you just don't post a story, but it's to teach somebody, host something, collect old paddles, and donate them to a school or a club, do something actually for the sport, is what she wanted for that day. I love that. So it didn't catch on um right away. She ran a sanctioned tournament in Concord in 2023 and it barely registered. It didn't actually blow up until 2024. So this year it landed on a Saturday and it was the biggest one yet. So I don't know if y'all knew about it. I didn't really know about it until it was already happening. Nope. But I will say Canada has their own. It's the second Saturday of August. So theirs moves every year, naturally, you know, how they are. But I think next next year, we will definitely be doing something for that day. Yeah. Yeah. We will plan it on the calendar.

Well, and I want to make sure that we point out here we don't just report on the stories. We sent a reporter out to the field to figure out was this a real story? So this is Fact Trecker. Yeah, this is uh investigative reporting at its finest. At its finest.

At its finest. And they're not in the field that it was too windy today, so we had to just do it in-house. Oh well. That's why it's me reporting.

Well, I mean, our listeners can imagine just all the trials and tribulations you had to go through to track this story down.

So D. Morris created it in 2021. It is a thing, so remember it for next year, eighth month, eighth day.

Get it tattooed on your body now.

Oh my gosh.

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