Pickleball: Why Can't We All Just Get Along | Joel Mower w/ Dink Ninjas
Big DINK Energy | Over 40 Pickleball & LifeAugust 04, 2026x
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00:30:3221.05 MB

Pickleball: Why Can't We All Just Get Along | Joel Mower w/ Dink Ninjas

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We're coming in hot with:

🔹 Apparently trash-talking tennis says more about your own game.
 🔹 One of us keeps checking the fridge like it'll refill itself.
 🔹 The truth behind blaming beer for your bad shots might surprise you.

Plus, Joel Mower from Dink Ninjas Pickleball joins us to share how a sleepless night during his wife's cancer diagnosis turned into a paddle brand built on community and purpose. His wife is now healthy, and Dink Ninjas donates to cancer research with every sale.

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Guy

Now, I I will play pickleball with a cigar.

Stephanie

Yes, that is.

Guy

It really upsets the people at the indoor courts, but whatever, you know. 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. The official podcast of Pickleball. I'm glad to have you ladies back. You guys went without me. We have the last episode. You're at PickleCon and I just saw a lot of good things, and I just had to sit here as bachelor dad taking care of these dumb kids.

Stephanie

Well, I will tell you this that our episode sponsor

Sponsor Ad - DillyPop

Stephanie

is brought to you by Dillipop Pickleball. We wore their shirts all week at PickleCon, and we lost count of how many people stopped us and asked where we got them. Like they were a hit. And so if you love pickleball and don't take yourself too seriously, like we are, their shirts are right up your alley. They're funny, they're comfortable, and perfect for showing off your pickleball personality, both on and off the court. Head over to dillipoppickleball.com and use code BDE Pod15, and that's gonna save you 15% off your entire order. That's awesome.

Guy

Like the gecko out there saving you 15%. That's right.

Stephanie

And they're they're so soft. They're so soft.

Guy

I bet you their website, 15 minutes, could save you 15% off if you get BDE Pod 15.

Stephanie

Yeah. And they're they have a lot of cute little sayings and lots of fun stuff over at Dilly Pop. So but okay,

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

Stephanie

so I need somebody to explain this to me.

Guy

All right.

Stephanie

Okay. Why do we feel the need to tear down one sport to make another sport seem legitimate? So why can't golf just be golf and running be running and tennis be tennis? You know, I I just don't understand this mentality that for one thing to be good, another thing has to be bad. And I'm superiority complex. I feel like your yeses be yeses and your nose be no's all over, you know, Facebook. Everybody's always arguing, and then you you put, you know, pickleball and they're like, Yeah, but it's not tennis, or you know, everybody just always has something to say. But like I've never watched gymnastics and been like, yeah, but it's not football. So what what is it like no one no one's is doing that in other sports? Like, no one's like, you shouldn't be a cyclist, you should be swimming. Like, I don't understand. So I want to know if you guys have any commentary on that. Like, what is the big deal?

Guy

I mean, yeah, obviously the one for us, the biggest war is the tennis v pickleball war. You know, tennis has spent years and years and years being sophisticated and they play it on grass courts at Wimbledon.

Stephanie

But what what but I don't hate tennis? Right. Like I like pickleball, but that doesn't mean I hate tennis.

Guy

Well, maybe hate is a is a strong word.

Stephanie

No, I don't even There are a lot of people that hate one or the other. That's what I'm saying. Why do you have to hate one in order to love the other? Why can't they just be different and you do your thing and I do my thing?

Guy

Well, okay, so it's not like a rivalry like the New England Patriots and any other football team, but everybody hates the Dallas Cowboys. Not like that.

Stephanie

No. I just I feel like if you don't like a sport, don't play it. Right. Like I don't go around saying I don't like cricket. I just don't play it.

Guy

Yeah, I but I maybe it's part of the part of the fun of it though. Because like the like it happens in every sport. It really does.

Stephanie

I don't think it does.

Guy

Like the CrossFit people trash the regular gym. The regular gym people trash CrossFit.

Stephanie

Right.

Guy

But why is it runners trash cyclists? Swimmers, who knows?

Stephanie

I don't think it's that bad a cross. I do get the crossfit and the high rocks and the fitness. I do understand that. But what I don't understand is why we spend so much time convincing everyone else they shouldn't enjoy something. Right.

Guy

Well, okay, so I th I think what it really boils down to it starts to become your identity. It's the guys who are wearing the jersey. Like, are you waiting for them to call you up? You got the jersey just in case, buddy?

Stephanie

People feel personally attacked.

Guy

Yeah, it's it's it is, it's your identity. I am a pickleball player now. Tennis, screw you.

Stephanie

Yeah. But I don't I don't we become our sport. Do you think that more pickleball players hate tennis than tennis hate pickleball? No. I don't think so. I think more tennis players hate pickleball players. Because I think a lot of pickleball people came from the tennis background, so they still have, you know, a love for it because maybe that's how they started. But the people who stayed with tennis and have not crossed over to pickleball, I think down on people who play pickleball. Right. Like, but why? Like, we're not, first of all, we're not taking your courts because we can't play on those courts.

Guy

Well, we are though. But but if we're taking your court, is it because Nobody's there? Nobody's there, right?

Stephanie

I've never showed up to a park and paddle-stacked for tennis. No. Like there's nobody there. You have to already have people, already have a group, have a plan. You know, you can't just show up. So I mean, right now we have millions of people playing, moving, laughing, competing, making friends. And I think that's just the whole point of a sport. So I don't see why we have to like diminish one sport in order to make another.

Guy

Well, there's a historic I don't have an answer. There's historically a reason for it as well. It's the same reason we see certain groups and we don't hang out with certain groups. It's tribalism. We have tribalism too. I mean, it's it's historic.

Stephanie

I mean, I get that.

Guy

Right? So we we kept the bad people out and the good people in. We protected the good people against the bad people. So, you know, we create our own little in-groups and we feel confident in those in groups because we all think the same thing.

Stephanie

But you can be confident in your group and not hate another group. Like, I don't I don't understand why people feel threatened when one sport gets more popular.

Guy

I don't know if it's hate. I I think you're using a word that's not um have you seen some of the comments? Okay, some of the comments, yeah.

Stephanie

But it that's lazy. That's for lazy people. That's for people who can't play that. That's for people who are ugly. That's for people who there's a lot of hate. There's a lot of hate. Why can't we just celebrate people being active? Right. Sure.

Guy

Yeah, I mean, I get it. I mean playing any kind of sport.

Paddle Princess

Right.

Guy

So, I mean, at that level of it though, when you're saying you hate something, then there's a lot of insecurity that comes in that then.

Stephanie

Right. That's that's why I think it comes to you're I think you're right when it comes to identity. Like, I don't think it's about the sport because there's a lot of pickleball and there's a lot of tennis people that don't act like that. And that's because they're not tied to it. They are not like living their life vicariously and trying to, you know, make everything about them that sport. So therefore, it it doesn't hurt when somebody says pickleball sucks. I'm like, okay, douche. Right. Like, whatever. If that's who you are, then be that person. But there are some people who literally get so butthurt because you play pickleball and they're a tennis person. And they get angry. Angry.

Guy

Yeah, and well, it comes, you know, it's it's nothing different than the like I said, the football teams, and then you got the old the other subgroups out there like Harleys. I have a Harley. That's a Honda, that's not a bike.

Stephanie

Right. Like just we're all riding. Like, why can't we all ride? So I guess the question is why is someone else's hobby so offensive to you? Like, I don't get that.

Guy

Yeah, I mean, we don't need tennis to fail. I mean, pickleball's already we have 24 million players and a 750 million parent company and record TV ratings. I mean, it's it's new, it's fresh. Uh, there's a Hollywood, there's a couple movies, really good movies out there. Go see go watch them all. They're so amazing. The movies.

Stephanie

Yeah, I that's what I'm saying. We I mean, we don't have we'd have to put one down for one to be good. So I agree with that. Anyways, that was my topic for kitchen talk today.

Guy

Here's the thing. I think if you're trashing it, you're probably mediocre at best at whatever sport you're in. Agreed. Tell us what you think. Go over to bdepodcast.com. Bdepodcast.com.

Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)

Guy

Oh, right up on top of the BDE podcast mailbag, we have this from the Insta of Grams. Connor Bassnight, the owner of D3 Pickleball and director of Kansas City Pickleball Club, said this. I had so much fun working and playing with you guys. I love the pickleball community. And then subtext is BDE Podcast and Dinkin Dash app are the best things in the pickleball world.

Stephanie

Way to add that in there. He was so awesome. Connor was very, very awesome.

Guy

You guys met so many wonderful people. If you haven't seen yet, go over to the BDE podcast on Instagram and look at all the wonderful people we interviewed. Uh, you guys did such a great job. I just wanted to give you a shout out.

Stephanie

Thank you. We had a blast.

Guy

I was just here eating dry ramen and spaghettios out of the can.

Stephanie

Next year.

Guy

They'll probably still be eating the same thing.

Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom

Stephanie

Just the tip.

Guy

Just the tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out. Before you know it, just a tip comes from Ryan Haley from True Spin. Go check them out as well. He said don't measure a successful drop by whether it gets you all the way to the kitchen line immediately. Measure it by whether it allows you to hit an easy, balanced, all-important fifth shot.

Stephanie

And literally today at our drills and skills classes. Tips and tricks, that is exactly what we worked on. We worked on that today.

Guy

That's awesome. Yeah. Sit back and wait. Just time for pickleball.

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

Guy

Our guest today came up with Dink Ninjas, and I absolutely love it. I love his logo. I love everything that he stands for. Dink Ninjas pickleball, one sleepless night during one of the hardest periods of his life. We're going to talk about that, his wife's cancer diagnosis. Joe Maurer turned that struggle into a brand built on high-quality paddles, community, and purpose. His wife has recovered, is now healthy. Thank the Lord. Today, Dink Ninjas donates to cancer research charities all through every sale and live and direct from the big metropolis of Leeander, Texas, right down the road from us, Joe Maurer. Thanks for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. Hey, love it, man. Appreciate you guys having me on. Yeah, we I mean, we've been chasing you for a while. We met you in Waco at an opening of a pickleball place. I think they've closed, right? Is that what it is? Yeah. And man, just I love what you had then. I got to play with some of your paddles there and loved it and love what you stood for. And we, man, we talked for probably 30, 40 minutes just in our first meeting. So this should be easy, right? So let's talk about the start of Dink Ninjas, right? You know, with your wife's cancer diagnosis. And I remember you were up late at night and everything was just kind of landing on you. Tell us a little bit about that.

Joel

Yeah, I had been uh introduced to the sport of pickleball probably six months before we got the diagnosis. My wife was diagnosed with cancer and just had been experiencing such an awesome community and such good endorphins out there playing and meeting everybody. And I realized that uh there was such a strong community out there that I wanted to uh kind of lean into that after we got the diagnosis. And there was such a kind of a negative mental state for me after we got that diagnosis. Obviously, we're healthy and taking care of each other and trying to do everything right. So I kind of got sent into a negative headspace with that and just I decided to pour that negative headspace into the sport of pickleball. Hadn't really done anything entrepreneurial, um, artistic before in the past, and uh just really wanted to pour into that. So had the idea to start Dink Ninja's pickleball one sleepless night, like you said. The rest is history from there, man.

Guy

So what is the how the name Dink Ninja? Where do they are? Are you secretly a ninja? We just don't know, and and you don't you you have a lot of black spandex and and tab issues and all that, or where'd that come from?

Joel

Right? Some belts and all that holding everything together. No, I wasn't sleeping one night, and I thought, well, who are you gonna play pickleball against that you're gonna stand no chance on the court? And I thought, well, if you're if you're matched up against a ninja, then it's uh it's a free-for-all, man. He's gonna eat your lunch every time.

Guy

That would that would be it. Yeah, yeah, I could see that for sure. And thankfully we already said, we already teased it, but thankfully your wife is all healthy now and recovered. Has that changed your relationship with the brand and the mission? Is that taking a turn or is that you're still on the course?

Joel

Still on the course, man. I I realized that uh after after we had that diagnosis and that spurred the brand, I was invited on some other shows and some different podcasts and stuff like that, and was able to share the story there. And after those podcasts, I started getting all kinds of DMs and emails and everything about folks that uh I was able to make an impression on. And I felt super blessed by that. And they were messaging me about mental health concerns that I was mentioning in the in those shows, just the mental health impact that a cancer diagnosis on yourself or your family members or distant acquaintances or network can have on you. And I realized that the more I can share my story and other people's stories around me and make a positive impact and just kind of create an open space for people to be able to share mental health concerns or health diagnosis, anything like that. I'm all about it. So continuing to network and continuing to share our story and kind of what fueled the brand and the fact that that's what has brought me around to a great headspace. My wife and I have an amazing relationship and we've always been blessed with a great relationship. Obviously, we've got ups and downs, but her having the strength to fight that battle really was eye-opening for me to realize how strong she is. Obviously, she's yeah, she's way stronger than I could ever aspire to be. And uh, she's always been there for me and my strength through all this, and as well as through the entrepreneurial endeavor of starting this company. I mean, it's just been amazing.

Guy

Yeah, I I know I remember you sharing that with me, just how like um like she was handling it way better than you at the time.

Joel

Absolutely.

Guy

And and that that shouldn't be that way, but thank goodness, right? Because that that allowed you to have your space that you needed to kind of figure this out and get right with it. And it is, you know, when you have a partnership for life like that, like my wife and I, I I couldn't imagine that diagnosis in our family, what that would do to me. So yeah, I mean, uh she's a she's a my wife probably like yours a pit bull. I mean, she's not she's gonna take everything head on. Yep. So my fear would be like, well, what am I what am how am I gonna run this house? Right, because you do so good such a good job at it. I'm not gonna be able to run this house. Yeah, so man, such a fantastic story, and obviously has has you know changed you guys and brought you guys closer. Now, you were if I remember your home inspector, is that is that right?

Joel

I am, yeah. We have a home inspection business with a partner of mine. We uh serve all over central Texas, so kind of up temple all the way down towards uh Kyle and all that, and then east and west as well.

Guy

Now, do you give out any discounts for pickleball players?

Joel

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I was just working for uh Austin Firefighter this morning, and uh we were chatting about what he does on the side because all firefighters have a side hustle, it seems like. That's right. It turns out he's really good friends with a a buddy of mine, Todd, who's one of the partners at Tejas Pickleball Club up here near us, near our house. Oh, nice. And uh they've been buddies for like 20 years. So I thought, a small world, man. You all are playing pickleball at the firehouses, and now you're uh now you're buying a house and I'm doing the inspection for you.

Guy

Yeah, I don't know. Listen, I'm a cop, so I've got to say this. I don't know how they can get more leisure activities in their life, but they seem to find them. There's a lot of laying around, a lot of eating, and a lot of leisure in that in that industry. Right, right. Pickleball pickleball definitely fits.

Joel

Oh, for sure. And uh most of these firehouses, it seems, when you drive by and they've got the doors open, they've got a pickleball net in there either off to the side or they're smashing balls right in the middle of the day.

Guy

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I, you know, you say that, and there's probably some other jokes I can make, but this is a family podcast.

Joel

I love it. I love it.

Guy

So now September 2023 is a start, you know, less than three years. You're you're from zero to multiple paddles, multiple items, multiple skews for the business minded. How did you, I mean, how do you scale? How do you scale that? How did you determine what to scale and how to scale?

Joel

So honestly, I started out with a buddy of mine embroidering hats for me, is the first skew that I tried out. And I was wearing those around local community playing pickleball with them, and people started asking me, hey, where'd you get that hat? Who whose brand is that? And I said, Oh, it's a brand that I've just recently started. But with the hats, then I I just started branching out a little bit, got approached on LinkedIn of all places by a lady uh paddle manufacturer and said, Hey, if you ever want to design a paddle, let me know. Wow. So we kind of just started swapping ideas of what we wanted stuff to look at, look like, and started doing some paddle runs. And those those have done really well um over the years since we started. And then I realized the big picture as far as apparel goes. I realized that uh when you start making apparel, you have to accommodate a lot of different sizes. And so yes, extra extra small to 3x is what your requests are. And so I realized, hey, I need to figure this out. And I was able to uh connect with some drop shippers who I've been testing some products with over the last couple of years, and they put out amazing products. They can take a design that I I come up with in the middle of the night one night, and they can turn it into magic and take the colors of the shirts, the material types, all that kind of stuff. And they're able to get shirts to to my customers within four or five days in the size and the color that they want.

Guy

Dang.

Joel

So that's been a huge blessing for me on the apparel side of things. I can get hoodies, I could do jerseys, I could do pretty much anything I want in the apparel space and drop ship it. So that's been a huge, huge blessing for me.

Guy

But yeah, that's important, right? Because when the when you have the customer, when you have the hot lead right then and there, if they don't feel like they can get it or there's too many steps, they're out, right? They're gonna move on down the road. No matter how much they like your logo and what you stand for, you'll have the ones that stay. But if if you can't answer that question in their caveman brain right away, can I get it? Then they're out. So that's I mean, you've got it figured out, that's for sure.

Joel

Yeah, that's that's been a great uh a great advantage for me as a small brand. And on the paddle front, I've had a number of requests for paddles that have the UPA certification and they want to be able to play with them in these in these higher level tournaments. And a company called Warping Point reached out to me. They're a brand here in Texas as well as in uh California in the Bay Area there. And they've got a number of high-level players, um, some MLP players and PPA touring pros there. They reached out to me to be a uh vendor of theirs. And so Shopify Shopify is who we use as kind of the backbone of our website. And they've got this setup called the Collective, and all these other brands in the pickleball space, they can reach out to you as a brand and say, Hey, are you interested in partnering with us? We'll sell your products, you sell ours. You can pick and choose what you want to sell through each other's websites. And so we're a vendor for warping point now, and they make just second to none paddles, and they're they're much larger than we are, so they're paying for all the certification. We don't have to we don't have to worry about that. And I mean, they're they're such a great brand. We had a client recently that received a paddle. It had just a little white speck on the edge guard, with just a little discoloration. It wasn't even an indentation or a damaged area. That client reached out to me through our website just chatting with me. And I reached out to Warping Point. They said, Hey, what's the what's the skew? What's the order number? We'll just send them a new paddle. No questions asked. And so amazing company to work with. We're super blessed to work with them. And they uh have partnered with us, and we can supply UPA approved paddles to to a wide variety of clients as well. And they've got a a bunch of different SKUs that we uh we list on our website now.

Guy

That's so that's such a fantastic story. And and it makes, you know, uh, I'll just say your your gear is is for a cause, and so it makes people feel good about that. And so uh just being able to say, yep, we we're approved through this organization, you can definitely have one of our paddles and take it out in the court with you and feel good about it. That that's fantastic. Now, you you have uh you you have to have extensive market research because you're a pickleball player, right? So you have the encore experience to say, hey, take a look at this, what do you think about this, and put it in people's hands? Has that really helped inform product development for you?

Joel

It has. It has. We've we've had fun with that in our local community. And as a brand, I've kind of gone in a different direction than the than the kind of white collar polished brand. I try to be a fun, approachable brand. Obviously, the silly ninja with the rocket pop on there for our 250th anniversary. Just kind of trying to be a fun, approachable brand and love getting love getting our products in people's hands, whether it's at a pop-up at a tournament or just at one of our local courts. It's a ton of fun to get uh live feedback from people. Hey, what do you want to see? Do you like the fit of the hats or the style or anything like that? It's great to see uh see and receive local feedback.

Guy

Yeah, that's that's that's so important. And and you did men you mentioned the community, and the community is so welcoming to ideas and different things like that. And and I do, I'm one of those people that also like to have a fun paddle. And it's because it's specific to me. Every anybody can go out and buy the the $250, $300 ones that go boom if you know what I'm talking about. Um but why not have I'm a I'm a solid 1.5, maybe $1.7 on any good day. And so I'm just out there to have fun. You know, you'll see me in swim shorts and a t-shirt, you know, no telling what I'm showing up in. I'm a I'm a rec player, and the majority and the bulk of pickleball community is those rec players that just there to have some fun. And and you definitely how allow them to bring the fun.

Joel

Absolutely. Yeah, that's that's been a passion of mine is just kind of opening the doors to the to the community and like the like the paddle partnership that we have, they're not making three hundred dollar paddles. They're making uh paddles that are excellent quality and obviously have a great warranty behind them. And they're at approachable price point as well. And that's what I've tried to do with with all of my apparel. And and like you guy, I'm a I'm a solid like mid to high twos on a great day.

Guy

Yeah.

Joel

As you can see, I've been chosen for team USA pickleball here. So awesome. Obviously, the high twos is what we're striving for to really make it to the big time.

Guy

Yeah. I have a I have a pickleball problem. It gets in the way of my cigars and drinking. So I love it.

Joel

I love it, man.

Guy

So, you know, I love that you're an avid player, obviously. That lends to the brand, a lens to the fun, and a lends to the community. And pickleball equipment can get kind of really gatekeepy. Expensive paddles, brand wars, all that kind of stuff. And you're just approaching that differently. And I absolutely love that. And like I said earlier, your your fun and your zest for life really come through the gear. So I want to make sure we're make I illustrate that enough for everybody. So five years from now, you know, you've got the crystal ball. What is what's Dink Ninja's doing? Where are where are you? What's going on? How have you grown?

Joel

For me, long term, I just want to keep spreading the word and growing the community. We've been super blessed to connect with a lot of different charities and nonprofits around Central Texas and abroad. And we would love to just continue to do that. Just continue to broaden the horizon as far as charities we can support, nonprofits that we can support, and just keep spreading the word and keep making pickleball approachable from a price point standpoint, as far as just, I mean, friendliness and welcoming on the court and then all the clubs that we uh that we network with. I would just love to uh continue to grow in that facet and just broaden the horizon as far as partnerships and collaborations and all that.

Guy

Very good, very good. Was there a moment during this journey where you know you thought, man, I really have something here? Was there a pivotal moment or like an order came in and you're like, man, that's okay, now this is something?

Joel

I think it was really being plugged into the local community here and just seeing the response and kind of the admiration for the brand kind of spurring me on as an entrepreneur, getting that feedback. I just early on I realized, hey, this is so much fun for me to network with people and get feedback and kind of just brainstorm where I want the brand to go and kind of what I want the energy behind it to be.

Guy

Yeah.

Joel

Kind of create that energy to where it pours onto the court and throughout the local community.

Guy

Yeah, I love that. So if you're listening, once you're done listening to this, the full podcast, not just the interview, go all the way through, but then go over to Dink Ninjas and grab yourself a paddle, grab yourself some gear. Where are they gonna go to get all that fun stuff?

Joel

You can check us out on dinkninjas.com. And if you're feeling generous, you can uh hit up all of our socials and give us a follow and uh send us some feedback. I'd love to hear uh DMs on uh on what's going on in your local community and how we can help support you guys.

Guy

Yeah, and I'll tell you right now, Joel's one of those owners, entrepreneurs that he's in the comments. He reads the comments and he actually responds. He's not just this big brand Dink Ninjas, where they forget where they came from and the one and two paddles that they sold initially. He's actually out there listening and taking the feedback and applying it. And so, yes, please go link up with them on all their social media, share them everywhere, and go get yourself something in their storefront. Joel, thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. Love having you.

Joel

Hey, thanks so much for the opportunity, man. This has been a great conversation. I really enjoyed it.

Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)

Guy

It's time for pick six. Get in where you fit, and it is time for pick six. Pick six is where we take one question, each bring two answers, and immediately regret agreeing to this segment. Today's pick six is things everyone has done, but nobody admits. Things everyone has done, but nobody admits.

Stephanie

Uh waved back at someone who wasn't waving at you. Yes, I've done that. Hey oh.

Guy

Yeah.

Stephanie

I would say read a message from the notification bar so that it didn't mark it as red.

Guy

Oh I see. I see what you're doing there, sneaky kiki.

Stephanie

I don't know that I've done that. Well, sometimes I just don't feel like messaging right then and there, so it's just like a little, okay, I got it. I'll reply later. But now they don't know that I read it. Well, now we do. Now the whole world does. I don't do that to y'all. Just the group chat.

Guy

Mine is mine is, and it's not age related at all, laughed at or just nodded along when somebody said something because you didn't understand them.

Stephanie

Or or like you say yes and it wasn't a yes or no question.

Guy

Yeah.

Stephanie

I would have to say, like, pulled on a push door. Oh.

Guy

Yeah.

Stephanie

Like I did that at Piggle Gone. Yeah, that did happen. Mine would be text the fridge again as if like new food is just gonna magically reappear, but like I go to the fridge five times. It still has the same thing in it.

Guy

Yeah, it's not a magic fridge.

Stephanie

Yeah, but as you get more desperate, things look different. They do. So that's probably why and then I'm like, okay, well, I guess I can eat that. I'm really hungry. My husband yells at me all the time. There's nothing new in there.

Guy

Sorry. Well, at least it's not like we're not air conditioning the interior of that.

Stephanie

Oh, I do say that to my kids. And we got the new fridge, and it has like the alerts on my phone. So I'm like, close the fridge door. It's been open for too long.

Guy

Said I'm on my way while still sitting on the couch.

Stephanie

You do that all the time.

Guy

Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie

You're like on my way. I'm like, no, you're not. I see you on live 360. Your ass is still at home. You're literally still at the house.

Guy

The traffic's terrible out here. It's a train. Tell us what you got. Things everyone has done. What have you done? But nobody admits to. I guess you'd be admitting to it if you dropped it in our comments.

Stephanie

Right.

Guy

News

News You Can Use

Guy

you can use. You hanging out the water cooler tomorrow? This is what you're gonna use. This is news you can use.

Stephanie

So everyone blames their bad play on the beer they had. Pickleball and breweries practically go hand in hand. So naturally, you'd think beer would be behind a lot of pickleball injuries. Well, researchers at the University of Arkansas reviewed 296 pickleball-related emergency room visits from 2022 and looked for documented alcohol involvement. Guess how many?

Guy

Three.

Stephanie

A hundred. Zero. Oh not one of those ER reports documented alcohol involvement. Meanwhile, places like Chicken and Pickle make most of their money from food and drinks, not court rentals. So we're all out here joking that beer made us miss our shots, but that's not what actually is showing up in the injury data. So I can change that. What do you think is really going on? Are we just more careful after a drink? Are most injuries happening like before happy hour? Or have we all been using beer as the world's most convenient excuse for a bad game?

Guy

Or is chicken and pickle charging us $55 for a half hour on their court, so we're not using them.

Stephanie

Unless they're verified in the Dika Dash app. Yes. There's that. So, anyways, I thought that was really interesting. Yeah, I probably um Because a lot of the times I'm like, well, I I mean I've I've had a drink maybe once or twice playing pickleball. Yeah, not very often. I'm too nervous. Like I'm like, ooh. I typically will wait until after the game to have a drink. I'm horrible enough. People be drinking and playing, and I'm nervous for them. But apparently out of 296 pickleball-related injuries, not z not one.

Guy

Well, it was the University of Arkansas, so was math the strong suit out there.

Stephanie

Oh, I get that. Who knows? Yeah.

Guy

Yeah. I mean, and I drink stout, uh, heavy, heavy beer, so I'm not playing pickleball with that in my belly. No, I I will play pickleball with a cigar.

Stephanie

Yes. That is that is true.

Guy

It really upsets the people at the indoor courts, but whatever, you know what I mean?

Stephanie

That is very true. I do have a picture of you playing pickleball with a cigar.

Guy

Yeah. Not I mean, not physical. I mean, I was smoking the cigar, not banging it back and forth across the net.

Stephanie

That is true.

Guy

That is true. I'll show you what I can bang back and forth across the net.

Stephanie

Oh my gosh. Too far.

Guy

That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong? Have a better take? We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com

Wrap-Up & CTA - Final thoughts, shoutouts, and how to engage with us

Guy

or at bdepodcast on the social. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, stay in deep. If not, maybe try again with growing 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 date stopped and the energy built.

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