The Sevan Podcast - #592 - Kane Waselenchuk

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

Greatest Raquetball player in history and one of the most accomplished individual athletes in any sport.Welcome to this episode of the Sevan Podcast!Sign up for our email: https://thesevanpodcast.com/-------------------------Register for the Fight for the Fittest partner series below!  https://app.conquestevents.net/events...Partners:https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATIONhttps://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! Support the showPartners:https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATIONhttps://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK!https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Bam, we're live. Can't believe I'm talking to you yeah um do you remember how we met how we were introduced i do not actually there was this cat that i um i went to college at uc uh santa barbara and i was i was they had a they had racquetball courts there a a shitload of them. They probably still do. UC Santa Barbara is a University of California of Santa Barbara. Where do you live? Boston, Texas. Okay. I'm over in California.

And I'm 50 now, but this was, I don't know, 30 years ago. And I used to play racquetball over there. And like, there was an A team, a B team, and a C team, like level players. And of the C players, I could destroy anybody. And then the worst B player would come in and I didn't even know what the fuck was going on. Like, it was just like, it was crazy. And this dude, Justin Soroyan, who is like younger than me, I don't know. He seemed like a God to me, but he would come in and just destroy me, but I really liked him. And so I would just always play with him and I couldn't even score a point

against him. And then, and then we stayed in touch just through Instagram over the last 20 or 30 years. And recently he, he texts me and he's like, Hey dude, I'm flying out to Texas to train with this dude. You got to get this dude on your podcast. And so that's why I don't know. Oh yeah. All right. Six months ago ago i put it together justin right yeah yeah yeah super nice cool dude really nice guy yeah yeah one of my uh one of my favorite lessons that i've that i've done we most of the time we just talked about stuff other than racquetball

but uh great great guy and thank you for having me on i appreciate it yeah totally uh i made this movie um called pulling john it was a documentary about john brazink he's the greatest arm wrestler who ever lived um he's still alive he's still an amazing arm wrestler but as i researched you i saw this like parallel between a guy who traveled all over the world just smashing everybody but in this crazy niche sport um and uh and everyone who follows the sports like can't even believe that there's someone this good yeah i guess actually i get a lot where i you know i don't they'll talk i'll talk to them about it and then they'll go and like you said they'll go and research it and they're like man you're you're

the greatest athlete that no one knows about, you know? And it's just kind of, I was like, well, you know, I guess, thank you. Yeah. It's a trip. I mean, your dominance is crazy. It's how many years it's, it's over 20, it's 20 years of dominance. Uh, yeah.

I mean, I've been on tour for 20, this'll be my 23rd year, 22nd year, something like that. And out of those, uh, I don't know, I think 14 of them, I've been number one and 15 of them, I've been the US Open champion and they're all in a row. I think that, I think when my career is all said and done, I think that's probably the most gratifying thing is, I mean, you know, it's hard enough to win one, but to win 14 in a row. I mean, that's, you know, truly a blessing that I was able to be healthy and and and, you know, sustain a level that I have for that long. I mean, you know, it's kind of funny playing on tour now.

You know, some of these guys that are playing, it's like, you know, my my first number one was when you were still in diapers, you know, and some of them, you know, some of those young guys, I mean, some of them, they weren't even born yet. So, you know, truly blessed to be able to still be, you know, out there and playing. How old are you? I'm 40. Yeah, it's crazy, too. It's like you're not even you're like not even halfway through your life. What is the life expectancy of a racquetball player? Is it longer than most athletes? I mean, you know, but as far as being at the top level,

I think, you know, the, the, the oldest that I know of anyways is, um, you know, as far as dominance would be 31, 32, 33, somewhere in there. We have a couple of guys on tour you know that are a little older than me um but it's not like uh it's not like they're dominating or anything like that so um but yeah usually anywhere between like 30 and 35 is usually you know kind of like tennis i guess you can say you know i mean you know after after probably about 35 you're defying all odds really, you know, in tennis. I mean, in racquetball, do you ever hit the ball as hard as you can? Uh, I mean, sometimes, you know, I mean, but, uh, you know, for me, uh, I never really, you know, I, I bring it out when I need to, you know, um, but, uh, other than that, it's more about shot selection and, and, and just, you know, your opponent than that, it's more about shot selection and just, you know, your opponent

who you're playing. And, you know, I mean, yeah, you know, fair enough. There's some times where I get pissed off a little bit and, you know, maybe, you know, hit a serve as hard as I can or something like that. But, you know, I mean, with that, you know, you also lose control as well, too. So, you know, there's a happy medium in all of it, you know, not too light, not too hard. So I've never been known as the hardest hitter on tour um but uh you know I can move the ball when when I want to do you watch UFC I do it's it's kind of like like Colby right you know Covington yep it's just like it's just this endless barrage of shots that look like they're like at 60%. Yeah, correct. And I just imagine kind of like racquetball being like that too.

Like my kids play tennis and I don't know a lot about it, but I've been watching now for three years and a lot of it's like, there's, you have two choices. I mean, this is pretty rough and rudimentary. I'm wondering if racquetball is the same way, the kill shot or stay out there. The odds are the every time you hit it, the odds start increasing that one of you is going to miss it in the rally. Yeah, I mean.

It's just kind of like just staying in the game and waiting for air. Energy exertion, right? I mean, if you're in a tournament and you're out there and right from the get-go, you're just hitting as hard as you can. That's a lot of energy that you're spending. And so I don't think it's ideal. At times, like I said, you got to bring it out. But it's not ideal. I mean, I don't think it's ideal, you know, at times, like I said, you got to bring it out, but it's not ideal. I mean, I'm in great shape, but to be able to sustain, you know, hitting the ball as hard as you can, you know, I mean, it, you know, I don't think it's ideal for, for, for the longevity of a tournament.

How about your career just holding, how about your career just holding up over the longterm shoulder elbow? Yeah. I mean, I've been very fortunate. I haven't really had any serious injuries. I've had a few aches and pains here and there. But for the most part, you know, I've been healthy. And, you know, I've gotten a lot of flack, you know, over the years of playing because, you know, if I just didn't feel, you know, up to it or I just, you know,

as far as my body and, you know, I would just, I wouldn't play. And if I was in a tournament and I felt, you know, up to it or I just, you know, as far as my body and, you know, I would just, I wouldn't play. And if I was in a tournament and I felt, you know, some sort of tweak or I just, you know, I, you know, I just, I, I listened to my body. And I think that's also another thing too, is that I never, you know, I had nothing to prove going out there and playing injured. I mean, you know, and, you know, a lot of people were like, oh, you know, he, you know, he was losing or, you know, this guy was playing playing good and so he forfeited. All that's just crap. That's all it is.

It's just crap. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. Forty years old, being able to still whoop up on these guys and be number one and all that kind of stuff. I mean, that just goes to show you that I was making the right decisions all through my career. There was no I saw this. Someone said the other day that when LeBron started playing basketball, there was no Facebook.

I mean, when you started, it was like there was no I mean, there was no YouTube. There was like almost no Internet. When you were a kid and you started playing racquetball I mean no one even went on the internet yeah I mean I you know when I was a kid I don't I don't even think there was internet right right I'm trying I'm trying to think I was in my 20s when my early 20s when I think the first time I started seeing like the internet yeah I mean I think you know if I'm not mistaken you know you had to go to the store and buy one of the paper maps if you wanted to get around. Yes. Yes. And you, and you never went hard in the social media. It's not, it's nothing. You never embraced it like full

heartedly. Like you don't have a Tik TOK channel where like you're juggling racquetballs or some shit. Yeah, no, I, you know, I've always kind of been a private person. I've always tried to separate my, um, my professional and my private life. Um, you know, I, I'm not, I'm just not wired that way. And, you know, I mean, I can, I can say that, you know, maybe it's hurt me a little bit in my career as far as, you know, popularity and maybe sponsorships here and there, but I just, you know, it just, it's not me, you know, it's just not me. And, and, uh, and like I said, I just, I've always, you know, I don't look at myself as like Kane, the racquetball player. I'm just Kane, you know, the dad I like to, you know, I like to have a couple old fashions here and there, like to hang out and I'm just a regular guy, you know? And I just, I don't, you know, I don't ever think about, you know, you know, taking a picture of my food or, you know, or, you know, just letting people know where I am in general. I don't really, to be honest, I don't really care about it.

You know, it's just, that's just me. So, I've tried to do a better job the later end of my career to kind of, you know, you know, kind of do a better job of that. You know, I got an athlete page, you know, Facebook and a better job of that you know i got an athlete page you know facebook and instagram and and stuff like that but uh you know it's just again it's just kind of not me i'm just you know more of a private person so is that a fifth child or is that a doll that's a doll oh it's like if it's a fifth child i have no idea about it so uh beautiful family dude beautiful daughters beautiful wife adorable son Very blessed for sure. Uh, you, you like the smell of racquetballs when you've opened the can? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I do.

You hear that and you get a little dopamine, like other kids are like getting happy off of TikTok. You're like, ah, brand new can of racquetball. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of, I mean, even like, I remember, you know, when I played hockey, you know, I mean, walking in and smelling the arena. And I know this is going to probably sound gross, but when, you know, the smell of equipment and all that, there's some nostalgia on that, you know, it just gets you, gets you, you know, kind of wound up a little bit ready to go. It's funny how new shit does that. I can remember I had like a 10 year run of smoking weed. And anytime I would go over to the dude's house to buy a bag of weed and I would get a brand new, but this is my twenties. I'm gonna smoke weed in 20 or 30 years, but, um, I would get that the bag of weed and it'd be $60 and just the bottom would be filled. They called it an eight. And I'd be like, I'd be so happy.

Or I smoked cigarettes for a while. And even then you get a brand new pack of cigarettes, then you mature. And it's like, yeah, can of racquetballs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Funny how it changes. We're like opening a can of racquetballs yeah yeah yeah funny how it changes or like opening a can of beer you know that sound you know and now and now and now it's now it's you know pouring a protein shake yes yes yes um uh when you um when you play out there do you um do you ever go to uh does racquetball have a pain cave? Is there a place wherever you can become so tired out on the court? I interview a lot of UFC fighters, and they're like, yeah, the worst thing that can happen to you out there is you run out of gas.

They're like, you see punches coming, and you can't even lift your hand up. They said it's a fucking nightmare. Yeah. nightmare. Yeah. And people in the CrossFit community that I live in, you know, that's kind of the goal, you know, at some point during the day in a workout to kind of go to the till the wheels fall off the bus. That's where you get adaptation. Right. Does that ever happen on the court? It's happened plenty of times on the court. And some of it is just I'm just battling away, more so in the earlier years of my career, you know, and then some in the earlier years, you know, of my career. Um, you know, and then some of it was just, you know, just not being in the shape that I needed to be as well,

too, you know, but, uh, for the most part, people have worn you down. You've been out there and you're like, fuck, I see the ball. I should be able to get it. But like, I'm just, I wilted. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it's just, uh, you know, you get, you get into that, you know, where you just kind of, you know, you kind of get into where, you know, the mind isn't really working as fast as it, you know, was before. But most of my career, I actually, I would actually go play racquetball and train after I would train for like three or four hours as well. So anytime I'd step on the court, you know, I always wanted to, you know, I always wanted to make sure that when I was playing, I was always like, especially practice. If I can, if I can perfect practice when I'm exhausted, well, then I have no, I have no, you know, no doubt in my mind that when I get to a tournament

and I'm fresh, what I'm capable of, you know, and so playing almost in that lethargic state has been kind of a normal for me for a long, long time. And so, you know, for me, that's just, you know, I've always looked at it as like, you're never going to, you always want to end the tournament as close as how you started it. But you, you got to understand that that's not reality. These are all the best players in the world. And, and it's just no matter how hard you train, you're, you know, you're not going to be there. Right. So to me, I figured that why not train, you know, why not train in that state? And, you know, and again, I know what I'm capable of, you know, when I'm fresh, you know, another thing that I used to do, and this is just, you know, kind of put me in a mental,

good mental state was I used to go and hit the ball late at night. I used to leave, you know kind of you know put me in a mental good mental state was um I used to go and hit the ball uh late at night I used to leave you know the house and I used to go and hit the ball at like 11 o'clock at night and my gym is open 24 hours and so um a lot of people would ask me why I did that and I said well you know to me when I was hitting the ball you know I would always think to myself while everybody else is sleeping I'm'm getting better, you know, and so that was just a mental edge that I had, and is it true? I mean, I don't really know, I mean, you know, I don't know, but the reality of it is, is that that's what helped, you know, get me focused, and get me motivated, and you know, so those are those little things, and as you know, my career went on, I mean,

you know, the motivation is changing, you know, constantly, and I think that, you know, if you ask any athlete, you know, in, you know, in any sport, I think that, you know, you know, at first, you know, I was chasing all the guys and, you know, that's really easy to get motivated for that. And then I became number one and, you know, it's kind of like a, it's kind of like a new relationship, you know, everything is new, everything is great. And then that wears off and you got to find new motivation after that. And then I became a dad. And so my motivation changed after that as well, too. And then I got a little older and, you know, so, you know, I mean, racquetball was the most important thing, you know, for me for a long time. It was the only thing I really knew as far as, you know, my life. Right. And then

all of a sudden I became a father and racquetball wasn't number one. And, you know, and now, you know, racquetball, you know, isn't necessarily number one at all right now. I mean, I, I still play and, and, uh, but, you know, I, I have a job, you know, that I work and, you know, I have the four kids and stuff like that. And, you know, I just, you know, for me, I would rather put, I guess I never put racquetball on the back burner, but I always tried to keep it in perspective that, you know, when you have kids, you know, some things only come around one time. And so you need to take advantage of it. And so, you know, a racquetball tournament or a racquetball game or whatever it is, is far less important than, you know, those times that I can, you know, have with my family, my kids and, you know, watching them play sports and, you know, all that kind of stuff. That's, you know, kind of the most important thing for me, especially right now, you know, watching them play sports and, you know, all that kind of stuff. That's, you know, kind of the most important thing for me, especially right now, you know.

I used to own like basically every camera that fucking existed. I was like just a camera nut. Every lens, I spent an absurd amount of money. It's just absurd. And a new Canon came out, newon new leica whatever i bought it and when the package arrived i'd be waiting for the fucking ups guy and i'd open it and be so excited and um i used to have this thing i was i was a and i still am i was a pretty hardcore dirt twirling hippie peace love all that shit and i still got a lot of that to me that i'm proud of

and i and i the only goal i had in life was never to kill another man. I always thought, well, if I heard someone break into my house, I'd just jump out the window, go to the store, get a cup of coffee, let them rob my shit. What do I care? Like, I got me. Then one day after I had kids, I heard a noise in the yard and I fucking got the gun out and I started walking around the yard. And I'm like, I'm going to fucking kill someone, I think, tonight. And then in the morning I woke up and I was like oh shit package new cameras come and I don't open the packages I'm I'm eager to fucking blast someone in my yard who's fucking with my like

it's a threat to my kids when did that change and when I hear you talk about and I didn't even know it changed so it must have changed in the night when i was sleeping but i hear that in you you're a guy who's i'm guessing entire identity was built around being the best racquetball player who ever lived not even just the best racquetball player but i know how you guys are you're the baddest dude in the room and like i'll beat you at anything um you want to you want to you want to fight with the rackets in our left hands? Do you want to play left-handed? Do you want to take our shoes off?

Do you want to go outside and fucking, like, fight? Like, I'll do it with you. I mean, I know that being the best comes with a lot of jet fuel. And then all of a sudden, one day it changed. All of a sudden, you're like, nah, I'd rather go watch my kids play soccer. Yeah, it's weird did you know how that changed did it creep up on you too like all of a sudden one day you were like torn like whether you should practice or go watch your kids and when you're like where the

fuck did this come from well i i think that you know i think that when they were first born uh you know my my motivation changed i you know there was two things that i always wanted you know, my, my motivation changed. I, you know, there was two things that I always wanted, you know, I always wanted to be able to play and be number one, uh, long enough for my kids to, you know, really understand, you know, and, and, and really, you know, can, can like really, you know, absorb exactly like what I did and, you know, and how hard I worked and the sacrifices I made. And then the other part of it is every time I stepped on the court, I always thought to myself, like, you know, this, this, you know, this fucker is trying to take my, you know, food off my daughter's plates and, you know, and I'm not going to let that happen. So my, my, you know, my motivation changed when it came to that, you know, I just, and again, whatever makes you tick, right. I mean, some people, you know, don't look at it

like that, but for me, I just, I, there was a really big importance for me to, you know, not see my kids, not, not, not have my kids see me lose, you know? Um, now I have lost and, you know, I, it's actually become a great blessing and a great teaching tool for, for, for me. I, you know, I, you know, a little while ago I lost it, you know, I hadn't played for a while and I lost in the finals and I came home and all the kids were like, oh, you lost. And, you know, it was a great little teaching tool for me to, to be able to tell them like, listen, it's, it's, you know, it's how you come back from it, you know, and, and, and be humble about it. And, and, you know, and, and that's, you know, that's what really

makes a true champion too. Right. It's like, you know, you think about, you know, and that's, you know, that's what really makes a true champion too, right? It's like, you know, you think about, you know, people winning and, you know, being a champion, but really, you know, there's many parts to being a champion, you know, and one of that is that, you know, listen, you're bound to lose, you play long enough, you're bound to lose. And, you know, it's how you react to that as well, too. Also, that I believe that, you know, makes you, you know, a true champion in general and so for me to be able to teach that lesson to my kids you know and be able to tell them like hey listen you know the guy played good you know instead of making a bunch of excuses and you know and hopefully you know they're all in sports and hopefully as they grow up you know it'll it'll

it'll transfer over to them and you know because I do believe that having that humbleness and, and, you know, you know, accepting what it is, you know, I mean, yeah, I lost in my pissed. Yeah. I'm pissed. I don't like to lose, you know, and I don't lose very often, but you know, shit happens, you know, and that's just the way it is. And so, you know, it's, it's, it's also how you come back from it too. And, you know, and so I played the guy, you know, a couple of tournaments later, you know, and I beat him like 15,0 and 15-3, you know, and it was like, come home. And I'm like, now that's how it's done. You know, that's how it's done. Like, you know, you may get me, you know, and I'll, you know, be there and I'll shake your hand. I'll buy you a beer. Not too many people can say that they beat me, you know, so congratulations, but be ready the next time, you know, that's kind of

my mentality on that. So to be able to teach my kids that as well, too, even though I don't think they totally understand, you know, the, you know, the degree of, I guess, you know, the, the, the championship level I've been on, you know, and I'm just, I'm just dad and I'm just an old geezer that, you know, doesn't know what I'm talking about. Uh, but they're storing it in there. You know, they are, are your parents alive? They are. Yeah. They live, they live in Canada. And, uh, they trip, they, do they trip on your, on your path? Uh, well, I mean, my dad was the one that got me into racquetball. I started playing racquetball when I was two years old. Um, and one of my first tournament when I was two years old. I won my first tournament when I was six years old. I had won junior world championships, you know, junior national championships, stuff like that. And I played

hockey. I always wanted to be in the NHL. And I also was not too bad at that. And so I quit actually and played hockey for a little while. And I had a bunch of guys at the, at the club that, you know, that wanted to pay for my way to go play in the senior nationals. And so I went and played and, you know, how old were you when that happened? How old were you when that happened? I was like 16, 17. And so, so you're young and, and, and, and totally comfortable with a racket in your hand basically from the day you were born because your parents introduced you to it then you went to go play hockey because that's what canadians do but some guys at the club knew you were so good at racquetball they're like hey

we'll give you money if you just do yeah they they they've been playing with me ever since i you know basically was born or going into the club you know you know they had known me and so uh you know they i played a little bit with them and and you know, you know, they've known me. And so, you know, they, I played a little bit with them and, and, you know, started playing again a little bit. And they're like, man, like you need to go and you need to go play. And I was like, I don't really know. I'm not really too sure if I want to do this. And so they paid my way. And next thing you know, I win and I'm stuck on the Canadian national team. And then I'm, you know, making $30,000 tax-free money from the Canadian government. And I mean, that was pretty much, you know, making $30,000 tax-free money from the Canadian government.

And I mean, that was pretty much, you know, that was pretty much it because when I was growing up, you know, we didn't, we didn't have a lot of money. And so, you know, it was an opportunity for, for, you know, my whole family, their lives to change too. I mean, an extra $30,000. I mean, even though it was a training, you know, kind of allowance you can say, and, you know, I mean, an extra $30,000. I mean, even though it was a training, you know, kind of allowance, you can say, and, you know, I mean, it's still, I mean, it changed, you know, it changed a lot for. Yeah. And that was, that was probably six. That's the equivalent to like 60 or a hundred now. Yeah, exactly. I wish I was joking, but I'm not. This guy, this guy here in the comments, David Smith, he owns this tennis racket company company and he and he sent this uh racket out my kid

shitload of tennis komodo and he writes the goat love hearing the mindset of the best ever to do it thanks david and this racket's awesome and i keep it i'm gonna take it out and play with it but i want to keep it next to my desk so i can keep plugging it uh when i look at young footage of you there's this uh i don't see a professional athlete i see a dude who hangs out in bar and fights vibe like i get this uh like like almost like this like you're a redheaded kid vibe from you like when you're young when they're interviewing you you have you seem like a more like a guy who collects money from people who didn't pay in boston than an athlete it's it's a trip you got this um pretty hard vibe to you i appreciate it yeah i i appreciate well thank you i kind of you know i actually take that as a really really good compliment that's my might

be one of the best compliments I think I've ever gotten. Yeah, I don't get any of this. I mean, I just I'd like to come across like, you know, I'm a nice guy, but I just don't take no shit. And I'll just tell you how it is. You know, sometimes, you know, sometimes I get myself in trouble because I don't really sugarcoat things. I just kind of tell it how it is, you know. Yeah. And you were thicker. Your head was a little bit rounder.

You had this kind of like baby, baby face and your shoulders were broad and you just didn't look like this felt guy out there who, uh, you know, who would be bouncing around. Um, what was life hard for you growing up? Uh, I mean, you know, at times, you know, at times, I mean, I think that, I think that's fair to say with everybody though, you know, at times, you know, at times, I mean, I think that, I think that's fair to say with everybody though, you know, at times, you know, everybody's family. I mean, I, I, um, you know, I didn't have the best, you know, childhood as far as like what I had as luxuries and stuff like that, you know, but that's okay. You know, I think that, you know, uh, my mom and dad got a divorce. Uh, I, you know, I, how old were you when that happened? I was like eight or nine. I, you know, I, how old were you when that happened?

I was like eight or nine. And, uh, I lost contact with my mom for 12 years. Um, so, you know, there was some things that obviously, you know, we're, we're rough, but you know, I, I take it, I, I look back on it. Right. And, and I think that the only way that you can possibly, you know, to me, look back on it and, and, you know, I'm sure people can, you know, also, they've had their problems and stuff. But listen, I mean, I think looking back on it, I think to myself, sometimes, like, if those things didn't happen to me, would I be the man

that I am today, you know, and I don't want to make light of it, because some things I just don't agree with, you know, and some things, you know, you know, they don't really sit heavy with me anymore. I'm pretty content, you know, with where I'm at in my life and how I got here and stuff like that. But I think overall, you know, you know, people harbor a lot of things, you know, from their past and, you know, whether it's five years, 15 years, 20 years, whatever it is. But I think that, you know, in time, as time goes by, you know, I think that you have to put it in perspective. And so, you know, I tried it for me. That's how I put it in perspective. I think, you know, I think that you have to put it in perspective. And so, you know, I tried it for me. That's how I put it in perspective.

I think, you know, I don't necessarily again, I don't necessarily agree, you know, with with with everything like that. But, you know, would I be the man that I am today if those things didn't happen? You know, 12 years. So you were eight years old when you lost contact with your mom. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, well, actually, I was. I was like 11 years old, somewhere in there. And then my and then my mom actually called me four days after I had gotten married when I was 24. Oh, shit. You got married young. I did. I did.

24. Oh shit. You got married young. I did. I did. Um, was it drugs? Did your mom get into drugs? Is that how you, is that how your mom vanishes? No, no. Uh, it just was, you know, the two families just button heads constantly and just, you know, and, uh, just a lot of problems, a lot of chaos, you know, a lot of, a lot of, uh, you know, a lot of bullshit, you know? And so, um, I don't know exactly, you know, my mom, when I got in contact with her again, uh, you know, a lot of bullshit, you know, and so I don't know exactly, you know, my mom, when I got in contact with her again, you know, she wanted to talk, you know, about it. And I just said, you know, I'm not interested. You're here now. And that's what's important. I don't need to know why. I mean, bottom line, you know, do I think maybe it could have been different? Yeah, I do. But at the time, you make a decision for the now and that's all you can do. And,

you know, I'm sure my mom, you know, harbors a lot of, you know, stuff, you know, but listen, you know, you, you, you look forward, you know, and, and that's it. And I don't really, you know, to me, you know, talking about that type of stuff is not going to change anything that happened. And I, you know, and so, and it wasn't ever going to change anything that happened, you know, and it is what it is. And so, you know, we both lost time. You know, I mean, my mom didn't get to, you know, see my first date and, you know, see me graduate and whatever. And, you know, and there was times where I needed my mom and, you know, she wasn't there. So we both, you know, we both, you know, we both had that shit.

An 11 year old boy needs his mom. An 11 year old boy needs his mom. Yeah. I mean, listen, I'm 40 years old and I still need my mom you know so you know i mean you know that the bond that a son and a mother has and and is you know is is is big you know but um for me i mean me and my mom i mean i talk to my mom almost every day now and at least text message or whatever and so our relationship is strong and so that type type that, that, all that past, you know, bullshit, I'm, I'm, I don't even think about it. It is what it is, you know, and I hold,

I heart, you know, hold no grudges against it. I don't, you know, and, and, uh, you know, I'm, you know, I love my mom and, you know, I'm, if we could go back and do it again, I'm positive we would do it differently, but we're here now and we might as well make the best of it. I can't think of anything, a specific example, but it's interesting how there's things that maybe like I was upset about with my mom with my whole life. And then the second I had kids, not only did I forgive my mom, but I was upset. I put it in such perspective that she did nothing like, holy fuck. Like she had, you know, because you're a kid and you're completely selfish and you're like, everything my mom should be doing about me. And then you have kids and you look at your parents and you're kind of like, fuck,

what can I do for them? Well, you know, was it amazing once you had kids? You know, it's funny. Cause you know, when my kids were first born, I, I did kind of harbor a little bit of things here and there, you know? And, and, you know, I remember when my first, you know, Kennedy was born, I remember thinking to myself, you know what, like, there's two parts to it. Like, damn, being a parent is fucking tough. And but Kennedy's your first daughter, your oldest, Kennedy's your oldest daughter. Pardon me? Yeah, my oldest. Yes. Okay. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, being a parent's tough. I mean, it really is. There's no manual to it. You know, I'm, you know, I'm some things there's right and wrongs, but, you know, and then there's the other part of it of, of just, you know, some of the things that happened to me, I, you know, I always, you know, tried to give the

benefit of the doubt as I got older, you know, before I had kids that, listen, I'm not a parent. So who am I to judge, like, you know, how to deal with it, you know, or what to do? Well, now all of a sudden I became a parent and I'm like, no, no, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty positive that this is not right. You know? So it changed my mentality in that way too, uh, in some regards, you know, but you know, I mean, I, you know, parenting is hard. That's, that's just it, you know? And, and, you know, and it, and it doesn't get any easier as they grow up, you know? Um, and, and, you know, so for me, you know, with my mom and dad, you know, it was a, uh, you know, I, I'm sure I was a little bastard at times too, as well. So, um, you know, why four? Well, so, uh, two of them,

two of them are from my last marriage. And this one, this one is from my, my relationship now. So the boy Cooper and Malin, the youngest one, the two in the front there are my girlfriend, Allie. Those are her kids. And the two in the back are mine from, from my previous marriage. So you've had, you've had even while staying at the top of the game of playing racquetball, you've had a full life. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent.

Yeah. And you know, I think that when you say full life, it's a hundred percent correct. I mean, I, you know, I, I never thought that for me, I, you know, I, I was worried after I got my divorce. I was wondering about would I be able to provide a family environment for my kids and what would I do? And so then I met Allie and with her kids, I mean, it's just like I didn't think that I would be able to love anybody else's kids the same as what I love my kids. And so, you know, when you say full life, I mean, I think that's part of it for me is, you know, being in the relationship, you know, with Ali, and she's an amazing woman. She hasn't been here for my whole career, but, you know, she's also, you know, kind of made partly the man that I am as well today. So, and that's what you want in a relationship, you know, I think that, you know, you got to constantly grow and, and, you know, And like I said, I mean, I'm just really blessed to have them in my life for sure. There's this kind of a theme with people who've achieved great shit that there's like – trauma is not the right word but i'll use tyson as the example but it doesn't just have to be with athletes they said hey mike do you want to go see a shrink and get some of your shit fixed and he goes nah this is what if they fix it not and i'm not a killer anymore like yeah i need this pathology i need this hurt um do you think that um you have that you think

there was like something like inside of you like running might be too strong of a word but like like rich froning one of the greatest athletes to ever do to do crossfit you know he had two cousins die when he was young and uh and they were like brothers to him he spent every second with them and when you talk when you talk to him and dig into it, you can tell like he's not going to waste his life because of that. He saw the other side, what could happen to you. And there's all these stories. You know what I mean? Jason Kalipa, I interviewed him on the show, another great CrossFitter.

And he's like, yeah, my high school graduation, the principal basically called me stupid in front of the whole senior class. And I'm like, all right, motherfucker. Like there's a wound that you're like, okay, I'm going to take, I'm going to prove something to the world. Yeah. I mean, I listen, I've, you know, I've, I've, you know, I've, I've been dealt some hard hands in my life and there's nothing wrong with that. You know, uh, I'm not here to sit and judge whether I think it's fair or not. I think when bad things happen, I think everybody thinks it's unfair, you know, but shit happens, you know, I just, uh, fair is a

weird word, isn't it? I don't let my kids say it. That's not fair. I'm like, what the fuck does that mean? Yeah. Or can't I can't, you know, like, yeah, no, no, that's the, you know, I don't, I don't like those, you know, but, uh, you know, the message that I try, try to always keep with my, you know, for myself and I, and I'm starting to pass it on to, uh, my kids is, you know, listen, you know, how do you want to be remembered? You know, that's, that's, I think that's important. How do you want to be remembered? You know, you're only given one last name and how are you going to honor that? Maybe people in your family haven't always honored that, you know, and maybe your name isn't honorable at times,

you know, or, or at all. But, you know, for me, you know, that's kind of how I've, you know, kind of lived, you know, my life, you know, as I've gotten a little bit older is, you know, for me, you know, that's kind of how I've, you know, kind of lived, you know, my life, you know, as I've gotten a little bit older is, you know, how do I want to be remembered? You know, I've been given one last name. And regardless of all the bullshit that's happened in my life and family or whatever, I want to honor it. And, you know, I want my kids to be able to honor that as well, too. I think that's so, you know, when, you know, I tell my kids very simply, you know, when you're about to take your last breath, you know, in this world, how do you want how do you want people to remember you? You know, you want somebody up there at your funeral saying, oh, he was such a great guy when it's all bullshit and you really weren't. You're an asshole, you know, or do you want people to really, truly, you know, talk to you in high praise and say, man, this guy was a stand up guy. He was loyal. He was honest. You know, you know, he he had he high praise and say, man, this guy was a stand up guy. He was loyal. He was honest. You know, he had he had character, great character. I mean, I think as I get older, I think that's the most important thing for me is I just you know, how do you want to be remembered? I mean, to me, there's enough assholes in this world. We don't need any more, you know,

in my opinion, we need more positive people. And so I try to, you know, pass that on to the, you know, my kids, you know, and again, right. You know, I want to honor my, I want to honor my last name. I want to, you know, I've only, I'm only given one and I want to honor it, you know, and who knows, maybe, maybe in that I can change the perception of anything that ever happened in the past, you know, with, with, with my, you know, with my family, you know, as far as my, you know, you know, being that last name, or maybe I can make somebody proud of being, you know, a Wasilinchuk or that maybe might not have been, you know, the proudest. So, you know, I try to do my best, you know, I mess up, I make mistakes, but don't we all, you know, so you just keep plugging away.

Cain Wasilinchuk. What is Wasilinchuk? Ukrainian. Uh, in, in, in your, are your parents like hardcore Christians? Isn't Kane's like one of the dudes in the Bible, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I never grew up in a really religious, you know, family at all. Um, my grandma probably, you know, she, every time I used to go play, you know, in a tournament, she used to hold her Bible and stuff like that. So, um, you know, but that was about the extent to it. We never went to church, but, um, you know, I met Allie and, and, uh, you know, we go

to church, you know, she introduced me to church and, you know, and, and so we bring our kids and stuff. I think it's important, you know, to, to go and, and just, uh, you know, I think that it's hard for people to believe in something bigger than themselves sometimes, you know, and, and, uh, you know, but, uh, you know, you know, I'm happy that, you know, she introduced me to it. I enjoy going and, you know, I'm not too familiar with the whole Bible, but I try to, you know, take little things, bits and pieces, you know, from, you know, kind of, you know, how you're supposed to live and how you're supposed to treat people. And it says a lot

about being kind and, you know, stuff like that. And so I just try to, you know, how you're supposed to live and how you're supposed to treat people. And it says a lot about being kind and, and, you know, stuff like that. And so I just try to, you know, relate some of that stuff. I don't, I don't, I'm not out here preaching the gospel and all that kind of stuff. I'm not going knocking door to door or anything like that. You know, um, I just, you know, I try to just, you know, hold myself to a standard of, of, of living, you know, and treating people the right way. It's, it's interesting. Um, for 15 years, I've been, I've been doing CrossFit and the community, what, one thing you can say about the community is that the people, uh, your cohort, what's better than actually the working out and the diet and all that is the cohort of people you're with. They want to make themselves better. So, you know, that like you're being told rules, you know,

you're hanging out in a place where no one really should be drinking Coke like you'll be judged. You know what I mean? You're working in a place where like you need to be – you'll be standing next to a 70-year-old person who's sweating just as hard as you are and kids to your left and old people. And there will be a gay dude in front of you and a black dude behind you and a Chinese dude over here. And it's just like – it's just all that shit gets lifted and you have a's you have a core value of trying you're a person who's taking personal responsibility and personal accountability to make yourself better and the church is like that too regardless if you believe in god or don't believe in god you're with this group of people who has this rule of ethics and morals and values that they're trying to adhere to it doesn't involve hurting other

people and so if your son's gonna kiss a girl for the first time under the bleachers it's better it happens at church than it at then at the fucking metallica concert i mean i don't mean to pick on metallica but like no i mean yeah no no no you're yeah it's like fuck man it's a better club than the than the punk rock club well i mean by far just like in life right like i mean if you know if you want to be successful, you surround yourself with successful people, you know, you don't surround yourself with, you know, with, you know, a bunch of, you know, people that don't, you know, you know, don't have any drive and don't have any ambition. Like, I mean, that's, you know, I think that's a pretty simple, you know, I guess to me, it's pretty simple,

you know, I mean, I've been very fortunate to be around a lot of successful people and, you know, I guess to me, it's pretty simple, you know, I mean, I've been very fortunate to be around a lot of successful people. And, you know, and it's, and again, it's, you know, it bleeds over to you, you know, it challenges you, it, you know, it sets a standard for your for your living, and you know, in your life, obviously. And, you know, I think it's important. I think everybody, you know, needs that, right? And everybody needs motivation, everybody needs to be pushed, everybody needs all that stuff, you know, and sometimes, you know, we can't do it ourselves. We need people to give us a good kick in the ass and, you know, or tell us, Hey, listen, like you're, you're really messing up here or whatever it is. You know, I think that it's important. Do you ever have opportunities where, um, some guy who's, uh, some tech guy who's into, um into um uh racquetball will send the plane over to austin or he'll fly

out to austin or he'll and bring the family to costa rica and be like hey i got a private racquetball court here no no that doesn't happen really i haven't but but people must come do people come to austin and be like hey can i get lessons for a thousand bucks an hour or whatever the yeah i have people come you know flying from all over to get lessons. Cause I know my, my friend did that. He flew to Austin and I mean, he's a successful guy, but he's not, money's not pouring off of him and he spent a lot of money to come out and see you. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. I mean, I mean, it's again, it's flattering, you know, it's flattering for me. You earned it. You fucking earned it. Correct yeah yeah for sure i mean i i uh um again i i i look at myself you know as oh is this your sorry sorry to interrupt this is your website correct yes

oh shit i never even even last night i was all over the internet watching shit on you i never even came across this okay two-day clinic one-day clinic video less Okay. Okay. Sorry. Go on, go on. This is awesome. No, no. I mean, uh, you know, I'm just, again, I'm, I'm just a, just a regular guy that, you know, and so I, you know, I, I just, you know, it's humbling to, you know, be able to, you know, have an impact on other people's lives. I mean, all I do is just bang a ball around, you know, that's how I look at it. I would just think that there's got to be that. I just imagine just wealthy people being like who are into racquetball, just wanting to play with you. Yeah, I mean, you know, I guess this is where it's going to show who I am.

I don't I don't really care how much money you have. If you're not a nice person or I don't like you, I don't want your money. And that goes even for sponsorships. I don't every every one of my sponsors that I have, man, they're great, great people. And I, and I really liked them. And, and, and I think that's what's, that what's important. I'm not the type of guy to just have a bunch of zeros thrown in front of me. And if I think you're an asshole, I'll just take it. You know, that's just not me. I've never been like that, you know? And so, um, you know, I, I just, again, money's important and all that, but you know, to me, surrounding yourself with good people is much more important, you know, to me.

Do you know the worst you've ever been hit in the court? I've been hit a few times. I mean, in the middle of the back, you know, about 140 miles an hour in the middle of the back, you know, I mean. Every game? Does it happen every game? No, no, no no i haven't been hit for a while but then again i mean remember if you're gonna hit me then i'm obviously gonna have to hit you back so oh is that the way no shit i mean it's like it's like in hockey right like and i can give an example like in hockey like if you go out and you go and hurt the superstar

what happens well you're gonna pay for it you know you're it just it is there's like an unwritten rule so if you're gonna hit me with the ball at some point, you better expect, you know, it might not be two points, four points. But at some point, I'm going to get an opportunity and I'm definitely going to rip you, you know. So have you. So I had three people I played with in college and all this this guy, Justin, who came out to play with you, me and him. It was always good in the court. But there were three guys who I was good friends with. And all of our all three of them ended up not ever like at one point they had to have the talk with me. Hey, I can't play with you anymore. And I'm like, why?

They're like, it's just too intense in here. And and there were times that people would get hit in there and then you would hit the guy back, not even on purpose. But then that would be the that would be the assumption, right? That like I hit him back on purpose or that he hit me back on purpose but then that would be the that would be the assumption right that like i hit him back on purpose or that he hit me back on purpose but i don't ever realize you know you'll be okay you know just think for a second you'll be okay i mean you know put a little ice on it whatever you want it'll be you'll be okay oh my goodness so that that doesn't happen in the pros pros don't you know it hasn't happened for a while but i mean it once a year doesn't happen in the pros. Pros don't – It hasn't happened for a while, but I mean it's –

Once a year? It doesn't happen here and there. It just depends on how it's all provoked. Does it happen once a year? Yeah. I mean, oh, yeah. I mean more than once a year for sure, but it's not like a regular thing. Have – the game takes place in really tight quarters.

Is – like you guys are sharing air. Yeah. Um, have, have it's in, it's in the game takes place in really tight quarters is, is, um, like you guys are sharing air. Yeah. Uh, does it, have you ever had a confrontation in the court where it's like escalating to like, oh shit, someone's going to get punched? Yeah. I mean, I think that, I mean, I've been in a few situations, you know, like that more, not necessarily, you know, that we were going to get into a fisticuffs, but, you know, I mean, listen, I I'm, I'm always down for a little good trash talking. Do you don't get me wrong?

I'm good for it, but you know, you never, ever take it personal. You know, I mean, the one that, the one that I can speak out to was, you know, a few years ago, uh, playing this younger guy he you know um to be i'm up two games to nothing on him and he gets a couple of points and he is in the service box and you know he says you know you know come on beat this motherfucker and i walked up to him and i looked around the court i was like and i go well there's only me and you in the court so i guess i'm guessing i'm the motherfucker you know he's like oh no no it's not like that and i'm like well yeah it is like that you know be careful of what you're saying right now like it's me and you in the court and so i'm obviously the motherfucker like you know and so you know we kind of went back and forth back and

forth and and uh in the third game i let him get i let him i had was two zero and that happened you know that kind of happened and then i let him get all the way to nine. Right. And then I just got the serve back and proceeded to beat his ass. And, you know, and we walk off the court and he's like, Hey man, Hey, you know, you know, man, I watch all your videos and stuff. And he's like, you know, you know, you know, can you give me any advice? And I just turned to him and looked at him.

I said, yeah, talk less. Like, you know, there's my advice for you talk less you let him get up nine zero and then proceeded to beat him yeah no i was two zero and then and then i he got the serve and i let him basically run it all the way to nine you know this is when we played to 11 let ran it all the way to to nine and then you know got the serve back and ran it out 11 nine you did did that on purpose to let him feel yeah do you um do you there's like when i watched the videos there were like four or five guys that they say are the greats the best to ever have done it and then there's you and you

kind of like just basically lat started lapping these guys over and over and over and kind of pushed yourself into just this category by yourself do you can you remember any times where you played these guys the first time um the former greats and it was the first time you played them and maybe you were nervous and then a few points in you were like oh shit i can do it oh yeah yeah when i played cliff swain in Las Vegas, my first, I was like 17, 18. Uh, he was number one in the world. I started, I started, you know, warming up and I just kind of sat there for a second and I was like, holy shit, I'm on the court with Cliff Swain. Like I, I knew, I know this guy knew this guy for a long time and not personally, but man, I heard about him. I'm like, man, dang, you know, and then got in there

and, you know, started banging and all that kind of went away. You know, I mean, the first game, he beat me like 11-2. I came, I come out of the court with my buddy, you know, and I'm like, damn, I'm like, you know, he's good. And then, you know, I go back into the court and then I beat him 11-2 and I walk out and I'm like, well, I mean, he's not that good, you know? So, you know, that was the first time that I'd ever played him. And, and, uh, and, you know, he was a warrior as well, too. You know, when we went at it, we battled, you know, big time. I, I, I was never very good at sports.

I, but I've read a lot of books about it. Like, and one of these books I was reading recently, I can't remember the name of it. Maybe it was range or something. They said the thing about Gretzky was that he could, he had, he was running the algorithm so he could see where the puck is now. And he could see where the players were. And then he knew where the puck was going to be in 45 seconds. And then he would go wait over there.

And so people would see Gretzky in places on the court. They're like, what the fuck's he doing over there? And then he gets it and he scores. Well, i think that's something to be said about you know just you know uh you know starting a sport really young at young age i mean that's you know really what it's about you know i think you know you you know some things just come really natural and some things just you know they just you know you if you look at every great sport you know i think that you can you can tell that they just have something that somebody doesn't you know do you do you hey i got one percent on my thing i'm gonna move and charge my phone is that cool

a very very as opposed to my house as opposed to hanging up on me i'll take it i'll take no no no i gotta move though so you get a little tour of my house is that okay i'd love a tour of your house As opposed to hanging up on me, I'll take it. I'll take the charge. No, no, no. I got to move, though. So you can get a little tour of my house. Is that okay? I'd love a tour of your house. Do you know how – you must perceive the – do you think you see the game bigger than most people? What do you think that your greatest gift is or your greatest skill, not gift? Do you think it has to do with that you started so

young you can see like chess you just see so many moves ahead you've seen the ball bounce so many times out of certain corners yeah i mean i've always really had a knack for that you know i mean i really have i mean i i can't really say that i i practiced it or like you know like i focused on it um you know i think that you know going back to like even the, you know, like I focused on it. You know, I think that, you know, going back to like, even the, even, you know, the, the, the family stuff, right. Like, I think that the most probably under estimated or underrated part of, of my, of my game is my mental, you know I think, you know, when you have people that go through certain adversities, I think that it also builds strength too, you know?

And, you know, to me when I was younger, it was like, you know, I'd always look at it as like, man, look at, look at the shit that I've been through. Like, you think like, this is hard. Like what? This, this isn't hard, you know, in the, in the court. And I have a little adversity and I I'm losing a little bit. It's like, yeah, well, it's not the end of the world. I mean, just, you know, suck it up, let's do it. Like, you know? And so I think,

do you say that to yourself or do you hear that? Do you know what I'm saying is the difference? Yeah. I mean, I mean, I don't necessarily, I wouldn't say that like I, I say it to myself, you know, I think it's like a subconscious thing that, you know, you just kind of, you know, like even the things that I would think of is like, if whenever I'm tired on the court, you know, I'd always resort back to like my training, right. And, and how tired I was, it's like, man, I'm not even, I'm not even half as tired as what I am when I'm training. So, you know, I mean, that's again, right. That, that would be the one that I would think of the most,

but, you know, as far as like, you know, adversities and stuff like that, I think that it just comes natural for me in that regard. When you talk to people about the racquetball, do you sense right away? Oh, should I see things differently than them? Like, yeah, actually I had a, uh, I was doing a little junior clinic thing. The other, uh, list past Saturday from one of my buddies that I play racquetball with here. And he was holding the tournament and they had some juniors and one of the one of the the older I think it was a dad or whatever. He walks up to me and he's like, yeah, you know, I've been having these elbow problems, you know, and he's like, and so I've been working on my swing.

And, you know, he's like, you know, you know, do you have any advice? And I'm like, I don't, I don't think it's your swing. And he's like, I go, the first thing that comes up to me in my mind is what's the weight of the racket you're using? You know, sorry, that's my school, my so-called guard dog, you know, and, and it was like, you know, uh, you know, I said, no, it's the weight of your racket. Like, what's the weight of your racket? What are you, what are you using? Like, you know, 175, 175 gram, 170 gram, whatever it is, you know, I said, no, it's the weight of your racket. Like, what's the weight of your racket? What are you, what are you using? Like, you know, 175, 175 gram, 170 gram, whatever it is,

you know? And I'm like, and you know, is it head heavy? Is it handle heavy? You know, like I start naming all these things and he's just sitting there like, what? You know, he's like, what? And I'm like, see, that came natural to me. You know, that was like one of those natural things for me. I didn't even have to really think about it. It was kind of like, well, yeah, that's the first thing that popped in my mind. You think about elbow problems or whatever. I mean, even in tennis or anything like that, you know, I mean, you know, yeah. Could it be your swing a little bit?

Sure, sure. Of course it could. But I think also, too, you don't even think about it. You know, it's like a lot of these people don't think about those little tiny things like that. And so, you know, and I was walking out, you know, I was walking out with my girlfriend and I was like, I just started laughing. Cause I'm like, you know, that was so natural to me, you know, just that immediately the thought of that was just so natural to me. And, um, you know, but it's not natural for everyone, you know? And so sometimes

I find myself kind of laughing, you know, kind of having a little chuckle about it, you know, but again, right. You know, if you were to go to golf, you know, take, take golf. If you were to sit down and talk to Tiger Woods, he probably, you know, he'd probably tell you stuff that blow your mind, you know, and it would probably blow my mind too, you know, that's, you know, and so, you know, every, every, every top, you know, great player or greatest ever or whatever, you know, they just see things differently. They feel things differently, you know, when it comes to, you know, their respective sport, they see it differently. I mean, just like you said about the Wayne Gretzky thing, that was a great analogy of it, you know, it's just like, you know, he used to, he used to,

it's like the puck was on a string, you know, it's like, man, how did he, how did man, how did he know behind the back passes or this or that? How did he know? And it's just one of those things with great athletes. They don't really think it. They just do it. I was reading one of these books that I was mentioning that they were comparing Roger Federer to Wayne Gretzky. Sorry, Roger Federer to wayne gretzky uh sorry roger federer to tiger woods and tiger woods kind of had the same thing happen to him that you had happened to him someone put a

golf club in his hand you know when he was a baby but but roger federer didn't that's not how he did it he played he played everything yeah and then it was and his mom was a tennis coach but it wasn't till he got and he wouldn't listen right like his mom would try to coach him in tennis and he did everything just fucking unorthodox but then finally as he got older he he narrowed down to tennis do you do you have an opinion on on on how kids should be um put into activities do you think it's good to start kids young and or do you think it's good to start kids young and, or do you think it's just have a huge breadth and depth of keep kids busy and active and give them a huge breath? I think, I think it's important when they're younger. I think the first thing, uh, that needs

to be, I think understood is just about having fun, you know, and you know, that you really mean that. Do you really mean that? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I do. I mean, I, you know, once once you find your niche and once you find, you know, like, you know, your sport, then you can narrow it down and, you know, you take it more seriously. for that's all about love when I was going to play racquetball or even hockey when I was five years old I wasn't like oh I'm I'm I'm doing this because I want to be in the NHL or I want to do this because I want to be the best racquetball player I was just having a shitload of fun you know that was it you know I mean I mean that that was really what it boiled down to then you know when I started competing you know in racquetball and in hockey, then it changed the mentality. Right. Because now there's there's other people out there, you know, that are pushing you. Right. You have now have a team, you know, racquetball is more of an individual thing. Hockey was more of a team sport. So putting other people, you know, you know, kind of what's what's anything for the greater good of the team?

anything for the greater good of the team, you know, for me, like when I played hockey, I thought it was really cool that, you know, in hockey is much different now than it was when I was playing. But I always thought it was really cool that, hey, like what you mean, I can go and fight this guy if I want, like, and I can hit him and I can, you know, like, that was one of the things that I was like, man, this is, this is cool, you know, and then, you know, of course, you know, hockey really helped my racquetball, you know, like lateral movements, you know, being able to skate, you know, really fast, being a good skater, you know, some of the stuff that I used to do on skates, you know, and it was just something fun that I did. And the transition of how it helped me in racket ball, you know, I look back on it and I'm like, man, yeah, actually, you know, so, so I think that we have a tendency to get overloaded. Right. And, and,

and, and, you know, you put your kids in 10 different things and that's all great, but once they find their one or two things that they really like, then just let them focus on that. You know, I mean, you know, I think that I think one of the biggest issues now with with kids in sports is that, you know, they just got to grow up too fast. Now, you just can't be a kid playing a sport anymore. You know, you got to if you're not being checked out by scouts when you're 13, 14, then you might as well pack it in and go to college and, you know, become a lawyer or a doctor or whatever. you might as well pack it in and go to college and, you know, become a lawyer or a doctor or whatever, you, you know, it's just like, you know, and, and I didn't have that when I was younger, you know, we were, you know, I, I kind of, I was in the generation of, you know, just be a kid for as long as you can, you know? And, uh, you know, I think that that's kind of an unfortunate thing

for kids nowadays is that, you know, with social media and all those kinds of things, you know, there's, there's a, um, there's a pressure on them, you know, there's a pressure on them to, um, you know, grow up faster, be mature faster. And I don't necessarily think that's fair, but that's just, that's the world that we live in now. You, you mentioned the word sacrifice, making sacrifice. And I always struggle with that word. Did you mean to use that or what does that mean to you? Like you said, you said you want your kids to know the sacrifice you gave. Yeah. I mean, listen to, to be a champion, you do have to sacrifice. And what I mean by that is that, you know, when I was 18 years old, I had a thousand dollars in a duffel bag and I came to Austin, Texas, you know? You know, when I was 18 years old, I had a thousand dollars in a duffel bag and I came to Austin, Texas.

You know, you know, I didn't get I went from seeing my friends and my family every day to seeing them once every three, four months. You know, as an 18 year old, that was not easy. You know, back in high school, you know, where everybody else was going out to parties and having fun. I was at the racquetball court, you know, playing. And so that was a sacrifice as well, too. You know, as I got it got into my professional career, my family was the ones that were sacrificing. I was sacrificing to a point I missed, you know, birthday, I missed birthdays, you know, with my daughters. You know, I, I missed out on school stuff. And, and at the same time, they missed out on their dad being there too. So, you know, I think that you have to understand that, you know, it's not all rainbows

and unicorns all the time. And when you, you know, if you really want something and you want to be the best at it or the greatest at it, you are going to have to make certain sacrifices and you're going to have to be selfish sometimes. And not everybody is going to like that or agree with it, but you know, if you, if it makes you happy agree with it. But, you know, if, if it makes you happy and that's what you, you know, in your heart, that's what you want to do and you believe, then I say, go for it. Um, did you, did you always put racquetball first? Uh, I, for a long time I did. Yes. Yes. I, for a long time I put racquetball first once, you know, uh, once my kids got a little older, like maybe about three or four, it kind of changed for me. You know, I kind of was like, you know what, there's more to life than just, you know, racquetball now.

And I was and it was it was a hard transition. I mean, for, you know, as long as I can remember, you know, I was just just racquetball, you know. You know, and so, you know, to, you know, to have something come along that, you know, would deter me from it a little bit and allow me more so to live my life as you know, so to speak, as opposed to just living for racquetball. I mean, I think it was great. You know, it's great. And it actually made me a better racquetball player too as well um for for mates boyfriends girlfriends mistresses wives husbands who want to have relationships with people who are singularly focused on doing something great i always try to explain to people like this you see a bald eagle flying around and it's doing cool ass bald eagle shit

right soaring grabbing birds fucking just owning the skies everyone's terrified of it and yet it's beautiful and then you want that and you catch it and you put it in the cage and everything you love about it's fucking gone yeah and it's like you just fucked every you just fucked the whole bird up what's this i said you just fucked the whole bird up by catching it and putting it in the cage. And I always wonder what that's like for – if you want to be with someone great, it's not going – you can't catch it and put it in a cage, right? Or what advice do you give for people who want to marry someone who's – I mean would you say you're obsessed with racquetball, that you are obsessed with it? Not so much now. Not so much now.

But you had a 20-year run of obsession. Yeah. I mean I think that there was a certain obsession i think that it's always really hard you know to to be with you know a an athlete i mean they they have to be selfish at times you know i think that that's part of their dna i mean they they have to you know just to be able to accomplish what they want to accomplish and and uh you know i mean it's kind of funny because I'm getting ready to go to a tournament this weekend and, you know, I just had to apologize to, you know, my girlfriend. Cause I'm like, man, I'm, I'm sorry. I'm being a dick. Like, I'm, I'm sorry. Like, you know, I have to catch myself. Like I'm edgy, you know, I'm aggravated at every little thing. And, you know, and so, you know, it's, it's,

it's kind of funny, but not funny, you know, because I'm like, damn, like, I feel bad. But like, every little thing is aggravating. But it also shows me that I'm ready to go. Like, I'm Yeah, yeah. You know, and so, like, my coach, you know, used to say, you know, he used to call, you know, my ex wife, and he used to say, So, is he being a dick? And she's like, Oh, yeah. And he goes, Good, good. He's ready. Yeah, it was like one of those funny things, you know, where things you know where you know I mean not not so much now I haven't actually had this feeling for a while now you know and now that I'm getting ready to start the season and this and that it just I have it and you know it's kind of it's different for me now because that's not that's not kind of how I've been the last little while you know um but I'm trying to embrace it, you know, and I'm, I'm, I'm enjoying it. I'm, I'm sure my girlfriend isn't enjoying it. Um, but, uh, you know, but I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying that. It shows me that I still have the passion. I still have the heart. I still have the fire. Um, and to be able to have that, you know, for, you know, as long as I've been doing this, uh, you know, I'll take it. Is it like this about 30 minutes before?

Usually I do my podcast really early in the morning. So no one's awake in my house, right? I'm up at six and I'm, and I'm getting ready, but, but a few times a week, I do them in the middle of the day and 30 minutes before the podcast starts. If my wife talks to me, I'm like, Hey, she's like, what? I'm like, I'm doing the podcast in my head already. Like, don't talk to me i'm like hey she's like what i'm like i'm doing the podcast in my head already like don't talk to me i'm already like i'm already talking to kane i'm already like the questions when i'm in the shower i'm talking to you i'm practicing i'm rehearsing is it like that the

weeks before you're already starting to go in your head and you're starting to play the games and if someone talks you're like dude can't you see i'm playing racquetball yeah they're like no actually i thought you were washing the dishes. I mean, I look at the rankings and I try to figure out like who I'm gonna play. Yeah. That way when I go to the club, you know, I go to the gym to play, you know,

I'm kind of like, you know, in that zone of like, okay, this is who I'm getting ready to play. You know, kind of, you know, everybody's got their obviously own personality, right, on the court. And so, you know, just trying to get ready. You know, some guys are a little more edgy. Some guys are kind are kind of more laid back you know and so you kind of got to go in there you know with different mentalities sometimes you know I mean you know there's guys that you're

like man this guy no matter what he's gonna he's gonna bring it he's gonna you know no matter what's happening no matter what the score is whatever he's gonna bring it and then there's other guys where you know it's like hey listen all I really need to do is I just need to beat the crap out of them in the first game or the first couple. And he'll, and he'll, he'll get, you know, shoulders will drop, body language will change, you know? And so, you know, it's kind of like a player to player basis, but yeah, I try and get ready weeks before, you know, and, and trying to, you know, just basically, you know, I it's, it's hard though, because you, you also,

you want to, you want to have good balance, right. You want to still take care of the, you know, the stuff that you need to take care of, you know i it's it's hard though because you you also you want to you want to have good balance right you want to still take care of it that you know the stuff that you need to take care of you know and do what you need to do to get ready but you also have to also look at the other side of like who i'm going to be playing and and all that kind of stuff as well too um did you do you ever did you ever used to have to have talks with your ex-wife or your wife like where you explain to them like, hey, like this is the way it's going to be? No, not really. No, you didn't have like a Snoop Dogg thing, get in where you fit in or like, no. Yeah, just kind of like I don't need to have that conversation because no matter what the conversation is, this is what it's going to be.

Like this is not like a negotiation. It's like, hey, listen, this is what I need is this is what it's going to be like i'm not this is not like a negotiation it's like hey listen this is what i need this is what i need to be ready and that's it so this is kind of the way it's going to be you know um what what's it when you say you're going to a tournament can how many um it's you play it's best out of three games and that equals a match is that how that works correct best out of three games and that equals a match. Is that how that works? Correct. Best out of three, tiebreaker to 11. So first one to, you know, to 15. So, you know, whoever wins the first, you know, two games to 15 or whatever, or two games in general that, you know, walk away.

And then is it a double elimination bracket? No, no, single elimination. You get stuck in a draw and you just play away and that's it and uh is does it all have okay is this the one he's going to caleb no no this one already happened okay and uh and does this all happen in one day kane no it's uh it's three days you you play friday saturday and sunday and how many matches do you play normally a day? Well, they've switched the way that it's played. So either two on Friday, one on Saturday, one on Sunday,

or one on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday. Okay. And when Sunday comes and you're playing at that level, are you beat up or? physical. It becomes more of a mental thing. You know, I mean, you know, we're all tired of shit, you know, out there. And, you know, when I'm playing a guy in the finals, we're both tired. It's just, you know, mentally, you know, how do you get through it? How do you push through it? You know, like the one of the one of the, you know, for me, watching a guy like Nadal, right? Like, I mean, that's just amazing. That mental, you know, that mental strength that he has is just amazing, like to just be out there and be that intense and push through it. Just, you know, I,

I think that that's, you know, I love watching it. You know, that's kind of the stuff that I love watching. I mean, even Djokovic too, you know, like those guys, I mean, you know, to be out there doing that for, you know, as long as they have, you know, in general, and then, you know, talk about a four or five hour match. I mean, that's grueling. That's grueling on the body, you know, and that, and yeah, okay. It's, it's physical, but at some point it also, it also is mental. It's a lot mental, you know, maintaining focus, like not getting focused fatigue. Yeah. Yeah. Not getting complacent, you know, staying focused, staying in the moment,

you know, all those things, everybody has their little lulls and their little, you know, where, you know, you kind of take a couple points off and you can't do that, you know, especially when you're in the finals, you know, cause the guy that you're, the guy that you're playing in the finals, remember he also, you know, worked hard to get there as well too, you know? So, I mean, but again, you talk about, you know, you talk about the training and you talk about just the mental state that you're in. You know, I think that it's important that, you know, that's why I like I said at the beginning, that's why I go and I train, you know, when I'm tired. Right. So that that way, when I get into a position like that that it's it's it's still mental but it's not as mental for me because it's not uncharted territory for me this is something that i put

myself through on a day on a daily basis at home training you know you rehearsed it uh what's the longest you've ever not been in the court? Longest you ever took a break in these past 38 years? Probably, I don't know. I don't know, maybe six months, a year. And so when they started putting rules down in 2020 to 2022 to not be in close quarters and shit. You just said, fuck that. I got to play. Well, I mean, I think that we, I was fortunate living in Texas, you know, we weren't really on lockdown.

Not even in Austin. Isn't that it? Didn't those guys like spin out of control in Austin? No, no, we were pretty, we were okay. I mean, I was, you know, I was still going to restaurants. I mean, you, you know, you had to, you had to wear a mask, you know, when you, when you, you know, walked into the restaurant, but as soon as you sat down, you could take it off. Um, personally, I don't understand that logic behind that, but, but, you know, it is what it is and there was a rule. And so, you know, that's pretty much, you know, you never wear a mask in the court when you,

you never wear a mask in the court. When you played someone. You were never wearing a mask in the court. No, I wouldn't even step on the court. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that. I can't do that. But you've probably seen it, right? Two dudes in a racquetball court wearing masks? I have.

I have. But, I mean, you know, I've also seen people with nobody in their car wearing a mask, too. Good point. I've also seen people with nobody in their car wearing a mask too. Good point. Hey, listen, whatever your level of safety is, whatever it is, whatever makes you comfortable, you do it. You're a better dude than me. I went to a kid's jiu-jitsu tournament last week and there were a couple kids, like six-year-old kids competing with masks on. I'm like, dude, you got your kid's face covered while he's trying to fucking

fight with it while he's trying to beat his ass say that again something huge you know i think that's been detrimental to young kids i mean most of you know when you have when you have interaction even like we're having right you know you look to people's facial expressions you know it's like sometimes you would say something you're like are you laughing are you what's happening you know and for a young a young child that's developing i that's i think it's detrimental to them you know and and so i think that really hurts some some kids in that regard you know and also too you know you know having the you know having the whole like plastic up on the desks and all that i mean it just you know it's crazy crazy times i mean I mean, you know, I mean, that type of stuff will be talked about forever in history, you know, it's just a crazy time.

And, you know, again, you can, it's really, to me, it's really taught me that like, listen, I can only control what's in my bubble. I'm not going to try and control anything else. You know, you sound like a wise man. Huh? You sound like a wise man. Yeah, thank you. There is – this kind of goes along with that whole mask thing. There's this thing with my kids playing tennis that I've sort of gleaned from the teacher that basically things you can't get from a ball machine that basically you want to be playing across from someone. So you start learning the unconscious and subtle cues of how people are moving, how they're addressing the ball to where the ball is going to go. Even Caleb showed a picture today where you hit a ball and the guy misread your cue and he started to go right in the ball and you hit

the ball on the left. Like, I don't know if you did that on purpose and gave him misdirection, but either way he misread that shit. And I recently had a friend who has his kid in school and he said, Oh, my kids, uh, my kids, um, speech is all fucked up. And so are all the kids in his class. And he said, why? And he said, well, I studied there's, there's 10 papers that show that kids don't just listen to words when they can't say a word. They look directly at the person's mouth to mimic how the person moves their lips and my kid didn't get that for two years and i'm like oh fuck yeah um do you do you is that all unconscious for you when you're in in the on the court um yeah i mean it's a strictly reaction and that type of stuff you know i mean if you start thinking about it you're fucked well i mean you know also part of it too is is that you know when you've played somebody

numerous times right like you know four five six seven you know ten times whatever it is you know you get accustomed to their tendencies everybody has a tendency so you it's not like you're going in there you know uh unsure of what they're going to bring, right? You know, the shots they like to hit, you kind of know their game style. So as you, you know, further, you know, you know, your, your career playing with the same playing against the same guys, you come up with game plans. And so it almost, it doesn't become easy, but it comes easier. You know, it's, it's harder to play somebody that you've never played before, you know, cause it's like, kind of like this feeling out process where it's like, okay, well, you know, what's your tendency, what's this, what's that,

you know? And so during the game, you're actually kind of trying to develop that, you know, as you're playing as well too, you know, and then, you know, sometimes you find something, sometimes you don't, um, you know, and then, you know, and then at, at the end of the day, just play your game, you know, just play your game. And that day, just play your game, you know, just play your game. And that's kind of what I've learned to do is just play my game, not really focus on who I'm playing. Just, you know, kind of almost like almost like daring them. Right. Like, hey, listen, you know, here's my level. Come get it, you know, come get some. You know, that's kind of the way that I've, you know, kind of looked at it, you know.

Did you say that this is the season starts this upcoming week? Yes. And how long is the season? So the season will run all the way until, uh, well they changed it. So maybe, I mean, I call it the beginning of the season cause we haven't had tournaments since June. Um, and usually we had the summer off, but usually our, our, our season was from like September to December. We'd get a month off for Christmas and new years. And then we start back up in January. We would end in May or June. So, um, I don't know. They, they changed it. I don't know exactly what it is, whether it's January to December now, but to me, this is my season starting and are you ranked right now and in the world yeah right now I'm three right now and did the two guys the two

guys who are above you are you going to see them this week okay fine I won't ask that question. Please come back. Please. Please. This dude's a G. I used to love racquetball. It's weird. I think courts are vanishing. I'm getting the impression that racquetball courts are vanishing all over the United States, that the sport is actually diminishing. You think so? When I was doing the research yesterday, I was getting that feeling. Do you know of any courts? Like I've been – just about every Lifetime Fitness I've ever been into has at least two or three racquetball courts. And almost every military installation still has racquetball courts. So at least those two places for sure maintain their racquetball courts.

I mean I've been to CrossFit gyms. I think even we went to when we visited Nike once. Their CrossFit gym was in a racquetball court. And I remember Austin Biji being – his CrossFit gym was in a racquetball court. I think I went to one of Jason Kalipa's gyms, and they had taken over a whole racket but it was like a 50,000 square foot facility no shit and they had taken over a whole racket ball court uh facility so i so i don't know if uh if that shit's going away hey your phone completely died no it was my ipad but now i'm on my phone sorry about that uh no i appreciate the technological pivot yeah thank you thank you um so so you'll go so you'll go these two these two guys um are you prepared like are you prepared for them is there a game or

is there a chance you're going to beat these guys and will they be there i mean there's always a chance of someone beating you but i think that they should be more worried about me than I should be of them, you know, at this point, I think, you know, for me, you know, it's no secret, you know, what I bring to the table. So, you know, you can, you can play the best match of your life and still get your ass kicked, you know, and that's, that's, you know, that's kind of a devastating thing after it's done a couple of times, I like to call it scar tissue, you know, and so, you know, for me, I think that, you know, I don't really worry about that stuff. I go in there, I know what I'm capable of. Uh, I like to battle and, uh, you know, those guys are, you know, they're good. They're great players. Don't

get me wrong. And I don't mean any disrespect by what I'm saying. You know, they, um, you know, again, they're great young players. Um, but, uh, you know, I mean, I don't know. I just, I'm the champ, you know? I mean, you know, and that's just it, you know, mean i don't know i just i'm the champ you know i mean you know and that's just it you know it's like come and get it and when you say you're the champ you just mean you won the championships last year or you're the champ like hey dude like overall like you're you're like a fly on a wall and i'm a fucking dragon over here yeah that's kind of yeah yeah yeah pretty much i, pretty much. I mean, I'm the champ. I'm the guy, no matter what I'm ranked,

I'm the guy that everybody wants to beat. Not saying I don't want to beat anybody else, but let me tell you something. You beat me, that's a tall hill to climb. I mean, it really is. You'll be talking about it to your kids if they beat you. You'll be telling on the next podcast you're on, you'll be like yeah i beat kane pretty much yeah yeah that's pretty that you know there's like funny because there's a guy um his name's john

ellis okay so i i i he had to retire early because of injury but i played him a couple of times and uh the last time i played him was like 2001 or something like that and then he retired well he has a winning record against me. And he's the only person in racquetball history to have a winning record against me. And I still got to fucking hear that shit. You know, I still got to hear it. I'm just like, I've shaked my head. I'm like, dude, it's 2022, you know, but we, you know, I have a good laugh about it.

I mean, it is what it is, you know, but it's funny how that even that, you know, now that now at that point, I was kind of irrelevant. Right. So it didn't really matter. Well, now all of a sudden I'm very relevant and you know, that still comes up every once in a while, you know? Hey, was that guy even a good, like a best in the world guy? Or was it just so he was, he was number two, three, four in the world for a long, long time. You should, you, anytime anyone brings that up, you should be like, yeah,

my dad has a winning record against me too. beat me 700 times before i was 10 yeah like well yeah that's where i can throw it back and be like but the first time i beat my dad do you play with your family uh i mean here and there there. I mean, I, you know, again, I try to separate that. You know, if my kids want to go and play, I'm more than happy to take them and, you know, hit the ball around. When I'm at tournaments, you know, and they're there, you know, they'll get on the court and hit around a little bit. But, you know, I show interest in the things that they show interest in. I try my best not to force anything on my kids, you know, as far as sports or whatever you guys, you guys, you know, you guys find what you guys love and, you know, and then we'll go from there. You know, if it's racquetball, awesome. If it's

volleyball, great. If it's football, baseball, whatever it is, you guys, you guys have to figure that out. I, I can't, you know, I mean, you know, I know a lot of parents, you know, like, you know, it's like, you know, I played football, so I want my son to play football. It's like, oh, I get it. You know, I understand it to a point, but I think that sometimes it's a little overbearing. You know, let them choose, you know, let them choose what they love. And just because it's not, you know, maybe not be what you love, it's okay. You know, there's nothing wrong with that.

So I let my kids choose what they want to choose, and then I support them in it and help them in any way that I, that I can. Does racquetball transfer to any other racket sports? Like, are you good at any other, the other racket sports? Well, I think it's funny because, you know, if you look at the history of like just racquetball players through the tour, you know, like, uh, you know, I used to be a scratch golfer. Um, you know, I was a high level, you know, high level, know, I used to be a scratch golfer. You know, I was a high level, you know, high level basketball player. I, you know, I played volleyball. I think racquetball is one of those sports that, you know, it teaches you a lot of, you know, the connection between mind and body. And so, you know, it's a little bit of everything, right? It's like hand-eye coordination,

agility, you know, speed, power. And so, yeah, it really, you know, body and so explosive yeah it really you know body control and so i think it really um it really transfers over to a lot of sports i mean like hitting a baseball is no big deal i mean i can throw a football 50 yards like it's just not a big deal but it's a lot about the the mechanics of it you know just they change very subtle very subtle changes um but it's all about body control and and having your body working as one and you know, just, they change very subtle, very subtle changes. Um, but it's all about body control and, and, and having your body working as one and, you know, hip rotation and all that kind of stuff. And so, you know, it's really simple, you know, to the transition to other sports. Whereas like, if I take a guy that played football, he might not necessarily be able to even

play racquetball at all. Like, you know, when I can, I can, I can go and play football though, you know, I can make moves and I can throw a ball and I can do all that kind of stuff, just like basketball, you know, the lateral movements and dribbling the ball, the hand-eye coordination. But if I take, if I was to take LeBron James into a racquetball court, you know, it just, it wouldn't transfer over, you know, like it would for me. Right. In racquetball, do they hit, do you hit with topspin? Sometimes, sometimes, I mean, it just depends. I mean, you know, usually flat is what you would want, right? You just want to hit the ball flat. Um, you know, bend your knees. Obviously if you hit

the ball flat, um, you know, the lower you can get the lower, you know, the consistency of the, of hitting it low is there. Um, you know, but I mean, you can, every once in a while you can top spin on it or like some slice on it here and there, you know, When you say get low, you mean your center of gravity, you want to get your center of gravity low. Yeah. Basically like just drop your ass, you know, kind of grass kind of thing. And if you can spend, you know, if you can play a majority of the match low like that,

maybe not running around, but when you're hitting the ball, getting low, you know, you hit, if you're doing that ball getting low you know you hit if you're doing that then i mean you know you're you're putting yourself in a pretty good position to win um and you're every shot you take you're making um uh shot choice what's the word i'm looking for you're deciding where you put the ball yeah yeah i mean like shot selection you're talking about like like if yeah like if i go in there with just a guy, I, for us, it'll just be like, Hey, just try to hit the ball. But for you, it's like, like you're, you know, every time you swing that racket, it's to put the ball somewhere. Correct. Correct. I mean, you know, again, people try to get really cute and, you know, overthink it, but you you know, I mean, you know, I can put it very simple and I, and I say this in my lessons, right. You know, racquetball from the

majority of, of, of, of it is played North and South. Right. So if you're playing somebody, you would want them to go East and West. Right. So, you know, if I'm playing, if the majority of racquetball is played North and South, but my opponent is going east and west, I'm having a pretty good, I'm probably going to be pretty. I guess that's like with tennis also. Right. That's the whole thing. Correct. Correct. Yeah. And so, you know, if I can have my opponents moving to the sidewalls as opposed to front and back, you know, I mean, I, I would like to think that I have, I have a bigger advantage. So, you know, balls that are down the line, if you can hit nice down the lines, real tight up against the wall, most people don't have the footwork to be able to put themselves in a position to hit an offensive shot. So you, you know, majority of the times you're probably going to get an opportunity, um, you know, to, to the next opportunity you get is going to be,

you know, hopefully an opportunity to put the ball away or, or end the rally. How often, um, I'm guessing if the guy, you hit the ball and then you're in the guy's way, he can say something to the judge, like, Hey, Kane was in my way. So there's, and you redo the point or something, right? Well, there's, there's two things. There's a, there's a replay and there's an avoidable. Avoidable is when you take an offensive shot away from your opponent, right? So if I, if you and I are playing and I hit the ball back at me and you're just standing there ready to hit, that would be an avoidable. So either it's a side out or a point. If you're serving, it's a point. If I'm serving, it's a, it's, it's a side out. And then a replay, which means you get to serve again. Yeah. Yeah. Replay

is replay is there's nothing. It's's just we're replaying the point okay right and then but avoidable if you're serving and i hit the ball back at myself and you're standing there getting ready to hit an offensive shot that's an avoidable so you get the point okay okay and does that happen every game i mean yeah i mean replays and voidables happen quite often i personally i don't really i don't really like the whole voidable thing because I think it's very subjective. I think that, you know, like, I mean, I can also hit a ball between my legs and that's offensive. You know, offensive doesn't necessarily mean I'm set up, ready to go, ready to hit. I mean, that doesn't always correlate, you know.

So I don't like it. I don't like things that things that are very subjective you know it's just like I get one ref you know and he's like oh that was an avoidable that was an offensive shot and the next ref is like well no I just a replay you know so I I don't I I I would hope that at some point we try to kind of look at that and change that to either everything's just a replay or everything's just an avoidable whatever you know what I mean just make it make it black and white don't have this kind of gray area of like you know just like i said of it being so subjective you know i think that it i don't think that it benefits our game in that regard um do you talk to yourself about that beforehand i had uh one of my friends who's a professional arm wrestler says hey every time i go into a match there's two people i have to beat the ref and my opponent like

and i like that mindset because then he's not blank he's he's taking control right he's taking responsibility yeah correct i i uh i never try to blame the ref i think that you know you know do i do i have my two cents that I want to, yeah, I give them my two cents every once in a while, but also too, there is most situations where I'm like, you know what, if I didn't hit that crappy shot, I probably wouldn't have to be arguing with the ref right now. So you try to put, you know, that accountability on yourself, you know, and, and, you know, in my career, no ref has ever, you know, uh, you know, you know, been the outcome of my match winning or losing, you know, I mean, and I don't want to look at it like that. I think that I think that that's poor. I think that's a weak mentality in my in my mind. You know, you take accountability for it. You know,

I mean, it's like, you know, like I said, you know, there's been plenty of matches where I'm arguing with the ref. But when I go back to return the server, whatever it is, I'm like, he shouldn't even got that opportunity. And if I would have put that ball away or I would have hit a better shot, then I wouldn't have to be arguing with him. You ever been in a court and you're like, hey, this court's not the right size? Or hey, this court's off by four inches, and people are like, what? And then they measure it, and it's off. Or you're like, hey, dude, that's that glass. Something's wrong with that glass yeah i mean we've had we've played on some pretty interesting courts i mean there was a court that we used to play on in uh in stockton

where the the um the cement was coming off stockton california yeah of course of course the cement was coming off the wall in stockton california but no, we've had courts that, you know, the front wall didn't really seem flat. You know, you hit a certain part on the wall and the ball would jump or it would go down or, you know, the glass, you know, every, I mean, floor, the floor is a little slick or it feels like, you know, it's not, you know, kind of all flat. Like, yeah, there's plenty, plenty of things. You just, you make the adjustment. And do it. Oh, what's the best shoes? Do you have a favorite shoes? flat like yeah there's plenty plenty of things you just you make the adjustment and do it oh what's the best shoes what do you have a favorite shoes well I mean for the longest part of my

career I just use Jordans I just used to love Jordans and then you know for me you know they got all kind of cute with the whole lightness of the shoes and all that and so um it was hard for me to find shoes I found some actually, the Air Force 270s. I have like, I have like, I don't know. I think, yeah, those are them right there. Those are my bread and butter. I've used those for a good part of, I don't know, I think five years and they don't sell them anymore.

So, but I have like, I have like 24 pairs of them. So I think I'm good. Wow. Okay. Yeah, that's smart. So you found the shoe you're like, you like, and what size do you wear? Nine and a half. So, so you, you, you're like, okay, I'm getting a shitload of these. Correct. Yeah. So I bought every, I bought every color in that

shoe and sometimes, and, and the ones that I liked, I bought two. And then I had a really nice guy, uh, uh, hit me up on messenger and was like hey man i see you wearing these shoes you know what size are you and i'm like well nine and a half he's like well hey you know let me send them to you i don't use them and i collect shoes but hey you want them i'm like sure so he sent me a box of them as well too so oh that's cool as shit yeah i also had another um i can't remember who it was but i also had another guy uh reach out to me on messenger and he made me some Nike, you know, the Nike ID shoes. I don't know. Yeah. So, so you can go on Nike and you can like, you know, make your own shoe and put your initials on it and all that kind of stuff. And, uh, I had a guy send me some shoes that he had made for me, which was kind of

cool. Yeah. I have a, I, um, you're a wise man and you only, um, deal with what you can control. I'm not so wise and I can't stand Nike. I want them to fucking get, I want a giant fucking boulder to smash their empire. Yeah. Yeah.

Listen, I, I get what you're saying. I just like this. You know? Yeah. You're a good dude. I agree.

I agree. I agree. Hey, isn't that nice when someone does that to you, sends you a pair of shoes. It's like, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a small gesture, but it's a pretty big gesture. It's like, it gives you like, wow, humanity is cool as shit. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, uh, I've had some really, I've been very, like I said earlier, you know, I've been very fortunate, you know, to, to, to be in the position that I am and

be able to touch people's lives like I have. And it's nice that, you know, people show their appreciation by doing those little things. I, you know, I really appreciated it. And, you know, I always appreciate getting feedback. You know, I mean, I think, you know, a little story. One of the one of the coolest things that I think that have ever happened to me is, uh, I had a guy reach out to me on, on, uh, Facebook messenger, uh, while back. And, uh, his dad was, uh, was in his last days of, of, of, of his life. And, uh, he reached out to me and said that his dad was an avid racquetball player and that, uh, one of his, uh, dying wishes was to, to, was to talk to me. So that was pretty heavy for me. I, you know, I get people, you know,

hey, can you sign a ball? And you talked to him and you talked to him? I did, I did, yes. I FaceTimed him and I talked to him, yes. And how was that? Interesting. I mean, what do you say to a guy that, you know, is kind of coming to the end of his life?

I mean, you know, it's like, yeah, you know, I don't know. But I just it was very humbling to think that, you know, like that person thought about me. You know, that was something that was dear to their heart. Like, you know, and, you know, you know, you have your family, you have your kids, you have, you know, everything that you love. And you're one of them is you want to talk to me. I mean, that's, that's, I mean, I, that I'm, I'm honored, you know? And so, uh, you know, I, I, I took advantage of it and we had a good conversation and, you know, I mean, at the end of the conversation, it was like, you know, Hey, you know, you know, tell the man upstairs that, you know, open them gates when I come,

you know, you know, it's like kind of, we just kind of laughing about it. And, and, you know, it was just like, Hey, you know, I'll see you again sometime soon. You know, I took racquetball in college too. I got an A. All right, Sean, shut your trap. No more. Well, I see that's that, you know, it's fun. When I was 15, we did sports in high school and, and we went and played racquetball. And at that time I was already the junior world champion and the coach starts teaching and i i'm like i raised my hand and i'm like hey

you're wrong and he's like oh i'm wrong and i'm like yeah yeah you're wrong and and so i ended up teaching the racquetball class for wow and uh and i got an a as well too yeah Yeah, Sean, he got an A too. Yeah. Did you get the class? Yeah, Sean. And he says, he says he would wear Reebok pumps. Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Those were my, those were my shoe back in the day. Um, do you have a coach? Uh, I do. Yes. Jim Winterton. What's his name? Jim Winterton. Uh, and he's a racquetball coach. Correct. How did you how do you choose a coach? So interesting story. I never had a coach until I became the number one player in the world. And then I became the number one player in the world. And I knew that I was going to have to evolve. And so, you know, I'd known, I'd known, uh, Jim for a while when I lost, when I was playing for team

Canada, I lost, uh, um, I lost in, uh, to one of his players. He was coaching Mexico at the time. And I lost to one of his players. Well, you know, obviously I'm, you know, I was one of the favorites, even though I was young and, and, uh, you know, he took me aside and he was like, Hey, you know, uh, listen, you're going to be great, man. He's like, you know, you, you, you just, you don't let this deter you. You don't let this, uh, you know, affect you, keep your head up, you know, keep working hard, you know, you're, you're going to be a great player. And then a fast forward to when I finished number one, when I was, uh, you know, 20 was like 21 years old, 22, somewhere in there. And, uh, I, we, we always had the, the U. nationals in Houston at the Hyatt. And I saw him and we started talking.

And, you know, it was like some political stuff where he's like, you know what, I'm just going to go coach football. I'm not going to coach racquetball and this and that. And I'm just so fed up and whatever. And I'm sitting there listening to him talk. And I'm thinking about the time that he, you know, that he took me aside. And, you know, he gets done talking. And I said, well well how would you like to coach the number one player in the world and he's like oh man yeah that would be great I mean if the

opportunity ever came around I mean that would be great and I'm like well how would you like to coach the number one player in the world well like I said I mean if the opportunity I'm like Winterton I'm asking you if you want to work together, you know, and he's like, Oh, Oh, Oh, he's like, Oh, I didn't know, you know? And so we had a good laugh about that. And, and, uh, you know, and then we had a conversation and, you know, he had a couple of things written down on, you know, on the, on his paper. And he asked me the questions, you know, he's like, you know, you know, what do you want to accomplish in racquetball? I said, I want to be the greatest. And he had, he had that written down. Um, you know, he, he, you know, what do you want to do after racquetball? Well, I want to have an education and be able to, you know, move on with

my life. He had that written down, you know, and I think the other one was just, you know, kind of like work hard, you know, like just constantly working hard. And so basically there was three check marks and the rest is history, you know, so we started working together and, you know, we've had some pretty funny, you know, encounters, like the? So we started working together and, you know, we've had some pretty funny, you know, encounters. Like the first time we got onto the court, you know, he has his glasses on and safety glasses and I don't have money. He's like, where's your safety glasses?

I go, I don't know, in my bed. And he's like, wait, are you going to put them on? I'm like, no. He's like, well, why not? And I'm like, well, exactly. Why, why, why? What do I mean? Do you plan on doing something to me?

Like, I don't, I'm confused. He's like, well, you know, you know, all these people, you know, walking by, I was playing at the university of Texas at the time. He's like all these people walking by, you know, they don't see you with glasses. I'm like, Winterton, they don't, they don't know who the hell I am. Like, what the heck are you talking about? Right. So we had that encounter, which was pretty, pretty damn funny. And then, you know, he also said, he's like, you know, he's watching video. I mean, he goes, you know, man, he's like, he's like, I just, I worry. He's like, you know, he's like, you do the good things. Great. He goes, but you also do the bad things really good too.

And I really don't want to, I really don't want to take that out of your game. He's like, you know, I would never tell any of my students to be sliding on their knees and hit a ball or hit a ball behind the back or between the legs. He's like, but you do it so well. I don't want to change that. I don't want to mess you up, up you know and so that was kind of a funny conversation too as well do you wear safety goggles now i do yeah yeah i require to yeah because i can remember getting kicked out of the courts or you know they have the guy who walks by and is like hey you better put those on we're gonna ask you to leave to leave. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then once you get used to them, they're not a big deal. No, I just, in that regard, I'm kind of like,

listen, like, leave me alone. You know, like, I mean, I, I get it, right. There's this fine line. I have to set the example and whatever, but you know, listen, I mean, people are going to do what they're going to do. It doesn't really matter, you know? And I don't really want to necessarily be known as the guy that sets the example for wearing goggles. That's not my number one choice. What's your day job? So I weld and I build barn dominiums. Build what are they called?

Well, here in Texas, they're called barn dominiums. It's like sheet metal, you know, metal buildings. Barn dominiums. And what's inside of them them people make gyms or they live in there whatever you want you can build them out any way you want um you can oh shit that's incredible yeah yeah so i've started doing that uh earlier on in the year and uh you know i'm really enjoying it it's hard i mean you know but it's it's so gratifying and it's so fun what about your eyesight and welding yeah well i mean you know you have the mask but you know i mean i mean i'm a good part is i'm at the later end of my career so eventually you you know i won't really need it you know i won't i won't need it to be what it is you know um do you uh

are you gonna play the whole season this year i'm not too sure yet i'm not too sure we'll see i mean i uh you know i don't have like a corporate type sponsoring so to speak i have a lot of a lot of guys that i've met through racquetball and and and, uh, you know, when I started doing the welding and, and, and building in fabricating the buildings and stuff, I, uh, I wasn't even really planning on playing racquetball. And then I had like, uh, one of, one of my biggest sponsors as KWN Gutterman, uh, is Keith Minor. He, he owns the business and I've been friends with him for years. And, and, uh, you know, it was like, you know,

he was like, you know, listen, you know, I'll sponsor you and, you know, I'll get you to the tournaments and whatever. And then I had a couple other people, you know, um, you know, end up like, you know, showing up and, and, uh, you know, one was, uh, um, a guy named Michael Currier who owns performance of chemicals. Uh, and then there was another guy, Carlos Cabrera, who he started a nonprofit organization called Angels on Earth, PPEC, which is for kids with basically kids with any disadvantage between the ages of like one and like, you know, I think 18 or 21. And so they go around and help kids that, you know, are underprivileged and stuff like that. So I'm really honored to be a part of that. And he stepped up. And so, you know, are underprivileged and stuff like that. So I'm really honored to be a part of that.

And he stepped up. And so, you know, those people right there, you know, I was telling him, I'm like, man, it's like, thank you, man. But you get like it's like I hate you guys. Like you guys make it make it impossible for me to walk away. Like I wasn't really interested in playing. I was more like, you know what, I'm moving on to the next phase of my life. Maybe every once in a while I'll, you know, poke my head into a tournament, beat a couple asses and right off in the sunset until the next time kind of thing. And, you know, I'm, you know, I'm really fortunate to have those

people, um, you know, in, on, in my corner. And, uh, but yeah, it's kind of funny. Cause I'm like, man, I hate you guys. Like I, you make it impossible for me to say no. Have you ever, have you ever had a racquetball court at your house i have not no no but i've had i've had situations where i had uh private courts that i would go and and and play play on meaning like someone's someone has one at their house correct or at their business or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. But you know what, again, I, those are all great and everything, but you know, I, I like, I like to, like, I'm a member at lifetime and I like, I like to play there and, and,

you know, I go out and talk to everybody and, you know, help some people when they, you know, when they're in the court playing, you know, I'll go in there and kind of like, Hey, you know, Hey, just want to let you know this, this, and this. I mean, for most people don't know who I am. So they're like, who is this jackass coming in here acting like he knows it, you know, I'll go in there and kind of like, Hey, you know, Hey, just want to let you know this, this, and this. I mean, for most people don't know who I am. So they're like, who is this jackass coming in here acting like he knows it, you know, but you know, they slowly, you know, somebody will tell him, I don't tell, I don't walk around and tell people, you know, what I've accomplished. That's just not me in it. You know? And a lot of times I'll be with somebody and,

you know, I'll be like at lunch with my buddy and someone will be like, Oh yeah. You know, what do you do? I play racquetball. My buddy would be like, hold on, hold on, hold on. Just play racquetball. You know, like, and he won't tell you, but I'm going to tell you, you know? So, uh, you know, again, that's, again, that just goes back to what I was saying is that I just, you know, when I'm off the court, you know, I've always been under the, under the mentality of when you step on the 20 by 40 court with me you're in my world and it's not going to be good for you but when i step out of that court man i am no better than anybody else you know outside of that court i'm just a regular guy you know those are the

dimensions of the racquetball court 20 by 40 correct oh i never would have thought it was that wide yeah wow yeah yeah you guys make it look small yeah i mean again you know it's i mean just the reaction time and the speed and and i mean it's just you know when i was younger i used to tell everybody you know listen some people like to bungee jump i like to play racquetball you're telling me racquetball court's 800 square feet yeah i got this house in berkeley it's 860 square feet and i rent it for 4 000 a month that's crazy i rent someone a racquetball court for four fuck uh kane it was a pleasure meeting you. You're a cool cat, man. You're as cool as I thought you were going to be.

Thank you, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me on, and we should do this again sometime. It was great. Yeah, I put you in my Google Alerts. I'll be watching from afar. Thanks to Justin for pointing you at me. What's interesting, too, is we were trying to to schedule the podcast and it kind of fell through.

And then if you, I don't know what it was a month or two ago, your name actually came up on the podcast. They're like, dude, you got to get some of the greatest racket. There's, there are a lot of like great racket players in racket sports out there.

And someone said, Kane. And I'm like, Oh fuck. I know that. I, you know, I've,

I forgot about that guy. I was trying to schedule him. So I quickly sent. Actually, I think it was my fault because I was actually, I think you had emailed me and then I did, I, for whatever reason, I didn't see it and I didn't respond. And then I was, you know, I was kind of going through and I was like, all of a sudden, like, what is this? And then that's when I responded like, Oh hell yeah, let's do this. You know? Oh, bitch. And

me. All right. Well, good. Well, anyway, it's also your fault that you came on the show too so so it's you're even fair well no actually i think that it was your fault but whatever okay i'll take the blame brother good to meet you uh you have my phone number if there's ever anything you need shoot me a text uh congratulations on having a beautiful family and just being a cool dude thank you man thank you yeah you know i don't know if people tell you this, but you're a pretty cool cat as well, too. Thank you. Only every day. Hey, somebody's got to do it.

I appreciate it. Cheers. All right. Thank you. How come I have no humility? Why can't I just say thank you? Why can't I just be like, yeah, thank you? How come I have no humility? Why can't I just say thank you? Why can't I just be like, yeah, thank you? How come I have no humility?

Sean M., Kane is a good dude. Sean, you're a good dude. I know, I know. I don't know how Brandon Waddell. Oh, you changed your profile picture. You didn't think I'd notice. Brandon Waddell. Christine needs to change her profile picture. You didn't think I'd notice. Brandon, Christine needs to

change her profile picture. My goodness. I saw Christine. I couldn't even recognize her in person from her profile picture. What does she look like? I don't know. I mean, she doesn't look bad in that picture, but that's just not what she looks like.

Look how intense she looks in that picture. She looks scary. I don't know if I want to know her. Like she's holding a kitchen knife below where you can see. Yeah, I'm terrified. Good one, Stefan. Thank you. Yeah, he's a stony cat.

I appreciated his. How about when he told the story about the guy he was playing with and the guy was just talking to himself and he goes beat this motherfucker and he's like hold on a minute and he walks i'm like really yeah you can't do that on one-on-one competition like you have to it's all internal talk there you get a 3500 square foot house on 50 acres with a pond in oklahoma for four g's a month but people also think we ride in horse and buggy chase brian all right i i would have kept them on longer i have to use the bathroom

classic i'm uh i uh is tomorrow is Thursday, the 15th of September. I don't see. Oh, oh, Kevin Kessler. CrossFitter had a heart attack in the gym. All right. This would be fun. Hey, Kevin, what's up? How are you?

You had a heart attack. All right, cool. Good talk. Uh, and then I need to do a live call-in show sometime soon maybe tomorrow night or Friday oh I don't know if we're doing the UFC show on Friday alright anyway thanks

Caleb no problem and I'll talk to all you guys soon sort of in the comments chat with you acknowledge you I'll acknowledge all of you guys soon hi Adam bye