WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.120 Adam Mikolch the Goat. Although Adam, I am disappointed. I'm 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:06.799 looking across from myself in the studio. I don't see 3 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:08.240 across from me, man. I thought we were doing this 4 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:08.640 in person. 5 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:09.359 What gives? 6 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.160 I am so sorry, Man, I just cut up doing 7 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:15.160 some marins and stuff today and I got to be 8 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.399 into the station here at three o'clock on the nose, 9 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.120 so I didn't want to I didn't want to cut 10 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.440 it too close today. Sorry about that, man. There's nothing 11 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:23.519 like doing radio studio, especially with you. 12 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:26.000 All good, All good, Because Dave Fox is on another 13 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.839 lengthy vacation. I just need to ask you, how has 14 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.600 Dave had a forty year career without ever working a day? 15 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.200 Just out of curiosity, because I'm honestly impressed. He's like 16 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.520 a mentor of mine. Forty years in this business without 17 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:38.320 ever working a day. 18 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.280 Well, that's the goal, right, And there's two schools that thought. 19 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.719 You know, there's the old cliche, find something you love doing, 20 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.119 do it every day of the rest of your life, 21 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:47.320 and never working another day of the rest of your life. 22 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.479 I'm calling bs on that from the top of mountains fence. 23 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.719 It's just not that easy for our generation. Let's put 24 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:55.479 it this way. When it comes to Dave Fox, he's 25 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:58.759 got a lot of quality people that he surrounds himself with. 26 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.840 And I'd like to think I sit into that umbrella. 27 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:03.479 So when you've got a nice umbrella like that going life, 28 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.719 life can be pretty smith well said. 29 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.879 And we tease. We love our ged, we love our 30 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:08.319 guy Dave. 31 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:10.840 But of course Adam meglitch the goat, and Adam, I 32 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.760 refer to you as the goat because somehow, some way, 33 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:20.079 regardless of how dire the circumstance or situation, you hit 34 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:24.120 us with positivity and anecdotes that kind of bring a 35 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.599 smile to people's faces even when stories are hard. I 36 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:29.560 wonder where that comes from. I wish I was more 37 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:31.680 like that. Where where where's that approach come from? 38 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:34.640 Oh that's seriously, that's just about one of the nicest 39 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.560 things anybody said to me in a really long time. 40 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.560 In all sin charity, I have really really good parents, 41 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.680 and I'm one of those guys too, where you know, 42 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:49.760 I'm I don't have children myself. So when you talk 43 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.000 with somebody and you get to know somebody, there's something 44 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.280 that they bring up quite a bit, right, And so 45 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.200 anybody who has kids. They love talking about their kids. 46 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.000 They've got pictures of their kids on their cell phone 47 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:04.359 or pets. I don't have a pet too. So when 48 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:06.959 I come up on conversation and I talk about good 49 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.080 things that are going on in my life, it somehow 50 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.240 always comes back to my mom and dad, who are 51 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.960 my best friends. My dad is what I like to 52 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.840 refer to as a Hall of Fame caliber track and 53 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.439 cross country coach. Going back home, so my house, growing up, 54 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.800 sitting down at the dinner table together was a big thing. 55 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:26.240 Athletics were a huge part of our existence. You know. 56 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.039 I was taught to try and break a sweat every 57 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.400 day and just put your best foot forward. And so again, 58 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:35.120 I was raised in a really really good household with 59 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:39.120 two really loving parents, and I guess I just try 60 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.919 and spread the love around and pay it forward whenever 61 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:43.520 I can, because I'm a pretty lucky guy. 62 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.120 You're also a pretty big dude. For people that don't 63 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.080 know this about Adam, are you six three? It feels 64 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.240 like you're about six three. 65 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.960 I'm six four. I'd like to be about two ten. 66 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.280 I'm a little bit heavier than that. And one of 67 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.159 the funniest things about me, Spence is I have a 68 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:03.479 seventeen shoe and I've worn to say, seventeen shoes since 69 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.000 I was sixteen years old. It's one of the weirdest 70 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:10.080 things about me. And as a kid who was sixteen 71 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.360 and nineteen ninety four, so this is before the Internet 72 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:17.000 and before everything, my life was very, very weird, trying 73 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.800 to get shoes and trying to fit in as a 74 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:22.879 normal member of society with feet that were way too 75 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:23.840 big for my own good. 76 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.319 We are the very same age. I don't know that 77 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:27.280 I knew that until now. 78 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.919 I was also sixteen in nineteen ninety four, because I 79 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:32.840 bring it like were you an athlete? 80 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:34.479 I don't even know this about you, Like what did 81 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:35.520 you play growing up? 82 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.199 So when I was growing up, like any other kid, 83 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:41.639 the first sport that I got into was soccer, and 84 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.360 I was actually really good at it. I was a 85 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.240 really good midfielder. And then if you look up my 86 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:51.360 hometown the Wikipedia page Snahomish, Washington, one of the claims 87 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.800 to fame is that there was a semi pro soccer 88 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.759 team that rolled through there by the name of Stormich United, 89 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:01.039 and Stormich United started as a Premier League team for 90 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:03.560 thirteen fourteen fifteen year olds and it was a traveling 91 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.080 crew and I was actually on the first ever Sinahamas 92 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.120 United team. So soccer was a huge part of my life. 93 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:11.199 I loved playing it the reason I was a pretty 94 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.280 good midfielder. Again, I say I have a Hall of 95 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:16.720 Fame caliber track and cross country coach for a father. 96 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:20.160 I was a distance runner growing up. I ran my 97 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:24.120 first competitive race in about first grade. Hung on my 98 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:26.920 dad's coattails and just running was a huge part of 99 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:28.800 our life, and so I had a ton of insurance. 100 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:31.560 So I made a midfielder because you never had to 101 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.680 pull me from a game. And then again, I'm a 102 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:36.879 little bit big to be a distance runner. So once 103 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.680 I started growing up and growing into what would be 104 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.879 my adult body, a guy who's five eleven sixty with 105 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.920 a size seventeen shoe doesn't make a lot of sense 106 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.439 to be running competitively in three mile races. But it's 107 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:52.480 something I stuck with. But then when I quit basketball. 108 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.519 When I quit basketball in the eighth grade, I dipped 109 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:01.000 myself into a pool and that is what became my calling. 110 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:03.879 So I was I was an All American breaststroker. It's 111 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.360 the Homus High School and by all American. It doesn't 112 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:09.279 mean that I was, you know, an absolute world beater. 113 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.000 I just swam a good enough time to get that consideration. 114 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.480 But I was a breaststroker and I swum the individual medley, 115 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:17.800 and I really wanted to be a college athlete. I 116 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:19.959 wanted to be a swimmer in college. The only problem 117 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:21.639 was I just wasn't good enough. So I had a 118 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:24.759 huge work ethic. I lived at the pool. I was 119 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.439 a lifeguard, swim teacher, and if I wasn't in the 120 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.279 classroom or at home, I was at the pool, and 121 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.040 I poured my heart and soul into them. And I 122 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.680 absolutely love that stuff. Athletics was a huge, huge part 123 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.120 of my life and a huge part of the reason 124 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.040 I got into the business I got into. 125 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:41.759 So let's transition over there. 126 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:44.040 For our audience, it isn't familiar because Adam is not 127 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.680 a very consistent guest of ours. So, like I've always 128 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.360 found this interesting for guys to kind of do what 129 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:52.519 you and I do, and we have different jobs, we're 130 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.519 in the same ecosystem. You have guys like us they 131 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.199 played sports growing up, and then you have and I 132 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:00.680 honestly I'm not. 133 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.279 Judging one way or the other, but For instance, I. 134 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.399 An Eagle who is a good friend of the show, 135 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:07.639 and as a guy I've known my entire life. Like 136 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:10.759 I will tell you, do not throw a football at me. 137 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:12.279 I don't know what to do with it. But he 138 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.600 wanted to be a broadcaster when he was like eight. Right, 139 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:17.480 So you have a lot of play by play guys, 140 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:19.279 and most of the play by play guys in our 141 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:22.600 market breaking news. There are not athletes. Then you have 142 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.399 guys that tried to play sports like you I want. 143 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.680 I wanted to be the starting point guard for the Knicks. 144 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.199 I mean that was my thing. And you know, I 145 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:32.680 played until I was about nineteen when I tried to 146 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.000 play against pros and then I realized, Okay, if you 147 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.639 want to be around this, you got to find something 148 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:39.639 else to do. So what kind of lit the fire 149 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:41.839 for you to follow this path and how did you 150 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:42.839 land in our market? 151 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.160 That's a great question, and it's actually something that I 152 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:49.360 really like talking about because you're right there, there are 153 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:53.040 many many different kinds of you know, professional sportscasters walking around. 154 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:55.199 Some of the smartest ones when it comes to the 155 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:58.399 analytics and the x's and o's and maybe memorizing stats 156 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.000 and things like that, our guys that weren't athletes themselves, 157 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:05.439 they just fell in love with the sport. And probably 158 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.040 there's a certain sense of living vicariously through it now 159 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.120 when it comes to me and the one sport that 160 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.279 I left out, you know, when talking about you know 161 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:14.720 what made me tick when I was growing up, all 162 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:17.920 I wanted to do when I was maybe ten through 163 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.519 sixteen was played baseball. That was another sport that I 164 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.480 played and unfortunately had to give up at one point 165 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:26.439 because I just wasn't good enough. But Holy Toledo Spence, 166 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.160 I was the biggest baseball fan, baseball card collector. I 167 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.639 grew up about forty forty minutes from Seattle, and I 168 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.079 would do everything I could talk my dad and to 169 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.120 take me to Mariners games. And it wasn't just to 170 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:40.560 you know, to go sit in the know in our 171 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:42.839 seats and watch the game. It was to go down 172 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.319 and try and meet the players and take a handful 173 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.680 of baseball cards and trying to get autographs and stuff 174 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:50.720 like that. And then it was a really really strange twist. 175 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:54.759 I was actually playing on a Pony State championship team 176 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:57.759 when I was fourteen years old, and I was still 177 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.720 clinging to this idea that I could work hard enough 178 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.439 and probably grew up to be a professional baseball player 179 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.600 one day, and I was just kind of crossing that 180 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.000 threshold of being a little more realistic as a human being. 181 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.959 I feel like, once you get into high school, you 182 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:14.079 kind of have to start facing certain realities. And at 183 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.920 one point, and I think my dad and I had 184 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:19.279 just wrapped up. Uh he was, you know, he was 185 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.920 running marathons at the time, and and so he would 186 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.759 run for an hour, hour and a half at our 187 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.279 local track and then I would throw a baseball against 188 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.279 the wall while he did that, and then I would 189 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.120 probably run for maybe, you know, the last ten minutes 190 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.600 with him, something like that. So I'm going on and 191 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.320 on like I always do, about playing baseball and maybe 192 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.159 I can be a switch hitter and this and that 193 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.600 and the other thing. And for whatever reason, my dad 194 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.799 had finally had it and he just said, Adam, you're 195 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.440 my son, and I love you, but you are never 196 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:51.960 going to be a professional baseball player. And it just 197 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.600 broke my heart. And I trust them, there's a there's 198 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:58.240 a happy ending to this story. And so I was 199 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:01.600 so kind of irritated by like I walked into the 200 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:06.360 house and had tears in my eyes and didn't pick 201 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.200 a fight with my dad or anything like that. I 202 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:10.039 just kind of had to let it sit and digest. 203 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.679 And then it was probably a couple of days later. 204 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.240 I thought to myself, you know what, he's right, and 205 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.399 good for him for actually saying something like that. But 206 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.320 I didn't want to let the dream die necessarily like 207 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.519 right there. So what I did is I thought to myself, 208 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:29.519 what can I do, What can I possibly do with 209 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:31.840 myself to make sure I stay as close to the 210 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.879 arena as possible. How can I figure out a way 211 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.440 to go to baseball games for the rest of my life. 212 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:39.960 And I've got a famous uncle by the name of 213 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.200 Rick Lukens, who's a sportscaster in Spokane, and by him 214 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:48.200 being on television, he was with the local ABC in 215 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.519 in Spokane for thirty years. With him being on television, 216 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:53.279 it was kind of a reality that I might be 217 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:55.919 able to do this if I go to school and 218 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.879 pay attention and set goals and try and run him down. 219 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:03.360 So I decided then instead of being a baseball player, 220 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:05.639 probably the next best thing would be to be a 221 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.960 sportscaster and get to interview people at the King Dome 222 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.679 and Seattle and lo and behold, I think I'm twenty 223 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.840 two years old working at Fox Sports north West in Seattle, 224 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:19.639 and wasn't one hundred percent sure that I wanted to 225 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:22.080 go the career paths that This is right after I 226 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:24.840 graduated from Wazoo. And it was the first time that, 227 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:27.480 you know, a reporter took me on a story with 228 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.639 them and I got to help out with it. And 229 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:33.399 I called my mom at her office at home from 230 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.480 the field at safegu Field and I just said, hey, Mom, 231 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.320 I'm going to be a sportscaster. And she said, well, 232 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.600 good honey, go for it. And then the rest is 233 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:43.559 kind of history. Sorry, that was a long story, but 234 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:44.919 that's that's the truth right there. 235 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.679 Adam Is, I sayed, all my guests, I have four 236 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:50.200 hours of space to fill. You can take forty five 237 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.000 minutes if you'd like. So you've been you've been here 238 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.080 for fifteen sixteen years. 239 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:56.759 It feels bad. 240 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.279 Yeah, it'll be fifteen years in July. 241 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:00.240 Okay. 242 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.519 So here's the question I wanted to get to as 243 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.720 we move into kind of where we find ourselvesselves here locally, 244 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:11.120 you know, I've got a kind of unique paradigm when 245 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:13.519 it comes to this community because I was born here 246 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:17.039 and then moved and grew up elsewhere, and then came 247 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:19.320 back and went to college here, so it's kind of 248 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.039 home and then kind of isn't home. It's been home 249 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.440 essentially for twenty five straight years, so and it's good living. 250 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.080 I love it here for sure. It's why I choose 251 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:27.559 to live here. 252 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.320 And I am pretty stunned when I take a step 253 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.720 back and consider how much we have grown as a 254 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.840 sporting market and community. I would say since I was 255 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.159 in school at the University of Utah in the late nineties. 256 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:42.879 I mean, it's pretty stunning. 257 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.480 Of course, we have additional properties like ray Al, Salt 258 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:47.840 Lake and the hockey club, but we also have evolved 259 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:52.919 into this really undeniable college football market, and we're an 260 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.120 NBA market, even though our team right now is on 261 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.320 serious about winning. How have you seen our market change 262 00:11:58.360 --> 00:11:59.960 and grow in your fifteen years. 263 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.279 Yeah, that's a really good question. And again it's another 264 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:05.679 thing that the keep train coming back year after year 265 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.519 because you know, not only do I have some stability here, 266 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:12.039 I mean you know the fact that there's still multiple 267 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:15.159 radio stations that that cover sports in this market is 268 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.559 a real indicator of how strong it is here. 269 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.320 Multiple stations, Adam, I didn't. I thought there was only. 270 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:26.159 One man to say. And I apologize well, and you know, 271 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:29.480 all four TV stations still do sports, and sports is 272 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:31.480 the first thing to go when when times gets up again. 273 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:33.600 You know, I always mentioned them from Seattle, and I 274 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.600 am and Seattle is a good sports town. But it's 275 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:38.720 it's fairweather. It's not. It's not like it is here 276 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.440 with with the diehards. I mean, people in Seattle have 277 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:45.159 lots of other things that they'd rather do, rather go do, 278 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:49.360 than watch sporting events. I I I grew up with 279 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:51.600 a love for Utah because I was a Sonics fan, 280 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.799 and the Sonics and the Jazz had great rivalries over 281 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:59.200 the years. My brother used to impersonate Jeff Hornisack in 282 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:01.600 the backyard when the red he chewed up a three ball. 283 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:05.799 And so it's funny it took me moving here because 284 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.320 I had this this remembrance of Salt Lake City. And 285 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:11.320 you know, of course, my my my career path took 286 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:13.240 me in a southeast Sideaho and then a long ways 287 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.320 from home. I was in a Champagne, Illinois before I 288 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.759 got my job here. And so when I moved here, 289 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:21.799 I was hit with the realization that Utah had become 290 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.600 a football town, and that has everything to do with 291 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:28.039 the success of the University of Utah and a lot 292 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.120 to do with what you know happens just down the 293 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.919 road in Provo too. They're absolutely sports praised here, and 294 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:37.960 then you know, the Jazz are are kind of the 295 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.600 main attraction and they make the whole world go around. 296 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:43.840 But I think one of the coolest things is the 297 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.639 fact that the hockey club has taken out the way 298 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.320 that it has, and that's the biggest change that I've noticed. 299 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.519 I don't I think people here are absolutely sports praised, 300 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.080 and the pulse of that has only gone up since 301 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.000 I've been here. But with the hockey club, it's like 302 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.440 anything else. I like to call it an experiment. When 303 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.799 it's just taking off, and when it's just getting legs, 304 00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.480 I no longer referred to it as an experiment. And 305 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:10.360 the first whole season isn't done yet. This town has 306 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.320 absolutely wrapped itself around that club. The atmospheres are so 307 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.200 different and so rocking and so much fun. And I 308 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.080 think Salt Lake has not changed as a sports market 309 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.399 since I've been here, But it just continues and continues 310 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.120 to impress me. And then let's be honest too. I mean, 311 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.639 we meet a lot of people who are like minded 312 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:32.840 in the industry from different places, and they all just 313 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:34.799 kind of sit back and marvel the fact that we've 314 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.840 got a really, really good thing going here. I don't 315 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.320 think the place has changed, but the fact that it 316 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:44.120 has stayed the same and gotten a little bit better 317 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:47.720 rather than trend in the opposite direction, That's what really 318 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:51.279 really knocks my socks off. Because so many other places 319 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:56.000 sports aren't gaining in popularity, they're actually waning in popularity. 320 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:56.919 Does that make sense? 321 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:57.440 Yeah? 322 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:59.480 And you know it's wild to consider if the Millers 323 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:02.639 are able to to successfully bring us major League Baseball. 324 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:05.720 I mean, for you, as a kid growing up in Seattle, 325 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.720 can you imagine covering a Mariner's game three miles from 326 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:10.080 where you're working right now at them? 327 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.480 I couldn't. And honestly, you know, the stadium plans kind 328 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.159 of stick to the Rose Park area, which is where 329 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:18.720 I live now. I mean, honestly, if a Major League 330 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:21.440 Baseball stadium was built within five miles of where I 331 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:23.559 have my home right now, I don't know what I 332 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.559 that I'd be able to contain myself and as a 333 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.559 professional in this market and somebody who relies. I mean, 334 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:33.279 we cover sports for a living, and honestly, sometimes it 335 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:35.840 can be a bit much. I mean, we have so 336 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.240 much to cover as it is, and then don't forget, 337 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.200 you know, for someone like me who goes out and 338 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.519 shoots video the turn stories on a daily basis, I 339 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.480 get really enveloped in the spring high school sports season. 340 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:47.799 I mean, you're going to see me out at state 341 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:51.679 championship soccer games, softball and baseball games, things like that. 342 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:54.399 So there's already a ton to cover. So it'd be 343 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.559 a really really good problem to have to add one 344 00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:00.600 more professional franchise here and yet again, and I mean, 345 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.279 if that happens, it's gonna work, Spence. Nothing doesn't work 346 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:06.879 in Salt Lake City. These are sports crazed teumans here 347 00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:08.360 and it's a really wonderful place to be. 348 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:11.519 So let's move over a couple questions about the here 349 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:13.320 and now, and then I'll set you loose because I 350 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:15.919 know you got to get to it, and I reference 351 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:19.320 your ability or just your choice or whatever it is 352 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.679 to wax positive regardless of what's going on, and the 353 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:25.639 jazz for the first time in fifty plus years of basketball. 354 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:28.559 Just lost their sixtieth game, and they've just lost their 355 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.519 sixty first and they're probably gonna lose the rest of 356 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.639 the way. So this is the deal for me, Adam. 357 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.759 I mean, you know, I'm a child of this organization. 358 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:37.720 Nobody wants me to see them, you know, but nobody 359 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:39.840 wants to see them win a championship more than I do. 360 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.600 And they're doing the right thing. It just sucks like 361 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:47.600 with the you know, right, like with the ecosystem of 362 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.559 the NBA and the way that the league is structured, 363 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.919 and you know, essentially how you kind of have to 364 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:57.000 go about this because of the way that the NBA 365 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:01.120 is you know, put together to bring to certain markets 366 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:04.000 based off to certain mechanisms, namely the NBA Draft. 367 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:05.440 I get the approach. 368 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:07.400 I think they should have done this two years ago 369 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:09.119 when Victor Weimanamo was available. 370 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.759 But it is what it is. 371 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.119 What has been the biggest challenge in covering a team 372 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.759 that's unseerious about winning? And what are some of the 373 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:18.680 positive things that you've noticed this year? 374 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.880 And just to kind of elaborate a little bit more 375 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:25.599 for everybody at home, how significant this season has been 376 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:29.440 I think the inaugural season of Jazz basketball that was 377 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:32.440 in New Orleans and what was it, seventy three, seventy four. 378 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.480 I'm close there, right, yeah, huh yep. Twenty three wins 379 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:40.680 total in the first season ever, and I believe that's 380 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.839 the all time fewest wins for a Jazz team in 381 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.599 a single season. They are going to eclipse that if 382 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.920 everything goes well, and as weird as that is to sound, 383 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.480 they're going to They're gonna set a franchise record for 384 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.559 the fewest wins in a single season. And it's by design. 385 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.599 So here it's kind of been an evolution thing for me. 386 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:05.000 I wasn't ready to and and again I have because 387 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.440 you know, we're we're we onwn kjazs, kutv on Kjazs, 388 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:10.599 and we are the Jazz station. I'm you know, I'm 389 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.599 I have an obligation to cover this team, and it's 390 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.680 a wonderful obligation to have. I've been doing live shots 391 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.160 at Jazz games this year, probably more so than any 392 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.440 time before, and it's because we want to be there 393 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:24.319 and we want to we want to represent our product 394 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.799 as best we can. And it took me a while 395 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.160 to kind of evolve out of the mode of Okay, well, 396 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.839 let's talk about the positives. They almost got the win tonight, 397 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.559 and then finally to saying, okay, the jazz last tonight, 398 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.559 and that's a that's that's a beautiful thing. It's just 399 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.279 absolutely weird. But once it kind of became you know, 400 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:44.839 Danny Ainge hasn't had a press conference and given us 401 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.759