November 13, 2025 • 35 mins
This week Trent and Patrick are joined by Charlotte native Jon Brady whose family has been in the entertainment game for nearly a century. From his grandfather’s 1920s coin-operated game and jukebox business to supplying spots like Dave & Buster’s through Brady Distributing Company, Jon shares how the evolution of gaming led to his next venture—Sports Connection in Ballantyne—and even a small-world tie to Andrew Roby.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a home with Roby.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Patrick mcaac from Roby Commercial and Services along with
Trent Hayson from the Robie Family of Companies. We are
your host. Trent, I'm looking at a picture of you.
I know I say this every time, but man, you handsome.
Did you get some botox or something? You're good in
that picture?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Man, I promise you this.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I've never done anything to my body that God hasn't done.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
That's a fact.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I know we've talked about the rogue game before, but
I'm man, I might be in the I don't know.
I might need some just for men or something, trying
to get.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
A little gray.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I mean you might need to donate some hair to
kids for locks or something. I don't know kids. I mean, yeah,
people need hair, which you would have enjoyed somebody donating
me hair when I was in the third grade.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It would have been a gift. I got you. I mean,
why are you all dressed up? Oh? I gotta go
to I'm going to a EO function tonight. Like I
mind mentioned it to you. What is EO? You do it?
EO is I know, audience.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
He's the tea for educational purposes and so we have
Brett Bear from Fox News is coming to talk to
Wow Charlotte Country Club being pretty cool man. It's kind
of going on interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I don't know, maybe maybe I need to step my
game up. Brett Bear, Yeah, Fox News. Goodness, gracious, that's cool.
I you know, I sometimes watch Fox News and I
go to CNN. It's completely his two sides of I
completely different. I do that too, and then I go
to ESPN. Look at how I'm losing.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
And you get excited that Carolina's like finally starting to
win some game.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
The basketball team is on point, the football team is
on well, he might make a ball.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Let me just ask you this. Let's be let's be logical.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
When Bill Belichick takes the team over in April and
he's got forty players, he needs sixty or eighty the
dress out, he's got forty before they start leaving him.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
How is who expects them to win any games? And
then now he's won a couple.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I mean, I'm glad you're making excuses for him, but
I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's been. It's been a spectacle, is what it's been. Yeah.
I think their record is better than Clemson's. I see
this I was diverting from Clemson. You had to go, man,
had I hear you. But it's fair. We did beat
Florida State, who's having a great year this year. They're fantastic,
not good at all. Actually, I don't know how they
beat Alabama and then they lose. I think they lost
every game since I'm not sure on that, but Clemson
(02:33):
did beat it Florida State. So we just came back.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
My family last night came back from our annual pilgrimage
to North Topsoil Beach. We stay at my y Po
forum Mates house. Rich Ballady has been on the show.
A Wireless Victor is the name of the company. They
were A Wireless now Victor the largest Verizon Wireless retail
(02:56):
store owner in the in the world. He's he's a
stud and he's a great guy. I think this is
the fifth year in the row. My family's gone down
in the fall. A little later this year, Little and
went in November. The weather was great until the uh
last day it turned and at nine o'clock in the
morning yesterday morning, it was thirty four degrees but it
(03:18):
was cool. Uh, but we hunt for sharks teeth. Everybody
kind of knows this, and uh, and Knox is five.
So the first two or three days, you know, we
carry I have a sixteen point nine ounce Why is
it point nine?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I do not always.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Wondered that subliminally, but sixteen point nine fluid ounce water bottle,
and we carry one out. And the first couple of
days we're all putting them in the same bottle. And
he was negotiating. He's five, he said, can I have half?
I'm like, well, we have the family jar. They go
in the family jar, so we'll just split them with me.
I don't want to put mine in the family jar.
(03:56):
And then then it got really good the third day
for day and I had my own bottle, so me
and Ford were stacking our bottle and uh, and now
we have two bags. We're gonna sort out tonight. But
I think he's keeping his. So he asked me last
night we got home. He said, well, where's my shark
(04:17):
teeth like his other collection?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
And I said, I.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Don't know, man, don't know where you carry your stuff around?
And he had an hour later. I was looking for
an hour for him without him, for him around the
house where I thought he might nestle something away like
cash or shark's teeth or Cortz crystals, and uh, he
does like to hide some cash, even falling on cash,
(04:43):
I asked, and I needed I went to play golf
today and I asked my wife she had any small
bills and she said no, So I said, what's ford?
She said, well, you got four Nazis in the safe.
You their money And I was like, they got some
other cash. She's like, I have no clue where Nazis is.
I mean he's five, he's a hustler. Anyway, said he
(05:04):
comes to me, and I was like Fort Knos would
have been and did you stick it in your closet?
And he's like, no, I know where it's at. I'm like,
where's it at? And we have these two beta fish
he has one and the and the girls have one.
We got to buy three weeks ago. And he said,
I put them in the fish bowl and under the
crystal hundred of little crystal rocks in the fish bowl.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
He had to buy two hundred sharp tea. Man, I
but this fish are terrified. Where's the rest of this day?
I think I'm just curious that the say the water
about killed him. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I mean it was salt on those sharp teas, so
I'm sure, I'm sure it rubbed off on them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
But all right, So you want to know why a
bottle sixteen point nine ounces?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, I know you just chat gpted it. I had to.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So it's equivalent of five hundred millileters, which is a
metric standard, and that way they can make the same
bottles for the United States and Europe and they just
put a different label on, put a different I'll be damned.
You learned something on the at home with the ruby shit.
You thought you can learn how to build something or
fix something. Everyone teach about water bottles and sharks, teeth
and maybe a beta fish.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I think you learned a lot on our show. What
happens if you put two bita fish in the same tank?
I think one of them kills the other. Do you
ever take the bowls? Gonna be honest with you, just
put them right next to each other. Somebody puts mine
in your ass in a swimming pool, and we got
to live together. You're dead and we're not supposed to
be cursing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The second fighting reference we've had in the last were second,
not with me and you.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
He's getting excited about I just this is the deal.
This is the deal. We got to step up the spunk.
I listened to a couple of shows yesterday on the
way back from from topsail.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
What you got to say? I love a tasteful explain it,
you know what I mean? Yeah, it's just a little
lighthearted boom boom bam, you know what I mean. The radio.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We're not trying to go raal doll. We're just going light.
Were keeping it innocent.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But uh, toss us a couple of Miller lights and
Bud lights and then we could really probably go get
a little crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
But I don't.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I don't listen to a lot of the shows, but
I like when I do. And I listened to Patrick
Graney show yesterday. Wow, man, uh, methane gas is more powerful.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Than CO two. Did you know that? Did you remember that?
I did? Not the man?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Noah, I do know. It smells like natural gas right
outside the studio. It's a major gas league.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
I don't know if you notice on your on your remounder. Yeah,
that's why I was late on your trek of apologize
John on your trucks already. That made me later, But uh,
I'm not a hater.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Run just later. But anyway, Patrick Graney's brother. I met
him last week. We had a YPO trip and uh,
he's a YPO guy to West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
His name is Governor. I like that name. G O
e U n e U O v O e u
R A lot of EU. Feels like you threw a couple.
But I said, I said g O v e R
in the R. He's like, no, I'm the gov. And uh,
(08:12):
you know what, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
We gotta get the gov. On No, that's his name.
And I said, are you named some of your boys gov?
He said, I got girls.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
No, he said, hopefully they carry on the tradition with
their Hopefully they girls can't be governor. What the heck?
I said the same. I did say that. I was like,
you can name a girl gov. That'd be pretty cool. Actually,
I'll be down with that. I date a GOV.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I mean that's kind of cool, right, I mean, I
think it's a look out a little edge.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
She'll cut you. I hear you. I hear you. Reagan
will cut you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
That's what she will know that on the way I
learned that yesterday on the way back from Top Sail.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
She cut you.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
No, she didn't cut me, but she will better mind
your p's and kids. But I just need to stopped talking.
You Are you ready to talk to somebody else other
than me? I am doing this for the very big
all right. We got John Brady. I know John through
the Bridge Foundation, which you know we're very fond of.
We have the scholarship winner on the show every year,
something that we've done since I've been part of the
(09:16):
Bridge Foundation that I got involved with through Andy Presley,
who were talking a little bit about in the parking
lot before he came in here. Andy's Andy's a great guy,
great connector in Charlotte, and so I've got some pretty
John and I were talking and Andrew Roby did a
remodel at his house when he was a kid, So
we're gonna talk about that. Joh On dad used to
answer the phone when I was a kid, you know,
(09:38):
eight thirty at night, and I guess it would be
the solicitation cause, like I just got a few minutes ago,
was joking about and he'd answered the phone.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
We'd be sitting in the kitchen. He'd take the phone court,
wrap it around and his waste five times he'd say
shy who and I'm like, who got shot? He's like, son,
get out of my face. That was his way to
way to get the folks. I guess early on in
the in the prank game, you like to answer to
the phone.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I don't like dancer. John.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I'm excited to hear your story. Well, thanks for having me, guys,
thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Thank you. Uh, We're gonna go take a break and
we'll be right back. It's John Brady. Here we go.
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Roby Services is your one stop source for all your
electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs. Keep it easy
and get it all done by one. Roby servicesnow dot com.
That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back to that home with Roby.
I'm Patrick mcasik from Roby Commercial and Services along with
Trent Haston from the Ruby family of companies. If you
missed the first segment, we educated some people on the
(10:42):
first segment. So you want to go back to are
you so dressed up? I can't look at you.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
It's hard. I mean I told you this like literally
five minutes. I mean, you have an event tonight. I
got It's all goods. We're goodbody just ao elders. Hey,
that was a good sound.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
We'll get to talk about John, but you get that
soundback and call we got here.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You thank somebody's interested. That was a good That was
a good sound.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I never was online in college. I told I said
that the other day, and Reagan was like, you're lying.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You were on LYE. I was like, no, I wasn't
that high speed internet that you said?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Your email was Trent hastening at U n C dot
E d U or something. I guess it was. That's
everybody's year. Hey, John, guys, good where are you from?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Born and raised here to Charlotte? Really? Yeah? Where'd you?
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I'm kind of one of the unicorns, so.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
You don't look like a unicorn. You look like a man.
Where did you go to school?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
So?
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Born and raised here? I went to country Day my
entire life. Wow, that was a life for a country day.
It was a way different city and way different school
back then.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
You know, that's what they all say.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, you know, you know, when you're trying to hide money,
you say that.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
But I say that often on this show. I think
there's a lot of good grain.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I tell the story when I was fourteen and fifteen
and sixteen. I worked during the summers and I'm in
side tearing the bathroom out and the sons are out
playing basketball on the driveway, which was cool. And I
get back to the office and boy's playing basketball. Dad said,
em always on the something. He said, they're going to
have a good network. But he didn't want to pay
for me to go. He wanted to pay for me
(12:23):
to go to Harding High School through his tax bill,
the School of hard Knocks. But uh, but he was
he was right. And now I say this all the time.
So many of my friends children go to Country Day
and this great, great asset the community has.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Well it's a great school. And we actually chose the
opposite route. Our kids are at Myers Park. We chose
the public school.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Real. Yeah, my daughter's at Myers Park.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Was she great?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
What year she she's a freshman?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Oh, our daughter's a freshman. We have a junior son.
So yeah, that's great. Small world.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That is crazy. If I find out Scarlett News your daughter,
that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, that's great. I had a really good meeting this
morning with a good friend mine bart noon.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And oh man, he's been on the show multiple times.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Bridge Foundation. The whole thing Yeah, great guy. We long
story short. Uh, well, we talked about what happened last night,
and he made some really he gave me some great,
you know, great advice and some direction for the kids.
But one thing I thought was really bored. He said,
you make sure they take one day at a time.
You're not going to figure this out life one day
at a time. So hey, and Bart is a testament
(13:28):
he is. I tell you, what a what a great
turnaround story he's had. So he's a true angel, angel
living for Jesus. What a great thing he's doing for
that community. I just love, uh love West Boulevard Ministry.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yeah, we we've been. We've been. I'm sure you have to.
We've been.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We've been walking with Bart since the really first got
started through another organization called Charlotte Succession.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
A guy named Colin McNulty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Made the introduction and I met Bart in a similar
cicket circumstance where he had lost somebody to more situation
and uh, that's how that's how we found a common thread. Unfortunately,
I was the one that was the first person to
be on the scene to find this individual that was
that was Bart's real close friend growing up and said
we have made that connection. I don't think I've ever
(14:14):
told that on the radio before, but uh wow, it was.
It was a god experience for sure, where where he
and I had had a real special moment and he
Trin's right. I mean that guy is an angel on earth.
And what he's doing is is putting his money where
his mouth is. I mean, he didn't just say I'm
gonna go start a charity. I'm gonna go be He
is nonprofit. Listen, he's been. He's been to Helen back.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, and he and he's a man of faith and
he believes in Jesus and uh, I just believe so
much in people that have faith, and I think it
goes a long way. But Patrick called me one day,
this might have been like ten years ago, and uh
He's like, I just had lunch with this guy and
you have to meet this guy. He just started this charity.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
And I'm like, oh my gosh. Another like Patrick knows.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Don't need to be being introduced to people that are
have new charities or what have you. I'm just saying
we got a lot going on, and I got a
lot of commitments and and a lot of a little
time and a lot of love.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
And he's like, no, I got it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I know you, I know you think I'm crazy, but
you need to meet this man.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And it was Bart noon and and it was their
epiphany of what Patrick had experienced. And uh, anyway, so
so our company supports him. Patrick's charity, Secession and the
Bridge Foundation have supported Bart and West Boulevard ministries.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Really he's a conduit and uh.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
My church, Yeah, my church supports them, the charity and
my family and we all do it and hopefully it's
a community thing and that's what it takes.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
But it's great organizations such and I'm so proud of
what Bart's done. And we actually Sports Connection have the
opportunity to sponsor Oh there you go the Barbecue for
Blue events. Yeah, yeah, you guys we've been to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
We've been to one.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Yeah you you've seen that. I mean, what a great event.
And made some incredible connections with our incredible CMPD men
and women and it was just a wonderful lunch and
just to see these men and women and they're they're
real people, but to do what they're doing in that community.
They were the happiest, most positive group of offsters I've
(16:22):
ever met. It was really really uh wonderful.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Amen and their police station backs up to uh Bark's Grace,
Gracie's House, West Boulevard and Old Steel Creek, kind of
Caddy corner there.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But before we get to the sports connection in your story,
I got a funny if you're if they're old location.
He started out University Memorial Baptist I think it was
Baptist Church. It's around the corner. And there was a
big piece of missing brick on one of the sidewalks.
You remember, you and I tried to fix that. With
Carl's talking about it looks like a smiley face.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I fixed that joker. We drive down,
I'm like, oh man, that's the mortar didn't match. We
had to go. We had like spare bricks. We had
to make it work. It's this big choice and fixed it.
There's not a hole in that building up.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We do not do that at the Ruby Companies. I
promise we're about quality. But that was that was a
dire situation we had to make.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We had he listen.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
It's like when I was in high school, I didn't
know how to do drywall, but I was the drywall guy.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
When the kid busted his head.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
There was you know, parent, somebody's parents swallowing they coming
back home tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Uh. I'm like, oh, twenty minutes, set, we'll figure this out.
So I was the brick mason that day.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
But okay, John, So you grew up in Charlotte, you
went into the country day, So tell us about your story. Well,
went to NC State Universe.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh go tar Hill. That's all right, that's all right.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I didn't really know what I wanted to do when
I graduated, but I've grown up in our family business.
My grandfather started a company back in the twenties, late twenties,
early thirties. It was an ey musema company. He operated
everything from penny postcard machines to Back then there nothing
(18:06):
was really electronics, all mechanical to what they call pen
table games, kind of the early pinballs. H then got
into jukeboxes, pool tables, and Uh anyway, that's that's how
I grew up in that in that industry.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Time out, what's a ping post machine?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
A penny postcard?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Penny postcards?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
So these were the He bought two penny postcard machines
in a location outside of movie theater in Burlington back
in nineteen thirty, okay, and these postcard machines would vend
out a postcard. Back then, back then, the movies were
mostly silent, and the kids loved the movie stars and
(18:49):
they would put these postcards in the machines that had
all the famous movie stars and they would, you know,
a penny of pop and a lot of times the
kids were kind of trying to collective certain actor And
that's how we got started in the coin machine business.
So very very rudimentary beginnings. But he was only twenty
years old when he started the business. Wow, And it
(19:12):
was right when the depression was happening to.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Really the penny post machine, penny postcard machine postcard.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Could you still find one of those?
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Any good question? You know, I'd love to say that
we kept those somewhere, but I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Where where some antique shop probably that's pretty cool. Yeah.
So then you got in the pinballs and pool tables.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Pinballs, pool tables, jukeboxes were really big back in the
in the fifties sixties that that was huge, and pinballs
really ramped up as you got into the eighties, seventies
and eighties. Then the video game generation came came to fruition,
and that was a huge thing for our industry. So
(19:52):
video games from everything from of course Pong was kind
of the first real intro video game. There are a
couple of for that, But then you got into a
lot of driving games and Mortal Combat was huge and
Street Fighter if you remember some of those classic titles.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So do I remember some of those classic titles? I
probably spent Oh yeah, I don't know, fifty dollars on
Mortal Combat. Street Fighter was a little ahead of me,
but that that was at the skating rink, right, Oh yeah,
So how big of a.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Region did y'all cover your family business?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Back then? He started operating the equipment, and in nineteen
forty four he decided there was a need for a
distribution and a supply chain, so he started a distribution
company and that's what ultimately my dad took over, and
then my brother and I took over after that. So
the distribution side, we would supply the equipment to the
(20:47):
locations and to the owner operators, whether it was a
Dave and Busters or a Disney or a Carawins or
a small operator that might have a pinball. A couple
of pool tables and maybe a misspac Man at the bar,
so really everything in between. But we would supply the equipment,
handle the financing, the distribution of the product from the
(21:08):
manufacturers into the marketplace.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
And you would give the property owner a cut.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
There's two sides to it. We had the operating side,
where you would have a revenue share. What you're referring
to the operator, we would give them a portion of
the revenue to the location. And then we would have
the sales side, where we were distributing the product to
the operators. Again, whether it was a large location like
a Disney or a Cara Wins or a smaller operator
(21:37):
that goes into the bar. So we would actually sell
the equipment. So we were the supply chain for the
actual equipment, handle the financing, parts and service warranty, et cetera.
So a little bit like a car dealership.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Dude, I bet you were like the most popular person
in all middle schools.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Ever, my dad put a pac Man in our house.
I can't remember what year was for the holidays, and
that doorbell rang. We had people.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I can only imagine no idea who these people were.
My neighbors had this pinball machine called The Black Knight.
Oh yeah, that's a great That thing was like we
would go to there. I can still sing the theme song.
I still beat the Black Knight and started laughing to go.
It would spend like hours on this thing. Man, you
were cool if you had a pinball machine in your
house or a pac man.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Right, well, and I still have. I've got a pinball
got a Classic Adams Family Gold Limited Edition. So that's
my It's my favorite title was The Adams Family.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So I remember that.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
I was good.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So so, so what was the name of the business
and is that business still around?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No?
Speaker 4 (22:34):
So the business is called Brady Distributing Company and it
was a third generation company. And so fast forward to
twenty thirteen or fourteen, we decided our board that we
wanted to scale up, and long story short, we merged
with Canada's largest distributor company called Starburst. So we merged
(22:54):
with that company in twenty fifteen. A couple of years later,
we were bought out by a big Canadian company called
Cineplex Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Oh yeah, okay, and so.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Cineplex acquired the Brady Starburst brand. Then we rebranded to
a company called Player One Amusement Group and I worked
for them for for several years until COVID hit and
then that's where we'll get into sports connection in a second.
But that that's a quick history of Brady distributing Brady
Starburst and Player one.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I hear you man once again, and then gostened to
a couple of shows. Yesterday we had the first guy
that was dealing in methane gas and now we got
the first amusement fella family business, third generation, just like
our business, John.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
My my uncle. I bet you, I bet you. Our
families have done business. This is my uncle, my dad's sister,
late sister, her husband owned a company called Amusements of America,
which they were. They were in the they were they
were the carnival business.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Really interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
It's crazy. I mean, the back when carnivals were a
big thing.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
They had like the the Georgia State Fair was operated
by my uncle's business, he and his two brothers.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I knew you had a carnival connection. Isn't that crazy? Yeah?
I bet you they were bought that.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
There's a good chance they bought their all their you
know that type of amusement stuff from from Brady.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Probably did, probably because we're based here in Charlotte and
had several other offices and uh probably probably we were.
We were the primary distributor in the southeast back in
the day.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Very cool.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So before we transition into Charlotte Sports Connection, which I
don't know the story, I'm ready to hear it. Do
you have a lot of junk silver? You know you're
talking about I've got to I do have a handful.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
You want to sell some?
Speaker 4 (24:40):
They're staying in my coin collection at yesterday's price, right
right there you go, there you go. But I do
have fond memories. You know how to tell silver? Yeah,
on the edge of well, no, when you put them
in the coin counter, the silver has a different tone
when it goes to the counter. So every time you
hear a high pitched ping when you're count the quarters,
that's when you just stopped the machine and go find
(25:03):
the silvers.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And you pull it out, pull it out.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, well, you know if you hold a hold twenty
coin silver coins, quarters or nickels, dimes or nicholas really
weren't right, but it was dimes and quarters and half
dollars and dollars, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And you can see on the edge. Yeah, the spure silver,
the modern half half brown, right, I guess that's copper.
I think it's copper, right, Okay, So so tell us
about Charlotte Sports Connection.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
So sports Connection came into my life when COVID occurred.
So what happened? Of course with COVID the whole world
shuts down. Our industry like many others of the entertainment
world shutdown. You couldn't go to a movie theater, you
couldn't go to an arcade, couldn't go to a theme park.
So the industry worldwide is shut down. So we're in
(25:51):
a crisis as a lot of other industries were. Alan
Hayes knew who was who was my business partner and
the founder of Sports Connection. We started talking decided that,
you know, maybe we could try to reopen this business together.
And so he had shut down everything, of course, and
I was very confident that the business, business and the
(26:14):
industry would turn around. What we're seeing in some states
like Georgia and Texas, South Carolina that that was coming
back pretty quickly. People wanted to get out and return
to normal activities and social activities and athletics.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
I mean, so sports Connection is a we have one
family entertainment center concept. In Ballentine and that's an indoor
concept with a restaurant, fourteen lanes of bowling, about eighty
five pieces in the arcade, climbing wall. We've got inflatables,
a ropes course, a couple of golf simulators.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I've met.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
It was great. Also, it's a family fund environment, so
that was the one off entertainment sector of the business
and that's of course my background. So that's what I
helped reopen with Allan. I partner with him to open
reopen that location. The other locations are strictly sports pickleball,
volleyball is huge, some other indoor sports, and we have
(27:12):
several other locations.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Like football, y'all still doing flag No that.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
We got out of that years ago out Yeah, Alan
decided to get out of that that side of it.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
That's how I met Kevin met Kevin.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Blocker Sports Okay put their leagues back in the day.
Yeah man, yeah, well Alan again, my my partners was awesome.
But putting the company together and has grown it tremendously
Now pickleball is one of their largest growing Wow. So
it's pretty exciting to see what's going on there. Cool,
really cool. So but again I'm from the entertainment side.
So you got to come out to Balentine and it's
(27:43):
it's a ton of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I can't wait. I have five kids.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Well you're you're right in the wheelhouse. So we do
a lot of birthday parties and it's been it's it's
a great family focused location.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
We'll come have a hasting party. We takes. I've taken
Scarlet out there. It's fun, awesome.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I remember Sports Connection from Basketball League, right, football league.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
That's how Alan started earlier days. They started earlier days
on the league side.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
So so y'all, So y'all were still running running the
Sports Connection.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Yeah, I ended up. I've got another project. I'm working
on an acquisition, So I ended up selling out back
this past summer. But I'm still I'm still available, kind
of working with the gang. Got a great crew. Uh,
they're they're moving forward and really Uh it's exciting to
see what they're doing out there with especially on the
pickleball side.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's awesome. What is Allen's last name?
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Hazley?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Hey, I thought you were saying Hasteny. Okay, cool, cool, cool,
My it's my brother in law at your brother.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
So you have kids, two kids, got a freshman daughter
at Myers Park, and we've got a uh junior son.
Oh yeah, he's at also at Myers Park and he
played soccer and got a pretty big run going on
right now. Final four tomorrow night, Go Mustangs. Really in
the state four A, it's eight A now that yeah,
(29:04):
they just first year with they've got eight eight different classifications,
so we're the largest. Which is a day So tomorrow
night home game, Go Mustang. So golst foresys so hopefully
Learnville Boys. Yeah yeah, so by the time this airs,
that game will be in the book. Yes, so this
doesn't air till this weekend. Is there there's like, is
(29:24):
there thirty eight hundred kids at Myers Park? Am I
getting that right? That's about right? All right? When Valentine
Ridge opened it, there was a over four thousand Valentine
Ridge I think took something took about three hundred ish
something like that, but just under four thousand.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
That's cool. I hear you what you got for in Patrick?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Well, I mean I have one would like to know.
You also made a pretty good connection with Kylie as
being an NC State grad and you you her dad
knew each other.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Well, it's kind of funny. We started talking, found out
her dad was there. I was there. He was a
couple of years after me, but he was a Sigma
Kai and I was a KA. In our houses literally
were kind of backed up to one another. And back
then there are a lot of Charlotte guys that were Ka's,
a lot of Charlotte guys that were seven Cays, so
we had a lot of crossover cool. So I do
(30:12):
recognize him. It's been many years, but I know he's
got a lot of connections looked up on LinkedIn, and
we know a ton of the same people.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
He Robert Fish as we were talking about, he came
and spoke were E for me, came in Spirit Target
the last night he was the president of the fraternity.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
He was, and so that's he mentioned that last night.
Did you play soccer in college?
Speaker 4 (30:32):
I did not know, just I was just a good
old college student, so me too.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Me I wasn't very good, I don't think, But yeah,
figured out maybe you were just an old college just
need to grow up probably is what I.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Learned in college. But yeah, that's really cool, John, It's
it's neat.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I mean, I've really enjoyed getting to know you through
the Bridge Foundation and the one thing. I don't think
we talked too much about you. I know we said,
Andrew Robi did a renovation at your house. Do you
remember how to hear about this?
Speaker 4 (30:59):
It was I'm gonna say it was nineteen eighty one,
eighty two ish and mister Roby I remember him coming
over many times, seeing him back reallydeed, yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Did he talk like this, mister Glenn. He got to
get old head, Miss Glynn.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
I do remember. He was a southern gentleman for sure,
was good.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Real.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
My granddad was really find to mister Roby. You probably
saw my granddad. So were your parents renting and raving
about the project.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
They were happy, of course. Now we built or y'all
built a beautiful little sun room on the back of
our house over off of Richardson Drive. Really so yeah,
and I'm assuming to still there. We haven't lived there
for many years, but it was a great addition and
we really really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
So cool. I talk about this often, you know. I
rode in the dump truck every day.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
I didn't have school fourteen fifteen, and then I drove
to dump truck sixteen seventeen eighteen, so I knew.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
All the roads and I love Richardson Drive.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
It's a staple road in Charlotte, in between Sharon and
Colony over by.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
South Park Mall.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
A great time. That was a great experience growing up
over in that part of part of the town.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So well, our business model is the kids grow up
with us at their house. They might either play on
our little league baseball team or compete against our little
league baseball team, and then hopefully they become clients when
when they buy a house and and then hopefully their
kids become clients. That's that's a good point. So when
(32:27):
are we doing a project for you? John?
Speaker 4 (32:28):
There you go, My wife is ready.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
That's awesome, man, it's been so cool to hear your story.
What a great story. And uh, when I saw you
in the hallway, I genuinely meant and I was.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Like, have we hung out before? And I think you
genuinely knew what I meant.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
Well, that's great, it's been It's been a great, great experience,
and I appreciate you guys having.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Me Well good, Well, well, I'm going to put you
on the spot because we like to do this. I mean,
I mean, you've talked about a lot of good stuff,
but if you can hang your hat. What's one of
the finding things that you live by? John Brady? You
know U c r I.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I try to teach the kids that credibility reliability integrity.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Wow, never heard of that one. See r I.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Credibility reliability integrity.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
That is awesome. I love it, my dudes. Man, that
you do.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
You have either listened to a show or you have
very much instilled that in your brain. Because most times
when we ask that question, you get a little bit
of a subtle pause because people were like, well, get
in and something usually remarkable comes out. But you hit
the nail that one right.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Well, now now that I'm on this rerun kick and
I forget everything, you know, five minutes after after I
hear it or say it. Yeah, so yeah, because he
does have two kids, I'm aware it came full circle.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I got it. It only takes me a little while.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Uh but uh but they our guests are so awesome
and so wholeme them, and so talented, and everybody has
the angles they're living for and the whole show is
about what they believe. And then you say that and they're.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Like, oh, well, dang, I didn't know about this.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
But see all right, credibility, reliability, and I love it.
Thank you John Well, thank you guys. Yes, sir, thanks
for being here. I look forward to hanging out with
you and get to know you better. Likewise looking forward.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
To clearly a golfer you got the golf leek. I
can't read the name of the golf course, but I
do see it.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Trolley over over in uh in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Oh oh wow, that's had money. It looks I went
into Cabot Cliffs this summer up in Nova scotihow beautiful.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
And and the logo has a ship and similar I've heard.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
The people are umbo.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
That's great. I'm all about the people. So thanks for
being here. You're welcome and God bless you. And uh listen,
go do the Golden rule. Treat others the way you
want to be treated. Carry as smile around on your face.
You never know what people are thinking, dealing with, struggling
with just helping them feel a little better at that moment.
Thanks for listening to At Home with Ruby
Welcome to a home with Roby.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Patrick mcaac from Roby Commercial and Services along with
Trent Hayson from the Robie Family of Companies. We are
your host. Trent, I'm looking at a picture of you.
I know I say this every time, but man, you handsome.
Did you get some botox or something? You're good in
that picture?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Man, I promise you this.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I've never done anything to my body that God hasn't done.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
That's a fact.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I know we've talked about the rogue game before, but
I'm man, I might be in the I don't know.
I might need some just for men or something, trying
to get.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
A little gray.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I mean you might need to donate some hair to
kids for locks or something. I don't know kids. I mean, yeah,
people need hair, which you would have enjoyed somebody donating
me hair when I was in the third grade.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It would have been a gift. I got you. I mean,
why are you all dressed up? Oh? I gotta go
to I'm going to a EO function tonight. Like I
mind mentioned it to you. What is EO? You do it?
EO is I know, audience.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
He's the tea for educational purposes and so we have
Brett Bear from Fox News is coming to talk to
Wow Charlotte Country Club being pretty cool man. It's kind
of going on interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I don't know, maybe maybe I need to step my
game up. Brett Bear, Yeah, Fox News. Goodness, gracious, that's cool.
I you know, I sometimes watch Fox News and I
go to CNN. It's completely his two sides of I
completely different. I do that too, and then I go
to ESPN. Look at how I'm losing.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
And you get excited that Carolina's like finally starting to
win some game.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
The basketball team is on point, the football team is
on well, he might make a ball.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Let me just ask you this. Let's be let's be logical.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
When Bill Belichick takes the team over in April and
he's got forty players, he needs sixty or eighty the
dress out, he's got forty before they start leaving him.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
How is who expects them to win any games? And
then now he's won a couple.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I mean, I'm glad you're making excuses for him, but
I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's been. It's been a spectacle, is what it's been. Yeah.
I think their record is better than Clemson's. I see
this I was diverting from Clemson. You had to go, man,
had I hear you. But it's fair. We did beat
Florida State, who's having a great year this year. They're fantastic,
not good at all. Actually, I don't know how they
beat Alabama and then they lose. I think they lost
every game since I'm not sure on that, but Clemson
(02:33):
did beat it Florida State. So we just came back.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
My family last night came back from our annual pilgrimage
to North Topsoil Beach. We stay at my y Po
forum Mates house. Rich Ballady has been on the show.
A Wireless Victor is the name of the company. They
were A Wireless now Victor the largest Verizon Wireless retail
(02:56):
store owner in the in the world. He's he's a
stud and he's a great guy. I think this is
the fifth year in the row. My family's gone down
in the fall. A little later this year, Little and
went in November. The weather was great until the uh
last day it turned and at nine o'clock in the
morning yesterday morning, it was thirty four degrees but it
(03:18):
was cool. Uh, but we hunt for sharks teeth. Everybody
kind of knows this, and uh, and Knox is five.
So the first two or three days, you know, we
carry I have a sixteen point nine ounce Why is
it point nine?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I do not always.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Wondered that subliminally, but sixteen point nine fluid ounce water bottle,
and we carry one out. And the first couple of
days we're all putting them in the same bottle. And
he was negotiating. He's five, he said, can I have half?
I'm like, well, we have the family jar. They go
in the family jar, so we'll just split them with me.
I don't want to put mine in the family jar.
(03:56):
And then then it got really good the third day
for day and I had my own bottle, so me
and Ford were stacking our bottle and uh, and now
we have two bags. We're gonna sort out tonight. But
I think he's keeping his. So he asked me last
night we got home. He said, well, where's my shark
(04:17):
teeth like his other collection?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
And I said, I.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Don't know, man, don't know where you carry your stuff around?
And he had an hour later. I was looking for
an hour for him without him, for him around the
house where I thought he might nestle something away like
cash or shark's teeth or Cortz crystals, and uh, he
does like to hide some cash, even falling on cash,
(04:43):
I asked, and I needed I went to play golf
today and I asked my wife she had any small
bills and she said no, So I said, what's ford?
She said, well, you got four Nazis in the safe.
You their money And I was like, they got some
other cash. She's like, I have no clue where Nazis is.
I mean he's five, he's a hustler. Anyway, said he
(05:04):
comes to me, and I was like Fort Knos would
have been and did you stick it in your closet?
And he's like, no, I know where it's at. I'm like,
where's it at? And we have these two beta fish
he has one and the and the girls have one.
We got to buy three weeks ago. And he said,
I put them in the fish bowl and under the
crystal hundred of little crystal rocks in the fish bowl.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
He had to buy two hundred sharp tea. Man, I
but this fish are terrified. Where's the rest of this day?
I think I'm just curious that the say the water
about killed him. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I mean it was salt on those sharp teas, so
I'm sure, I'm sure it rubbed off on them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
But all right, So you want to know why a
bottle sixteen point nine ounces?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, I know you just chat gpted it. I had to.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So it's equivalent of five hundred millileters, which is a
metric standard, and that way they can make the same
bottles for the United States and Europe and they just
put a different label on, put a different I'll be damned.
You learned something on the at home with the ruby shit.
You thought you can learn how to build something or
fix something. Everyone teach about water bottles and sharks, teeth
and maybe a beta fish.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I think you learned a lot on our show. What
happens if you put two bita fish in the same tank?
I think one of them kills the other. Do you
ever take the bowls? Gonna be honest with you, just
put them right next to each other. Somebody puts mine
in your ass in a swimming pool, and we got
to live together. You're dead and we're not supposed to
be cursing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The second fighting reference we've had in the last were second,
not with me and you.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
He's getting excited about I just this is the deal.
This is the deal. We got to step up the spunk.
I listened to a couple of shows yesterday on the
way back from from topsail.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
What you got to say? I love a tasteful explain it,
you know what I mean? Yeah, it's just a little
lighthearted boom boom bam, you know what I mean. The radio.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We're not trying to go raal doll. We're just going light.
Were keeping it innocent.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But uh, toss us a couple of Miller lights and
Bud lights and then we could really probably go get
a little crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
But I don't.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I don't listen to a lot of the shows, but
I like when I do. And I listened to Patrick
Graney show yesterday. Wow, man, uh, methane gas is more powerful.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Than CO two. Did you know that? Did you remember that?
I did? Not the man?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Noah, I do know. It smells like natural gas right
outside the studio. It's a major gas league.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
I don't know if you notice on your on your remounder. Yeah,
that's why I was late on your trek of apologize
John on your trucks already. That made me later, But uh,
I'm not a hater.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Run just later. But anyway, Patrick Graney's brother. I met
him last week. We had a YPO trip and uh,
he's a YPO guy to West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
His name is Governor. I like that name. G O
e U n e U O v O e u
R A lot of EU. Feels like you threw a couple.
But I said, I said g O v e R
in the R. He's like, no, I'm the gov. And uh,
(08:12):
you know what, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
We gotta get the gov. On No, that's his name.
And I said, are you named some of your boys gov?
He said, I got girls.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
No, he said, hopefully they carry on the tradition with
their Hopefully they girls can't be governor. What the heck?
I said the same. I did say that. I was like,
you can name a girl gov. That'd be pretty cool. Actually,
I'll be down with that. I date a GOV.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I mean that's kind of cool, right, I mean, I
think it's a look out a little edge.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
She'll cut you. I hear you. I hear you. Reagan
will cut you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
That's what she will know that on the way I
learned that yesterday on the way back from Top Sail.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
She cut you.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
No, she didn't cut me, but she will better mind
your p's and kids. But I just need to stopped talking.
You Are you ready to talk to somebody else other
than me? I am doing this for the very big
all right. We got John Brady. I know John through
the Bridge Foundation, which you know we're very fond of.
We have the scholarship winner on the show every year,
something that we've done since I've been part of the
(09:16):
Bridge Foundation that I got involved with through Andy Presley,
who were talking a little bit about in the parking
lot before he came in here. Andy's Andy's a great guy,
great connector in Charlotte, and so I've got some pretty
John and I were talking and Andrew Roby did a
remodel at his house when he was a kid, So
we're gonna talk about that. Joh On dad used to
answer the phone when I was a kid, you know,
(09:38):
eight thirty at night, and I guess it would be
the solicitation cause, like I just got a few minutes ago,
was joking about and he'd answered the phone.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
We'd be sitting in the kitchen. He'd take the phone court,
wrap it around and his waste five times he'd say
shy who and I'm like, who got shot? He's like, son,
get out of my face. That was his way to
way to get the folks. I guess early on in
the in the prank game, you like to answer to
the phone.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I don't like dancer. John.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I'm excited to hear your story. Well, thanks for having me, guys,
thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Thank you. Uh, We're gonna go take a break and
we'll be right back. It's John Brady. Here we go.
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Roby Services is your one stop source for all your
electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs. Keep it easy
and get it all done by one. Roby servicesnow dot com.
That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back to that home with Roby.
I'm Patrick mcasik from Roby Commercial and Services along with
Trent Haston from the Ruby family of companies. If you
missed the first segment, we educated some people on the
(10:42):
first segment. So you want to go back to are
you so dressed up? I can't look at you.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
It's hard. I mean I told you this like literally
five minutes. I mean, you have an event tonight. I
got It's all goods. We're goodbody just ao elders. Hey,
that was a good sound.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
We'll get to talk about John, but you get that
soundback and call we got here.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You thank somebody's interested. That was a good That was
a good sound.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I never was online in college. I told I said
that the other day, and Reagan was like, you're lying.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You were on LYE. I was like, no, I wasn't
that high speed internet that you said?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Your email was Trent hastening at U n C dot
E d U or something. I guess it was. That's
everybody's year. Hey, John, guys, good where are you from?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Born and raised here to Charlotte? Really? Yeah? Where'd you?
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I'm kind of one of the unicorns, so.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
You don't look like a unicorn. You look like a man.
Where did you go to school?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
So?
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Born and raised here? I went to country Day my
entire life. Wow, that was a life for a country day.
It was a way different city and way different school
back then.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
You know, that's what they all say.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, you know, you know, when you're trying to hide money,
you say that.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
But I say that often on this show. I think
there's a lot of good grain.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I tell the story when I was fourteen and fifteen
and sixteen. I worked during the summers and I'm in
side tearing the bathroom out and the sons are out
playing basketball on the driveway, which was cool. And I
get back to the office and boy's playing basketball. Dad said,
em always on the something. He said, they're going to
have a good network. But he didn't want to pay
for me to go. He wanted to pay for me
(12:23):
to go to Harding High School through his tax bill,
the School of hard Knocks. But uh, but he was
he was right. And now I say this all the time.
So many of my friends children go to Country Day
and this great, great asset the community has.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Well it's a great school. And we actually chose the
opposite route. Our kids are at Myers Park. We chose
the public school.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Real. Yeah, my daughter's at Myers Park.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Was she great?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
What year she she's a freshman?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Oh, our daughter's a freshman. We have a junior son.
So yeah, that's great. Small world.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That is crazy. If I find out Scarlett News your daughter,
that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah, that's great. I had a really good meeting this
morning with a good friend mine bart noon.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And oh man, he's been on the show multiple times.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Bridge Foundation. The whole thing Yeah, great guy. We long
story short. Uh, well, we talked about what happened last night,
and he made some really he gave me some great,
you know, great advice and some direction for the kids.
But one thing I thought was really bored. He said,
you make sure they take one day at a time.
You're not going to figure this out life one day
at a time. So hey, and Bart is a testament
(13:28):
he is. I tell you, what a what a great
turnaround story he's had. So he's a true angel, angel
living for Jesus. What a great thing he's doing for
that community. I just love, uh love West Boulevard Ministry.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yeah, we we've been. We've been. I'm sure you have to.
We've been.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We've been walking with Bart since the really first got
started through another organization called Charlotte Succession.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
A guy named Colin McNulty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Made the introduction and I met Bart in a similar
cicket circumstance where he had lost somebody to more situation
and uh, that's how that's how we found a common thread. Unfortunately,
I was the one that was the first person to
be on the scene to find this individual that was
that was Bart's real close friend growing up and said
we have made that connection. I don't think I've ever
(14:14):
told that on the radio before, but uh wow, it was.
It was a god experience for sure, where where he
and I had had a real special moment and he
Trin's right. I mean that guy is an angel on earth.
And what he's doing is is putting his money where
his mouth is. I mean, he didn't just say I'm
gonna go start a charity. I'm gonna go be He
is nonprofit. Listen, he's been. He's been to Helen back.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, and he and he's a man of faith and
he believes in Jesus and uh, I just believe so
much in people that have faith, and I think it
goes a long way. But Patrick called me one day,
this might have been like ten years ago, and uh
He's like, I just had lunch with this guy and
you have to meet this guy. He just started this charity.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
And I'm like, oh my gosh. Another like Patrick knows.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Don't need to be being introduced to people that are
have new charities or what have you. I'm just saying
we got a lot going on, and I got a
lot of commitments and and a lot of a little
time and a lot of love.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
And he's like, no, I got it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I know you, I know you think I'm crazy, but
you need to meet this man.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And it was Bart noon and and it was their
epiphany of what Patrick had experienced. And uh, anyway, so
so our company supports him. Patrick's charity, Secession and the
Bridge Foundation have supported Bart and West Boulevard ministries.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Really he's a conduit and uh.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
My church, Yeah, my church supports them, the charity and
my family and we all do it and hopefully it's
a community thing and that's what it takes.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
But it's great organizations such and I'm so proud of
what Bart's done. And we actually Sports Connection have the
opportunity to sponsor Oh there you go the Barbecue for
Blue events. Yeah, yeah, you guys we've been to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
We've been to one.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Yeah you you've seen that. I mean, what a great event.
And made some incredible connections with our incredible CMPD men
and women and it was just a wonderful lunch and
just to see these men and women and they're they're
real people, but to do what they're doing in that community.
They were the happiest, most positive group of offsters I've
(16:22):
ever met. It was really really uh wonderful.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Amen and their police station backs up to uh Bark's Grace,
Gracie's House, West Boulevard and Old Steel Creek, kind of
Caddy corner there.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But before we get to the sports connection in your story,
I got a funny if you're if they're old location.
He started out University Memorial Baptist I think it was
Baptist Church. It's around the corner. And there was a
big piece of missing brick on one of the sidewalks.
You remember, you and I tried to fix that. With
Carl's talking about it looks like a smiley face.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I fixed that joker. We drive down,
I'm like, oh man, that's the mortar didn't match. We
had to go. We had like spare bricks. We had
to make it work. It's this big choice and fixed it.
There's not a hole in that building up.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We do not do that at the Ruby Companies. I
promise we're about quality. But that was that was a
dire situation we had to make.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We had he listen.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
It's like when I was in high school, I didn't
know how to do drywall, but I was the drywall guy.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
When the kid busted his head.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
There was you know, parent, somebody's parents swallowing they coming
back home tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Uh. I'm like, oh, twenty minutes, set, we'll figure this out.
So I was the brick mason that day.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
But okay, John, So you grew up in Charlotte, you
went into the country day, So tell us about your story. Well,
went to NC State Universe.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh go tar Hill. That's all right, that's all right.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I didn't really know what I wanted to do when
I graduated, but I've grown up in our family business.
My grandfather started a company back in the twenties, late twenties,
early thirties. It was an ey musema company. He operated
everything from penny postcard machines to Back then there nothing
(18:06):
was really electronics, all mechanical to what they call pen
table games, kind of the early pinballs. H then got
into jukeboxes, pool tables, and Uh anyway, that's that's how
I grew up in that in that industry.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Time out, what's a ping post machine?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
A penny postcard?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Penny postcards?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
So these were the He bought two penny postcard machines
in a location outside of movie theater in Burlington back
in nineteen thirty, okay, and these postcard machines would vend
out a postcard. Back then, back then, the movies were
mostly silent, and the kids loved the movie stars and
(18:49):
they would put these postcards in the machines that had
all the famous movie stars and they would, you know,
a penny of pop and a lot of times the
kids were kind of trying to collective certain actor And
that's how we got started in the coin machine business.
So very very rudimentary beginnings. But he was only twenty
years old when he started the business. Wow, And it
(19:12):
was right when the depression was happening to.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Really the penny post machine, penny postcard machine postcard.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Could you still find one of those?
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Any good question? You know, I'd love to say that
we kept those somewhere, but I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Where where some antique shop probably that's pretty cool. Yeah.
So then you got in the pinballs and pool tables.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Pinballs, pool tables, jukeboxes were really big back in the
in the fifties sixties that that was huge, and pinballs
really ramped up as you got into the eighties, seventies
and eighties. Then the video game generation came came to fruition,
and that was a huge thing for our industry. So
(19:52):
video games from everything from of course Pong was kind
of the first real intro video game. There are a
couple of for that, But then you got into a
lot of driving games and Mortal Combat was huge and
Street Fighter if you remember some of those classic titles.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So do I remember some of those classic titles? I
probably spent Oh yeah, I don't know, fifty dollars on
Mortal Combat. Street Fighter was a little ahead of me,
but that that was at the skating rink, right, Oh yeah,
So how big of a.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Region did y'all cover your family business?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Back then? He started operating the equipment, and in nineteen
forty four he decided there was a need for a
distribution and a supply chain, so he started a distribution
company and that's what ultimately my dad took over, and
then my brother and I took over after that. So
the distribution side, we would supply the equipment to the
(20:47):
locations and to the owner operators, whether it was a
Dave and Busters or a Disney or a Carawins or
a small operator that might have a pinball. A couple
of pool tables and maybe a misspac Man at the bar,
so really everything in between. But we would supply the equipment,
handle the financing, the distribution of the product from the
(21:08):
manufacturers into the marketplace.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
And you would give the property owner a cut.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
There's two sides to it. We had the operating side,
where you would have a revenue share. What you're referring
to the operator, we would give them a portion of
the revenue to the location. And then we would have
the sales side, where we were distributing the product to
the operators. Again, whether it was a large location like
a Disney or a Cara Wins or a smaller operator
(21:37):
that goes into the bar. So we would actually sell
the equipment. So we were the supply chain for the
actual equipment, handle the financing, parts and service warranty, et cetera.
So a little bit like a car dealership.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Dude, I bet you were like the most popular person
in all middle schools.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Ever, my dad put a pac Man in our house.
I can't remember what year was for the holidays, and
that doorbell rang. We had people.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I can only imagine no idea who these people were.
My neighbors had this pinball machine called The Black Knight.
Oh yeah, that's a great That thing was like we
would go to there. I can still sing the theme song.
I still beat the Black Knight and started laughing to go.
It would spend like hours on this thing. Man, you
were cool if you had a pinball machine in your
house or a pac man.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Right, well, and I still have. I've got a pinball
got a Classic Adams Family Gold Limited Edition. So that's
my It's my favorite title was The Adams Family.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So I remember that.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
I was good.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So so, so what was the name of the business
and is that business still around?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No?
Speaker 4 (22:34):
So the business is called Brady Distributing Company and it
was a third generation company. And so fast forward to
twenty thirteen or fourteen, we decided our board that we
wanted to scale up, and long story short, we merged
with Canada's largest distributor company called Starburst. So we merged
(22:54):
with that company in twenty fifteen. A couple of years later,
we were bought out by a big Canadian company called
Cineplex Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Oh yeah, okay, and so.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Cineplex acquired the Brady Starburst brand. Then we rebranded to
a company called Player One Amusement Group and I worked
for them for for several years until COVID hit and
then that's where we'll get into sports connection in a second.
But that that's a quick history of Brady distributing Brady
Starburst and Player one.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I hear you man once again, and then gostened to
a couple of shows. Yesterday we had the first guy
that was dealing in methane gas and now we got
the first amusement fella family business, third generation, just like
our business, John.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
My my uncle. I bet you, I bet you. Our
families have done business. This is my uncle, my dad's sister,
late sister, her husband owned a company called Amusements of America,
which they were. They were in the they were they
were the carnival business.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Really interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
It's crazy. I mean, the back when carnivals were a
big thing.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
They had like the the Georgia State Fair was operated
by my uncle's business, he and his two brothers.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I knew you had a carnival connection. Isn't that crazy? Yeah?
I bet you they were bought that.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
There's a good chance they bought their all their you
know that type of amusement stuff from from Brady.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Probably did, probably because we're based here in Charlotte and
had several other offices and uh probably probably we were.
We were the primary distributor in the southeast back in
the day.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Very cool.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So before we transition into Charlotte Sports Connection, which I
don't know the story, I'm ready to hear it. Do
you have a lot of junk silver? You know you're
talking about I've got to I do have a handful.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
You want to sell some?
Speaker 4 (24:40):
They're staying in my coin collection at yesterday's price, right
right there you go, there you go. But I do
have fond memories. You know how to tell silver? Yeah,
on the edge of well, no, when you put them
in the coin counter, the silver has a different tone
when it goes to the counter. So every time you
hear a high pitched ping when you're count the quarters,
that's when you just stopped the machine and go find
(25:03):
the silvers.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And you pull it out, pull it out.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, well, you know if you hold a hold twenty
coin silver coins, quarters or nickels, dimes or nicholas really
weren't right, but it was dimes and quarters and half
dollars and dollars, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And you can see on the edge. Yeah, the spure silver,
the modern half half brown, right, I guess that's copper.
I think it's copper, right, Okay, So so tell us
about Charlotte Sports Connection.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
So sports Connection came into my life when COVID occurred.
So what happened? Of course with COVID the whole world
shuts down. Our industry like many others of the entertainment
world shutdown. You couldn't go to a movie theater, you
couldn't go to an arcade, couldn't go to a theme park.
So the industry worldwide is shut down. So we're in
(25:51):
a crisis as a lot of other industries were. Alan
Hayes knew who was who was my business partner and
the founder of Sports Connection. We started talking decided that,
you know, maybe we could try to reopen this business together.
And so he had shut down everything, of course, and
I was very confident that the business, business and the
(26:14):
industry would turn around. What we're seeing in some states
like Georgia and Texas, South Carolina that that was coming
back pretty quickly. People wanted to get out and return
to normal activities and social activities and athletics.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Right.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
I mean, so sports Connection is a we have one
family entertainment center concept. In Ballentine and that's an indoor
concept with a restaurant, fourteen lanes of bowling, about eighty
five pieces in the arcade, climbing wall. We've got inflatables,
a ropes course, a couple of golf simulators.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I've met.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
It was great. Also, it's a family fund environment, so
that was the one off entertainment sector of the business
and that's of course my background. So that's what I
helped reopen with Allan. I partner with him to open
reopen that location. The other locations are strictly sports pickleball,
volleyball is huge, some other indoor sports, and we have
(27:12):
several other locations.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Like football, y'all still doing flag No that.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
We got out of that years ago out Yeah, Alan
decided to get out of that that side of it.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
That's how I met Kevin met Kevin.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Blocker Sports Okay put their leagues back in the day.
Yeah man, yeah, well Alan again, my my partners was awesome.
But putting the company together and has grown it tremendously
Now pickleball is one of their largest growing Wow. So
it's pretty exciting to see what's going on there. Cool,
really cool. So but again I'm from the entertainment side.
So you got to come out to Balentine and it's
(27:43):
it's a ton of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I can't wait. I have five kids.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Well you're you're right in the wheelhouse. So we do
a lot of birthday parties and it's been it's it's
a great family focused location.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
We'll come have a hasting party. We takes. I've taken
Scarlet out there. It's fun, awesome.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I remember Sports Connection from Basketball League, right, football league.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
That's how Alan started earlier days. They started earlier days
on the league side.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
So so y'all, So y'all were still running running the
Sports Connection.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Yeah, I ended up. I've got another project. I'm working
on an acquisition, So I ended up selling out back
this past summer. But I'm still I'm still available, kind
of working with the gang. Got a great crew. Uh,
they're they're moving forward and really Uh it's exciting to
see what they're doing out there with especially on the
pickleball side.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's awesome. What is Allen's last name?
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Hazley?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Hey, I thought you were saying Hasteny. Okay, cool, cool, cool,
My it's my brother in law at your brother.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
So you have kids, two kids, got a freshman daughter
at Myers Park, and we've got a uh junior son.
Oh yeah, he's at also at Myers Park and he
played soccer and got a pretty big run going on
right now. Final four tomorrow night, Go Mustangs. Really in
the state four A, it's eight A now that yeah,
(29:04):
they just first year with they've got eight eight different classifications,
so we're the largest. Which is a day So tomorrow
night home game, Go Mustang. So golst foresys so hopefully
Learnville Boys. Yeah yeah, so by the time this airs,
that game will be in the book. Yes, so this
doesn't air till this weekend. Is there there's like, is
(29:24):
there thirty eight hundred kids at Myers Park? Am I
getting that right? That's about right? All right? When Valentine
Ridge opened it, there was a over four thousand Valentine
Ridge I think took something took about three hundred ish
something like that, but just under four thousand.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
That's cool. I hear you what you got for in Patrick?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Well, I mean I have one would like to know.
You also made a pretty good connection with Kylie as
being an NC State grad and you you her dad
knew each other.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Well, it's kind of funny. We started talking, found out
her dad was there. I was there. He was a
couple of years after me, but he was a Sigma
Kai and I was a KA. In our houses literally
were kind of backed up to one another. And back
then there are a lot of Charlotte guys that were Ka's,
a lot of Charlotte guys that were seven Cays, so
we had a lot of crossover cool. So I do
(30:12):
recognize him. It's been many years, but I know he's
got a lot of connections looked up on LinkedIn, and
we know a ton of the same people.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
He Robert Fish as we were talking about, he came
and spoke were E for me, came in Spirit Target
the last night he was the president of the fraternity.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
He was, and so that's he mentioned that last night.
Did you play soccer in college?
Speaker 4 (30:32):
I did not know, just I was just a good
old college student, so me too.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Me I wasn't very good, I don't think, But yeah,
figured out maybe you were just an old college just
need to grow up probably is what I.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Learned in college. But yeah, that's really cool, John, It's
it's neat.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I mean, I've really enjoyed getting to know you through
the Bridge Foundation and the one thing. I don't think
we talked too much about you. I know we said,
Andrew Robi did a renovation at your house. Do you
remember how to hear about this?
Speaker 4 (30:59):
It was I'm gonna say it was nineteen eighty one,
eighty two ish and mister Roby I remember him coming
over many times, seeing him back reallydeed, yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Did he talk like this, mister Glenn. He got to
get old head, Miss Glynn.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
I do remember. He was a southern gentleman for sure,
was good.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Real.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
My granddad was really find to mister Roby. You probably
saw my granddad. So were your parents renting and raving
about the project.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
They were happy, of course. Now we built or y'all
built a beautiful little sun room on the back of
our house over off of Richardson Drive. Really so yeah,
and I'm assuming to still there. We haven't lived there
for many years, but it was a great addition and
we really really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
So cool. I talk about this often, you know. I
rode in the dump truck every day.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
I didn't have school fourteen fifteen, and then I drove
to dump truck sixteen seventeen eighteen, so I knew.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
All the roads and I love Richardson Drive.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
It's a staple road in Charlotte, in between Sharon and
Colony over by.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
South Park Mall.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
A great time. That was a great experience growing up
over in that part of part of the town.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
So well, our business model is the kids grow up
with us at their house. They might either play on
our little league baseball team or compete against our little
league baseball team, and then hopefully they become clients when
when they buy a house and and then hopefully their
kids become clients. That's that's a good point. So when
(32:27):
are we doing a project for you? John?
Speaker 4 (32:28):
There you go, My wife is ready.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
That's awesome, man, it's been so cool to hear your story.
What a great story. And uh, when I saw you
in the hallway, I genuinely meant and I was.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Like, have we hung out before? And I think you
genuinely knew what I meant.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
Well, that's great, it's been It's been a great, great experience,
and I appreciate you guys having.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Me Well good, Well, well, I'm going to put you
on the spot because we like to do this. I mean,
I mean, you've talked about a lot of good stuff,
but if you can hang your hat. What's one of
the finding things that you live by? John Brady? You
know U c r I.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I try to teach the kids that credibility reliability integrity.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Wow, never heard of that one. See r I.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Credibility reliability integrity.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
That is awesome. I love it, my dudes. Man, that
you do.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
You have either listened to a show or you have
very much instilled that in your brain. Because most times
when we ask that question, you get a little bit
of a subtle pause because people were like, well, get
in and something usually remarkable comes out. But you hit
the nail that one right.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Well, now now that I'm on this rerun kick and
I forget everything, you know, five minutes after after I
hear it or say it. Yeah, so yeah, because he
does have two kids, I'm aware it came full circle.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I got it. It only takes me a little while.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Uh but uh but they our guests are so awesome
and so wholeme them, and so talented, and everybody has
the angles they're living for and the whole show is
about what they believe. And then you say that and they're.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Like, oh, well, dang, I didn't know about this.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
But see all right, credibility, reliability, and I love it.
Thank you John Well, thank you guys. Yes, sir, thanks
for being here. I look forward to hanging out with
you and get to know you better. Likewise looking forward.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
To clearly a golfer you got the golf leek. I
can't read the name of the golf course, but I
do see it.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Trolley over over in uh in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Oh oh wow, that's had money. It looks I went
into Cabot Cliffs this summer up in Nova scotihow beautiful.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
And and the logo has a ship and similar I've heard.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
The people are umbo.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
That's great. I'm all about the people. So thanks for
being here. You're welcome and God bless you. And uh listen,
go do the Golden rule. Treat others the way you
want to be treated. Carry as smile around on your face.
You never know what people are thinking, dealing with, struggling
with just helping them feel a little better at that moment.
Thanks for listening to At Home with Ruby
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