March 6, 2025 • 48 mins
Step into the incredible journey of Larry Schmittou, a Nashville sports legend whose passion for baseball led to an unexpected but remarkable legacy in bowling and entertainment.
From coaching high school baseball to founding the Nashville Sounds, Larry’s visionary leadership helped redefine sports and recreation in Music City.
In this episode, we explore:
⚾ How Larry brought professional baseball back to Nashville
🎳 His transformation from baseball to revitalizing the bowling industry
🏆 The key to building community-focused businesses that thrive
💡 The business lessons behind sports, entertainment, and resilience
🤝 How passion, teamwork, and customer experience create lasting success
Larry’s unmatched commitment to innovation and community shines through—from navigating the challenges of COVID-19 to ensuring that Nashville remains a hub for sports, family entertainment, and connection. His journey is a testament to the power of vision, perseverance, and leadership in shaping a city’s cultural and sporting landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are the cap for whatever goes on in your store,
in your company, in yourdistrict, in your household.
However excited you are, whatyou believe is possible,
whatever that threshold is.
Good afternoon, team.
(00:22):
Jim Cripps here with the ChargeForward podcast coming to you
from HitLab Studios here inNashville, tennessee.
I have an absolutely fantastictreat for you today.
He is a legend here inNashville.
If you know anything aboutbaseball, you will absolutely
know his name.
He brought the sounds toNashville.
He was the vice president ofmarketing at the Rangers.
(00:42):
Now he is neck deep in bowlingand I would call him a champion
for bowling, keeping bowlingcenters intact and introducing
youth to the sport all the time.
Welcome, mr Larry.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Smitto, my pleasure to be here, jim.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Absolutely, and Steve , welcome to the show as well.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for having us.
Yes, sir, now Larry, we met 24years ago, I believe.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So you had a center over in Hillwood, right, and I
was a young bowler back then nogray hair back then, I don't
believe and I had gotten kickedout of your main center.
And so on a Tuesday night Ishow up at Hillwood and you were
working the counter and youmotioned for me to come over and
(01:33):
I knew who you were, but wehadn't we hadn't actually spoken
before.
And you said I heard you gotkicked out of my Hendersonville
location.
And I said I did, but I wasn'tupset about it.
I said you know, I'm sure theythought they were doing what
they were supposed to.
And you said I'm gonna make itup to you.
And I said no, you don't haveto do a thing, you don't need to
make anything up to me at all.
(01:54):
And the next week you had asurprise for me.
And who did you have down onthe lanes that that next tuesday
?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
well, I think that's when you demonstrated your
unusual approach to bowling toRudy Kalis and Channel 4.
And I told Rudy that, hey, Igot a guy that's kind of doing
something nobody else is doingand he's pretty good at it.
And so, yeah, Rudy ran a nicearticle on you back then and, uh
(02:25):
, so you've come a long way.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, I, uh, rudy's a great guy too and, um, you know
, I I don't know that I canexpress how, how thankful and
how, uh, how much I appreciateyou doing that for me, way back
when, uh, because it was thefirst time I was ever on
television.
Way back when, because it wasthe first time I was ever on
television and I was so nervousbecause I remember you waited to
(02:50):
start league until Rudy got theshot that he wanted and it was
my mission to throw a strikethat's what they wanted on TV
and I was so nervous because itwas the first time.
I think it took me 12 or 14throws to get a strike and we
just kept at it, kept at it andthen, uh, I think I interviewed
with with rudy two or three moretimes and then, uh, did another
(03:13):
one there with is it joe on thego?
Um, I think that was channeltwo, one morning there at hill,
at hillwood.
Um, but again, the first time Iwas over on TV, that panic
moment was right then, rightthere.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
And.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I'm eternally grateful because I got better,
not only as a bowler, but I gotbetter at being in front of the
camera.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I can remember asking you why do you do this?
And you did it on a dare,didn't you?
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I did.
I was not a bowler and just asa joke, one night, because all
my friends were bowlers, seriousbowlers, and they were giving
me a hard time for how bad I was, and so, as a joke, I threw the
ball behind me and the firstball was a strike and I turned
around and they were all mad andI thought, well, if this is all
(04:11):
I've got to do to make y'allmad, I'll keep doing it.
And you know, but it wasoperators like yourself and um,
and the people at the pinnaclethat you know kind of put up
with me doing that type of thing.
But I also think, um, you sawthat I was being serious about
it.
You know I wasn't, wasn't?
We were talking just a momentago about somebody throwing two
balls down the lane at the sametime and hitting a sweep.
(04:32):
You know that that can breakthings Right and I don't
encourage anybody to bowlbackwards.
Let's just be real about that,um.
But before you got into bowling, you you could.
I mean, if we took the last 25years of the bowling accolades
and things that you've done inthat world, I mean that's almost
(04:53):
a side note compared to thethings you did at Vanderbilt and
for the Rangers and really forNashville, bringing sports here.
So where did the love forsports, and specifically
baseball, where did the love forsports and specifically
baseball?
Where did that start?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
well, I was a player in high school in summer leagues
and I actually started coachingwhen I was a junior.
In high school junior not holdstarted my high school coach had
a couple of myself and one ofmy friends to go to this little
elementary school and pick out ateam and play in there and uh,
(05:28):
my, my friend, bobby roberts.
He uh picked the biggest guy inthe class.
He turned out to be the biggestsissy.
And uh, this little guy came upand said pick deardorff, he's
the best player.
And I wound up with a reallygood team and I kind of fell in
love with coaching and decidedthat's what I wanted to do and
(05:48):
became a nice school teacher andcoached some basketball
football, coached the summerleagues and had great teams in
the summer that went to worldseries.
And then vanderbilt came andoffered me a job when they
didn't give any scholarships oranything else.
But Mr Jess Neely was theathletic director and I believed
(06:11):
in him and he got us startedand I was able to recruit a lot
of the guys that played for himin the summer and we won some
championships and I truly lovecoaching.
That was my calling and I trulylove coaching.
That was my calling and I'vealways mixed coaching into
everything I did really, whetherit's business coaching, owning
(06:33):
a team or whatever.
But then all these kids startedcoming along.
My wife Shirley and I we'vebeen married 65 years.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And we have five children and I made no money
almost at Vanderbilt to supportthem.
So I needed to do somethingelse.
And that's when I decided that,well, nashville hadn't had a
professional team for 15 yearsand if we could get something a
stadium we could have a minorleague team.
(07:06):
And so I pursued that.
And unfortunately we had tobuild our own stadium and we
formed a little partnership andConway Twitty became my savior
when he joined into it with amajor contribution.
(07:27):
We got it done and peoplestarted coming.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And so when Conway came in, did that kind of set
the stage for others to kind offollow suit and help bring it to
reality, or was it mostly?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
his Well, we first started out just wanting about
four people Was it mostly his?
Well, we first started out justwanting about four people and
Walter Knipper and Reese Smithand Carl Hire.
When the bank said you know,we're trying to get a $300,000
loan, and they said you've gotto sign jointly and severally,
that kind of disappeared.
And so a lawyer friend told meto form a limited partnership.
(08:05):
And so a lawyer friend told meto form a limited partnership
where I was a general partnerand I was able to borrow $30,000
to be that general partner andConway sold what my plan was in
the newspaper.
I didn't know, conway, oh, wow.
Had had his son in my baseballcamp and he asked a mutual
(08:29):
friend to invite me out.
He said, well, I'll buy therest.
And uh, he just moved here fromtulsa and uh, roy clark had
joined a group to bring a teamto tulsa and turns out the major
guy was kind of a crook and Roylost his money and his
accountant said, oh, don't dothis.
And Conway said I promise youthat, but let's try a different
(08:50):
approach.
I'll take 20% and get you someother people.
He got Kyle Smith, who sangHello, country Bumpkin and Ellie
White, a songwriter, involved.
That was 35% of it.
Through my Vanderbilt connectionI had a developed a real
friendship with jerry reed andtold him what I was doing.
(09:12):
He said, good, I'm in, justleave me alone, let me help
coach his football team becausehe's a big vanderbilt fan.
And then reese and walter gotinvolved, back involved and a
few other people, and so weraised our $300,000, and that
wasn't enough.
But people of Nashville, when Icouldn't get it done, my
(09:36):
builder, burr Region, suggestedI do some things and ask people.
So I went out and saw EveHoover and S people.
So I went out and saw Eve Hooverand Eve was always very
involved in the UNA area, and soI asked him.
I said would you, could yougive me a deal on pouring the
concrete?
(09:56):
He first said no, and then hesaid I'll go down there and get
Larry Hayes to play the band,but contribute to cement and get
Buddy Skinner over at TennesseeProducts to donate the sand.
I'll pour all the concrete.
And we thought we'd run intorock everywhere.
But in left field we had to godown 38 feet to get one light
(10:21):
tower up, but again, eve Hooverdid that.
Another guy contributed, arlissGreen did all the gap work,
caulking, and so, with the helpof Nashville and everybody else,
it was a Nashville product.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And so I think all that helped us.
When, when we opened we weren't100 finished but uh, we didn't
have the field graded right, soI graded.
Uh, we went on a road trip forabout 12 days so we brought a
grader in in right field afterafter our first homestand and
(11:06):
covered it with straw andMemphis came into play and their
coach came in and said worstfield ever sold there.
Worst field ever sold.
And they beat us in adoubleheader and I asked him
what do you think about thatfield?
And I said best field ever.
He said best field ever saw.
Best field ever saw.
(11:26):
He became a major leaguemanager.
Every time I saw him he startedout with that that, but it
really was uh trying time.
Yeah, but I was still coachingat vanderbilt when I the first
year okay but it hadn't been forconway, we couldn't have got it
done.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, and just I mean , what a kind of combination of
things that had to come together.
One, he was moving here.
Two, he had a child in yourcamp, so he knew enough about
you to know you were a stand-upguy and that you do what you say
you're going to do and you cantell a lot of somebody how they
(12:03):
can.
And he had a great love ofbaseball.
Yeah, and you know we weretalking just a moment ago.
Hard to believe it's been 32years since he passed.
Yeah, it's true, it's been along time Now.
All those people comingtogether I mean I think you kind
(12:24):
of said this is it really wasNashville's team, not just
because it was in Nashville, butbecause so many people had a
part of it.
And I'm sure in those first,maybe that first season, a lot
of that was because they wantedpeople to come and see it,
because they'd been a part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's true, and we had no other team.
So the newspaper, the TVstation, they really covered us.
And so it was a long, long gap,probably 15 or 16 years, from
the time the Nashville Vols wentout of business, as they
weren't drawing at all in adilapidated stadium until they
(13:03):
had really something other thanthey, vanderbilt, uh, sports in
Nashville, sure, and it was nofootball, there was no, even the
hockey team, the Dixie Flyershad disbanded.
So, uh, we were kind of theonly team in town.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, um, and how was it?
You know, obviously you werefinishing up as, as you were
going along still coaching at atvanderbilt, um, was there a
clear jumping off point where,where you knew you had to go all
in and and be running thesounds, or well, I'd already.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We in the after our initial year, even though we had
13 rain outs, we still setattendance records.
Uh, we had bought a team ingreensboro okay, north carolina,
bring baseball back there inclass a.
And I knew that, hey, that wasuh going to be the last year I
could double up.
So I already made up my mind atthe end of the 79th year I
(14:03):
would leave vanderbilt.
But, uh, the but the NCAAstepped in and said I was
connected with Pro Ball.
So they passed a thing thatsaid, hey, you need to go ahead
and pass the torch.
This was in January of 79.
So I stepped down in January of79.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Gotcha.
And then, as you guys werefinishing and had your first
season underway for the Sounds,what did the second season look
like?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Well, we came in and finished what we had not started
, and so we were with theCincinnati Reds and a very
popular team at that time.
They gave us great talent butthey wouldn't let us use the
designated hitter, but otherteams could against us.
(14:56):
So we was kind of at acrossroads.
So we'd already announced wewas going to leave them at the
end of the year.
But they had such a good teamand good pitching, great hitting
, we wound up winning thechampionship.
Oh wow.
The last year was with them andthen we signed with the yankees
(15:17):
uh for 1980 and uh 1980, andthey just gave us great teams.
The 1981 team was loaded upwith all-stars Hall of Famers.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That's fantastic.
What a great place to be in andstories to tell Of that era.
Who was your favorite player?
There was two that era.
Who was your favorite player?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
There's two.
One was Skeeter Barnes, anotherwas Willie McGee.
Willie was, he's such a humblesuperstar.
I always remember he could runso good that he played center
(16:08):
field and somebody hit one outthere, really hit it hard.
He turns his back on the balland hit him right in the middle
of the back of his back.
I said Willie, slow down, themiddle of the back of his back.
I said willie, slow down, andwhen he got to the big leagues,
uh with uh st louis he had hit.
We were my wife and I was atthe world series game against
(16:31):
milwaukee and he hit two homeruns, made a circus catch in
game one, and the next day hecame up to the gate while I was
waiting on the gate to come on.
I said, willie, I thought you'dbe taking batting practice.
He said he just wanted to seesome of the buildings in
Milwaukee and ask him how he'sdoing with his big paychecks now
(16:52):
.
And he said well, coach, youknow I came from nothing and so
I'm just kind of living off mymeal money here and saving my
money to buy my mama a house.
Oh, wonderful and then Skeeterwas a guy right out of high
school, been up down, up down,was thinking about quitting and
(17:13):
going to work for the firedepartment in Indianapolis and
asked me to recommend him.
I said sure, but you knowyou're making $5,000 a month
being an insurance policy.
He stuck around, got withDetroit, got, you know, played
every position, got four or fiveyears in the big league, still
involved in baseball,professional baseball.
(17:36):
So just because of their workethic and coming from nothing to
make something of themselves,just admired me.
And there was plenty of othersI could have named.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Sure, sure.
Well, I think it's those thatstand out, that have that work
ethic, that also have um, Idon't even know if I want to say
humble, but uh, they appreciatewhere they are and what they're
doing.
Sure, do.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, um, now want to say humble, but uh they
appreciate where they are andwhat they're doing?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
sure do, yeah.
Um, now I'm sure there were alot of things, even even after
you guys um, you know, got thefunding and and got your first
season underway and those typesof things.
What were some expect?
Unexpected challenges, thatthat hit you.
That would have caused mostpeople to stop.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Well, I had no money.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That'll do it.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But you know, I remember John Bibb told me when
I first started out he saidSmittle, you're going to go
broke.
I said well, I'm already brokeso I can't do any worse, so not
having any money.
But after we got going we hadtoo large of an ownership group
with too many different opinionsand that was a mistake the good
(18:44):
people but you've got to have ahead that has full authority.
That's right and everybody elsepulling for them.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, and so how did that shake out?
How did you have those?
There's a lot of people thatwould delay that and delay that
and it would hurt the team.
Obviously, you had to go aheadand deal with those.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Well, we bought out a few people and they made money
when they sold and, like I said,there's good people.
We just had differentphilosophies.
I always thought put the moneyin, you get your money when you
get out and put your money rightback into.
(19:27):
And being a general partner,that means you're 100%
responsible for your debts.
A limited partner, you'relimited to your exposure, but
you're also limited to how youmuch power you have, sure.
So, uh, none of us wereexperienced business people, so,
(19:50):
uh, uh, you know, and some ofthe things just worked their
self out you know, conway had tosell.
He went through a divorce andand, uh, he sold his.
Some of us bought his share,and then we uh had a couple new
people came in when we wastrying to get major league
baseball, and especiallyincluding bronson ingram, and so
(20:15):
, uh, there at the, it hadnothing to do with bad ownership
, it's just timing of when theTitans came, we knew where the
money was going.
It was going to be a tough roadto hold, sure, and after 19
years, I made a decision for thebest for my family, it's best
(20:37):
for me to go ahead and get out.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And take my money and do something else.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Sure, sure, and along the way, and I didn't know this
until we were talking earlierbut you had a big role with the
Rangers, kind of in the middleof that.
How did that come to be?
How did that come to be?
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, the Rangers were struggling to draw people
in 1982.
Joe Klein, who was the generalmanager of the Rangers at the
time, called me in February andsaid do you ever been
propositioned this early in themorning?
I said never been propositioned, period.
But he said could you come outhere and be interviewed to take
(21:19):
over about 13 departments?
And so I went out, met theowner, eddie Childs, and we had
an interview.
He offered me the job, told mewhat was in front of me and we
only had one way to go and thatwas up.
And so we put in some familypromotions like we had in the
(21:43):
sounds, and I had four goodyears there.
But Mr Childs was losing moneyin his other business and had to
sell and it was kind of afterfour years.
It was do you stay, do you go?
I thought Mr Gaylord was goingto buy them out but he backed
(22:06):
out at the last minute and so Iwent a mutual understanding, I
tell people I left for healthreasons.
They got sick and tired of me.
But well, uh well, I had adisagreement with the person
that they put in charge of baseof the whole company company.
(22:26):
And then that's when they soldto Georgia George Bush's group.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Gotcha Okay, and so then you got all your focus or
most of your focus back here inNashville.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I came back in 86, end of 86.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yeah, and then most of your focus back here in
nashville right came back in 86,end of 86, yeah, and then, uh,
fast forward.
We know, uh, you know it wasgoing to be tough once the
titans, you know, were heregetting the attention, getting
the funding, all those things,um, but I'm sure it was also a
tough decision to to make afteryou'd grown it from just an idea
.
No, it wasn't okay.
Yeah, I got it I got it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
You have to be where it wasn't fun okay and I always
say if you don't enjoy whatyou're doing, go do something
else.
And uh, so I was.
I was ready.
I got a good offer from somepeople in Chicago and some of
the other owners sold with meWalter and two of the Smiths
(23:26):
boys.
So it all worked out.
I knew I was going to dosomething else, I just didn't
know what it was.
I'm 60 years old.
I was 57 years old when I soldit, yeah, so it took me a while
to figure out what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
But I was definitely going to do something.
Sure.
Well, and how did you end up inBoulder?
By accident, I wanted to dosomething that was similar to my
skills and all.
I was used to eat at a littleplace called Denison's up on 8th
Avenue, and the owner of theMelrose Center had eaten up
(24:07):
there several times, but he haddied, and so, after exploring a
couple other things that didn'tmeet my fancy, I approached his
daughter about buying Melroseand she wanted to sell, but her
stepbrother did not want to sell, so that didn't work out.
(24:35):
In the meantime, actually goingback to baseball, I had put
together a group trying to getMajor League Baseball to
Nashville Right, and I didn'thave enough money to be the lead
dog.
But I made acquaintances withRick Scott.
Rick had been the head of HCA,had left there, but I knew he
(25:01):
was a tiny part of the groupthat bought the Rangers and he
was from Kansas City.
So we had made an approach tobuying Kansas City.
That went to the guy that wasalready running them, that was
from the Walmart clan.
So Rick stayed on me, let's dosomething together.
(25:25):
And so the center inMurfreesboro, tennessee, became
available.
We reached agreement.
I had presented to Rick.
Here's an idea.
I had taken the financialstatements of a company called
Bowl America that at that timeowned 18 bowling centers, but
(25:51):
they were publicly traded andthey were all made mostly in one
area of Washington Baltimorearea and I said we could do this
.
So I got involved with thePatrick family.
Doug had been in baseball Imean in bowling for a time.
(26:13):
So I said why don't you stickwith me for 90 days and teach me
something about this?
And so that was our firstcenter and we bought it.
Then, all of a sudden, a lot ofother people said it's time for
us to get out.
So by the next July 1, we wentfrom owning no centers in
September of 2000 to owning six,six months later in Louisville
(26:37):
and Nashville.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah, that's a fast lesson, yep, but you had to have
some joy in it to stay in itthis long.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, I enjoy it.
I enjoy my employees.
We have 500-some-odd employeesnow and I really enjoy the
customers.
That's what I enjoyed about thesounds.
I enjoyed walking those stepsand talking.
Enjoy the customers that's whatI enjoyed about the sounds.
I enjoyed walking those stepsand talking to the customers.
(27:10):
I enjoyed talking baseball tothem.
I'm a good listener.
Some people don't think that,but I'm a real good listener.
So when I got into bowling Ilistened to you league bowlers
gripe.
I listened to old open bowlersof what they liked and then I
decided I got different groupsin here.
(27:30):
These league bowlers want lowprices, a consistent shot.
Most people don't know whatthat is.
They want equipment at work.
They want a clean facility andthey want employees that are
polite.
My open bowlers they don't careabout the shots, they think
(27:53):
it's something you drink.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
But they want good food, they want good drinks,
they want to have a good time,they want to hear some music.
So it didn't take me long tofigure out what the different
groups wanted, and I knew I hadto overcome to the league
(28:15):
bowlers of the initial thoughtwell, he don't like league
bowlers.
I loved them, it just wasn'tenough of them.
So you know, we had to havedifferent game plans for leagues
, different game plans for openbowlers, different game plans
for birthday parties,fundraisers, whatever.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah Well, I think that's where so many people go
wrong is they don't get thatit's different customers that
have a desire to be treateddifferently and as long as you
listen enough to get, I mean,you're not going to make
everybody happy, but if you cankind of segment them out and say
this is what we do for these,this is what we do for them.
(28:54):
One of the things that I thinka lot of bowling centers could
learn from you is the fact thatyou do have a sizable arcade or
other types of activities where,if the family wants to come,
it's not just bowling.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
They can spend all day there if they want to, right
, and we have some full familyentertainment center like
Hendersonville.
We have 46 lanes.
Yeah Well, monday, tuesday,wednesday and Thursday night
we're totally full with leaguebowlers.
I love that, but on the othernights we are usually pretty
full with open bowlers.
(29:32):
And you know, if you don't wantto bowl number one, you can
ride, you can go play laser tag,roller skate, bungee jump,
bumper cars, video games, or youjust go eat some real good food
.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
And shoot a game of pool.
So we have one of those in eachof our markets, pretty much
with the exception of Knoxville,in each of our markets, pretty
much with the exception ofKnoxville, and uh, so you know
we, it's expensive to own abowling center.
People don't realize that it'sexpensive.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Each lane is expensive.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Well, not only that, the whole building's expensive.
You got air conditioners, yougot a whole lot of square
footage to put a bowling center.
So, and when you?
You know your league bowlerthat's most league bowlers don't
really know what they're payingthe owner.
They know what the usbc fees isand the prize money, but mostly
we're getting like 12 andyou're there for two and a half
(30:37):
hours.
Where else can you go and beentertained for less than $5 an
hour?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Well, and one of the things too is it's almost like
and as a league bowler, assomebody that's been a bowler
the last 25 years, itdisheartens me sometimes that
they will put so much onus onthe owner when it's not their
fault, meaning everything's goneup, inflation has been crazy,
(31:07):
and, yes, league bowling hasgone up, but the cost of league
bowling has not gone up anywherenear the rate that inflation
has, and so the business owneris really the one covering the
cost on that, and so sometimesit's just I wish people would be
more appreciative of the owner.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Well, I just hope they have a good time.
You know that's a businessdecision.
You know you're a league bowler.
You're bowling for less than $4a game.
You don't rent shoes, right.
An open bowler comes in, he'sgoing to pay $5.50.
Open bowler comes in, he'sgonna pay 550 a game, plus he's
gonna rent shoes.
So all that goes into makingmoney.
(31:49):
We're not a non-profitorganization.
We make money, that's right.
So and you know I do thebudgets I've turned over a a lot
of control to the kids but andI'm eventually going to go away
but uh, you know we we have tomake money to keep going to do
capital improvements, sure, uh,to buy other centers and to pay
(32:12):
our employees a competitive wage.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
That's right, and that becomes more challenging
every every year.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Oh, it's really been challenging the last year.
Our labor costs has gone upabout 15%.
Sure.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Um, and what did?
Uh, I hate to open this, thiswound, but what did?
What did COVID do to you guys,you know, as as an owner and
with multiple centers?
Um, was it?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
well, it just caught us by surprise.
I mean, we got shut downeverywhere within 24 hours, all
every center closed and so for90 days we had no revenue.
Fortunately, uh, as part ofownership, you know, I've
developed a plan where everyemployee would be taken care of
(33:01):
If they made more money by goingon unemployment.
They went on that, knowingthey're coming back when we got
open.
If they didn't make as much, wejust kept them on.
We cleaned and we cleaned andwe cleaned for that 90 days and
I put a little extra money inthere and, fortunately, when it
(33:21):
was over, people just flockedback.
I always tell this story whenTennessee allowed us to open in
May or whatever day it was.
Last day of May we opened ateight o'clock and the first
person at the door was a 92 yearold league bowler that was
(33:43):
wanting to see his friends yeah,that's, that's the story.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Right there, people were starved for that social
interaction.
I mean, it's why I ball.
You Don't get me wrong, I lovebowling, but sometimes bowling
is work, but it's theinteractions that you have.
It's that weekly.
I know I'm going to see thesepeople.
We're going to probably havethe same conversation we've had
50 times before, but we're goingto laugh, just like we always
(34:09):
have.
And you take that away frompeople and some people don't
make it.
Oh uh, you take that away frompeople and some people don't
make it, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Oh yeah, we had a lot of bowling centers that went
away.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Sure, and, and it feels like more every day with
land values going up, um, youknow, it becoming harder to
service the customer.
So customers, you know, uh kindof hiding behind that, uh,
their keyboard keyboard trashingplaces, whereas they could have
just had a conversation.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I mean, I get it.
You know, we've lost Just herelocally.
Donaldson was not long ago.
Now you've got one in Donaldson.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Donaldson Blassum.
Yeah, and also Hermitage.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Yep, and then is Oak Valley still around.
No, it's been gone a long time.
I thought it had been goneMelrose.
Obviously it's all apartmentbuildings these days, hillwood,
which I know.
Hillwood was a challenge.
We were talking about thatearlier.
You know.
Share a little bit about thatbecause I'm sure somebody right
now has a center or has abusiness where they have
(35:12):
multiple locations and they haveone.
That is challenging from justan overall experience like
Hillwood.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Well, number one, they repriced us out in rent.
But even if that wasn't, we hada lot of trouble at that
Hillwood location.
There was differentdemographics who were there,
from the very, very wealthy tomiddle class, to the lower class
, and we had more disturbancesthere than all my other centers
(35:44):
had together.
So even though I'm from WestNashville, that center was just
different.
It just was a differentchallenge every weekend of the
clientele, the height for theclientele.
You'd love to have the otherheight if you wanted to get away
(36:05):
.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
And it's such a shame too, because it was a beautiful
center and I remember that onewas that the Kmart or the
Walmart, it was a.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Kmart.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
And it went to me to square feet and, uh, I think we
had a, you know it was a familyentertainment center, but we had
a wall between there, which I,you know, never again would I do
that Sure.
So, uh, and it helped me todesign Hendersonville to where,
traditional on one side, familyfun center on the other side.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, I mean, the thing about it is you learn from
that and you take it into thenext one.
Yeah, and I think a lot ofpeople you know we were talking
the other day.
You're 84, is that right?
Speaker 2 (36:50):
84, going on 85.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And still working six days a week.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Yeah, I don't work eight hours a day.
That's a little misleading, butI'm there five or six hours a
day for six days.
On Sundays, I try to do alittle paperwork at home.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Sure, but there's plenty of people that would say
you know I'm going to put myfeet up.
But I think it's that workethic, I think it's the passion
that drives you, is what keepsyou going.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Well, I've had an opportunity to sell at a company
, bolero.
Now They've been trying to buyeverybody and I've known the
head of Bolero since he onlyowned one center Very smart man,
tom Shannon, but I've turnedhim down twice.
I mean I, next year, I couldhave walked away with a whole
(37:40):
bunch of money, but I'd like tosee my company survive after I'm
long gone.
Sure, and I think it means somuch to number one, it would
disrupt my 500-some-oddemployees.
They're counting on us for apaycheck.
Sure, they've been loyal to me.
(38:00):
Why shouldn't I be loyal tothem?
That's right, and even thoughit's changing the landscape of
bowling, it's harder to findmechanics.
Now it is.
A lot of people are going tostring pin setters.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
We haven't done that yet thank you and I know that's
hard um you know I was talkingto um, um, the guy that owns
eastside bowl charke yeah, andyou know he said I don't need a
mechanic it.
One time, one time in the last18 months, I had to send the
(38:35):
bartender back there and unwindthe pins.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I said you know it's Well you're fixing to find out
in Pinnacle.
Well, I believe it, becausethey're already putting them in
their center in Murfreesboro.
So you know, fortunately wehave really good mechanics.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
That have been with you a long time too, some of
them.
Yeah, boyd cantrell has beenwith me for 24 years.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
He's a year older than me I love that that's great
jim you were talking aboutdifferent bowlers yeah um,
besides yourself being one ofhis favorite bowlers, it's other
favorite bowlers are thespecial needs.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Oh yeah, that means a lot, yeah, and I mean they just
light up it's just we havealmost full house of special
need kids on monday night thatthey have been uh, something.
When I say kids, some of thoseare 30 year olds and uh, I tell
everybody, if you really want tosee some real love, come and
(39:34):
look at the parents of thosekids.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
And we had a young girl bowl 300.
Oh my gosh, Really Specialneeds.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Yep, that's fantastic .
You know, one of the thingsthat I love about bowling is you
can beat two and push the balldown the slide.
You can be 92.
And everybody can have funtogether.
Don't get me wrong, I never wasany good at baseball, but I
(40:04):
understand why people love it.
But baseball is not necessarilya sport that from two to 92
could play, you know.
And so to have a sport that thewhole family could play, really
your whole life, if you'restill upright, you, you can.
You can figure out a way to doit.
I don't know if you ever knewdon derr from clarksville, but
(40:26):
he was 92 when he passed away ayear before last, and he bowled
all the way up until about sixweeks before he passed away.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Well, we had a bowler in knoxville that just passed
away who was 104, oh my god.
And when she's 102 she's inthree leagues.
Never started bowling untilshe's 65 and her husband died it
was for that social aspect yeahand and the exercise that comes
(40:54):
from it.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
I mean you, you think about it.
I mean, um, you know you, ifyou're going to throw a ball, I
mean everybody bowls three games.
There's plenty of watchers outthere that may not be bowlers,
but in in league you're boththree games and you're going to
throw that ball somewhere in theneighborhood of 36 to 72 times
and it's anywhere from 10 poundsup to 16 pounds.
(41:18):
That's a decent workout, butit's also that social
interaction with the people thatyou're bowling with, just the
interaction with your teammembers, matters.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
It does and you know 90% of our league bowlers are in
it.
For those reasons thecompanionship, the money leagues
I try to stay away from thoseleagues don't mean turn them
away for bowling.
I just don't want to go and bethe spectator, right?
Because that's when the peopleare really just bowling for
(41:52):
money.
They're not bowling for the funof the game.
They're going to get in therewhere it has the biggest prize
fund and they're usually hotshot bowlers, sure, and so I've
seen them from where leagueprizes fund is $25,000 to $2,000
, but there's more arguments anddiscontent in those leagues
(42:14):
than any other league you have?
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Oh, I believe that.
And I started out on a funleague.
It was a Sunday night.
They called it the restaurantleague, you know, because it was
after everybody kind of got offwork.
I think it started at 1030 or11 o'clock at night on a Sunday.
And then I've been on the sameThursday night league for 24, 25
years somewhere around in there.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
That's a money league , isn't?
Speaker 1 (42:37):
it.
It really used to be more sothan it is these days.
There were a few years where itwasn't a full league anymore,
and so it's modified these days,but some of your best bowlers
within 500 miles are in thatleague.
Some of them drive two hours toget there.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Sandra Sears in there every week, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Yeah, Um, and a lot of them you see in your money
leagues you know they they bowlfour or five nights a week and,
uh, it's a, it's a job to themand you know, when it gets to be
a job for me, it's uh, I take abreak or uh, those types of
things.
But you know, one of thehardest things I ever did in 20,
(43:20):
let's see 2016, we had a big,we had to go through a gigantic
growth phase at work and, um, Ihad to let my team know.
You know, I'm I don't know whenI'll be back, and it was almost
three years and coming backfrom that was maybe the hardest
thing.
I did not realize how much Iwould lose, you know, just the
muscle memory and all the things.
(43:41):
It was tough but so glad that Idid because it's the familiar
faces, it's all the things.
Who's been a mentor for you?
Kind of through that, I'm surethat these days you're a mentor
for others, but who?
Who helped you along the way?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
well, I don't.
I think the most help that Ireceived to turn me to, to set
me a standard, was jess neely,my athletic director at
Vanderbilt.
He had been a head footballcoach at Rice and Clemson and
he's just a man of integrity.
(44:20):
I remember when he came to seeme at Goodell's he said I want
you to be our baseball coach atVanderbilt and I said why would
I want to do that?
Y'all not very good.
And he said well, you're right,we're not, but I'll help you.
And it's just something aboutthat man.
And I learned that you know hewas at rice when bear bryant was
(44:45):
at a and m.
He would never call bear barry,called him paul because Paul
had been caught cheating at A&Mand he just emphasized play by
the rules.
When things go bad, don't beblaming other people, don't take
(45:06):
credit for everything.
You know he's just a mannerthat he had and he was up.
In his years After he quitbeing AD he served as a golf
coach at Vanderbilt and he wasjust an inspiration to me.
You know, keep your word.
(45:29):
If you give your word, keep it.
If something comes up you can't, you go explain why you can't
do that and treat your playerswith respect, treat them all
like, give them a responsibilityand hold them to that.
You know I can't emphasize anymore from what I learned at
(45:52):
Vanderbilt dealing with lessthan what other teams had, but
not using it as an alibi.
Sure, that probably taught memore than any other thing I've
done.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
A lot of people don't realize how many different
types of jobs there are inbowling, whether it's at the
center itself or whether themarketing for a center, the
business aspect of a center, theinventory management of a
center, the food and beverage,the hospitality side, we have a
world of first-time job holders,especially in our circus world,
our family entertainment center.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
We've got a lot.
I mean, picture yourself asyou're now the general manager,
yourself as you're now thegeneral manager, and on
Saturdays you've got 16teenagers working over there.
They all have their cell phones.
They want to talk on their cellphones and you don't want them
to talk on their cell phones,you want them to do their job.
(46:49):
You know, some people say theowners chased them off.
Well, or it got too expensiveTime chased them off.
You know it's more things forpeople to do.
Instead of saying I'm going totie up 32 consecutive Thursdays
to go bowl, I want to do otherthings.
(47:12):
You know I love bowling.
So most of your leagues thatyou start now are 12, 14, 16
week leagues.
Take a couple weeks off atChristmas if you really love it,
we have another 14 week league.
So if you start a new league,say we got a new league and we
(47:33):
we got a new league and we'regoing to bowl 35 weeks, you're
going to have like two teams.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Yeah, you're not going to get new bowlers, no
Well, and I hear stories aboutyou all the time.
Team is Jim Cripps here withthe Charge Forward Podcast.
I just want to tell you I loveyou, I appreciate you listening,
I appreciate you forsubscribing and sharing the
Charge Forward podcast withpeople you know and you love,
because that's what we're herefor.
We are here to share theamazing stories, the things that
(48:01):
people have been through, theways that they were able to
improve their life, so that youcan take little nuggets from
theirs and help improve yourstory and be better tomorrow
than you were today.
I hope that this is the toolyou needed at the right time and
that you find value in theamazing guests that we bring
each and every week.
Thanks so much and don't forgetnew episodes drop every
(48:26):
Thursday.
You are the cap for whatever goes on in your store,
in your company, in yourdistrict, in your household.
However excited you are, whatyou believe is possible,
whatever that threshold is.
Good afternoon, team.
(00:22):
Jim Cripps here with the ChargeForward podcast coming to you
from HitLab Studios here inNashville, tennessee.
I have an absolutely fantastictreat for you today.
He is a legend here inNashville.
If you know anything aboutbaseball, you will absolutely
know his name.
He brought the sounds toNashville.
He was the vice president ofmarketing at the Rangers.
(00:42):
Now he is neck deep in bowlingand I would call him a champion
for bowling, keeping bowlingcenters intact and introducing
youth to the sport all the time.
Welcome, mr Larry.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Smitto, my pleasure to be here, jim.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Absolutely, and Steve , welcome to the show as well.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for having us.
Yes, sir, now Larry, we met 24years ago, I believe.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So you had a center over in Hillwood, right, and I
was a young bowler back then nogray hair back then, I don't
believe and I had gotten kickedout of your main center.
And so on a Tuesday night Ishow up at Hillwood and you were
working the counter and youmotioned for me to come over and
(01:33):
I knew who you were, but wehadn't we hadn't actually spoken
before.
And you said I heard you gotkicked out of my Hendersonville
location.
And I said I did, but I wasn'tupset about it.
I said you know, I'm sure theythought they were doing what
they were supposed to.
And you said I'm gonna make itup to you.
And I said no, you don't haveto do a thing, you don't need to
make anything up to me at all.
(01:54):
And the next week you had asurprise for me.
And who did you have down onthe lanes that that next tuesday
?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
well, I think that's when you demonstrated your
unusual approach to bowling toRudy Kalis and Channel 4.
And I told Rudy that, hey, Igot a guy that's kind of doing
something nobody else is doingand he's pretty good at it.
And so, yeah, Rudy ran a nicearticle on you back then and, uh
(02:25):
, so you've come a long way.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, I, uh, rudy's a great guy too and, um, you know
, I I don't know that I canexpress how, how thankful and
how, uh, how much I appreciateyou doing that for me, way back
when, uh, because it was thefirst time I was ever on
television.
Way back when, because it wasthe first time I was ever on
television and I was so nervousbecause I remember you waited to
(02:50):
start league until Rudy got theshot that he wanted and it was
my mission to throw a strikethat's what they wanted on TV
and I was so nervous because itwas the first time.
I think it took me 12 or 14throws to get a strike and we
just kept at it, kept at it andthen, uh, I think I interviewed
with with rudy two or three moretimes and then, uh, did another
(03:13):
one there with is it joe on thego?
Um, I think that was channeltwo, one morning there at hill,
at hillwood.
Um, but again, the first time Iwas over on TV, that panic
moment was right then, rightthere.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
And.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I'm eternally grateful because I got better,
not only as a bowler, but I gotbetter at being in front of the
camera.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I can remember asking you why do you do this?
And you did it on a dare,didn't you?
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I did.
I was not a bowler and just asa joke, one night, because all
my friends were bowlers, seriousbowlers, and they were giving
me a hard time for how bad I was, and so, as a joke, I threw the
ball behind me and the firstball was a strike and I turned
around and they were all mad andI thought, well, if this is all
(04:11):
I've got to do to make y'allmad, I'll keep doing it.
And you know, but it wasoperators like yourself and um,
and the people at the pinnaclethat you know kind of put up
with me doing that type of thing.
But I also think, um, you sawthat I was being serious about
it.
You know I wasn't, wasn't?
We were talking just a momentago about somebody throwing two
balls down the lane at the sametime and hitting a sweep.
(04:32):
You know that that can breakthings Right and I don't
encourage anybody to bowlbackwards.
Let's just be real about that,um.
But before you got into bowling, you you could.
I mean, if we took the last 25years of the bowling accolades
and things that you've done inthat world, I mean that's almost
(04:53):
a side note compared to thethings you did at Vanderbilt and
for the Rangers and really forNashville, bringing sports here.
So where did the love forsports, and specifically
baseball, where did the love forsports and specifically
baseball?
Where did that start?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
well, I was a player in high school in summer leagues
and I actually started coachingwhen I was a junior.
In high school junior not holdstarted my high school coach had
a couple of myself and one ofmy friends to go to this little
elementary school and pick out ateam and play in there and uh,
(05:28):
my, my friend, bobby roberts.
He uh picked the biggest guy inthe class.
He turned out to be the biggestsissy.
And uh, this little guy came upand said pick deardorff, he's
the best player.
And I wound up with a reallygood team and I kind of fell in
love with coaching and decidedthat's what I wanted to do and
(05:48):
became a nice school teacher andcoached some basketball
football, coached the summerleagues and had great teams in
the summer that went to worldseries.
And then vanderbilt came andoffered me a job when they
didn't give any scholarships oranything else.
But Mr Jess Neely was theathletic director and I believed
(06:11):
in him and he got us startedand I was able to recruit a lot
of the guys that played for himin the summer and we won some
championships and I truly lovecoaching.
That was my calling and I trulylove coaching.
That was my calling and I'vealways mixed coaching into
everything I did really, whetherit's business coaching, owning
(06:33):
a team or whatever.
But then all these kids startedcoming along.
My wife Shirley and I we'vebeen married 65 years.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And we have five children and I made no money
almost at Vanderbilt to supportthem.
So I needed to do somethingelse.
And that's when I decided that,well, nashville hadn't had a
professional team for 15 yearsand if we could get something a
stadium we could have a minorleague team.
(07:06):
And so I pursued that.
And unfortunately we had tobuild our own stadium and we
formed a little partnership andConway Twitty became my savior
when he joined into it with amajor contribution.
(07:27):
We got it done and peoplestarted coming.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And so when Conway came in, did that kind of set
the stage for others to kind offollow suit and help bring it to
reality, or was it mostly?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
his Well, we first started out just wanting about
four people Was it mostly his?
Well, we first started out justwanting about four people and
Walter Knipper and Reese Smithand Carl Hire.
When the bank said you know,we're trying to get a $300,000
loan, and they said you've gotto sign jointly and severally,
that kind of disappeared.
And so a lawyer friend told meto form a limited partnership.
(08:05):
And so a lawyer friend told meto form a limited partnership
where I was a general partnerand I was able to borrow $30,000
to be that general partner andConway sold what my plan was in
the newspaper.
I didn't know, conway, oh, wow.
Had had his son in my baseballcamp and he asked a mutual
(08:29):
friend to invite me out.
He said, well, I'll buy therest.
And uh, he just moved here fromtulsa and uh, roy clark had
joined a group to bring a teamto tulsa and turns out the major
guy was kind of a crook and Roylost his money and his
accountant said, oh, don't dothis.
And Conway said I promise youthat, but let's try a different
(08:50):
approach.
I'll take 20% and get you someother people.
He got Kyle Smith, who sangHello, country Bumpkin and Ellie
White, a songwriter, involved.
That was 35% of it.
Through my Vanderbilt connectionI had a developed a real
friendship with jerry reed andtold him what I was doing.
(09:12):
He said, good, I'm in, justleave me alone, let me help
coach his football team becausehe's a big vanderbilt fan.
And then reese and walter gotinvolved, back involved and a
few other people, and so weraised our $300,000, and that
wasn't enough.
But people of Nashville, when Icouldn't get it done, my
(09:36):
builder, burr Region, suggestedI do some things and ask people.
So I went out and saw EveHoover and S people.
So I went out and saw Eve Hooverand Eve was always very
involved in the UNA area, and soI asked him.
I said would you, could yougive me a deal on pouring the
concrete?
(09:56):
He first said no, and then hesaid I'll go down there and get
Larry Hayes to play the band,but contribute to cement and get
Buddy Skinner over at TennesseeProducts to donate the sand.
I'll pour all the concrete.
And we thought we'd run intorock everywhere.
But in left field we had to godown 38 feet to get one light
(10:21):
tower up, but again, eve Hooverdid that.
Another guy contributed, arlissGreen did all the gap work,
caulking, and so, with the helpof Nashville and everybody else,
it was a Nashville product.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And so I think all that helped us.
When, when we opened we weren't100 finished but uh, we didn't
have the field graded right, soI graded.
Uh, we went on a road trip forabout 12 days so we brought a
grader in in right field afterafter our first homestand and
(11:06):
covered it with straw andMemphis came into play and their
coach came in and said worstfield ever sold there.
Worst field ever sold.
And they beat us in adoubleheader and I asked him
what do you think about thatfield?
And I said best field ever.
He said best field ever saw.
Best field ever saw.
(11:26):
He became a major leaguemanager.
Every time I saw him he startedout with that that, but it
really was uh trying time.
Yeah, but I was still coachingat vanderbilt when I the first
year okay but it hadn't been forconway, we couldn't have got it
done.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, and just I mean , what a kind of combination of
things that had to come together.
One, he was moving here.
Two, he had a child in yourcamp, so he knew enough about
you to know you were a stand-upguy and that you do what you say
you're going to do and you cantell a lot of somebody how they
(12:03):
can.
And he had a great love ofbaseball.
Yeah, and you know we weretalking just a moment ago.
Hard to believe it's been 32years since he passed.
Yeah, it's true, it's been along time Now.
All those people comingtogether I mean I think you kind
(12:24):
of said this is it really wasNashville's team, not just
because it was in Nashville, butbecause so many people had a
part of it.
And I'm sure in those first,maybe that first season, a lot
of that was because they wantedpeople to come and see it,
because they'd been a part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
That's true, and we had no other team.
So the newspaper, the TVstation, they really covered us.
And so it was a long, long gap,probably 15 or 16 years, from
the time the Nashville Vols wentout of business, as they
weren't drawing at all in adilapidated stadium until they
(13:03):
had really something other thanthey, vanderbilt, uh, sports in
Nashville, sure, and it was nofootball, there was no, even the
hockey team, the Dixie Flyershad disbanded.
So, uh, we were kind of theonly team in town.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, um, and how was it?
You know, obviously you werefinishing up as, as you were
going along still coaching at atvanderbilt, um, was there a
clear jumping off point where,where you knew you had to go all
in and and be running thesounds, or well, I'd already.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We in the after our initial year, even though we had
13 rain outs, we still setattendance records.
Uh, we had bought a team ingreensboro okay, north carolina,
bring baseball back there inclass a.
And I knew that, hey, that wasuh going to be the last year I
could double up.
So I already made up my mind atthe end of the 79th year I
(14:03):
would leave vanderbilt.
But, uh, the but the NCAAstepped in and said I was
connected with Pro Ball.
So they passed a thing thatsaid, hey, you need to go ahead
and pass the torch.
This was in January of 79.
So I stepped down in January of79.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Gotcha.
And then, as you guys werefinishing and had your first
season underway for the Sounds,what did the second season look
like?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Well, we came in and finished what we had not started
, and so we were with theCincinnati Reds and a very
popular team at that time.
They gave us great talent butthey wouldn't let us use the
designated hitter, but otherteams could against us.
(14:56):
So we was kind of at acrossroads.
So we'd already announced wewas going to leave them at the
end of the year.
But they had such a good teamand good pitching, great hitting
, we wound up winning thechampionship.
Oh wow.
The last year was with them andthen we signed with the yankees
(15:17):
uh for 1980 and uh 1980, andthey just gave us great teams.
The 1981 team was loaded upwith all-stars Hall of Famers.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That's fantastic.
What a great place to be in andstories to tell Of that era.
Who was your favorite player?
There was two that era.
Who was your favorite player?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
There's two.
One was Skeeter Barnes, anotherwas Willie McGee.
Willie was, he's such a humblesuperstar.
I always remember he could runso good that he played center
(16:08):
field and somebody hit one outthere, really hit it hard.
He turns his back on the balland hit him right in the middle
of the back of his back.
I said Willie, slow down, themiddle of the back of his back.
I said willie, slow down, andwhen he got to the big leagues,
uh with uh st louis he had hit.
We were my wife and I was atthe world series game against
(16:31):
milwaukee and he hit two homeruns, made a circus catch in
game one, and the next day hecame up to the gate while I was
waiting on the gate to come on.
I said, willie, I thought you'dbe taking batting practice.
He said he just wanted to seesome of the buildings in
Milwaukee and ask him how he'sdoing with his big paychecks now
(16:52):
.
And he said well, coach, youknow I came from nothing and so
I'm just kind of living off mymeal money here and saving my
money to buy my mama a house.
Oh, wonderful and then Skeeterwas a guy right out of high
school, been up down, up down,was thinking about quitting and
(17:13):
going to work for the firedepartment in Indianapolis and
asked me to recommend him.
I said sure, but you knowyou're making $5,000 a month
being an insurance policy.
He stuck around, got withDetroit, got, you know, played
every position, got four or fiveyears in the big league, still
involved in baseball,professional baseball.
(17:36):
So just because of their workethic and coming from nothing to
make something of themselves,just admired me.
And there was plenty of othersI could have named.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Sure, sure.
Well, I think it's those thatstand out, that have that work
ethic, that also have um, Idon't even know if I want to say
humble, but uh, they appreciatewhere they are and what they're
doing.
Sure, do.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, um, now want to say humble, but uh they
appreciate where they are andwhat they're doing?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
sure do, yeah.
Um, now I'm sure there were alot of things, even even after
you guys um, you know, got thefunding and and got your first
season underway and those typesof things.
What were some expect?
Unexpected challenges, thatthat hit you.
That would have caused mostpeople to stop.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Well, I had no money.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That'll do it.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But you know, I remember John Bibb told me when
I first started out he saidSmittle, you're going to go
broke.
I said well, I'm already brokeso I can't do any worse, so not
having any money.
But after we got going we hadtoo large of an ownership group
with too many different opinionsand that was a mistake the good
(18:44):
people but you've got to have ahead that has full authority.
That's right and everybody elsepulling for them.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, and so how did that shake out?
How did you have those?
There's a lot of people thatwould delay that and delay that
and it would hurt the team.
Obviously, you had to go aheadand deal with those.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Well, we bought out a few people and they made money
when they sold and, like I said,there's good people.
We just had differentphilosophies.
I always thought put the moneyin, you get your money when you
get out and put your money rightback into.
(19:27):
And being a general partner,that means you're 100%
responsible for your debts.
A limited partner, you'relimited to your exposure, but
you're also limited to how youmuch power you have, sure.
So, uh, none of us wereexperienced business people, so,
(19:50):
uh, uh, you know, and some ofthe things just worked their
self out you know, conway had tosell.
He went through a divorce andand, uh, he sold his.
Some of us bought his share,and then we uh had a couple new
people came in when we wastrying to get major league
baseball, and especiallyincluding bronson ingram, and so
(20:15):
, uh, there at the, it hadnothing to do with bad ownership
, it's just timing of when theTitans came, we knew where the
money was going.
It was going to be a tough roadto hold, sure, and after 19
years, I made a decision for thebest for my family, it's best
(20:37):
for me to go ahead and get out.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
And take my money and do something else.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Sure, sure, and along the way, and I didn't know this
until we were talking earlierbut you had a big role with the
Rangers, kind of in the middleof that.
How did that come to be?
How did that come to be?
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, the Rangers were struggling to draw people
in 1982.
Joe Klein, who was the generalmanager of the Rangers at the
time, called me in February andsaid do you ever been
propositioned this early in themorning?
I said never been propositioned, period.
But he said could you come outhere and be interviewed to take
(21:19):
over about 13 departments?
And so I went out, met theowner, eddie Childs, and we had
an interview.
He offered me the job, told mewhat was in front of me and we
only had one way to go and thatwas up.
And so we put in some familypromotions like we had in the
(21:43):
sounds, and I had four goodyears there.
But Mr Childs was losing moneyin his other business and had to
sell and it was kind of afterfour years.
It was do you stay, do you go?
I thought Mr Gaylord was goingto buy them out but he backed
(22:06):
out at the last minute and so Iwent a mutual understanding, I
tell people I left for healthreasons.
They got sick and tired of me.
But well, uh well, I had adisagreement with the person
that they put in charge of baseof the whole company company.
(22:26):
And then that's when they soldto Georgia George Bush's group.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Gotcha Okay, and so then you got all your focus or
most of your focus back here inNashville.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I came back in 86, end of 86.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yeah, and then most of your focus back here in
nashville right came back in 86,end of 86, yeah, and then, uh,
fast forward.
We know, uh, you know it wasgoing to be tough once the
titans, you know, were heregetting the attention, getting
the funding, all those things,um, but I'm sure it was also a
tough decision to to make afteryou'd grown it from just an idea
.
No, it wasn't okay.
Yeah, I got it I got it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
You have to be where it wasn't fun okay and I always
say if you don't enjoy whatyou're doing, go do something
else.
And uh, so I was.
I was ready.
I got a good offer from somepeople in Chicago and some of
the other owners sold with meWalter and two of the Smiths
(23:26):
boys.
So it all worked out.
I knew I was going to dosomething else, I just didn't
know what it was.
I'm 60 years old.
I was 57 years old when I soldit, yeah, so it took me a while
to figure out what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
But I was definitely going to do something.
Sure.
Well, and how did you end up inBoulder?
By accident, I wanted to dosomething that was similar to my
skills and all.
I was used to eat at a littleplace called Denison's up on 8th
Avenue, and the owner of theMelrose Center had eaten up
(24:07):
there several times, but he haddied, and so, after exploring a
couple other things that didn'tmeet my fancy, I approached his
daughter about buying Melroseand she wanted to sell, but her
stepbrother did not want to sell, so that didn't work out.
(24:35):
In the meantime, actually goingback to baseball, I had put
together a group trying to getMajor League Baseball to
Nashville Right, and I didn'thave enough money to be the lead
dog.
But I made acquaintances withRick Scott.
Rick had been the head of HCA,had left there, but I knew he
(25:01):
was a tiny part of the groupthat bought the Rangers and he
was from Kansas City.
So we had made an approach tobuying Kansas City.
That went to the guy that wasalready running them, that was
from the Walmart clan.
So Rick stayed on me, let's dosomething together.
(25:25):
And so the center inMurfreesboro, tennessee, became
available.
We reached agreement.
I had presented to Rick.
Here's an idea.
I had taken the financialstatements of a company called
Bowl America that at that timeowned 18 bowling centers, but
(25:51):
they were publicly traded andthey were all made mostly in one
area of Washington Baltimorearea and I said we could do this
.
So I got involved with thePatrick family.
Doug had been in baseball Imean in bowling for a time.
(26:13):
So I said why don't you stickwith me for 90 days and teach me
something about this?
And so that was our firstcenter and we bought it.
Then, all of a sudden, a lot ofother people said it's time for
us to get out.
So by the next July 1, we wentfrom owning no centers in
September of 2000 to owning six,six months later in Louisville
(26:37):
and Nashville.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah, that's a fast lesson, yep, but you had to have
some joy in it to stay in itthis long.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, I enjoy it.
I enjoy my employees.
We have 500-some-odd employeesnow and I really enjoy the
customers.
That's what I enjoyed about thesounds.
I enjoyed walking those stepsand talking.
Enjoy the customers that's whatI enjoyed about the sounds.
I enjoyed walking those stepsand talking to the customers.
(27:10):
I enjoyed talking baseball tothem.
I'm a good listener.
Some people don't think that,but I'm a real good listener.
So when I got into bowling Ilistened to you league bowlers
gripe.
I listened to old open bowlersof what they liked and then I
decided I got different groupsin here.
(27:30):
These league bowlers want lowprices, a consistent shot.
Most people don't know whatthat is.
They want equipment at work.
They want a clean facility andthey want employees that are
polite.
My open bowlers they don't careabout the shots, they think
(27:53):
it's something you drink.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
But they want good food, they want good drinks,
they want to have a good time,they want to hear some music.
So it didn't take me long tofigure out what the different
groups wanted, and I knew I hadto overcome to the league
(28:15):
bowlers of the initial thoughtwell, he don't like league
bowlers.
I loved them, it just wasn'tenough of them.
So you know, we had to havedifferent game plans for leagues
, different game plans for openbowlers, different game plans
for birthday parties,fundraisers, whatever.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah Well, I think that's where so many people go
wrong is they don't get thatit's different customers that
have a desire to be treateddifferently and as long as you
listen enough to get, I mean,you're not going to make
everybody happy, but if you cankind of segment them out and say
this is what we do for these,this is what we do for them.
(28:54):
One of the things that I thinka lot of bowling centers could
learn from you is the fact thatyou do have a sizable arcade or
other types of activities where,if the family wants to come,
it's not just bowling.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
They can spend all day there if they want to, right
, and we have some full familyentertainment center like
Hendersonville.
We have 46 lanes.
Yeah Well, monday, tuesday,wednesday and Thursday night
we're totally full with leaguebowlers.
I love that, but on the othernights we are usually pretty
full with open bowlers.
(29:32):
And you know, if you don't wantto bowl number one, you can
ride, you can go play laser tag,roller skate, bungee jump,
bumper cars, video games, or youjust go eat some real good food
.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
And shoot a game of pool.
So we have one of those in eachof our markets, pretty much
with the exception of Knoxville,in each of our markets, pretty
much with the exception ofKnoxville, and uh, so you know
we, it's expensive to own abowling center.
People don't realize that it'sexpensive.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Each lane is expensive.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Well, not only that, the whole building's expensive.
You got air conditioners, yougot a whole lot of square
footage to put a bowling center.
So, and when you?
You know your league bowlerthat's most league bowlers don't
really know what they're payingthe owner.
They know what the usbc fees isand the prize money, but mostly
we're getting like 12 andyou're there for two and a half
(30:37):
hours.
Where else can you go and beentertained for less than $5 an
hour?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Well, and one of the things too is it's almost like
and as a league bowler, assomebody that's been a bowler
the last 25 years, itdisheartens me sometimes that
they will put so much onus onthe owner when it's not their
fault, meaning everything's goneup, inflation has been crazy,
(31:07):
and, yes, league bowling hasgone up, but the cost of league
bowling has not gone up anywherenear the rate that inflation
has, and so the business owneris really the one covering the
cost on that, and so sometimesit's just I wish people would be
more appreciative of the owner.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Well, I just hope they have a good time.
You know that's a businessdecision.
You know you're a league bowler.
You're bowling for less than $4a game.
You don't rent shoes, right.
An open bowler comes in, he'sgoing to pay $5.50.
Open bowler comes in, he'sgonna pay 550 a game, plus he's
gonna rent shoes.
So all that goes into makingmoney.
(31:49):
We're not a non-profitorganization.
We make money, that's right.
So and you know I do thebudgets I've turned over a a lot
of control to the kids but andI'm eventually going to go away
but uh, you know we we have tomake money to keep going to do
capital improvements, sure, uh,to buy other centers and to pay
(32:12):
our employees a competitive wage.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
That's right, and that becomes more challenging
every every year.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Oh, it's really been challenging the last year.
Our labor costs has gone upabout 15%.
Sure.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Um, and what did?
Uh, I hate to open this, thiswound, but what did?
What did COVID do to you guys,you know, as as an owner and
with multiple centers?
Um, was it?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
well, it just caught us by surprise.
I mean, we got shut downeverywhere within 24 hours, all
every center closed and so for90 days we had no revenue.
Fortunately, uh, as part ofownership, you know, I've
developed a plan where everyemployee would be taken care of
(33:01):
If they made more money by goingon unemployment.
They went on that, knowingthey're coming back when we got
open.
If they didn't make as much, wejust kept them on.
We cleaned and we cleaned andwe cleaned for that 90 days and
I put a little extra money inthere and, fortunately, when it
(33:21):
was over, people just flockedback.
I always tell this story whenTennessee allowed us to open in
May or whatever day it was.
Last day of May we opened ateight o'clock and the first
person at the door was a 92 yearold league bowler that was
(33:43):
wanting to see his friends yeah,that's, that's the story.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Right there, people were starved for that social
interaction.
I mean, it's why I ball.
You Don't get me wrong, I lovebowling, but sometimes bowling
is work, but it's theinteractions that you have.
It's that weekly.
I know I'm going to see thesepeople.
We're going to probably havethe same conversation we've had
50 times before, but we're goingto laugh, just like we always
(34:09):
have.
And you take that away frompeople and some people don't
make it.
Oh uh, you take that away frompeople and some people don't
make it, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Oh yeah, we had a lot of bowling centers that went
away.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Sure, and, and it feels like more every day with
land values going up, um, youknow, it becoming harder to
service the customer.
So customers, you know, uh kindof hiding behind that, uh,
their keyboard keyboard trashingplaces, whereas they could have
just had a conversation.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I mean, I get it.
You know, we've lost Just herelocally.
Donaldson was not long ago.
Now you've got one in Donaldson.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Donaldson Blassum.
Yeah, and also Hermitage.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Yep, and then is Oak Valley still around.
No, it's been gone a long time.
I thought it had been goneMelrose.
Obviously it's all apartmentbuildings these days, hillwood,
which I know.
Hillwood was a challenge.
We were talking about thatearlier.
You know.
Share a little bit about thatbecause I'm sure somebody right
now has a center or has abusiness where they have
(35:12):
multiple locations and they haveone.
That is challenging from justan overall experience like
Hillwood.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Well, number one, they repriced us out in rent.
But even if that wasn't, we hada lot of trouble at that
Hillwood location.
There was differentdemographics who were there,
from the very, very wealthy tomiddle class, to the lower class
, and we had more disturbancesthere than all my other centers
(35:44):
had together.
So even though I'm from WestNashville, that center was just
different.
It just was a differentchallenge every weekend of the
clientele, the height for theclientele.
You'd love to have the otherheight if you wanted to get away
(36:05):
.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
And it's such a shame too, because it was a beautiful
center and I remember that onewas that the Kmart or the
Walmart, it was a.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Kmart.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
And it went to me to square feet and, uh, I think we
had a, you know it was a familyentertainment center, but we had
a wall between there, which I,you know, never again would I do
that Sure.
So, uh, and it helped me todesign Hendersonville to where,
traditional on one side, familyfun center on the other side.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, I mean, the thing about it is you learn from
that and you take it into thenext one.
Yeah, and I think a lot ofpeople you know we were talking
the other day.
You're 84, is that right?
Speaker 2 (36:50):
84, going on 85.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And still working six days a week.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Yeah, I don't work eight hours a day.
That's a little misleading, butI'm there five or six hours a
day for six days.
On Sundays, I try to do alittle paperwork at home.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Sure, but there's plenty of people that would say
you know I'm going to put myfeet up.
But I think it's that workethic, I think it's the passion
that drives you, is what keepsyou going.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Well, I've had an opportunity to sell at a company
, bolero.
Now They've been trying to buyeverybody and I've known the
head of Bolero since he onlyowned one center Very smart man,
tom Shannon, but I've turnedhim down twice.
I mean I, next year, I couldhave walked away with a whole
(37:40):
bunch of money, but I'd like tosee my company survive after I'm
long gone.
Sure, and I think it means somuch to number one, it would
disrupt my 500-some-oddemployees.
They're counting on us for apaycheck.
Sure, they've been loyal to me.
(38:00):
Why shouldn't I be loyal tothem?
That's right, and even thoughit's changing the landscape of
bowling, it's harder to findmechanics.
Now it is.
A lot of people are going tostring pin setters.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
We haven't done that yet thank you and I know that's
hard um you know I was talkingto um, um, the guy that owns
eastside bowl charke yeah, andyou know he said I don't need a
mechanic it.
One time, one time in the last18 months, I had to send the
(38:35):
bartender back there and unwindthe pins.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I said you know it's Well you're fixing to find out
in Pinnacle.
Well, I believe it, becausethey're already putting them in
their center in Murfreesboro.
So you know, fortunately wehave really good mechanics.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Yeah, and so.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
That have been with you a long time too, some of
them.
Yeah, boyd cantrell has beenwith me for 24 years.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
He's a year older than me I love that that's great
jim you were talking aboutdifferent bowlers yeah um,
besides yourself being one ofhis favorite bowlers, it's other
favorite bowlers are thespecial needs.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Oh yeah, that means a lot, yeah, and I mean they just
light up it's just we havealmost full house of special
need kids on monday night thatthey have been uh, something.
When I say kids, some of thoseare 30 year olds and uh, I tell
everybody, if you really want tosee some real love, come and
(39:34):
look at the parents of thosekids.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
And we had a young girl bowl 300.
Oh my gosh, Really Specialneeds.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Yep, that's fantastic .
You know, one of the thingsthat I love about bowling is you
can beat two and push the balldown the slide.
You can be 92.
And everybody can have funtogether.
Don't get me wrong, I never wasany good at baseball, but I
(40:04):
understand why people love it.
But baseball is not necessarilya sport that from two to 92
could play, you know.
And so to have a sport that thewhole family could play, really
your whole life, if you'restill upright, you, you can.
You can figure out a way to doit.
I don't know if you ever knewdon derr from clarksville, but
(40:26):
he was 92 when he passed away ayear before last, and he bowled
all the way up until about sixweeks before he passed away.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Well, we had a bowler in knoxville that just passed
away who was 104, oh my god.
And when she's 102 she's inthree leagues.
Never started bowling untilshe's 65 and her husband died it
was for that social aspect yeahand and the exercise that comes
(40:54):
from it.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
I mean you, you think about it.
I mean, um, you know you, ifyou're going to throw a ball, I
mean everybody bowls three games.
There's plenty of watchers outthere that may not be bowlers,
but in in league you're boththree games and you're going to
throw that ball somewhere in theneighborhood of 36 to 72 times
and it's anywhere from 10 poundsup to 16 pounds.
(41:18):
That's a decent workout, butit's also that social
interaction with the people thatyou're bowling with, just the
interaction with your teammembers, matters.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
It does and you know 90% of our league bowlers are in
it.
For those reasons thecompanionship, the money leagues
I try to stay away from thoseleagues don't mean turn them
away for bowling.
I just don't want to go and bethe spectator, right?
Because that's when the peopleare really just bowling for
(41:52):
money.
They're not bowling for the funof the game.
They're going to get in therewhere it has the biggest prize
fund and they're usually hotshot bowlers, sure, and so I've
seen them from where leagueprizes fund is $25,000 to $2,000
, but there's more arguments anddiscontent in those leagues
(42:14):
than any other league you have?
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Oh, I believe that.
And I started out on a funleague.
It was a Sunday night.
They called it the restaurantleague, you know, because it was
after everybody kind of got offwork.
I think it started at 1030 or11 o'clock at night on a Sunday.
And then I've been on the sameThursday night league for 24, 25
years somewhere around in there.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
That's a money league , isn't?
Speaker 1 (42:37):
it.
It really used to be more sothan it is these days.
There were a few years where itwasn't a full league anymore,
and so it's modified these days,but some of your best bowlers
within 500 miles are in thatleague.
Some of them drive two hours toget there.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Sandra Sears in there every week, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Yeah, Um, and a lot of them you see in your money
leagues you know they they bowlfour or five nights a week and,
uh, it's a, it's a job to themand you know, when it gets to be
a job for me, it's uh, I take abreak or uh, those types of
things.
But you know, one of thehardest things I ever did in 20,
(43:20):
let's see 2016, we had a big,we had to go through a gigantic
growth phase at work and, um, Ihad to let my team know.
You know, I'm I don't know whenI'll be back, and it was almost
three years and coming backfrom that was maybe the hardest
thing.
I did not realize how much Iwould lose, you know, just the
muscle memory and all the things.
(43:41):
It was tough but so glad that Idid because it's the familiar
faces, it's all the things.
Who's been a mentor for you?
Kind of through that, I'm surethat these days you're a mentor
for others, but who?
Who helped you along the way?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
well, I don't.
I think the most help that Ireceived to turn me to, to set
me a standard, was jess neely,my athletic director at
Vanderbilt.
He had been a head footballcoach at Rice and Clemson and
he's just a man of integrity.
(44:20):
I remember when he came to seeme at Goodell's he said I want
you to be our baseball coach atVanderbilt and I said why would
I want to do that?
Y'all not very good.
And he said well, you're right,we're not, but I'll help you.
And it's just something aboutthat man.
And I learned that you know hewas at rice when bear bryant was
(44:45):
at a and m.
He would never call bear barry,called him paul because Paul
had been caught cheating at A&Mand he just emphasized play by
the rules.
When things go bad, don't beblaming other people, don't take
(45:06):
credit for everything.
You know he's just a mannerthat he had and he was up.
In his years After he quitbeing AD he served as a golf
coach at Vanderbilt and he wasjust an inspiration to me.
You know, keep your word.
(45:29):
If you give your word, keep it.
If something comes up you can't, you go explain why you can't
do that and treat your playerswith respect, treat them all
like, give them a responsibilityand hold them to that.
You know I can't emphasize anymore from what I learned at
(45:52):
Vanderbilt dealing with lessthan what other teams had, but
not using it as an alibi.
Sure, that probably taught memore than any other thing I've
done.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
A lot of people don't realize how many different
types of jobs there are inbowling, whether it's at the
center itself or whether themarketing for a center, the
business aspect of a center, theinventory management of a
center, the food and beverage,the hospitality side, we have a
world of first-time job holders,especially in our circus world,
our family entertainment center.
Speaker 2 (46:26):
We've got a lot.
I mean, picture yourself asyou're now the general manager,
yourself as you're now thegeneral manager, and on
Saturdays you've got 16teenagers working over there.
They all have their cell phones.
They want to talk on their cellphones and you don't want them
to talk on their cell phones,you want them to do their job.
(46:49):
You know, some people say theowners chased them off.
Well, or it got too expensiveTime chased them off.
You know it's more things forpeople to do.
Instead of saying I'm going totie up 32 consecutive Thursdays
to go bowl, I want to do otherthings.
(47:12):
You know I love bowling.
So most of your leagues thatyou start now are 12, 14, 16
week leagues.
Take a couple weeks off atChristmas if you really love it,
we have another 14 week league.
So if you start a new league,say we got a new league and we
(47:33):
we got a new league and we'regoing to bowl 35 weeks, you're
going to have like two teams.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Yeah, you're not going to get new bowlers, no
Well, and I hear stories aboutyou all the time.
Team is Jim Cripps here withthe Charge Forward Podcast.
I just want to tell you I loveyou, I appreciate you listening,
I appreciate you forsubscribing and sharing the
Charge Forward podcast withpeople you know and you love,
because that's what we're herefor.
We are here to share theamazing stories, the things that
(48:01):
people have been through, theways that they were able to
improve their life, so that youcan take little nuggets from
theirs and help improve yourstory and be better tomorrow
than you were today.
I hope that this is the toolyou needed at the right time and
that you find value in theamazing guests that we bring
each and every week.
Thanks so much and don't forgetnew episodes drop every
(48:26):
Thursday.
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