March 28, 2025 • 36 mins
A hockey dad got enraged at his son's coach's behavior and ended up killing him
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Sports for kids in America began with what we affectionately
called sandlot ball, where kids organized their own games, made
their own rules, and played until the sun went down.
Then came along parents, Oh gonna get.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
You night because you let me down.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Oh you did. I'll give what you do in letting
Dale Honka.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
If you're going to play hund percent, I'll get you
boys Croubo Day.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
The National Alliance for Youth Sports was born out of
a desire to bring order to the world of organized
sports for children in America. While for the most part,
children have a great experience playing sports, far too often
parents and coaches lose perspective. This program is aimed at
bringing some of America's best experts to talk about what
(01:30):
we can do to change the atmosphere of win at
all costs and parent poor behavior to one that focuses
on children having a positive learning experience through sports. Here's
our host, Fred Ang, the founder of the National Alliance
for Youth Sports.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Hey, good morning everybody, and welcome to the show. We
got a great one today with somebody that's name is
Jacob Smith. Yeah, Jacob Smith. I looked up Jacob Smith
on the internet and there's forty two thousand Jacob Smith.
I'm just kidding. No, Jacob Smith is our guest today,
(02:14):
and so this is funny. I asked Jacob, I said,
you know, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
He said, have you ever heard the show called Shorzy?
And I said no? And then all of a sudden
I found out. I looked about the show Shresy It's
on Hulu. And guess who's on the show our guests today, Jacob.
(02:38):
So welcome Jacob, and thanks a lot for being on it.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yeah, Freddie, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah. You know, the thing is is that with ice
hockey here in America, I guess it's kind of like man,
not as much as it is in Canada obviously, because
it's you know, Little League baseball started here as you
saw on the intro, and now it's become soccer here
in America. But I wonder what it's like there in
(03:06):
Canada with ice Hockey's it's still the greatest thing going
for kids.
Speaker 6 (03:12):
Yeah, and I think I think you were able to
see that with that Four Nations tournament that just got
put on. You could see how many people are still.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Obsessed.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
I guess it would be a good word for it,
watching hockey and obsessed about hockey. And you got a
taste of it down here in Florida, and it was
probably tenfold that up in Canada. Everybody I knew, and
I don't have social media too much, but the little
bit that I do have, everybody and their dog was
(03:44):
posting about it. And it's that much more important for
obviously kids too to get into it, and especially especially
now I know you know you don't see. I guess
that's a whole other topic, but yes, it's really big.
It's really big in youth sports as well.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
What you mentioned you mentioned about for kids. What was
your background in hockey? How old are you wore you
when you started?
Speaker 6 (04:14):
It's a photo of me skating at about two and
a half three years old, So my dad started me young.
My mom tells a story like this. When I was
a baby, I got toys. When I turned two, I
got tools. When I turned three, I got a hockey
stick and that was it.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So is that typical for every kid in Canada?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I think so. I think so.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
You know, you could look at it through a genetic perspective.
My grandfather played hockey and loved it, big maple Leafe fan.
My dad played hockey and loved it, big Oilers fan.
And when I started being interested in sports was basketballs.
There was football, just like any other kid. But I
(05:03):
took to hockey. And I had a big, big old basement.
I was lucky. In Canada we have basements. I know
you you don't know what that is down here in Florida,
but in Canada we do. And that's uh. We had
a finished side and an unfinished side. The unfinished side
was more so for my dad's golf. He was in
(05:23):
the golf business for his you know, sports memorabilia and
his sports demos and whatever. And on the other side
was a carpeted finished side for my hockey net and
hockey sticks. So that's that's I started at three and
then I was downstairs every chance I got growing up,
and that's kind of what molded my passion for the game.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
It's kind of funny, you know, with me with ice
hockey and whatnot. My my son Pat asked me, you
know when the Panthers, the Florida Panthers were, you know
up there obviously a winning that the championship, but me,
you know, did I follow hockey? And I said, no,
I haven't followed hockey. But the weirdest thing is you
(06:07):
probably have heard they're called the Johnstown Jets, and that
was many years ago. My grandfather used to take me
to watch the ice hockey team play there, and I
remember how much I used to love playing it, or
I mean, watching it and never playing it. And it's
just amazing how it just, you know, hasn't grown here
(06:31):
in America, but you're playing. And when you started out playing,
I just wonder, you know, you've seen what our organization
is all about. And you probably looked at the book
that I wrote, Why Johnny Hay Sports. I began with myself.
(06:52):
I was an athlete. I was a wrestler in high school, college,
and you know, I was a recreation professional and I
used to oversee fifteen thousand kids in all kinds of
different sports, and then I began to see all the
problems that went on with parents and with coaches losing
all kinds of perspective, and I said, this is crazy.
(07:13):
Somebody's got to do something about it. I mean, yeah,
it's competition, is great for kids, and I'm a very
competitive person myself, but to see what was happening and
going on, I said to myself, somebody's got to do
something about it. So I guess it ended up being me.
But my question for you, Jake, is that in Canada
(07:38):
is it the same. I mean, do parents and coaches
get out out of whack like they do here?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Yeah? Big time, really big. It's probably.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
I mean, I don't know as far as in comparison
to baseball and basket all, you know, the four majors football,
but it would be up there with the most intense.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Of all the sports.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
You got to think about first of all, that there's
no out in the actual sport itself. You're confined and
held into a playing surface by boards, so that in
itself is intense. Now tackle on the fact that you're
legally allowed to fight. Now in youth sports, it's changed
(08:33):
some leagues you're not even allowed to hit, which we
can go into that discussion as well. But yeah, and
that translates to such an intense game where now you
have fighting and hitting and it's physical, and you're confined
in this small space. You're attached to the way your
kids are handling each situation, and now the parents are
(08:55):
intense about everything.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
What do you think about that? I mean, well, what
do you think about the fact that, you know, if
you think of ice hockey, you know there's an old
expression you know it went to went to a game
and a fight broke out, or went to a fight
or game broke out. Yeah, what do you think about that?
I mean, that's the image a lot of Americans have
(09:21):
of the game of ice hockey, that it's just nothing
but bringing people togain to fight. What's your thoughts about it?
I mean, personally, you've been through it.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
As political as I can be. I I really enjoy
the fighting aspect of the game. Now being a part
of it, I think it's it's definitely sports are man's game.
You can't be a little boy in the field. It's
just it's it just is what it is. It doesn't
matter if it's the smallest, shortest, most unphysical sport. You
(09:54):
have to be a man. And what I mean by
that is you have to be strong, you have to
be disciplined, you have to be self controlled, you have.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
To be you know, all those things you know and
we you know.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
But with regards to hockey, I think because there is
such a it is such a physical sport, I think
I like, I personally love the fighting. I think there
is a place for it. I think you have to
be disciplined and self controlled. When I played, I had
to keep my head up, I had to know where
I was skating, who I was playing against. I think
(10:30):
that's an element of the game that that that shouldn't
die off. The short form from it for it is.
I do think there is a place for fighting. I
think there's a place for hitting. And I think with
regards to.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Let me stop you there, you say that there. First
of all, you said that it's a man's game. I
understand that. I used to coach high school football and
I always said football is a tough game. For tough
people and if you can't it be that, then you
don't belong out here on the field. It's a little
bit of difference though, and that is when you say
(11:07):
it's a man's game. When does become a man's game?
Because you've got how young four or five year old
kids playing competitive hockey. That's not a man, that's a kid.
So are you saying that it's okay for them to
be fighting at that age.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
No.
Speaker 6 (11:27):
Fighting is not legally allowed in the leagues that I'm
a part or that junior leagues until about eighteen, so
I think there is a threshold. Now there is a
league in Ontario that's sixteen to twenty one that fighting
is allowed. It's the most elite league that you can
play in at that age, and I think there is
(11:51):
a place for that now.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
When I was sixteen, I was not a man.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
I was playing against twenty one year old men, but
I was not a man at that point. But it
taught me how to be a man and taught me
how to grow up face adversity, be strong, be disciplined,
And I think that in regards to being a man,
there is a threshold. Obviously, later on in your late
(12:15):
teens and early twenties that that breaks through because of
your learning experience for hockey.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Do you think that that attitude of fighting is okay
and in a sense, you know, violence is okay. Do
you think that spills over into the stands, because I
I can't get out of my mind the incident that happened,
and even though it's an isolated incident that happened in
(12:46):
Massachusetts a few years back, where two of hockey dads
were there. It was a practice and the one guy's
in the stand, his son's out there on the ice,
and he coach got into it in an argument about
who was playing too rough and whatnot, and it ends
out the guy comes out of the stands, they get
(13:08):
on the ice. The guy's two hundred and seventy five pounds,
the other guy's about one hundred and fifty pounds. The
guy grabs him, throws him on the ice, takes his head,
bangs it into the ice, and kills him. So yeah,
I mean, that's obviously terrible. But my question to you
(13:28):
is is what is allowed at the older age of
violence fighting? Does that spill over to the individual in
the stands.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
No, I think that's an isolated incident, and that's unheard of.
Somebody got killed at sant Hill Crane a few months back,
and that was an isolated incident. Doesn't mean that people
are getting killed on the golf course. So that's just
the way I can say about that. And also I
think that the fan in general in hockey are a
lot more team than football fans through my experience, So
(14:05):
if it in relation to that particular incident, I don't
think hockey hasn't any way shape or form a greater
effect on parental violence or or fan violence for that matter.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, I mean, so obviously you grew up and that's
in the world of ice hockey, and I can understand that.
It's like anybody that grew up with a particular different
sport and they played it all their life. What we
have now here you're seeing in the US is soccer
and kids everywhere where it used to be baseball fields,
(14:45):
now what they're playing on is soccer, taking those baseball
fields away. And so now you have a new sport
that is emerging here, and I guess it, you know,
it spills over for every kid to choose whatever he wants.
But in your case, you know, I think it's really
(15:06):
interesting how you grew up and two years old and
you're getting skates and three years old you're out there
and you end up, as you told me the other day,
you played over in France. How did that get to
be going to France and playing ice hockey.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Well, I will say this in pertaining to hockey before
we jump into that, that hockey is a very unique
sport in that you need money to play it. Soccer
you know, you need what initiation fee and shoes. Basketball
you need a ball and shoes, same kind of thing.
(15:45):
Football you need a little more gear, but you know,
other than that, like maybe that's all you need, and
then hockey would be the fourth where now you need gear,
you need skates, you need stick, need equipment, you need
to rent the ice, you need to travel to play
other teams. Like it's a little more costly. So it's
(16:08):
a very privileged sport I think. And in that, you know,
I was blessed and lucky to play it.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And I don't think it's going to be as common.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
You're not going to see it as popular as soccer,
baseball or whatever what have you, simply because of the
cost of doing it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
And do you feel bad about that's what I mean
by saying, do you feel bad about that? I feel
bad for the kids here in the US. That now
what they call travel leagues, and the only way that
you can get in that is just what you describe.
(16:47):
People might have money that can pay the travel and
all that, and people are spending thousands and thousands of dollars.
You're saying kind of almost the same thing with ice
hockey for kids in Canada.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Right, And that's just kind of where the economy is,
and that's just where you know. Unfortunately, that's just kind
of situation now. Talents, talent will take you far. Hard
work will take you far, but you need to get
your foot in the door somehow, and sometimes money plays
a big role in that. Unfortunately. That's just yeah, like
I said, where we are. So I personally, I don't
(17:24):
feel bad. I use that as like, Okay, now I'm
I'm blessed to have had that opportunity and how can
I best utilize that to my advantage and to ultimately
others advantage, to my child, to my family and so
on and so forth.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So back to the point that you evaded about going
to France, I need to evade it. But you switched here.
But what what happened with that? You went to France?
How that's kind of weird.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
So I played hockey. I was pretty highly touted. When
I was about sixteen, I had a year. Again, this
is my going back to making you a man. I
had a year that I was not.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Up to par.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
I was still a boy playing in a man's league,
and it wasn't. It didn't go well for me, but
it taught me a lot and I'm super blessed about it,
blessed to have that experience. Now, after my junior hockey,
I went and played college hockey, and then after college
hockey here I am sitting in purgatory and wondering do
I go pro or.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Do I just hang him up?
Speaker 6 (18:30):
And I had a buddy who he was a French
speaking Canadian who I played with on my university team,
who got a pretty good offer in one of the
Division IE leagues in France. And I texted him. I said, hey, man,
can I use your agent? Is there any way to
get me out there? And he said, well, it's pretty late,
(18:52):
but we can give it a shot. And so his
agent called me and said, hey, send me your information.
I know you played with Dion, So that's a good reference.
We'll figure it out. And then I think two days later,
the team that I ended up playing for had an opening.
One of the guys that was signed bailed and they
were looking to fill the spot within like that week.
They need They were like kind of panicking and they
(19:12):
needed a centerman or a winger forward that had good hands,
scoring ability, just kind of fit my mold, and it
just fell into place. The agent contacted me back, said
here's the offer on the table.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
This is what they have for you. It's either yes
or no.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
I talked to my parents about it, and I was
on a plane like three weeks later.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Wow, how lover did that last? Well?
Speaker 6 (19:38):
I would have probably been there a couple of years,
but then COVID hit in March. So this was August
of twenty nineteen, so I graduated in April twenty nineteen.
This was August of twenty nineteen, and I came home
March of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So you're off care over.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Yeah, yeah it is.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
I mean, we just want our adult league out here
in Boca, So I mean, I guess it's still living
and breathing somewhat. And then I do play against alumni
teams once a year NHL Alumni teams with the show
you mentioned in the intro. So I guess it's the
career itself is over, but I get to do some
pretty cool things with it.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, it's so funny hearing Sorry, I'm still trying to
get rid of a cold. It's so funny hearing you talk,
and as I listened to it. My whole experience, obviously
is everything in sports in America and it's with you
(20:39):
in Canada. It's just one sport. Is that the only
sport you ever played?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
I played soccer growing up quite like you talked about.
That was kind of our summer thing. Baseball wasn't really
popular at the time where I grew up, neither was football,
and plus, you know football, even if it was, I
would have been injury prone, and my dad was like,
you got to focus on hockey. So soccer was kind
of my summer sport because of the seasons, and then
(21:08):
hockey was my winter sport.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You probably wonder why I wrote the book Why Johnny
Hayes Sports, Why the National Alliance for Youth Sports was
ever created. I want to show you the press box
that we do from the organization every week and I
want to get your reaction to it, so want if
you could just show the press box. Those headlines are
(21:47):
one week of the press box, so it goes on
every week throughout the year. And we've never had a
lack of finding something that is what I want to
show you next. Can you?
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Seven hockey coach has been arrested following an incident at
a recent game on Saturday just before nine am. Woodstock
Police said the coach allegedly argued a call with the referee,
challenging the decision of the seven year old's hockey game.
The situation escalated, stopping the game. The referee kicked the
(22:25):
coach out of the game, but he reportedly refused to leave.
That led to police being called to help. Officers said
they escorted the coach to the dressing room to collect
his things, but the coach started yelling at people attending
the game. Police began to escort him out when he
became violent. In an outburst, he physically resisted officers and
(22:49):
began swinging his arms, leading to a confrontation. Two officers
were forced to physically restrain the coach after he assaulted them.
The coach faces charges for causing a disturbance, two counts
of assaulting a police officer, and one count of resisting arrest.
(23:09):
Officers remind the importance of sportsmanship and respect, especially in
kids ice sports, setting a good example for the players.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
What do you make of that, Jacob, I actually didn't
get to see the video.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Didn't pop up on my screen.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
It wasn't It was just an audio. But I'm wondering,
you know, I'm with the press box. You saw those
different headlines.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yes, the headlines. Yeah, you want me to speak about
those headlines?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
That was just an audio. After that, I'll give an
example there of one hockey situation. I'll give you one myself.
And you're probably you know, saying, you know, how much
do I know about it? I did after or organization
and began, so many different things happen, and I was
(24:05):
on every TV from ESPN to Good Morning America, on
and on and on and on. And I was in Tampa,
Florida one time in the station asked me, he said,
now I want you to look at this video and
tell me what you think. So I looked at it,
and there was an ice hockey game and the kid's
skating and whatnot, and they turned the camera to his father,
(24:29):
and a kid misses a goal and the father yells
down at him, you bum, you can never do anything.
And that's the thing that our organization is about of saying.
You know, you talked before about it's a man's game,
and yeah, that father telling his son to be a
(24:50):
man out there at seven years old. And yet at
the same time, what is that father or other father's
doing to the self estate of a kid that is
growing up that has been told he's a bum because
he just simply missed a goal. What do you think
of that?
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Well, first of all, I think that that that's not
the make of a man. I think that the father
is actually living through his child because of the insignificance
that he feels inside, and that is actually not what
a man is. A man is somebody who's humble, somebody
(25:36):
who is kind, somebody who is strong but yet knows
how to tame his tongue and temper, somebody who leads
by example. And that to me wouldn't be a good
example to set for my child. So, first of all,
we talk about a man's game, but that is not
indicative of a man.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, you know you said, you said something in the
beginning that when when I was asking you about singing
different things, and you indicated kind of, yeah, I've seen
a lot of the things that happened. Can you give
me an example of anything that you remember seeing or
hearing in your career. I'm not talking about older level,
(26:14):
I'm talking about seven to eight year old kids.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Okay. Actually happened to me one time.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
We were in practice and we were skating around, and
what happens is you skate around the circle and you
shoot on net and we had a goalie that was
turned the other way and I shot the puck because
I wasn't looking. I was probably about seven or eight,
maybe young, maybe even younger. But I shot the puck
and I lifted off the ice and I hit him
in the back. The call dropped, just a kid, you know,
(26:47):
he dropped and he was crying or whatever. And we
were waiting, like I went down on one knee. We
were waiting because the coaches were tending on them. And
the father ran on the ice and passed me and
pushed me over and like ran to his child and
like basically was like angry with me because me and
(27:10):
my six or seven year old kid, I didn't know
what I was doing.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
I just was skating around shooting the puck.
Speaker 6 (27:16):
But that's an example of well, first of all, a
father thinking that that's the proper way to protect this child,
I guess, by pushing a six year old kid, but
a way that the game parents could get heated because
a they lived through their child, or there's other stuff
going on behind the scenes that you don't quite know
(27:38):
about that comes out at the hockey rink, just because
I mean, that's the most intense that but an intense
moment of that family's life.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
I guess you could say.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah, that's that's why our organization was created, because so
much of that goes on that we don't even know about.
I mean I could I could sit here and tell
you story after story after story. Not that I went
(28:12):
through personally, but when I was coaching and when I
was a recreation professional seeing all of it, but all
these people across America. I'd go to different games and
conferences that people would tell me stories. So I used
to think people would say to me, you know, or
(28:33):
accuse me of being a whimp and saying, we're trying
to take competition out of the game and making it
a sissy game for kids, and that's not the truth.
The truth is is that what we're trying to do
is to make sports a safe experience for kids and
a fun experience. Because you know, probably better than anybody
(28:56):
coming all the way up and reaching a professional level.
Then unless it's a fun experience for you, unless you
don't have somebody criticizing you and putting you down all
the time, it's going to be, like you said, a
great experience for your life. So I'm going to ask you,
what do you think hockey has done for you as
(29:18):
an individual?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
I think hockey, above all, has taught me how to
face adversity, how to handle situational adversity, but also handling
conflict among bosses, among peers, among not enemies, but like
(29:44):
a competition.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
It's taught me how to be a better employee, better son,
a better father. It's taught me to be more disciplined,
more controlled, more passionate about life.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
It's given me the ability to.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
Even just operate differently physically, Like I just I feel
like it's athletically help my body.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Stay healthy, you know.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
But I feel like the most one is the one
I originally touched on was the adversity thing. And I
think that's what a lot of people don't necessarily realize
about sports is it's not just playing a game. There's
conflict involved, there's teamwork involved, and there's success involved, there's
(30:34):
failure involved, and it's a real important life lesson to
learn it all and how to handle it.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, it's so important. When you were saying that, I
kept thinking, and like I mentioned, my sport was wrestling,
and I can remember times when I wanted to die.
I was on the mat and somebody's just beating the
hell out of me, and I wanted to quit. I
wanted to just give up and never come out. And
(31:04):
I learned that if you do that, you've learned forever
doing that. And so what you're saying makes so much sense.
And that's the thing that we want kids to have,
is this great experience and not having parents get out
of whack, not having coaches living their lives through those
kids that are out there and not those coaches think
(31:27):
that they're professional coaches for eight year old children. So yeah,
it's been great, But you know, I'd be remiss if
I didn't bring up the fact of the show that
you're in called Suresy. And when I asked Jacob about it,
and he said, yeah, the show if you've seen it,
(31:47):
and I said, no, I haven't seen it, so he said, there,
I am in it. So I checked it out. But
you know, the funny thing is, Jacob, I, I don't
know whether I mentioned this to you the other day,
but I asked one of the guys that I played
golf with. I said, you ever hear the show called
Suresy And he said, oh, yeah, man, I watch that
all the time. It's a great show. Do you know
(32:11):
that Jacob's in that show? He said, why are you
kidding me? He said no, no, he is in it.
So I made you now famous. People don't realize that
as we're talking here, I met Jacob at the golf course.
So that's how our collection is, right, So tell them
just a little bit about that show.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
First of all, it's a it's a pretty witty, quick
like quick witted humor show. A lot of swearing, a
lot of chirping, you know, a lot of conflict. But
the show is mainly based on hockey. It's based on
a team. It's a fictional show based on a fictional
(32:56):
team that started off really crappy. Main character obviously, he's
named Suresey, and he brings in these ringers, these ex
professional hockey players to be to make the team better
and to win this senior hockey league. So that's that's
basically the storyline, and it's it's it's taken off. They're
(33:18):
they're filming the fifth season right now. I was lucky
enough to be part of eighteen episodes or three seasons.
There are six episodes per season. It was an incredible experience.
I had no prior acting experience or anything. I simply
got it from my hockey accolades. And now we're lucky
enough to go play NHL alumni teams. Last November we toured.
(33:41):
We went to Buffalo and played the Sabers. We went
to Boston and played the Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto,
we played the Leafs, and there's one other Blackhawks who
went to Chicago to play the Blackhawks. So these alumni
teams are they usually are about tough time finding guys
to play on the teams. They usually have a tough
(34:03):
time filling seats, and there was talks from the Boston
team that there was guys in Toronto team that there
was guys asking to be a part of that game
which never happens, and they couldn't. They couldn't seed everybody
because guys like Wendell Clark and Nick Andrewpov and Todd
Gill and you know, Frankie Crado, guys that have played
(34:27):
for them were already on the roster for the team.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So anyways, we toured for two weeks.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
We went to five cities and we sold a cumul
little of about twenty five thousand tickets in those in
those five cities, so it was a big hit. The
show has been a big hit, and it's been just
such a blessing to still continue to play hockey and
do what I love.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
So I guess I can call you a star.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I prefer Jacob.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Hey, listen, I want to thank you for being on.
It's been great and hearing all the things you know
with your hockey career and your insight is to you
know why we think about hockey the way we do,
and it's refreshing to know that you can hear it
from somebody that's played like you. So again, thanks, Jacob,
and I'll be checking on you when I see it
(35:18):
at the golf course.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
Yeah, for sure, thanks for having me on, Freddie, I
really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
You got it all right, fred angs.
Speaker 7 (35:30):
Billy Jones's Father is more than just a story about
a boy and his father. It's an eye opening journey
into the emotional struggles faced by children in the world
of competitive sports. As you turn the pages, you'll see
how unrealistic expectations and unchecked ambitions can shape, mold, and
(35:50):
sometimes break a child's spirit. This book dives deep into
the human experiences that resonate with so many and calls
on us to reflect on the roles we play in
the lives of young athletes.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Well that's it for this week, and I sure hope
that you will tune in next Friday at eleven am
for another exciting one. But it was great having Jacob Smith,
ice hockey player. I heard a lot of things I
haven't heard before, so I guess we're going to find
out some new things next week, So tune in see
(36:31):
you then.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
This program is sponsored by Sir Dirff Publishing in the
interest for better sports for kids, better kids for life.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
In this best selling book, a child, while failing to
live up to his father's expectations, is shamed and humiliated
beyond belief. He vows to never allow his own son
to face the same
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,
explicit or implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Sports for kids in America began with what we affectionately
called sandlot ball, where kids organized their own games, made
their own rules, and played until the sun went down.
Then came along parents, Oh gonna get.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
You night because you let me down.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Oh you did. I'll give what you do in letting
Dale Honka.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
If you're going to play hund percent, I'll get you
boys Croubo Day.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
The National Alliance for Youth Sports was born out of
a desire to bring order to the world of organized
sports for children in America. While for the most part,
children have a great experience playing sports, far too often
parents and coaches lose perspective. This program is aimed at
bringing some of America's best experts to talk about what
(01:30):
we can do to change the atmosphere of win at
all costs and parent poor behavior to one that focuses
on children having a positive learning experience through sports. Here's
our host, Fred Ang, the founder of the National Alliance
for Youth Sports.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Hey, good morning everybody, and welcome to the show. We
got a great one today with somebody that's name is
Jacob Smith. Yeah, Jacob Smith. I looked up Jacob Smith
on the internet and there's forty two thousand Jacob Smith.
I'm just kidding. No, Jacob Smith is our guest today,
(02:14):
and so this is funny. I asked Jacob, I said,
you know, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
He said, have you ever heard the show called Shorzy?
And I said no? And then all of a sudden
I found out. I looked about the show Shresy It's
on Hulu. And guess who's on the show our guests today, Jacob.
(02:38):
So welcome Jacob, and thanks a lot for being on it.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yeah, Freddie, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah. You know, the thing is is that with ice
hockey here in America, I guess it's kind of like man,
not as much as it is in Canada obviously, because
it's you know, Little League baseball started here as you
saw on the intro, and now it's become soccer here
in America. But I wonder what it's like there in
(03:06):
Canada with ice Hockey's it's still the greatest thing going
for kids.
Speaker 6 (03:12):
Yeah, and I think I think you were able to
see that with that Four Nations tournament that just got
put on. You could see how many people are still.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Obsessed.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
I guess it would be a good word for it,
watching hockey and obsessed about hockey. And you got a
taste of it down here in Florida, and it was
probably tenfold that up in Canada. Everybody I knew, and
I don't have social media too much, but the little
bit that I do have, everybody and their dog was
(03:44):
posting about it. And it's that much more important for
obviously kids too to get into it, and especially especially
now I know you know you don't see. I guess
that's a whole other topic, but yes, it's really big.
It's really big in youth sports as well.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
What you mentioned you mentioned about for kids. What was
your background in hockey? How old are you wore you
when you started?
Speaker 6 (04:14):
It's a photo of me skating at about two and
a half three years old, So my dad started me young.
My mom tells a story like this. When I was
a baby, I got toys. When I turned two, I
got tools. When I turned three, I got a hockey
stick and that was it.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So is that typical for every kid in Canada?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I think so. I think so.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
You know, you could look at it through a genetic perspective.
My grandfather played hockey and loved it, big maple Leafe fan.
My dad played hockey and loved it, big Oilers fan.
And when I started being interested in sports was basketballs.
There was football, just like any other kid. But I
(05:03):
took to hockey. And I had a big, big old basement.
I was lucky. In Canada we have basements. I know
you you don't know what that is down here in Florida,
but in Canada we do. And that's uh. We had
a finished side and an unfinished side. The unfinished side
was more so for my dad's golf. He was in
(05:23):
the golf business for his you know, sports memorabilia and
his sports demos and whatever. And on the other side
was a carpeted finished side for my hockey net and
hockey sticks. So that's that's I started at three and
then I was downstairs every chance I got growing up,
and that's kind of what molded my passion for the game.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
It's kind of funny, you know, with me with ice
hockey and whatnot. My my son Pat asked me, you
know when the Panthers, the Florida Panthers were, you know
up there obviously a winning that the championship, but me,
you know, did I follow hockey? And I said, no,
I haven't followed hockey. But the weirdest thing is you
(06:07):
probably have heard they're called the Johnstown Jets, and that
was many years ago. My grandfather used to take me
to watch the ice hockey team play there, and I
remember how much I used to love playing it, or
I mean, watching it and never playing it. And it's
just amazing how it just, you know, hasn't grown here
(06:31):
in America, but you're playing. And when you started out playing,
I just wonder, you know, you've seen what our organization
is all about. And you probably looked at the book
that I wrote, Why Johnny Hay Sports. I began with myself.
(06:52):
I was an athlete. I was a wrestler in high school, college,
and you know, I was a recreation professional and I
used to oversee fifteen thousand kids in all kinds of
different sports, and then I began to see all the
problems that went on with parents and with coaches losing
all kinds of perspective, and I said, this is crazy.
(07:13):
Somebody's got to do something about it. I mean, yeah,
it's competition, is great for kids, and I'm a very
competitive person myself, but to see what was happening and
going on, I said to myself, somebody's got to do
something about it. So I guess it ended up being me.
But my question for you, Jake, is that in Canada
(07:38):
is it the same. I mean, do parents and coaches
get out out of whack like they do here?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Yeah? Big time, really big. It's probably.
Speaker 6 (07:54):
I mean, I don't know as far as in comparison
to baseball and basket all, you know, the four majors football,
but it would be up there with the most intense.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Of all the sports.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
You got to think about first of all, that there's
no out in the actual sport itself. You're confined and
held into a playing surface by boards, so that in
itself is intense. Now tackle on the fact that you're
legally allowed to fight. Now in youth sports, it's changed
(08:33):
some leagues you're not even allowed to hit, which we
can go into that discussion as well. But yeah, and
that translates to such an intense game where now you
have fighting and hitting and it's physical, and you're confined
in this small space. You're attached to the way your
kids are handling each situation, and now the parents are
(08:55):
intense about everything.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
What do you think about that? I mean, well, what
do you think about the fact that, you know, if
you think of ice hockey, you know there's an old
expression you know it went to went to a game
and a fight broke out, or went to a fight
or game broke out. Yeah, what do you think about that?
I mean, that's the image a lot of Americans have
(09:21):
of the game of ice hockey, that it's just nothing
but bringing people togain to fight. What's your thoughts about it?
I mean, personally, you've been through it.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
As political as I can be. I I really enjoy
the fighting aspect of the game. Now being a part
of it, I think it's it's definitely sports are man's game.
You can't be a little boy in the field. It's
just it's it just is what it is. It doesn't
matter if it's the smallest, shortest, most unphysical sport. You
(09:54):
have to be a man. And what I mean by
that is you have to be strong, you have to
be disciplined, you have to be self controlled, you have.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
To be you know, all those things you know and
we you know.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
But with regards to hockey, I think because there is
such a it is such a physical sport, I think
I like, I personally love the fighting. I think there
is a place for it. I think you have to
be disciplined and self controlled. When I played, I had
to keep my head up, I had to know where
I was skating, who I was playing against. I think
(10:30):
that's an element of the game that that that shouldn't
die off. The short form from it for it is.
I do think there is a place for fighting. I
think there's a place for hitting. And I think with
regards to.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Let me stop you there, you say that there. First
of all, you said that it's a man's game. I
understand that. I used to coach high school football and
I always said football is a tough game. For tough
people and if you can't it be that, then you
don't belong out here on the field. It's a little
bit of difference though, and that is when you say
(11:07):
it's a man's game. When does become a man's game?
Because you've got how young four or five year old
kids playing competitive hockey. That's not a man, that's a kid.
So are you saying that it's okay for them to
be fighting at that age.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
No.
Speaker 6 (11:27):
Fighting is not legally allowed in the leagues that I'm
a part or that junior leagues until about eighteen, so
I think there is a threshold. Now there is a
league in Ontario that's sixteen to twenty one that fighting
is allowed. It's the most elite league that you can
play in at that age, and I think there is
(11:51):
a place for that now.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
When I was sixteen, I was not a man.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
I was playing against twenty one year old men, but
I was not a man at that point. But it
taught me how to be a man and taught me
how to grow up face adversity, be strong, be disciplined,
And I think that in regards to being a man,
there is a threshold. Obviously, later on in your late
(12:15):
teens and early twenties that that breaks through because of
your learning experience for hockey.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Do you think that that attitude of fighting is okay
and in a sense, you know, violence is okay. Do
you think that spills over into the stands, because I
I can't get out of my mind the incident that happened,
and even though it's an isolated incident that happened in
(12:46):
Massachusetts a few years back, where two of hockey dads
were there. It was a practice and the one guy's
in the stand, his son's out there on the ice,
and he coach got into it in an argument about
who was playing too rough and whatnot, and it ends
out the guy comes out of the stands, they get
(13:08):
on the ice. The guy's two hundred and seventy five pounds,
the other guy's about one hundred and fifty pounds. The
guy grabs him, throws him on the ice, takes his head,
bangs it into the ice, and kills him. So yeah,
I mean, that's obviously terrible. But my question to you
(13:28):
is is what is allowed at the older age of
violence fighting? Does that spill over to the individual in
the stands.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
No, I think that's an isolated incident, and that's unheard of.
Somebody got killed at sant Hill Crane a few months back,
and that was an isolated incident. Doesn't mean that people
are getting killed on the golf course. So that's just
the way I can say about that. And also I
think that the fan in general in hockey are a
lot more team than football fans through my experience, So
(14:05):
if it in relation to that particular incident, I don't
think hockey hasn't any way shape or form a greater
effect on parental violence or or fan violence for that matter.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yeah, I mean, so obviously you grew up and that's
in the world of ice hockey, and I can understand that.
It's like anybody that grew up with a particular different
sport and they played it all their life. What we
have now here you're seeing in the US is soccer
and kids everywhere where it used to be baseball fields,
(14:45):
now what they're playing on is soccer, taking those baseball
fields away. And so now you have a new sport
that is emerging here, and I guess it, you know,
it spills over for every kid to choose whatever he wants.
But in your case, you know, I think it's really
(15:06):
interesting how you grew up and two years old and
you're getting skates and three years old you're out there
and you end up, as you told me the other day,
you played over in France. How did that get to
be going to France and playing ice hockey.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Well, I will say this in pertaining to hockey before
we jump into that, that hockey is a very unique
sport in that you need money to play it. Soccer
you know, you need what initiation fee and shoes. Basketball
you need a ball and shoes, same kind of thing.
(15:45):
Football you need a little more gear, but you know,
other than that, like maybe that's all you need, and
then hockey would be the fourth where now you need gear,
you need skates, you need stick, need equipment, you need
to rent the ice, you need to travel to play
other teams. Like it's a little more costly. So it's
(16:08):
a very privileged sport I think. And in that, you know,
I was blessed and lucky to play it.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And I don't think it's going to be as common.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
You're not going to see it as popular as soccer,
baseball or whatever what have you, simply because of the
cost of doing it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
And do you feel bad about that's what I mean
by saying, do you feel bad about that? I feel
bad for the kids here in the US. That now
what they call travel leagues, and the only way that
you can get in that is just what you describe.
(16:47):
People might have money that can pay the travel and
all that, and people are spending thousands and thousands of dollars.
You're saying kind of almost the same thing with ice
hockey for kids in Canada.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Right, And that's just kind of where the economy is,
and that's just where you know. Unfortunately, that's just kind
of situation now. Talents, talent will take you far. Hard
work will take you far, but you need to get
your foot in the door somehow, and sometimes money plays
a big role in that. Unfortunately. That's just yeah, like
I said, where we are. So I personally, I don't
(17:24):
feel bad. I use that as like, Okay, now I'm
I'm blessed to have had that opportunity and how can
I best utilize that to my advantage and to ultimately
others advantage, to my child, to my family and so
on and so forth.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So back to the point that you evaded about going
to France, I need to evade it. But you switched here.
But what what happened with that? You went to France?
How that's kind of weird.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
So I played hockey. I was pretty highly touted. When
I was about sixteen, I had a year. Again, this
is my going back to making you a man. I
had a year that I was not.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Up to par.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
I was still a boy playing in a man's league,
and it wasn't. It didn't go well for me, but
it taught me a lot and I'm super blessed about it,
blessed to have that experience. Now, after my junior hockey,
I went and played college hockey, and then after college
hockey here I am sitting in purgatory and wondering do
I go pro or.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Do I just hang him up?
Speaker 6 (18:30):
And I had a buddy who he was a French
speaking Canadian who I played with on my university team,
who got a pretty good offer in one of the
Division IE leagues in France. And I texted him. I said, hey, man,
can I use your agent? Is there any way to
get me out there? And he said, well, it's pretty late,
(18:52):
but we can give it a shot. And so his
agent called me and said, hey, send me your information.
I know you played with Dion, So that's a good reference.
We'll figure it out. And then I think two days later,
the team that I ended up playing for had an opening.
One of the guys that was signed bailed and they
were looking to fill the spot within like that week.
They need They were like kind of panicking and they
(19:12):
needed a centerman or a winger forward that had good hands,
scoring ability, just kind of fit my mold, and it
just fell into place. The agent contacted me back, said
here's the offer on the table.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
This is what they have for you. It's either yes
or no.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
I talked to my parents about it, and I was
on a plane like three weeks later.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Wow, how lover did that last? Well?
Speaker 6 (19:38):
I would have probably been there a couple of years,
but then COVID hit in March. So this was August
of twenty nineteen, so I graduated in April twenty nineteen.
This was August of twenty nineteen, and I came home
March of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So you're off care over.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Yeah, yeah it is.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
I mean, we just want our adult league out here
in Boca, So I mean, I guess it's still living
and breathing somewhat. And then I do play against alumni
teams once a year NHL Alumni teams with the show
you mentioned in the intro. So I guess it's the
career itself is over, but I get to do some
pretty cool things with it.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, it's so funny hearing Sorry, I'm still trying to
get rid of a cold. It's so funny hearing you talk,
and as I listened to it. My whole experience, obviously
is everything in sports in America and it's with you
(20:39):
in Canada. It's just one sport. Is that the only
sport you ever played?
Speaker 6 (20:45):
I played soccer growing up quite like you talked about.
That was kind of our summer thing. Baseball wasn't really
popular at the time where I grew up, neither was football,
and plus, you know football, even if it was, I
would have been injury prone, and my dad was like,
you got to focus on hockey. So soccer was kind
of my summer sport because of the seasons, and then
(21:08):
hockey was my winter sport.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You probably wonder why I wrote the book Why Johnny
Hayes Sports, Why the National Alliance for Youth Sports was
ever created. I want to show you the press box
that we do from the organization every week and I
want to get your reaction to it, so want if
you could just show the press box. Those headlines are
(21:47):
one week of the press box, so it goes on
every week throughout the year. And we've never had a
lack of finding something that is what I want to
show you next. Can you?
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Seven hockey coach has been arrested following an incident at
a recent game on Saturday just before nine am. Woodstock
Police said the coach allegedly argued a call with the referee,
challenging the decision of the seven year old's hockey game.
The situation escalated, stopping the game. The referee kicked the
(22:25):
coach out of the game, but he reportedly refused to leave.
That led to police being called to help. Officers said
they escorted the coach to the dressing room to collect
his things, but the coach started yelling at people attending
the game. Police began to escort him out when he
became violent. In an outburst, he physically resisted officers and
(22:49):
began swinging his arms, leading to a confrontation. Two officers
were forced to physically restrain the coach after he assaulted them.
The coach faces charges for causing a disturbance, two counts
of assaulting a police officer, and one count of resisting arrest.
(23:09):
Officers remind the importance of sportsmanship and respect, especially in
kids ice sports, setting a good example for the players.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
What do you make of that, Jacob, I actually didn't
get to see the video.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Didn't pop up on my screen.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
It wasn't It was just an audio. But I'm wondering,
you know, I'm with the press box. You saw those
different headlines.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yes, the headlines. Yeah, you want me to speak about
those headlines?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
That was just an audio. After that, I'll give an
example there of one hockey situation. I'll give you one myself.
And you're probably you know, saying, you know, how much
do I know about it? I did after or organization
and began, so many different things happen, and I was
(24:05):
on every TV from ESPN to Good Morning America, on
and on and on and on. And I was in Tampa,
Florida one time in the station asked me, he said,
now I want you to look at this video and
tell me what you think. So I looked at it,
and there was an ice hockey game and the kid's
skating and whatnot, and they turned the camera to his father,
(24:29):
and a kid misses a goal and the father yells
down at him, you bum, you can never do anything.
And that's the thing that our organization is about of saying.
You know, you talked before about it's a man's game,
and yeah, that father telling his son to be a
(24:50):
man out there at seven years old. And yet at
the same time, what is that father or other father's
doing to the self estate of a kid that is
growing up that has been told he's a bum because
he just simply missed a goal. What do you think
of that?
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Well, first of all, I think that that that's not
the make of a man. I think that the father
is actually living through his child because of the insignificance
that he feels inside, and that is actually not what
a man is. A man is somebody who's humble, somebody
(25:36):
who is kind, somebody who is strong but yet knows
how to tame his tongue and temper, somebody who leads
by example. And that to me wouldn't be a good
example to set for my child. So, first of all,
we talk about a man's game, but that is not
indicative of a man.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, you know you said, you said something in the
beginning that when when I was asking you about singing
different things, and you indicated kind of, yeah, I've seen
a lot of the things that happened. Can you give
me an example of anything that you remember seeing or
hearing in your career. I'm not talking about older level,
(26:14):
I'm talking about seven to eight year old kids.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Okay. Actually happened to me one time.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
We were in practice and we were skating around, and
what happens is you skate around the circle and you
shoot on net and we had a goalie that was
turned the other way and I shot the puck because
I wasn't looking. I was probably about seven or eight,
maybe young, maybe even younger. But I shot the puck
and I lifted off the ice and I hit him
in the back. The call dropped, just a kid, you know,
(26:47):
he dropped and he was crying or whatever. And we
were waiting, like I went down on one knee. We
were waiting because the coaches were tending on them. And
the father ran on the ice and passed me and
pushed me over and like ran to his child and
like basically was like angry with me because me and
(27:10):
my six or seven year old kid, I didn't know
what I was doing.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
I just was skating around shooting the puck.
Speaker 6 (27:16):
But that's an example of well, first of all, a
father thinking that that's the proper way to protect this child,
I guess, by pushing a six year old kid, but
a way that the game parents could get heated because
a they lived through their child, or there's other stuff
going on behind the scenes that you don't quite know
(27:38):
about that comes out at the hockey rink, just because
I mean, that's the most intense that but an intense
moment of that family's life.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
I guess you could say.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah, that's that's why our organization was created, because so
much of that goes on that we don't even know about.
I mean I could I could sit here and tell
you story after story after story. Not that I went
(28:12):
through personally, but when I was coaching and when I
was a recreation professional seeing all of it, but all
these people across America. I'd go to different games and
conferences that people would tell me stories. So I used
to think people would say to me, you know, or
(28:33):
accuse me of being a whimp and saying, we're trying
to take competition out of the game and making it
a sissy game for kids, and that's not the truth.
The truth is is that what we're trying to do
is to make sports a safe experience for kids and
a fun experience. Because you know, probably better than anybody
(28:56):
coming all the way up and reaching a professional level.
Then unless it's a fun experience for you, unless you
don't have somebody criticizing you and putting you down all
the time, it's going to be, like you said, a
great experience for your life. So I'm going to ask you,
what do you think hockey has done for you as
(29:18):
an individual?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
I think hockey, above all, has taught me how to
face adversity, how to handle situational adversity, but also handling
conflict among bosses, among peers, among not enemies, but like
(29:44):
a competition.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
It's taught me how to be a better employee, better son,
a better father. It's taught me to be more disciplined,
more controlled, more passionate about life.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
It's given me the ability to.
Speaker 6 (30:01):
Even just operate differently physically, Like I just I feel
like it's athletically help my body.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Stay healthy, you know.
Speaker 6 (30:14):
But I feel like the most one is the one
I originally touched on was the adversity thing. And I
think that's what a lot of people don't necessarily realize
about sports is it's not just playing a game. There's
conflict involved, there's teamwork involved, and there's success involved, there's
(30:34):
failure involved, and it's a real important life lesson to
learn it all and how to handle it.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, it's so important. When you were saying that, I
kept thinking, and like I mentioned, my sport was wrestling,
and I can remember times when I wanted to die.
I was on the mat and somebody's just beating the
hell out of me, and I wanted to quit. I
wanted to just give up and never come out. And
(31:04):
I learned that if you do that, you've learned forever
doing that. And so what you're saying makes so much sense.
And that's the thing that we want kids to have,
is this great experience and not having parents get out
of whack, not having coaches living their lives through those
kids that are out there and not those coaches think
(31:27):
that they're professional coaches for eight year old children. So yeah,
it's been great, But you know, I'd be remiss if
I didn't bring up the fact of the show that
you're in called Suresy. And when I asked Jacob about it,
and he said, yeah, the show if you've seen it,
(31:47):
and I said, no, I haven't seen it, so he said, there,
I am in it. So I checked it out. But
you know, the funny thing is, Jacob, I, I don't
know whether I mentioned this to you the other day,
but I asked one of the guys that I played
golf with. I said, you ever hear the show called
Suresy And he said, oh, yeah, man, I watch that
all the time. It's a great show. Do you know
(32:11):
that Jacob's in that show? He said, why are you
kidding me? He said no, no, he is in it.
So I made you now famous. People don't realize that
as we're talking here, I met Jacob at the golf course.
So that's how our collection is, right, So tell them
just a little bit about that show.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
First of all, it's a it's a pretty witty, quick
like quick witted humor show. A lot of swearing, a
lot of chirping, you know, a lot of conflict. But
the show is mainly based on hockey. It's based on
a team. It's a fictional show based on a fictional
(32:56):
team that started off really crappy. Main character obviously, he's
named Suresey, and he brings in these ringers, these ex
professional hockey players to be to make the team better
and to win this senior hockey league. So that's that's
basically the storyline, and it's it's it's taken off. They're
(33:18):
they're filming the fifth season right now. I was lucky
enough to be part of eighteen episodes or three seasons.
There are six episodes per season. It was an incredible experience.
I had no prior acting experience or anything. I simply
got it from my hockey accolades. And now we're lucky
enough to go play NHL alumni teams. Last November we toured.
(33:41):
We went to Buffalo and played the Sabers. We went
to Boston and played the Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto,
we played the Leafs, and there's one other Blackhawks who
went to Chicago to play the Blackhawks. So these alumni
teams are they usually are about tough time finding guys
to play on the teams. They usually have a tough
(34:03):
time filling seats, and there was talks from the Boston
team that there was guys in Toronto team that there
was guys asking to be a part of that game
which never happens, and they couldn't. They couldn't seed everybody
because guys like Wendell Clark and Nick Andrewpov and Todd
Gill and you know, Frankie Crado, guys that have played
(34:27):
for them were already on the roster for the team.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So anyways, we toured for two weeks.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
We went to five cities and we sold a cumul
little of about twenty five thousand tickets in those in
those five cities, so it was a big hit. The
show has been a big hit, and it's been just
such a blessing to still continue to play hockey and
do what I love.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
So I guess I can call you a star.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I prefer Jacob.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Hey, listen, I want to thank you for being on.
It's been great and hearing all the things you know
with your hockey career and your insight is to you
know why we think about hockey the way we do,
and it's refreshing to know that you can hear it
from somebody that's played like you. So again, thanks, Jacob,
and I'll be checking on you when I see it
(35:18):
at the golf course.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
Yeah, for sure, thanks for having me on, Freddie, I
really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
You got it all right, fred angs.
Speaker 7 (35:30):
Billy Jones's Father is more than just a story about
a boy and his father. It's an eye opening journey
into the emotional struggles faced by children in the world
of competitive sports. As you turn the pages, you'll see
how unrealistic expectations and unchecked ambitions can shape, mold, and
(35:50):
sometimes break a child's spirit. This book dives deep into
the human experiences that resonate with so many and calls
on us to reflect on the roles we play in
the lives of young athletes.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Well that's it for this week, and I sure hope
that you will tune in next Friday at eleven am
for another exciting one. But it was great having Jacob Smith,
ice hockey player. I heard a lot of things I
haven't heard before, so I guess we're going to find
out some new things next week, So tune in see
(36:31):
you then.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
This program is sponsored by Sir Dirff Publishing in the
interest for better sports for kids, better kids for life.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
In this best selling book, a child, while failing to
live up to his father's expectations, is shamed and humiliated
beyond belief. He vows to never allow his own son
to face the same
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