June 27, 2025 • 26 mins
Embezzling money in youth leagues
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Why Johnny Hates Sports is broadcast live Fridays at 11AM ET on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Why Johnny Hates Sports is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Why Johnny Hates Sports Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-johnny-hates-sports--6486985/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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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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 (00:26):
Why Johnny Hates Sports is a best selling book about
kids in sports. It chronicles why, at a very early age,
children are thrust into organized sports long before they have
the necessary skills to feel successful. Fathers and mothers are
asked to be their coach without having any training on
how to coach, and the leagues in which kids play
(00:49):
are governed by volunteers whose main focus becomes scoreboards, championships,
and all star games. Statistics show that close to seventy
percent of kids will quit by the age of thirteen.
Most said it ceased to be fun, and that's why
Johnny Hates Sports.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to I think our
twenty first edition of Why Johnny Hates Sports, we've kind
of arranged things a little different.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
It's time doing a thing called press Box.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Press Box we do from the national headquarters of the
National Alliance for Youth Sports, and they collect stories from
all over the country about abuse in kids sports or
whatever is happening. So I'm going to introduce you now
to the first time we do press Box.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well, there's a story that came out of I forget
where it is exactly, but one's going to turn it
on for it so you'll see what they had to
say in this city about sports and kids.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Police in Cleveland arrest a woman for embezzling more than
sixteen thousand dollars from two youth athletic leagues. Who's on
six's Emory Bryan is live on the scene in Cleveland.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Emory, Well, here at Cleveland, the baseball and football youth
sports leagues had the same treasure and now they have
the same problem. Money that they raised never made it
to the bank, according to police. The treasurer admits that
she took the money. When the youth baseball league sold
these banners to advertisers. They hope to use the money
(02:42):
for improvements that the ball fields. The new concession stand
was part of that effort this year, but toward the
end of summer, the Baseball League found their bank account
was almost it.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know, the Center for Froud Prevention reported that there
were hundreds of the examples of fraud in kids sports.
He probably wanted to say, how can this happen? I mean,
you know, you got a treasure, you got money, somebody's accountable. Well,
what happens in kids' sports is you've got the organization
(03:14):
and you've got a ball field, and somebody says.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, we need to have a soccer program here, and so.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Al Smith or whoever it happens to be, goes down
to the right department says, we'd like to use the field.
So they get the coaches, they get the organizers, the
guys or women that their board of directors.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
And they had their meeting and somebody says, hey, you know,
we need somebody to run this concession stand because we've
got to get some money to bring it in.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Anybody volunteer, and Martha raises her hand in the back
room it says, yeah, out to it, and nobody says anything.
Martha goes is, you got the hot dogs and rolls
and chips and drinks whatever in there. People are coming
up during the games and paying money for this and
(04:05):
that Nobody cares. Nobody says, hey, Martha, doing a good job, right, yeah,
right right to the tune that when they're and others
won forty six thousand dollars on the league, you know,
I mean, so that's what happened to kids sports. So
(04:25):
a lot of people suffer for.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
All of that. So let me take you to the
next one here.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Well, developing this morning, we're getting a closer look at
court record surrounding a former Knoxville West High School football coach.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
He faces multiple charges of sexual battery. Aaron Blaskis joins
us in the newsroom. Aaron, what new details are we
learning this morning?
Speaker 7 (04:45):
Good morning, Abby, Heather. A Knox County grand jury indicted
Richard Shaver on four counts of sexual battery by an
authority figure and two counts of attempted sexual battery by
an authority figure. Severe County officials arrested Shaver last week
after the indictment.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
So you know, some of those people that you know,
sign up like my wife and I did for our kids,
sign them up for sports and whatnot.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
You know who's coaching.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know Joe, you know our friend or whoever it
is down the street. He volunteered a coach because they
saw they're going to play, and that's why he volunteered.
So then you don't know what's happening with Joe, and
you know what to the tune of thousands of kids
are being sexually abused because nobody ever stopped to say,
(05:38):
who is this guy or who is this gal? And
you know, I look back and I remember reading about
the Boy Scouts of America, and I saw a thing
here at a Boy Scouts in nineteen twenty two, get this,
two point four six billion, not an m billion settlement
(06:03):
was approved to compensate eighty two thousand kids and boy Scouts.
You'd probably say, well, at the boy Scouts, what about
kids sports? Well, there's the difference. See boy Scouts, you
could say Boy Scouts of America.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Everybody you're hired a Boy Scouts of America. Have you
ever heard of youth sports of America? No? Have you
ever heard of a Jonesville Youth League? Sure? And whatever youth league.
They're all organized independently, all over the country, So nobody
(06:40):
has any control over anything. Who are you going to sew?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
You have to sue at the local level if you
find somebody, And what do you do if you're a
paradout there. Well, first of all, you got to be
very vigilant, very vigilant, because if I had a kid
today that was playing in kids sports, first thing I'd
say to the league, do you do any screening? You know,
(07:06):
I mean screening for these people that are coaching. And
if they say they don't, get your kid out of
there and get them into a league that has screening
and protecting kids through that screening process. So, yeah, I'm
going to tell you these kind of things that happened,
(07:26):
and we find out through our press box research that
there are stories that we will be bringing to you
each week from all over the country of all kinds
of things that happened that make Johnny.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Ates you sports.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So if we're going to end this and go to
that new segment we've got with my friend Ross Smith
and it's called Extra Hittings.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Here we go.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
Extra Hittings with friend and Ross.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Hey, I just saw you out there with a putter
out there on.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
The green and you look like you're putting and missed
one of those many putts that you missed all the time.
Speaker 8 (08:17):
Morning Ross, Good morning, Good morning. How are we doing?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
I'm doing good? What's take out on that hat? What's
that logo up there?
Speaker 8 (08:26):
A little little pombies Nash logo to it?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Oh you're looking good this morning?
Speaker 8 (08:33):
Yeah, Fred, what do you think?
Speaker 9 (08:35):
Man?
Speaker 8 (08:35):
Got it all trim?
Speaker 4 (08:38):
I think you look good. I don't know about that
card they're doing to, you know, not.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
The luxury golf card, but it's good enough. And I
like the way that you set up your your little cell.
Speaker 8 (08:48):
Phone for you you know that.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, you get me all choked up anyway. Hey you Ross,
you know the thing about UH and IL now.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
The colleges, you know that is amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And you being a former college and professional athlete. I
got to read this to you know, I want you
to tell me what you think it said. In June
twenty twenty five, a federal court approved the Landmark House
versus the NCAA settlement, making a transformative shift in college sports.
(09:28):
The settlement includes two point eight billion in back damages.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Remember that Ross, back damages.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
For athletes who are unable to profit from their name, image,
and likeness and I l between twenty sixteen and twenty
twenty four just last year. So starting with these schools,
I kind of ask you the question, it's in the
(10:00):
old day late, the dollars short or walking out with
Ross Smith former college.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
Yeah, I kind of feel that way just a little bit.
But then they think about the people that played before
me too, so you know they could be feeling the
same type of way. I don't know why they only
went back to the certain years that they went back to,
but I think it's, uh, just like you said, a
day late and a dollar short, but at least they're
trying to do something to compensate for how much time
(10:28):
and effort that these people are having a sacrifice to
you know, compete at a high level and be you know,
a college student as well.
Speaker 8 (10:33):
It's it's it's not easy, yeah, but I.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Mean like you said that, you know you were in
college who you went to Auburn playball? I know, you know,
with with this two point eight billion dollars being spread
out to all these different colleges, yeah, they're looking to say, well,
the football program breazeing as much and basketball, but baseball,
(10:58):
I mean I've been college baseball games and there were
too many people paying money.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So what do you think of it as poor baseball players?
Speaker 9 (11:11):
Well, I mean it's all relative to like the amount
of money that you bring in. You know, there's some
schools that don't have any type of baseball program whatsoever,
as far as outside of just like the people that play.
I was fortunate enough to go to Alburn. What we
brought in a pretty few thousand amount of people every weekend,
so I can understand the deviation of different types of
money to those kids. And I don't know.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Bugs out there, ros Dude.
Speaker 9 (11:33):
We're in South Georgia. It is not central out here. Brother,
it is unbelievable bad.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
I thought you were drawing those flies.
Speaker 9 (11:43):
I took a shower this morning, so I don't think
it can't be that. But as far as like the
as far as like what goes on with the schooling,
I mean, I I don't really have to say.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
It is what it is right now.
Speaker 9 (11:56):
What I don't like about the whole situation is, you
know how the kids act because they're making money.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
Now. Back then, you used to play.
Speaker 9 (12:02):
With people that enjoyed playing because you enjoyed it. Now,
if you're not paying enough or not getting a plan time.
It's uh, it's becoming crooked.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, I mean it just baffles my mind that that
with that, I mean, colleges athletics today is just I know.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I can't I can't get it.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I mean, you got like what what's his name for
Cooper for you know, uh do basketball?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, I mean I think he got like.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Nine million dollars just to come to transfer to Duke
to play basketball.
Speaker 9 (12:38):
And then why would you go in the draft if
you're making that much money? Yeah, you know, I mean
you're gonna get X amount of million, but you could get.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
A college degree. You get a college degree in stay
in school paper.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
You know I was doing that.
Speaker 8 (12:53):
I don't see the urge to go pro anymore.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean why why would somebody they if they're
making that kind of money, you know in college.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I guess you're going to go to college just to
get to get that money. Is that the way you
think it works?
Speaker 9 (13:13):
Or it's completely lost this luster to where you know,
this whole word commitment these days is not real. Uh,
it's in my mind is basically free agency every year.
Uh in college, where if I can just go somewhere
and make more money, I don't really don't care what
happened the year before, who my coach was, or what
what they did playing time wise, I'll go somewhere that
(13:36):
just makes more money.
Speaker 8 (13:39):
Yeah, why not year by contracts?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah right, I'll tell you what though, Uh, you got
to go hit your ball next or what not.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
They can give me a buggy. So I'd rather talk
to you Fred.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
You would because where'd you hit the last ball?
Speaker 8 (14:02):
Right here?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Okay, Hey, you know what, let's go to what you
told me one time over walking out the golf course,
and of course that's where I met Ross. He's working
at the golf course there. You know, he left the
Cardinals farm team and decided to come down and Florida
and be on a golf course. So he really has
(14:27):
to work hard. As you can see, he's out there
really working hard today. But Ross said to me one day, Hey,
I really liked your book. I liked the book that
I had written about all these different people I have
had the opportunity to meet.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
So Ross, what do you got for me today?
Speaker 9 (14:47):
I got to bring up, well, we kind of teased
it last week, but the meeting you had with your
interaction and then ultimate friendship you had with cal Ripken Jr.
I was really intrigued about that. That that chapter in
your book was really fascinating.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Yeah, you know how fascinating it was. I mean it
was crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I'm at my desk one day and I'm looking at
my email and all of a sudden, I see an
email from cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I said, yeah, right.
Speaker 8 (15:14):
No way, no way, uh no way.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
I mean, just out of the blue, you had an
email from cal Rican Jr.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah right. I mean I'm saying, hey, not going to
email me.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
So I said, I'll look at it because it's probably
somebody like ros Smith frank on me. So I wit
in there and I look and it says, fred, I
just want you to know I read your book and
I really liked it, and I thought it was a
great book about kids in sports.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
And I'm thinking, hey, this might be cal Ripken. And
he says at the end. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
So he says, at the end, come up and see
me if you're ever in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Can you imagine that.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
I'll make a flight pretty quick for no reason to
go up to Baltimore. I'm just I am that's kind
of what I did. That man, the Iron Man tells
you to come visit. I will go visit brother for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Yeah. So I took his plight.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I actually I had to go speaking engagement at the
University of Delaware, and I flew into Baltimore because that's
the closest airport yet, and I rented a car and
I drove out. He gave me the address and I
went up and I walked in the office. I'm like,
my stomach's turning upside down and around because you know,
(16:32):
I'm from Maryland and I've known Cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 8 (16:36):
Idol.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Right, yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean almost everybody's idol. So
his secretary said his office said when you come in,
come on in, and I'm like, I'll shake it.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
I'm thinking no, no.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I walk in the room and say, hey, how you
going in? And I have a seed and he comes
behind his desk and he goes, it's over.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And I thought, okay, this.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Is going to be like three or four minutes and
he's gonna say, I see and yeah, I got a
lot of stuff to do. It you think I'm kidding you.
But it was an hour and a half later that
he got u from his secretary. He says, mister Ripkin,
you have to be over in Aberdeen today.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
For a photo shoot. And Aberdeen is about an.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Hour away from Baltimore, and it's where he has his
league fields for all these kids and stadiums that are
replica stadiums. And he says, hey, you mind driving me
over there.
Speaker 8 (17:44):
That's that's what I wanted to ask you about the chapter.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Was was it before he was doing his cal Ripken
experience thing in Aberdeen or were you, like, were you
influential to him with any bit of that, with his
the timing of building that, making kind of the awesome
experience that he has with that cal Ripken experience.
Speaker 10 (18:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you know when he did that,
he wanted to create youth baseball programs and so you know,
he built all these stadiums, and then you know, they
looked like, well, let me tell you before.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
We get there.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Riding down the road, We've got ninety five and I'm
driving down up with him thinking somebody riding by her
looking say, hey that's cal Ripken.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Who the hell's that guys with?
Speaker 8 (18:34):
And he got tod.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So we get there and I'm thinking, all right, they
say thanks a lot for the ride. He said, no, no, no,
look right around. I want to show you the different ballparks.
They go around looking at the different ballparks.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Oh cow, I mean I'm.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
Beautiful, right, huh beautiful right?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah, Oh my goodness. I mean, you know, he's got
the one with the red Sox. Yeah, green wall, and
it's built, you know, for kidds baseball, but it's a
replica of it. I mean it's just fantastic looking.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And then of course it's still there today and it
was uh huh.
Speaker 9 (19:20):
I was fortunate enough to go to Cooperstown as a
player and then as a coach later in life, and
then I did the same thing with the cal Ripken experience.
And I think the cal Ripkin experience not only rival
but was better than the Cooperstown experience, and that was
made to be like the mecca of like youth travel
baseball growing up.
Speaker 8 (19:34):
So uh, cal rip can definitely.
Speaker 9 (19:37):
I mean he hit it on the head with what
he's got going on between Aberdeen and I think his
uh his second spot and Pigeon Forge, I believe is
the other spot.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So you got something in common with me?
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Uh, I have this awesome show with you. That's about
as much as I belong with you.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Brother.
Speaker 8 (19:53):
You're a way ahead of my time.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
All right, So anyway, I get there, we get finished.
She takes me inside and introduces me to his mother,
and I thought, okay, I guess I'm going to leave now.
And he said, hey, you want to come up and
watch a little bit of the game.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Up in one of the fields. There's a game going on.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Nobody out left field, but where the stadium he has
for one part, I'm sitting there with Cal Ripken. He's
still talking about He's telling me about his son playing
baseball at the time, and I don't know about like
twelve years old.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
You're telling me that.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
How his son comes in and I try to tell
him my son tells me? He said, what the hell
do you know about it? He said, can you imagine
your son is telling you you've been major league for
however long?
Speaker 4 (20:46):
You know you know anything about baseball? But anyway, I
didn't hear that.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Again, you're right between swings.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I guess you sitting in.
Speaker 8 (20:59):
The Carr brother just talking to you. I hadn't gotten out,
can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Hey?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I'm gonna let you go because you're breaking up a
little bit. You're getting too far away from the the do.
Speaker 8 (21:14):
You got me now? Can you hear me?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I can hear you now.
Speaker 9 (21:18):
Yeah, I just got to get a little closer. I
guess I don't want to break.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
The Yeah, that's it a little bit better.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
But I was saying, this typical father son relationship, isn't
it telling the son telling the father? He didn't know anything,
even though he's been in the big leagues for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Hey, I got to tell you. At the end of
the story, I thought it was the end of me
seeing cal.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Oh. Wow, man, whatever, I'll end up someday telling Ross
spent this story.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But anyway, what.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Happened is we have our national meeting U sport directors
from all over the country and it was in the
Indianapolis and they were looking for a keynote speaker.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Now Cale Ripkin at the Cayle Ripken Junior, I should say, yeah,
he gets.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
An invitation, you know, or he didn't get an invitation,
but they invited him through me to be the speaker.
Now he gets fifty thousand dollars or speaking engagement.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
That's what us zero.
Speaker 9 (22:27):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (22:28):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I couldn't believe it. He came with his couple of
but his kind of bodyguards.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
But sure, yeah, he wants to give back, man, That's
all he did. I think that's what he did for
the experience. You know, that Kyle Rican thing he's got
going on. It's I mean, obviously he makes money and
it's a business, but the idea behind it in the
drive was he wanted to give back. He loved the
sport and he wanted to give back to what gave him.
Speaker 8 (22:53):
A whole lot.
Speaker 9 (22:53):
So I think there are a lot of like minds
out there like that. They're not as many as there
should be. Definitely not as many as there used to be.
I think n I L is kind of making it
more of a selfish type of game as opposed to
a team game. But people like cal Ripken definitely had
the good vibe going for a long time.
Speaker 8 (23:10):
And Ovid continues.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Yeah, you know, that was amazing.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Thing that I've found about him is you know, and
I've had the opportunity through our organization to be able
to meet a lot of characters that I talk about
in the book, but he was one that stood out
of being somebody that was just just.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
The regular guy. I mean, like, hey, I'm Cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
Not other Man or anything like that. I'm just I'm
cal Rican Jr.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Yeah. I mean, like like when I met with him.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
There, I was sitting in the room in a secretary
came in the second time and said, mister Ripkin.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
From somebody in Washington. I thought, damn a president, it's
going to talk.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
But it wasn't the president. What it was was, uh
the hospital. Uh his wife was ill at the time.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
But they wanted.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
To bring a helicopter there to pick him up, take
him down to a meeting with the Washington Nationals to
be your manager. Yeah, and he said, no, I'm not
going to go. I got to go up to my
(24:36):
ballpark for kids.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
And uh.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
And I said when he hung up with them, I said,
did you excuse me for budding in or listening a
good now? And are they asking you to be the
manager of the Washington Nationals.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yeah, wedding.
Speaker 9 (24:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
So it's the kind of guy who was im. He's
just you know, hey, I'm not going to do so anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Hey, I want you to have a great time on
the golf course because it looks like you are and uh,
I want you to par the next goal?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
What ho are you on? Now?
Speaker 8 (25:17):
I appreciate it. You next week.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
All right, Ross, I'll see you next week, good saying thanks.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
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.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
There you got it.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
That's why Johnny hates sports with our extra innings and
the press box. So I hope we entertained you a
little bit this week because it's getting closed to next week,
which is fourth of July weekend, and you can listen
to this on the radio, but you won't be able
(26:10):
to hear me and Ross banner back and forth.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
So in the meantime then I want you to have
a great.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Weekend, and the fourth of July weekend, I have those
days off.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Shoot those fireworks, folks. See.
Speaker 6 (26:25):
This program is sponsored by Sirdarff Publishing in the interest
for better sports for kids, Better kids for life.
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 explicitor 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 (00:26):
Why Johnny Hates Sports is a best selling book about
kids in sports. It chronicles why, at a very early age,
children are thrust into organized sports long before they have
the necessary skills to feel successful. Fathers and mothers are
asked to be their coach without having any training on
how to coach, and the leagues in which kids play
(00:49):
are governed by volunteers whose main focus becomes scoreboards, championships,
and all star games. Statistics show that close to seventy
percent of kids will quit by the age of thirteen.
Most said it ceased to be fun, and that's why
Johnny Hates Sports.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to I think our
twenty first edition of Why Johnny Hates Sports, we've kind
of arranged things a little different.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
It's time doing a thing called press Box.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Press Box we do from the national headquarters of the
National Alliance for Youth Sports, and they collect stories from
all over the country about abuse in kids sports or
whatever is happening. So I'm going to introduce you now
to the first time we do press Box.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well, there's a story that came out of I forget
where it is exactly, but one's going to turn it
on for it so you'll see what they had to
say in this city about sports and kids.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Police in Cleveland arrest a woman for embezzling more than
sixteen thousand dollars from two youth athletic leagues. Who's on
six's Emory Bryan is live on the scene in Cleveland.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Emory, Well, here at Cleveland, the baseball and football youth
sports leagues had the same treasure and now they have
the same problem. Money that they raised never made it
to the bank, according to police. The treasurer admits that
she took the money. When the youth baseball league sold
these banners to advertisers. They hope to use the money
(02:42):
for improvements that the ball fields. The new concession stand
was part of that effort this year, but toward the
end of summer, the Baseball League found their bank account
was almost it.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know, the Center for Froud Prevention reported that there
were hundreds of the examples of fraud in kids sports.
He probably wanted to say, how can this happen? I mean,
you know, you got a treasure, you got money, somebody's accountable. Well,
what happens in kids' sports is you've got the organization
(03:14):
and you've got a ball field, and somebody says.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, we need to have a soccer program here, and so.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Al Smith or whoever it happens to be, goes down
to the right department says, we'd like to use the field.
So they get the coaches, they get the organizers, the
guys or women that their board of directors.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
And they had their meeting and somebody says, hey, you know,
we need somebody to run this concession stand because we've
got to get some money to bring it in.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Anybody volunteer, and Martha raises her hand in the back
room it says, yeah, out to it, and nobody says anything.
Martha goes is, you got the hot dogs and rolls
and chips and drinks whatever in there. People are coming
up during the games and paying money for this and
(04:05):
that Nobody cares. Nobody says, hey, Martha, doing a good job, right, yeah,
right right to the tune that when they're and others
won forty six thousand dollars on the league, you know,
I mean, so that's what happened to kids sports. So
(04:25):
a lot of people suffer for.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
All of that. So let me take you to the
next one here.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Well, developing this morning, we're getting a closer look at
court record surrounding a former Knoxville West High School football coach.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
He faces multiple charges of sexual battery. Aaron Blaskis joins
us in the newsroom. Aaron, what new details are we
learning this morning?
Speaker 7 (04:45):
Good morning, Abby, Heather. A Knox County grand jury indicted
Richard Shaver on four counts of sexual battery by an
authority figure and two counts of attempted sexual battery by
an authority figure. Severe County officials arrested Shaver last week
after the indictment.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
So you know, some of those people that you know,
sign up like my wife and I did for our kids,
sign them up for sports and whatnot.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
You know who's coaching.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know Joe, you know our friend or whoever it
is down the street. He volunteered a coach because they
saw they're going to play, and that's why he volunteered.
So then you don't know what's happening with Joe, and
you know what to the tune of thousands of kids
are being sexually abused because nobody ever stopped to say,
(05:38):
who is this guy or who is this gal? And
you know, I look back and I remember reading about
the Boy Scouts of America, and I saw a thing
here at a Boy Scouts in nineteen twenty two, get this,
two point four six billion, not an m billion settlement
(06:03):
was approved to compensate eighty two thousand kids and boy Scouts.
You'd probably say, well, at the boy Scouts, what about
kids sports? Well, there's the difference. See boy Scouts, you
could say Boy Scouts of America.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Everybody you're hired a Boy Scouts of America. Have you
ever heard of youth sports of America? No? Have you
ever heard of a Jonesville Youth League? Sure? And whatever youth league.
They're all organized independently, all over the country, So nobody
(06:40):
has any control over anything. Who are you going to sew?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
You have to sue at the local level if you
find somebody, And what do you do if you're a
paradout there. Well, first of all, you got to be
very vigilant, very vigilant, because if I had a kid
today that was playing in kids sports, first thing I'd
say to the league, do you do any screening? You know,
(07:06):
I mean screening for these people that are coaching. And
if they say they don't, get your kid out of
there and get them into a league that has screening
and protecting kids through that screening process. So, yeah, I'm
going to tell you these kind of things that happened,
(07:26):
and we find out through our press box research that
there are stories that we will be bringing to you
each week from all over the country of all kinds
of things that happened that make Johnny.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Ates you sports.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So if we're going to end this and go to
that new segment we've got with my friend Ross Smith
and it's called Extra Hittings.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Here we go.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
Extra Hittings with friend and Ross.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Hey, I just saw you out there with a putter
out there on.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
The green and you look like you're putting and missed
one of those many putts that you missed all the time.
Speaker 8 (08:17):
Morning Ross, Good morning, Good morning. How are we doing?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
I'm doing good? What's take out on that hat? What's
that logo up there?
Speaker 8 (08:26):
A little little pombies Nash logo to it?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Oh you're looking good this morning?
Speaker 8 (08:33):
Yeah, Fred, what do you think?
Speaker 9 (08:35):
Man?
Speaker 8 (08:35):
Got it all trim?
Speaker 4 (08:38):
I think you look good. I don't know about that
card they're doing to, you know, not.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
The luxury golf card, but it's good enough. And I
like the way that you set up your your little cell.
Speaker 8 (08:48):
Phone for you you know that.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, you get me all choked up anyway. Hey you Ross,
you know the thing about UH and IL now.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
The colleges, you know that is amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And you being a former college and professional athlete. I
got to read this to you know, I want you
to tell me what you think it said. In June
twenty twenty five, a federal court approved the Landmark House
versus the NCAA settlement, making a transformative shift in college sports.
(09:28):
The settlement includes two point eight billion in back damages.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Remember that Ross, back damages.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
For athletes who are unable to profit from their name, image,
and likeness and I l between twenty sixteen and twenty
twenty four just last year. So starting with these schools,
I kind of ask you the question, it's in the
(10:00):
old day late, the dollars short or walking out with
Ross Smith former college.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
Yeah, I kind of feel that way just a little bit.
But then they think about the people that played before
me too, so you know they could be feeling the
same type of way. I don't know why they only
went back to the certain years that they went back to,
but I think it's, uh, just like you said, a
day late and a dollar short, but at least they're
trying to do something to compensate for how much time
(10:28):
and effort that these people are having a sacrifice to
you know, compete at a high level and be you know,
a college student as well.
Speaker 8 (10:33):
It's it's it's not easy, yeah, but I.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Mean like you said that, you know you were in
college who you went to Auburn playball? I know, you know,
with with this two point eight billion dollars being spread
out to all these different colleges, yeah, they're looking to say, well,
the football program breazeing as much and basketball, but baseball,
(10:58):
I mean I've been college baseball games and there were
too many people paying money.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So what do you think of it as poor baseball players?
Speaker 9 (11:11):
Well, I mean it's all relative to like the amount
of money that you bring in. You know, there's some
schools that don't have any type of baseball program whatsoever,
as far as outside of just like the people that play.
I was fortunate enough to go to Alburn. What we
brought in a pretty few thousand amount of people every weekend,
so I can understand the deviation of different types of
money to those kids. And I don't know.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Bugs out there, ros Dude.
Speaker 9 (11:33):
We're in South Georgia. It is not central out here. Brother,
it is unbelievable bad.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
I thought you were drawing those flies.
Speaker 9 (11:43):
I took a shower this morning, so I don't think
it can't be that. But as far as like the
as far as like what goes on with the schooling,
I mean, I I don't really have to say.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
It is what it is right now.
Speaker 9 (11:56):
What I don't like about the whole situation is, you
know how the kids act because they're making money.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
Now. Back then, you used to play.
Speaker 9 (12:02):
With people that enjoyed playing because you enjoyed it. Now,
if you're not paying enough or not getting a plan time.
It's uh, it's becoming crooked.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, I mean it just baffles my mind that that
with that, I mean, colleges athletics today is just I know.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I can't I can't get it.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I mean, you got like what what's his name for
Cooper for you know, uh do basketball?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, I mean I think he got like.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Nine million dollars just to come to transfer to Duke
to play basketball.
Speaker 9 (12:38):
And then why would you go in the draft if
you're making that much money? Yeah, you know, I mean
you're gonna get X amount of million, but you could get.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
A college degree. You get a college degree in stay
in school paper.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
You know I was doing that.
Speaker 8 (12:53):
I don't see the urge to go pro anymore.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean why why would somebody they if they're
making that kind of money, you know in college.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I guess you're going to go to college just to
get to get that money. Is that the way you
think it works?
Speaker 9 (13:13):
Or it's completely lost this luster to where you know,
this whole word commitment these days is not real. Uh,
it's in my mind is basically free agency every year.
Uh in college, where if I can just go somewhere
and make more money, I don't really don't care what
happened the year before, who my coach was, or what
what they did playing time wise, I'll go somewhere that
(13:36):
just makes more money.
Speaker 8 (13:39):
Yeah, why not year by contracts?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah right, I'll tell you what though, Uh, you got
to go hit your ball next or what not.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
They can give me a buggy. So I'd rather talk
to you Fred.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
You would because where'd you hit the last ball?
Speaker 8 (14:02):
Right here?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Okay, Hey, you know what, let's go to what you
told me one time over walking out the golf course,
and of course that's where I met Ross. He's working
at the golf course there. You know, he left the
Cardinals farm team and decided to come down and Florida
and be on a golf course. So he really has
(14:27):
to work hard. As you can see, he's out there
really working hard today. But Ross said to me one day, Hey,
I really liked your book. I liked the book that
I had written about all these different people I have
had the opportunity to meet.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
So Ross, what do you got for me today?
Speaker 9 (14:47):
I got to bring up, well, we kind of teased
it last week, but the meeting you had with your
interaction and then ultimate friendship you had with cal Ripken Jr.
I was really intrigued about that. That that chapter in
your book was really fascinating.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Yeah, you know how fascinating it was. I mean it
was crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I'm at my desk one day and I'm looking at
my email and all of a sudden, I see an
email from cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I said, yeah, right.
Speaker 8 (15:14):
No way, no way, uh no way.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
I mean, just out of the blue, you had an
email from cal Rican Jr.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah right. I mean I'm saying, hey, not going to
email me.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
So I said, I'll look at it because it's probably
somebody like ros Smith frank on me. So I wit
in there and I look and it says, fred, I
just want you to know I read your book and
I really liked it, and I thought it was a
great book about kids in sports.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
And I'm thinking, hey, this might be cal Ripken. And
he says at the end. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
So he says, at the end, come up and see
me if you're ever in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Can you imagine that.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
I'll make a flight pretty quick for no reason to
go up to Baltimore. I'm just I am that's kind
of what I did. That man, the Iron Man tells
you to come visit. I will go visit brother for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Yeah. So I took his plight.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I actually I had to go speaking engagement at the
University of Delaware, and I flew into Baltimore because that's
the closest airport yet, and I rented a car and
I drove out. He gave me the address and I
went up and I walked in the office. I'm like,
my stomach's turning upside down and around because you know,
(16:32):
I'm from Maryland and I've known Cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 8 (16:36):
Idol.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Right, yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean almost everybody's idol. So
his secretary said his office said when you come in,
come on in, and I'm like, I'll shake it.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
I'm thinking no, no.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I walk in the room and say, hey, how you
going in? And I have a seed and he comes
behind his desk and he goes, it's over.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And I thought, okay, this.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Is going to be like three or four minutes and
he's gonna say, I see and yeah, I got a
lot of stuff to do. It you think I'm kidding you.
But it was an hour and a half later that
he got u from his secretary. He says, mister Ripkin,
you have to be over in Aberdeen today.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
For a photo shoot. And Aberdeen is about an.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Hour away from Baltimore, and it's where he has his
league fields for all these kids and stadiums that are
replica stadiums. And he says, hey, you mind driving me
over there.
Speaker 8 (17:44):
That's that's what I wanted to ask you about the chapter.
Speaker 9 (17:48):
Was was it before he was doing his cal Ripken
experience thing in Aberdeen or were you, like, were you
influential to him with any bit of that, with his
the timing of building that, making kind of the awesome
experience that he has with that cal Ripken experience.
Speaker 10 (18:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you know when he did that,
he wanted to create youth baseball programs and so you know,
he built all these stadiums, and then you know, they
looked like, well, let me tell you before.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
We get there.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Riding down the road, We've got ninety five and I'm
driving down up with him thinking somebody riding by her
looking say, hey that's cal Ripken.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Who the hell's that guys with?
Speaker 8 (18:34):
And he got tod.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So we get there and I'm thinking, all right, they
say thanks a lot for the ride. He said, no, no, no,
look right around. I want to show you the different ballparks.
They go around looking at the different ballparks.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Oh cow, I mean I'm.
Speaker 8 (18:52):
Beautiful, right, huh beautiful right?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah, Oh my goodness. I mean, you know, he's got
the one with the red Sox. Yeah, green wall, and
it's built, you know, for kidds baseball, but it's a
replica of it. I mean it's just fantastic looking.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And then of course it's still there today and it
was uh huh.
Speaker 9 (19:20):
I was fortunate enough to go to Cooperstown as a
player and then as a coach later in life, and
then I did the same thing with the cal Ripken experience.
And I think the cal Ripkin experience not only rival
but was better than the Cooperstown experience, and that was
made to be like the mecca of like youth travel
baseball growing up.
Speaker 8 (19:34):
So uh, cal rip can definitely.
Speaker 9 (19:37):
I mean he hit it on the head with what
he's got going on between Aberdeen and I think his
uh his second spot and Pigeon Forge, I believe is
the other spot.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So you got something in common with me?
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Uh, I have this awesome show with you. That's about
as much as I belong with you.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Brother.
Speaker 8 (19:53):
You're a way ahead of my time.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
All right, So anyway, I get there, we get finished.
She takes me inside and introduces me to his mother,
and I thought, okay, I guess I'm going to leave now.
And he said, hey, you want to come up and
watch a little bit of the game.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Up in one of the fields. There's a game going on.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Nobody out left field, but where the stadium he has
for one part, I'm sitting there with Cal Ripken. He's
still talking about He's telling me about his son playing
baseball at the time, and I don't know about like
twelve years old.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
You're telling me that.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
How his son comes in and I try to tell
him my son tells me? He said, what the hell
do you know about it? He said, can you imagine
your son is telling you you've been major league for
however long?
Speaker 4 (20:46):
You know you know anything about baseball? But anyway, I
didn't hear that.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Again, you're right between swings.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I guess you sitting in.
Speaker 8 (20:59):
The Carr brother just talking to you. I hadn't gotten out,
can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Hey?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I'm gonna let you go because you're breaking up a
little bit. You're getting too far away from the the do.
Speaker 8 (21:14):
You got me now? Can you hear me?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I can hear you now.
Speaker 9 (21:18):
Yeah, I just got to get a little closer. I
guess I don't want to break.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
The Yeah, that's it a little bit better.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
But I was saying, this typical father son relationship, isn't
it telling the son telling the father? He didn't know anything,
even though he's been in the big leagues for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Hey, I got to tell you. At the end of
the story, I thought it was the end of me
seeing cal.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Oh. Wow, man, whatever, I'll end up someday telling Ross
spent this story.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But anyway, what.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Happened is we have our national meeting U sport directors
from all over the country and it was in the
Indianapolis and they were looking for a keynote speaker.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Now Cale Ripkin at the Cayle Ripken Junior, I should say, yeah,
he gets.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
An invitation, you know, or he didn't get an invitation,
but they invited him through me to be the speaker.
Now he gets fifty thousand dollars or speaking engagement.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
That's what us zero.
Speaker 9 (22:27):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (22:28):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
I couldn't believe it. He came with his couple of
but his kind of bodyguards.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
But sure, yeah, he wants to give back, man, That's
all he did. I think that's what he did for
the experience. You know, that Kyle Rican thing he's got
going on. It's I mean, obviously he makes money and
it's a business, but the idea behind it in the
drive was he wanted to give back. He loved the
sport and he wanted to give back to what gave him.
Speaker 8 (22:53):
A whole lot.
Speaker 9 (22:53):
So I think there are a lot of like minds
out there like that. They're not as many as there
should be. Definitely not as many as there used to be.
I think n I L is kind of making it
more of a selfish type of game as opposed to
a team game. But people like cal Ripken definitely had
the good vibe going for a long time.
Speaker 8 (23:10):
And Ovid continues.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Yeah, you know, that was amazing.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Thing that I've found about him is you know, and
I've had the opportunity through our organization to be able
to meet a lot of characters that I talk about
in the book, but he was one that stood out
of being somebody that was just just.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
The regular guy. I mean, like, hey, I'm Cal Ripken Jr.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
Not other Man or anything like that. I'm just I'm
cal Rican Jr.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Yeah. I mean, like like when I met with him.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
There, I was sitting in the room in a secretary
came in the second time and said, mister Ripkin.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
From somebody in Washington. I thought, damn a president, it's
going to talk.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
But it wasn't the president. What it was was, uh
the hospital. Uh his wife was ill at the time.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
But they wanted.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
To bring a helicopter there to pick him up, take
him down to a meeting with the Washington Nationals to
be your manager. Yeah, and he said, no, I'm not
going to go. I got to go up to my
(24:36):
ballpark for kids.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
And uh.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
And I said when he hung up with them, I said,
did you excuse me for budding in or listening a
good now? And are they asking you to be the
manager of the Washington Nationals.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yeah, wedding.
Speaker 9 (24:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
So it's the kind of guy who was im. He's
just you know, hey, I'm not going to do so anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Hey, I want you to have a great time on
the golf course because it looks like you are and uh,
I want you to par the next goal?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
What ho are you on? Now?
Speaker 8 (25:17):
I appreciate it. You next week.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
All right, Ross, I'll see you next week, good saying thanks.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
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.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
There you got it.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
That's why Johnny hates sports with our extra innings and
the press box. So I hope we entertained you a
little bit this week because it's getting closed to next week,
which is fourth of July weekend, and you can listen
to this on the radio, but you won't be able
(26:10):
to hear me and Ross banner back and forth.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
So in the meantime then I want you to have
a great.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Weekend, and the fourth of July weekend, I have those
days off.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Shoot those fireworks, folks. See.
Speaker 6 (26:25):
This program is sponsored by Sirdarff Publishing in the interest
for better sports for kids, Better kids for life.
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