August 1, 2025 • 36 mins
The Savannah Bananas are a world class phenomenon, and we're diving headfirst into all of the excitement. Join The Duke and Danny G as we recap our incredible experience at the Bananas' sold-out, two-day extravaganza at Fenway Park. Was it all it was hyped up to be? Listen in to find out!
To kick things off, The Duke scores a hilarious and high-energy interview with independent pro wrestler turned "Man-Nana," The Cheese. Get the inside scoop on what it's like to be part of the hottest entity in sports and entertainment today. This episode is a fun-loving, laugh-out-loud look at a team that's redefining the game and proving that sports can still be pure entertainment.
#savannahbananas #bananaball #fenwaypark #wrestlingpodcast #sportsentertainment #DukeLovesRasslin #thecheese #mlb #fenway #wwe #sports #podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Brothers and sisters, stop the presses.
That's right, The Duke has a special breaking news
announcement for you. The Savannah Bananas are
officially the greatest show on earth.
I'm telling you right now folks,in the world of sports and
entertainment, nothing, and I domean nothing, does a better job
(00:24):
of providing family friendly entertainment for everyone from
babies all the way up to grandparents and everyone in
between. But don't take my word for it,
the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, is so impressed with how
great of a job the Savannah Bananas and all of the folks who
(00:48):
make banana ball what it is today.
She actually designated a day inthe city of Boston.
This is the highest honor anyonecan receive.
She designated Savannah Bananas day in the city of Boston.
Incredible. So on this episode, you're going
(01:08):
to hear from our main man, DannyG, who joined me when the
Bananas were here in Boston at Fenway Park.
Danny and I were sitting in the press box giving our thoughts on
the fantastic event known as Banana Ball and the Savannah
Bananas. But first, we have a special
guest to kick off this episode. Hey, this is the Gorgonzola
(01:32):
Rock'n'roll of. The Sultan of Swiss, the.
Cheese. I am a Manana of the Savannah
Bananas, a professional wrestlerhost extraordinaire, and this is
Duke Loves Wrestling. You are locked in.
Look at what we have here. Folks to the only show.
That matters, The queen of the crop.
(01:53):
Duke loves wrestling. And there is no one that does it
better. Than your house.
I have come. Here to chew bubble gum and kick
ass and. I'm all out of bubble.
Brothers and sisters, I am stillon cloud 9 after a fantastic
(02:19):
showing by the Savannah Bananas and their whole crew there.
Incredible. Some of the best entertainment
that you will get. Forget about pro wrestling,
forget about baseball, forget about the circus.
This is all that and then some. It is incredible and you know
we've been documenting this for years.
Just the fact that you have all this family friendly
(02:41):
entertainment, everyone from grandparents to babies, everyone
in between, they show up, they have a great time.
And really, you know, there's somany special people that make
this happen, including our guestto kick this episode off.
So without further ado, somebodythat I have a tremendous amount
of respect and appreciation for because he is such a hard worker
(03:04):
and and really just a a very, very good guy.
The one the only the cheese. What's going on there?
Cheese. Hello my friend, this has been a
long time coming. I'm glad to be here brother.
It has. Been a long time coming.
I mean, you and I have been flirting with doing this, this
interview for years now and thiseven before you.
(03:25):
You became part of the Savannah Bananas family, so to speak.
So for me, it's an honor to havethe one the only the cheese or
Duke loves wrestling. Man, what's up?
You know, just in the middle of the daily grind.
Again, this is this has been a long time coming and it was so
(03:47):
cool to see you over there in Boston.
Man, that was quite a surprise. So, so I'm going to, and I'll be
talking to a professional later in this episode here, but I'm
going to have to put a bounty onhis head.
I'm going to put a Harley Race bounty.
So we got to get a briefcase full of money and then I want to
be yelling take them on, eh? Because I can't believe he
(04:07):
didn't tell you guys. Literally the Duke Boston born
and bred, been here my entire life.
How could he not let you guys know I was going to be there?
Be fair, the professor does liketo play it close to that
beautiful coat that he wears or the varied collection of coats
(04:27):
that dude has. More Blazers than you know, the
sun. I don't know.
He loves to make sure that we have our shock and awe moment
and it's it actually keeps things very exciting.
Well, and and you mentioned the coach, how about those shoes?
I mean where the hell does this guy get these shoes from bro?
(04:52):
Every time somebody asks him, he's just like, I don't know,
the Internet. He just walks away.
Always dressed to the Dods. You ask him, are you, are you,
are you comfortable? And he's like, no, absolutely
not. I'm burning up, I'm boiling.
And then he he walks away. That's great.
(05:14):
That's so great. Well, listen, forget about
Professor. It's all about the cheese right
now, brother. You are a pro wrestler who has
one of the most unique gimmicks I've ever seen.
I've. I've been a wrestling fan close
to 43 years now and I can honestly say I had never seen
(05:35):
anything like the cheese before because of a special thing that
you do in matches. Tell everybody why they call you
the. Cheese.
You want origin story or you want everybody?
Because what's makes the cheese great is that it's open to
interpretation. Some might say I'm a cheesy
(05:59):
throwback to your favorite 80s wrestlers and characters of the
golden era of wrestling. If you ask Shark Boy, who was at
11 point my tag team partner, hefound me in a dumpster.
If you ask Jay Lethal, it's because when it, when he was
(06:19):
training me, when it came time to cut our very first promos, I
cut a promo like the exquisite motivational speaker played by
Chris Farley, Matt Foley living in a van down by the river on a
steady supply of government cheese.
(06:44):
So I, I, I actually did that promo.
I used part of that promo. And Jay Lethal looks at me and
says, you seem pretty mad about that government cheese, so I'm
going to call you government cheese.
So he kept calling me governmentcheese throughout training.
And then eventually he dropped the government and I became just
the cheese. And I figured, I think this
(07:06):
thing has got some legs. So I've been in the cheese ever
since. And and you are not above
bringing cheese itself into the ring, right?
Absolutely not. In a couple of years ago, like
3, maybe 3 1/2 years ago, I started wrestling with a Fanny
(07:27):
pack on that has a full stock supply of American cheese.
Sometimes there's Baby Bells, sometimes there's string cheese,
sometimes it's cheese whiz hit you with a shining cheese
wizard. You know, stuff like that.
(07:48):
Just the more puns and the more cheese that I can throw out into
the multiverse, the better. It's so silly, it's so
ridiculous, but because you're committed to it, it's fun.
It's fun and, and it's, it's OK,you know what I mean?
There is a place for exactly what you do in the ring there,
(08:08):
which is what I appreciate, man.It's it's, it's not easy to put
yourself out there. And basically you're putting
yourself in a position where youknow, people are going to be
laughing at you. And so many of us are so afraid
of that. That's like such a big fear,
even for me. Like it, it took me a while to
realize when you start leaning into the joke and when you start
(08:32):
committing to the joke, it actually now you're in on the
joke and it, and it becomes we're laughing together as
opposed to I'm being singled outand made fun of, so to speak.
So when I see you, I'm like, wow, this guy's committed to
this thing. How could I not root for him?
So, so it's really cool. It's really cool to see you as a
(08:53):
as a wrestler now. You decided to to take another
step in the entertainment world and you became part of the
Savannah Bananas family. Not just part of the family,
though, you have become one of the mananas.
So for everybody listening out there who may not be as
(09:15):
familiar, I've had Mikey on and he's talked about a little bit
before last year, but let's get a refresher here.
What are the mananas and why arethey the best thing going today?
Well, the Bananas are also knownas the dad bod cheerleading
squad and we have been featured on ESPN and Jesse Cole is a is a
(09:40):
huge fan of ours, huge proponentof ours.
He, he gave, he gives us a lot of opportunity and levity to go
out there and we dance and we hype up the crowd and we, we
learn dances. We, we are essentially A
cheerleading squad that is a little bit more shapely and
manly than cheerleading squads known throughout sports and
(10:03):
entertainment. But we've found something, Jesse
Cole and the bananas have found something that works.
And it's, it's a, it's a dichotomy.
It's the the recipe that he cooks up for the bananas
organization and that everybody abides.
Is whatever everyone else is doing that's normal?
(10:24):
Do the opposite. And what could be more opposite
of normal than a bunch of dad bods hyping up a crowd?
You know, Mikey's wearing the crop top.
You got Cody Fluffman, who is also a fantastic wrestler in his
own right, who is got the headband and just body, body
positive. And he does the steamroller and
(10:48):
anywhere he'll fall and then he'll twerk and and it just gets
a raucous amount. You know, you got myself.
I'm, I'm tasseled up like I normally AM when I come to the
ring. I I'm the cheese no matter if
I'm in the ring or if I'm going out to a sold out stadium.
But we are we are a hype squad and it people are very receptive
(11:08):
to it and I'm so thankful. And it really, it really means a
lot to me that so many people are you want to talk about, you
know, going a full 180 and beingin on the joke.
When we're there, there's no shortage of people that want to
take pictures with us, want autographs and want to hang out.
And you know, just like every dad that has somewhat of a dad
(11:31):
bod is like, Hey, I need to get on with you guys.
And it's just like, OK, can you learn how to dance really quick?
Can you do all the line dances, which I'm sure we'll talk about
at some point, but that was not my Forte And it and I'm not
going to say that I'm an expert dancer, but like I wasn't even
passable at weddings for the Electric slide when I started
(11:55):
this Now, now you can bring me to your wedding and I can do
whatever line dance you need me to let.
Me tell you something, brother, I'm, I'm standing there outside
of Fenway Park and you know, with Jersey St. it's packed with
people and you and the rest of the guys are out there on stage
(12:19):
dancing and doing your thing. And all I saw were smiles as,
as, as far as the eye could see,people were laughing, they were
clapping, they were dancing along, they were cheering.
It was just so fantastic to see that because again, everybody's
(12:39):
in on what's happening here. You guys are committed to it.
You guys are having a good time.You got your bellies out, you do
it, you're twerking. You're doing all this crazy
stuff here, like you said, completely opposite of what
we're used to at sporting eventsbecause these are guys wearing
the, dare I say, skimpy outfits.You got your little tight shirts
on, belly shirts on and what have you.
(13:01):
And you guys are, you got your tassels, you're doing all this,
this crazy stuff, but the fans are just going wild and they
can't get enough of it, bro It'scrazy.
It's a sight to behold. It's just going to a bananas
game. And then it's like you OK, so
like the gateway door into the bananas is everybody's just
like, all right, come on in. And it's, you know, you get you
(13:22):
get the lottery, you get the ticket.
And if you're a first timer and you haven't even, you know, done
any research on the bananas, yougo to a game, it's like there's
a whole bunch of doors in front of you that you can just open
freely. They're unlocked and one door
you'll you'll open up and you'llsee the all the wonderful
players that we have for each ofour teams, the firefighters, the
(13:44):
tailgaters, the party animals, of course, the Savannah bananas.
You open up another door, it's the The Golden Girls of banana
land, the banana Nanas. You know, it's a they are a, a
dance crew that's made-up of literally Nanas.
And then you can, you can open up and you see Jesse Cole and
Emily Cole and all the wonderfulthings that they do with Bananas
(14:06):
Foster. And then you, you, you know, you
you'll turn a corner and then you'll open up a door and then
bam, there are the mananas, the dad bod cheer squad.
We're waiting on you to be in onthis fun with us.
And it's there's just so many things.
And we keep adding, Jesse Cole calls it Plussing.
We keep plussing the experience.We keep adding on different
(14:28):
things, different elements to this game of banana ball.
And it just it, it becomes more and more endearing the more
you're around it. I love it.
I love it. I mean, you guys were here in
Boston last year sold out FenwayPark one day come back in 2025
and sell out Fenway Park 2 days in a row and, and I, and I have
(14:50):
AI have a idea here. I have a theory.
The Boston Red Sox were the complete drizzling, you know
what last year they were the fondue last year did not have a
good, did not have a good seasonwhatsoever.
They barely sold out any games. So the fact that's the Savannah
(15:12):
bananas against the party animals in 2024 sold out Fenway
Park. It was it was a embarrassing
quite frankly for the Red Sox. So knowing that you guys are
going to come back this year with the firefighters 2 day
homestand sold out right away. Both days the Red Sox decided
(15:32):
that they're going to get their act together and suddenly
they're on like a 10 game-winning streak because they
can't have the Sabana bananas out doing them two years in a
row. So, So how does it feel to
motivate the Boston Red Sox to get their act together and
therefore start selling out somegames like you guys?
Well, you know, this term is used throughout entertainment
(15:53):
and throughout life, but we gavethem the old rub ski, you know,
and wrestling. It's you give a guy.
The rub ski, you know, or you give a guy the rub and he's all
of a sudden the, the rocket packis on and he's ready to go.
But no, you know, we just bananaball is, is different from
(16:14):
baseball and, and it's, it's baseball camouflaged as baseball
to baseball fans, but it's entertainment out in the open
with a orange vest on for fans of other types of theatrical
entertainment like wrestling, like theater, like movies, just
(16:35):
different elements brought into this.
And of course, you got the modern aspect of everything.
You've got the social media, theTiktok, the Instagram,
everything. It's it feels great that now I'm
kind of revisiting baseball because when I was a young Kurd,
I was a huge, huge baseball fan.I was a baseball card collector.
(16:58):
I was, I was really big into Major League Baseball.
And now I'm kind of revisiting some of that, going to these,
going to these sold out stadiumsand and kind of remembering how
much I loved baseball. But also, you know, I'm
canceling out the part where I was a little bit disenchanted
(17:21):
with it as a game because it quite frankly, it didn't catch
up with the other sports as far as being modern and you know,
it, it was slower to catch up with everything.
And now I'm seeing all these wonderful things on social media
where all these Major League teams and even minor league
teams more so are doing all these like wild, varied things
(17:47):
of just crazy promotions and things during the games.
And there's a lot of really coolspots, as we say, in wrestling.
And it's a, it's really awesome to see because I, you know, I, I
may be biased, but I, I'll go ahead and call it the banana
effect. That's exactly what it is, the
(18:10):
banana effect. I love that.
I love that phrase there. So.
So you folks, you've been all over the country selling out,
rocking stadiums. You're already in Cooperstown,
you're on ESPNCW Networks, whichis owned by CBS, Viacom.
(18:31):
They're airing your games as well.
So this is a this is a big thing.
And one of the biggest honors inthe history of the Savannah
Bananas franchise business, banana ball business and what
have you is the fact that the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu,
(18:52):
she officially designated Savannah Bananas Day in the city
of Boston. And that was the, the Sunday.
So that was Sunday, the 6th of July, which is pretty cool.
So there was a city official whocame by and, and did the
presentation with Jesse, the whole 9 yards there.
How does it feel, man? How does it feel to to be given
(19:14):
your own day in one of the most historic cities in the entire
world? Well, it's incredible because
you know, I, I, to be honest, I,I, I've always wanted to go to
Fenway. I've, I've always wanted to go
to Boston. I, I was talking to somebody,
(19:35):
one of our big fans that travelsaround with us, that lives near
Savannah. Now it's Boston is where a lot
of my favorite movies are set and, and even filmed.
You got like the town and the departed and Goodwill hunting
like all those what I call them,I call them big Boston accent
(19:56):
movies. But I, you know, it's really
special to me that a place that I've held in such high regard
and one of my best friends livesthere as well.
So I got to explore the city a little bit after the game and
stuff. But I just love Boston, love
Bostonians, you know, everybody.There, especially during the
(20:17):
game, was just very welcoming and just like happy to have you.
It's a real it's a real hometownvibe.
And I was just I was blown away that we had a a day that was
proclaimed Savannah bananas day.But I mean, just to be a part of
it, it's it it it's still is just wild.
(20:37):
I don't have enough words to cover it, to be honest with you.
It's, it's such a cool thing to be held in such regard or be
part of an organization that's held in such regard in a city
that it's like, you know, as I say, people are welcoming, but
they don't let things slip by. Like if you ain't good, they're
going to let you know in Boston.I, I speak from experience,
(21:00):
trust me, we, we do not play around, no doubt about it.
So, So the fact that you this isthe highest honor that we could
bestow upon anyone. It's the equivalent of a key to
a city. In other places.
We just give you a whole day. So for the the rest of the
history of the city of Boston that will live in the archives.
(21:23):
So, you know, 50, a hundred thousands of years later, people
can go into the archives and they can see, Oh yeah, on that
date, Savannah Bananas got theirown day.
So it's a it's a pretty cool honor, But that just is is a
testament to how hard you guys work, how much your beloved and
appreciated and you know, to memorialize you in that way was
(21:46):
an honor on all fronts. So it's it's pretty cool, man,
absolutely. So you're you're in the baseball
world. You are a pro wrestler.
I know you've been focusing on being a man, Anna, most recently
what have you here, but is therea chance that we could see the
cheese somehow, some way back inthe pro wrestling world sometime
(22:10):
in the not too distant future? Yeah.
Well, I will say, I'll say a couple of things.
I I got in some of the wrestlingearly this season and had some
fun with that. But I will say, boy, is it is it
more stressful to to do that during the type of season that
(22:33):
the Savannah Bananas hold. But I would say that in the near
future, there's going to be something to pay attention to
pertaining to ME and pro wrestling.
I'd say just a little bit beforeHalloween.
(22:54):
Let's just put it in that and I'll leave it at that right
there for you. Oh, the cheese giving us a a a
teaser here. So we're going to have to keep
ourselves locked on the on the cheese is a social media and
figure out what's going on here.You said a little bit before
Halloween. So, so the fall coming up,
(23:14):
folks, keep an eye on the cheese.
You don't know what's going to happen, but definitely it's
going to be something that is extra sharp, huh, Huh.
Extra sharp, huh? Huh.
OK, I'm trying. I'm trying anyway.
Jeez. What's the best way everyone can
keep up with you? Like I said, if they want to
(23:34):
know what's going on, especiallyyour big announcement coming up
later this year, how can they figure out and stay ahead of the
curve, so to speak? Best way is between Instagram at
the cheese pro and on Facebook just the cheese and those
accounts are interlinked so you might see some of the same
content but those right there will tell you where everything
(23:58):
else lives. I'm also on TikTok as the
American cheese with AZI. Love it.
Before I let you go, man, you know I have to ask you the
question. This is the biggest question in
the history of your career. So I'm, I'm.
I hope you're ready for this. No, no pressure.
What is your favorite cheese dish?
(24:20):
So it doesn't have to be a particular type of cheese, but
more along the lines of a complete dish.
That cheese is a focal point of the dish.
What is it? Why do you like it so much?
Where is the best place to get it?
Boom. That's fair.
That's it is tough and it requires a little bit of just
(24:41):
like Hemming and hawing. But actually I know it's, I'll
go ahead and tell you. There is a restaurant in St.
Petersburg, FL where I reside and it is, it's, it's called
Brick and Mortar. And at Brick and Mortar, they
(25:03):
have like a farm farm board or afarm to table thing.
And it's basically a charcuterieboard.
Now I know that this, you might say I he's cheating a little
bit. He's just saying a cheese board.
But hear me out. The pairing of the cheeses is
done by the the chefs there and the executive team there, and
(25:26):
they do a fantastic job of making sure that the right
cheeses, hard cheeses, soft cheeses are paired with the
right fruits and you know, like dried apricots and, and the
different type of cracker that you may never have heard of or
whatever. But you're going to get cheeses
that you've never tried, never heard of, and you're going to
(25:47):
walk away becoming a fan of a new cheese.
So I love that classic charcuterie board that they
prepared their and it's just, it's fantastic because all your
different food universes are converging together.
You got, you know, Pickles and pickled onions and different
(26:09):
types of things like that. And you mix them together with a
hard like, you know, Parmesan cheese or you take the
prosciutto and mix it with like a, a, a nice white sharp cheddar
that's coming from a, a dairy in, in, in Florida or a dairy in
South Georgia or whatever. It's a lot of really fun flavor
(26:34):
combinations. So that's my favorite cheese
dish at the moment. It could change seasonally, to
be fair. There you have it.
From the expert himself, the bigthe big cheddar himself, the
cheese. Listen, Ben, again, we
appreciate you bro. You, you, you have such a great
time. You're putting smiles on
(26:54):
family's faces. You know, from grandma's all the
way down to the, to the babies. It's awesome.
Keep up the great work man. We can't wait to see what
happens next. Thank you so much, brother.
Strictly Father. Come with John every day
stepping style. You know you need your way,
(27:17):
hands and colors, so define all about the perfect life.
Be yourself, let your spirit lie.
In this fashion, you'll touch the sky strictly for the culture
(27:40):
and so fine dress to impress andshow your shine.
(28:03):
Visit www.strictlyfortheculture.ca.
All right, all right. It's your man Duke here with
Danny G reporting to you. Live from Fenway Park for the
Savannah Bananas. How's it going, Danny G.
(28:23):
Right now, I'd have to say it's pretty freaking good, Duke.
Pretty good. Beautiful day outside it's.
Yeah, it's hot. We're on the field.
We had to come in and get some air conditioning and get away.
But we're watching, watching thefestivity start to get going
here. And it's what an experience it
is for people to to to come to this, to see it and to live it
in person for a day. Two straight days sold out at
(28:46):
Fenway Park for the Savannah Bananas, and a special surprise,
they were awarded the their own official day in the city of
Boston. How cool is that to see the
Savannah Bananas get their own day in Boston, you know?
It's actually really good considering that Jesse, the, the
guy that started this whole thing is a Massachusetts native.
(29:06):
So I mean, you know, I'm sure ithasn't set in for him yet and
how how great that is because he's been running around like a
like a chicken with his head cutoff for the whole day.
But he seemed to be really appreciative.
And I got a feeling when it's all said and done and he takes a
look at that, at that, you know,that that that piece of paper
that you guys gave him in the folder, he's going to be like,
(29:27):
wow, this is what we've become. You know what I mean?
They, they can be like, they're almost the face of baseball
right now. As crazy as it sounds, there's
not a lot of, you know, you go to a baseball game and they do
what they can to make it a family atmosphere.
But there's alcohol, people, people get involved.
There's always some type of a trouble or something like that.
(29:48):
No matter what, no matter what stadium you go to, whatever.
But you come to this and you seewhat goes on and it's amazing
how everyone is engaged. It's, it's, it's a true family
atmosphere. It it's good to see something
like this doing so well. It really is and and what I love
most about it is just the fact that every year they just keep
getting bigger and bigger. We were here last year and that
(30:09):
was a great time. This year through the roof, even
better, you know what I mean? Even though it's a much hotter
day here, Danny, I'm turning to a lobster myself.
But what do you think about their growth?
Though. The growth is is unbelievable
and it seems like it's happened organically and and so fast.
I mean, when you see things likeselling out, you know, Clemson
(30:30):
football stadium, selling out the Astrodome, you know, the Los
Angeles Dodgers ballpark, like 60,000 people two nights in a
row, it's that's incredible. It just goes to show you like
what how much there is a need for good family entertainment
out there. There sure is.
There sure is. Now, we saw a young professor.
He's wearing a sparkly jacket today.
(30:51):
Yeah. I don't envy him out there
today. You know what I'm saying?
With Jesse, too. Jesse, he's wearing his big
banana outfit there, the top hat.
Jesse outfit looks like it's in breathable cotton.
Professor, I don't know. I got a feeling he's hopefully
he's got a change of suits. And we met the cheese.
We met the independent pro wrestler turned Savannah Banana
(31:14):
star. The cheese with the mananas.
He was out there dancing and having a good time.
That's a fantastic thing too, because you know it.
It gives hope for guys like me as we get older, you know what I
mean? There's a place for us.
That's right, Dad bods man. With Mikey and the crew, we can,
we can be like that man, becauseI don't think that we're going
to be any of the firefighters. I'm not tall enough and I don't
(31:35):
think you have big enough muscles to be one of the fire,
no. I don't.
I may be tall, but there's no muscles.
How about the crowd? Man, the crowd looks like they
are pumped. They've been out here since
early this morning. Can't wait to get in, huh?
We, we, we pulled in town early about 9:00 and see 9:30.
We got here and, you know, we found a parking spot and started
walking around and, you know, just took a little stroll around
(31:56):
and there were people already lined up.
I mean, that's crazy. You know, people lined up and
then then, you know, we went, wecame back and then by the time
we came back, there were hundreds of people lined up.
True. Hundreds, you know and you know,
do they do the you know, the, the the pre before the banana
peel or whatever party and then it's just it's, it's just crazy.
(32:17):
It's it's it's non-stop entertainment the entire time
you're here. If you if you if you're part of
the full experience. You know what's what's crazy,
Danny? You're a guy who you have a
whole basketball team full of kids at the house, different
ages and what have you. Lovely wife.
Shout out to Mrs. G When you think about what type of
(32:39):
entertainment this is, family friendly entertainment, you
think about your own family. Is this the sort of thing that
you'd want to bring them to? So it's funny you say that
because one of the things that because obviously we're a
blended family now, but you know, we've when when we got
together, you know, the oldest was 13 on down South 13 down to
5 or 412 to 4, something like that.
(33:03):
And one of the things that we struggled with was finding
something for everybody to be able to do together, you know,
the movies here and there, but that's really about it, you know
what I mean? And, you know, so something like
this would have worked because, you know, we did go to the McCoy
Stadium a few times as a family,you know, and it was a good
time. But you know, not all the kids
(33:23):
are baseball fans, you know, I mean, you know, you know, Matty
G he he's a big baseball fan. You know, my my son Jake isn't.
But you know, all the two stepsons really aren't big
sports fans, but they still enjoyed the game.
But they would enjoy this. They would have a good time with
this and have fun. My oldest was the oldest
stepson. He loved the, you know, he was
(33:43):
in a band and stuff like that for years.
So he would he would love to be part of the band that they have
playing non-stop during all this.
You know, the second one is a high functioning.
He might have a little struggle with it at first, but I think he
would get used to it once he started watching it in.
He would definitely be rooting for whoever the bananas were
playing. You know he likes the bad.
(34:04):
Guys, nice. I love that.
I love that. I'm telling you folks, Savannah
Bananas, it doesn't matter if you see the main team or one of
the offshoots, whether we're talking about the party animals
or the firefighters or any of the other great teams that they
put together in their league. It's a whole league now.
You definitely want to check it out.
If you can't be here live, checkyour local listings.
(34:26):
I know ESPN is broadcasting thisseason, what have you.
It's just fantastic. I mean, it really is the
greatest show on Earth today, noquestion about it.
So, you know, we love being hereand we can't wait to see what's
going to happen next, right? Yeah, it really is kind of it's
kind of overtaking the circus ifyou think about it.
They don't do as many shows, obviously, but it's it's got
(34:48):
that type of thing. And one thing that, you know,
sometimes, you know, when I tellpeople I'm coming here for that,
they laugh and like, oh, those aren't baseball players or
whatnot being on that field first hand.
Let me tell you something. These guys are are.
Big dudes, big dudes, big. Dudes and these guys, you know,
you know, when talking to them, they've all played Division One
(35:10):
college baseball. They've all played overseas.
Some of them have had a cup of coffee in the minor leagues.
They're all still young, so theycould very well still get a
chance. But you know, people who sit
there and say it's like not a real game, it's a real game.
It's a competitive game. They're out there, They're
trying to win. Yeah, there's the shenanigans
that go on, but they're, you know, they're trying to win the
game and they're trying to, and they're having fun doing it.
(35:30):
And that's the best part of it, you know?
And they're all you know, you look at the way they interact
with the fans and stuff. That's like the best part.
It's like it all looks genuine and it doesn't look forced and
fake. It looks like they're taking it
all in and enjoying every secondof it.
Absolutely, absolutely. So once again, thank you to the
Savannah Bananas and great job as always.
(35:52):
You guys are putting on the bestshow out there, no question
about it. They will be in the city near
you so definitely check out Savannah Bananas on all your
social medias. Go to their website, the whole 9
yards. Try to grab tickets early folks,
they sell out. Get those fast, get those
tickets fast, but let me tell you because once they hit the
secondary market, you'll be you're going to be refinancing
(36:12):
your house for them so and then.Some and then some that's.
Right. But you will have a great time.
That's most important, right? Yep.
Mr. Tony Shivani and we're desperately.
Out of time on Duke Love. Wrestling.
Brothers and sisters, stop the presses.
That's right, The Duke has a special breaking news
announcement for you. The Savannah Bananas are
officially the greatest show on earth.
I'm telling you right now folks,in the world of sports and
entertainment, nothing, and I domean nothing, does a better job
(00:24):
of providing family friendly entertainment for everyone from
babies all the way up to grandparents and everyone in
between. But don't take my word for it,
the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, is so impressed with how
great of a job the Savannah Bananas and all of the folks who
(00:48):
make banana ball what it is today.
She actually designated a day inthe city of Boston.
This is the highest honor anyonecan receive.
She designated Savannah Bananas day in the city of Boston.
Incredible. So on this episode, you're going
(01:08):
to hear from our main man, DannyG, who joined me when the
Bananas were here in Boston at Fenway Park.
Danny and I were sitting in the press box giving our thoughts on
the fantastic event known as Banana Ball and the Savannah
Bananas. But first, we have a special
guest to kick off this episode. Hey, this is the Gorgonzola
(01:32):
Rock'n'roll of. The Sultan of Swiss, the.
Cheese. I am a Manana of the Savannah
Bananas, a professional wrestlerhost extraordinaire, and this is
Duke Loves Wrestling. You are locked in.
Look at what we have here. Folks to the only show.
That matters, The queen of the crop.
(01:53):
Duke loves wrestling. And there is no one that does it
better. Than your house.
I have come. Here to chew bubble gum and kick
ass and. I'm all out of bubble.
Brothers and sisters, I am stillon cloud 9 after a fantastic
(02:19):
showing by the Savannah Bananas and their whole crew there.
Incredible. Some of the best entertainment
that you will get. Forget about pro wrestling,
forget about baseball, forget about the circus.
This is all that and then some. It is incredible and you know
we've been documenting this for years.
Just the fact that you have all this family friendly
(02:41):
entertainment, everyone from grandparents to babies, everyone
in between, they show up, they have a great time.
And really, you know, there's somany special people that make
this happen, including our guestto kick this episode off.
So without further ado, somebodythat I have a tremendous amount
of respect and appreciation for because he is such a hard worker
(03:04):
and and really just a a very, very good guy.
The one the only the cheese. What's going on there?
Cheese. Hello my friend, this has been a
long time coming. I'm glad to be here brother.
It has. Been a long time coming.
I mean, you and I have been flirting with doing this, this
interview for years now and thiseven before you.
(03:25):
You became part of the Savannah Bananas family, so to speak.
So for me, it's an honor to havethe one the only the cheese or
Duke loves wrestling. Man, what's up?
You know, just in the middle of the daily grind.
Again, this is this has been a long time coming and it was so
(03:47):
cool to see you over there in Boston.
Man, that was quite a surprise. So, so I'm going to, and I'll be
talking to a professional later in this episode here, but I'm
going to have to put a bounty onhis head.
I'm going to put a Harley Race bounty.
So we got to get a briefcase full of money and then I want to
be yelling take them on, eh? Because I can't believe he
(04:07):
didn't tell you guys. Literally the Duke Boston born
and bred, been here my entire life.
How could he not let you guys know I was going to be there?
Be fair, the professor does liketo play it close to that
beautiful coat that he wears or the varied collection of coats
(04:27):
that dude has. More Blazers than you know, the
sun. I don't know.
He loves to make sure that we have our shock and awe moment
and it's it actually keeps things very exciting.
Well, and and you mentioned the coach, how about those shoes?
I mean where the hell does this guy get these shoes from bro?
(04:52):
Every time somebody asks him, he's just like, I don't know,
the Internet. He just walks away.
Always dressed to the Dods. You ask him, are you, are you,
are you comfortable? And he's like, no, absolutely
not. I'm burning up, I'm boiling.
And then he he walks away. That's great.
(05:14):
That's so great. Well, listen, forget about
Professor. It's all about the cheese right
now, brother. You are a pro wrestler who has
one of the most unique gimmicks I've ever seen.
I've. I've been a wrestling fan close
to 43 years now and I can honestly say I had never seen
(05:35):
anything like the cheese before because of a special thing that
you do in matches. Tell everybody why they call you
the. Cheese.
You want origin story or you want everybody?
Because what's makes the cheese great is that it's open to
interpretation. Some might say I'm a cheesy
(05:59):
throwback to your favorite 80s wrestlers and characters of the
golden era of wrestling. If you ask Shark Boy, who was at
11 point my tag team partner, hefound me in a dumpster.
If you ask Jay Lethal, it's because when it, when he was
(06:19):
training me, when it came time to cut our very first promos, I
cut a promo like the exquisite motivational speaker played by
Chris Farley, Matt Foley living in a van down by the river on a
steady supply of government cheese.
(06:44):
So I, I, I actually did that promo.
I used part of that promo. And Jay Lethal looks at me and
says, you seem pretty mad about that government cheese, so I'm
going to call you government cheese.
So he kept calling me governmentcheese throughout training.
And then eventually he dropped the government and I became just
the cheese. And I figured, I think this
(07:06):
thing has got some legs. So I've been in the cheese ever
since. And and you are not above
bringing cheese itself into the ring, right?
Absolutely not. In a couple of years ago, like
3, maybe 3 1/2 years ago, I started wrestling with a Fanny
(07:27):
pack on that has a full stock supply of American cheese.
Sometimes there's Baby Bells, sometimes there's string cheese,
sometimes it's cheese whiz hit you with a shining cheese
wizard. You know, stuff like that.
(07:48):
Just the more puns and the more cheese that I can throw out into
the multiverse, the better. It's so silly, it's so
ridiculous, but because you're committed to it, it's fun.
It's fun and, and it's, it's OK,you know what I mean?
There is a place for exactly what you do in the ring there,
(08:08):
which is what I appreciate, man.It's it's, it's not easy to put
yourself out there. And basically you're putting
yourself in a position where youknow, people are going to be
laughing at you. And so many of us are so afraid
of that. That's like such a big fear,
even for me. Like it, it took me a while to
realize when you start leaning into the joke and when you start
(08:32):
committing to the joke, it actually now you're in on the
joke and it, and it becomes we're laughing together as
opposed to I'm being singled outand made fun of, so to speak.
So when I see you, I'm like, wow, this guy's committed to
this thing. How could I not root for him?
So, so it's really cool. It's really cool to see you as a
(08:53):
as a wrestler now. You decided to to take another
step in the entertainment world and you became part of the
Savannah Bananas family. Not just part of the family,
though, you have become one of the mananas.
So for everybody listening out there who may not be as
(09:15):
familiar, I've had Mikey on and he's talked about a little bit
before last year, but let's get a refresher here.
What are the mananas and why arethey the best thing going today?
Well, the Bananas are also knownas the dad bod cheerleading
squad and we have been featured on ESPN and Jesse Cole is a is a
(09:40):
huge fan of ours, huge proponentof ours.
He, he gave, he gives us a lot of opportunity and levity to go
out there and we dance and we hype up the crowd and we, we
learn dances. We, we are essentially A
cheerleading squad that is a little bit more shapely and
manly than cheerleading squads known throughout sports and
(10:03):
entertainment. But we've found something, Jesse
Cole and the bananas have found something that works.
And it's, it's a, it's a dichotomy.
It's the the recipe that he cooks up for the bananas
organization and that everybody abides.
Is whatever everyone else is doing that's normal?
(10:24):
Do the opposite. And what could be more opposite
of normal than a bunch of dad bods hyping up a crowd?
You know, Mikey's wearing the crop top.
You got Cody Fluffman, who is also a fantastic wrestler in his
own right, who is got the headband and just body, body
positive. And he does the steamroller and
(10:48):
anywhere he'll fall and then he'll twerk and and it just gets
a raucous amount. You know, you got myself.
I'm, I'm tasseled up like I normally AM when I come to the
ring. I I'm the cheese no matter if
I'm in the ring or if I'm going out to a sold out stadium.
But we are we are a hype squad and it people are very receptive
(11:08):
to it and I'm so thankful. And it really, it really means a
lot to me that so many people are you want to talk about, you
know, going a full 180 and beingin on the joke.
When we're there, there's no shortage of people that want to
take pictures with us, want autographs and want to hang out.
And you know, just like every dad that has somewhat of a dad
(11:31):
bod is like, Hey, I need to get on with you guys.
And it's just like, OK, can you learn how to dance really quick?
Can you do all the line dances, which I'm sure we'll talk about
at some point, but that was not my Forte And it and I'm not
going to say that I'm an expert dancer, but like I wasn't even
passable at weddings for the Electric slide when I started
(11:55):
this Now, now you can bring me to your wedding and I can do
whatever line dance you need me to let.
Me tell you something, brother, I'm, I'm standing there outside
of Fenway Park and you know, with Jersey St. it's packed with
people and you and the rest of the guys are out there on stage
(12:19):
dancing and doing your thing. And all I saw were smiles as,
as, as far as the eye could see,people were laughing, they were
clapping, they were dancing along, they were cheering.
It was just so fantastic to see that because again, everybody's
(12:39):
in on what's happening here. You guys are committed to it.
You guys are having a good time.You got your bellies out, you do
it, you're twerking. You're doing all this crazy
stuff here, like you said, completely opposite of what
we're used to at sporting eventsbecause these are guys wearing
the, dare I say, skimpy outfits.You got your little tight shirts
on, belly shirts on and what have you.
(13:01):
And you guys are, you got your tassels, you're doing all this,
this crazy stuff, but the fans are just going wild and they
can't get enough of it, bro It'scrazy.
It's a sight to behold. It's just going to a bananas
game. And then it's like you OK, so
like the gateway door into the bananas is everybody's just
like, all right, come on in. And it's, you know, you get you
(13:22):
get the lottery, you get the ticket.
And if you're a first timer and you haven't even, you know, done
any research on the bananas, yougo to a game, it's like there's
a whole bunch of doors in front of you that you can just open
freely. They're unlocked and one door
you'll you'll open up and you'llsee the all the wonderful
players that we have for each ofour teams, the firefighters, the
(13:44):
tailgaters, the party animals, of course, the Savannah bananas.
You open up another door, it's the The Golden Girls of banana
land, the banana Nanas. You know, it's a they are a, a
dance crew that's made-up of literally Nanas.
And then you can, you can open up and you see Jesse Cole and
Emily Cole and all the wonderfulthings that they do with Bananas
(14:06):
Foster. And then you, you, you know, you
you'll turn a corner and then you'll open up a door and then
bam, there are the mananas, the dad bod cheer squad.
We're waiting on you to be in onthis fun with us.
And it's there's just so many things.
And we keep adding, Jesse Cole calls it Plussing.
We keep plussing the experience.We keep adding on different
(14:28):
things, different elements to this game of banana ball.
And it just it, it becomes more and more endearing the more
you're around it. I love it.
I love it. I mean, you guys were here in
Boston last year sold out FenwayPark one day come back in 2025
and sell out Fenway Park 2 days in a row and, and I, and I have
(14:50):
AI have a idea here. I have a theory.
The Boston Red Sox were the complete drizzling, you know
what last year they were the fondue last year did not have a
good, did not have a good seasonwhatsoever.
They barely sold out any games. So the fact that's the Savannah
(15:12):
bananas against the party animals in 2024 sold out Fenway
Park. It was it was a embarrassing
quite frankly for the Red Sox. So knowing that you guys are
going to come back this year with the firefighters 2 day
homestand sold out right away. Both days the Red Sox decided
(15:32):
that they're going to get their act together and suddenly
they're on like a 10 game-winning streak because they
can't have the Sabana bananas out doing them two years in a
row. So, So how does it feel to
motivate the Boston Red Sox to get their act together and
therefore start selling out somegames like you guys?
Well, you know, this term is used throughout entertainment
(15:53):
and throughout life, but we gavethem the old rub ski, you know,
and wrestling. It's you give a guy.
The rub ski, you know, or you give a guy the rub and he's all
of a sudden the, the rocket packis on and he's ready to go.
But no, you know, we just bananaball is, is different from
(16:14):
baseball and, and it's, it's baseball camouflaged as baseball
to baseball fans, but it's entertainment out in the open
with a orange vest on for fans of other types of theatrical
entertainment like wrestling, like theater, like movies, just
(16:35):
different elements brought into this.
And of course, you got the modern aspect of everything.
You've got the social media, theTiktok, the Instagram,
everything. It's it feels great that now I'm
kind of revisiting baseball because when I was a young Kurd,
I was a huge, huge baseball fan.I was a baseball card collector.
(16:58):
I was, I was really big into Major League Baseball.
And now I'm kind of revisiting some of that, going to these,
going to these sold out stadiumsand and kind of remembering how
much I loved baseball. But also, you know, I'm
canceling out the part where I was a little bit disenchanted
(17:21):
with it as a game because it quite frankly, it didn't catch
up with the other sports as far as being modern and you know,
it, it was slower to catch up with everything.
And now I'm seeing all these wonderful things on social media
where all these Major League teams and even minor league
teams more so are doing all these like wild, varied things
(17:47):
of just crazy promotions and things during the games.
And there's a lot of really coolspots, as we say, in wrestling.
And it's a, it's really awesome to see because I, you know, I, I
may be biased, but I, I'll go ahead and call it the banana
effect. That's exactly what it is, the
(18:10):
banana effect. I love that.
I love that phrase there. So.
So you folks, you've been all over the country selling out,
rocking stadiums. You're already in Cooperstown,
you're on ESPNCW Networks, whichis owned by CBS, Viacom.
(18:31):
They're airing your games as well.
So this is a this is a big thing.
And one of the biggest honors inthe history of the Savannah
Bananas franchise business, banana ball business and what
have you is the fact that the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu,
(18:52):
she officially designated Savannah Bananas Day in the city
of Boston. And that was the, the Sunday.
So that was Sunday, the 6th of July, which is pretty cool.
So there was a city official whocame by and, and did the
presentation with Jesse, the whole 9 yards there.
How does it feel, man? How does it feel to to be given
(19:14):
your own day in one of the most historic cities in the entire
world? Well, it's incredible because
you know, I, I, to be honest, I,I, I've always wanted to go to
Fenway. I've, I've always wanted to go
to Boston. I, I was talking to somebody,
(19:35):
one of our big fans that travelsaround with us, that lives near
Savannah. Now it's Boston is where a lot
of my favorite movies are set and, and even filmed.
You got like the town and the departed and Goodwill hunting
like all those what I call them,I call them big Boston accent
(19:56):
movies. But I, you know, it's really
special to me that a place that I've held in such high regard
and one of my best friends livesthere as well.
So I got to explore the city a little bit after the game and
stuff. But I just love Boston, love
Bostonians, you know, everybody.There, especially during the
(20:17):
game, was just very welcoming and just like happy to have you.
It's a real it's a real hometownvibe.
And I was just I was blown away that we had a a day that was
proclaimed Savannah bananas day.But I mean, just to be a part of
it, it's it it it's still is just wild.
(20:37):
I don't have enough words to cover it, to be honest with you.
It's, it's such a cool thing to be held in such regard or be
part of an organization that's held in such regard in a city
that it's like, you know, as I say, people are welcoming, but
they don't let things slip by. Like if you ain't good, they're
going to let you know in Boston.I, I speak from experience,
(21:00):
trust me, we, we do not play around, no doubt about it.
So, So the fact that you this isthe highest honor that we could
bestow upon anyone. It's the equivalent of a key to
a city. In other places.
We just give you a whole day. So for the the rest of the
history of the city of Boston that will live in the archives.
(21:23):
So, you know, 50, a hundred thousands of years later, people
can go into the archives and they can see, Oh yeah, on that
date, Savannah Bananas got theirown day.
So it's a it's a pretty cool honor, But that just is is a
testament to how hard you guys work, how much your beloved and
appreciated and you know, to memorialize you in that way was
(21:46):
an honor on all fronts. So it's it's pretty cool, man,
absolutely. So you're you're in the baseball
world. You are a pro wrestler.
I know you've been focusing on being a man, Anna, most recently
what have you here, but is therea chance that we could see the
cheese somehow, some way back inthe pro wrestling world sometime
(22:10):
in the not too distant future? Yeah.
Well, I will say, I'll say a couple of things.
I I got in some of the wrestlingearly this season and had some
fun with that. But I will say, boy, is it is it
more stressful to to do that during the type of season that
(22:33):
the Savannah Bananas hold. But I would say that in the near
future, there's going to be something to pay attention to
pertaining to ME and pro wrestling.
I'd say just a little bit beforeHalloween.
(22:54):
Let's just put it in that and I'll leave it at that right
there for you. Oh, the cheese giving us a a a
teaser here. So we're going to have to keep
ourselves locked on the on the cheese is a social media and
figure out what's going on here.You said a little bit before
Halloween. So, so the fall coming up,
(23:14):
folks, keep an eye on the cheese.
You don't know what's going to happen, but definitely it's
going to be something that is extra sharp, huh, Huh.
Extra sharp, huh? Huh.
OK, I'm trying. I'm trying anyway.
Jeez. What's the best way everyone can
keep up with you? Like I said, if they want to
(23:34):
know what's going on, especiallyyour big announcement coming up
later this year, how can they figure out and stay ahead of the
curve, so to speak? Best way is between Instagram at
the cheese pro and on Facebook just the cheese and those
accounts are interlinked so you might see some of the same
content but those right there will tell you where everything
(23:58):
else lives. I'm also on TikTok as the
American cheese with AZI. Love it.
Before I let you go, man, you know I have to ask you the
question. This is the biggest question in
the history of your career. So I'm, I'm.
I hope you're ready for this. No, no pressure.
What is your favorite cheese dish?
(24:20):
So it doesn't have to be a particular type of cheese, but
more along the lines of a complete dish.
That cheese is a focal point of the dish.
What is it? Why do you like it so much?
Where is the best place to get it?
Boom. That's fair.
That's it is tough and it requires a little bit of just
(24:41):
like Hemming and hawing. But actually I know it's, I'll
go ahead and tell you. There is a restaurant in St.
Petersburg, FL where I reside and it is, it's, it's called
Brick and Mortar. And at Brick and Mortar, they
(25:03):
have like a farm farm board or afarm to table thing.
And it's basically a charcuterieboard.
Now I know that this, you might say I he's cheating a little
bit. He's just saying a cheese board.
But hear me out. The pairing of the cheeses is
done by the the chefs there and the executive team there, and
(25:26):
they do a fantastic job of making sure that the right
cheeses, hard cheeses, soft cheeses are paired with the
right fruits and you know, like dried apricots and, and the
different type of cracker that you may never have heard of or
whatever. But you're going to get cheeses
that you've never tried, never heard of, and you're going to
(25:47):
walk away becoming a fan of a new cheese.
So I love that classic charcuterie board that they
prepared their and it's just, it's fantastic because all your
different food universes are converging together.
You got, you know, Pickles and pickled onions and different
(26:09):
types of things like that. And you mix them together with a
hard like, you know, Parmesan cheese or you take the
prosciutto and mix it with like a, a, a nice white sharp cheddar
that's coming from a, a dairy in, in, in Florida or a dairy in
South Georgia or whatever. It's a lot of really fun flavor
(26:34):
combinations. So that's my favorite cheese
dish at the moment. It could change seasonally, to
be fair. There you have it.
From the expert himself, the bigthe big cheddar himself, the
cheese. Listen, Ben, again, we
appreciate you bro. You, you, you have such a great
time. You're putting smiles on
(26:54):
family's faces. You know, from grandma's all the
way down to the, to the babies. It's awesome.
Keep up the great work man. We can't wait to see what
happens next. Thank you so much, brother.
Strictly Father. Come with John every day
stepping style. You know you need your way,
(27:17):
hands and colors, so define all about the perfect life.
Be yourself, let your spirit lie.
In this fashion, you'll touch the sky strictly for the culture
(27:40):
and so fine dress to impress andshow your shine.
(28:03):
Visit www.strictlyfortheculture.ca.
All right, all right. It's your man Duke here with
Danny G reporting to you. Live from Fenway Park for the
Savannah Bananas. How's it going, Danny G.
(28:23):
Right now, I'd have to say it's pretty freaking good, Duke.
Pretty good. Beautiful day outside it's.
Yeah, it's hot. We're on the field.
We had to come in and get some air conditioning and get away.
But we're watching, watching thefestivity start to get going
here. And it's what an experience it
is for people to to to come to this, to see it and to live it
in person for a day. Two straight days sold out at
(28:46):
Fenway Park for the Savannah Bananas, and a special surprise,
they were awarded the their own official day in the city of
Boston. How cool is that to see the
Savannah Bananas get their own day in Boston, you know?
It's actually really good considering that Jesse, the, the
guy that started this whole thing is a Massachusetts native.
(29:06):
So I mean, you know, I'm sure ithasn't set in for him yet and
how how great that is because he's been running around like a
like a chicken with his head cutoff for the whole day.
But he seemed to be really appreciative.
And I got a feeling when it's all said and done and he takes a
look at that, at that, you know,that that that piece of paper
that you guys gave him in the folder, he's going to be like,
(29:27):
wow, this is what we've become. You know what I mean?
They, they can be like, they're almost the face of baseball
right now. As crazy as it sounds, there's
not a lot of, you know, you go to a baseball game and they do
what they can to make it a family atmosphere.
But there's alcohol, people, people get involved.
There's always some type of a trouble or something like that.
(29:48):
No matter what, no matter what stadium you go to, whatever.
But you come to this and you seewhat goes on and it's amazing
how everyone is engaged. It's, it's, it's a true family
atmosphere. It it's good to see something
like this doing so well. It really is and and what I love
most about it is just the fact that every year they just keep
getting bigger and bigger. We were here last year and that
(30:09):
was a great time. This year through the roof, even
better, you know what I mean? Even though it's a much hotter
day here, Danny, I'm turning to a lobster myself.
But what do you think about their growth?
Though. The growth is is unbelievable
and it seems like it's happened organically and and so fast.
I mean, when you see things likeselling out, you know, Clemson
(30:30):
football stadium, selling out the Astrodome, you know, the Los
Angeles Dodgers ballpark, like 60,000 people two nights in a
row, it's that's incredible. It just goes to show you like
what how much there is a need for good family entertainment
out there. There sure is.
There sure is. Now, we saw a young professor.
He's wearing a sparkly jacket today.
(30:51):
Yeah. I don't envy him out there
today. You know what I'm saying?
With Jesse, too. Jesse, he's wearing his big
banana outfit there, the top hat.
Jesse outfit looks like it's in breathable cotton.
Professor, I don't know. I got a feeling he's hopefully
he's got a change of suits. And we met the cheese.
We met the independent pro wrestler turned Savannah Banana
(31:14):
star. The cheese with the mananas.
He was out there dancing and having a good time.
That's a fantastic thing too, because you know it.
It gives hope for guys like me as we get older, you know what I
mean? There's a place for us.
That's right, Dad bods man. With Mikey and the crew, we can,
we can be like that man, becauseI don't think that we're going
to be any of the firefighters. I'm not tall enough and I don't
(31:35):
think you have big enough muscles to be one of the fire,
no. I don't.
I may be tall, but there's no muscles.
How about the crowd? Man, the crowd looks like they
are pumped. They've been out here since
early this morning. Can't wait to get in, huh?
We, we, we pulled in town early about 9:00 and see 9:30.
We got here and, you know, we found a parking spot and started
walking around and, you know, just took a little stroll around
(31:56):
and there were people already lined up.
I mean, that's crazy. You know, people lined up and
then then, you know, we went, wecame back and then by the time
we came back, there were hundreds of people lined up.
True. Hundreds, you know and you know,
do they do the you know, the, the the pre before the banana
peel or whatever party and then it's just it's, it's just crazy.
(32:17):
It's it's it's non-stop entertainment the entire time
you're here. If you if you if you're part of
the full experience. You know what's what's crazy,
Danny? You're a guy who you have a
whole basketball team full of kids at the house, different
ages and what have you. Lovely wife.
Shout out to Mrs. G When you think about what type of
(32:39):
entertainment this is, family friendly entertainment, you
think about your own family. Is this the sort of thing that
you'd want to bring them to? So it's funny you say that
because one of the things that because obviously we're a
blended family now, but you know, we've when when we got
together, you know, the oldest was 13 on down South 13 down to
5 or 412 to 4, something like that.
(33:03):
And one of the things that we struggled with was finding
something for everybody to be able to do together, you know,
the movies here and there, but that's really about it, you know
what I mean? And, you know, so something like
this would have worked because, you know, we did go to the McCoy
Stadium a few times as a family,you know, and it was a good
time. But you know, not all the kids
(33:23):
are baseball fans, you know, I mean, you know, you know, Matty
G he he's a big baseball fan. You know, my my son Jake isn't.
But you know, all the two stepsons really aren't big
sports fans, but they still enjoyed the game.
But they would enjoy this. They would have a good time with
this and have fun. My oldest was the oldest
stepson. He loved the, you know, he was
(33:43):
in a band and stuff like that for years.
So he would he would love to be part of the band that they have
playing non-stop during all this.
You know, the second one is a high functioning.
He might have a little struggle with it at first, but I think he
would get used to it once he started watching it in.
He would definitely be rooting for whoever the bananas were
playing. You know he likes the bad.
(34:04):
Guys, nice. I love that.
I love that. I'm telling you folks, Savannah
Bananas, it doesn't matter if you see the main team or one of
the offshoots, whether we're talking about the party animals
or the firefighters or any of the other great teams that they
put together in their league. It's a whole league now.
You definitely want to check it out.
If you can't be here live, checkyour local listings.
(34:26):
I know ESPN is broadcasting thisseason, what have you.
It's just fantastic. I mean, it really is the
greatest show on Earth today, noquestion about it.
So, you know, we love being hereand we can't wait to see what's
going to happen next, right? Yeah, it really is kind of it's
kind of overtaking the circus ifyou think about it.
They don't do as many shows, obviously, but it's it's got
(34:48):
that type of thing. And one thing that, you know,
sometimes, you know, when I tellpeople I'm coming here for that,
they laugh and like, oh, those aren't baseball players or
whatnot being on that field first hand.
Let me tell you something. These guys are are.
Big dudes, big dudes, big. Dudes and these guys, you know,
you know, when talking to them, they've all played Division One
(35:10):
college baseball. They've all played overseas.
Some of them have had a cup of coffee in the minor leagues.
They're all still young, so theycould very well still get a
chance. But you know, people who sit
there and say it's like not a real game, it's a real game.
It's a competitive game. They're out there, They're
trying to win. Yeah, there's the shenanigans
that go on, but they're, you know, they're trying to win the
game and they're trying to, and they're having fun doing it.
(35:30):
And that's the best part of it, you know?
And they're all you know, you look at the way they interact
with the fans and stuff. That's like the best part.
It's like it all looks genuine and it doesn't look forced and
fake. It looks like they're taking it
all in and enjoying every secondof it.
Absolutely, absolutely. So once again, thank you to the
Savannah Bananas and great job as always.
(35:52):
You guys are putting on the bestshow out there, no question
about it. They will be in the city near
you so definitely check out Savannah Bananas on all your
social medias. Go to their website, the whole 9
yards. Try to grab tickets early folks,
they sell out. Get those fast, get those
tickets fast, but let me tell you because once they hit the
secondary market, you'll be you're going to be refinancing
(36:12):
your house for them so and then.Some and then some that's.
Right. But you will have a great time.
That's most important, right? Yep.
Mr. Tony Shivani and we're desperately.
Out of time on Duke Love. Wrestling.
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