Dr. Stan Beecham, Part 2: An Original, In More Ways Than One

Dr. Stan Beecham Interview Part II

00:17

Welcome to the blog, the dogs podcast. I'm Herschel Gurley, as always here with my co host boss dog boss hollered to people.

00:23

Welcome back, everyone.

00:23

hope you all enjoyed part one with our interview with Dr. Beecham. Today, we're going to have part two of that interview and just more great stories. So hope you all enjoy it.

00:33

Yeah, Dr. Beecham is going to go a little bit more into his own journey, getting the sports psychology department started at UGA in the mid 90s. And then he'll give his thoughts on the 40th anniversary of hairy dog coming up in January, and then closes out with our with our first ever smart 16, our rapid fire set of questions honoring coach smart. So we are excited to spend time with Dr. beechman. We hope you all enjoy it. So I want to get you to talk a little bit about your book. First off, I'm also a writer not published like you are but in my free time I write a lot. So I respect anyone who has the wherewithal and determination to finish a book. So can you talk to us a little bit about your book elite minds, and how you came to write that and how it's kind of shaped your career moving forward?

01:17

Yeah, I started on the book back 2013. And it really came about I was doing a good bit of speaking in my professional life. And people kept coming up to me and saying, Have you written a book? Do you have a book? And I would say no. And I found myself kind of feeling embarrassed and ashamed by that. And people say, Well, you should write a book. And I go, yeah, I probably should. But I didn't really feel like I had enough to say to put in a book. And so one of my clients after telling me probably the third time getting Scott Humphrey, you know, I make reference to him in the book for kind of pushing me but he said, you know, you told me you don't have enough information to write a book. He goes, these are the notes that I've taken from listen to you speak so many times. So he worked for Shaw Industries at the time up in Dalton, and he was one of their guys that worked in their leadership development program. And so he heard me speak to their, their managers or leaders a number of times and took notes. And so he sends me this envelope with pages and pages of notes of stuff that I said, and I sit there go, I can't believe I had that much to say. So I decided what I would do is I would write the book, and whether or not it got published or not, that didn't really matter. But it basically, you know, there's certain things that you feel like you should do, and you're not doing it and it starts haunt you, right? It wakes you up in the middle of night and says, Hey, man, get your ass up, you know, you should be doing this. So what I started doing is, is I made an outline of kind of a thought of it in terms of kind of what are the things that I've learned through my work with both athletes and business people. And I think I came up Initially, I had like 25 chapters, you know, 20, something kind of really lessons, if you will, okay, so I kind of wrote out what the lesson was, and kind of how I learned it, I'd get up about five o'clock in the morning while the house was still quiet, you know, before the kids got up. And I would go for an hour and a half, two hours, just typed didn't edit anything didn't spell check just kind of told the story and and then after I did that the next day, I'd come back and kind of edit it and clean it up. And so when I did that I had about 25 different stories. And so then I looked at and I said, Well, I don't know if this is any good. So I hired an editor, a local woman, who is also a Georgia grad. And I sent it to her and I said, just helped me clean this up a little bit. I might self publish it, but I'm not really sure I got anything. And she emailed me back and she said, Man, you got some really good stuff here and you got to publish it. Then I emailed her back and I said, Look, don't worry, I'm gonna pay you. You don't have to be nice to me. And she kind of like look, you know, she's she was an editor, she was a ghostwriter. And she said, Look, I've been doing this my whole life. I know what a good book is, and you got a good book, and you got to publish this thing. So that was kind of helpful. So I had these, you know, people encouraging me along the way. And so I looked at getting a publisher and that was just really a difficult process, right. So there was a group here in Atlanta and Alpharetta. You know, where you could self publish a book and so I went to them and you know, you pay him a little bit of money. And the same thing to editor there's like, man, I really like your book. So anyways, I just I self published it, they kind of advertise it and promoted it a little bit. And it just kind of started to sell and I, you know, would get copies and, you know, give them to my clients and sell them when I gave little talks. And one day the publisher said, hey, there's this thing called the Ben Benjamin Franklin award, and it's the best self published books and we want to submit your book for nonfiction. Are you okay with us doing it? I said sure. You know, I mean, nothing's going to happen. Well, I went to Spain. And I'd go there every year and walk the Camino de Santiago for a couple weeks. That's kind of my therapy. And I came back and I got this email saying, your book just won the Ben Franklin award for the top nonfiction book of the year. That's awesome. And like, What?

05:21

That's awesome. Anyway, so

05:22

the book kept doing good. And I think self published it. So 20,000 copies, which is for self published book is a lot. Yeah,

05:29

that's incredible.

05:30

Then I ran into another publisher that was on a cruise ship. And I happen to be sitting next to this lady. And I said, this is right after the Ben Franklin thing. And I said, You ever heard of this Ben Franklin award? And she said, yeah. And I said, Is there anything to it? She goes, Oh, it's a huge deal. She goes, why do you ask? And I said, Well, I wrote a book, and it just won the Ben Franklin award. She said, Oh, wow. So we talked and she said, Oh, yeah, you need to get a big publisher pick this up. They'll pick up the book I did. I found out if you want to get a publisher, you got to have an agent first. Right? So the agents, the person that you pay 15% to make a phone call.

06:03

Yeah, like an athlete.

06:06

Exactly. So I wrote to about six agents who kind of did you know, self helpy kind of books, and three of them never responded to me. One of them responded, said, You know, I looked at what you got, and I don't think you got anything. In other words, your book sucks. So I'm not interested being your agent. Another one. Another one said, I like your book, you got a good book, but it's not really what I do. And then one said, I like your book, and I'll represent you. So I didn't have to make any choices about agents. They kind of made that point. So I remember I got on the phone with a person. I said, Hey, what do you think the chances are, you know, getting a publisher to pick this thing up? She said, 100%, I was like, No, come on. She goes, No, I used to work for a publisher. She goes, there's no doubt my mind stands out. I'll get this book. I'll get a publisher. So I ended up going with McGraw Hill, there. Were there two publishers who want it. And what they do is they actually put the book up for auction, which I wasn't familiar with your agent goes to the books who want who the to the publishers who want it, say, Okay, what will you What will you pay me upfront to take this book, and they both offered about the same amount? And she said, I think McGraw Hill will be better. So anyway, so McGraw Hill took the book, I think it's 17. Once you get a publisher, they make all the money, you make nothing. Which is fine. I mean, it's a learning lesson. But there's only a small percentage of people making money write books. So for all those people out there think they're gonna write a book and become a millionaire. have a backup plan. But anyway, the book the books done well, and it's an opportunity for me to, you know, share what I've learned with the world about, you know, once a week, I'll get an email from somebody saying, I read your book, and it really helped me. So that's kind of cool, right? The books done well still print seven years later. That's fantastic. About every six months, I get a check for $12.

07:57

That's right. That's right. Well, hey, I want to ask you from I know you travel to speak, and I know you're in the Atlanta areas where your home base is, I know, as an alum and someone who's been involved in the program. I know you follow the program, follow the team. What have been your thoughts in the last four and five years after Kirby's taken over the trajectory of the program? You know, how does it make you feel as an alum? And what are your thoughts on where things will go in the future?

08:23

I think if you're objectively looking at the Kirby era, it tells you something very clearly, which is leadership matters, or in sport, who the coaches matters. There's no question about that. I'll be honest with you, when I was working for the University of Georgia sports psychologist, I really didn't fully understand the importance of the coach. And then one day, this guy by the name of Tubby Smith showed up on campus. And unfortunately, he was only there for two years. I got the last year of Hugh Durham, he Durham was a great guy, really sweet guy, and he let me work a lot with a team primarily on free throw shooting. They were abysmal. And he said here you take over the free throw shooting. So I went in we did the sports psychology stuff with a team. We had that year we had three guys in the top 10 and free throw shooting in the sec. They fired Durham Tubby came in for two years and really turn that thing around. And then you know, he left and went to Kentucky and won a national championship the next year and his assistant Rod jirsa stayed on. I don't know how long rod stayed a few years and I think that they'd let him go. But anyway, so meaning and knowing Tubby Smith, that was when it became very clear to me that coaching matters, because I saw what he did. He basically took the same players and just transformed that. So to answer your question, leadership matters who the coaches matters. It's a huge decision. I hate to admit it, but those guys are probably worth every penny that you pay him. I still think that the student athlete gets to roll into the deal and I've felt that when I worked there, it's an atrocity and it's just amazing that It still goes on. It's kind of our modern day slavery. And I don't say that to magnify and make the situation to embellish it. But I really feel that way. You know, you got you got free labor. And you got people that because of their free labor, you're making a ton of money off of it. And I really hope someday that that gets corrected. Especially and especially in football and basketball. Yeah, absolutely. You know, the other sports are non revenue. So in other words, if you're a baseball player at Georgia and you're not getting paid anything well, the university is not making any money. In fact, they're losing money on you. And I think though they'll get that corrected over time. But But anyway, so yeah, Kirby Kirby was an athlete is interesting when I worked at Georgia. Bobo was there. Will must champ was there. Kirby was there. Derek Dooley. Dooley son was a GA, you know, all these guys went on. They were all there during that time. But yeah, I mean, I mean, what Kirby's done has been absolutely amazing, please, hopefully the Georgia people won't become idiots and, and get mad when he wins only nine or 10 games one year. Right? Right. You know, cuz you can kind of see that coming. You know, that's kind of what happened to Spurrier. Right. He's like, it doesn't matter what I do, it's never gonna be good enough for you, folks. And that's true. Fans are really quite ignorant in their expectation to be a top 10 team year in and year out is very difficult. Forget about winning a national championship, because I really do feel like winning a national championship you got to have, you know, you got to have some luck, luck, and things kind of have to fall your way. Right? You got to have the right schedule, when you have your bad gang, you need to have it at the right time, not the wrong time. But anyway, so yeah, I mean, what Kirby's done has been absolutely amazing. And what we all should do is just shut up and leave him alone. But most people, most people aren't gonna be able to do that

11:50

boss spoke on our last podcast about how these are the good old days. And I think there's a lot of truth to that. I think that kind of watching the growth and watching the facilities come up. And you know, it's been said about him. And I'd be interested to hear your opinion on this based on your professional experience, and the folks that you've talked to at leadership conferences and things of that nature. But it's been said that if he wasn't the head coach of a football team, he could very easily walk into a boardroom and be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, just because of his gravitas, his leadership, his knack for that. I mean, what what are your thoughts on that notion?

12:25

Yeah, I mean, he's, he's clearly a good leader, a great leader. And yeah, he could he could, you know, leave leadership is not specific to one particular industry. So could Kirby go into business to do well, sure, he could do that is quite a bit different than than football. I think what Kirby's really showing people, if you're watching closely, is that the big part of the job is not coaching the players, but recruiting the players. That the fact of the matter is, there's a lot of people out there who know a lot about the X's and O's of football. There's a lot of those guys, there's a bunch of those guys, and we have some of you, but everybody else does too. But all things equal. Okay, if you and I are equal on the X's and O's, but I have players that are just a half step faster than yours. I'm gonna win most of the time. Yeah. And so, you know, I was reading thing the other day where we're spending more money on recruiting any other school, right? I think it was 3.7 million. That's correct. So take 3.7 million, let's let's do this math really quickly. Okay, because this is interesting. So I'm gonna take 3.7 million. And so every year we basically sign 25 kids. That's 100. That's $148,000 per kid. Let's just round it up to 150. Okay, so for every every kid that we sign, we're spending $150,000 to get them now we got professors at the University of Georgia who don't make that much money. And that would infuriate them. The question is, should you be spending $150,000 to get a kid on your campus?

14:00

Right now, you

14:01

can debate that all day long, but this kid that you're going to spend $150,000 to get there once he gets there? Yeah, you're going to give him room and board? Right? And he's going to jeopardize his health for the rest of his life for you and he's not gonna get a nickel.

14:16

Yeah, and and that'll come back in spades. Whether it's revenue TV, I mean, what what did we see last week at each sec school received the $47 million payout from the SEC for for broadcast deals and things of that nature. So yeah, they're not hurting for cash. 3.6 million is a drop in the bucket on that.

14:35

Well, all the fans all the fans out there. Yeah, but all the fans out there. They're mad from and swift left after three years. I mean, really? Can you really be mad at these guys? If you were unemployed, okay, and somebody offered you a job paying you a million dollars. This is make the numbers simple. How long would you have to think about that? You would say Where do I sign you'd be gone in a second. Absolutely. But see the coaches all know that's the game now right come in, I'll either play your red red shirt you and then two or three years later, you're a millionaire. That's what they're selling. They're selling the future, right? In other words, the story isn't come play football for the University of Georgia. This is what fans need to understand. Kirby's not selling, Nick Saban is not selling come play football. For me. What he's saying is, come spend three years with me, go through my Preparatory School, go through my training program, being an apprentice, and be an apprentice and do that for three or four years. And I'm going to make you a millionaire and a household name. So that when you quit playing football, you can go get a job selling something because there'll be an alum who will give you a job. Right? Right. So that's what they're selling. And I think a lot of fans don't understand that they're not selling complete football at Georgia. They're saying come be a part of our program so that we can train you to be a professional player. Well, so

16:01

I want to speak to you from a history perspective, because the college football playoff for 2021. the semi finals this year are held on Friday, January 1 2021. And one semi final will be in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. And the other semi final will be in New Orleans. That's shareable. And that will be the 40th anniversary. Have you done in the hairy dog costume? at the at the Sugar Bowl? How neat would that be if the if the cards fall as they may and the dogs end up back in the dome on the 14th anniversary hairy dogs debut?

16:34

That'd be pretty cool.

16:36

Yeah, I want to ask you one last thing. And then we want to close with our rapid fire questions for you. But what has been or is there? Because I'm so interested in this when we spoke about this, I was kind of shocked at the lack of information on it just because I think it's a compelling story. What is the general interest level from the Georgia fan base? And or what is the knowledge level from Georgia fan base about your history, the being the first person? And what is the engagement, if any, from the University on celebrating those types of things. Just because I was a history major in college I always find stories like that are awesome. And it's good to remember those types of things. I just be interested to hear kind of what what the engagement is or what kind of role that's plays as part of your your story. Overall,

17:23

I don't really have any ongoing relationship with the cheer squad or the hairy dog thing. Interesting enough, my nephew, my brother son is a cheerleader at Georgia. Oh, that's cool. And I had a bunch of old cheerleading uniforms from when I cheered in the 80s. I had two pair of pants left over. I said college just put these up, put one of these on it just walk out the practice one day with them. And they're like, what the heck, yeah, these are my uncle. There's a cheerleading alumni group, right, you put your name in there, and they not contact you. And then you can go back for homecoming and get out on the field and cheer. You know, that kind of thing. You know, I felt like the whole cheering and even college sport is kind of like you have your turn and then your turns over and then it's somebody else's turn. So I don't really have any interest in trying to go back and relive any of that. I mean, it's kind of fun to tell the story. Because, you know, Georgia, people are interested in the story, in fact that those pictures that I sent you where I walked out on the field during right before the Sugar Bowl. Those are not pictures that are in circulation that Tom Sapp had sent those to me. And about a year ago, I'm sitting in the crowded room at the Atlanta airport. And Vince and Barbara Dooley walk in. I went over to talk to him. And Barbara had me on her talk show before so they they know me, they remember me. So we got to chat and I said, Coach Dooley, I got some pictures that I think you'll find interesting. And I remind him I said you remember the hairy dog thing. And I said that was me in it because you know, he hired me as a sports psychologist. But he didn't know that I was a hairy dog. And I said, Yeah, that was me. And I said I got some pictures of it. So I pulled these pictures up and barbers like oh, look that you had hair back then and it was dark. She's kind of busted him about what he looked back and it was really funny. He liked him and he's like, yeah, will you send those to me you know, and so I you know, I texting those pictures from you know, 1980 so it's kind of fun to talk about all that but you know, it's the past that's fine. I mean, you know, the life I have now is wonderful and it's good and you know, my kids are grown and doing well and so Life is good. But it's fun to kind of talk about it but I don't really have any interest in kind of going back and you know, trying to you know, be hairy dog or be a cheerleader all over again. I'm perfectly fine with somebody else having their go with that.

19:44

It's I just think it's such a neat story and it's always cool to be the first right I just think there's there's something neat about that and obviously being the genesis of that and the fact that it's lasted this long and and hairy dog has become part of the fabric of the university and part of the fabric of the the Football experience.

20:01

Yeah.

20:01

Interesting. It's awesome. And we're just we're thrilled that you came on to talk with us about it. We want to close with you with something that we close with all our guests. We're calling it the smart 16 since Coach smartware 16, when he played at Georgia, and it's just 16 quick questions for you to kind of first and first to get to know you a little bit. Now, I will tell you, the first question would be what's your middle name? But my understanding is, is that Stanley is your middle name. So what is your first name?

20:29

William

20:30

William. All right, perfect. Who is your favorite dog?

20:33

Really?

20:35

I mean, I think I know the answer. But come on, and tell us he's everybody's favorite. I think

20:39

well, it's not Jacobson. It's not and it's not Justin field, man. Hey, hang on. Now. Hang on. I gotta give you an answer. I mean, obviously, the obvious answer is Herschel Walker, right?

20:50

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's the one. But

20:54

I'm gonna have to go Kevin Butler.

20:55

All right. I like that. How about your favorite game? I think we probably know the answer to that one, too.

21:01

It's got to be a game that I was at. You remember the year y'all have to tell me the year but when we were paying Clemson and they had a place kicker, who was from Africa, like his last name was like Oba Wabi Sabi or something, you know, and he kicks a 50 yarder and then Butler turns around and kicks a 50 yarder. You remember that game? You know that? That? That was awesome. Yep, yep. What I was cheering at Georgia. I don't even think we lost a home game during those three years. I mean, it was just so to say what was your favorite game but yeah, I mean, yeah, obviously you can say that. You know that the game where I wore the hairy dog outfit and we beat Notre Dame and a sugar bowl is kind of hard to beat that right. So I'd have to go with that one. But let me tell you those whole three years walking into Sanford stadium and and knowing it didn't matter who you played you were going to win. That was a good damn feeling. Let me tell you that was a pretty cool feeling

21:52

how bad it was. Who is your favorite rival of the dogs? Traditional rivals? What's your favorite rivalry?

21:59

Clemson.

22:00

While big news this week they're gonna open with Clemson in 2021 up in Charlotte,

22:04

I think is great. We should we should play every year.

22:07

We agree. what's what's your favorite away stadium? Oh,

22:11

you know, LSU is pretty cool. Alabama's pretty good stadium. I don't know, man. It's just so hard. I have a hard time with that with a favorite stuff. I've got memories from all of them, you know, ahlborn you know, going down to Jacksonville. I've been in most of them. You know, you go to LSU on a Saturday night. And all those cages are liquored up. I mean, that's basically football Marys Mardi Gras, right. I mean, that's really what it is.

22:43

A great way to describe it. So what is the loudest home game you ever attended between the hedges?

22:49

You know, from my perspective, it there's a bunch of them. I remember when I cheered, that's when we got the stadium, you know, like one side would go ga and the other side go Bulldogs one side go Herschel's as I go Walker, that kind of stuff. We kind of started that stuff back then it gets pretty loud. You know, that's when we put lights on people remember, you know, there was a time when there weren't lights. And I remember we put lights on the stadium when I was in school to play a night game. And then they you know, they closed in guys my age. Remember the tracks we closed in the tracks, you know, and when they when we closed in the tracks? Then the stadium got really loud. So probably that first year of the tracks being closed and it really it really did change what it felt like to be in that stadium.

23:31

What is your go to tailgate food? What are you looking forward to tailgate when you get to the tailgate?

23:37

Doesn't have to be food. Very

23:41

next question for you.

23:43

Unless it's a night game. I mean, you know, if it's a early afternoon game, you got to go Bloody Mary and then those chicken fingers or the chicken wings, that kind of thing. That's solid. Yeah,

23:54

I like well, so you kind of answered my next question. My next question was gonna be what's the cocktail? you're mixing for the world's largest outdoor cocktail party?

24:01

I'm going Bloody Mary. I like that. Then switch to beer.

24:04

What's your favorite place to eat in app? Ooh. So

24:06

you know, I'll live in Athens a good while the one that's that still open is called the last resort. So the last resort is my favorite place. There used to be a place on five points called the lighthouse. Oh, yeah. Uh huh. That some friends of mine, Rick and Becky Harris. And I love going in there but they've they sold it and then it became something else and then now that's gone. There's a new place in the old Greyhound bus station called Chuck's fish. My daughter went to Georgia and she lives in Athens. She's a nurse at Athens Regional Hospital and that's her go to places Chuck's fish. So for Kate's birthday, my daughter's birthday we went up there and had had some sushi at Chuck's fish. So for you folks who haven't been Athens a while you might want to check out Chuck's fish if you like if you like fish and seafood, otherwise go to the last resort.

24:55

Oh, see, I love this because we're always looking for places to eat, man. That's what we don't like. Missing meals. So that's a good thing.

25:01

Have you been Have you been to last resort? Better the last resort? Very,

25:04

very good. Let me ask you this, either when you were cheering or now Do you have any game day superstitions, t shirts. You gotta wear anything like that for when the dogs are partying it up? No.

25:18

I really, I really don't. I'm not really into superstitions.

25:22

What is your favorite Sanford stadium pregame tradition.

25:26

Well, just you know, tailgate. Right. hook it up with some friends and tailgate. I mean, you get you got to do that, right?

25:32

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Black jerseys Yes or no?

25:37

ABS a freakin locally. What are we waiting on? How is that not the biggest no brainer in the history of anything? Okay, and let me tell you, the white jerseys in the silver britches do not go? Nope. All right. If you're gonna put on white jerseys have red or black britches? Like Come on, Kirby. You know this already. You're smart, man. The Silver britches only go with the red jerseys. Alright, and then we need to we need to throw the black jersey in there. Some we need to not be afraid of I think last time we did it. We got our ass whooped. Right. So we're a little bit

26:11

that's it. I think they're skittish about it. Yeah.

26:13

No, you were you were the black jerseys. I remember when you were playing allbritton Auburn came out. I don't know what color it was blue or orange and warm up and then they change the jersey color and came out at the game with a different jerseys. Yeah. And those were eagles, they lost their damn mind. You know, we need to do some stuff like that. I mean, we need to realize, I mean, these are, you know, 18 to 23 year olds, let's have a little fun with this, right? These kids like blinging it out. We need to throw in some black britches to go with the white away jersey too.

26:45

I like that I'm we're all for that. How about the loss that you're still not over?

26:50

I'm not gonna give you the answer. You want to listen, guys. I'm as big a Georgia fan as anybody is. But it's football. Okay, this is not real life. This is a game. This is a game that we play for entertainment purposes only. Okay,

27:05

I respect that. I respect that.

27:08

Look, if you if you win, if you win, have fun, have a couple of drinks, party it up. Have a good time. And if you lose, have a couple of drinks and then move on. Okay, life will go on. Let's be let's don't turn this into something. You got to understand that the next game is coming to don't live in the past. You'll make yourself miserable.

27:29

I respect that. I like that. I'm okay with that. You know,

27:33

but I wasn't that South Carolina game this year. Okay.

27:36

Oh, man. Oh, man, I

27:38

you know, and that was just, that was just ugly. And I was at the Tennessee game before that, where they threw that last second touchdown,

27:47

oh, man

27:48

out of the stadium with my son. And we stopped right there on the goal line. And I stood right there and saw that and I'm like, really?

27:57

Oh. So for the South Carolina game this year, my wife and I had to go to a wedding. So we had to leave in like the middle of the fourth quarter. So I'm listening to the fourth quarter on the on the radio. So they tie the game up at the end, and I'm freaking out about wrecked car on the highway. Well, we had to go into the wedding before the game ended in overtime. So I like in getting the updates via text from my brother during the wedding. And I was probably satisfied to reception. So we went straight to the cocktail bar after that. But

28:36

yeah, that was a tough one. That's the way we you know, we just didn't show up. You know, you're gonna have a bad day. You're gonna have a bad game every year. You just gotta hope it's not too bad.

28:44

And how about what's your order at the varsity?

28:48

I want to get a chili slaw dog with onions on the side. I want to get a chili steak. Also with onions on the side. And I want both the french fries and onion rings. Okay.

28:59

Oh, yeah.

29:00

I'm all about this. And listen, don't waste calories on the frosted orange at a PC. That's an amateur move. Eat your calories. Do not drink.

29:14

Oh, man, I do love me for us that arms up. But I'm gonna take note to that because I agree with you. So every time I try to fly and I have to connect somewhere I try to connect in Atlanta, because I can go to the terminal and get me a couple dogs before I hit the before I hit the next. I don't know if the people on the plane you're happy about that. But I'm always thrilled to hit that terminal and get some of the Farsi What do you have? What do you have what you have?

29:35

What do you have? Yeah,

29:36

there ought to be a constitutional amendment outline noon kickoffs? Yes or no?

29:41

Yeah, probably. I mean, there's there's no reason to play that early. Right. When I was in school. The home games were the same time every week. Did you know that?

29:50

Oh, I didn't know that. Know what time were they played? Yeah,

29:52

one o'clock. Yeah, one o'clock. Really? I didn't know that. I might be wrong. It might be 130. But I think it was one o'clock every day. was one o'clock and then when TV came then it started getting moved around. But but you got to do it because that's where the money is. That's where all the money's come from right from TV. So we're not making any you're not making that much more money selling tickets and hot dogs in the stadiums all the money's in TV, so you got to play their game. But you know, the 1212 o'clock too early?

30:19

Well, I just feel like to that it's such a hot start for not just the fans, but for the players. I mean, to get up and move and what they go to pregame like nine o'clock. I mean, you're not even awake yet, especially if you're a college kid. Those kids ain't getting up that early.

30:32

Hopefully, George will be good enough for the next few years that we won't have to take that time slot, right? Oh, you got that right, man, we'll be getting at 330 or that 730 time slot.

30:41

So that's what we're hoping to Alright, last one, you'll be off the hot seat here College Football Playoff expand to eight teams or fine How it is

30:49

you got to expand it. And here's why. There's nothing to be lost by expanding it. So what's happened now is you got all these bowl games, they don't matter anymore. Nobody cares about who's number 15 in the country. Yeah. So yeah, you expand it to eight teams, and then you'll take some of the whining out right doesn't cost you anything to do that you just turn those bowl games into playoff games. And why not? Because what's what we have now is we have a bunch of ball games that nobody cares about. We need we need to keep people engaged at the end. And you do that by expanding to to eight teams. And of course, as soon as you do that, you know what they're gonna say? Why don't we expand it to 16? Right. And as soon as you do that, you know, they're gonna say, why not make it 32? It's just one more game. I think you should expand it to eight teams, I think because when you do that, then you You're absolutely certain that you get the top team in, right? Because that's really what you got to do. You got to make sure you got the best team. But you know, football is such a matchup sport.

31:46

Yeah. And I you know, I agree, I think to just to your point, they got nothing to lose with it. And they'll make a boatload of money. So I think it's gonna happen when that new CFP runs out. Exactly. Well, that is the official smart 16 year off the hot seat, Dr. Beach. And we just want to thank you so much for for coming on and talking with us. You obviously have a great story and a unique story. And we're just thrilled you came on to share it with us. We're happy to have you back anytime you want. And hopefully next next time we're in Athens, we can see you and get your bloody mary, how

32:14

about that. be great. All right. Thanks, guys. I've enjoyed it.

32:18

I thank you Dr. Beecham. That concludes our interview with Dr. beech and boss, what were your thoughts on the second part of the interview?

32:25

Dr. Beecham is just a wealth of knowledge. It's amazing his recollection of the stories over the years. And really how he feels that he doesn't really fit in the legacy of Harry even though he was the first and he gets all the credit to Tom sab, the creator of hairy dog and how he's just kind of happy to be part of the story. And what a story it is, that really hasn't been told. And we're happy and lucky enough to give him a platform to tell it. And I mean, if you listen to the interview, I mean, I really didn't say a whole lot. Because I was just so enthralled listening to his stories. He was amazing. I love listening to you know, his thoughts on the trajectory of the program. I love listening to his thoughts on the smart 16th on when we asked him about the laws he's still not over, and how he is like, you know, this is just a game, but how he can recall a certain game that stone, South Carolina this past year, and then the Hail Mary against Tennessee in 16. He was very gracious with his time, he was an excellent interview. And thank you Dr. Beecham.

33:30

Yeah, it's one of those conversations where you just want to kind of let him talk as much as possible because the the stories are so great. And he's obviously still very affectionate about the dogs and the program and follows them. And to this day, I thought it was extremely interesting to hear his viewpoints on Kirby from a leadership perspective. And kind of the differences he seen from a dynamic head coach he talked about when Toby came back in the 90s, and how that can change a program. So I thought that was valuable insight, as you said, just really appreciate him being so gracious with his time and spending half of a morning with us to relay those stories and make sure that dogs fans could hear those things and appreciate that history. So thank you so much Dr. Beecham, and a big voracious go dog second for you, brother.

34:15

Go dogs,