All right, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where we hope to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota nice that it desperately needs. We are having a special episode. We didn't invite Steve Brown along on this one because we're going to be talking golf today. Golf, U. S. Open golf, Father's Day golf, all of the above. KGM, assuming you are tuned in for the big, uh, the big conclusion of the match. I'll be honest. I was working at Canterbury, so I recorded all of it.
Um, I popped it out all weekend, and I love the U. S. Open. I love the, uh, tradition of it. Father's Day weekend. And when I got done working at Canterbury, I drove to Burnsville and got to spend, I don't know, the final 45 minutes of the broadcast watching with my dad, which was extra special. Yep, I watched it with my dad and my brother in law Chad, and the boys were there. It was, uh, it was a lot of fun. And I have, uh, a new thought on Liv.
I really wanted rory McIlroy to win and it's not that I dislike bryson Dechambeau I just sort of have this thing about live like a lot of people do and What I decided was I'm going to treat live sort of like the national league or the afc the pga tour is where our team plays and And when we get to the playoffs, in this case it would be the majors, some of those live guys will show up. I mean, I really do like Bryson, He has done an extraordinary job of, public relations.
He, he used to be kind of this smug, standoffish kind of guy. And he couldn't be more charming and more, you know, Engaged with the crowd, you can he's real you compare him to scotty scheffler who you know, check his pulse I That guy barely has a pulse And you know de chambeau's out there. Are you underwater? Are you i'm just in my vehicle? Okay. Do you have both windows down? Are you on a dirt road somewhere You're a comedian. You're an absolute comedian.
Yeah. I don't know why this happens sometimes. It's weird because most often when we do the podcast and I'm not in your, one of your studios at your home office or your actual office, I'm most often in the car. Yeah, yeah. You got shit to do. Well, some, no, I just, it's, it's more of a comfort thing. I love my, my little Bluetooth thing, and normally it comes across and sounds really good. It'll sound just fine. It's just very irritating to me, but that's okay.
I'm just happy that you're feeling good, that you're comfortable. Are you, where are you on your way to? You must be going someplace for a breakfast. Oh, actually I'm heading down to Burnsville. Uh, my parents need a couple things moved down by their pool area. And they're in their eighties now, so they don't do a lot of lugging gear and moving tarps and all that stuff that goes along with having a pool. I don't know. It's crazy that they still have that pool and it's still up and running.
There's a ton of work. But yeah, I go down there once a week and help move some stuff and try to keep the peace. Yeah, we grew up with the pool as well, and uh, I don't miss the pool. I really don't. It's a ton of work. It's a lot of work. It's a ton of work. The old line, the, the second greatest day of your life was getting the pool. The first greatest day is when you filled it in with dirt. Um, So let's go back to Bryson. Your thoughts.
I just think at some point these two tours are going to merge back together. So I really like your analysis there and Bryson, those first couple of years seemed arrogant, a little bit standoffish. He's got an awkward personality, but to his credit, he's figured it out and watching him this weekend, interact with those fans, not just when he was winning on Sunday, all the way through the practice rounds, all the way through the preliminary rounds, this guy became a man of the people.
And as much as we all wanted. Roy to win. I found it like you, very difficult to root against Bryson DeChambeau, and I think what we saw at the end of the day on Sunday, uh, during the round, we saw him interact with a young man with special needs on a golf cart where he stopped in the middle of the heat. of a Sunday major to sign his glove. Oh, no way. And to make and make that kid's day. You can find that on social media. I highly recommend it. This is right in the middle of the round.
He sees this young man on a golf cart who clearly has special needs, signs the glove he's wearing, hands it to him and then continues on his way. Remarkable stuff. But then I love what he did after winning. This is his time. Golf is an individual sport. He basically tells the fans to stick around, you'll all get a chance to touch the trophy. And he lived up to that by an hour after he gets down and he gets all his media obligations out of the way.
He walks through this little sea of humanity and lets every single fan touch the trophy. And then there's more video on social media, two and a half hours after his round is over in the dark, signing autographs with the fans that stuck around. Like this is exactly what we need in golf right now. And this is going to put pressure on the PGA Tour to get those guys back and to get this merger done because golf needs guys like Bryson DeChamble.
we're recording this very early in the morning today, and it seems like you've already hammered the coffee pot pretty good today. The caffeine is at an all time high. Um, I appreciate the enthusiasm. You must have taken the dogs for a walk already. Yeah, we got a four for four this morning from Fenway and Brooks. I, I don't drink coffee. I have yet to have my first diet coke, but the humidity, I think the humidity wakes you all up. Like you walk out and it's like, holy cow.
So I got a good lathering already and I basically have only walked like, Three quarters of a mile. It's kind of sad. It is. It is stifling. So, um, back to back to Bryson. One of the things that I loved is on the golf channel. They had a guy that was going out and recreating some of the shots that Bryson made and just how difficult that that shot out of the sand on 18. I mean, that was absolutely incredible. So they're out there, and this guy is gonna, I don't remember what the guy's name was.
Johnson Wagner, yeah. Yeah, and they've got the, uh, the guys with the cameras. And Bryson walks up, in the dark, carrying the trophy! Like, like, Carl from Caddyshack, just kind of coming out of the darkness. What was he, was he just wandering around the golf course with the trophy? So I think what happened was Wagner got into the trap. He works for Golf Channel. He's kind of their roving reporter guy. He's fantastic.
And the first shot he hits, he sculls it over the green damn near up to the clubhouse. And I think the Golf Channel is always on at these facilities during our major championship. And they do the live from show, which is right there. And so I think what happened was DeChambeau saw that this guy was going to go recreate the shot. Watched the first shot on live television and saw that it was a complete disaster and said, you know what? I think I'll go down there and coach him up.
And the crazy thing is, with the trophy, he walks down there, now we're three hours after the title's been decided. Puts the trophy down, coaches up Johnson Wagner. And the guy puts it to like a foot and a half, which is unbelievable. Yeah, that will be and you know the the whole father's day thing and the fact that bryson lost his dad and The uh, I didn't realize That the reason he wore that hat that he used to wear Was a tribute to Payne Stewart.
Yeah, Payne Stewart had a huge influence on him as a young man. And, uh, I think part of the reason he, uh, decided to attend college at, what was it? Was it SMU? SMU, yeah. Yeah, same reason, Payne Stewart. And then I think the tie in to Bryson, Bryson losing his dad at a young age, and then having Payne Stewart's son and daughter on the property this weekend, uh, and by the way, No surprise here.
If you remember the Stewart family before the tragedy, those kids are as handsome as the day is long, right? They're gorgeous kids, and they're now in their early 30s. They were little kids when Payne Stewart won the U. S. Open in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2. And of course, that was just a handful of months away from when Payne Stewart in that private jet Uh, met his ultimate demise.
So having them there, ryson and that connection to Payne Stewart, the 25th anniversary of that incredible, uh, win for, for Stewart on this golf course. There was some magic in the air, no doubt about it wasn't. Uh, so didn't Payne Stewart like the plane lost all the pressurization? Yes. Yes. So they're in mid flight and the plane, is it depressurized or pressurized? And everybody passed out, including the pirates. Depressurized. Yes. Yeah, and eventually Where did that plane go down?
I think it was North Dakota. North Dakota, I think. In fact, I think that they scrambled some fighter jets or something, because, you know, it was before 9 11. Um You don't want that plane going down in a busy area, so I don't know how they They must have finessed it somehow, some way, because it is, I mean, That thing's near Chicago. I mean, that could be a whole different tragedy. I think they probably kept an eye on it and were like, okay, this is going to go down in a field.
There's a few fields up in North Dakota last time I checked. You're right about that. You probably got a fairly decent chance if you're playing the odds that you're not going to be landing in a massive humanity.
I want to switch gears for a second This kindness chronicles thing has sort of backfired on me personally And I don't know if you've experienced this Um, I have been known To make a comment that might catch a person's attention if you know what I mean You know, I know what you mean I may have had one with your daughter a couple of weeks ago where she she wasn't exactly pleased with my my comment You But it was funny. It was funny, there's no question.
But what I've noticed is, I will say something that's just in the spirit of the moment, is how I like to describe it. And people will give me the, and you have a podcast called the Kindness Chronicles. So, They're using it against us. They're using it against me, and I'm trying to figure out how to respond to that. I kind of feel like I want to say, You know, and I've said this before, it's a do as I say, not as I do podcast.
And I also mentioned that, the whole kindness thing, I am a much better consumer of kindness than I am a, producer of kindness. Does that make sense? Well, I've known you for a long time and I would disagree. Well, I mean, I can be nice when I need to. You've got a sense of humor and if you've got a sense of humor, you're going to take some shots. It's only outta love that you do it. And you'd normally do it to the people you care about the most. That's right. Specifically, yes, your family.
But I mean, when, when the bad stuff happens and people need you, you're always where you're supposed to be. There you go. Okay. And I've again, wet, wanna, let's not fawn over again. I, oh no, but that's who you are, John. So it makes sense to me that you're the So what? The response to people that are upset by my, Seemingly, harmless yet off color comments.
I remind them that by making people laugh or smile, even if it's a shot, it's still something that falls into the kindness category, because we all need a little levity. I mean, I gotta be honest, especially now, right? In this world, we can use a good laugh once in a while. We share most of the times it's not very personal. It's more of a, just an observation. I mean, I've said this once, I'll say it a thousand times. You are a living, breathing standup comedian that just found your way.
To a different profession. That's the bottom line. That's very interesting Unfortunately, I haven't been able to monetize that in any meaningful way, but that's okay Um, are you gonna watch the presidential debate coming up next thursday? Absolutely not. I won't watch. Oh my god one minute of any of this. I have heard people Believing that this could have a better this could exceed what the super bowl has done Because it's sort of like the car wreck scenario.
Like you just want to see how bad it can be. neither one of those guys is, is, is in top form. And, uh, we're getting into an era where, uh, I think it's going to be pretty ugly this fall. I don't like where this is going. And listen, I never been a guy that's. Gotten wrapped up into politics, but I got to be honest, it's gotten to be so divisive between the two camps now. And I've got friends on both sides. I've got dear friends on both sides and I just, it exhausts me.
And then the social media aspect of it, because I am very active on X slash Twitter, whatever you want to call it. And even Facebook and it just, I have no interest. Like I literally. I, I don't enjoy the process. That's all I'll say.
I get so bothered by The comments that certain people make especially on Facebook I don't mind them so much on Twitter because I kind of feel like Twitter is built for divisiveness Yes Facebook I just I would rather see stories about your trips and your trophies and your triumphs and you know sunsets and You know And I always tell becky like becky loves to take photographs of sunsets. you know, you can find everything All kinds of photographs of sunsets on the internet now.
I'm not sure the best is when we were in Stillwater with Becky and Chrissy. Oh, that's a good one. And they were obsessing, overseeing these hot air balloons. Yes. And they're running up and down the the riverside to get these pictures taken. You're sitting on a bench with me and you go to Google, find these incredible pictures. They come running back like little kids to show us what they got. And you turned No, they went to the bathroom. They went to the bathroom.
Yes. And when they came back we were like, oh my God, you missed it. And we pulled up a picture, but do you remember what I did then after that? I found a picture of a whale breaching. And I said, you also missed this. And it's a whale breaching. And I said, you know, it was a very unusual moment for the St. Croix River. Well, like George Costanza, you always dreamed of being a marine biologist. I did, yes. The sea was angry that day, my friends. There's your Seinfeld, uh, reference.
Uh, since we're talking sports, what's up with the Minnesota Twins? They can't Again, it's simple. It's simple math when you watch Twins. It's funny, we don't have legalized wagering in Minnesota, but if you just looked at their schedule and bet the Minnesota Twins when they were playing overmatched teams and bet against the Twins when they were playing division leaders, you'd be cashing at a 95 percent rate.
They have gone 0 13 against division leaders, and they're like 35 games over 500 against the lower echelon teams. It's unbelievable. It really is. Never in major league history has a team that has won 12 in a row, had three, five game losing streaks and the season isn't half over yet. And I got to tell you, I'm all about fun and different uniforms, but what in the world are we doing? Honest to goodness. I, I don't mind the idea. Like, I think it's a cool idea. Those are atrocious.
And to top it all off, we look like the Milwaukee brewers. What are we doing here? Well, I think that they, I think they look like they're wearing a Ukrainian bike racer uniform, you know, they got those UK Ukraine, I mean, and it just, it's just a terrible look, you know, it's all about selling. the Jerseys merchandise. It's all about selling merch. And I'm sure they'll tell because they, if you just look at the jersey by itself, it's kind of cool.
But then when you put the same color pants on, oh God, and those ridiculous hats, it, it, it was a bad look. Friday night we're at, uh, a spot having a quick bite de and the look up the tv and I'm like, why are the brewers on? Then I'm like, oh, wait a minute. That's us. Well, actually, the fact that you could look at the TV and see the twins on is unusual. You must have been in a special place because. Nobody's watching the Twins on TV this year.
Well, the difference, like, we were at Waconia, and, honestly, I looked up and I'm like, at first glance, I'm like, oh, the Brooders are on, but that's weird. And, you're right, the Twins are, they are getting harder and harder to find. I think that, uh, there's going to be a reshuffling of the deck in the, in the Twin Cities with how we watch these teams in the next year or two, but I think this, we've reached a tipping point, especially now that they're having.
Some success and people are getting more and more frustrated. I know all of us that work at Valley Sports North, um, have an understanding of where this is going. We just hope that it happens in quick fashion because the wild season, as scary as this is, is only, what, three or, yeah, three months away.
And I just think we need to have a reshuffling of the deck Yeah, the time has come to uh to reevaluate how those shows are are those programs are broadcast Yeah, I have a question for you as a guy who uh has spent a little time in the room so to speak Apparently the twins right now have a really good room carlos. Correa apparently couldn't be a better guy Royce lewis is a gregarious, you know team guy Pablo Lopez, I've heard, is just as nice as can be.
The question that I have for you is, they got a guy named Kyle Farmer, who's batting about a buck fifty. And, the question is, why haven't they, dropped Kyle Farmer for some of these younger guys, the Brooks Lees, some of those guys that are playing in the minors and the response that I've heard has something to do with the fact that the guys just love them. The question I have for you is how important is Just attitude in the room and are there people that That teams will hold on to specific.
What was that? Where did you just about get in a car accident? You really are picking up on all the different what was that? Like when you go to a construction zone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To give you the heads up. Back to your question.
Um, it matters and when you think about the length of time a baseball season requires those dudes to be together and I haven't worked with the twins now in a couple of summers but I've spent a six or seven year period where I worked a bunch of twins games, traveled with that team. It is amazing to me how much time. Those guys have at the ballpark, at the hotel, on the road together, like the hockey season's long, but there are days off in between. There aren't many days off.
They get like three or four days off a month where they're actually not together. And so the personality that the clubhouse takes on, and I think you hit the nail on the head with some of the players you mentioned, because the best players tend to dictate how the room is going to operate. And so when your leaders, like Correa, Like Pablo Lopez, when those guys are good dudes and team first guys, that sets the tone for the room.
But then you've got the guys like Kyle Farmer that maybe bring some levity, maybe have a sense of humor because it's a fricking grind. Like they're at the ballpark. If the ball game's at six o'clock, they're there. around noon and they're there until 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock at night. That's just what they do with the stretching and the treatment before and after and the cage and the video clips and the meals. Like it is a full day together.
And if you have somebody that maybe on the field is not up to stuff and maybe off the field brings the group up and bring something to the table, then you make a case for keeping that person around. And it is a value for sure, because you've got a bunch of extra guys. And if they're a pain in the ass, they're not going to be there. But if you're a guy like Kyle Farmer, then there's some value there for sure.
And Kyle's, uh, you know, he's a veteran and the nice thing about Kyle's, he can play a whole bunch of different positions. So it is nice to have that flexibility, but yeah, the twins have been an interesting watch this year. You know, Carlos Correa three weeks ago was batting 225 and now he's batting 310. I mean, what is going on last night? 20 hits in his last 36 at bats. Oh, my God. Remarkable. He's seeing the ball. It, it helps when you're seeing the ball.
So back to the room, you have much more data as it relates to the Minnesota wild because you've, been around those guys. Can you give me your Mount Rushmore of, of great room guys for the Minnesota wild in your tenure there? Like who comes to mind? I'll start with a guy named Matt Cullen. Who's got some Minnesota ties to the Moorhead area. When he got to Minnesota, he had already won a Stanley Cup. He had been to multiple cup finals and he was the guy that kind of kept it all together.
The glue, so to speak, in the room was great to the young players, um, was friends with a lot of veterans, was a connection or a liaison to the coaching staff, was outstanding with the media. So he for sure would be on that, that Mount Rushmore. So what a guy named Eric Stahl.
Who in similar fashion, by the time he got to the wild had won a cup, but he went above and beyond with the younger guys, like taking them literally under his wing and showing them the ropes, Charlie coil to me, like, um, like Darby Hendrickson on the coaching side, they are two of the nicest professional athletes I have ever come in contact with. And it frankly, isn't close. So those would be my four coil. Darby, uh, Stahl, and Cullen. Those four guys, to me, as good as it gets.
Now, it's constantly in flux, and we gotta make room for the flower here at some point. Because Marc Andre Fleury is gonna be in the Hall of Fame for what he's done on the ice, but you could put him in the Hall of Fame for who he is off the ice just as easily. Yeah, um, what happened to Darby? Why'd they let him go? You know, I think, here's what I think happened, and I've got this question a lot because everybody loves Darby.
When you looked at the way the staff aligned, once the coaching change was made, every assistant coach had a specific detail to run. Power play, penalty kill, the defenseman, and then the offensive forward. The assistant coaches all had a thing.
Darby was basically the, the go between, the liaison, who would work on face offs with the centers, and then would relay the message, like when it would come from the video room, he had the headset on, and then, you know, he would help, you know, Okay, the guys in the video room think we should review this, but he didn't have a specific group of players he was coaching. So we go back to when the coaching change happened.
I think when you hire a new coach mid season, you probably tell the guy, Hey, I know at some point you're going to want to bring in a guy, your guy. We're not going to upset the apple cart right now in respect to where the team is. And this is a big enough change right now. We're just going to keep the assistance in place after the year gets over. We can revisit that in the summer.
If you want to bring a guy in, clearly John Hines wanted to bring a guy in, and then Bill Guerin has to make the decision which assistant coach moving out is going to cause the least ripple effect for what they want. And, you know, Darby had survived six different coaching staffs, which is incredibly rare. Normally you'll last one point or two. Well, that's the key. And I think the timing of it, and I haven't had a chance to do more than text with him.
But his, one of his sons, Beckett, is starting this coming fall at the U of M. He's a really good hockey player. Oh, really? And I think, you know, Darby was the guy that was watching him on his phone or laptop on the team bus or the team airplane. He was playing down in Michigan with the USA developmental program. He's a really talented kid. And so this will allow Darby the chance.
So not only watch him, but he's got a younger son that's going to be going to Shattuck and playing hockey down there. He's got another year on the contract where he's getting paid. And so he can use a year right now to really dive back into watching his kids play hockey. And then he can always revisit getting back into coaching or broadcasting after the next year is over. And so I think the timing of it, silver lining wise, works out really well.
It really does say something about, the genetics of hockey families. you can coach kids up, but there's got to be something genetically superior because it seems like there's a lot of next generation kids playing in the NHL whose dads played and whose grandfathers played and you know, you look at the nannies have had a lot of success and Latire. How do you say Latire? Latire. You Latire. Louie's grandsons is, seeing some ice time with the wild.
but to hear that Hendrickson's kid was in the, uh, the program out in Michigan and he's got another one that's going to Shattuck, so very exciting times. KG, I will see you on Friday I guess with that off we go