Shownotes
This podcast episode delves into the intriguing dynamics of holiday celebrations and personal anecdotes surrounding Christmas, as shared by Whit Watson and his co-host. Central to our discourse is the exploration of unsung heroes within the golfing community, specifically highlighting the diligent efforts of grounds crews who labor tirelessly to maintain golf courses, especially during high-profile tournaments. We also engage in light-hearted exchanges regarding memorable Christmas gifts and humorous family stories, encapsulating the spirit of the season through relatable experiences. Furthermore, we reflect on the significance of family and the importance of cherishing moments together during this festive period. Ultimately, our discussion serves to remind listeners of the joy found in both the mundane and extraordinary aspects of life during the holidays.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Media Credentials
- Golf Channel
- iHeart
- Buc-ee's
- Hobby Lobby
- Pentatonix
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Welcome to Grilling at the Green After Hours, the conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to After Hours here.
Speaker B:I've got Whit Watson with me today from Media Credentials.
Speaker B:Again, I recommend if you go, if you like to listen to podcasts.
Speaker B:Whit asks some very direct and precise and intriguing questions.
Speaker B:Well, he's a professional reporter.
Speaker B:He knows how to get the answers there.
Speaker B:And so I would recommend that or you can him at Golf Channel once in a while.
Speaker B:He does a radio show on iHeart.
Speaker B:Did they stream that show from Florida?
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We don't stream it yet.
Speaker A:I'm glad you asked.
Speaker A:I am.
Speaker A: I'm working on that for: Speaker A:We are still working on a return date.
Speaker A:We are also, much like yourself, we're taking some time off.
Speaker A:Probably going to come back on the air right around the time of the Florida swing looking like the end of January, beginning of February.
Speaker A:And I am, I'm working on that, trying to figure out a way to stream it.
Speaker A:We do have a couple of our shows that originate in Orlando but are on iHeart stations around Florida and they do stream in the afternoon.
Speaker A:So I'm bugging those guys to give me some tips on how to get, how to get us on the air.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:Also.
Speaker B:Whit did a podcast with his wife, Tracy.
Speaker B:It's a wonderful.
Speaker B:It's funny, a lot of insight there, especially when she tried to wake you up and tell you her water broke.
Speaker B:And it doesn't delve too much into the personal.
Speaker B:But she was mad at you.
Speaker B:I've been there, pal.
Speaker B:Any guy that has not slept for 10 days because they think their wife's ready to go into labor, and then you finally pass out and go to sleep and then it happens.
Speaker B:Then like you said, like Bryson, you go from heel to hero, but mostly heal to heal.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:In that short time frame, I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker A:So, yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Few questions here for you beings.
Speaker B:It's Christmas.
Speaker B:What's your favorite Christmas song?
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:I always loved Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was a great one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's the one?
Speaker A:Rocking around the Christmas tree.
Speaker A:Have a happy holiday.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:I don't know the title of the song.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Rocking around the Christmas Tree.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Brenda Lee.
Speaker A:That's a good song.
Speaker B:She's about 4 foot 2.
Speaker B:She's a little tiny.
Speaker B:Yeah, not very big.
Speaker B:Back to broadcasting for a minute.
Speaker B:What's the biggest.
Speaker B:Well, not really broadcasting, but I'll frame this differently.
Speaker B:What's the Biggest train wreck you ever had at Christmas dinner.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:We've gotten lucky in that regard.
Speaker A:I don't think we ever had really a train wreck at Christmas dinner.
Speaker A:We had.
Speaker A:So ours is a blended family, my wife is Jewish, so we had a situation around Hanukkah one year.
Speaker A:We had my in laws over and we were having a nice dinner around Hanukkah.
Speaker A:And Hanukkah is not, for those who don't know, it's not actually a very important holiday on the Jewish calendar.
Speaker A:It's just kind of become that way because a lot of the Jewish kids got jealous because the Christian kids had a really big fun holiday at Christmas and Hanukkah was just close on the calendar.
Speaker A:So Jewish parents would make a bigger deal of Hanukkah to kind of, you know, make the kids feel included.
Speaker A:So we would have, you know, my in laws over sometimes for Hanukkah when we all lived close to each other and we were right in the middle of, of dinner and kind of, you know, talking about things that we were grateful for and looking forward to the new year.
Speaker A:And our dog Dexter, who was mentioned in the podcast with my wife, the Chocolate Lab, who was arguably the dumbest animal that we've ever owned, he very unceremoniously fell into the pool right in the middle of like something very important and meaty that my father in law was talking about.
Speaker A:Like, I think he was like giving a toast or something like that.
Speaker A:And this enormous crash happened like, and the window between our, our dining room at our old house and the, and the back deck was open and it was right next to where he was sitting.
Speaker A:And you heard what sounded like patio furniture falling into the pool.
Speaker A:And it was the dog who fell in right in the middle of, of like a toast.
Speaker A:That's the closest I can come to.
Speaker A:But poor old Dexter, he was not the brightest light in the hall.
Speaker B:I'll tell you a funny story about when my dad got older.
Speaker B:He had a little dachshund, another dog story here.
Speaker B:And he loved that little dog and her name was Misty.
Speaker B:M I S T Y right.
Speaker B:So we had gotten done with Christmas dinner and table was cleared and dad picked up the dog and everybody was talking and he said, well, he goes, when it's my turn to go in a few years, he goes, I'd like.
Speaker B:And my dad was quite the character, I'll preface it that way.
Speaker B:And he said, I, when I'm gone, I'd like you to put the dog to sleep and have her buried with me and my Sister looked up and said, what happens if the dog dies first?
Speaker B:And because would he want to be put to sleep and buried with the dog?
Speaker B:So anyway, that was kind of a weird, weird deal there.
Speaker B:But what's the weirdest Christmas gift you ever received or gave?
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:My best friend from high school is an attorney in Orlando, and we have kind of a running joke where we.
Speaker B:Give.
Speaker A:Tacky Christmas gifts to each other every year.
Speaker A:We try to find just the most outrageous, stupid things that we can find.
Speaker A:And I have one for him this year.
Speaker A:And I don't know when this is going to run, so I won't give it away, but I will preface it by saying I bought it@buc EE's.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I'm familiar with Bucky's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Off of i95.
Speaker A:I'm very proud of it.
Speaker A:But last year I found.
Speaker A:At a. I think it was like, Hobby lobby, I found a toaster that when you put bread in the toaster, when it's finished, it pops up and burned into the toast is an image of Bob Ross.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, yeah, the painter guy.
Speaker A:You know, the happy little trees.
Speaker A:And so your toast has a picture of Bob Ross on it.
Speaker A:I just thought it was perfect.
Speaker A:I just thought it was, you know, just a big, smiling face of Bob Ross on your piece of toast.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker A:I don't know if he's ever used it, but I was very proud of that one.
Speaker A:I thought it captured the spirit of the season.
Speaker B:Our daughter and her fiance are hosting Christmas Eve this year.
Speaker B:And they decided that they.
Speaker B:Because there's going to be his side of the family, our side of the family, friends, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:And she decided that it would be easier to do.
Speaker B:Kind of a white elephant gift.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Shelly and I were looking the other day, I actually found a hot dog toaster online.
Speaker B:You can put in two hot dogs and two hot dog buns like that.
Speaker B:And they supposedly all come up at the same time.
Speaker B:And it's bright red and like that.
Speaker B:And it was only like 29 bucks or something.
Speaker B:So we got that for the white elephant.
Speaker B:I'd never seen a hot dog toaster, like, and I worked in the food stuff all the time.
Speaker B:But, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's a gift there.
Speaker B:Name one of the funniest things you ever saw happen to a colleague on the air but that we did not see at home.
Speaker A:Funniest thing that ever happened to a colleague on the air that we did not see at home.
Speaker B:Like, did Jerry when you worked with Foldseed.
Speaker B:I Mean, false.
Speaker B:He chews.
Speaker B:I don't know if he still chews, but he always had a little cha in his mouth.
Speaker B:Like, did he ever swallow it before he had to go live for no or anything like that?
Speaker A:I can tell you something that didn't happen while we were on the air.
Speaker A:I wrote about this in a blog entry.
Speaker A:He stole a car once.
Speaker B:Jerry.
Speaker A:On the way.
Speaker A:Yeah, on the way to a tournament.
Speaker A:We were.
Speaker A:We were doing an LPGA event in the Bahamas at Atlantis.
Speaker A:And we were being picked up by a driver.
Speaker A:His name was Don.
Speaker A:I'll never forget him.
Speaker A:And he was a local.
Speaker A:And we.
Speaker A:Jerry and I, were on the same flight from Orlando to Nassau.
Speaker A:And we had to wait for a later flight that was coming in to pick up a couple more members of the crew.
Speaker A:And Don had instructions to take, like, four or five of us in one big SUV to the hotel.
Speaker A:Jerry, you know, Jerry may or may not have had something to drink on the plane.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And got bored while we were waiting in the car and decided to take a spin around the airport while we were waiting for the other guys get off the other flight to come in.
Speaker A:So he hopped into the driver's seat and said, let's just go take a drive around the airport and see what's.
Speaker A:What's to see in Nassau.
Speaker A:And I'm thinking, this is a terrible idea, Jerry.
Speaker B:But okay.
Speaker A:And so he drops in the car and starts driving the suv.
Speaker A:Take a little tour of the Nassau airport and go see those.
Speaker A:Got park around here and kind of doing loops around the airport.
Speaker A:Finally comes back to arriving flights.
Speaker A:And I turn around, and there's this about 6 foot 3, Bahamian man dressed in a black suit.
Speaker A:And he is sprinting full speed down the road after Jerry, you know, chasing him down.
Speaker A:And he pulls up, and he's huffing and puffing.
Speaker A:He's like, Mr. Fultz.
Speaker A:That was very funny, Mr. Fultz.
Speaker A:Good one.
Speaker A:That was a good one.
Speaker A:Yeah, I wrote about it.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker A:Jerry, stole a car on the way to a golf tournament.
Speaker A:Good thing this guy had a sense of humor, because we could have been.
Speaker A:We still could be hung up in customs right now if.
Speaker A:Yeah, if this guy's funny 10 years later.
Speaker B:But, yeah, okay.
Speaker A:That was something nobody saw, thank God.
Speaker B:What's.
Speaker B:What's the one song with.
Speaker B:When you get in your car in the morning, what's the one song you really like to hear on the radio?
Speaker B:And then you kind of know it.
Speaker B:The day's gonna be good.
Speaker A:Man.
Speaker A:You're hitting me with some.
Speaker A:Here I'm gonna surprise you with this one.
Speaker A:So when our kid.
Speaker A:Did you ever watch or did you know of the show on NBC called the Sing Off?
Speaker A:You familiar with that show?
Speaker B:No, I don't think so.
Speaker A:It was a competition.
Speaker A:It was an acapella competition show.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:That brought together acapella groups.
Speaker A:Some were college groups, some were professional acapella groups.
Speaker A:And when.
Speaker A:When Pitch Perfect, the movie Pitch Perfect came out.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, we watched it with our kids who were like teenage, you know, maybe.
Speaker A:Yeah, teenagers.
Speaker A:And we all just love the movie.
Speaker A:And the movie was really popular, and this show came out kind of on the heels of the movie, and we kind of all watched it together and just loved it.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:My wife and I really liked Pentatonix.
Speaker A:And they were the winners of, I think not the first season, but one of the seasons of the Sing Off.
Speaker A:They won it, and that's what springboarded them to a very successful career, which continues.
Speaker A:They're actually playing at the Kia center in Orlando next week, as a matter of fact.
Speaker A:And so they did a version of the Dog Days Are over by Florence and the Machine.
Speaker A:That's an incredible acapella version of the Dog Days Are over, which I have on my phone.
Speaker B:So I love it.
Speaker A:That's kind of like.
Speaker A:That would be my walk up music if I were a Major League baseball player.
Speaker A:It's a great song.
Speaker A:Couple more here.
Speaker B:Favorite color.
Speaker B:Lifesaver.
Speaker B:These are very important.
Speaker B:Very important.
Speaker A:Orange.
Speaker A:Orange.
Speaker A:Orange.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm a. I'm a green guy.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Just so you know, Name an unsung hero of the golf world.
Speaker A:An unsung hero of the golf world.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:Grounds crew at any golf course that hosts a professional golf tournament.
Speaker A:Male, female, Corn Ferry, PGA Tour.
Speaker A:Doesn't matter the amount of work that they have to do before, during, and after an event.
Speaker A:I was just thinking about this before we recorded your show because I was thinking about the PGA Tour schedule, which we talked about, and how.
Speaker A:You know, one thing that I think.
Speaker A:I think Brian Rolap has talked about this is the desire to get into some markets that he hasn't.
Speaker A:That the PGA Tour hasn't been in on the regular.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like New York doesn't have a regular stop anymore.
Speaker A:Like Boston, like Chicago and.
Speaker A:But where do you.
Speaker A:Where do you go?
Speaker A:You know, what.
Speaker A:What venues do you find?
Speaker A:And the best golf courses in some of those places are private.
Speaker A:And, you know, if you're a member at a Westchester or Chicago golf club or something like that, the amount of time and effort it requires to Stage a PGA Tour event is monumental.
Speaker A:And if you're at a northern golf course and your season is short anyway, the last thing you want is for the Tour to come in and take over the place a month in advance.
Speaker A:And as you know, when you stage a tournament, it beats the hell out of the golf course.
Speaker A:You're moving in tents and it tears up the grass and it's muddy.
Speaker A:And the backstage part, the place where I live when I'm broadcasting an event, just.
Speaker A:It looks like crap.
Speaker A:And then that has to be fixed at the end of it.
Speaker A:So the unsung heroes are the people that do that, that fix the golf course.
Speaker A:And not just when tournaments are coming in, but on the regular.
Speaker A:The people that get up at 4 o' clock in the morning to make it perfect for you and then stay there till 10 o' clock at night to make it perfect for you the next day.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think those are the unsung heroes in golf.
Speaker B:I can't tell you how many course superintendents and stuff that when they're working on these tournaments, they have a bed in their office.
Speaker B:They don't.
Speaker B:They don't go home like that.
Speaker B:Okay, last question.
Speaker B:If I gave you, Whit Watson, a box with everything that you have lost in your life, what would be the first thing you would reach for?
Speaker A:Everything that I've lost?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In my life can be material things, can be people, could be recipes, doesn't matter what, you know.
Speaker A:The first thing that I would reach for would be.
Speaker A:That's a. I don't want to get deep.
Speaker A:That's a great question.
Speaker A:I would say that professionally speaking, my wife and I, Tracy and I had our kids really young.
Speaker A:We got married young, and we had kids almost right away.
Speaker A:And almost every professional decision that I made was based on what was best for them.
Speaker A:You know, we.
Speaker A:We took the jobs that had insurance.
Speaker A:We took the jobs that, you know, had benefits.
Speaker A:And there were some opportunity.
Speaker A:There were some opportunities out there to do some freelance stuff and maybe take a risk that may or may not have paid off, but might have been more in line with what I really, really wanted to do.
Speaker A:And I guess I would have reached for whatever conversation she and I could have had at that moment.
Speaker A:Hey, let's, let's roll the dice on this.
Speaker A:You know, this.
Speaker A:This might pay off, it might not.
Speaker A:We may have to do a few things differently, but let's take a shot, you know?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:So I, I'd reach for that.
Speaker A:I'd reach for that paradise.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:There's the metaphor.
Speaker A:I'd reach for the paradise.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:Whit Watson media credentials.
Speaker B:Golf Channel, ESPN, iHeartradio.
Speaker A:I sell hot dogs.
Speaker A:I sell hot dogs.
Speaker B:He's got.
Speaker A:I print the programs.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker B:He's the guy out there hawking them.
Speaker B:And the concourse when you come in.
Speaker B:Anyway, Whit, it's great.
Speaker B:And again, I go to whitwatson.com because you can see all his stuff there.
Speaker A:You can find everything.
Speaker A:Find everything.
Speaker B:You can't.
Speaker B:But thank you, and I hope you and your family have a great Christmas.
Speaker A:You, too.
Speaker B:No problem.
Speaker B:We'll be back after the holidays.
Speaker B:Until then, go out instead of playing golf.
Speaker B:Maybe spend some time with the family.
Speaker B:Okay, do that if you want to, but have some fun.
Speaker B:And most of all, be kind.
Speaker B:Take care, everybody.
Speaker B:Merry Christmas.
