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You know we know it takes a special track to do this.
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6 seconds
Itโs just a fluid chef. Iโm here to remind yโall Iโm sick with it. My name is hot. Itโs ubiquitous meaning itโs one
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and the same. Simple and plain. Iโm all about my paper. The bacon chitter and pain. I got these lanes running for the border. The talent. Keep it flowing like itโs water. But here we go. There we go.
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Creeping to a low speed. Is it him and his friend sitting in the nose? Play it cool.
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Everybodyโs hands up.
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Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Taste Music here Food Podcast Show. I am your host Ed
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42 seconds
Porter. This is the destination for food, music, and culture and how they all connect. Today we have an amazing
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50 seconds
guest. Um, somebody Iโve been trying to sit down with for a while. I remember vividly uh his introduction to the Twin
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59 seconds
Cities because I I me being a big sports guy, it was good to see a face like his doing what heโs doing.
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1 minute, 8 seconds
So, Iโm going to attempt to give you the flowers that you deserve with this intro. Here we go. In
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1 minute, 16 seconds
the world where highlights meet humanity, todayโs guest just doesnโt cover the score. He captures the soul behind the story. From southern Illinois
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1 minute, 24 seconds
to the Twin Cities, heโs brought heart to the headlines, authenticity to the anchor desk, and culture to the conversation.
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1 minute, 32 seconds
Whether in a press box or on your screen, heโs repping Kappa Alpha SAI, repping Missou, and reshaping what
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1 minute, 39 seconds
sports journalism can look and feel like. Letโs welcome to the show, Mr. Reggie Wilson.
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1 minute, 45 seconds
Whatโs up? Whatโs up? Thanks for having me. Thanks for having Thank you for being here. So, so I do tons of research about guests that that come on and you you have such an
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1 minute, 55 seconds
intriguing story about how you came to be and I was Iโm Iโm looking Iโm like this this this
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2 minutes, 2 seconds
needs to be told like that like so my story is a is an interesting one. Um and the more I tell my story the more people
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2 minutes, 10 seconds
are like all right weโre waiting on the book waiting on you to write the book.
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2 minutes, 14 seconds
And itโs interesting because I donโt really think about it like that. I just really kind of think of it as my life, you know. Um, so I I grew up in in St.
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2 minutes, 24 seconds
Louis, Southern Illinois area. Um, my momโs from East St. Louis. Uh, if youโre familiar with that, very familiar.
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2 minutes, 31 seconds
And and so, um, grew up a little bit in St. Louis, lived in St. Louis, um, until
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2 minutes, 38 seconds
my dad passed away, uh, in 2004. And then we moved back to the Illinois side, southern Illinois. A lot of times when you say southern Illinois or you say anything Illinois, people think Chicago.
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2 minutes, 48 seconds
I was like, โNo, just just right across the bridge from St. Louis.โ Right there. Yep. Right there. Close to the to St. Louis. Right across the Mississippi. Yeah.
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2 minutes, 55 seconds
To to just the other side of St. Louis. And so, uh, growing up, my dad was
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3 minutes, 3 seconds
someone who kind of instilled in me that love of sport. You know, some of my vivid
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3 minutes, 9 seconds
memories are growing up. Um, so it itโs an interesting deal with my mom and my
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3 minutes, 16 seconds
dad because um, you know, they found their way back to each other later in his life. Um, but earlier on, you know,
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3 minutes, 24 seconds
they were doing the co-parenting thing and so, you know, vivid memories of my dad coming to pick me up and, you know, on weekends weโre going
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3 minutes, 33 seconds
to the Y, you know, and my dad was one of the best basketball players Iโve ever seen. Like, bar none. Like it was crazy.
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3 minutes, 42 seconds
Like young guys, older guys, they would they would all come and and pickup got intense at the Y, you know. Yeah, absolutely.
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3 minutes, 48 seconds
You know, it was Michael Jordan and my dad. That was those were the two. Okay.
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3 minutes, 52 seconds
And so, like, Iโm telling you, like my dad was like a a dead eyee shooter.
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3 minutes, 57 seconds
Like, you could have your hand in his face. And I think, you know, if if his life played out a little bit differently, I do think that he probably
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4 minutes, 5 seconds
could have made it to college and NBA uh playing ball or at least pro playing ball. Thatโs how good he was.
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4 minutes, 12 seconds
Now, you got you definitely got you got the hype. I got the hype. My mom and my dad 6โ2.
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4 minutes, 17 seconds
Okay. Yeah. You got you definitely got the height.
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4 minutes, 20 seconds
Yeah. And so, you know, thatโs how it kind of started for me. and growing up in the house. Um, so I was raised by my
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4 minutes, 29 seconds
mom and you know it was it was more like a single mom deal but you know it they say it takes a village absolutely
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4 minutes, 37 seconds
to raise a child and I had my village you know my grandparents big part of who raised me. My aunts, uncles, you know all of them are a part of my village and
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4 minutes, 46 seconds
you know still are. My grandparents no longer with us, but you know, my aunts and uncles, they theyโre theyโre my village. And
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4 minutes, 54 seconds
growing up, either at my momโs house or my grandparents house, the news was always on. Always. My mom had this
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5 minutes, 3 seconds
thing, too, where she would pick me up from my grandparents house after school. We would go home.
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5 minutes, 9 seconds
Donโt talk to her in that first 10 minutes of the newscast cuz sheโs trying to get the headlines. Sheโs trying to figure out whatโs going on. So if Iโm
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5 minutes, 17 seconds
talking to her too much, sheโs like, โHey, Iโm watching the news.โ Like, โGive me some time.โ And so I would watch that. And then, you
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5 minutes, 25 seconds
know, hanging out with my dad, you know, we would watch sports. My mom also was big into into watching sports. So
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5 minutes, 33 seconds
weโre watching Michael Jordan growing up, those Chicago Bulls teams.
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5 minutes, 38 seconds
And then the Rams got big, greatest show on turf. Yeah. [ __ ] the crew.
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5 minutes, 45 seconds
Yeah. So that became a passion to watch the Rams with my dad. Yeah.
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And I remember like very early just being like, โOh, wait,
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ESPN.โ Like, โOh, so like thereโs a place that does what I see them doing on
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6 minutes, 5 seconds
the news that my mom and grandparents are watching, but itโs just with sports 24/7 and itโs all the time.โ Yeah.
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6 minutes, 12 seconds
And I was like, โOh.โ So now Iโm coming home, Iโm watching ESPN, Iโm watching, you know, all the shows that theyโre
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6 minutes, 19 seconds
doing. And that kind of grew my love for for sports.
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6 minutes, 24 seconds
And so, you know, my dad passed away, uh, lung cancer in 2004.
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6 minutes, 29 seconds
Um, itโs crazy because Iโve now been without my dad more than Iโve been with him, right?
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6 minutes, 36 seconds
Um, and thatโs kind of bizarre, you know. Um my mom and dad got married um 99.
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6 minutes, 46 seconds
Okay. 99. Uh and he passed in 2004. And so before before he passed, my brother was
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6 minutes, 54 seconds
born in 2000. And so he was four, I was 13. And we moved back across the bridge
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to Illinois. As I told you about, town called Belleville, okay? like a suburb, if you will, uh
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7 minutes, 9 seconds
outside of East St. Louis. And that was kind of where things just started to to go. Like I got into sports
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7 minutes, 17 seconds
a little bit. Um you know, cup of coffee, playing football, it didnโt work out. Uh I always wanted to
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7 minutes, 25 seconds
play basketball. I I had some skills, but like it was never really watered. So like I wasnโt near like the product to
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7 minutes, 33 seconds
play high school ball. Um, but I did do uh track and field. I was a discus shot put thrower. But my story was always,
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7 minutes, 42 seconds
you know, everybodyโs always like, โYeah, you tall.โ You know, whatever.
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What they donโt tell you is how brittle some of us tall people are, right? And so I kept getting hurt.
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7 minutes, 54 seconds
Vivid memory of being in PE class. You know, it gets fierce in PE class. Weโre playing basketball, especially when youโre the biggest guy.
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8 minutes, 1 second
Yeah. Dude goes up for a layup. I jumped up, blocked it, came down my ankle, broke my ankle.
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One of the first few days of track, Iโm throwing discus. Iโm doing the spin.
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Crack crack knee. Thatโs my whole summer is gone. Rehabbing my knee. That was the That was the end of my high school playing career.
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8 minutes, 25 seconds
Understood. Understood.
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8 minutes, 26 seconds
I love sports though. And after growing up watching the news and watching ESPN
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and you know all these different sports media entities, that was something that I felt like I wanted to do. I wanted to
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be around the game even if I couldnโt play it.
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And I figured the best way to do that would be to go into broadcasting.
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8 minutes, 49 seconds
So now you got the you literally have the best seat in the house, honestly. Y and you get to uh you you get to I think
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the the magic of what it is you do also is youโre youโre talking from two different perspectives. So youโre speaking from obviously from the the the
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fan of the sport but also from the perspective of the athlete and how their their vantage point is too which is it gives a unique um view of of sports.
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9 minutes, 17 seconds
All right. Right about now we going to we play a little game. Okay.
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9 minutes, 20 seconds
Okay. Called one got to go. Okay, this one got to go. Weโre going to give you a list of things and then we just got to eliminate one of them.
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9 minutes, 28 seconds
Oh man, itโs pretty simple.
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Okay, this one This one got to go is going to be the Reggieโs Hot Dish Road Map Edition.
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Okay, Iโm going list them all off. Oh man, Iโm Iโm a little nervous. St. Louis toasted ravioli.
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9 minutes, 45 seconds
Uhhuh. Cincinnati style chili over spaghetti. Uhhuh.
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9 minutes, 50 seconds
The Juicy Lucy. Uh-huh. Or Dayton style pizza. Okay. You said one gotta go. One gotta go.
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9 minutes, 58 seconds
Oh man. U Iโm Okay. I got to go. Cincinnati chili.
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10 minutes, 6 seconds
Yeah. The the Okay. Why?
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10 minutes, 9 seconds
I just I never truly got into it. So if itโs homemade, itโs delicious. Our marriage parents uh
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10 minutes, 18 seconds
used to invite us over and our marriage mom, Mama Judy, she would make chili for
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10 minutes, 24 seconds
us. Fire. Fire. But the commercial places.
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10 minutes, 29 seconds
Okay. So, for people that donโt know what weโre talking about, so there is thereโs everybody knows chili. Yeah.
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10 minutes, 36 seconds
And then everybody knows spaghetti. Yeah.
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10 minutes, 39 seconds
So, yes, itโs chili on top of the spaghetti with some diced onions. Usually, cheese. Mound of cheese.
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10 minutes, 46 seconds
Mound of cheese. And then for some reason they put little crackers on it.
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10 minutes, 53 seconds
Right. Right.
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10 minutes, 56 seconds
I still havenโt eat chili without crackers over spaghetti though.
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11 minutes
Yeah. I So what I was told when I moved to Cincinnati and I love Cincinnati. Um one of the best places that Iโve lived. Very
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underrated place for people who donโt know. Um I felt like I was just a part of the community there. Uh, Cincinnati is 47% black, which youโre like, whoa.
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11 minutes, 20 seconds
You know, the chili is something that is an acquired taste.
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11 minutes, 25 seconds
How I was explained, itโs not necessarily a dish. Chili is a sauce. Mhm.
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11 minutes, 33 seconds
And so itโs meant not necessarily in like the Cincinnati style, not necessarily to just cuz my mom, you
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know, my mom grew up making chili and we I would get a bowl of chili, put some cheese, some some oyster crackers, you know, go to town.
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11 minutes, 48 seconds
Thatโs not how you eat Cincinnati chili.
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11 minutes, 50 seconds
It goes over spaghetti, over fries, over something. Yeah. It needs It needs another sauce. Yeah. But the thing, if
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11 minutes, 58 seconds
you donโt know, so thereโs two competing brands in Cincinnati. Thereโs Skyline Chile and thereโs Gold Star Chili. And
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12 minutes, 6 seconds
Iโm not giving away trade secrets when I say this, but if you notice like the Cincinnati chili secret is thereโs thereโs a hint of cinnamon in there.
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Yep. Thereโs some Gold Star apparently they put a little chocolate in theirs. Okay.
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12 minutes, 22 seconds
And so thatโs the thatโs the thing. Itโs like a lot of times youโre a skyline person or youโre a gold star person. You are seldomly both.
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12 minutes, 32 seconds
Youโre not usually both. Yeah.
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12 minutes, 34 seconds
And so the Cincinnati thing when I was like, you know, I I heard too like people sometimes eat chili with a
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12 minutes, 43 seconds
cinnamon roll. And I thought that was I thought that was a thing. I was like, what is that? Like Iโve never heard of that.
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12 minutes, 49 seconds
Thatโs Iโve Iโve Iโve seen it though. And so, but for some reason, the hint of cinnamon in the chili does something.
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12 minutes, 58 seconds
Plays. Yeah, it plays. But itโs not my thing. Yeah. Itโs the same flavor profile.
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13 minutes, 3 seconds
Thereโs a little bit of that in um in the Detroit Coney. Okay.
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13 minutes, 7 seconds
Just the the Coney sauce, which is another chili. Itโs a very loose sauce that has this warming spices in that as well. And thatโs Yeah, itโs an
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13 minutes, 15 seconds
acquired taste though, but uh itโs not I remember my first uh you know, runin with that. I seen Iโm in Detroit.
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13 minutes, 22 seconds
Okay. I see Coney Island. Oh, Iโm thinking Brooklyn. Yeah. You know, no no different. A lot of different. A lot of different.
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13 minutes, 31 seconds
Okay. All right. Good. I I respect that. I respect that. Okay.
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13 minutes, 34 seconds
And that was just a little history through places that youโve been, which is I thought that was cool. So, we going to have to kill it. The the no shade to Cincinnati at all. Love.
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13 minutes, 44 seconds
Yeah. No shade. Uh it is a great place. My brother just moved to Dayton, too. So, love Dayton, too. Yeah. Itโs great. Itโs great. All right.
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13 minutes, 51 seconds
um when when prepping for a big broadcast, which you do so often, and uh and weโve had a great couple of years of
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14 minutes
sports for for the city. So, this itโs been awesome. Yeah. Yes.
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14 minutes, 5 seconds
Tell me what are what is the soundtrack that that gets you ready for these these
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14 minutes, 12 seconds
big events that you are partaking. And then you travel like you youโre like you part of the team pretty much like youโre in different.
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14 minutes, 19 seconds
Yeah. Yeah. Youโre on the road too. So, what what do you listen to?
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14 minutes, 23 seconds
Whatโs your soundtrack? What is the Reggie Wilson soundtrack or playlist, if you will, to get you up for the big moments?
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14 minutes, 30 seconds
So, I think it just kind of depends on the mood that Iโm in. So, uh for those who donโt know my background, so um I
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14 minutes, 38 seconds
grew up a church boy. Okay. So, you know, KJIC.
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14 minutes, 42 seconds
So, we in church all the time. Okay. And um Iโm a pastorโs kid, too.
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14 minutes, 48 seconds
Yeah. So we we grew up, you know, Iโm always in the church. So I used to sing Sunshine Band and then I got older. Um
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14 minutes, 56 seconds
and uh at the church that I kind of I wouldnโt say grew up in the church that I grew up in and then the church
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15 minutes, 3 seconds
that I ended up going to were two different churches. Um, but the church that I kind of went into adulthood in,
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15 minutes, 12 seconds
um, I became a praise and worship, uh, singer for the church and I would lead several songs. Um, and so Iโm big on
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15 minutes, 21 seconds
music. So that was that was a subtle flex, too. I just want to let you know I saw Yeah. I I lead several several songs.
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15 minutes, 29 seconds
Yeah. So I sing so I Iโm a singer, too. Um, I I sang to my wife at our wedding. Like I Iโve sang at so many weddings.
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15 minutes, 38 seconds
Iโve sang at funerals. Iโve Iโve sang at events. Like I I in college I uh I
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15 minutes, 44 seconds
cosplayed Luther Vandross and I I sang A House Is Not a Home. There you go.
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15 minutes, 49 seconds
Uh thatโs on YouTube if you want to look it up. Uh yeah. Yeah. So like I I sing. Um so I think it just kind of depends.
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15 minutes, 57 seconds
It it it depends like where my mind is.
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16 minutes
So like itโs so funny. My mom uh you know she
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16 minutes, 7 seconds
had the foundation of faith from my grandparents. You know my grandmother um mother in the church you know big time
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16 minutes, 15 seconds
she pray leader for 30 plus years you know just missionary in the you know big
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16 minutes, 22 seconds
woman of God and um she is who I get my faith rooted from really. um her brother was a
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16 minutes, 30 seconds
bishop, you know, all kinds of pastors and preachers in my family. And um so I
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16 minutes, 37 seconds
think for me it always comes back to gospel, you know, and you know, as I got older, you know, I got into other
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16 minutes, 45 seconds
things, hip-hop and, you know, R&B, you know, growing up my mom uh always had that
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16 minutes, 52 seconds
God foundation, right? Foundation of faith. But, you know, growing up with my mom, Iโm listening to old school R&B in
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17 minutes
the in the car. Growing up with my dad, my dad was a big, uh, Drew Hill, Boys to Men. If he was feeling ratchet, it was
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17 minutes, 7 seconds
Masterpiece, Silk the Shocker, like, you know, that type of stuff.
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17 minutes, 10 seconds
And so, um, but as Iโve gotten older, I found what my pallet is. And I know Iโm being really long-winded with this
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17 minutes, 18 seconds
answer, but so depending on what the situation is, um, my wife will tell you that sometimes I like to listen to the O
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17 minutes, 27 seconds
Eley brothers or um, you know, Luther or, uh, Boys to Men or, you know, Drew Hill or, you know, some of those things.
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17 minutes, 36 seconds
You know, some of that is like nostalgic for me. Like I think itโs really cool that RL um, Iโve met him several times and next theyโre theyโre from Minnesota.
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17 minutes, 45 seconds
Um, so they just sang the national anthem last week at one of the Wolves games. Like, you know, those are people that I kind of grew up listening to. Um,
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17 minutes, 53 seconds
but also grew up listening to, you know, uh, Clark sisters, uh, Bishop Morton, Kirk Franklin, you know, Fred Hammond,
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John P. Key, you know, all the So, it depends. Uh if Iโm if Iโm trying to get like locked in locked in, Iโm putting
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on, you know, uh Pandora station, you know, uh Karen Hawthorne station will play a mix of everything, right?
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18 minutes, 18 seconds
Or if Iโm really like, okay, I got to get my mind right, uh Fred Hammond. Or if Iโm like, Iโm trying to get amped up,
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18 minutes, 24 seconds
uh you know, itโll be like, uh LRae, 1K F or you know, some KB, something like
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18 minutes, 31 seconds
that. I I love uh so my wife will also tell you Iโm a big like gospel rap, Christian rap type. You know, sometimes
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18 minutes, 40 seconds
you need something with a little little beat to get you, you know, substance. I get it. But, you know, shout out to D1. D1 is uh D1. Thatโs my guy right there.
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18 minutes, 48 seconds
Yeah. So, I sometimes I listen to those things to to get my mind right to, you know, kind of get the juices flowing. Yeah. Andy Min too. Thatโs my guy.
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18 minutes, 57 seconds
Andy. Andy as well. Andyyโs love Andy too.
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18 minutes, 59 seconds
Okay. Because because food and and music go hand in hand in my world, and I believe in everybodyโs world, people just donโt think about it that way. What
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19 minutes, 7 seconds
are you eating? What is what is one of those after a long day?
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19 minutes, 13 seconds
What is the What do you lean on for comfort as far as in in the food realm? Comfort food.
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19 minutes, 18 seconds
Now, now I know I know youโre big on your health kit. I know thatโs Yeah. But but I ainโt big eating.
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19 minutes, 24 seconds
Okay. You know, I grew up, like I said, my grandmother and my mom are two of the best cooks that Iโve ever experienced.
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19 minutes, 30 seconds
And, you know, my mom learned a lot of how she cooks through my grandmother.
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19 minutes, 35 seconds
So, I grew up Thatโs so funny, man. How I grew up, you know, my grandparents would pick me up from school. And of
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19 minutes, 44 seconds
course, my grandmother, you know, sheโs just she was old school. So anytime I get home, it might be greens, cornbread,
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19 minutes, 52 seconds
butter beans, you eat caramel cake. You was eating night night food. Yeah.
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19 minutes, 58 seconds
Then I I I was greedy, so I would eat that and then my mom would uh come and pick me up after she got off work and she gets home and of course, you know,
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20 minutes, 6 seconds
she wants to make some dinner. Sheโs like, โDid you eat over mamaโs house?โ I was like, โYeah, I ate a little something.โ So I ate a lot.
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20 minutes, 13 seconds
Yeah. But then she cook. Iโm like, โWell, Iโm not about to turn this food down either.โ you know. So, you know, I
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20 minutes, 19 seconds
think comfort comfort food for me um maybe like some good like fried cabbage
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20 minutes, 27 seconds
and some cornbread, some or some greens, mac and cheese, uh yams, um you know,
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20 minutes, 36 seconds
catfish, any type of chicken I will eat. Thatโs my thing. Chicken is your thing.
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20 minutes, 41 seconds
Chicken and fish. Any of those. Iโm not a big red meat person. I might dabble a little bit, you know, on a special occasion, maybe a little bit of steak,
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20 minutes, 49 seconds
but thatโs not really my thing. Um, I donโt really pork ribs. Thatโs not really my thing either. Um, but you
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20 minutes, 56 seconds
know, that or or you know, a good pizza from somewhere will also Whatโs your right now? Whatโs your favorite pizza in in the cities?
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21 minutes, 5 seconds
My favorite pizza in the city? No, precious.
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21 minutes, 9 seconds
H I like uh I like I like Luch. Uh I like um you
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21 minutes, 18 seconds
know Iโm a Iโm I still grew up how I grew up. Iโm a big chain guy too. So Pizza Hut pizza is is all right with me.
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21 minutes, 25 seconds
Um but wifey and I we like Young Joan as well. Young thatโs right around the corner. Yeah, thatโs thatโs a good spot. Young Hits. Yeah. Yeah, we like that.
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21 minutes, 33 seconds
Young Hits. Have you Okay. Thereโs a thereโs a pizza place called Elars. some New York style pizzas. Itโs out in Itโs in Plymouth, actually.
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21 minutes, 41 seconds
Okay. I havenโt Itโs um Yeah, itโs legit. Itโs legit, too. As a as a for as a New Yorker and I donโt
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21 minutes, 48 seconds
stamp much. I donโt Thatโs why Iโm saying Young Jonies is legit, too. But as just like no frills, just
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21 minutes, 55 seconds
pies. Yeah. Yeah. Itโs Itโs They also do bagels, too. Like Okay.
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22 minutes
You had to get to get them. They sell out immediately fast. Okay.
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22 minutes, 4 seconds
Iโm pretty sure they shipping the water back from New York. Itโs crazy. like dude. Yeah, itโs thatโs the So, just in case people donโt know, it is a real
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22 minutes, 11 seconds
thing. Anything that touches the municipal water from New York City Mhm. is innately better.
22:19
22 minutes, 19 seconds
Innately better. And of course, get super producer Gabe.
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22 minutes, 23 seconds
Heโs an Element pizza fan. So, we got we got to plug Element, which I have yet to have, which I need to make a stop to have. I heard itโs really good. So, if
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22 minutes, 31 seconds
you like Young Jones, you would like Element. Okay. All right. Cool.
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22 minutes, 34 seconds
So, Youโre a Kappa man and and your wife is is an AKA.
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Okay. So, how do you find a way to have your your background being a a
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22 minutes, 48 seconds
Missou grad and your Greek heritage, how do you make a way to find that into what
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you do on a daily basis? um you youโre one of those people that that seem to seamlessly
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inweave all of who you are into every facet like you know you have you know hot dish you know you have your Reggieโs hot dish in and everything you do and
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your your you love food and you know I believe your your uh your intro video was in a supermarket in the grocery
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store you was at London so like Iโm looking Iโm like okay I like this dude cuz I love the supermarket. Me too. And so itโs itโs my happy place.
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So, and thereโs so many here in Minnesota.
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Thereโs tons there. There there are a lot here.
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They really are. And I I love them for it.
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How do you seamlessly How are you able to do that? like how you know cuz it I believe the greatest storytellers come
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from an authentic place and itโs less about trying to code switch if you will and more about
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just being your authentic self 100% of the time in everything you do and thatโs what I think shines the most about you. So how how are you doing that?
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So thatโs a great question. Um, I think for a while I kind of ran from that. Um,
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24 minutes, 11 seconds
just kind of putting myself into different compartments of life and there was a cold switch. And you know, itโs so
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interesting. I grew up as a person who was kind of shy. Um, Iโm still pretty reserved. Um, mildmannered.
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I I guess you would call me like a extroverted introvert if you will until that mic is on. Yeah. Mic comes on. You gotta bring it.
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You know, you got to come with it. And so I I just think my mom always encouraged me to be who
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God made me to be. And I think
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24 minutes, 54 seconds
meeting my wife and just how out loud she lives encouraged me to just stop
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doing the code switch and just being my authentic self. Yeah.
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And I think Iโve Iโve really leaned into that. Um I started my career in Kansas
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and I think it it kind of gave me a little bit of a foundation, but I had people
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25 minutes, 19 seconds
in my life at that time who I was kind of like working with and working for who would tell me like I I vividly remember
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having a manager say, you know, cuz I would try to infuse some of my personality into my stuff. And I remember having a manager say, โHey, like youโre here to deliver the sports.
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Youโre not a comedian, so focus more on that.โ And so, you know, I I would internalize that. And
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then I got to my next spot in Dayton and I kept that in mind and you know Iโm trying heavy heavy on you know give the
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25 minutes, 54 seconds
analytical perspect you know give the stats give you know and I had a a news director uh his nameโs Kevin Roach and um you know shout
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26 minutes, 3 seconds
out to him he pulled me into the office one time he was like Reggie like whereโs the
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26 minutes, 10 seconds
personality heโs like what heโs like youโre youโre a young Africanamean man like whereโs that like where am I where is that happening in what youโre doing?
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26 minutes, 21 seconds
And that totally opened up my whole thought process and approach to how I did things where if you saw me at
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the grocery store or if you saw me at church, if you saw me in the community, if you saw me at work, I was going to be the same person.
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26 minutes, 39 seconds
And I kept watering that and kept watering that to the point where I am now. Whereas like you know black people are not a monolith.
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Never.
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26 minutes, 50 seconds
We are not monolithic. And thereโs no reason for us to act like we have to be
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or we are. And so at any given time, you know, when Iโm doing sports, when Iโm in life, it is
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27 minutes, 5 seconds
itโs itโs the same way. You may get some, you know, colloquialisms. You may get some euphemisms. You may get some
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27 minutes, 12 seconds
jokes. You may get, you know, silly. You may get, you know, serious. You may get, you know, it just depends on
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27 minutes, 20 seconds
what Iโm doing and and what the topic is. But like what youโre getting is authentically me. Absolutely.
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27 minutes, 26 seconds
And it took me a long time to lean into being unapologetically me and not being ashamed of this or that
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part of me and just making that a part of my story.
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27 minutes, 40 seconds
You you talk about being a storyteller that itโs the most important story to tell.
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27 minutes, 45 seconds
Your your perspective is what makes your story so important, right?
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27 minutes, 52 seconds
Your perspective is what makes your story worthwhile to listen to, right? And I think one thing that Iโve
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28 minutes
learned, especially being here in Minnesota, where this is probably the most different place that Iโve ever
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lived, um, I had to be me because if I wasnโt, I would lose myself, right?
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28 minutes, 14 seconds
And thatโs important. You I have to lean into who I am. I I have to be authentically me because I am Reggie the
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son, Reggie the husband, Reggie the soontobe father, Reggie the kappa, Reggie the man of God, you know, Reggie
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the brother, Reggie the friend, you know, Reggie the goofy dude. I am all those things at once. The And the
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reason why that that that came up so Iโve Iโve bumped into you on on a bunch of occasions. Youโre the same dude. No.
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and and and youโre the same dude on TV, though. So, itโs like thatโs thatโs I know, you know, being in in the business
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that Iโve been in for for for decades, thatโs not an easy thing to do unless youโre either a phenomenal actor or youโre just thatโs just you.
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And so, that that that shows it takes an amazing amount of courage
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and self awareness to be able to be that vulnerable. Yeah. And so I I see it. I recognize it. I commend you for it.
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Yeah. And and when youโre on when youโre on TV, that was one thing I had to learn as well. I would grow up like really
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just loving people like Steuart Scott on ESPN. Like loving people, you know, uh
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televisionโs John Butchig call himself Buchcci Mane, you know, like people have personalities. Absolutely. And people
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lean and Stuart Scott was a big person who just leaned into 100%.
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If you listen to uh any of Gus Johnsonโs calls, you know, he got big during March Madness. He ah, you know, just going
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Chris B, you know, all kinds of personality.
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30 minutes
And that was something that Iโm like, okay, those dudes are not afraid to be themselves. Let me lean into that with
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30 minutes, 8 seconds
who I am. And it got to the point where, you know, at first, you know, you know, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, you
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you emulate some of those people, but I canโt say stuff like, oh, you know, Carl Anthony Townโs cooler than the
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other side of the pillow. Like, thatโs not thatโs not me, you know, that thatโs Stew, right? Thatโs booya. Like, thatโs Stew, right?
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You know, but I have my own isms, my own, you know, you might get some pop culture references. you might get, you
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know, uh some some references to to TV shows or or you know, church isms or,
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you know, instead of me, you know, people people watch my sports cast and, you know, say, โHey, itโs his itโs his
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third home run of the season.โ I might say, โMan, he hit that thing to Eden Prairie, you know, on a home run call or something like that.โ Just something thatโs just me.
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Right. Right. Yeah. And thatโs thatโs needed.
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Talk to me about, you know, youโre youโre a visible black voice in, letโs be honest, a space that hasnโt made a
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lot of room for or always made a lot of room for diverse storytellers.
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31 minutes, 20 seconds
How do you carry that responsibility and reflect it into your work now? And the reason why I use the word
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31 minutes, 28 seconds
responsibility because no matter how much you would shy away from that as as people of color, we have this
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31 minutes, 37 seconds
unspoken sense of responsibility. I know I I feel it on a daily basis. Yeah.
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Um specifically someone that is visible in the public eye or I donโt care if you werenโt. Itโs itโs if youโre in a
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position that that is abnormal for the you know whatever that is you feel this
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unspoken responsibility to to represent in a way that is beneficial
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to others specifically youth. So how how do you deal with that?
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Thatโs such a heavy question.
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32 minutes, 15 seconds
Especially being a person of yourself that is deep into the community. So youโre you do a lot in the community because of those things.
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Thatโs such a heavy question, man.
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So coming to Minnesota, this was probably
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the most highprofile job that Iโve ever had. And you look around
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and thereโs not a whole lot of people who look like me in roles that I occupy, right?
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Thatโs a heavy responsibility, but also at times a heavy burden.
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32 minutes, 57 seconds
Sports director. So in case in case that hasnโt, heโs the sports director. Itโs up on the screen, but I I itโs important to to audibly hear it. You know, it was
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33 minutes, 6 seconds
funny because you know, and Iโm not even trying to go there, but
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with black people, we are often made to be humble
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and there are often opportunities that people take to try to humble us.
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And you know, I I would say, โOh, yeah.โ You know, people would get introduced to me. I say, โOh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I do sports at K 11. And I remember when
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my wife heard that on too many occasions, I guess. Sheโs like, Reggie, you are the sports director at Carol 11.
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Sheโs like, you need to start saying that with pride. And Iโm like, yeah, but you know, I you know, sheโs like, no, that is your title.
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It means something.
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And you know, when I first got here, there was donโt read the comment section. There
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was there was announcements about me coming here and if you read the comments section on the strip
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on Facebook, nasty. Nasty. And my mom,
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bless her, she read all of them. And I had to stop because Iโm like, this is crazy. Like, I
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havenโt even gotten there yet. Like, they havenโt even given me a chance. And you know, Iโm already getting told Iโm the diversity hire. You know, we know why he got the job. Itโs like, dang.
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Like, has being black ever been an advantageous thing in society? Cuz I that would be I missed that email. I missed that email. Yeah.
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And and so getting here, I had that and I I
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that was in my mind and that that stifled me a bit out of the gates,
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just being real. And I think internalizing that too much and the
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35 minutes, 2 seconds
imposttor syndrome of it all really really held me back for my first
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35 minutes, 10 seconds
about 6 months to the point where I had internalized it so much. I I called my wife. I was like, โHey, you know, I
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appreciate this opportunity, but I think Iโm good. I I think I think Iโm going to tell him like Iโm good. I I donโt want this anymore. Mhm.
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And she was just like, uh, let me talk to God about it. Sheโs like, donโt donโt do that. And she was just like, you
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know, God told me that thatโs not the move for you. And I was like, girl, he
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didnโt tell me that. you know, and true enough, God spoke through her in that moment to
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tell me not to give up. And yes, itโs been hard. Yes, it was a lot to sift through.
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But itโs been beneficial. And I do believe that God put me in this position for a reason. And itโs so funny you
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asked that question because I will go into these press conferences. I would go into these rooms,
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look around, Iโm the only black person there other than the athlete at the podium right now.
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And I would see myself and feel myself in that room.
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And it took a while for me to just get comfortable enough to just say, โYeah, Iโm occupying this room.โ Right?
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And thatโs what it is. So be confident in that because everybody else in this room is confident in who they are.
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So you be confident in that. Yeah, you you might be the only, but thatโs all right. Lean into it, right?
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And, you know, itโs itโs taken a while for me to really get my feet set and
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really just own the position I have and the person who I
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am as Iโm occupying these rooms, right? And we talk about visibility.
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I donโt know that thereโs a more visible sports media person than me in the Twin Cities right now. No.
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And thatโs a bit jarring. Like I canโt go to the grocery store without people being like, โHey, we love watching you.โ And Iโm just like, โWow.โ Like
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the reason why the reason really reason why I asked that question is because we was just talking about you as a kid watching Steuart Scott.
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Youโre Steuart Scott that. Okay.
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No. No. As far as No, you got to think about really lean into the fact of you are now thereโs a kid that comes home from school and turns on the TV though.
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Kids watch the news. Okay. Yeah.
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Whenever they can. And then and then and itโs itโs you know itโs on social now.
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You know itโs not like we used to watch the news but you you are the example. So it is
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37 minutes, 58 seconds
important to to see you carry yourself the way you do. Youโre knowledgeable.
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Youโre youโre youโre well spoken. Youโre and all these things sound like oh well itโs not about the fact of what they
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are. The fact is you are the example of possibility. M and thatโs so when you
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38 minutes, 19 seconds
talk about the the balance of it being a burden with the balance of it being a responsibility
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38 minutes, 26 seconds
I think thatโs where I lean more towards the responsibility because I am one of very few in this industry
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38 minutes, 35 seconds
oh yeah look like me doing this role and I got to represent you know I I got to
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you know representation is everything and if Thereโs a young kid on TV who looks like me, who likes what I do, who is inspired by what I do.
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I have made the difference because I have showed that person that this is what is attainable if you work hard, if
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you get get a few favorable bounces from the from the good Lord above and and you take advantage of the
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39 minutes, 10 seconds
opportunities that youโre given and just be a good dude. Thatโs so the other side of that the other side of that coin is too, you know, for specifically in inner
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39 minutes, 19 seconds
cities, you know, thereโs usually one or two ways out. People think youโre like, โOh, itโs going to itโs going to be this.โ You donโt you could be on the
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39 minutes, 26 seconds
other side of that ball. You donโt even have to ever touch foot on the court
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unless it is to cover the game. And you can still be around things that you love and thereโs another way to skin that cat.
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39 minutes, 40 seconds
Yeah. when it really hit for me, I didnโt really realize I donโt think that most creatives and people that just
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doers really take a minute to understand their impact. So, I did done my fair share of stuff, but this last thing I
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39 minutes, 56 seconds
did on Netflix with the pressure cooker, I was getting so many messages from I had to hit the the translate button on
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an IG and an overwhelming amount of those messages were from young black kids
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that or their parents saying that they appreciated how I conducted myself.
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40 minutes, 16 seconds
Wow. And I never and my whole thing I I you know Iโve been on record saying this. I went on to be 100% authentic
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authentically myself 100% of the time because no matter how it shook out I could live with the results of whatever happened after that.
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40 minutes, 33 seconds
And that to me was was powerful that people saw themselves
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or the possibility of themselves in what I was doing. Yeah.
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And I never thought, you know, I never I donโt think of I donโt take myself too seriously. Itโs like me neither. So itโs like Iโm just, you know, anybody could do this.
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So Iโm just a vessel.
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40 minutes, 56 seconds
Exactly. And Iโm just Iโm just walking in my purpose. Yeah.
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40 minutes, 59 seconds
100%. Iโm also and I h if if you havenโt heard that or I wanted you to really soak that in
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41 minutes, 8 seconds
because thatโs a real itโs a real thing, Reggie. Like you youโre that youโre that guy right now. So you have to understand
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41 minutes, 14 seconds
that people are looking at you and not all of it gets written in the comments.
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41 minutes, 21 seconds
You know some thereโs somebody that that is really you are changing their view of what could be.
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41 minutes, 29 seconds
Yeah. Thatโs powerful.
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41 minutes, 31 seconds
Wow. Wow. Yeah. I I I appreciate the love man. Itโs itโs um itโs humbling.
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Um but it itโs also gratifying you know.
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I I do understand the responsibility that I have and I I donโt play with it and I try to be a good steward of that.
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Um from the time I open my eyes until the time I close them at night, you know, I try to make sure that Iโm impacting in the right way.
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41 minutes, 56 seconds
Right. Letโs letโs talk about some accolades cuz you you with that so to to get to where you are now, you would have to have a series of really really
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42 minutes, 6 seconds
prominent accolades. Nobodyโs just handing out Sports Director titles to to to to people. It just doesnโt work that
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42 minutes, 13 seconds
way. You had to earn. So, you stacked up a series of milestones and awards, Emmes, and things
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42 minutes, 22 seconds
of that nature to date. How do you feel about those accolades? Is it a checkpoint to where, okay, Iโm Iโm on the right path. Weโre doing what we need
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42 minutes, 30 seconds
to do. Or is it more of a thing of okay, I I expected to
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42 minutes, 38 seconds
be in the in the place Iโm at now. Now itโs like whatโs next? How are you looking at these?
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42 minutes, 45 seconds
I just I look at it as a blessing, man. Um a little bit about my story, man.
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42 minutes, 51 seconds
When I graduated, I graduated from the University of M Missouri School of Journalism and it is known as the top
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42 minutes, 58 seconds
journalism school in the world. And so itโs a itโs a great experience. I got
43:05
43 minutes, 5 seconds
great hands-on experience. The station uh that I worked at in college was a NBC station owned by the university, but
43:13
43 minutes, 13 seconds
they broadcast over Mid Missouri and thatโs where I got my chops. When I graduated, I could not find a job in
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43 minutes, 23 seconds
television. It took me a year and a half to get my first TV job. And it was a
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43 minutes, 30 seconds
news photographer. So I was the guy that photojournalist.
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43 minutes, 35 seconds
Yeah. I was a photojournalist. I was the guy that you saw running the camera for the reporter. Gotcha.
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43 minutes, 42 seconds
And what I ended up doing, I always said that was the best and the the worst thing, I guess. Uh because I would take the camera, turn it on myself at the end
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43 minutes, 50 seconds
of my shifts or on my off days and put reports together based on things that I had been sent to do during the week. and
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43 minutes, 59 seconds
I put a a a resume, reel, tape, whatever you want to call it, together and I would bug the heck out of my news director finally to the point where he
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44 minutes, 7 seconds
was just like, โAll right, man. Uh, we got a job just opened up in Dodge City, Kansas. Uh, guy from Minnesota, his nameโs Andrew Lovelet. Um, I think heโs
44:15
44 minutes, 15 seconds
back here in Minnesota. He was filling the role. He he left the role and it left the vacancy for me to fill in Dodge
44:24
44 minutes, 24 seconds
City, Kansas, covering sports within a two and a half uh hour radius of Dodge
44:32
44 minutes, 32 seconds
City. So I covered uh high school sports, JO sports, uh rodeo, whatever
44:39
44 minutes, 39 seconds
you whatever you want to think of for Dodge City, Kansas. And I remember coming to Minnesota for NABJ, National
44:48
44 minutes, 48 seconds
Association of Black Journalists. Every year they have a huge convention.
44:53
44 minutes, 53 seconds
2015 it was here in Minnesota at the convention center in Minneapolis.
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44 minutes, 58 seconds
And uh Boyd Hoopert, my personal goat, one of my journalism heroes.
45:04
45 minutes, 4 seconds
Um he did three or four workshops during that week. If you know Boyd Hoopert,
45:12
45 minutes, 12 seconds
one of the best storytellers of our generation, landed 10,000 stories on care every week.
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45 minutes, 18 seconds
And I took those uh workshops with him and it changed my whole perspective. And I went back to
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45 minutes, 26 seconds
Dodge and I was like, โOkay, how would I tell this story if I was Boyd Hooper?โ And I was like, โOkay, how would I tell this story if I was black and I was Boyd
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45 minutes, 35 seconds
Hooper?โ And I and I started to find my own style, right?
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45 minutes, 41 seconds
And from there, I started to win some awards and some of the work that I was doing started to get recognition and
45:49
45 minutes, 49 seconds
that carried over from Kansas to Dayton to Cincinnati. I was in Cincinnati. I was nominated for my first Emmy. Uh
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45 minutes, 58 seconds
couple Emmys, got nominated. Fast forward to here in Minnesota. Every year Iโve been here, Iโve been nominated for every single
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46 minutes, 6 seconds
year. And you know, finally won one last year. Thatโs okay.
46:09
46 minutes, 9 seconds
And oh man, what a tremendous triumph that felt like because you just been chopping wood, chopping wood, chopping
46:17
46 minutes, 17 seconds
wood, and you finally you finally win an Emmy. Um, and that was that was dope.
46:24
46 minutes, 24 seconds
That was a dope moment for me. Um, and itโs itโs something that Iโm just like, you know, once you do it, itโs so funny
46:31
46 minutes, 31 seconds
if you uh if you think back to uh AJ Brown when the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the next day he was just like, โOkay, I
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46 minutes, 39 seconds
did it.โ Yeah. Now what? Now what? Like I Okay, it happened now.
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46 minutes, 44 seconds
And I think thatโs the thing where, you know, you ask kind of like where Iโm at.
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46 minutes, 48 seconds
I think I think what he was kind of pointing at was the thrill wasnโt the destination. the thrill was the journey.
46:57
46 minutes, 57 seconds
And now heโs accomplished this major feat, but like the journey is not over.
47:03
47 minutes, 3 seconds
And so thatโs kind of where Iโm at. Iโm like, the journey is not over. Thereโs still so much more to accomplish in this thing, right?
47:09
47 minutes, 9 seconds
Iโm thankful for the accolades. Iโm thankful for where God has brought me to to this point, but man, I I turned 35 in in August.
47:19
47 minutes, 19 seconds
Yeah, you got some things. I got I I still got plenty of living.
47:23
47 minutes, 23 seconds
God willing, I still got plenty of living and plenty of things that I want to achieve ahead of me.
47:27
47 minutes, 27 seconds
Yeah. Is there any has there been any viral moment or or story that resonated
47:35
47 minutes, 35 seconds
with people in a way that totally surprised you? Like that thatโs what they thatโs they really attach themselves to that. Like is there one
47:42
47 minutes, 42 seconds
like cuz I have I have for me Iโm like I I couldnโt believe certain things that people took and and made it their own
47:49
47 minutes, 49 seconds
and thatโs what I got the most praise off of. Is there something like that for you?
47:55
47 minutes, 55 seconds
H Okay. So, when I was in Cincinnati, there was a series of stories I did on
48:02
48 minutes, 2 seconds
uh there was this black head coach of this pretty prominent high school uh called Princeton uh in Cincinnati. And
48:11
48 minutes, 11 seconds
he took the football team to the playoffs for like the first time in very long
48:19
48 minutes, 19 seconds
time. Started getting this like sustained success.
48:23
48 minutes, 23 seconds
um started turnurning out like NFL talent like uh left tackle for the Arizona Cardinals, Paris Johnson. Wow.
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48 minutes, 33 seconds
He went to Princeton. Okay.
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48 minutes, 34 seconds
Um and so he was getting mentored by this uh NFL coach Hugh Jackson.
48:44
48 minutes, 44 seconds
Uh, and that story kind of took off and I was just like, man, like I felt like it was a big deal at the time, but it
48:52
48 minutes, 52 seconds
really kind of took off. Um, and that was something that I thought was really dope. Also, there was a story I did in
49:00
49 minutes
Cincinnati where um I kind of talked about the history of the Negro Leagues
49:06
49 minutes, 6 seconds
in Cincinnati and there were people who kind of knew but there were so many
49:13
49 minutes, 13 seconds
people who really didnโt like know had no idea. Yeah. And that was that was a story that really resonated with
49:21
49 minutes, 21 seconds
people that that and thatโs the thatโs the powerful part of telling stories and why I love telling stories.
49:28
49 minutes, 28 seconds
I work at Carol 11. Carol 11 is known as one of the best storytelling stations in the country. And to now be able to, you
49:38
49 minutes, 38 seconds
know, one of my storytelling heroes, as I said, was Boyd Hoopert. To now be a teammate of his and now to call him friend. Like Iโve had dinner at this
49:46
49 minutes, 46 seconds
manโs house and Iโm just like what are we serious? He came to my baby shower.
49:51
49 minutes, 51 seconds
Like these are really cool deals. But the power of storytelling can really change lives.
50:00
50 minutes
Absolutely.
50:01
50 minutes, 1 second
Can really change lives. I think thatโs something to me that that really just kind of resonates like
50:09
50 minutes, 9 seconds
you you tell a story, you make a difference. And you know, uh, one of the coolest stories that I I kind of knew it
50:16
50 minutes, 16 seconds
was going to be that, but one of the recent ones that Iโve done, my coworker Gary Knox made a tweet about Paige Beckers when she was in the sixth grade.
50:24
50 minutes, 24 seconds
Yep.
50:25
50 minutes, 25 seconds
Well, he had never talked to anybody about this, but his tweet has gone viral so many times as Paige just continues to
50:34
50 minutes, 34 seconds
climb the ladder of achievement. So, I finally, right before Paige got drafted, sat down with sat. Yeah. It was a great conversation.
50:42
50 minutes, 42 seconds
That was Thatโs a great interview.
50:44
50 minutes, 44 seconds
It was a great conversation and that kind of took off. Yeah.
50:48
50 minutes, 48 seconds
Um I know itโs a long-winded answer, but the last thing Iโll say, last year my
50:55
50 minutes, 55 seconds
team and I had just a conversation of how we could take our sports coverage to the next level.
51:03
51 minutes, 3 seconds
Um, and you know, being a journalist, we were always taught, and I would like to consider myself a journalism purist, if you will.
51:12
51 minutes, 12 seconds
We were always taught that the story is never about us. So, the best storytellers, I feel like, get out of
51:19
51 minutes, 19 seconds
the way and let what the subject of the story is tell the story. Well,
51:28
51 minutes, 28 seconds
I think as journalism has evolved, there is a way to put our own
51:35
51 minutes, 35 seconds
perspectives onto what weโre doing. And you talked about hot dish. Hot dish was born last year.
51:44
51 minutes, 44 seconds
Mhm. And it was a way of me being able to really kind of get a little bit underneath
51:52
51 minutes, 52 seconds
the headlines and really kind of just not really go there, but just go there, right?
52:00
52 minutes
And itโs been itโs been a success. You know, my my teammate Julia Daniels Guju,
52:08
52 minutes, 8 seconds
she came up with Bad Ju Guu as a way of of really kind of bringing her personality to it. She won an Emmy for
52:15
52 minutes, 15 seconds
her work last year and we were like, โOkay, we all need to come up with something.โ So my my coworker Will Hall,
52:22
52 minutes, 22 seconds
he came up with Willโs word and mine was Reggieโs hot dish. And so if you watch Vikings Extra, if you watch uh Timberwolves Extra, weโll have our
52:31
52 minutes, 31 seconds
last Timberwolves Extra since the the Wolf season is now over.
52:35
52 minutes, 35 seconds
Thereโs a hot dish at the end of every show. And itโs just itโs a way to call attention and really
52:43
52 minutes, 43 seconds
just kind of give my perspective how I see it through my lens of a hot topic in the world of sport
52:52
52 minutes, 52 seconds
beings, Timberwolves, you know, on our sports extra shows on Friday. Itโs just about anything
53:00
53 minutes
happening in sports. Just my spin. And itโs not like a first take type thing where youโre just like youโre just like yelling into the void about something.
53:10
53 minutes, 10 seconds
Itโs something thatโs a little bit more thought out, you know, cuz I I grew up enjoying shows like Real Sports where, you know, at the end of Real Sports, Brian Gumble gave his like last opinion.
53:20
53 minutes, 20 seconds
Uh I always thought that was powerful.
53:22
53 minutes, 22 seconds
Scott Vampelt at night, he has this one big thing. Itโs like a essay if you will, a verbal verbal essay. Bob Costas.
53:30
53 minutes, 30 seconds
Yes. I think we all kind of learned from from Bob in that.
53:34
53 minutes, 34 seconds
Um, but it it was a way for me to put my own spin on a current headline and I think people have really taken to Hot Dish.
53:43
53 minutes, 43 seconds
Like people like, โOh man, we look forward to Hot Dish. We look forward to Bad Guju and Hot Dish every week.โ And itโs just like, โWow.โ Like something
53:50
53 minutes, 50 seconds
that we created to really just kind of take our our skills over the top was was something that has really been received well.
54:00
54 minutes
Uh the the one the the few things about the what I love about sports is is the
54:07
54 minutes, 7 seconds
parallels between life and specifically team sports and being a part you know
54:14
54 minutes, 14 seconds
the the the team being more important than the sum of its parts. Yeah.
54:20
54 minutes, 20 seconds
And you just touched on that without even you know you talked about your team which is a which is a good mark of a great leader and a good teammate. Love my team, man. Love my team.
54:31
54 minutes, 31 seconds
Letโs talk about the home team. So, your wife and your you and your wife are
54:38
54 minutes, 38 seconds
the preeminent journalism team, you know, to be honest. I mean, so you guys and and you do a lot for the community,
54:46
54 minutes, 46 seconds
a lot of a lot of things that are, you know, helping to uh
54:53
54 minutes, 53 seconds
pour into the youth, which I think is an important obviously itโs important for you and your wife, but itโs important for the next generation to to get these things and these jewels from you guys.
55:04
55 minutes, 4 seconds
How do you see and define your legacy with journalism and the optics of being
55:12
55 minutes, 12 seconds
a great teammate specifically for a husband and wife? Because whether you know it or not, the the the optics of that is very powerful.
55:19
55 minutes, 19 seconds
Yeah. I think if you ask both of us, we both didnโt think we would marry
55:26
55 minutes, 26 seconds
journalists. Thatโs just not you know, you know, it makes sense now that weโre together, but Yeah. It wasnโt in the cards. No.
55:34
55 minutes, 34 seconds
But she is a phenomenal person. I always say Iโm married to like the next Oprah.
55:40
55 minutes, 40 seconds
Sheโs the Alexis Rogers, you know, that that is she is somebody, okay? Sheโs a sheโs a force.
55:46
55 minutes, 46 seconds
Um I learned the importance and the love of community from her.
55:55
55 minutes, 55 seconds
She has always just been I remember there was one year we were in Cincinnati and she did a thousand events
56:03
56 minutes, 3 seconds
in a calendar year and it was just like how do you find the time? Like how do you find the time? But
56:10
56 minutes, 10 seconds
itโs something that sheโs passionate about. Itโs not performative.
56:14
56 minutes, 14 seconds
She truly cares about that. And that inspired me. Iโm like man what more can I be doing to be impacting people and boots on the ground.
56:22
56 minutes, 22 seconds
Yeah. And I think journalism is about the people and so many times there are journalists who
56:30
56 minutes, 30 seconds
telling their telling peopleโs stories thatโs their contribution to community
56:37
56 minutes, 37 seconds
and that sometimes they feel like it it starts and ends there. Itโs like, well, I I went into this neighborhood and told this story, and I tell stories every day
56:46
56 minutes, 46 seconds
representing communities every thatโs my contribution. When Iโm off work now, thatโs my time. But Iโm serving the community on my uh hours of work, right?
56:56
56 minutes, 56 seconds
And then they go home and, you know, they do whatever they do. Respect to them. No, more power to them.
57:03
57 minutes, 3 seconds
You know, not saying that thereโs something wrong with that per se, but I think, you know,
57:09
57 minutes, 9 seconds
community to me, we go to church with people that we, you know, are on their TVs every day
57:18
57 minutes, 18 seconds
and they tell us that, you know, it means something to see me praise and worshiping with somebody who watches me
57:26
57 minutes, 26 seconds
on TV every they, oh, they just like me, you know, and I think that thatโs important. Itโs important when there are
57:34
57 minutes, 34 seconds
events at schools and events at community centers and you know serving food to less fortunate or you know whatever the event may be.
57:43
57 minutes, 43 seconds
Itโs important for people like us to show up because we have to let the people know that weโre not just reporting on their
57:52
57 minutes, 52 seconds
communities. We are a part of their communities because you let us into your homes to to have conversations with you.
57:59
57 minutes, 59 seconds
you let us into your homes being on your TV.
58:04
58 minutes, 4 seconds
you we we we almost like owe it to the people who we serve to really serve like and I think
58:13
58 minutes, 13 seconds
thatโs something that you know I learned from from my wife and something that is now a very important part of what I do
58:20
58 minutes, 20 seconds
and itโs a very important part of what we do because thereโs a certain kind of joy that comes
58:27
58 minutes, 27 seconds
from serving people where you can take the attention and the thought you know someday days when I am so heavy laden
58:37
58 minutes, 37 seconds
with my own stuff is the best opportunity to get in the community and serve others because for
58:45
58 minutes, 45 seconds
that amount of time it gives you a perspective one of what other people are going through maybe your problem you know your problems may be big but you
58:53
58 minutes, 53 seconds
know dang like this person you have no idea so it shifts the focus right but it also gives you a sense of gratitude
59:01
59 minutes, 1 second
and some purpose and purpose And I think thatโs something that you just canโt put a price on.
59:09
59 minutes, 9 seconds
Thatโs something that is invaluable.
59:12
59 minutes, 12 seconds
Just being people, being productive, you know, Christians, being productive members of of society and community.
59:21
59 minutes, 21 seconds
Yeah. the act of servitude. Itโs everything I do is is um all of my many tools in the toolbox that
59:30
59 minutes, 30 seconds
God has bestowed upon me are to serve others including this platform. So itโs itโs everything about what I do is
59:38
59 minutes, 38 seconds
shining light elsewhere and I get so much from it though you know itโs itโs an um but not the way
59:45
59 minutes, 45 seconds
that people think. So I I the the community, the
59:53
59 minutes, 53 seconds
conversations, and then the the just seeing myself in the work of just
1:00:02
1 hour, 2 seconds
just being a good steward is is everything to me. Everything. Yeah.
1:00:06
1 hour, 6 seconds
So before I let you go, weโre going to play something I call the lightning round. All right.
1:00:12
1 hour, 12 seconds
Okay. So this is going to be a quick fire round. Iโm going to give you a list of of things or phrases and then youโre
1:00:20
1 hour, 20 seconds
going to give me the first thing that popped into your mind.
1:00:22
1 hour, 22 seconds
Okay, cool. Yo. All right. All right.
1:00:26
1 hour, 26 seconds
Favorite athlete youโve ever interviewed. Dang, this supposed to be quick, huh?
1:00:33
1 hour, 33 seconds
Uh, favorite athlete Iโve ever interviewed.
1:00:41
1 hour, 41 seconds
Wow, this is tough. Uh, you know what?
1:00:43
1 hour, 43 seconds
Just just for the sake of he just being a great dude, I go Justin Jefferson. Okay. Yeah. Great. Great one.
1:00:51
1 hour, 51 seconds
Okay. Most overrated sports cliche. They came to play.
1:01:00
1 hour, 1 minute
They came to play. Thatโs that is by far. Thatโs number like Yeah, they came to play. Like they came to play today. Like you know a team
1:01:08
1 hour, 1 minute, 8 seconds
goes up 21 nothing and theyโre like, โOh, they came to play.โ Like the other team came to play, too. They just came to play and it didnโt work out as well.
1:01:15
1 hour, 1 minute, 15 seconds
Absolutely. They they got hoes.
1:01:20
1 hour, 1 minute, 20 seconds
First meal you ever cooked for your wife?
1:01:24
1 hour, 1 minute, 24 seconds
It was uh salmon and asparagus and I think a little rice. It was It was
1:01:31
1 hour, 1 minute, 31 seconds
uh my first time or it might have been like potatoes of some sort, but it was my first time ever. I know she says she
1:01:38
1 hour, 1 minute, 38 seconds
likes salmon, so I cooked some salmon in a cast iron. I think I I looked at a recipe um online somewhere and I was
1:01:46
1 hour, 1 minute, 46 seconds
like, โOh, yeah, I could do that.โ And so I cooked the salmon uh and then cooked some asparagus. I think I got a picture of her with the plate, but that
1:01:54
1 hour, 1 minute, 54 seconds
was like the first ever plate that I ever cooked. I think it was a Valentineโs Day meal.
1:01:58
1 hour, 1 minute, 58 seconds
Okay. Oh, you went you went big on Valentineโs Day. Yeah. Yeah. I like to cook, so Okay. All right. Good. Good.
1:02:04
1 hour, 2 minutes, 4 seconds
Pregame playlist banger. Whatโs that one hype joint to pregame with?
1:02:12
1 hour, 2 minutes, 12 seconds
Pregame playlist banger. Uh probably like a um thereโs a song by KB 10K.
1:02:21
1 hour, 2 minutes, 21 seconds
Mhm.
1:02:21
1 hour, 2 minutes, 21 seconds
Uh thatโs good. Um uh I like uh 1K Few uh Church House Trap House. Okay. That that that bangs.
1:02:30
1 hour, 2 minutes, 30 seconds
That that sound like it bang.
1:02:31
1 hour, 2 minutes, 31 seconds
It bang as well. Yeah. Yeah. Those are my jams.
1:02:34
1 hour, 2 minutes, 34 seconds
Okay. And if you could give a few words of advice to your 13-year-old self, what would you say?
1:02:42
1 hour, 2 minutes, 42 seconds
Hang in there. Hang in there. I know it looks crazy right now. Your dad just passed. Um you you seem like you donโt
1:02:52
1 hour, 2 minutes, 52 seconds
really have a direction. Uh but hang in there because it gets better. It gets better.
1:02:59
1 hour, 2 minutes, 59 seconds
Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you got to tell everyone out here listening and watching where they can follow you and
1:03:07
1 hour, 3 minutes, 7 seconds
catch up with all the things you got going on. So, please tell everybody where they can find you at.
1:03:12
1 hour, 3 minutes, 12 seconds
Yeah, Iโm at Reggie Wilson TV on all platforms. Uh, you know, I havenโt gotten into the uh Tik Tok deal yet. I
1:03:21
1 hour, 3 minutes, 21 seconds
know itโs big, but you know, I thatโs just that hasnโt happened yet. probably will at some point as the media
1:03:29
1 hour, 3 minutes, 29 seconds
landscape changes. Uh probably going to have to get on TikTok, but um Blue Sky X
1:03:35
1 hour, 3 minutes, 35 seconds
formerly Twitter, Facebook, IG, Iโm Reggie Wilson TV. Okay. And obviously on K11.
1:03:44
1 hour, 3 minutes, 44 seconds
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. K1 as well. Yeah. Reggie Wilson TV.
1:03:49
1 hour, 3 minutes, 49 seconds
Absolutely. So again, thank you so much for for for coming to the platform. Um, I had an amazing time. Great talking to you. Absolutely. Absolutely.
1:04:00
1 hour, 4 minutes
Check out Reggie every night on Care 11 as well as on the socials again. Reggie
1:04:06
1 hour, 4 minutes, 6 seconds
Wilson TV on everything including to Tik Tok soon to come. Heโs about to get all the all the dances and everything good.
1:04:14
1 hour, 4 minutes, 14 seconds
Again, I I also want to give a shout out to your lovely wife and and your soon to come baby girl.
1:04:21
1 hour, 4 minutes, 21 seconds
Yeah, weโre weeks away from me having a daughter in this world. That is crazy.
1:04:25
1 hour, 4 minutes, 25 seconds
Welcome to team girl dad. So Iโm Thatโs probably going to be the reason why Iโm on TikTok soon. There you go. For sure. Absolutely.
1:04:32
1 hour, 4 minutes, 32 seconds
Absolutely. All right. This has been the Taste Music Here Food Podcast Show. Until next time. Peace.
Tune in live on November 5th, 8pm CST and donโt miss your chance to win special prizes! After the show, winners will be able to claim their prizes right here.