 Oh boy, this does not think that I'd be doing this today. Our next guest is one of the greatest La Crosse players of all time. They call him the LeBron James of La Crosse. He's also the co-founder of the Premier La Crosse League, which kicks off opening weekend Saturday, June 3rd on ABC and ESPN plus Paul Rabel. Congratulations on all the success. Thanks for having me. When did you start playing La Crosse? I started when I was 12. When did you know that you were seriously really good? Well, I wanted to quit when I first started because it's technically really difficult. So I think we're going to find out in the next segment, perhaps, and we'll put you through the ringer. I heard I'm going to literally duct tape a pillow around myself and go and goal for you. Well, then we'll have to put something on the line. But I was talking a lot of trash on Twitter saying that it's like, you're not going to get one past me. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. I want to get into this first of all with the Premier La Crosse League because it's really successful. It's always been successful. You know, obviously a huge part of it in the face of it. Twelve nationally televised games to 16 this year. Tell me about that. Well, we have a major media rights deal with ESPN and the Walt Disney Company. And our first year with them was last year. We had 12 games on linear. Now we have 16, eight on ABC, which is incredible to try to get eight on ESPN, ESPN 2. This is our schedule that you're looking at. So we're really excited. The games begin on June 3rd and we have two games on ABC. Can I come to it? I've never been to a game. 100%. So yesterday they were trying to find a net and what did I send down the group text? I was like, I cannot believe the nets are this small. I was looking at like images of them. I just, I don't know much about it. Yeah. You're probably used to seeing soccer nets that are massive. Why don't they have more goals than soccer? I've always wondered. I mean, I grew up playing it, but that goal is massive. All right. We'll get Robert Lewandowski from the Premier League sort of teach you a thing or two. Maybe we'll do a little crossover action there. Talk to me about building the sport because that's super fascinating to me. You have investors like Kevin Durant. You have WWE investing in you. How are you planning to build it further? Well, our biggest investor is Joe Tai, who's the owner of Brooklyn Nets, co-founder of Alibaba. Then we have groups like Arctos that's everywhere in sports right now. And Josh Harris was in the news for the Washington Purchase and football. His business partner, David Blitzer, is an investor who's all over sports as well. So, I mean, we have an amazing group of owners. It's a single entity business. So they all own the league and the eight teams that we have. We started to build sort of rebuild, I would guess, professional lacrosse in 2018 because I had played in it for 10 years prior. Pro Lacrosse had been around for 20 years and it just wasn't cut in the mustard. The players were getting paid. My rookie wage was $6,000, probably a due for just a portion of the show. Now if we look at just what entertainers are being paid in athletes specifically, we didn't have a distribution deal. So we were looking at what happened with UFC at MLS over the last 20 years and said, why can't Lacrosse get there? So we started a new league. And it's been successful and you're growing. And you guys can check all those games on ESPN Plus and ABC this fall with opening day coming up. There's a perception of Lacrosse I want to talk to you about, because that's an adversity too, right? How do we make it universal and sort of get over the Ivy League-ness of it all, that it's a Northeastern sport, that it's like all the Chris Longs and the Sam Hubbard and the Virginia guys, like, how do we make it more widespread, I guess? Yeah, those guys played Lacrosse. So I would say the first thing, because it's hard when you're changing the brand or reputation of anything. So the first thing is understanding history. So it's a Native American game. It's the first game of North America. It's been played for thousands of years. The second thing is just like hockey or golf. It's an equipment sport, so it's expensive to play. And that means access is just different for anyone who wants to play a game that costs a lot of money to get out of the gates. That's different than soccer and basketball. You know, I grew up playing rec sports. So the barrier to enter was much lower than it is now, where everyone's playing youth. And then the third is really what we think about is storytelling. That's what we have the ability to do and invest in the communities to help lower that barrier and create access. But it's a long-term investment. Changing perception and changing accessibility requires money and media. Yeah. It's a good answer. And I've, yeah, totally. It's why I don't play hockey. I don't have, you know, but now to make it more accessible and to make it hence why not why I don't play hockey, I just can't play. Where are you from? Chicago. Chicago. But I mean, it was just soccer. It was soccer. But it just wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing I ever thought about until like college when it became like a thing that would have been available to go watch. Yeah. I mean, think about it. If we needed ice and skates to play, that barrier is really high. But what the NHL has done over the last 20 years is create a much more visually accessible game, right? Because it's so celebrated. Reans are packed and people love it. So they've actually changed hockey in North America from the professional level. And that's what we're trying to do at the PLL. We love it. All right. Now the water dogs. Yeah, yeah. We'll try to do some of the names of all the teams. That's what I was asking my producers yesterday. We were going through all of them. The chaos, which is like obviously where I'd be and that would be my team. But the lacrosse club won the PLL championship last year. This made a lot of fans excited because they broke up the dynasty runs of the whip snakes and said chaos that I was just talking about. So how does this help when an expansion team like the water dogs for a take down what I imagine sort of your version of the Patriots for a long time? Well, yeah, the whip snakes were definitely the more established team. They have basically a group that has tons of chemistry led by Jim Stagnita. And then you have our latest expansion team in the water dogs or I should say second and last because when we bought MLL, which something I left out, but we might get to it, which was the previous league, we merged and we added the Boston cannons to our mix. They're now cannons across. So they're the eighth team. They're the underdogs this year. But pretty proud of the water dogs and how quickly they were able to get in the mix and win. You don't see expansion teams win as quickly as they did. Now, you just had your draft for the league, right? And so I love an underdog, so I'm looking for my team. So there's eight teams in this that all kicks off on Saturday, June 3rd on ABC and ESPN plus with premier lacrosse league. Who is my team? Like I picked the bangles before the bangles became the bangles. I want the underdog. It's the cannons. Okay. Tell me why. Well, that was the team that I played for before I retired. You know, right here. Oh my God, there's Fandall odds Paul. Look at this. Yes, we're there. And now we're speaking my language. Talk to me. So there you go. The cannons are, what would that be? Oh, this is your cannon. 10 to 1. So they have a new head coach and Brian Holman. They're going to be good this year. And they're always, you know, when you have an 18 league, you know, everyone's sort of in the mix and seven of our eight teams make the playoffs, kind of like the NBA. Everyone gets in just about. I love that. And then you can, you know, stir it up and, and make the best. So the cannons and you were a cannon. I was a cannon. Yeah. So you brought me a gift. I brought you a gift. I also brought you a cross helmet. I don't even know how to literally, like literally I don't know what to do with this. I don't even know how to hold it. It seems very natural right out of the gates. You were already twirling it. We're basically, we're basically a part of the baton team. Cross players. Okay. I like that. Yeah. That's what I figured. Okay. But listen, Belichick. We're just talking to Gronk about how he always brings in these guys. This Doc's Aitken guy, which is the most across name ever. He was invited by New England. I think it's tough. Really? I'm not saying it's tough. Well, listen, I don't, I don't think you heard because you were getting mic'd up. Gronk said, Belichick's obsessed with it because it's toughness. Yeah. Because it's, and I'm like, wow, that's a football player who basically had every injury possible, played as hard as he could, guys draped on his legs, he's ruining his knees, running up and down the field. And he's saying like, man, this is tough. Like I'm thinking rugby. I'm thinking football. Yeah. Like I don't necessarily look at, think of La Crosse. I think a little East Coast. I think a little Ivy League. Right. I don't think, when I found out Sam Hubbard played, I was like, what? So talk to me about the toughness of this sport. Well, you can hit each other with a stick. Like actually each other? Like American Gladiator. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, and actually La Crosse got its first bump in America on American Pie. If you remember. Yeah. Stifler. He was a La Crosse guy. My introduction to La Crosse was that. Yeah. That Mean Girls and Rachel McAdams was also tough. Yeah. Yeah. That was when La Crosse was at its rise and then it dipped. But did they help more than it hurt? Because now you have to like go back and redo like the PR. Well, it was actually pretty great in America. Well, Stifler, but Oz was the captain. Yes, that's right. And the guy that everyone ultimately wanted to be, he was the pay off, wasn't he? Did you want to play La Crosse because of Oz? Because of Oz. Is that true? I think that's great if that's true. That's amazing. The power of movies. So, it's tough because, one, it's, again, it's a Native American game. It was played for the creator. It was played without rules and you have one ball and everyone has their sticks and it's kind of like no holds bar. And I think what Bill really likes is the speed, the agility, the free flowing, the toughness, as he said. There's not a sport where you really get crush checked in precarious positions and have to build sort of strength and explosiveness and soft tissue, which is where all of the injuries are nowadays in the NFL. And then he tested that with Chris Hogan, who won three Super Bowls with him. And then we got Chris back into the PLL. Oh, he's there. Because he was an all-American at Penn State. What an athlete he is. But there was a guy who got a falcon for a minute, made the roster, now you've got this Docs guy. You talked to Belichick. Is that weird? Because you want guys in your league, but Belichick is doing his Belichickie stuff and trying to take guys from you. Yeah, he is. I know. It's very awkward between us right now. Why? Because he has to do what's best for his business. And, you know, when he takes on lacrosse players. It's good for you. It's good for us, but I also love Docs to play in the PLL because he's an amazing athlete. Sam Hubbard, you talked about. We think about, you know, Jared Bernhardt for the Falcons. He was the best player in college lacrosse. I love him in the league. You even have Pat Spencer, who's in the G League right now, but almost made the Warriors. He was the tour ton. We're the best player in college lacrosse now in the NBA. And so these athletes are amazing. And that goes back to your point around, you know, who are these players in the sport? How do we celebrate them? How do we story tell around them? How do we put in the media? But we have some of the best athletes in the world. And so, yeah, I think that in the short term, Docs playing for the Pats or Chris Hogan or Sam Hubbard and us being able to talk about that, it changes the perception. Yeah. I think it's soccer. It's a good PR bump. It's a good story. We talk about it a lot. But then you want these guys. So it's very funny that it's you versus, I mean, literally nobody wants to argue with Bella Chuck over anything. And you're probably like on a tennis show. I mean, how do you compete with the NFL? The other thing. I mean, how? I was going to say, so every league to bust through has some type of stereotype, right? So soccer for Don Garber 20 years ago was the guys who got cut from the basketball football team. And he needed to illustrate that soccer players in America were as good as soccer players overseas. UFC was basically a Shinnecock league fighting. Oh my God, I can't believe you just said that. I'd listen to that. I was going to say cock fighting. I wouldn't ever say. But I think it was a Shinnecock golf course, right? It's like reporters who have to say slipped disc and then they say they're the wrong thing and then it's like a hallway. No one wanted to touch the UFC. Did I do it? No one wanted to touch the UFC because it was so dangerous. Right. And it was this blood sport and then they shifted that perception in a way that made it safe enough to invest in not to mega multi-billion dollar league. So ours might be, you know, sort of the diversity angle or the prep school or the Ivy League, as you'd said. And we're hammering it. Yeah. You want to make it available to as many people as possible and it is growing as it, of course, is ABC's not putting this on ABC proper if they're not super interested. Yeah. And I'm super interested. So you and I are going to, God damn it. We're going to do something. We're going to get lacrosse. Are we allowed to say that? After this. Literally, somebody's dropping it. If I get dinged for what I just said, I quit. I'm out because you just, everyone's just dropping. I brought tennis balls so we don't have as hard of balls. Don't mention balls now. Go to the break. It's super different. Get in on the NBA playoff action right now. From the first tip with FanDuel, right now new customers can get a no sweat first bet of up to $1,000, $1,000 back. In bonus bets, if your first bet doesn't win, there's no better place to bet on all the playoff action than America's number one sports book. Hit up Chandler Parsons on Twitter for tips, guys, and download FanDuel's sports book today. We'll be back with speaking to basketball, LeBron and Lacrosse. There's nothing on there. The prompter's not on, so I don't know how to do that. I'm here with LeBron James of Lacrosse. As our studio is literally falling apart today, guys, but that doesn't matter because we've got the sticks and the cradles and the silver spoon. Exactly that. I'm going to teach you how to cradle and shoot. Yeah, let's do that. And then I think we have something over here. Okay, let's do that. We only have three minutes left, so teach me. Okay, all right. So ball and stick. This is not the proper ball, right? No, we brought softballs because you were equipment from 1929. You were originally going to go in the net and then we ran out of time, coincidentally. Awesome in the net. I'm not afraid of you. What do you got? Somehow we ran out of time. Shoot. No, no, no. You're not getting out of this demo. Can you just do, like, right there? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Oh, God, I don't trust you at all. Do that again. Okay. Do it right there. Okay, that's actually terrifying. I'm not doing that. All right, teach me. Full rubber. So we brought in tennis balls for safety on set. Anyway, so you have the ball and your stick and I would just cradle. It's just a little wrist action like that. Yeah. There you go. Like this? Yeah, that's it. Like this way? Now you're a player. That's right. Take that, Matt Rambo. And then to shoot. To shoot. Take your top hand down. Left hand. Just like this. Yeah. Yeah, it's like a... Exactly. Boom. That's so athletic. It's just something that, it works on its own. You sort of know. You get a stick and ball and then you all of a sudden shoot. Okay, let's do these. Here's some crazy names that producers came up with. We're going to see what they are. Okay, around the world. Okay. I think around... No, don't tell me now. I think around the world is when you have the ball in here and then you're like, whoo, and then do that. That's exactly what it is. So we have an overhand shot behind the back and then an around the world is like that. You were this close to hitting me in the face and you could have been such good television. Oh, my God. Oh, man. Okay, let's see. How about a worm burner? Okay, so a worm burner. This is also very stereotypical lacrosse what we're getting right now. I think... I'm sorry. I saw... Yeah, but that's okay. Oh, no. We're trying to work against that machine. All right. So worm burner is when you shoot the ball low to low and you sort of skid it off the turf and it goes into the net. The speed at which this is happening is wild to me. This is slow. Okay. Okay, really hit it. Give me... Okay, hit it. Really? No, I'm not. Only if you do it as well. Okay, sure. Well, I'll do it before you so I'm not super embarrassed. All right, now Brandon, I've been retired for two years. Take this. Throw it at your tropes. Your peanut butter and your top cheese cheddar twizzlers. Okay, we're going to cradle. All right, you're going to look up for... I'd like to do a little dance when I cradle. Okay, right. There you go. All right, go. With it. Go, get it. Jesus Christ. Come on. So... Check out P.M.L. Janet June 3rd. We're going to get you all the info.