“Need some updates on how you're prepping for fatherhood!” –Brock M.
Congrats, Brock, you’ve asked a short question that I think I could literally write 10k words on. But I won’t.
The idea of fatherhood still feels rather esoteric to me, even as my wife and I approach our early February due date. I’ve spent lots of time being both super excited for all I think (and know) fatherhood will bring, and lots of time being anxious about all I think (and know) fatherhood will bring. I truly don’t think there’s a world where I feel prepared and ready for it, so all I can do is try my best to approach it with wonder and openness.
Outside of my own mind and thoughts, I’m trying to feel as prepared as possible, but that can be rather daunting sometimes, too. Do we have all the practical things we’ll need? Do we have pediatricians, future day-care options, and a 529 savings account? Have we written thank-you notes for baby shower presents? Have we signed up for and attended the pre-birth classes for new parents at the hospital? These are all things I am fighting to stay on top of day by day, and truth be told, I think I’m doing an okay job! I’ve joked that I could use an assistant to help with the planning and logistics!
Anyway, thank you for checking in. Keep me in mind in the coming weeks, it’s gonna be a mental roller coaster for your boy.
“How has moving to a seasonal/winter-oriented place changed your relationship with the game? Do you relish having a prolonged off-season?” –Ben S.
I do relish a prolonged off-season, Ben. The off-season makes me miss golf in the winter, makes me excited to play it again when the weather gets nice. And honestly, it’s a return to how I grew up with golf in Ohio–I’d put the clubs away in the fall and pick ‘em up sometime after the Masters. I’m not the type who wants to do any sport year-round.
“I would love to know the best and worst parts of being a tall guy?” –Bryan D.
Let’s start with the worst parts. A decade ago, I would’ve told you it’s the constant need for people to remind you how tall you are. The quips, the looks, the jokes you’ve heard a million times. But as I’ve gotten older, the less this stuff bothers me. And conversely, I actually appreciate when people (usually little old ladies) want to tell me about their tall grandson or nephew or whatever. It's a nice way to find a connection with a stranger. No, the worst part now is that nothing in our society is really built with tall people in mind. And by this I mean the seats, tables, beds, chairs, sinks, mirrors, doorframes, etc. This is in buildings, cars, planes, trains, or anything. I think I’ve learned to be comfortable while being uncomfortable. Also, it’s really, really, really hard to shop for clothes, especially in person.
My basic assumption is that no store will have a good size for me. Being lanky in addition to tall, I need the length of XL and the fit of Large. More and more companies are rolling out ‘Tall’ sizes, thank god, but for most of my life it’s been bleak. Also, I’m not sure being as tall as I am is great for golf, especially because I’m not using my long levers to achieve more distance. It’s just a lot of space for something to go wrong in my swing. There’s probably more that frustrates me, but this is top of mind.
Now, on the other side, there are definite perks. I can not have a view of something. Concerts, theaters, games, whatever–I can always get a view. My height helped me in basketball, too, which I always appreciated. I also think there’s a sort of unspoken brotherhood amongst tall people, which is great. I can change lightbulbs, get things off the top shelf, and generally just reach things other people struggle with. But yeah, otherwise I don’t know of many inherent perks necessarily, though I’m certain I’m probably not thinking of a few things.
All this said, I can’t imagine being anything other than myself and my height, so I don’t want this to sound like I constantly regret it or anything. That’s only when I fly ;)
“Are the Packers the NFC team of destiny this year? Everyone is on the Rams, but we’re one Matthew Stafford sack from him being out for the year. Love, Darnold can take a hit, and I like Seahawks/Packers in the NFC championship.” –Jules P.
I’m pretty high on the Packers, too, though the Parsons injury is a real shame. It’s hard to ignore the Rams right now, but perhaps they have ‘peaked’ too early? Hard to imagine them having another gear, and we’ll see if they can sustain this level for another month and a half. Of course, the Eagles have a good enough roster to win the NFC, too. I don’t trust Darnold, I don’t trust the Niners, and I don’t like whoever comes out of the NFC South. So, yeah, let’s go with Packers versus Eagles in the NFC Championship, with Jordan Love making just enough plays to win.
“If you were GM of the Reds, what would you do? Also, I’m a Yankees fan, so feel free to do a tight five about Hal Steinbrenner crying poor.” –Andrew V.
The only thing I’ll say about Hal and the Yankees is I think it’s posturing ahead of the labor strife coming our way after 2026, unfortunately. I don’t believe any baseball team is actually cash poor. And if a club is, release your financials and prove it to us. But none of them are cash poor. As Reds GM, I’d probably keep doing what the current regime has professed–put the emphasis on drafting and development. I’d also be pleading with ownership to give me more budget to fill in free agents around the nucleus, but I think the only shot a relatively light-spending club like Cincy has is to be really, really good at identifying amateur talent, developing said talent, and then knowing who to try to extend and who (and, crucially, when) to cash out talent that they aren’t going to extend. Build as many 85-90 win teams as possible, get in the tournament, and hope it breaks your way once or twice. I don’t see any other way to consistently compete if a team isn’t willing to spend in free agency.
“Wood or plastic tees? Follow-Up: Different tees for driver versus other clubs? Follow-Up-Follow-Up: How many do you start with in your pocket and how many make it to the end of the round?” –James H.
James, I greatly prefer wood tees. And no, I don’t think we need different tees for the Driver versus other clubs. I think I’d back an initiative to shrink the size of Driver heads, though. Finally, I start with about a half dozen tees in my pocket for a round. And if you get the tees from our shop (made by Stinger Tees), I think you’ll find you do not need to go back to your bag at all during a round, and you’ll likely have at least a few remaining to put back into your bag. Stinger tees are fabulous.
“What’s an ideal LPGA schedule look like?” –Jeremy W.
Jeremy, great question and one I’ve noodled on before. First things first, the season has to be shorter. Playing events 11 out of 12 months each and every year is too much. I think it should be a shorter season with a real offseason. So, without a better idea (would it be better to zag against the men’s golf schedule?), let’s say the schedule runs from early January through mid-to-late September. Further, right now, there are 31 events on the 2026 LPGA schedule (excluding the Solheim Cup and Grant Thornton). I think this number needs to go down, and with 8 to 9 months of competition now, I’ll say we should have 3 events per month, so 24 to 27 total. With that, here would be my ideal schedule (with built-in off weeks to travel):
January (Events 1-3): Australia/New Zealand Swing–culminating with the Aussie Women’s Open at a great sandbelt course
February (Events 4-6): SE Asia Swing–culminating with the HSBC Singapore event
March and April (Events 7 -12): Japan/Korea Swing–culminating with the Chevron Championship at a rotating venue between Japan and Korea in April
May and June (Events 13-18): Midwest/Northeast US Swing–culminating with the USWO and KPMG at rotating venues
July (Events 19-21): Mainland Europe Swing–culminating with the Evian in France
August (Events 22-24): British Isles Swing–culminating with the AIG Women’s Open
September (Events 25-27): US West Coast Swing–culminating with the Tour Championship in California, ideally back at Wilshire CC (also, the Solheim Cup would come immediately after the close of the season every other year)
The biggest pipe dream is Chevron becoming an Asian major, I know. There are a million other ways the above is impossible, I’m sure, but I think this would be a really cool schedule year-in and year-out while making the LPGA a truly global tour. Fun fact: right now, there are eight different countries represented in the women’s Rolex rankings. Women’s golf is international–time for the LPGA calendar to capture that in a manner that makes more sense.
“In Trap Draw episode 370, while chopping it up, you and TC were mourning the loss of rapper Young Bleed. When TC referenced the album My Balls and My Word, you responded ‘I think that’s all anybody really has in this world.’ My question: Was that line written in preparation for that part of the show? If not, that has to be one of the all-time, quick-witted Scarface references in podcast history. It made me laugh hard on an otherwise uneventful commute to work.” –David T.
I’m always tickled when listeners pick up on the smallest of throw-away lines. Well done, David! My line was definitely scripted, but lest you think me some genius, I have to admit that line bounces around in my head not from Scarface, but actually from Jay-Z’s song, ‘Moment of Clarity’ where he raps, “My balls and my word is all I have.”
“What takeaways do you have from the Division III athletic experience? I work with students who have a commitment to athletics, and maybe the ability to play at a small college level, but they don't always know how to weigh the possible benefits of competing in college, belonging to the network of letter-winners from that school, etc, versus hanging it up and going to the larger schools that more people talk about and which seem to provide larger opportunities and networks. You went down one road and then pivoted, and I'd be curious about your thoughts on that.” –Brian E.
Yeah, that’s a great question, Brian E., and honestly, something I still think about at times. There’s a part of me that really regrets stepping away from basketball at Washington & Lee, transferring, and willingly giving up my playing career like that. Not soaking up every second, every opportunity to play basketball. Doubly so because I had made it through the first two years, and I think I was positioned to begin finding greater on-court success, individually and as a team. But I can tell you, at that point in my life, I was not actively in love with basketball. And I certainly wasn’t totally happy at W&L (for a variety of reasons). It had been a dream of mine to play Division 1 basketball since I picked up a ball, and I always felt a good deal of disappointment at not achieving that dream. So I think I entered my D3 career in a frame of mind that wasn’t the best for me.
Compounding the situation, the coaching staff that recruited me to W&L left after my freshman year, and a new staff came in with their ideas about how and where on the court I should play, which clashed a bit with my ideas. So take it all and I definitely was burnt out and not enjoying myself after two years.
I guess what I grapple with is whether I needed to stick it out. If I were at a low point after two years, I just needed to hang around before things got better. I don’t know. I do know I never again played a competitive game of basketball in my life, and that always makes me sad. I love basketball. On the other hand, transferring to Miami University set me on a path that introduced me to Tron (and several other of my best friends to this day) and eventually led to NLU and me sitting here now answering questions for newsletters like this.
So I don’t have a great answer, I’m afraid. I think where I net out is for kids to at least give it a go at the D3 level, because you can always transfer, as I did. But you won’t go the other way. So if there’s even a hint of still wanting to play and compete, I’d encourage anybody to do so. The one caveat I would throw in is this–I wouldn’t sacrifice a clearly better educational opportunity just to play anywhere. But if the quality of education is going to be largely the same, go ahead and keep playing. Scratch that itch while you can.
“Big, can you rank your top 3 Strapped seasons and list your favorite memory from each?” –Matt H.
Sure thing, Matt H.
3) Peoria. This will always be a memorable Strapped because of the efforts the great people of Peoria went to in order to make sure we visited. You’ll remember we did a fundraising campaign to determine the location for this season, and the organization and support from Peoria were amazing. It was also still in and around COVID, so while we had some concerns about what we’d be able to go do and see, any fears of it being an awkward or ‘flat’ season were quickly assuaged when we got there. I think Peoria, much like Des Moines before it, is a perfect stage for Strapped because it allows us to answer the question, “what is [this city] like?”, but with places I would likely never, ever go. I think Peoria speaks to the vision and ideals of Strapped in a way that makes that season special. And as for my favorite moment, the morning we did the show, ‘Wake up, Peoria,’ that was my favorite. It was so weird and local and goofy–I loved it.
2) Spring Training. Perhaps this will be controversial to viewers, but it’s my list, and I absolutely loved getting to spend a few days in the desert at Spring Training. Getting to tour my favorite team’s facility with the announcer I’ve grown up listening to was pure joy for me. Trying our best to replicate the Tom Emanski commercial on some random suburban ballfield was insane, especially as a team began showing up to the field as we were still filming lol. But my favorite moment was when we were at the Reds facility, and we were watching Joey Votto shoot hoops, and that’s my sporting idol right there, and I knew I had to at least say “hey”, and so I did, awkwardly, and he pretty much stone-walled me. Lololol. I don’t blame him either. I was nervous and awkward.
1) Louisiana. Not only my favorite, but I think the season that most perfectly balances what I think Strapped is and should be. Random places (Baton Rouge, specifically), interesting people (Ben Shaw and Maggie Koerner), and dumb bits (Neil’s True Detective monologue is amazing). This season was the manifestation of Strapped at its best. My favorite memory from this trip was the awesome meal we had at Elsie’s Plate & Pie in Baton Rouge, and then the totally candid, sinking feeling of what it was going to do to our budget the rest of the trip. We quite literally got out over our skis!
“Where do you see NLU in 10 years?” –Andrew F.
Andrew, this is an excellent question and something we are trying to create space for internally to discuss, plan, and execute on. But I’d be lying if I said we had a tight ten-year vision right now. There will likely be some new faces involved, perhaps a few old faces moved on, but where I sit right now, I’d like to think in ten years, NLU is offering our spin on the world of golf through podcasts, videos, and whatever new channels pop up between now and then. Assuming there’s still an audience for it. We’ll only go as long as people care about what we do.
But right now we’re trying to balance growing the company and giving people new opportunities while also keeping things manageable from an operational standpoint. It’s a delicate balance with a company that’s as small as we are, and we’ll make mistakes and learn along the way, but we’ve been doing it full-time now for eight full years, and I anticipate the next ten will play out in a somewhat similar fashion. But ask me again in another year or two, and I might have a radically different answer.
Oh, there’s also always this voice in my head that thinks NLU will end tomorrow when people realize we’re just a bunch of idiot friends trying to figure this all out as we go along. I don’t know, but it’s a good question, and I feel bad that I don’t have a better answer for you right now.
“I know you’ve mentioned many times how each year you try to hit a new MLB stadium or 2. I’m wondering if you’ve ever had a chance to see a game in the best baseball stadium in the world, aka PNC Park in Pittsburgh. I feel like there are a lot of similarities to Cincy…both stadiums feature a river, both teams have terrible ownership, etc." –Joe M.
Joe, before I moved to Jacksonville, FL, I was living in Columbus, OH. I went over and watched the Reds at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and absolutely loved my experience. I’ll say this–PNC Park is not only one of the best stadiums in baseball, but you guys did it right. While Cincinnati’s stadium is by the river too, they positioned ours to look out over it into northern Kentucky, which is totally fine, I guess, but does not grant the same views of the city that you enjoy at PNC. Two, the architects in Cincinnati didn’t make the river in play for balls off the bat (unless you’re Adam Dunn). I think we whiffed in both instances. PNC is fabulous. Anybody reading, if you haven’t been and you like baseball, go and catch a game there. You won’t regret it.
And let me just add how much I enjoy the city of Pittsburgh in general. I think it's beautiful. The rolling hills giving way to downtown and the confluence of the rivers–man, that’s the good stuff. I get a kick out of the Incline, too! I’d love to spend more time in and around Pittsburgh. A truly great Midwestern city.
“What do you have against the Toronto Blue Jays and, really, the AL in general? I know the Seamsters are all NL-based fans, but I think we need to get some AL representation on the Union and really drill down into the fact that the Blue Jays were very good and you never believed in them.” –Jackson P.
In general, I’ve always been a National League guy growing up in Cincinnati. More so, I was always vehemently against the universal DH, so my anti-AL bias still comes from there a bit, too. But I would say there are some AL teams I dug last year–the Athletics and Tigers, to be specific. And I have nothing against your Blue Jays, but I did think coming into 2025, they were a bit old and a bit stale. Could not have been proven more wrong–which is what makes sports fun, right? I did not see the bounceback from Bo Bichette, and was not enamored with their lineup outside of Vlad Jr., and on the pitching side, I didn’t think they had the frontline starting pitching to compete in the AL East. But again, I was very wrong! Congrats to Toronto, congrats to you, Jackson, and I sincerely hope you guys have a fantastic 2026 too. We don’t need New York or Boston winning the AL East.
“Thoughts or predictions on the Reds for this upcoming season?” –Parker V.
Parker, I think they should be a bit better than the 83-win team from last season. I think Elly has another level to get to, and I’m very bullish on Sal Stewart, too. The starting pitching should be fantastic and keep them in any game. I hope a few of the other young bats can come along like Marte and McClain because I’m resigned to the fact there won’t be a splashy FA signing or big trade. If I had to call it right now, I’d say 88 wins and competing for the NL Central and one of the NL wildcard spots.
“Long time, extremely disgusted Bengals fan. In light of Paul Dehner Jr.'s article in The Athletic, how do we continue to support this dumpster fire of an organization? Any other company in the world would make changes and not run back to the architects of this mess.” –Brandon M.
Brandon, there’s no rational reason we should support the Bengals. They don’t deserve our fandom. BUT, I can’t quit them. Sports are supposed to have a level of irrationality to them. It’s supposed to test our loyalty. It’s supposed to suck sometimes. All of that, and all of the bullshit we go through as Bengals fans, will make the Super Bowl win someday that much more rewarding. In the movie ‘Vanilla Sky’, there’s a line that sums this all up perfectly:
“Without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain’t as sweet.”
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