RUM TIME WITH BIG PAPI

We have spent countless Summers watching the greats hit the baseball field and one of them was 3X World Series Champion, 10X All Star, David “Big Papi” Ortiz who was the DH for the Boston Red Sox. As a Franchise Royalty at the Sox, #34 was retired by the club in 2017 and he remains a beloved fixture in Boston sports culture where he played 14 seasons and is the 11th in the organization to have his number in Fenway Park! He continues his love for the team by mentoring players on the team and assisting with development. You can also catch him as an analyst for FOX Sports MLB as Big Papi is loved by all!

This month’s cover star continues to forge ahead, we sat with him at the Mandarin Oriental’s MO Lounge to talk about Ozama Rum, a Dominican spirit brand with 3 expressions. We talk about his career, baseball, his work as a sports broadcaster as an analyst, his love for the DR, being a family man, his legacy, being on the Masked Singer, and the impact of Ozama within the beverage industry and the DR.

DAVID ORTIZ: So how’s it going?

AM: Great! We are excited to be with you as we have loved seeing you play. When you’re doing your analyst work, it’s awesome to hear you bring us into the game, and we’ve been such a fan from the start of your career. It’s excting to talk to you about baseball, your career, and Ozama as we enjoy Dominican rum and I know our readers/community will be excited as well!

DAVID ORTIZ: Thank you!

AM: When did you first fall in love with baseball and when did you realize that you wanted to play professionally?

DO: Well, I have been playing baseball ever since I can remember at 6 or 7. I remember that my dad (Editor’s Note: Américo Enrique “Leo” Ortiz was a former semi-professional baseball player in the Dominican Republic), he was the one that always had that vision you know? He used to be a baseball player - for sure he didn’t make it to the pros. He was very close, but all he dreamed about was having a son to play baseball. He always pushed me down that path. He thought I had the talent, he thought I had the good hands and the coordination, which is important. He pushed me. I love sports. Basketball was the one thing that I always admired, you know? And it was fun. Basketball was fun – going to the court and playing with your boys, you know? You can be organized or unorganized!

AM: Yeah.

DO: Baseball is more organized for when you have to play as a group, you know? Everybody need to be -

AM: In sync

DO: Yes, in line! Basketball, you can pick people from the street, let’s play. You know? And you just go for it!

But when I turned 13 or 14, I started getting serious about baseball.

AM: Wow!

DO: Since I started developing this, it was about the progress.

AM: Being in college watching you play was when we first saw you on the scene. It was like ‘97, ‘98, and we used watch across our dorm. You could see your energy, and just to see the passion that you have. It was a thrill.

You’re a 3X World Series Champ, 10X All-Star, you were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and that’s just some of your achievements. What has it meant to you to play this game?

DO: This game was my everything! You know, it’s different. It’s what I wanted to do. It was basically my way out for me and my family and for them to be in a better shape, you know? Baseball was my everything,

it’s still my everything. Even after I retired, you know, I still deal with our organization (Editor’s Note: David continues to have a deeply integrated and multifacted relationship with the Boston Red Sox. He is an official mentor and advisor who works with rising prospects and established stars by offering guidance, sharing baseball wisdom and weighs in on clubhouse dynamics. He also has an unprecedented and long-term agreement to actively represent the club in special appearances, assists with free agent recruitment, and works in business development for Fenway Sports Management). The organization, the work that I do on TV, I mean, everything I do is basically related to it.

AM: Why did you want to become an analyst? Regardless of the teams that are playing, even if it’s not the ones we’re following specifically, we love watching you talk about the game because there’s such a passion as well as having that insight as a player that makes it so exciting.

DO: Well, you don’t know what you don’t know.

AM: Right!

DO: My team came to me while I was playing it still and they want to try me out. FOX wanted to try me out. I’m not going to lie to you, I was a little nervous! When you are outspoken and then you have to go all of a sudden go on TV and control yourself, control your emotions - at the beginning, it was a little rough. But once you get used to it, you just go through the flow.

You know, referring to the players, talking to the fans, you always have to keep in mind that there’s always people watching - people listening.

AM: Yeah

DO: They’re paying attention. English is my second language, so at the beginning, it was a little –

AM: Right.

DO: But then, I guess I was blessed working with the right team. Those guys made me feel so comfortable. It’s like a conversation between friends, you know? Now, all of a sudden, I’m 8 years into the business and I love it. I love it. I love entertaining. I love having fun. I love passing information. There’s a lot of great hands, lots of talents and I always wanted to be the one that gives these guys some guidance. I want to pass some information to the fans, you know, it’s fun.

AM: Are there 3 teams that we should have our eye out for the season or 3 players? What are you looking for or excited about this season?

DO: Well, I’m pretty sure everybody is looking at the Dodgers who have won back to back these past couple of years. It’ll be interesting to see if they can do it again!

AM: Yep.

DO: They have their platform, they have their team, they have the players, they have the owner, and they have a great manager - my boy, Dave Roberts. They’re on fire already so, we’ll see. That’s hard to do.

AM: Yeah.

DO: We faced some situations at the Red Sox the other day where our manager Alex Cora, got fired. Great manager, good dude - we play together. We’ll see how we continue moving forward.

Unfortunately, you always have to talk about the Yankees ha ha.

AM: That is our team! We love you, but that is our team.

DO: You know, the Yankees is the other team that continues to chase. I mean, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series in 17 years. But I still give credit to the Yankees because winning is not easy. People think that because of the name, you’re gonna win eventually.

AM: Right.

DO: Well, for the Yankees, they invest money. They hire good players, and they always put a quality team out there. Sometimes, towards the end of the season, you feel like you need a little more and more and more. That’s when you realize it’s about putting things together for the fans to enjoy, you know? It is what it is, but the Dodgers are the one dominating!

AM: That’s facts.

We should also try the rum expressions. We know you had a rough night last night. (Editor’s note, we began cracking into Ozama starting with Ozama Blanco, then Ozama Añejo, and finished with Gran Añejo as we talked with David.)

DO: I’ll be watching now.

AM: Okay ha!

Well, we have been enjoying this for the last few weeks.

DO: For real?

AM: Oh yeah! We love Dominican Rum, as a category since we were introduced to it back in 2011, when we would go to Santo Domingo.

DO: Yeah.

AM: That’s when we first learned about the 3 B’s (Editor’s Note: The 3 Bs are the 3 most famous historic rum brands from the Dominican Republic: Bermudez the oldest which launched in 1852, Barceló was founded in 1930, and Brugal founded in 1888 which is the largest domestic producer in the Dominican Republic). We were down for that. Then, when we were sent this, we realized it was very smooth and that it was your brand, we were even more excited!

DO: I’m glad you enjoyed.

AM: Yes, and sipping it now, it’s very tasty.

So, you’re a busy man. You are always doing lots of things. What are 3 workouts that you do just to stay in shape and to keep it all together?

DO: You know, so at the end last year, I needed a knee surgery badly. So being busy and having an injury to my knee, I basically wasn’t able to work out. I do a lot of walking. In front of my house, I have been living in DR for the past 3 years.

My old man passed last year. I moved to the Dominican 3 years ago just so that I could be around and to be with him. I was living in Miami.

AM: We’re sorry to hear that.

DO: Yeah, it was hard.

But anyway, I live in the Dominican, you know? And it was good because we had the production over there. We do a lot of activation over there. We are working on promoting the rum and other stuff. I work for so many companies.

AM: You are busy.

DO: Yeah and this guy is keeping me even busier, but I love him. I like to stay healthy. When I’m at home, in front of my house, I have a park like Central Park.

AM: Wow!

DO: So, I do a lot of walking, riding bikes, going to the gym, you know - pop some weight.

That’s what kept me in shape for real. My son, my younger one!

AM: Oh, all that running around!

DO: He’s 2 years old. He know he owns me. I am getting married next year and that little guy, you know, I have 5 kids. But this one, he knows something. He is very smart and his name is Diego. He knows that Daddy, is all about him. So when I’m at home, I’m at home.

AM: Yeah.

DO: That’s him right there!

AM: OMG!

RW: He’s the best dressed, 2 year old like!

DO: That’s him playing baseball already.

AM: That is the cutest! So yes, that is a workout!

DO: I love my family, you know? I’m a family guy.

AM: Masked Singer is one of our favorite shows!

DO: Uh oh!

AM: We knew Googly Eyes was you from, like the first note you sang before they even unmasked you. And it was like, wait that’s Big Papi that can only be him! Of course, when they unmasked you it was like – it couldn’t be anyone else but him!

How did you get connected to that show and why did you want to do it? Obviously, you’re part of the FOX family but how did it go down?

DO: Ha ha! I didn’t know what I was walking into! My agent called me and he was like, David there’s an opportunity. I’m like, really, what’s going on? Well, we already up in LA.

AM: Yeah.

DO: It was during the playoffs.

AM: Yeah.

DO: When we were in the playoffs, I had to go to LA for about a month. We stay there the whole month, but then we have to travel to different cities.

AM: Yeah.

DO: It was getting closer to the World Series. The Masked Singer people they had an issue with somebody, and they need somebody to replace that person or something like that. They only need you for like 4 hours. I’m always hustling and somebody has to pay the bills ha ha. But I had so much fun doing it.

AM: It was so good!

DO: I had no clue!

AM: Right!

DO: First of all, they said, you gotta sing a song that you know.

AM: Yeah.

DO: I’m like, what? I’m the worst singer than everybody. They were like, “don’t worry, we will get you a song that you can have fun and you don’t have to go through all the crazy lyrics or whatever. That’s why we came out with, Turn Down For What! Yo and I had so much fun, but then at the time, I had a knee problem. What they did is that they put together an outfit –

AM: Googly Eyes!

DO: I was sitting on in and I just gotta push it.

AM: Yeah, because when it came out, you just saw this really structured item come out to the stage.

DO: It was like a workout, because when I got out of that, I was sweating bullets.

AM: Everyone says that their costumes are so hot and you can tell when they unveil you guys! You always wonder if someone is going to pass out!

DO: Yeah, I was dripping!

AM: Well it was a fun performance, you could see the crowd was so excited when you came out and it definitely looked like it was a lot of fun.

DO: It was fun. It was fun. People were like, “who’s that was that Derek Jeter?” I was like, have you ever heard a Dominican person speak English? Ha Ha we’ve got a strong accent!

AM: Yeah when someone said Jeter, we were like no! The first lyric that you belted out that was you without a doubt! The panel needed to sit down because the guesses didn’t make sense!

DO: I know right?

AM: So, why did you want to launch a rum brand? Like, you said, you’re a busy man. You’re always doing lots of projects. But why did you want to launch Ozama and what led up to that?

DO: Yeah, as a kid growing up, my father was a hard working man, my mama as well. But I noticed that when it was the weekend when my dad was able to be at home, he used to bring friends. They used to drink rum. It was very traditional in my family, you know? Growing up in that beautiful environment, you know, we were poor. We didn’t have much. But with the family, it was always this happy reunion! People that don’t have anything crazy, but whatever they have they enjoy, you know?

And that is always what keeps people together.

AM: Wow!

DO: It was a happy time. I was just a kid just watching the adults having a drink, having fun. I used to have an uncle after he started to have a few drinks, he’s start throwing quarters to all of us. That was the most fun part for the kids. My uncle got a little tipsy he was, like, hey, come here. Guys come here. We were just fighting for it you know?

AM: You gotta add it to that piggy bank!

DO: You know it ha ha.

You will never believe it until you see it - how you can do so much and not have so much.

AM: Yeah.

DO: Besides that memory. When I grew up, Ozama on the other hand, my dad used to talk about this story about him going across the river swimming. My dad was a good swimmer. You swing across the river, but then you gotta swim back. He swims, they used to go on the other side, and they started cooking around the river, and then later on, they gotta swim back.

AM: Oh!

DO: On the other side, they started talking about the story about this shark that used to go across the river. I was like, oh hell, no, I’m not swimming back. I had to wait for the boat to bring me back.

He took me back. It was so funny. I used to go to the Ozama River with my boys and we used to go fishing crab right here. The river was very healthy, beautiful, clear water. We had so much fun down there. I don’t know how to swim, so I was the one that used to do the packaging! Because they used to fish it, bring it, and then I would do the packaging. We used to be like 10 kids. We used to have a spear to hunt it. They used to go into the water. They used to take those spears, hunt it, Bring it back up, pass it to me, and I used to put them in the bag.

Once we had hundreds of them, then we used to go home. But it was, the most athletic, friendly, and fun. It could be a little bit dangerous. I never used to chase. Since I was a kid, I was very mature about not chasing dangers. Like, one time they wanted me to attach this rope with 2 gallon containers and put them across my chest for me to go across the river.

I was going to do it or whatever, but then I was like mom and dad ain’t around? I’m not gonna mess that up, just in case something goes down.

AM: Right!

DO: Then all of a sudden, something is missing. I’ll just do the packaging and you can bring it. They’d say, “you’re a chicken – a chicken,” and I’d say, “yes, I am!”

AM: Love this story and that answers why the crab is on the bottle!

DO: I’m telling you that I was 10 or 11 years old! Those are the memories that I have from the Great River now, unfortunately, it seems like as the population has grown up, things start you know to go down in a different direction. Once we start coming out with this product, I want to call attention to cleaning that river.

AM: Like a conservation effort!

DO: Yes, out of the profits we will donate a percentage. We are, you know, taking that percentage to be able to clean up the river. Once people know that my name is attached to this and the purpose, beside the business side - a lot of companies that are international and are outside of Dominican - they are into helping us out with some of the rivers.

AM: Yeah.

DO: We are all behind this. Besides that, we created so many jobs for single moms with kids back home at the factory. They do the packaging for Ozama. Ozama Is in charge of creating the jobs. I think that all of the forces behind Ozama are pointed in the right direction. That’s the way I look at it.

AM: Wow.

DO: It took us 1.5 - 2 years to come out with a with a blender who took their time before we came up with this amazing, great tasting rum in 3 different categories. Our Blanco is so smooth that when you mix it out, especially you ladies who have a different taste than as us as a man, we put that white rum together. When you mix it with juice or any type of thing, you will get away with it because it tastes very smooth. Then you go to the Gran Añejo and the Añejo, it’s a little older aging wise. It’s my favorite.

AM: Ours as well!

DO: Oh for real?

AM: Absolutely!

DO: You know what though? There’s no difference for me when it comes down to drinking whatever I have available. You know it’s just I think the time and the effort that you put behind this rum which is worth it! The feedback from people has been amazing! Let me tell you, you’re making a run in a country that is known for Dominican rum.

AM: Agreed! We raised our eyebrow before we had it because I’ve been drinking Brugal for awhile and I was a very big fan of it. Then, I had Ozama and it reminded us when we would go to Santa Domingo and sit on our balcony sipping, and it takes us back every single time we drink it.

DO: So, yeah, when you talk about those brands have been out there already for a long time day, throughout the year, they have to come out with high quality rum so they can stay established in the market. They make rum for individuals – minorities, middle-class people, high-end people, etc It all depends on how deep your focus is.

We think with Ozama, We make premium rum affordable. It’s a good price with a good quality.

AM: Yeah!

DO: Because, we are a startup. The company is just beginning and you want to be able to have everybody in the market, to be able to to afford it. So that’s what we have at this point and like, I say, the feedback have been amazing. That’s what I care about when I get behind a product. I have a quality product so, we can maintain ourselves out there.

The one thing that I wanna really emphasize with my partner? Was, let’s make a quality rum that I can compete with everybody out there.

AM: Yeah, we think it does and the packaging is beautiful. It can sit on that bar cart next to very expensive bottles, and it says I’m here.

DO: That’s right, we got this design from Italy. They make our bottles. He has been doing an amazing job of putting it together at the beginning. As you can see, the beautiful design of this bottle - it took us a bit to put it together. Last year, selling wise. I think we did a phenomenal job based on people waiting for it – right Ricky?

RW: Yes.

DO: So, it was like 7,000 – 10,000 cases last year to begin with. This year, we’re on our way to do even better. We’re chasing it up. We’re chasing it. We got the heart, we got the dedication, and I’m so excited to get behind this product. It basically connects with my family, my tradition, you know? So many stories are behind this. The most important thing is to connect with the people.

RW: As David was saying, when people try this, they don’t say no. It’s very delicious and then, when people hear that, it’s $24.99 on the shelf –

AM: Which is an amazing price point because the bottle visually makes you feel like it’s a $60 or $80 bottle.

RW: To be able to get a quality product in a quality rum like this, for $25, you go to Total Wine, this is $24.99 on the shelf. This one at 6 years aged, Ozama Gran Añejo is $45.

We also just won the Gold Medal design for our rum bottle design!

AM: That’s fantastic! The bottle really gives you that river vibe.

So, consumer side for this summer, where will Ozama pop out?

RW: Today, we are live in all of the Northeast – NY and in all of New England. We are in New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Florida, and the DR. It’s available online and 43 states as some we can’t ship to. It’s available everywhere. We have a team in place in all of the key markets whose sole focus is driving trial and activating out in the market. The majority of my team works Tuesday – Saturday.

AM: As you do!

RW: Aside from us in the industry, not as much booze is sold on Monday. They’re out there in Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Florida. They’re putting this out there, sampling it. We have been at some of the festivals here.

AM: David, what do you want your legacy to be known as whether it’s in the sport, as a business man, or as a family man?

DO: The way I live my life is based on a journey. Baseball was a journey and I am thankful to God for everything as he opened many doors for me. I want to be remembered as the greatest dad, the greatest father of all time, because I am crazy about my kids. I’m great to all of my family. Yesterday, I was with my younger daughter. She lives here. She’s a musician. She graduated from Berklee College of Music a couple of years ago, living here, trying to figure it out.

AM: Is she a singer, does she play an instrument?

DO: She can sing, she plays instruments, and she’s a producer!

AM: Oh, wow!

DO: I mean, when you go to Berklee they make sure that you change the whole packaging! And once you do that, as you move - if you go, you kind of figure out what you’re going to be really good at. Sometimes you got to be good at everything. Sometimes you get to be good at producing. Sometimes you get to be good. So, she’s down that path right now.

I came in and I told her I’d be with her for the next 3 days. We’re gonna go to places, I want you to meet people. You know how you girls are, especially when you have had a connection with your mom and with your dad? My kids, the way I look at them is like they’re still babies to me.

AM: Yeah.

DO: She’s been having so much fun the past 3 days having me around. Those are the sort of things that I really want in life, you know? Just to continue with the legacy of my father and my mom. They raised me right. They taught me how to get things done the right way. That’s what I try to teach the kids you know?

Then there is the rum and the cigars. Especially the cigars. My dad was very involved into that. My dad had his own factory. We do a lot of events and people come by as you know how rum and cigars go hand in hand!

5 years ago, he came out with Americo Cigars, really good cigars. So? When we are basically going place by place, we try to use the mark also for the cigar brand. It has been incredible for people and the combination of Rum and a good cigar is almost perfect, you know? It’s like they are cousins or something! I’m a visionary and this startup company is something I care about and I am a hard working man, that’s all that I know!

I’ve been working since I was 8 years old. I have an uncle who had an auto place. And all of us, my whole family - they used to get us as a kid and bring us to the auto part place whenever we have free time, to work with our uncle. That was kind of a mandatory in the family. And when you’re a kid, you don’t know. But now that I’m a grown man, I see the purpose of it.in my family, nobody’s doing time. Everybody works hard, we have this beautiful family and I’m talking about the guys of my generation. They know how to work, how to go through process, and when we sit down now that we are adults and talk about it, we understand it, so we want to do exactly the same thing with our kids.

Especially nowadays, it is so hard to raise a child with all of this crazy stuff happening, but I think that what you learn at home, it’s the meaning of the direction that you want to take growing up.

I have 5 kids. The older are professional. They play baseball at the professional level. My older, who is married, Jessica, she graduated at Regis College in Boston, in Psychology and Administration and she lives in the Dominican with her husband. I talked to you guys about Alice already. Then there is David, and. D’Angelo. David plays for the Texas Rangers. D’Angelo plays for the Red Sox.

AM: Wow!

DO: Diego is my other guy to chase now ha ha. You know what I’m saying?

AM: It’s been so phenomenal to meet you because we’ve loved your career and watching you play. We love how you just present yourself as a person, your passion, and we have tried for years to have you as an interview, but your schedule is definitely busy!

DO: If I knew this interview was going to be this smooth and good, I would have done it a long time ago!

AM: It’s awesome because we’re Yankees fans but have always have enjoyed seeing you play!

DO: A great story is all my employees are Yankees fan! I gotta deal with it.

AM: We wanted to be respectful ha!

DO: No it’s ok! Listen, I gotta tell you something. Yankee fans. They have been always very respectful with me because they know that as an athlete, I went about my business. I don’t care if you play for the Yankees, the Mets, Chicago, I was just trying to do my job. The Yankees fans respect that because the Yankees fans are the only fans that always come to me, and they be like, Papi, I’m a Yankees fan. I know you respect this because they know it was nothing but business. Nothing personal, you know, but I was going to whip your ass, nothing but business.

RW: Yeah, pretty good business!

DO: It’s what Yankees fans love seeing from a player. Because remember, the Yankees since I can remember they were the first ones doing what the Dodgers do nowadays. They always go for the best players because the boss, Steinbrenner always wanted to put a pin in the field. When the Yankees fans see that a guy is good and he plays for another team, all of a sudden you have the guy on your team performing. They respect that!

I love this city right here. This city gave me a lot of memories. I love competing against the Yankees and I will say this, when you are competing against the Yankees and you beat the Yankees - you get recognition as a player because you competing against the best! But at the end of the day, go Sox!

IG @davidortiz

In speaking with David about life, baseball, and Ozama, you also heard from Ricky Wolfe who is the VP of Sales at Ozama. Ricky comes with a strong background in the spirits industry. We also chatted with Edwin Castillo who is Ozama’s Rommelier. Together, they provide more insight on rum that is made in the Dominican, how Ozama came to be, the expressions, a bit of industry news, how they connected with David, and of course, talking about how the DR is also a prominent position within this partnership and venture.

RICKY WOLFE: If you guys want to taste the 3 expressions we have them here.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Let’s make it a proper meeting!

RW: Well there is no one better to taste it with than Edwin! He is our Chief Mixologist and he lives in the Dominican. He flew up for some of our events yesterday and some other things that we will be doing. He is the musician behind a lot of the cocktail program that we have. I’m sure that you are familiar with a Sommelier.

Well, he is a Rummelier – which is the pin on his lapel and he is classically trained in rum!

I am the VP of Sales team for Ozama. My father, Abbott Wolfe (Founder and CEO of Drink2Success) and David are business partners and created Ozama together.

AM: How long did it take for you to come up with the formulation?

EDWIN CASTILLO: The most important thing that you need to know about Ozama is that our rum is 100% Dominican. We have a different kind of rum that what others use in the Dominican and we use 100% Dominican sugarcane. A lot of rum in the Dominican uses molasses. Molasses is different with its aromas, and it is not easy to drink as you need some mixers.

AM: Right.

EC: The rum is made with a honey version of sugarcane and it is very refreshing.

AM: It is very smooth!

EC: You don’t need a mixer, you can drink it very neat!

AM: We have enjoyed it that way!

EC: Other rum in the Dominican in terms of aging, it’s 1 oak in American – it’s Bourbon. We use 2 oak – it’s Bourbon and a Cherry Cask. This way, our rum has more aroma.

AM: The first time we enjoyed Dominican Rum, it was in 2011 and was introduced to Brugal first. It was very tasty and has been a spirit that is always enjoyable. Molasses is an ingredient that we enjoy, but we do agree with you that this is such a great sip and it is very enjoyable, smooth and it’s great to drink by itself. Sugarcane is another ingredient that we’re fans of as it’s amazing in sodas.

EC: Brugal is made with molasses.

RW: Both of them are sweet in a good way. But it’s a very different profile. When people taste them side by side, molasses is thick, and it’s just like honey. But sugarcane is just a different taste.

AM: What year was it created?

RW: We launched last year. The project has been going on for a few years now. David and my father connected sometime in 2023 and it took obviously a lot of time. Everything about this was created by us - by the small team. I mean, the name, the package design, the label, the glass bottle - the liquid obviously.

AM: Your family was in the business before this too?

RW: Yeah! So, my, my father and I have both been in beverage alcohol for many, many years. My father was at Constellation Brand for a very long time.

And then his last, his last job before this, he helped Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels franchise, Bad Teacher, There’s Something About Mary) and Katherine Power (Founder of MERIT Beauty, Versed Skincare, Who What Wear) build Avaline?

AM: Yeah, oh wow!

RW: It’s a clean, organic wine, so that was really his first foray if you will, into both startup and celebrity backed brands.

So, him and David connected through a mutual connection. David has always wanted to do something like this. David knows many, many things, but he didn’t know the alcohol industry, so that’s where we came in. I was at Boston Beer, Sam Adams for almost 14 years. Once my father and David got this off the ground, I jumped in to the deep end.

AM: That’s amazing. We were talking a bunch with the Truly team when they started.

RW: Oh, yes!

AM: We got to see them kind of rise year by year. It was pretty damn cool!

RW: I remember I was managing Maryland at the time - living in Baltimore, and we were a test market for Truly.

AM: Oh wow!

RW: I remember vividly standing in front of our Distributor Sales Meetings which are always at 7am in the morning on a Friday.

AM: Because, why not?

RW: Why not?

I vividly remember standing up in front of them, saying, I’m gonna tell you guys about this thing called Truly - Hard Sparkling Water. We may never talk about it again, but we’re going to see what happens this summer.

AM: Wow.

RW: There’s a reason that it’s very popular. It was wild to see from the test market.

AM: This is really cool and we’re looking forward to trying it.

Have you enjoyed being out here, Edwin?

EC: It’s nice, but I love being in the Dominican because it is very quiet!

AM: Where do you live in the Dominican?

EC: Santo Domingo.

AM: I’ve been there a few times. I had a shoe collab line with Sebago, and they made their shoes at Las Plaza America, so I was there a few times a year and I would go for 5 - 6 days at a clip to design each season ahead of my appearance at HSN. When we weren’t in the factory, we would go to the beach, restaurants, and the clubs! It was so beautiful there and I remember when we were heading to Embassy Suites there we would pass the baseball fields that were lining each sides of the street which was amazing! I loved it!

EC: Everybody wants to go to Dominican Republic to go to Punta Cana.

AM: True!

EC: Some people think that Punta Cana is the whole country.

AM: I fell in love with Santo Domingo. I really did - beautiful. We were partying some place where the kids of Presidente Beer bottling company and then there was a Lamborghini dealership and Louis Vuitton store across the street!

When I first came to DR, Punta Cana was the first city I had been to and we stayed at a lovely all inclusive resort. But then, when I went to Santo Domingo, I fell in love and my first night, we went to Boca Marina in Boca Chica and I made sure that we went there every time I was visiting to design and in each visit, we always had a lunch there and then a dinner! The views there and the food – best Lobster Lasagna. I just had spots – Casa de Campo was also lovely and then I was mesmerized by the baseball fields!

In looking at the 3 expressions, it’s quite an assortment! There is such a vintage vibe here.

RW: Yep, we have extra age products. Our Grand Rerseva, that’s being being developed. This on its own is aged for 6 years.

AM: Wow!

RW: So you know obviously we only launched last year, so people are like, well, how do you have a 6 or 8 year rum? The Distillery partner that we found with Edwin’s help, has been making rum for a long time, and obviously we’ve come in and make our blend, but they’ve got stuff aging for 10+ years. We can pull some of this and some of this and the barrels that we want. At some point, there will be a Reserva.

AM: Yeah, cheers to that moment. So, there’s at least 2 alcohol brands that your family has?

RW: The company that my father started is called, Drink2Success, so Ozama is our baby because our goal is to either create brands that are our own that we can own and develop and build or use our expertise and experience to help other brands. You guys are here in NY, so Wandering Barman is a craft cocktail Brewery or craft cocktail Tap Room. It’s a fantastic room in Brooklyn. It was 3 restaurateurs who saw a need for pre-batch cocktails that were ready to go, ready to serve format. They built a phenomenal business here in New York and allowed us to come in and basically help them take it to the next level.

So, there is nothing like Ozama in our portfolio. We make sure that nothing competes against itself.

AM: Of course! Any piece of innovation has to go here.

RW: Exactly!

There are 5 brands in the portfolio right now. Not only is this our baby, it’s also the biggest.

IG @drinkozama

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Front Cover + PG 16 - PG 27 Paul Farkas shot on SONY Alpha | PG 28 + PG 31 Ozama | PG 32 Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images | PG 34 - PG 36, PG 42, PG 46 + PG 48 Gerald T Coli/Dreamstime.com | PG 38 Defmusik/Dreamstime.com | PG 41 David Pillow/Dreamstime.com | PG 45 Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images | PG 50 Frank Micelotta/FOX | PG 52 + PG 55 FOX Sports | PG 56 + PG 58 Trae Patton/FOX |

Read the MAY ISSUE #125 of Athleisure Mag and see RUM TIME WITH Big Papi in mag.

OMG SEASON | J.D. MARTINEZ

It was great to spend some time with NY Mets’ DH Slugger, J.D. Martinez to talk about his playing with the Mets; his nickname 'Flaco;' his go-to workout exercises; his music taste and the OMG team hit anthem; and more.

As a player with asthma, he also highlighted how important it is to consider having a vaccine for Pneumococcal Pneumonia, especially with certain risk factors, such as having asthma.

This conversation was brought to us by Pfizer, who informs that Pneumococcal Pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. Symptoms can hit without warning and take you out for weeks, possibly even landing people in the hospital. You are at higher risk being age 65 years or higher, or 19 and older with certain chronic health conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and more, according to Pfizer. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if pneumococcal vaccination is right for you.

Visit https://www.KnowPneumonia.com/ to learn more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Your nickname is Flaco how did you get that nickname?

J.D. MARTINEZ: My hitting coach when I was in Little League growing up, he was my mentor, Paul Casanova. I was super skinny, and he just started calling me Flaco. That was my nickname. He'd call me Flaco. It's one of those things, through Miami. It was like my code word almost, where like you'd call me Flaco, you knew I hit with Cassie, and I worked with Cassie. (Editor's Note: Paul Casanova's teammates also called him 'Cazzie')

AM: You were diagnosed with Asthma posing challenges way back in Little League, what risks does having Asthma play in sports and what can people do about it?

JDM: Asthma was a big part of my childhood. I remember being in Little League, and I think I was maybe 3 year old when I was diagnosed with it, and being in Little League and trying to play baseball with asthma and constantly being in and out of the hospital, like once a week with my mom and my dad. Throughout my whole career it's just been managing it, and finding ways to manage it, like with medicines and stuff. That's why I'm here today and partnered with Pfizer to help spread the word about Pneumococcal Pneumonia, and how having asthma puts me at over 5x higher risk for the disease, compared to healthy adults age 18-64. So, I got vaccinated to help protect myself and I recommend that everyone with asthma to talk to your pharmacist or your doctor or go to KnowPneumonia.com. It's very important for me. I just know so many kids that should know this stuff playing with asthma.

AM: When working out, what are 3 go-to exercises for you?

JDM: For me, it's turning my hips on, doing a whole hip circuit - a routine that kind of loosens up my hips and strengthens them at the same time. Then from there, I really turn on my core and stabilize my trunk. Then I like to do legs, because they are my weakest part of my body, so for me, I feel so much strength, when my legs are strong, so I like to do legs as much as I can.

AM: What music do you listen to energizing for the game? This whole OMG song really took off!!

JDM: For me, it's kind of whatever is hot at the time. I know sometimes we're in the clubhouse and Winker's putting on some rap, and if we're riding with that, we're riding with that - and feeling like you're Eminem I guess, and you're having fun with it. And for me, EDM, like House Music, with a lot of beats, that's what gets me going. That's kind of what me and Mark Vientos listen to in the gym when we're warming up and activating. And then obviously you got Oh My God, OMG, our victory song, you know, and the whole Iggy thing that happened. (Editor's Note: Met's teammate José Iglesias is also a Latin Pop music artist who performs under the name Candelita). It was hilarious. It was just funny how that whole thing came about..

AM: Sure, well you said you had to hear it first - and then you were like Wow it's good right --

JDM: Yeah I was in Triple-A, and all of a sudden Iggy was like, "I got to show you this song, I got to show you this song." I was kind of making fun of him, I was like, "what are you like Marc Anthony now," because he was being represented by Marc Anthony for some time now, coming up with all of these songs. And he was like, "you got to hear this song," and then he played it for me in the speaker, and he was like, "I think this one is going to be the one that really blows up, like really helps me." I said, "dude, this is really good, I kind of like this! If you get called up to play for the Mets, we're playing this, so you gotta send it to me..' He wanted to play it for the walk up song, and so when he got called up I got it played on the speaker for everyone, kind of in honor of Iggy coming up. And the team was in a fragile state at that point, we weren't playing very well, and we kind of all jumped on board and it became our team anthem I would say. We made it a joke that every time we hit a home run we would play it.. so then they did it, and it kind of caught all of the fans off guard.

AM: We also see you like Reggae music a lot?

JDM: I also love reggae when I'm on my boat!

IG @jdmartinez28

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52, 56 - 63 + 9DRIP STORI3S PG 60 - 63 NY Mets | PG 54 - 55 Pfizer |

Read the SEP ISSUE #105 of Athleisure Mag and see OMG SEASON | J.D. Martinez in mag.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME AND FAMILY | GLEYBER TORRES

There's nothing like a summer day whether you're at Yankee Stadium or you're watching it from home. Watching a baseball game, hearing the stories and of course eating all of our favorites is the best way to enjoy America's Pastime! We still have a lot of the season ahead of us and we were excited to sit down with New York Yankees shortstop and second baseman, 2X All-Star player, Gleyber Torres! His debut in the MLB and on this team began in 2018.

He talked with us about his journey from playing baseball in Venezuela, joining the team, what it means to be on this team with its known heritage, how he approaches his games, what he does prior to and after, his recent collaboration with Kings Bred, and navigating fatherhood.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with baseball?

GLEYBER TORRES: I remember when I was 4 years old, my parents took me to the field, one day a weekend and after that, I played every day. I would go to school and I would practice in the afternoon and I would play on the weekends as well. I don’t really remember too much when I was really young but I know that when it was raining or when they would cancel the games, I would start crying. I just really wanted to play a lot and when I started growing up, I would watch it every day on the TV and would watch Omar Vizquel and I just knew that it was a sport that I really wanted to be able to play.

AM: When did you realize that it was something that you wanted to do as a profession?

GT: When I was 12 or 13 the academies started noticing me and they gave me the opportunity to practice with them. My dad and myself, we realized that maybe I wouldn’t just play this sport as a hobby or something I enjoyed doing, but that I could be a professional baseball player. It was a long conversation with my dad and my mom. From the beginning, my mom didn’t want me to do this as I would have to move from where I was from to another city so that I could practice every day. I really wanted to focus on this and my dad wanted to give me every opportunity that he could to see what I could do to play baseball. So, after a couple of hours, we decided that I would have to go there and to see what my future would be there and how it would all change.

AM: As I mentioned at the top, I have been a Yankees fan since I was 6 years old. You’re the first Venezuelan player to join the team. What does it mean to you to be on the Yankees?

GT: First of all, it’s an honor! I mean, the history of the Yankees, many championships, many good players, many really good numbers. Just playing here is amazing, the city, the fans, all the history is just really inspirational. It’s just something that’s really special and I feel like, as a player, everyone wants to play with the Yankees. I got that opportunity from the beginning and I’m just grateful to be with all of the boys on the team. Of course, I want to try and bring another championship to the Yankees!

AM: Absolutely and the season is well under way, what are you focused on and looking forward to this season?

GT: We don’t start like we did last year. We’re playing really good right now and everybody is healthy and we can play better. We’re going to try to win the most games possible. I think that we’re in the 3rd place right now, but we still have a lot of games right now and I think that everybody is on the same page and we’re staying focused on doing really good this year and if everyone stays healthy, we can do really good things.

AM: We always like knowing what our favorite athletes and celebrities do when they hit the gym. So, obviously, in addition to playing, what are 3 workouts that you do in the gym?

GT: I have a special thing that I like to do when I’m just working out. I like to do heavy weights, and I do a lot of stretching with yoga. I stretch my legs, my hammys, my quads because I don’t want to get injuries during the game and I also like to use the medicine ball as well. Then I just go to the cage and go through my routine. I go to the field as well to be out there. Then about 30 minutes before the game, I go back to stretching again, back to the cage – back to the routine. I’m that guy that believes that if I do my routine, I will play better.

AM: When you look at your workouts for in season versus off season, is it different or do you do the same things?

GT: Oh yeah, it’s different. During the off season, I get like heavy weights, I run a lot, I do a lot of bicycle, cardio, and those kinds of things. I’m just trying to get more muscular. When I start the season, I’m just trying to get healthy. So I’ll workout on legs and I’ll workout really well and I do the same routine, but not too much heavy weights because that would be bad for the shoulder and I don’t want to get tired from the workout.

AM: You know, you were talking a little bit specifically on Game Day, are there things that you do and they don’t necessarily have to be fitness or athletic oriented that you do to get your head ready to play? Are there things that you do once the game is over that you can come down from all of that energy?

GT: Sometimes after the game, I go to workout just to rest, we have a sauna and I just go in there for 10 or 20 minutes to try to relax myself. Of course, I also rest. So much during the game is stressful and there is so much anticipation so after the game, many times, I’m just so excited I try to have cold water or sometimes hot water in the sauna to relax myself so that I can come down from the game.

AM: How do you take time for yourself when you have a day off so that you can check in with yourself and be ready for when you do have to be back out there?

GT: Sometimes, I’ll just have a lunch or a dinner with my family. I’m the guy who’s a huge movie guy. I spend most of my time at the movies. I love doing that. I like to check who the guy is that I will be playing with the next day. I’m always ready to head back to the field so that when I get there, I know that I’m rested and I’m ready to play.

“First of all, it’s an honor! I mean, the history of the Yankees, many championships, many good players, many really good numbers. Just playing here is amazing, the city, the fans, all the history is just really inspirational. It’s just something that’s really special and I feel like, as a player, everyone wants to play with the Yankees. I got that opportunity from the beginning and I’m just grateful to be with all of the boys on the team. Of course, I want to try and bring another championship to the Yankees!”

— Gleyber Torres

AM: You have the collaboration with Kings Bred x Gleyber Torres collection which has 2 hats with your signature colorway of beige and brown as well as the iconic Yankees colors. How did this project come about and what was the creative process like for you?

GT: I used to wear the hats when I was 19. I really loved the hats and the style and also the inspiration from the guys that made the hats. After I was 19, I got in touch with the guys who make Kings Bred and we got a really good connection, we figured out a way to get a collab and it’s really amazing because we’re using this as a way to inspire the people from Venezuela and we know how hard it is for baseball players to come to the big city! The colors of the hats are amazing with the dark color and then of course the white and navy that matches with the Yankees. I think that this collab is really amazing for the people. We’re showing some love for the fans.

AM: The hats look amazing and I know that in launching this collab, you had a pop-up store event as well where fans of the brand, will be able to meet you and to see the collection. What are you looking forward to in this event?

GT: Basically, I want the fans that are coming to enjoy themselves and for me to be able to talk with them! I want to show them the hats for sure and to explain to them about the collab and for the people to buy the hats. For those that buy the hats, I want them to be able to go out in NY and share that inspiration and to be able to show everybody this!

AM: In addition, your bat sponsor, Marucci is also part of the collaboration, so you have Kings Bred x Gleyber Torres x Marucci – what was it like to work on this part of the project and to have this available as well?

GT: I mean, Marucci supported us on that part of the collab. I have really loved Marucci from the beginning, I have never used another bat – I have always used Marucci. So it’s huge for me and also for the company of the brand to get that opportunity for us and for sure it’s going to be awesome. I'll also get to wear the hat as well as the special edition of the bat.

AM: Are there any other projects that you have coming up that we should keep an eye out for? Obviously, in addition to watching you play for the rest of the season!

GT: Not yet! We’re in the midst of conversations and maybe later, we’ll bring another hat. We’re waiting to see how this will go and after that, we will figure it out!

AM: You’re also a dad and being an amazing athlete as well, what do you want your legacy to be seen as from an athlete standpoint or just as a dad with a family?

GT: That I tried to do the right thing. Now, everything is different. I have a child and I have a lot to learn about everything with that! I just want to try to be a good dad which is a new experience for me. I enjoy everything from that to playing with my son to my son being able to watch me play after the game. He’s always waiting for me and he gives me the motivation to be able to play better and better. I want to show my baby everything that is possible.

IG @gleyberdavid

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | PG 25, 26 + PG 172 for 63MIX ROUTIN3S Kings Bred | PG 28 Justin Berl/Incon Sportswire | PG 31 Clif Welch/Icon Sportswire | PG 32 with Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire |

Read the JUN ISSUE #90 of Athleisure Mag and see FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME AND FAMILY | Gleyber Torres in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | Mike Piazza

Read the Sep Issue #57 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S in mag.

LET'S PLAY BALL

2020 has been a strange year so far. It has definitely altered our day to day while also making us grateful for the little things that have taken place. COVID-19 arrived right before the Spring. As the weeks went by in the month of March, a number of sport leagues began to announce the cancellation of their season or an indefinite postponement. As the weeks continued into months, we realized that in addition to sports, the complete seasons of our favorite shows were effected (as well as the upcoming fall season), we got used to seeing a number of shows that have included a number of elements of Zoom integration and more.

As we navigated these months, we hard rumblings of leagues talking about finishing or even starting their seasons in a truncated format. While we waited for the official answer on that, we were glad to enjoy programs such as ESPN’s The Last Dance, 30 For 30 and more. As Nascar began its season, golf began heading to the links and decisions were made about the NBA - baseball began its discussions. After a period of “will they or won’t they”, July 24th marked Opening Day with the New York Yankees playing World Series 2019 Champions, Washington Nationals. The Yankees traveled to Washington, DC. Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out the first pitch and in a stadium that had no attendees and sounds pumped in during the game, fans across the US settled in to watch the game.

Both teams paid respect to the Black Lives Matter movement as well as having a MLB x BLM logo on the pitchers mound that was seen throughout the game. Throughout the game, viewers saw players wearing masks at various times and getting into their groove as we were treated to one of our favorite pastimes. The commentators talked about the game as well as sharing anecdotes. With so many months of live games being a distant memory, even an altered version of the game is better than not having it!

Due to inclement weather, the game was delayed and ultimately the Yankees were declared the winner. The two teams will play again on July 26th at Yankee Stadium as well as on July 27th. Fans of the game were treated to a doubleheader with the LA Dodgers versus the San Francisco Giants.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

CONTEXT + REPETITION: MARTY SMITH

Our July cover story took us to Ocean City, NJ for a fun and inspiring day at the beach as well as insight to the fundamentals of life. Marty Smith, ESPN's Broadcaster/Journalist is someone who breaks down the game, brings his enthusiasm for the love of sport and is always exchanging energy with those on set as well as those that are off. As someone who began his time at the network covering NASCAR, he has grown into a number of areas which include: SportsCenter, College GameDay, this fall's SEC Nation as a host, and the successful Marty & McGee. This interview not only includes Marty's journey to the successes that he currently enjoys, but also lets you reflect about what happens when you believe in your self, honor those that came before, acknowledge where you came from, and allow yourself to engage in powerful progression that you may not have planned for yourself!

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment that you knew that you fell in love with sports?

MARTY SMITH: I would have to say I was a young boy and my father, he was infatuated with the Pittsburgh Steelers, back in the Steel Curtain days of Joe Green, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and those immortal – immortal Steelers teams, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth and all those guys. So, I was a little boy and I would sit with my daddy and watch the Steelers and my momma used to say that even as a four year old, I would be like, “that was a hold,” or “that was a clip,” and I’d call out penalties before the flags were thrown and what not. That’s when I kind of knew – the way that it felt just being in my father’s aura that way. I grew up in a small farming community in the Southwestern part of Virginia and all we had was ball. We played everything and there was no sitting inside. My parents were like, “get your ass outside and do something and don't come back until dark," and so football, basketball, baseball-and I loved to compete. To this very second, I love to compete. That feeling of competition and that feeling of grinding your way to noticeable improvement against competition is something that’s intoxicated me forever. So I knew real young that I was going to be a sports guy.

AM: So can you share with us your sports background – what you played and how far you went?

MS: From four years old through my Freshman year of college, I was an athlete and I started with baseball as a little Pee Wee League guy and then when I was in 4th grade, I started playing Pop Warner Football. The same year, I started playing Little League Basketball so from 4th grade all the way through my Senior year of high school, I played all 3 of those sports and I played all year around. I played football from August until the winter time – December. From December until March or April, I played basketball and then I played baseball for my school teams until school was over or the season was over, and then I played either Rec League Baseball or American Legion Baseball all the way through the summer. And then we did football again. So, I never stopped playing ball and again, I grew up in a small community so my buddies that were my teammates and I went to school with them, they’re still my boys today. My best childhood friend since I was 4 years old basically, is the Tampa Bay Rays Athletic Trainer – how weird is that? We grew up in this tiny little town of very few people. Everybody were farmers or blue collar community and he and I both made our way out to pro sports – pretty crazy.

AM: What was that moment when you realized that you might be interested in pursuing professional sports?

MS: I wasn’t good enough. So when I got to college, I went to a small college in East Tennessee first. It was a Division II school athletically, called Carson Newman and they had a really good baseball program so I went there to play baseball. I stayed there 1 year and then I transferred over to Radford University from which I graduated and thought that I would easily make the baseball team – no question in my mind. I had no doubts. I went and they had a walk on tryout and they asked me to participate in that and I did that. I hit and threw it ok – I was a middle infielder and didn’t have a good try out. So the coach who knew about me in high school - I grew up around the corner, he was like, “man, I don’t think that you’re good enough.” They didn’t allow me to play. So I will tell you this. God is funny. I was so devastated in that moment because I don’t care. If you’re passionate about sports – I don’t care if your ceiling is high school, I don’t care if your ceiling is college and certainly for guys like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees or these guys – the elite of the elite at whatever their passion is athletically. When it’s time to be done, you lose your whole identity because my whole identity, my whole life was athlete.

That was my identity and because truth told, I was a pretty good one in high school in the area in which I grew up, I had a decently celebrated career, we won state championships as teams – we had that kind of talent where I came from. So when I lost baseball, I’m not kidding y’all, there was a level of depression that I did not anticipate and I have never been a guy who’s down – I’m unstoppable, it’s how I’m wired and I was stopped. I knew a girl that dated a buddy of mine and she came in one day she said, “you know you need to get up off your ass and you need to come with me to the Sports and Information Office and you need to work because you have such a wealth of knowledge.” I’m like, “what, I’m not going in there and taking stats – I play ‘em – no.” After a substantial pity party, I got up one day and I said, “alright man, let’s see what happens.” Went in there, I fell in love with being around it again. Some of my best college friends were guys who played baseball, they played basketball – because the Sports Information Department gave me substantial responsibility immediately. As a Sophomore, I ran around with the baseball team - took their stats, etc. As a junior, they handed me Women’s Basketball and I traveled with the Women’s Basketball team on top of my class load. Then, I got the greatest break you could ever ask for. I was offered a stringer position by the Roanoke Times which is the major regional newspaper in the area in which I grew up covering high school sports, the local NASCAR short track, etc. That’s when I realized that I was going to write for a living and that was what I’m gonna to do. As a Senior, I got to cover Virgina Tech Football as a stringer for the Washington Post.

AM: That’s insane!

MS: On top of my class load. So all of these people believed in me. I will tell you this, had I not gotten cut, I don’t even know if gotten cut is fair. Had I made the Radford Baseball Team, I wouldn’t be sitting with you now, guarantee you. Because I wouldn’t have had to make that shift in focus that I had to make because I wasn’t playing anymore. How about that?

AM: Wow. You’ve had so much in your career prior to ESPN, so what was that journey like as I know you were with NASCAR.com for awhile.

MS: So much of my career goes back to people who believed in me. And in that book, they wanted me to do the dedication page. Who do you dedicate this to? All I wrote was, For the believers. Most notably, Lainie, Cameron, Mia and Vivian my nuclear family – wife and children. But so many people have believed in me from coaches to mentors to all the way down to people that work at ESPN, who don’t have to take the time to offer you guys this opportunity, to pitch you this opportunity, but they believe enough in me that they’re doing that.

When that believer, a guy named Ray Cox, who writes for the Roanoke Times, even still, he covered me in high school. So when I wasn’t playing anymore, he was like, “what?” I saw him at a Radford Basketball game. He said, “I think that you need to be writing for me. You have this factor that you’re so relatable to people and you connect with people in a way that you need to be writing.”

So I started covering high school sports like I said and that led to the local short track called New River Valley Speedway (now Motor Mile Speedway) at the time and I was a NASCAR guy as a kid because my daddy liked it. But my favorite driver was Davey Allison. Davey died in a helicopter crash July 13th 1993, I stopped loving the sport in that moment. My passion – I mean it was like lighting a bottle rocket when I went back to that short track. I went and I told her (Lainie), I know what I’m gonna do - I know what my path is – NASCAR is my way. It’s the fastest way to get through pro sports. I covered it for the Lynchburg News – I had a job that may not even exist anymore. I made $12.80 in my first job out of Radford. I bought her engagement ring with it – you talk about broke as Joe! I started chasing race cars. I’ll never forget sitting in the Richmond International Raceway garage – sitting on the pit walls watching these cars go by. Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon – “holy smokes that’s really them, I’m on this side of the track.” I’m inside the track and I can walk out there and talk to them if they’ll give me the time of day. I couldn’t believe it. I worked there for one year.

During that time, I wrote a story on a guy named Paul Brooks who was from that town. His mother called me and said I needed to do the story. I thought it was Jim Bob Jordan the street stock driver down the street. Paul had been elevated to the VP of NASCAR. Called Paul, we hit it off, he liked the story and he sent me some desk furniture of the 50th Anniversary of NASCAR like a business card holder that you put the pens in. At the very bottom of the box was his stationary with his email on it. I emailed him, “get me the hell out of here. I’ll clean toilets in Daytona Beach, Florida if you get me out of here. I got big aspirations, got big dreams – you can help me get me there.” They didn’t have any jobs, a few months later, a guy quit at NASCAR.com – he called me come to the interview, if I was good enough I would get the job – I got the job. I made it to $20K. Now I’m traveling around the country man. I went to San Francisco man, Napa, California and I got to cover race cars! Worked there until ’05 and ESPN called. They were coming back into the business of NASCAR. In ’07 they put together their whole broadcast team and I was going to be in the insularly part in a show for SportsCenter we had a show called NASCAR Now.

AM: Great show.

MS: It was a great show! Jack Obringer – this is all in my book. Jack Obringer, the guy who called me who is still at ESPN now and is one of my greatest believers. He said that everybody who talks to me says your name – you know what’s going on in the sport and you know the drivers. I laughed and said, “hey man, I’m so flattered, but you called the wrong guy. There’s a guy named Marty Snider who’s a great broadcaster and I’m sure that that’s who you meant to call.” He laughed out loud and said I was the guy. He told me to go home and think about working with him. I went home to Lainie and I said, “you’re never going to believe this, I think that ESPN wants me to come work there." I'm a guy who would rather crash and burn and fail knowing that I can’t, then wonder 20 years from now sitting on that porch wondering if I could have. So I took the job. The first time that I was really on television was SportsCenter. Can you believe that? There are local reporters who are so talented, they work their asses off, they set up their own camera shots and dream of that chance and I was afforded that chance immediately. That’s never been lost on me and I’m so appreciative. From there, the company let me grow. They let me make mistakes, they let me look like – I needed a lot of work. My story is just unorthodox because I was sportcentric for 7 years – really 8 from ‘07-‘14 those 8 NASCAR seasons. I got to grow and learn my voice and ESPN afforded me that voice and no one has ever once asked me to change it. They’ve never asked me to try to lose this accent because I have always maintained that you can be Southern and articulate at the same time. It worked because I was covering NASCAR. Then we lost NASCAR and I thought, ok what do I do now? Do I pursue another network maybe, do I bet on myself again? I went home and told Lainie that I needed to bet on myself again and I was ready to see what was out there and I signed my 3rd ESPN contract which was ’15-’18 and bet on myself. My career has been beyond every fantastic dream that I could have ever imagined.

AM: You have covered so many different sports for the network. How do you prepare yourself when you’re reporting on College Football versus the NFL – is it the same for you?

MS: No. I’m voracious about study. I’m voracious about preparation and reading and listening and things that intrigue me, I put it in a document. Then I take that document and pair it down and then I study that document. Like, Tiger Woods. When I got the opportunity to interview him, I studied so hard and watched so much and I probably had a 40 question list and I paired that down to 15 and I studied those 15 until minutes before I was sitting in front of him and I crumpled the paper up and threw it away. Because I want to have a conversation with you. The best interviewers listen. Because the best question is more often than not, why, how, when, how did that come to be, what was your passion. That was most certainly the case with him. Can I tell you how I got there?

AM: Yes!

MS: 2012 I think it was, I interviewed Jeff Gordon for a NASCAR Countdown Pre Race Program and I had this specific thing that I wanted out of Jeff and I kept interrupting him during the interview to try to keep him on task. It worked for what I was sort of after. But after the race before which it ran which was New Hampshire, after that race – I was so proud of myself that I got this interview with Jeff Gordon man – 4X Champion – 80+ wins! After the race, I went out to interview Dale Jr. who is like my brother – we’re brothers – we’ve been through it together. The highest of highs and the most crushing of lows we’ve walked it together. I get out to his car because he wrecked and they’re looking all around the cars when they’re looking at the dings in it. He turns around and says, “come here, I’m pissed at you.” There’s other reporters around so he takes me to the entrance to the truck that carries the race cars and says, “you need to stop interrupting people.” I was like, "what?” He said he watched the interview with Jeff and he wanted to hear some of the things that he said, but I kept interrupting him and that I looked like an asshole, “stop interrupting people.” I was so mortified. He cut me and do you want to know that it was the single greatest advice that I have ever gotten in this job? I completely changed my interview approach. I let people expound upon their thoughts and thereby, be ing able to tell me their story rather than trying to conjure something that you desire. I tell that story sometimes when he’s around and he’s like, “damn, let it go.” I’m like, “no. You changed me and only a real dude does this.” You’re on this high and most dudes would be like, “hey man that’s cool.” I am forever grateful to him for that.

That’s what I do. I study, study, study and then throw it away. Because I want to hear you and want to be immersed with you. It has proven to be very successful for me.

AM: So what are all the shows that you’re on at ESPN?

MS: Wow. A lot of them! So SportsCenter, College Game Day, SEC Nation, Get Up, Marty & McGee – which is such a fascinating study. Marty & McGee is a Southern culture program almost more than a sports program. There was a lady named Cherita Johnson and for a time she kind of ran the podcast/digital arm at that time. I called her one day and said I had a proposal as I had a buddy Ryan McGee (she knew him because they were PA’s together) and him and I had covered NASCAR together and felt that ESPN could produce a really cool piece of content with a podcast, we would be willing to go to a studio so we wouldn’t have to hire a bunch of people. We just wanted to do a podcast about NASCAR if she would let us. She wasn’t sure if there was a market for it and she asked me to tell her a story. So, 45 minutes later, I’m telling her all these stories about Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. She said that I was so passionate about that she would go ask. She did and they greenlit it. The magic of Marty & McGee is the chemistry, we’re buddies and have been so for 20 years! It went from a live radio show on Sat afternoons, then a few years ago they moved us to 7am on Sat! That’s when I said, “son, our lives just changed!” That’s when everybody is going to get the donuts and taking junior to baseball. It changed everything! Then, last year, they decide that the coaches in the South Eastern Conference they wanted to be engaged in a different way and they wanted the two if to make it happen. They asked what the set should like and I said, “a card table, an American flag and an eagle soaring by – I don’t know.” They built us that set. The coaches come in. They’re immediately disarmed. We’re laughing out loud with them. Nick Saban is talking about his dad, Nick Sr. had tears in our eyes. So they give us a weekly show on SEC Network which this fall moves to Weds. so that it ensures that it’s not pre-empted by soccer or a live program. We don’t even know what to make of it – we’re floored!

AM: What’s it like juggling all of these shows with your current schedule?

MS: It’s a lot and I’m afforded the ultimate blessing which is a patient, immersed, patient and loyal partner who appreciates all of this. She understands all of this and allows me to chase the dream. I can’t wait for people to read about Lainie in the book because they are going to see what a phenomenal soul she is. In this life, we meet people that are more successful, that may not have as much, we meet people who are more beautiful, we meet people who are the most blue collar down-home, people who grew up in the city all of that – all walks of life. Very rarely do you meat innate grace. Lainie has it. There is no way in hell that I could have this career, this life, have met these people that I am so fortunate to meet if she didn’t have that personality. I thank her everyday!

AM: Specifically during the college football season, what is your week like for that?

MS: We work every day. From now until mid January, we are gas on the throttle doing college football. Even on days off, we’re prepping. On days off, you’re reading, calling around, texting around, talking to coaches. Sports information people, in some rare cases – players. To make sure that you are at least ahead of the game but at least in the game. You go hard as hell man and I love every second of it.

AM: Who are you looking forward to interviewing this season from the college football side – what are 3 things that you’re pumped about?

MS: I’m blessed beyond what I deserve. We have a host and reporter who is among the most talented television professionals I have ever seen. Her name is Laura Rutledge. Laura makes all of it look easy – it’s not and she makes it look so simple. She is going to have her first child this fall. As a result of that, she will go on maternity leave and will miss a portion of the season. While she is away, she is the host of a show called SEC Nation and it’s a phenomenal show. I mean Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears and Paul Finebaum are the panelists. They are all great friends of mine already - Tim is like a brother to me. In the book, I share his influence on me which is dramatic. So when Laura is on maternity leave, I am going to get to host that show. When ESPN called me and told me this, my initial reaction was Euphoria and it was also, “you know I have never done that before and you know it’s something that I am going to have to learn.” They understood all that and said that my passion was what they needed. I can’t wait, a live atmosphere with a live audience in the South Eastern Conference, with those 3 guys and a producer – Baron Miller, who's a brother to me anyway. He has an artistic vision and unbelievable passion to help guide us through. I can’t wait for the energy change. My best friend, Eric Church, always says that there is going to be an energy exchange tonight. There is going to be my energy and your energy. I'm going to give it every last damn ounce of everything I got and if you give it back to me, there is going to be a moment and it’s going to live forever. Well I get to drive that moment and I can’t wait! Tebow man, Spears – I’m not Laura – I’m not as talented and polished as her or Joe Tessitore the first gentleman who hosted that show, or Maria Taylor who also hosted that show. They’re better broadcasters than me, but I’ll never be out passioned. I can control 3 things everyday: I can control kindness, effort and passion. If I max those out, I’m going to be alright and I’m maxing. In every single facet of my life: fatherhood, husbandry, professionally, friendships – there ain’t nobody going to ever say that I didn’t leave it all out there when the Lord calls me home.

AM: One of the things that draws me to your reporting is your passionate storytelling and being someone who grew up in Indiana, watched Hoosier basketball growing up, graduated Indiana University and was glad to have been there during Bobby Knight’s last year as coach, we believe in the concept of “Life is Sports and Sports is Life”. When college basketball happens, there is such a feeling that comes through which permeates all aspects of my life. Why does college football have that feeling for you that makes you so passionate about it?

MS: I was discussing this this morning. There is a country artist named Justin Moore. I have known Justin his entire career now. This is his 5th album he is putting out this week and he’s only 35 and having a tremendous career. He grew up in a little town called Poyne, Arkansas. The Arkansas Razorbacks are their pro team. I grew up 20 miles west of Virginia Tech’s campus on a cattle farm. The Virginia Tech Hokies are our pro team. They are also our identity, they also brought a national brand to a farming community. Because of Frank Beamers’ Hokies Virginia Tech Hoakies, Blacksburg is known in Seattle, in California, Clearwater, Fl and it’s known in Banger, Maine. Everybody knows Blacksburg because of those football teams. When I was a kid, we didn’t have a whole lot when I was real young. My daddy worked all the time and I didn’t get to be around him and he was a bit of mysterious and mythical figure to me. But there were some Saturday mornings when he’s wake me up and say, “boy get dressed, we’re going over the mountain.” I knew that meant we were going to watch Virginia Tech football. It was bad football. It was 0-8, 0-10, 1-9, 2-8 because Coach Beamer was still laying those foundation bricks to the amazing legacy that he built. But I got to go there with my daddy and I got to have a fountain coke and I got to have his attention and I got to feel his love and hope he felt mine and we got to watch Virginia Tech play football. To this second, I feel closer to him in Laine Stadium then I feel anywhere else. I lost daddy in ’08. When I go back there, I feel closer to him than anywhere else. My passion for it, is so much deeper than simply the game. It’s this father/son connection, it’s this family connection because so many little college towns take their identity from those athletic programs just like Bloomington does. I get to go in on Fridays and Saturdays in the fall and I get to be there with those people. Whether it’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Columbus, Ohio, Blacksburg, Virginia, Ann Arbor, Michigan – those towns are those schools. I get to live it. Hell, they pay me for it! Wow – it’s unbelievable to me!

AM: With such a busy schedule, you have a book coming out August 6th, Never Settle: Sports, Family and the American Soul. Why did you want to write this book and what do you hope that your fans and those who read this book take away from it?

MS: I have wanted to write a book for a really long time. It’s funny, I wasn’t ready until I got the deal. I didn’t have enough life experiences until last year. Back to Tiger, I interviewed him and of course I put a picture up with us on the ‘gram. You’ve gotta do it for the ‘gram and I came home that evening and my son has a YouTube channel and we were skateboarding. So I said, “you know what man, let’s go down this hill. I’ll be on my board and you’ll be on your board and I’ll kinda get crouched down and get a cool shot with my phone for you.” I put it on my Instagram Stories and this publisher saw it. I was blown away by that.

Long story short, the next thing you know, I’m meeting with this gentleman, a guy named Sean Desmond at Twelve Books, my publisher in NYC. Avenue of the Americas man, wow country boy comes to town. He talked about how his little boy who is 12 is fascinated by all the stuff that I get to do. Then he saw that and he was intrigued. How is this guy that was interviewing Tiger Woods in the morning and hanging with his son in the evening – he wanted that. He wanted my family in the book, he wanted Lainie, he wanted the husband Marty in the book, he wanted father Marty in the book. He wanted me to be so vulnerable and he wanted Tiger, he wanted Nick Saban and he wanted Cristiano Ronaldo in Shanghai, in Beijing. He wanted all of these experiences. He wanted me throwing a post pattern on the White House lawn. Thank God the Secret Service has a sense of humor! It’s all in the book. I actually did that! We were stupid, man. He wanted all of that and he pushed me throughout the writing process. Show me, don’t tell me. You’re telling me a good story, show me a good story. I loved that advice because it demanded of me to take another layer of veneer off.

Again, I have so many friends that are musical artists. They told me throughout time that anything worth its salt is vulnerable. But with that vulnerability comes a very unique emotion because you are putting this layer of yourself out into and this energy in the world. You have to be ok with whatever comes back good or bad. You’ve given this and holy crap it’s giving me anxiety and Lainie is like why? That was always my response to my friends too because they were putting out something good – but you’re putting this part of yourself out there and above all, I know it’s relatable and vulnerable. I think it will sing and I think that a lot of people will see themselves in that. I discuss things like the primal sorrow of losing my mom when I was barely an adult. She had breast cancer and died when she was 47 years old. My sister turns 47 in Feb so, Stacy and I go back and forth about what that’s like. Because when you’re 21 you don’t realize how young 47 is. When you’re 43, you think that she hadn’t even gotten started yet. I’d give anything – anything to be able to show her. She would be tickled and the coolest grandmother to these little people that we have running around.

My son has Tourette and so there is a lot that comes with Tourette. His tics, how people react to that. He’s used to people staring at him. Middle School is hard, he’s only recently gotten to a place where other kids sometimes aren’t nice. My mother, back to that innate grace, I never met anybody that was more Godly than my mom. She raised a lot of kids and I only have one sibling. She raised a lot of kids. I had a lot of buddies and she was there momma too. I wish she was here to see all of this and to be that for my kids. I go all the way into that primal sorrow. I write it in that way that’s really really raw. It’s a hell of a thing and I hope that people feel themselves in it. There’s a football coach that I have become very close with, Barry Odom – head coach of Missouri – Missouri Tigers. He wrote me the nicest text the other day. The 4th chapter of the book is about one of the most impactful people in my life. There is a Special Olympics athlete that I chronicled in '15, her name was Olivia Quigley. It’s all in there – why she was so important to me and Barry read the chapter. I sent him an advanced copy. He was like, “dude – I knew you were pretty cool on TV, but this is what you need to be doing. It’s changing lives.” That was very cool for him to say.

AM: How long did it take for your to put the book together?

MS: I started almost immediately when I met with Twelve last May. My deadline was Jan. 15th and I was very naïve about the time – really naïve. I wrote a lot of it in Ocean City Coffee. I would get up before dawn every morning when we were here last summer. I rode my bike down there and wrote until about 9:30am morning and then came back. Then, I thought I didn’t have to worry about being a present father or husband on airplanes and hotel rooms. But when you have covered a college football weekend, the last thing that you want to do is go to your hotel room and write! You just want a cold one and to laugh with your buddies a little bit, eat a meal and get on the pillow. I somehow managed to do it. That last week, I still had quite a bit to write. I came home from the National Championship in Santa Clara, California – immediately packed a bag, flew to NYC and spent 5 days holed up in the publisher’s office pounding on those keys. I’m not kidding ya, 5:30 on Jan 15th was when I needed to have that thing in and it was 5:30 on Jan 15th when I said, I don’t know if it’s done, hope it is - but here it’s yours.

AM: How did it make you feel when Eric Church wrote your forward as he’s your best friend.

MS: He’s my best friend. I was here – he called me about something else and he needed my opinion and perspective. We probably talked about it for 90 minutes. You get Eric Church on 90 seconds it's a miracle - we were on the phone for 90 mins! So I said, “before you go, I have something else to tell you about. I hate to bother you with it and I know you’re busy. I’m writing my first book.” He said, “it’s about fuckin’ time.” Truth be told, he thinks I’m wasting my time doing anything but writing and he has always been a fan of how I write and the way I paint pictures. He’s a writer, that’s what he does. So we have that mutual energy exchange and kinship. I said, “I would be really honored and I don’t think it would be complete the way that I need it to be complete if you don’t write my forward.” He said that it would be the pleasure and joy of his life that I would pick him to do that. I will tell you that it showed up near my deadline because it’s Eric. I was kind of badgering him saying, “hey bro – I have to have this thing in.” He asked me when it had to be in. I’m sitting in Charlotte and he texted me that he had sent it via email. Two other people had read it before he sent it, his most trusted confidentes in his life – his wife Katherine and his manager John Peets. I get my computer and Lainie is sitting next to me and I’m reading it and I can feel myself and she’s capturing it on video. I will tell you that it’s the most single kindest thing that I have ever read in terms of your impact on somebody. It made me belly laugh and ugly cry. He’s a real hard ass. He plays one for a living, he doesn’t suffer fools, he takes no crap. He taught me that my passion is ok and that my way is ok. Even when the bosses tell you something, if you believe it do it. For him to write what he wrote about me, I can’t wait for y’all to see it. I want to talk about it so much but I want y’all to have to read it. It’s awesome. It means the world to me that he would take the time to do it.

Like Greg Sankey is the commissioner of the SEC and I gave him the very first copy that I had ever held in my hands. McGee and I were interviewing him and he said he wanted one, but that I would have to sign it. So I sat down right there and signed it and said it was like handing him my first child. He wrote on the Internet how good it was and that Eric Church had written the greatest forward that he had ever read in years – he was right. I could talk for days about him – my hero!

AM: One of the things that we were struck by is the amount of people on Twitter who were talking about how those who pre-ordered received FaceTime messages thanking them for doing so.

MS: I have 52 people left to call! I was trying to think of a way – I felt bad that the people that pre-ordered the book that they invested in me and I wanted to make it personal. I saw that Kurt Busch, one of the NASCAR drivers, had FaceTimed some of his fans. So I thought that we should try that. I thought it would be 10 people. Marty will call you or FaceTime you if you pre-order his book. It was a lot more than 10 people. To see the reactions from the people! One young lady called me and said, “you’re always talking about people who give you that passion and this life direction to help you have that perspective and to stay focused – you’re that person for me.” She was in tears. She can’t wait to have the book. It was very fulfilling for me as well. They’re so appreciative.

AM: I mean just from the comments, people running out of the meetings in their offices and getting so excited.

MS: One guy worked in the Library of Congress and he was so excited that my book was going to be there. Another guy worked as a Missouri State Trooper or a Detective. He pulled over and took a picture of us talking. I still have a few people to contact and I will get to them. One of them was my high school football teammate, we were Defensive Backs a long time ago. We won the state championship together.

AM: Do you foresee writing another book?

MS: That’s up to the publisher, but if they afford me the opportunity – hell yes! There are 25 chapters in this book and there are at least 15 stories that I didn’t even get to. I talked to Paul George about what it was like when he broke his leg in half. The way he felt and the way he saw his team react. The vulnerability and how stripped he was. I talked to Anthony Davis – I was surprised it went down this road. It was in the middle of Black Lives Matter was such a movement in this country. We kind of brought up race and here I am having this great conversation of depth with this gentleman who grew up in Chicago, African American a face for those other young man growing up in that neighborhood. He got out, you can do this. Being interviewed by a 40 year old white man from a rural Appalachian town and how we were connecting and what an example we can be together. It was a wonderful conversation. Stuff like that that’s not even in the book. I hope this book is received well enough that I get that chance – I would be honored.

AM: As someone who travels as much as you do, what are 3 items in your carry-on that makes you feel comfortable or have a sense of home?

MS: Everything is a carry-on I don’t check bags. Bose Q35 Noise Cancelling headphones are my life blood because I am such a music guy. Costa Del Mar are my sunglass guys – I always have them with me because of the injured eye. I like having it covered. Either Jordan 1s, 3s, 4s or 11s. I don’t ever travel without at least 1 pair of Jordans - ever.

AM: The Sneaker Duffle is going to do well.

MS: Yes thank you! ESPN watchers know me for my sneakers. When I was growing up, once again, my dad never in a million years would have been like I would pay $140 for those shoes. Hell no! When I was in 8th grade maybe 9th. I saved enough money from throwing hay bales in the summer to buy my first pair of Js. They were 5s. The original pair of 5s, I don’t have any 5s in Ocean City or I would show you what I was talking about. The original 5s have clear bottoms – soles. The clear bottoms had the Jump Man in the ball of the foot. If you wore them outside, they would soil to this amber color. I was not about to let that happen. I would carry my Js to school and then put them on when I got there. I never lost that. If you guys had any idea of how neurotic I am about my shoes. All of my shoes are like that. I’m a Js guy and I love Air Max 90s the original Air Max and I am crazy about these. I would say those 3 things.

AM: How do you take time for yourself to decompress with all of the things that you do?

MS: Water. I grew up on a farm, I still own hundreds of acres in Southwest Virginia that is still farmed. When I was a little boy, I was always captivated by the beach. So we bought here 5 years ago I believe our families bought this home and last July, Lainie and I bought a home on Lake Norman in Charlotte and that’s where we live full time. It allows me to really reflect, be vulnerable and to consider who I want to be. It also allows my children to get away from their phones and for me to get away from it and get away from everything. It allows me to be a dad that is creating memories. That’s so important to me to be a present father and husband when I’m not on the road – to be here. I try very hard. It’s hard for any driven professional. I do my dead level best to demand that of myself. Last night, we sat on the beach. I didn’t have my phone other than to play music on a Bluetooth speaker from 3 o'clock in the afternoon to 10:30pm. I bet I had 50 or 60 text messages. Don't judge me – you promise – I have 193 unread text messages! When I’m here, I purposely don’t get on my phone. Tomorrow I will be in Charlotte for our college football seminar for the next 2 days, the day after that I have to shoot something for Marty & McGee all day for the SEC network, the day after that I’m in Clemson, SC all day covering the first practice for the Tigers and we’re kicking off August 24th. And I have a book coming out!

You know one thing that you will never hear me do – complain. I won’t do it. Do you know how many people would sever fingers – I’m aware. I’m very protective of my time in a demanding industry. But, I’m a grinder man.

AM: When you’re in Ocean City, where can we find you grabbing a meal, go shopping or working out?

MS: Kessel's Korner 28th & Asbury. We eat there that’s our spot. Express Pizza is right around the corner here too. They both have grilled buffalo wraps – grilled chicken buffalo. I’m a buffalo sauce freak show – I love it. I don’t only get the grilled buffalo wrap, I get extra buffalo on the side because I dunk it in there – buffalo sauce is my deal man. I go to the local gym and I’m also an endurance athlete. I was supposed to run the New York City Triathalon but they canceled it because of the Heat Index hitting 115 degrees. I was supposed to do the running portion and to be apart of a trio it’s called Challenged Athletes Foundation. Bob Babbitt one of the godfathers of triathlons in this country asked me to participate. There was going to be a double amputee as our swimmer, a world class cyclist as our cyclist and I was going to do the run in Central Park. I run the boardwalk all the time it’s 5 miles. 2.5 each way and I do it all the time.

Lainie gets on the Internet. She got all of our school supplies from Target. 7th Street Surf Shop is another one that we enjoy. Heritage Surf Shop is another one because I love surf T-shirts, big brim hats because I am super pale.

AM: We’re all about #TRIBEGOALS – people who inspire us to be our best selves. Who are those 3 people for you?

MS: Not to say that I want to be overwhelming about the book, but it’s one of the reasons why I wanted to write it. I wanted to champion those people. My parents would be one answer. I am so fortunate and I’m that guy who's an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. My momma was an angel and my daddy battled my demons. I got both of them inside me. I am so fortunate that I had them. They were very present for every game I ever played, they were very demanding, I was one of those guys that if I wasn’t on the honor roll then I didn’t get to play. I’m so thankful for that. I got spanked if I did something wrong and I got wooped – there were no time outs. I’m thankful for that. Everything I said about Eric applies here. It’s because he showed me through our friendship and through his approach to be absolutely unmitigated to be who you are. Be passionate, reach through that camera lens! I knew that when I was covering NASCAR working for ESPN on a Sat morning SportsCenter in the fall when people were ready to watch college football – you may not be interested in NASCAR but you will listen to me during that 2 months because of how much I love it. He helped me realize that that would be ok! Then my wife, Lainie is such a special person. She’s selfless, graceful, she don’t take no crap, she is my single greatest sounding board and will tell me the truth the whole time. That’s why she is reading the book for the first time. She is so astute and I am so appreciative of that. She also made me more selfless.

IG @MartySmithESPN

Our shoot took place in Ocean City, NJ which meant that we enjoyed showcasing menswear looks that are perfect for the beach.

FASHION CREDITS

LOOK 1 PG 16-25 | LE TIGRE Polo Shirt | KENNETH COLE Shorts | SPERRY Gold Cup Collection | TIMEX Watch | NAGICIA Bracelet | COSTA DEL MAR Sunglasses |

LOOK 2 COVER + PG 26 - 35 | KENNETH COLE Shirt | MAVI Shorts | SPERRY Gold Cup Collection | TiMEX Watch | CLEAR VISION OPTICAL/REVO Sunglasses | HEX BRAND Sneaker Duffle | JORDANS Sneakers |

LOOK 3 BACK COVER PG 37 - 49 | MAVI Denim Shirt + Shorts | TIMEX Watch | KENNETH COLE Sneakers | CLEAR VISION OPTICALS/REVO Sunglasses | EARTHCRUISER Bike |

You can hear the full interview with ESPN's Marty Smith in August on our show, #TRIBEGOALS which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the July Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Context + Repetition: Marty Smith in mag.