Ep. 120 - Greg Rakestraw - Professional Moment Describer

[00:00:00] Welcome to Mental Toughness with Dr. Rob Bell. Each week, Dr. Rob sits down with athletes,

[00:00:15] executives, and expert coaches to talk about mental toughness and their hinge moment. Here's

[00:00:21] your host, Dr. Rob. why is this one so sweet? What was the process like to get through that moment and to describe that in as succinct of a fashion as possible? Folks, when I finished my 100-miler, I was happy to be done, but I wasn'tous.com. So our guest today is vice president of the ISC sports network. He is the voice of indie 11 post game host for culture radio network.

[00:03:00] He calls play by play for the ISSA state championship events, horizon league,

[00:04:03] since been a victim of the last 20 years. So, so no, that was,

[00:04:05] that was kind of my second job in the market,

[00:04:07] kind of cutting my teeth and growing at WNDE.

[00:04:10] But that step from NDE to Franklin was huge for me

[00:04:13] because it allowed me to, to learn,

[00:04:17] to figure out how to put together a talk show.

[00:04:19] It's how I learned how to be a program director

[00:04:21] and run a radio station.

[00:04:23] And even though, you know,

[00:04:24] radio is not my full-time job anymore,

[00:04:26] there's a lot of things through the old yearbook the high school yearbook from Lanesville or 25 year reunion Here we go. And the idea was, hey, you know, state one that you know, but feel free to be a bit pithy about things or smart alecke to put them in more Southern Indiana terms on some of those things. So, you know, it turned out, the one that I was probably on the most was the Brady versus Manning top 10 games.

[00:07:01] Oh, okay.

[00:07:02] And it kind of turned into Tom Curran.

[00:07:04] And if you saw Tom, you know who he is.

[00:07:06] He's worked for a variety of outlets in Boston, That's ridiculous. Nobody does that in the National Football League. And we were so lucky that that was the case, you know, here in Indianapolis. No, it's fantastic. I love the way you share that, man. With you know, with that said, you talked about like you're in the play by play and then announcing like you weren't a moment maker,

[00:08:20] but a moment describer.

[00:08:22] Can you elaborate on what you meant?

[00:08:24] Sure. And I forget what the

[00:09:23] You set out to win the darn thing and you did, but what makes it,

[00:09:25] what made it,

[00:09:26] what obstacles were overcome in that process?

[00:09:28] Why is this one so sweet?

[00:09:30] What was the process like to get through that moment

[00:09:34] and to describe that in as succinct of a fashion as possible?

[00:09:39] So while those are moments for me

[00:09:43] because of what I have chosen to do for a career, thing is going to be memorable. I want to make sure I get it right. People are into my brain or anything like that. But for me as a broadcaster, it is having that stage. I am one of about 35 people that have a chance to broadcast pre-season games on television. And the room is so big.

[00:12:23] The ratings locally and nationally for pre-season football are absolutely nuts.

[00:12:27] It's part of the reason why of doing those games coming up in August. I take a great deal of pride in that. Wow. That's fantastic. Greg, I would not have guessed that that would have been your answer one. Cause I'm not really a preseason football guy at all. Cause I've got to save up, but I thought, I thought, I thought for sure. You were going to say 2016 miracle at the mic, man, like when Brad

[00:13:42] ring, chugs of beer, that's, that's, that's very important.

[00:13:46] That's one of my favorite indie 11 memories.

[00:14:43] I mean, being there play by play. Talk to us real quick about time.

[00:14:47] And what I mean is, and giving you a chance for it,

[00:14:50] I mean, the concept of how powerful that resource is.

[00:14:54] One of the things that I want the listeners to know is,

[00:14:57] I mean, you have, I can mention a date three weeks out

[00:15:00] and you know off the top of your head exactly where you are

[00:15:02] at that point, because you have to be.

[00:15:04] But talk to us about like time and as your career has progressed, that we talked about as an NCAA athlete, of which I was now some 25 years ago. But one of the things that is often talked about, the student athlete experience is time management. You've got 15 hours of class, you've got 20 hours of practice, you've got 10 hours of workouts, you've got this much amount of travel

[00:16:21] to get to your games or your matches that week,

[00:16:24] you've got to find a way to make all of that fit. It was with him in time, I think was the name of the movie where time was the currency. That's kind of how it works in the Rakeshore family too. Nice man. I remember Herschel Walker said one time, this is on Jim Rome show and he just said, you know, Jim Rome asked him, so when was the last time you missed a workout? And Herschel Walker, matter of fact, he said, I've never missed a workout. Yeah. And Jim kind of challenged him a little bit.

[00:17:41] So I want to follow up on that question, not the workout, but, um, I think I could be more prepared. I have done this long enough now where I can kind of work my way around that and nobody knows the difference. But for me, it's literally making sure I can be in two different places over the course of a day.

[00:19:03] There have been times I have been to, I think that number is about 130 at this point in time.

[00:20:20] So it shows you how many I kind of knock off at things like the Hall of Fame

[00:20:23] Classic, the Paul Logan Classic, Forum Tip-Off Classic,

[00:20:26] a lot of classics clearly here. Now you got me thinking. So, again, I grew up in Maryland, and you always hear about Indiana basketball of course until you're here, I got here after you know class basketball, where to a place like the Hatchet House, and last year, as in spring of 2022, Cathedral and Beach Grove were both assigned to the semi-state in Washington. And I just happened to be in the building before those teams got there, and to watch them both walk in and go,

[00:23:01] this is an arena, this seats 7,000 people.

[00:23:05] This is a high school sports and that high school sports has a Somewhat level footing with the Colts with the Pacers with Indiana There is a place to be a high school sports reporter or a high school sports television slash host and

[00:24:24] You can make a successful living doing that in a market the size of Indianapolis And that's because people care about this a great deal here

[00:25:23] He jumps to the front of the list on that standpoint.

[00:25:27] There is a more recent vintage. Young man named Caden Curred

[00:25:29] has completed his first year at Ohio State University.

[00:25:31] And I saw a lot of his games his last three years

[00:25:34] at Center Grove.

[00:25:36] And I put him on a list of three or four

[00:25:39] high school football players in terms of the best

[00:25:42] that I have seen in the 25 years I've been doing this

[00:25:45] in Central Indiana.

[00:25:46] The other guys that are a part of that group I think you'll be a great one at the next level. Greg, with that said, right, like everybody who is in the NFL, even on special teams, right? I mean, they were the best player at their high school, the best player in the area, bar none. What do you think it is that separates?

[00:27:01] And I understand, I mean, there's a lot of factors

[00:27:05] that go into it.

[00:28:03] This is the skill set that I do exceedingly well. And this will keep me in the national football league.

[00:28:07] And the best example I can give you of that is Jack Doyle.

[00:28:11] Jack obviously played nine years

[00:28:13] in the national football league

[00:28:14] for his hometown team, the Colts.

[00:28:16] And he did so because he was an elite level blocker.

[00:28:21] Now he had a confluence of circumstances

[00:28:24] that helped him to get to this point.

[00:28:25] And then he took advantage of it.

[00:28:27] Because I covered him in high school. We're basically a tight end or a wide receiver comes in motion pinches down hits and unsuspecting defensive lineman and Jack Doyle was amongst the elite guys doing that for a decade in the National Football League. I have joked that we should call a wham block in central Indiana a Doyle block. That's how good he was at it. So again because of the work that he put in,

[00:29:41] the recognition of hey I do something at ananted him here in terms of loop roads, it was a case of these are guys that played another position. But realized, hey, if I want to continue my career, this is how I'm gonna have to do it.

[00:31:04] It's almost like the old discipline involved in terms of what translates to somebody else in a different field in terms of what I do, the ability to grind, the ability to have discipline, the ability to prepare, those are things that aren't about your talent. And those are things that I have to do on a daily basis to have the level of success that I've been fortunate enough to have 25 years into my

[00:33:41] career.

[00:33:42] Well said.

[00:33:43] Want to listen to your favorite music, but you're sick of all

[00:33:46] the commercial interruptions and negative news today. Tune into just being a fan. And so that's one of the things that I remember getting to the now demolished Bruges restaurant in Broadriffle. And this is the pre-kids day, so my wife and I could do this. You know, we get there like three hours before the final to get the seat that we want and being able to have that communal experience of watching the match eight years

[00:35:00] before the Indy 11 ever existed

[00:35:03] was one of my favorite memories.

[00:35:04] And frankly, not having the Patriots in the playoffs for a third time in a four year stretch. So there was ulterior motives there.

[00:36:21] Simply being a fan, 86 UofL winning the national championship, should I be asking? What part do you want to have a mic drop moment on there, Greg? No, this is your show. I don't have to have a mic drop moment. You can determine when that mic drop moment happens. I am good to answer whatever questions you want to fire my way. What is the piece of information that you feel everyone should know when it comes to the mental game and life?

[00:37:44] So much of life is between the years. quote man Greg thank you so much man for taking the time out of your schedule and really appreciate you joining us man. Of course I am a big fan of yours I'm a big fan of your books and I cannot wait thank you for sending one my way it is still sitting there on the countertop in the kitchen I have not cracked it open yet and if I wait for free time I'll never read it so I will be dedicating

[00:39:02] time to making that happen. Thanks for listening to Mental Toughness with Dr. Rob Bell.