FWD | The Ride Home That Changed Everything

What happens when a coach realizes he needs to stop coaching—and start being a dad?

In the first episode of Forward, Joe Clemente shares the story behind The Long Ride Home: How to Help Your Kids Shine in Youth Sports (Without Driving Them Crazy) and the painful car ride that changed the way he approached parenting, coaching, and youth sports.

Joe and Kevin Mulhearn talk candidly about the pressure parents place on young athletes, the mistakes they made with their own children, and why even well-intentioned criticism can damage a child’s confidence, enjoyment, and relationship with sports.

This conversation is not about lowering expectations or giving everyone a trophy. It is about helping kids compete, grow, and work hard without allowing a parent’s pride, frustration, or fear to take over.

In this episode:

• The ride home that inspired Joe to write the book
 • Why parents criticize their children when they are most vulnerable
 • The difference between being a parent and being a coach
 • How pressure and financial investment affect sports families
 • Why young athletes remember our words long after the game ends
 • How parents can help raise better athletes—and better people

Forward is a podcast from Hard Knock Press featuring honest conversations about youth sports, parenting, coaching, growth, and the lessons that extend far beyond the field.

Better Athletes. Better People.

Order The Long Ride Home at hardknockpress.com.

Questions, comments, or stories to share? Email hello@hardknockpress.com.

Subscribe to Forward and share this episode with a parent, coach, or athlete who needs to hear it.

Transcript

Kevin T. Mulhearn 0:00

Okay. All right. Okay Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first episode of "The Long Ride Home" podcast. This is a labor of love that has been created as an addition to Joe Clemente's new book, "The Long Ride Home: How to Help Your Kids Shine in Youth Sports (Without Driving Them Crazy)." I can tell you that, uh, as a new publisher, uh, when I first got Joe's book, I was so excited because I said, This is something that, number one, I wish I had 10 years ago when my kid was first starting to play sports. And number two, that every parent who's going through the journey of being a sports parent and navigating their kids' journeys through whatever sport they choose to play really needs to figure out how to monitor their own conduct to enhance rather than diminish their kids' experience. I can tell you that parents really take their kids' sports seriously. Kids take it seriously. But too many times parents are, uh, are on a limb and have nowhere to get off. They don't know what to do, what not to do, and there's no guidance, there's no playbook, there's no instructions as to what a parent needs to do to maximize the kid's enjoyment, to maximize the relationship between you and your son and daughter, and to maximize the kid's experience playing a sport, especially if it gets competitive in high school and beyond. Joe's book fills in a gaping hole, uh, in the market because it very simply and clearly in a very common sense approach tells people, "This is what you need to do," and perhaps more importantly, "This is what you need not to do." As soon as I read the book, I knew that this was gonna be the first book published by Hard Knock Press, and I'm thrilled and delighted to introduce Joe Clemente, Coach Joe Clemente, uh, the author of "The Long Ride Home" and a stalwart baseball coach in, New York and New Jersey area for more than 25 years, the last 14 of which Joe has been a mainstay of the Don Bosco Prep High School baseball program, which is one of the most successful baseball programs in the entire country, and certainly the top of the state of New Jersey. So Joe, welcome. Why don't you tell the folks a little bit about yourself before we get into the guts of the book

Joe Clemente 2:54

Sure. Uh, first and foremost, Kev, thank you so much for, you know, taking the book on. I'm so excited and so thankful to Hard Knock Press for you and your entire staff, for, for doing this. This is... This has been a, a dream come true for me, so that's first and foremost. So a little bit about, uh, Coach Joe Clemente. I was born in Denville, New Jersey, lived in Parsippany, uh, until I was nine. I ended up moving to, uh, Mahwah with, with my family and, um, pretty much from there, I ended up, I, had the, uh, privilege of, of attending Don Bosco Prep, uh, playing there, until I was a sophomore. There was an unfortunate situation with my best friend, he had passed away. If you go to any of the Don Bosco Prep games, his, uh, his plaque is on the, uh, on the third base dugout, you know, Doug Davis. So from there, I ended up... my, my stepbrother was a track coach over in, uh, at Elizabeth High School. And, there was an opportunity there. Uh, the baseball coach had seen me play and, um, I needed to get away a little bit because as a, you know, as a, 15-year-old kid, it was very traumatic for me to lose my best friend. And, I ended up going to Elizabeth High School, which was an awesome experience. I ended up, playing both baseball and football

Kevin T. Mulhearn 4:18

and You, you were actually all-state in both baseball and football,

Joe Clemente 4:20

Yeah, I was very fortunate. I was an all-state catcher, and I was an all-state kicker. my senior year, I was actually a, uh, a, preseason, uh, All-American for both, which was pretty awesome. And from there, I had an opportunity, um, football and baseball-wise to, to play in college. I had a bunch of offers, to kick in school and, and then also play baseball. And for me, I was, I was extremely fortunate, um, to get recruited by Mississippi State, uh, Coach Ron Polk. he really wanted me to come in, he brought me down there. And Coach Jackie Sherrill wanted me to kick there. So having an opportunity to do both was, was an honor. I went there. I went to Mississippi State. I was there, um, uh, for a year and a half... no, two years, I apologize, for, for my first two years, and I got into a really bad car wreck, which was, uh, which was crazy. I, I wasn't driving. It was unfortunate. I was in the hospital for a while and, when I, uh, when I got out, had lost a, a ton of rotation in my hips. They told me, you know, I was gonna be lucky to walk again. And then, uh, seven months later, I finally stepped on the field, but it was hard. I had lost everything that, I'd had when I was in high school. It was just... I had to rebuild everything from, from, you know, from scratch, and, I thank all the people that were there to help. But I was fortunate enough to, I ended up transferring closer to, to home, which was, I ended up playing at the University of Maryland College Park. I played my, my, my, the rest of my career there, and then, I got picked up as a, as a free agent pick from the Detroit Tigers.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 6:14

you actually w- earned your way into the Maryland Hall of Fame,

Joe Clemente 6:17

I did. Yes, sir. I, I was very fortunate to have that opportunity and then, I had an opportunity to play, some pro ball. I got injured. I had torn my rotator cuff. It was actually from the accident. I never got it surgically repaired. I tore my rotator cuff in three areas, and, I tried to rehab it, kept playing through it, finally got the best of me. So I ended up, I got released, and I ended up playing some independent ball

Kevin T. Mulhearn 6:42

So when you say professional ball, you were with the Detroit Tigers organization for a time,

Joe Clemente 6:46

Yeah, I was, I was in the minors. But, but once I got injured- I ended up going and playing, indie ball, which was awesome. Had a, had a ton of fun, met a lot of great people. And then from there, once I got done with that, I ended up coming back home and, I got involved in training, training young, you know, youth athletes. And it was, it was awesome. Like, it was, it was my calling. I loved it. I started training kids, started coaching kids. And I think that's, like, when the first set of club baseball actually started. You know? It was so long ago. I was there training and coaching for almost a year, and then I got asked, uh, I got an opportunity to go overseas, and I got asked to coach, a team in, in Italy called, Codogno. And it was, you know, the, the northern part of Italy. It was beautiful, phenomenal. I went there And that was a, that was a test. You know, I didn't speak the language. Thank God I had, an interpreter who was my assistant coach and didn't hate me. You know what I'm saying? I had to be able to trust him.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 7:56

that that was a gift.

Joe Clemente 7:57

oh, that was huge. Danielli was huge. And then I, we ended up going out. We weren't supposed to do really well, but we actually ended up winning the entire thing. So it was an awesome

Kevin T. Mulhearn 8:10

That's Italian League World Series?

Joe Clemente 8:12

Yeah. So it was, it was awesome. We ended up winning the whole thing, ticker tape parade and everything, and I was the youngest, manager to ever win the World Series. They told me that I was manager of the year. And, when I came home, my mom was actually sick. So instead of going back, I ended up staying home. And then I got right back to where I was with coaching kids, training kids, and I loved it. And that was where my passion was. And I just wanted to be able to help kids and, and athletes, you know, give them knowledge that they would not receive until, you know, until they got to that level, whether they played varsity baseball, co-collegiate baseball, or pro ball. So for me, it, it was fun and, you know, it didn't feel like work because I was, I was passing down knowledge and getting paid for it. So I was like, "This is awesome." Eventually, I got to the point where, I had a ton of clients, and I had an opportunity to open my own place, and that's what I did. And it, it went really well. We grew from there, we started building club teams. that's where... I mean, that's really where this all started to stem from, right? I met my beautiful wife. We got married. we ended up having kids, Joey being my first one. And that's where This, this book started with that, that situation with my becoming a parent, and trying to be a coach and a parent, and then seeing everything that was happening in the, in the, in the sports world with, and how parents were treating these athletes.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 10:01

Well, you know, we're gonna get into the, the, the book in just a second, but, yeah, I just wanna t-tell the viewers that you and I first met in 2023 when you were coaching junior varsity Don Bosco Prep baseball team, of which my son was the center fielder. he was awesome. and I can tell you as a dad, the Don Bosco Prep, culture has a lot of pressure for kids. It's very, very highly competitive, program. Mike Rooney, the head coach, likes to say that kids are competing with each other every single day in practice because it's true. 'Cause e-even if you're playing and starting, there's two or three kids on the bench who are really good, who are, who are pressing you 'cause they wanna get their time on the field. So there was a lot of pressure in the Bosco program. And one thing I s- I, I, I can say that, and my fellow parents, I, I think would agree with me, you were great at, at making the pressure work for them, not against them, and, and making sure that despite all that pressure, and there's a lot of pressure in the Don Bosco program, the experience was still very joyful and, and fun experience, and the kids had a blast playing for you. I saw it. I was really impressed by that. And years after the fact when you come and tell me, after your team, the 20, 23 junior varsity team wound up winning the whole thing, the New Jersey State Championship non-public A, as well as the Bergen County Tournament. After you, after that was done, Dennis' high school career was over, you came to me and said, "I have a book and wanna see if you can do something with it." And I read it, and like I said, I was blown away by, by how much it reaches parents who, who really don't have any guidance anywhere else as to how to conduct themselves when raising kids who are competitive athletes. And, I was really incredibly impressed with the book. That's why we were so eager to publish it. We, we published this as our, our first book out of the box, for Hard Knock Press, and I'm really proud to, to do that. And I really think that this podcast, which we're gonna be doing now regularly on a weekly basis, is gonna also help a, a lot of people. Unfortunately, in today's world, people, in general are reading less and less books. There's a lot of people who, who really communicate now through, through visual medium and, and the like. Podcast, Y- YouTube videos, Instagram videos, you, you name it. So we're mindful of that, even though I'm a bit of a, of a dinosaur and, and we're, we're trying to reach another part of the audience who's gonna benefit from this with the podcast. So even if, if you, you haven't read a book in five years, you can still benefit by tuning into the podcast, listening to you and, and your stories and, and lessons that you're, that you're teaching with "The Long Ride Home." So really happy that this podcast is now gonna be a, a regular weekly event, and it's gonna, I think, enhance, people's enjoyment of your book. And f- and folks, read the book. It's, it's worth a read, read the book. You can get through it. It's got a couple hours of your life, and it's really gonna help you. So Joe, why don't you tell us, if you could, about the genesis of the book, why you decided to write this book, what compelled you to do So,

Joe Clemente 13:18

I had to give you my confession, right? That's really what it comes down to.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 13:21

Yes.

Joe Clemente 13:22

These are things that are... you're gonna be able to read and see that are in the book. And, and this, the reason why I wrote this book is because, there was a situation that happened with me and my son, my oldest, while he was playing baseball. And the way that I acted and the way that I reacted to all this stuff is the main reason why I did this. Because it, it actually lingered with me for so long, I couldn't get away from it. I tried. I swear to you, I tried. Like I, I tried to forget about it and you know, it was so many years ago. But like something would pop up and, and what would actually happen, right Kev, is that like- I'm in the sports world. I'm coaching. Every day that I would show up to a baseball game or, you know, see my daughter's cheer events, you always think you've seen it all, right? Like, you know, "Oh, I saw a parent do that. I've seen that. I've seen them say this." I mean, like, crazy stuff, and then all of a sudden something different happens that you've never seen before. So it, it just started to, build up, and I started just putting down voice in, on my car rides, you know, from, you know, wherever I was going to work or to a game, to a tournament, whatever it might be. And as I put more and more of these notes together, I started to realize, I gotta get rid of this demon. This demon that sits inside of me is how I treated my kid when he was nine years old.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 14:49

So so tell us about the demon.

Joe Clemente 14:50

Yeah, so, um, so my son, you know, when... Growing up, because we owned sports facilities, right? Growing up in, in the baseball world, like, he loved it. All he would do every day is, "Hey, Dad, let's play catch. Let's hit a field," whatever it might be, and I, and I was there, you know, every day, and we would do it, and he was really good. He was really good. And I, and I know, like, people are gonna be like, "Oh," like, "how good is a seven-year-old? I'm not saying that you can tell if a kid's a big leaguer, 'cause you can't at seven and eight years old, but you know if they have hand-eye coordination, if they can catch a ball, if they can hit a ball, so forth and so on, and he, and he did it really well. And he, he had fun in Little League. He did well. He played with his peers. You know, they had a blast. Made All-Stars, right? Would hit, like, three, four or five or something like that. And, you know, there was a situation where, we were, we were playing club baseball. Like, we, we built a team for right? Here's a nine-year-old club team. Nobody, like, even heard about it back then. So we put this team together, put 'em in a league, played tournaments and, and had a, a ton of fun, and Joey was doing really, really well. And we were, we were in a game and, know, they all had to wear their masks, Little League masks like that. And unfortunately, the kid that was throwing against in this, in this game, he was throwing hard. He was a big, strong kid. Joey and him knew each other. They all, like, you know, at that age, they all know each other. And he let one fly in the... You know, again, he's a young kid. He, not knowing control. Joey kinda, like, went to, like, get out of the way 'cause it was thrown up and in. And, like, his mask, like, his helmet, like, kinda jumped up, and the ball squared him up, dead in the face. Struck him right in the face. And as soon as it hit him, of course, as a parent, I'm like, "Oh, did it hit the mask?" But he went down, and, when he went down, he wasn't moving. We were like, "Oh my God." my wife, of course, sprinted out of the stands. We got to the home plate. The umpire was there, even the other coaches, and there was just, there was blood everywhere, right? So the seams had cut his face up pretty good on his, on his cheek and stuff like that. I think he still has a scar across his eye. And, he started coming to. I don't know if he was knocked out. I, I don't think he ever lost consciousness, but I think he was so stunned at the moment,

Kevin T. Mulhearn 17:16

Standing eight count at least,

Joe Clemente 17:18

Yes, he, he got up, you know what I'm saying? Gotta give him props for that. But, we rushed him to the hospital. Fortunately, they, they did all the CAT scans, all the, you know, X-rays, stuff like that. Thank God nothing was, like, seriously damaged, broken. Just bruised really, really bad, needed stitches. And, you know, again, as a, as a first-time parent, he's my oldest, how do you handle it, right? Like, when I got hit in pro ball and, you know, I, I took, I took a couple of good fastballs in the ribs, trust me, at 99, and it, and it, you know, felt like a gunshot. But you, like, you know, you, you wake up three days later and you're like, "Hey, let's get after it," you know? so I'm expecting the same thing. that definitely was not what occurred. So after he healed up, got him back on the field, very, very timid. afraid of balls being thrown at him, didn't wanna field ground balls, was afraid of getting hit in the face. Definitely didn't wanna get in the box, right? And, it got to the point where he would get into the box, he would stand like I think his toes were on the batter's box, like the furthest part, you know? He was a left-handed hitter, and it was either a strikeout or a walk. He, like, he wouldn't even swing the bat. And my wife kept telling me, "It's just gonna take time. It's gonna take time." I'm like, "Come he got hit in the face. He loves the sport. He was so good at it.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 18:45

Even major leaguers sometimes react that way. I remember Paul Blair, who was a really good player for the Baltimore Orioles, he got hit in the face, and he was never the same. He was always bailing out every single pitch. He was bailing out instinctively. No, it's tough. It's tough for even major leaguers sometimes.

Joe Clemente 19:01

But I, but as a parent and as a coach, I couldn't, I couldn't put those two pieces together. I couldn't figure out that like I was 35 year, you know, whatever, 40 years old, or when I played I was 22, I, I just couldn't match it up. Like, I kept thinking that for somebody like me as an athlete, like if I got hit or something like that, I was gonna get back in it. But I don't remember when I was eight years old, nine years old, 10 years old.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 19:31

You know, baseball, more than any other game, is a game of failure, and it's not really a game of failure. It's a game of how to deal with failure. so you were facing for the first time your son's failure at the game, futility really, for a time in response to getting hit in the face. So how did you deal with it, and how did you respond?

Joe Clemente 19:48

It's the adversity, right? Like, you're like, how do you deal with this? And I did a really bad job. Like, I'm not gonna lie to you, like, I did a really, really bad job. And, my wife let me know

Kevin T. Mulhearn 20:00

F- f-

Joe Clemente 20:00

And that's exactly how the book was born. So I, again, having that situation, there was a ride home. we were in a championship and, situation in the game we needed Joey to perform. and he didn't. We did end up winning the game, like extra innings, stuff like that. but on that ride home, it was a 45-minute ride home, and that was where this book was born from. Because that ride home, I totally, like, like almost destroyed my kid. Thank God he, he's so resilient. Kids are resilient. but I'm gonna tell you, I was forcing him to quit because I f- I felt that he was not up to par. And my wife What are you doing? He's a 10-year-old kid." You

Kevin T. Mulhearn 20:57

You were actually telling him, "Why don't you just quit? Yeah. this isn't working for you."

Joe Clemente 21:01

I'm like, "You, we... Let's go pick up another sport. Like, it's, I love you, but, like, we, you gotta pick up another sport, man. Like this is, it's over." And he was like, "Dad, I, I'm not quitting. Like, I'm not gonna quit. I love this. I'm gonna play. Like, I'll figure it out." And I just I remember just it replaying in my head like, it's over. It's over." Finally, we, we pull into the driveway. We get home, and he looks at me and he's like, "You know what, Dad? If, if you don't think I can do this, and you don't want me to play no more," he got out of the car, went into the house. I'll never forget. I'm sitting in the driver's seat, my wife is next to me, and I turn and look at her, kidding me?" like, "What did you just do?" te- like, what did I just do?" I need to be his dad first, not his coach. Like, I needed to be his dad.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 22:01

Did you realize that immediately after the

Joe Clemente 22:02

And, my wife was So she's like, "I'm gonna go take care of him." So she gets out of the car. She, she goes in. she's always putting out fires, right? She's the best. And I sat in the car for, like, a good hour And I, I just started, like, replaying everything that I had said and done. And finally I'm like, I owe my kid So I finally manned up, right? 'Cause at this point I was a coward for what I just did, and, I walked into the house, I grabbed him, and I say, "Man-

Kevin T. Mulhearn 22:42

Well, I don't, I don't know if you were a coward, Joe. I think you, you were misguided, and you didn't have the benefit of the long ride home.

Joe Clemente 22:46

honestly, Kev, that's the truth. I, I didn't know anything differently. I didn't have any playbook. I didn't know how to act. This was my first, my first time at this. First time parent, youth sports, you know, athlete, the whole nine. And, I went and spoke to... You know, I, I grabbed my kid. I said, "Listen, man, I, I'm sorry for what I just did. Like, I'm wrong. You know, I love you, and whatever you wanna do." And he looked at me, he's like, "Dad, I wanna play." Okay." I was like, "We'll, we'll figure it out." And it was a struggle. Like, I had to watch it, and it killed me. Like, I'm telling you, it would kill me. And, and I'm sure that it, it kills a lot of parents out there to watch their kids struggle, right? Like, because all we wanna do, honestly, I, I would, I would like to believe that 99.9% of the, the parents out there, they just wanna see their kids succeed. They want them to be better than they, than we were you

Kevin T. Mulhearn 23:45

when you realize how hard your kid has worked at, at perfecting the craft, how much they practice, how much they've lifted weights, how much they've done everything they can possibly do to put themselves in a position to succeed, and then they still fail. And, and, you know, it's, it's frustrating. And you're, you're n- you're not frustrated so much for yourself, but for your kid. You want them to, to be the best version of themselves they can be. And when, when they don't perform and don't have results on the field, it's hard to deal with as a parent. And parents, again, I'm telling you this from experience, from many bad, bad behav- bad acts of, of conduct on my part, you just don't know how to handle yourself. M- m- my, my kid, w- used to drive me crazy when he took a str- a, a called strike three. And, every time he, he'd do so, I would yell out, "Swing the bat," in a really loud, nasty, nasty way. "Swing the bat." From behind home

Joe Clemente 24:41

plate too, right?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 24:42

well, wherever I

Joe Clemente 24:43

Yeah wherever I want.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 24:43

close as I could be. Of course. And, and I remember l- you know, he would always look at me with this wounded look on his face. And I, and I'm thinking now in retrospect, every time I said, "Swing the bat," after he struck out, he's already ticked off that he struck out. It's like a knife going through i- into his side. It's just w- wasn't helpful. It didn't do anything. It just made him more disappointed in himself, m- more upset that he was disappointing me. It was just negative. It was bad. And, Dennis is still playing that, you know, fortunately, and the, the other day, strike three called. pitch was a little hi- little high, but it still strike three called. And, and I, and I was about to swing the bat, and I, and I said, "You know what? remember what you're reading from this, this damn book that you're publishing. You keep your mouth shut here, big boy." And, and I did. And, and he finished up the game with a, with a single and a triple at the end, the last two at bat. So, you know, the results actually w- wound up working pretty well in that game. But it's just, it's just a lesson learned. You have to really be very careful about how you act and speak to your child at all times.

Joe Clemente 25:47

I am very fortunate that what happened in that car ride home did not destroy my kid. he's battled through adversity. He's now, you know, 230, hammering baseballs all over the yard. He's a prospect, all that good stuff, right? like Dennis he's so fortunate to be playing in college. I mean, he's a stud, right? So, I'm very fortunate that he's over... You know, he, he overcame that and But, but here's the truth of the matter. It, it killed, it killed me. And every time... I'll tell you how it replayed in my, in my mind, and you're gonna laugh at me when I tell you this, that every time that I would see something happen at the field, after a game, as kids are walking into the car, getting into the car. Like I, I would see kids getting into a vehicle and, and as as the door is opening, like you could hear the parent be like, "Johnny, what, what did you do?" Like, "How did you take that?" And you're like, "Oh, man. Like this kid's absolutely gonna get destroyed in that car." So I, I... It just kept resonating, and every time that I would see it happen... Kev, the crazy part is it happened way more than it should have. It happened every game, every practice. Every- Like I just kept seeing it, and that's why I was like, "Man, I gotta, I gotta do Like, "I gotta write this." And, and not only... Like, "I gotta get this off my chest." and I'm not gonna lie to you, it was really... I know that sounds selfish,... I had to get it off my chest. But then as I started writing it, I'm like, "Hey, I can help these people." And that was, and that's really what it came down to. Like, how do we help people get better?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 27:32

I remember Dennis had just joined, Clarkstown Stars black team, which is a really, really good team, coached by Matt Rivera, who's one of the standout

Joe Clemente 27:39

Yeah, he's an awesome

Kevin T. Mulhearn 27:40

Amazing softball coach standout Rockland County, travel ball team. one of the best. Th- them and Rockland Elite at the time were the two, the two top programs in Rockland County. and we had the f- the first game, and we, we lost. And Dennis had made a, a key out in the last inning, and we lost the game by, by a run or two. And I, I remember taking him to the car. I was ticked off 'cause I didn't like the quality of the at bat. I was about ready to unload, and I'm, I'm sitting there. I close the, the door to my car. He gets in the passenger side, and we look over to the right, and the car next to us is one of Dennis' friends really good kid, really good player, too. He's still playing college ball right now. And his father is unleashing a tirade of like I've never seen, where, the eyebrows are to the top of the head, spittle's coming out of his mouth, hands are waving wildly. And before I could unload on my kid, we looked over at the scene unfolding in the car next to us, and the both of us started to laugh. and I actually held my tongue. the criticism was muted that day 'cause we realized the absurdity of it and looked at the parent and child right next to us, dealing with the same stuff that he was about to deal with in 10 seconds. So it's just, it's, it's kind of comical sometimes and this guy, I can tell you, tell you, the, the parent who did this, great guy, l- loves his kids, really good father, just was a wild man in, in, in that moment. A- and, and I was a wild man, too, at times, during Dennis' career as a, as a youth athlete. And, when I say wild, I mean unrestrained, unlimited, no boundaries, you know, no sense of decorum, just all bad things. and, and I re- I really wish I had a book like yours to help me back in the day. I really do. And that's why I think your book is so valuable for people now, especially if your kid is just starting in sports. Read this book. It's gonna help you so much. It's gonna help your kid so much, 'cause it really gonna make your experience a heck of a lot more enjoyable. That's the goal.

Joe Clemente 29:43

Yeah, 100%. I, I have a really cool story for you that you'll enjoy. So Ken Caminiti, God rest his right? I was very fortunate that, we were at a golf outing together, and I got to play golf with

Kevin T. Mulhearn 29:55

Former All-Star Houston Astro- Astros third baseman,

Joe Clemente 29:57

Yeah, just absolute stud. just- MVP .........MVPA. J- just a great, just a great dude. And he was probably one of the funniest people that you ever met, okay? And monster, huge, like jacked, right? He hits golf balls, like 700 yards. And we're talking and like, how crazy parents in youth sports are. And he's like, "Well," he's like, "Honestly," "things don't change that much. if, if we don't train them, like, if we don't help people now, they're not gonna change." He's like, "Check this out." He goes, "So a while back," he goes, "You know, I was in spring training. And I was playing third base, and whether I made a play or I didn't, there was this gentleman who was sitting in the third base, area," "and would just chirp the hell out of me." Like, I mean, every negative thing, I can't even say on this podcast, right, that he was telling us. And we were laughing hysterically. And the guy was like, "You're terrible," like, "Go home." So he gets almost through the entire spring training, okay? And the last, week, week and a half, the starters will play, the first three innings, get a couple of the bats, and then they go, they get into the locker room, and they can do whatever they want. They can stay and watch the game. They can go home, right? They've done their job. So what he ends up doing is he... he plays, like, three or four innings. He goes into the locker room, he puts his civvies on, and he comes out, and he sits right next to the guy who's heckling And he said, "If I could tell you what this guy's face looked like when I sat next to him." I was like, "Ken, was he big?" He's like, wasn't a very big man." He's like, "But I'll tell you right now, It was like, almost like he saw Jesus when I sat next to him," right? And I said, "Well, how'd you... You know, how'd you handle it?" He goes, "Before I could even get a word out, the guy started apologizing." Caminiti, I'm, I'm so sorry. Like I, I, I don't know why I say those things." And he looked at him, he goes, "Listen." I get it." He goes, "But please understand, like this is my job. Like when I come out there, like I work really, really hard to come out and play as good as I can, right? To be the best player I can be. But this game is really hard. Like it's the hardest sport in the world, okay?" He's like, "You know, I'm doing everything I can for my team first, but like I want the fans to enjoy it. Like I understand that you pay money to come in here and watch us play." He's like, "So I wanna give you everything I have." like, "So let me give you this example." He goes, "What do you do?" And the guy was like... I think he said like he was a computer programmer or something like that. He said, "Oh, so you, you sit at a desk, right? Like you do all your stuff." He's like, "Yes, I have an office." He said, "Okay. Let me... Just imagine this." He said, "Could you imagine if I came to your job every day and pulled up a chair, in your office, and every time that you went to do something, I started screaming profanities at you and telling you how, how bad you are and how terrible you are, and you shouldn't be here?" He said, "How, how would you do?" He looked at him. Like he said that it was like an epiphany. The guy actually looked at him and said, "I'm sorry." 'Cause I couldn't handle that He's like, "I would fail miserably and probably get fired." "And I wouldn't be able to take care of my family." So in that moment, that guy realized the amount of pressure that he was putting on these guys for no reason, right? Like, "Wow," what am I doing?" So the cool part of that story is, is that they actually became really good friends. Ken bought that seat for him for every spring training, And invited him out to see them play and got them tickets and bring him out. They actually became pretty cool friends. Again, God rest his soul, before he passed away. But that story always stuck with me, right? Because like I use that. I talk to parents. I'm like, "Could you imagine?" "Do you know what you're doing to your kids?" And again, I'm not the guy to be like, "Don't, don't train hard." Don't... Like I'm not trying to tell you not to work with your kids or make them tough.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 34:10

Joe, I mean, you're a pr- you're a product right now of the last 14 years of Don Bosco Prep, which is- Exactly which is, I think, you know, and I'm biased, but I think it's the best program in New Jersey for baseball, and it's also probably the most competitive and the mo- and the most pressure-packed. it takes a special kid to navigate four years of Don Bosco Prep baseball. It's not easy by any means. so, you know, what do you think is, you know, is the biggest problem right now in youth sports that you see all the time? And, and when I say youth sports, I mean anything from seven, eight to, to end of high school.

Joe Clemente 34:47

Well, it's the parents, right? Not every parent fits that mold. But I think that every parent everybody thinks their kid is a big leaguer, the next big leaguer, or has aspirations to be the next Derek Jeter, and I get that, right? I don't think we can fault any parent that wants their kid to be okay? But the way we go about doing it, we, we can control, okay? And I think you need to be realistic now, you talk about Bosco. I'm very fortunate to be a part of that staff, okay? very humbled too because, what Coach Rooney has done with that, program, and Coach Swire, all the coaches, Jimmy, Jalaya. I mean, it- it's, it's phenomenal, okay? We're biased, right? Being the best program in, in the state of New Jersey, but I'm gonna tell you that our conference, like the Big North, you know this, how tough it is. Any of those schools at any given moment could be the top team in the state, maybe even in the country, So, you know, you gotta tip your cap to anybody who plays in that conference or, or, is a parochial school in that area. And I don't wanna take away from the publics, right? There's a ton of really good public programs too, You know, because of where I coach, I see more of the parochials, it's the pressure, right? You, you asked me what, what it is. It's the, it's the pressure from that gets to these right? When nobody realizes how hard, I think you said it earlier, how hard these kids work. It, it's no longer like, hey, season to season. It's 365, right? These kids are training, they're lifting, they're hitting, they're throwing, they're fielding. they're doing mental stuff now, right? As parents, we need to help them. Like, we need to guide them

Kevin T. Mulhearn 36:31

pi-- I can tell you, Joe, people from outside the program have no clue how hard they work. I don't think that they would estimate that even a fraction of the actual effort that goes into it. I mean, it was pretty extraordinary, and that's one thing I tip my cap to Mike Rooney for, 'cause he really has those kids buying in that, they are gonna get every ounce of ability out of each other. and it's not easy to do that. But, they will take every step to maximize, their ability, to maximize their performance. And it doesn't happen all the time. I mean, Bosco loses games, you know, we get beat. but I think we never get beat by a team outworking us. You know, we get beat sometimes. Baseball's a funny game. Ball bounces a certain way, and you run into a hot pitcher. it is what it is.

Joe Clemente 37:15

That's why we play the game, Right.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 37:17

I don't think any team, in the last five years, works as hard as the kids from Don Bosco. I'm not even talking during the season, I'm talking about training in the winter. it's an extraordinary effort that these kids make. And that's why it's difficult sometimes, y- y- y- to divorce effort from results. Y- you know, you see how hard your kid works. You're expecting that, boom, he's gonna be hitting 400 plus and making all kinds of all league teams and all state teams and this, that, and the other. And sometimes you get a kid, not often, 'cause baseball's a really hard game. Sometimes you get a kid who doesn't put in the effort and just has natural God-given talent, where that talent's gonna take him a long way and he's gonna perform really well. But most of the, most of the kids I think who really succeed, at the high school level, at least in baseball, you do have to combine talent with, with that kind of un- unyielding work ethic. If you don't have both, you're not, you're not gonna make it to the, to the top level of the ladder that you, that you should. I, I, I think it's pretty rare to see a kid succeed at, at a, at a very high level without seeing an extraordinary effort.

Joe Clemente 38:24

right? Preparation prepares you for And that's one thing that, you know, that Runes and all those guys do ver- very, very and it's been contagious. I think that you look at a lot of programs like, Delbarton, of course, DePaul, even Bergen and all those, they've bought into that, right? St. Joe's. Like they- they've all bought into that. and I, I'll tell you what, I see more of the publics doing the same thing, right? Like they understand, like it's not just about what school or pro... it's about, again, being prepared to go out and compete at that level. I do think, you had just mentioned it, I do think that one of the main factors in the stress level for the parents is the money, right? I think people look at it and they don't understand, like it's an investment.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 39:10

Money in travel ball?

Joe Clemente 39:11

Money and travel ball. Like but, but I'm just saying even in, in training, right? Like there's no way that you can just tell your kid nowadays that they're gonna go to Abasco, and you're gonna go hit once a week, and you're gonna go to practice. and if you think about it, you know, everybody wants to play in college. Playing at the collegiate level right now is hard, especially with everything that's going on, right? and they're trying to, you know, change the rules to be able to make it better for the high school kids and stuff like but, you know, the difference between guys that are, are going to play at that level is going to be the work ethic, the training, the preparation, and that costs money, right? Like at least where we're at, right? I see all these Instagram posts and stuff like that for the kids that are in like the Dominican Republic and stuff. God bless them. They're throwing tires and bricks. Whatever their resources are, they're doing it. We're fortunate in the area that we're in, right? That there's a ton of training schools, there's, there's other things, but it does cost money. So like, I think the stress is there, right? As a parent, you're like, "Hey, if I'm investing in my kid," which they don't have a problem doing, but that becomes stressful nobody takes that into consideration. So like you just said it. My kid just trained, and I spent $20,000 this year on him getting prepared, and he's hitting 250. Like the first thing that's gonna come out of their mouth is, "Come on, swing the bat. Make the throw. But now that's added pressure. So that's what the book's about, right? The book is gonna help them realize, hey, listen, you wanna go about, helping your kid? Like there's other ways to do that. You could get your point across, right? Without destroying them, without getting in their head so bad that- That they're gonna fail even further because they're not mentally prepared. Like, we have to back off

Kevin T. Mulhearn 41:09

what what's the one thing that you see that parents do wrong more than a- anything else?

Joe Clemente 41:14

I think they'll, criticize their kids, right after a game, like when they're most vulnerable. Listen, there is no athlete that doesn't know what they did well and what they failed So as soon as they get in the car and you're like, "Hey, you suck at this. You should've done this better. You did..." Like why don't you start it the other way? Why don't you be like, "Hey man, you did awesome today. You know what? You went O for three today, but you barreled three baseballs. Hey, you're on a barrel, let's stay there. Keep working hard, The baseball gods weren't with you today. Whatever you need to say this is the differential between the, the guys that make it and don't make It's, it's usually not physical, right? When you get to that opportunity in the minors or c- college baseball, everybody works hard, right? Everybody's strong. Everybody can run. Everybody can hit. Everybody can throw. They can do all the, all the metric stuff is like yes, the mental, right? And here's the thing, the mental side of it starts at home, The parents and even the coaches and the mentors, they gotta understand what they're dealing with. They gotta understand what their athlete can handle and what they can't. But ultimately, like as parents, let's, don't hinder your kids, help 'em, right? But that, that's gonna take you as a parent putting your pride aside and your ego aside saying, "Hey, I really wanna say this, but let me not do that right now because that could, that could really, you know, that could hurt him,

Kevin T. Mulhearn 42:48

it really takes restraint. you have to have conscious restraint of your instincts, 'cause your instincts is to just say what's on your mind and just let it loose. And, you know, you and I both had strong dads, right? We've talked about this. my father was a wonderful father. he was there. he was the most present father of anybody I know. Always there. but he was tough. and when we had bad performances, we would hear about it, and I remember those were some tough nights for me. I remember championship game when I was 13, I made three errors, and second base was just brutal, and we lost the game. Cadets, lost to Gil Hodges, and we w- we went not going to the, to the World Series, which was a big deal for us back in the day. and I just, I got blistered that night. To this day I remember the words, 'cause they were so harsh. And, you know, my father didn't say that 'cause he wanted to hurt me. He loved me, but that was his instinct was to just unleash. Didn't have a filter, didn't have the benefit of the long ride home, and, and, and boom, there you go. That's something I, you know, I had to deal with.

Joe Clemente 43:52

But how crazy is that? Like, you played all those years ago, right? We're not talking about ages here for, for you and I, but, but, but bottom line is that you still remember what he said. Every word.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 44:03

Every word.

Joe Clemente 44:03

Exactly

Kevin T. Mulhearn 44:04

of course, every word cut like a razor.

Joe Clemente 44:06

That, but that's my point,

Kevin T. Mulhearn 44:08

And, and it was ba- basically a, a question of my essential character. So it wasn't just a bad performance, it was, you know, "What the hell is wrong with you? you've been working so hard, you practice so much. How do you play that bad?" All

Joe Clemente 44:20

been there. I, you know, when you talk about the parents I don't think they realize how hard the sport really is. All sports. My daughter cheers. Like, that is one of the, that is one of the, the most intense environments I have ever been in, and that's why I let my wife deal with it. You know what I'm saying? Like, she's, she's an angel. I let her deal with that. like, there are things that she tells me, like, we'll talk at 7:00 in the morning, right, when they get to the arena, and then I don't talk to her... Like, I'll talk to her at 11:00 at night, and she's like, "We're still at the arena." I'm Like, like, that's intense. Like, dance, gym, like, I get it. Like, that's just the way it is. But parents need to understand a couple of things. One, our kids are never going to, to play or compete and try to fail. They're not going there to fail. They're going there to succeed. But the parents don't realize how hard that truly is. Like, to be successful all the time, all the time. Be consistent. And that's really hard

Kevin T. Mulhearn 45:33

I, even stress that with, with Dennis to this day. You know, he's playing college baseball now, and he's starting. I said, "Just one hit a game. just be consistent. Get that one knock a game every game, and y- you'll have the occasional games where you get two or three, and you're golden." Just consistent. What you wanna avoid is, is the long 0-fers. Yeah, of course

Joe Clemente 45:53

Yeah, of course

Kevin T. Mulhearn 45:54

and that's true of every sport when you think about it.

Joe Clemente 45:56

but it's anything, right? It's, it's whether they're competing, right? You're an incredible success in what you've done your whole life, right? And but you don't show up, right? You don't show up to fail, but there are times that it happens, right? And it's being able to cope with that, and I think that's where, I think that's, that's where the, the, the, the missing link is, right? But this, right, The Long Ride Home, and I think that's why you loved it when you told, told me is that that fills the gap. That connects the pieces.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 46:29

I am a big proponent of striving for greatness. And the one thing that I think that The, "The Long Ride Home" does, it, it's a gift. it's a gift to parents because it really is, a playbook for parents to learn how to be great parents. and to be a great parent, it's not easy, and we're not gonna always succeed. But at least try to be a great parent. Read this book and, you'll... Your chance of succeeding at that is a heck of a lot better than if you don't read the book, uh, and, I liked your, your chapters about, about silence. How, how sometimes, you know, silence can, can, could be a, a, a really harsh weapon the silence denotes disappointment, and, and, and you being upset, and, and the kids feel that. They can feel sometimes the, the heaviness of your silence in a way that's gonna, gonna be counterproductive. Your book really explains in a way that I've never seen before in any other book or form, no matter how well your kid does or doesn't do, be supportive. You're always his cheerleader, you're always his parent. You don't always have to be his coach, and that's hard for a lot of us 'cause a lot of us have coached our kids.

Joe Clemente 47:39

lot of us 'cause a lot of us, of course, are kids. Very hard.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 47:40

talk about that a little if you could.

Joe Clemente 47:42

Yeah, so fir- first thing, I mean, just touching base on the book, right? And I... And you've read it multiple times, right? A hundred... Exactly. I think the one thing that I, I, I am extremely proud of is that the book is not just about, like, "Oh, you know, it's okay, Johnny. Like, it's not about like- I think-

Kevin T. Mulhearn 48:04

everybody gets a trophy.

Joe Clemente 48:05

Exactly. trophy. Exactly. it's the bottom line is it goes through, like, even the school of hard knocks, right? Like we were talking about, like, you're old... You're tough. You wanna be able to do that. Yeah, no problem, man. I get it. Like, we all wanna do that too at some point. But the, difference is, is that, one, the first thing that's gotta happen is the parents have gotta want to be able to help their right? There are gonna be a ton of people that are gonna look at this book and they're gonna be like, "Oh man, this book looks great. but I'm not... I don't wanna change,"

Kevin T. Mulhearn 48:36

I, I would s- I would say, you know, it's interesting, Joe, 'cause you were a very highly, highly competitive, successful athlete in your own day, when your playing days. You've coached in highly competitive, highly pressurized environments. this is not a book everybody gets a trophy, ooh, kumbaya, let's all hold hands and, and celebrate our, our 11-1 defeat. This is n- not- Exactly this is not that book. And, and in fact, I think this book is gonna be more beneficial to the school of hard knocks guy, to the, to the old school tough guy approach who, who, who has that o- old school mentality that y- you always gotta be pressing, always gotta be in your kid's grill, always gotta be criticizing and pushing, and pushing, and pushing. This book is for that parent more than anybody. Yeah. you're gonna be slightly resistant, to it at first because i- it, it's, it re- it forces you to look in the mirror and say, okay, you know, this... you're gonna recognize yourself in this book, you're gonna recognize yourself in those pages. And sometimes you're not gonna like what you see. And, and you have to be brave enough and honest enough with yourself to understand that maybe there's a better way, a slightly different way that I can incorporate into my life and to my relationship with my child in a way that's gonna be better. You know, the subtitle of the book, How to Help Kids Shine in Youth Sports. Shine meaning to do the best they can to maximize their effort, maximize their results, and most importantly, to maximize the joy they have in playing. And that's the one thing that really comes out, and I saw it firsthand because I was sitting there in the stands every game watching you coach. You really knew how to maximize the ability of kids to play in a highly pressurized environment and still have a ton of fun, and that's no easy trick sometimes.

Joe Clemente 50:28

Well, you know, again, talking about going back and talking about the, the parents that are have to look in the mirror, right? It's ego. That's all it comes down to. It comes down to ego, right? and again, when doing this as a coach, as a parent, what I've learned over the last 25 years is you gotta put your ego aside. And that's not just, that's not just for my kids, right? As a coach, I, I need to do it for all of my players. I need them to understand, like, where I come from, right, and, and what I'm expecting. And if you go out and do, right, what I ask you to do, there's gotta be a point where you gotta reel 'em in and say, "Hey, man, awesome job." And I think that's what makes the game fun, It's like being on a golf course, right? I'm terrible. But if I go out there and out of 170,000 shots that I take on the, on the course, if I hit one good shot and it lands three feet from the pin and I knock that thing in, I'm coming back tomorrow. You know what I'm saying? I wanna come back. being able to go out and say, "Hey, you know what? I asked you to do this. You did it, hey, awesome job, man." Those couple of words is gonna get those kids inspired to be able to wanna go work harder to come back the next time and do that more often and be better. And not just, n-not just for, the coach or their teammates, but for themselves and their parents. That's what parents don't get sometimes, right? It's heavy. It, it's heavy leaning on 'em like that.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 52:02

Well, and think about it, Joe. I mean, sports is really much about the mind and, the, the strongest mentally is gonna usually prevail. So, what are you looking to do, Joe, as far as, getting your message out to parents? what specific message one thing if you could pinpoint that you want parents to know when they read this book or listen to this podcast?

Joe Clemente 52:24

So I think the biggest thing is just being able to help them, communicate with their kids, right? in a manner that's gonna be positive, that's going to help, their kids. It's about I just wanna make sure that, again, doing this, and it meant the world to me, my relationship with my kids are extremely important, right? And whether they go out there and they're the best baseball, football, soccer, cheer, what- whatever it might be. If they're the best, you know, paperboy, you know, whatever it is, okay? I just want the- Tiddlywinks Yeah, whatever it is, right? I just want them to understand that, that our relationship is the most and I think that with this book, or I know with this this is going to strengthen the relationships between parent and child, and that means the world to me. That's, that's really what this is about

Kevin T. Mulhearn 53:16

you think about it, Joe, th-that is so far-- so much more important than any results on any athletic field. You see that all the time, where parents are disappointed in their kids. And the kids feel a real sense of loss and that they haven't been able to live up to their parents' expectations. And that severs the bonds, the unique and, and rare and invaluable bond between parent and child. And that's a tragedy.

Joe Clemente 53:41

Yeah, those tragedies I think that's our biggest concern, right? You don't want those tragedies to affect your child, not just your relationship, but their relationships with other people, right? the way that they go about, like, th- there's like a trickle-down effect, right? It's not just about the sports. You and I talk about this all the time. Our goal is to what? Is to make good people. Is to help them become good people, right? And I'm gonna say this to you parents, there is gonna come a day that someone is gonna tell you or your kids that it's over. It's done. And, and it usually happens faster than you think. Okay? Like, like, you know, Dr. Wright said. You know what I'm saying? Like, 13 years old, people are quitting sports and stu- like baseball and stuff. But understand, it's, this is about becoming good people, raising good people, and having that bond and relationship

Kevin T. Mulhearn 54:40

you know, I wanna talk to- about that 'cause, you're referencing Dr. Adam Wright, who's a co-founder of the Antifragile Academy and a, a noted sports psychologist. He used to work as a performance, coach for the Washington Nationals. so a, a pretty, a pretty high-level guy and, and very skilled. And A- Adam was kind enough to, to write a blurb for your book. And, and he, he, he wrote that, most kids quit playing sports by the time they're 13, and the reason for that is because parents have robbed them of their joy in playing. And, those are all tragedies, because, I'm sitting here, you know, well beyond my sports career and my athletic career, and I'm telling you, the most fun I ever had as a kid by far was playing sports on the baseball diamond, football field, basketball court, whatever. Those are the days that I really remember, even decades after. And to have that truncated and to rob that experience because you're putting so much pressure on your kid that they can't have fun anymore and then they don't love it anymore, you're doing a kid a really great disservice, and you're doing your relationship with you and your kid a great disservice. teach your kids how to have joy in, in playing. there's two things. When I, when I was coaching Little League, I, I used to always say, "Baseball's a really hard, hard game, and, and it's unfair sometimes." You, you can get hit, hit a rocket and, and it, and it goes to the center field wall. The center fielder goes up and makes the catch, you're out. it's really hard. A- and there's nothing you can... Sometimes you can't control the results But there's two things you can control. You can control your attitude and you control your effort. And this book, in my mind, is a way for parents to control their attitude and their efforts., And, and get it right. Get it right because it's important.

Joe Clemente 56:26

Well said, captain. That's exactly what it is Welcome back to The Long Ride Home, episode one, with Kevin Mulhern and Joe Clemente

Kevin T. Mulhearn 57:48

Outstanding, Joe.

Joe Clemente 57:53

Had to have a little bit of fun doing this or else why are we doing this, right?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 57:58

So Joe, we're, you know, we've launched this book. I have to tell you, the initial response to the book has been fantastic. there are people who are browsing our website and looking at the book and hitting purchase, which makes me happy as a publisher.

Joe Clemente 58:14

It's always a right?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 58:15

Always but there's a few things I wanna let the readers know, and the viewers know, that, this book is available for purchase, "The Long Ride Home: How to Help Your Kids Shine in Youth Sports Without Driving Them Crazy," available at www.hardknockpress.com. And we also welcome any reviews, suggestions, or any comments, about either the book or this podcast. And, y- you're welcome to, to s- send any submissions to hello@hardknockpress.com. next week we're gonna be talking about, the old school tough guy, parents who approach this from an old school tough guy, approach, and we're gonna be providing some examples, providing some suggestions, and really gearing our discussion towards that segment of the parent population, which is a big, a big percentage.

Joe Clemente 59:17

It's probably the biggest,

Kevin T. Mulhearn 59:19

the biggest, right? Well, at least in our circles,

Joe Clemente 59:21

No doubt

Kevin T. Mulhearn 59:22

Now any parent who, who already feels that they're, they're on the right path towards, how to raise their kids, in the youth sports environment, we suggest that you still buy the book because you're gonna pick up some pointers, and I guarantee you you're gonna pick up some pointers that is gonna help you, in your own journeys.

Joe Clemente 59:42

What about the audiobook?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 59:44

The audiobook will be available within the next week or two, having been in the studio when this audiobook was recorded, Joe did a fantastic job of recording the book in his own voice, with the right inflections. And, uh, it's a, it's a, a story that it's actually a perfect book for a ride home. you got a double header in Diamond Nation one day, and you got an hour-and-a-half ride. you plug in this book, in your car, and learn something on the way there, on the way back, and it might make, the trip a little more, fun and a little bit more educational. So we're really excited about the, the audiobook. we had, we had a producer named Joe DeVito who helped us with that, and Joe was really kind and, He told us, it was o-o-one of the best audiobooks he's ever done, and that's really high praise because he's done a bunch. So I'm mindful of the fact that people sometimes just aren't readers. everybody's a listener.

Joe Clemente 1:00:40

Oh, yeah.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:00:40

If you like to listen, w-we have the book for you.

Joe Clemente 1:00:43

That's awesome

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:00:45

Joe, is there anything that you'd like to add as you, as, as a closing to, to this first episode of the podcast?

Joe Clemente 1:00:51

I would just like to, say thank you to all the people that have supported us and that is supporting me in this journey. of course, with Hard Knock Press, with Kevin, Kat Murphy, Miss Gina, everybody that has made it, so pleasurable. I mean, it's, it's a dream come true. But also, I wanna thank all of the people that are supporting us by buying the book and getting it out. it's been overwhelming. I, I can't, I can't thank them enough. the texts and the emails that I'm getting and the phone calls just, you know, after people are reading it, just saying how grateful they are that we put this out in the world. And again, it's kinda funny. We didn't start it this way, but the, the words that keep coming out is Parent Playbook, Parent Playbook. They're like, "This is a perfect Parent Playbook." Like, like, I had one of the dads call me and they were like, "I'm gonna read this, like, every week before I go to the tournament." I'm like, "That's awesome, man." So, again, I'm just very thankful And you know what I think is cool, Kev, this isn't... I know we talk about baseball a lot because we're baseball junkies, and that's what our kids do, and that's what we, you know, we, that's what we know. but this is a book for everyone. You know, all sports, all competition events. You know, again, we were talking about my daughter in cheer. Like, you should definitely buy the book, you know, if you're into cheer and dance and gymnastics. it, it'll definitely help, without a doubt. And that's the goal, right? We just, we're here to help people.

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:02:25

And you're gonna be appearing on, a podcast, in a couple weeks, correct?

Joe Clemente 1:02:29

Yeah. I'm, I'm- Sorry

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:02:30

about

Joe Clemente 1:02:30

that I'm on Travel Dads podcast, I believe in two weeks. They're having me on. I just got asked to do an appearance, with one of the other organizations, and there's-- we're working on, Kat's working on a couple of more, podcasts with some pretty big influencers, which that we, you know, that we sent the book to that they love, and that's what it is. who are the principals of Travel Dads podcast?

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:02:51

are the principals of the Travel Dads Podcast?

Joe Clemente 1:02:53

So, uh, Jacob Moreno and, uh, Jason Corley, those are the two. they've been tremendous. They've raved about the book. I can't wait to be on their podcast. Another, another group that has been tremendous for us is, Chasing Baseball Dads, right? Coach Bobby Minor, he's phenomenal. The message and the mission that these guys are all talking about fits, you know, we fit in like a glove. So, very excited to, to be working with those guys, and, and I can't thank them enough for being able to have me on there or help promoting. It's just, you know, it's, it's, it's a special... It, it's very special to I appreciate

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:03:30

a as always, Joe, it's been a real pleasure talking with you. this is fun. I'm having a lot of fun doing this, and I'm gonna continue to do so down,

Joe Clemente 1:03:38

definitely will, and I, and I love it. I appreciate, you know, you starting this up and, uh, we're gonna have fun doing this, and we're gonna help people

Kevin T. Mulhearn 1:03:45

Thank you, folks. S- signing off, see you next week.

Joe Clemente 1:03:49

Stay well