Pickleball Content Creator Myths & First Tournament Nerves | Maurice Hacksaw w/ All Court Media

We're coming in hot with:
🔹 Why almost everyone watches, but almost nobody creates.
🔹 The unexpected competition hiding in every pickleball community.
🔹 A Halloween mask becomes an unlikely tournament advantage.

Plus, Maurice Hacksaw from All Court Media joins us to share how one nervous livestream became a trusted media brand serving recreational and veteran pickleball players. Consistency—not viral moments—made the difference.

🎧 Listen now before your DUPR rating gets exposed.
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Transcript

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Stephanie 0:00

Rec players that have been thinking maybe I should do a tournament.

Guy 0:03

And if you are nervous about it, one of the best tips we can give is wear a Halloween rubber mask.

Paddle Princess 0:10

So you don't spit a drink out her nose. Oh my gosh.

Guy 0:16

This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take your stuff too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now. It's tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme right on time. It's tricky. It's tricky, tricky,

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Guy 0:52

tricky. We are the official podcast of Pickleball. We are not tricky. We are coming right live to your ear holes, free of charge for now. So get us what you can for free. Worth it. Well, we're professional over here. And how professional? Well, we have sponsors. Yes, we do. We have sponsors. Dink and Dash and the Big Dink Energy are heading to PickleCon 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri, July 24th through the 26th. And you need to be there too. This is three days of everything that makes the community what it is tournaments, clinics, vendors, education, content creators, you bet. And a whole lot of people are just as obsessed with this sport and this lifestyle as we are. Stephanie will be teaching a live booty on the court dance warm-up. So if you've been watching from your phone screen, now's your chance to get it on in person. Get it on. Whether you're looking to complete, level up your game, meet your next group of pickle pals, shop the latest gear, or just be around people who get it. PickleCon is where the over 40 pickleball community shows up and shows out. Grab your tickets now at picklecon.com and come find us when you get there. We want to meet you. We want hugs. We're all about that. We want to hear your stories. And we want to put a face to every listener who's been riding with us, ride or dies out there. See you in Kansas City.

Stephanie 2:07

Oh, Lord.

Guy 2:09

Nailed it.

Stephanie 2:11

Oh scratch. Well, speaking of content creators, I feel like a lot of people out there think that there are more content creators than there are people who actually consume content because it it starts to feel that way. But actually, that can't be further from the truth. So 90% of uh people consume, 9% occasionally interact, like likes and you know, commenting.

Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week

Stephanie 2:39

Only about 1% create the most content. And I think I think that's something that people just don't realize when when they're out there like maybe I should create content, maybe I shouldn't. I just think it's wild that social media makes it feel like everybody's creating, but there's not.

Guy 2:58

Yeah, well, it is, you know, the numbers are low also for people who have more than what is it, two or three podcasts? They say we're gonna podcast, and they get to like two or three. And then so people with more than four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, I can keep going, I can keep counting on it. Up to 74? Yeah.

Stephanie 3:13

People who have like 74 episodes like us, they they're in the one percent. The one percent. So there are estimated 200 million creators, and that sounds like a lot. That sounds like a lot, a lot, but there's billions of social media users. So when you take that percentage, it's crazy that there's really only one percent of the people actually creating content. And so this got me thinking because I did make a post on our Instagram just about, you know, everybody posting the highlight reels and nobody really showing like all the behind the scenes of this struggle. Yeah. So I kind of wanted to ask you guys, what what do you think makes people not want to share? Is it because of fear? Is it because of judgment or time? What do you think the major thing is that stops people from because I think people at home are like, oh, I want to post. I want to post something. And and they don't because something's holding them back. And I'm curious to know what y'all think is the major thing about that. Because we have a great story that, you know, I I shared on our social media about us only playing pickleball twice before we're like, we're doing this. And right, and we just bought microphones and just started. And so, yes, it's been a long road and I shared some of that, but what is it that people why why will people not do it? I know for me, it's mainly time. Um, it's not that I don't want to. I would love to be in more of our social media, but by the time that I get home from work and I'm done with family time and I actually have time to myself, I I don't want to put on a production and then edit and then schedule and all of that. So it for me, it's just the availability and the mental bandwidth to do it.

Guy 5:01

I you know, I yeah, when you throw out big numbers like that, I've seen numbers like 50 million people call themselves content creators.

Stephanie 5:07

Wow. For but there's billions of people on social media. So 50 million isn't a lot.

Guy 5:12

Right, right, right, right.

Stephanie 5:13

In the grand scheme of things, yeah.

Guy 5:15

I think well, I think there's I can go two sides of the coin on this. First of all, people uh are afraid to crack the camera and turn it on themselves. Right? They have a fear of being judged, a fear of being. 100%. Uh what what are the comments gonna say? I'm not good enough. You know, they've uh everybody carries that with them. Not me, but other people do for sure. I don't mind. I put the camera on me, I don't care. But then there's the other side that you shouldn't. You should not be a content creator. You you are you totally suck at this. Why are you creating content?

Stephanie 5:44

Who's saying that?

Guy 5:45

I do. Oh. I see some people who should not be creating content. And you know the ones that I hate? Uh I don't know if if this is part of the thing, but the ones who stole a video from somebody and it's a part two and they know they don't post the part two. They're just reposters.

Stephanie 5:58

Oh, I don't like that either.

Guy 5:59

I block them. I block them. I hope, I hope TikTok comes after you. I hope, I hope you get the fleas of a thousand camels in your crotch.

Stephanie 6:07

I'll get started. I'm like, oh, I want to see how this sword is made or whatever, and then it gets to the end and it's like follow for part two, and then you go to their page and it's like there's no part two. And that's all different than the other.

Guy 6:17

Yeah, you had me for four minutes, so I know you got the the algorithm picked out.

Stephanie 6:21

But I guess okay, so here's another question. If Instagram or TikTok hid likes and follower counts tomorrow, do you think more people would start creating?

Guy 6:32

Oh, that's a good one.

Stephanie 6:33

Because if you if you think yes, then basically you're saying people aren't posting because they're afraid of what other people think. If you say no, then it has to either come from an internal place, then, right? Like their fear or their own personal their own personal stuff because I don't know, that's hard.

Guy 6:52

Yeah, if they had the if they had the likes and shares, would people, would more people do it? You think?

Stephanie 6:57

I know. I don't think that I would because to me, it's like if I'm gonna spend all of that time and energy putting it in, like, is it worth it? Is it gaining traction? Is this actually worth me continuing to put the time and energy into? Um, but that's just me personally. I know some people it would probably be better for them because a lot I know a lot of people are uh very consumed with likes and comments and how many followers they have, and they get very consumed into that and it changes them and then it changes their content. Yeah. So if they didn't have that, they might actually put out more authentic and genuine content and actually receive more followers. Well, also I think people will see a viral video or they'll see, you know, somebody, you know, post something and it, you know, blows up or whatever. But it took two, three hundred videos and posts before that together, you know, the whole iceberg, you know, exactly just everything in life. And I think I think the biggest thing with Instagram or you know, social media in general, let's just say life in general. People don't understand compounding. They don't understand it in their finances. Shout out to Wealthfront. All right.

Guy 8:04

Come sponsor us, Wealthfront.

Stephanie 8:06

Oh, I have an affiliate. But no, seriously, like they don't understand compounding. So they post something, it doesn't work, and they're like, Well, that's it, it didn't work. Instead of being consistent, right? So consistent, consistency and compounding, I think are the two things that help you grow on social media if you want to do content creating. And you have to have patience, you know, with anything cons being consistent, that's hard. You know, posting every day, sometimes three, four times a day, takes a lot of work. It really does, but it adds up over time.

Guy 8:40

Yeah, I think you're really hitting on something because then uh what we should have backed up at the beginning is said, what is a content creator? Because if you're just if you're consuming reposting and performing, are you a content creator? I don't think so. I think if you're planning, if you have a roadmap, if you have a direction, right, if you're if you're have a niche, if you're trying to tell a story. I uh you know I've been viral. I've been viral a bunch of times. And back in those days, we were content creators, and that's and that's really what got me away from it. Uh it was too much. Yeah. It was just you know, that's another job. Yeah, it was. It was another job. It was scripting, and what's the next one? And what's the next one?

Stephanie 9:15

Well, that that's what I'm saying. People don't understand the time and commitment it takes. And so I I mean, I you can equate it really to anything, any type of goal that you have. It's like, well, I ate right and I did a sit-up. Why am I not losing weight? Because you can't do something once and expect it to work. Right. So I think that's what happens is people are like, Well, I'm not going viral and it's not working, and I don't have followers, and you know, I'm just gonna give up. And it's like, well, you didn't give it enough time.

Guy 9:40

Yeah, you know, you're just a performer with a camera.

Stephanie 9:43

So I I think we need more creators out there, and I know you disagree, guy, but I think there are so many people out there with stories and different perspectives, but what happens is they post one perspective and it just flops or it doesn't work and then they stop. It flops doesn't work, or they get completely torn down because people don't have open minds. Yeah, but you have to be willing to to understand that your perspective isn't everybody's perspective. And so if you post that, then people are gonna come at you. Right. You know, so maybe that's a part two people don't like, you know. I mean, it's like you can't be a uh prosperity content creator, like it can't always be rainbows, roses, and everything's fun and joyful because that's that's not really how life is. So having, you know, you have to have something that you stand up against, you know. Absolutely. And you have to have something that you're for, but you also have to have a line in the sand, you know. And I think for us, our line in the sand is we're all about pickleball having fun. We we don't really care about the tryhards, like you're not our people if that's what your your whole pickleball life is about. You know, so we're gonna resonate with a certain type of people, and we won't resonate with other people. And you have to be okay with not being liked by everybody, and I think that also hurts people's ego. It does. And a lot of people don't necessarily have that like mental toughness to take that because they'll read, be like, Oh, you're ugly, or oh, you have thin lips. And some people who may be insecure and started posting to try to help themselves with that, that's just going to burn them down even more. Right. I don't really believe I like I don't like the trolling. Yeah, I do believe in sharing your own opinion, but you don't have to be hateful about it. What's that newscaster, the the newscaster lady? She just she's amazing.

Guy 11:28

Oh, Carissa Codell.

Stephanie 11:30

Yes, shout out to her because she gets trolled all the time and she reads them online and she's hilarious. Oh, I love that. So she's found a way to flip it. Yeah, you know, so I guess you're right. I guess it does take a certain certain type of person to do it. But if if you're out there and you want to create content or you you're thinking about making pickleball content, you just have to do it and do it consistently, even if that's three times a week, four times a week, whatever you want it to be. But you have to stay consistent about it. You can't just sh show up one day and post a video and then six months later be like, why is it not working? Let me try one more time. You know, I agree. So but just know that there's not a lot of content creators out there if you actually think about it.

Guy 12:08

So six minute abs.

Stephanie 12:10

Six minute abs. Is that your five? Is that your next one?

Guy 12:13

Yeah.

Stephanie 12:14

Go for it.

Guy 12:15

No, that that's a great take on it. And that that yeah, what is it? Who who's a content creator and who's just a reposter? Who's someone who has AI and some cap cut and you're just you know putting out slop?

Stephanie 12:25

Another, oh, let me let me just go off on a little tangent here, real quick. Go for it. Another thing that my line in the sand is I do not like AI clones. Like it's a huge thing in the content industry now where people are cloning themselves so that they can make a lot of videos based off just transcripts, and then their clone will make the videos and it looks like them and it moves like them and everything. I can still tell. And I still believe like showing up authentically as yourself on camera is part of being a creator.

Guy 12:53

Otherwise, that's the ones I resonate with.

Stephanie 12:55

It's just AI slop and it's noticeable, and I I don't think it's going to take off. I know there's a ton of it, but I don't think it's actually gonna stay around for the long haul.

Guy 13:03

I don't think people resonate with it and no, no, the the faceless carousels or the faceless YouTube videos.

Stephanie 13:09

Yeah, it's it's not genuine. Yeah.

Guy 13:11

I mean, you you yeah, you're gonna get some some traction because you're posting 10 a day. Right. But eventually that algorithm's gonna catch up with you and figure out what you're doing too.

Stephanie 13:19

Yeah, and plus I like to see people and I like to see who they are and what they stand for and they're behind the scenes. And you know, we follow a lot of content creators, and I love keeping up with them.

Guy 13:30

Are you a content creator? Are you not? Are you wanting to be? Are you wanting not to be? I don't know. Maybe you're in the witness protection program. Let us know. Go to bdepodcast.com and tell us your thoughts.

Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)

Guy 13:45

Well, all the way from the middle of the mailbag this time. This is from at out.playing.pickleball. At out.playing.pickleball. I like that. Outplaying pickleball. Comment it on one of our posts. You guys are killing it, mostly guy. Thank you so much. We appreciate the support out there playing pickleball. Showing up on socials weekly for a podcast takes a lot of work and we love it. So, this type of encouragement is so kind and necessary. Don't forget to compliment your podcasters.

Stephanie 14:13

Thank you, thank you. Thank you.

Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom

Stephanie 14:18

Just the tip. Just the tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. This week, your just the tip comes from Sun City Pickleball, who says, put the ball in play, then just let your opponent mess themselves up with all their fancy shots. And I I love this tip.

Paddle Princess 14:35

Yeah.

Stephanie 14:35

Wait, and hey, we visited Sun City Pickleball in El Paso, and they were so amazing. Great people out there.

Guy 14:42

Great interview, too. Go back and find them.

Stephanie 14:44

Yeah, just amazing people all around, and I just love that tip.

Guy 14:54

It's time

Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer

Guy 14:55

for pickleball. Easily one of my favorite segments here on the show, but today's guest is the tournament grinder, media producer, Army Vet. We'll talk about that for sure. And a Bronx native who doesn't think Niagara Falls is in New York, calls himself the Grease. I'm sure we're gonna figure out that. And he's got zero sponsors, which means he can say whatever he wants. Maurice Hacksaw founded All Court Media, plays competitive pickleball, and has unfiltered opinions on duper. So do we, live streaming and the veteran community. Fair warning, he doesn't know how to act. Maurice, the Grease. Thanks for being in the Big Dink Energy Podcast, my man. Yeah, thanks for having me. What's going on? Oh man, we'd love it. Well, I mean, obviously, we're two Texas boys here. Uh, and so the immediately the first thing people think when they think Texans is humility. So we're definitely not going to talk about how great our state is and how many pickleball courts we have and how we dominate everything. Basically, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, obviously, you know, the first thing right off the bat, we've got to hear the story of the Greece. How'd we get Maurice the Greece? Now, I can guess maybe some army uh flavor in there. You don't you get a nickname, you don't get to pick a nickname, people just pick a nickname for you. But how'd we get to the Greece?

Maurice 16:03

It was a funny story. When I was stationed in Colorado, that's where I found pickleball. And I seen these people, you know, playing in in like this dumb sport with the goofy name and you know, uh the Pikes Peak Pickleball Association, they had these name tags, and I was like, yo, they got this this little space there. Like and then, you know, after I fell in love with it, I was like, you know what? Let me get a name tag. And they had the little space. So I was like, you know what, let me see if I can put something in there. So I thought, I thought, uh, Maurice the Beast, and no, that's lame. Uh so I came, I fell on Maurice the Grease, and then, you know, a few months later, they sent it, and then boom, I'm born. Nice, nice.

Guy 16:45

Yeah, yeah, I have a I have an origin story sort of like that, uh that I'm trying to get away from on the Swish app for some of the tournaments. They use a Swish app, and I was just goofing around with it when I first set it up, and I just put Dill Daddy in there, and I cannot figure out how to get that. So every tournament, they're like, who's Dill Daddy? And I I gotta like raise my hand in the crowd, be like, oh, that's me. I don't know how to fix it.

Maurice 17:06

Wait, people still use Swish?

Guy 17:07

Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, the grease probably applies though, right? You're a 4.5 duper, but you've got some you've got some feelings about duper too, right?

Maurice 17:16

Oh man, that thing is that thing is so inflated, especially when it comes to Austin pickleball. Yeah. There was a tournament a few weeks ago where Houston came over and just beat the brakes off of everybody in Houston in Austin. So, I mean, you know, you take it for what it is.

Guy 17:31

Yeah, and I I tell people all the time, I'm a solid 1.5. If duper ever wants to go that low, I'm your spokesperson for it. And you know, and so when we play in those scrambles, I know people, uh and I was, you know, to back that up, I had to have a full knee replacement. Thank you, Uncle Sam. So now I'm playing a little bit better. But I knew in some of those, in some of those scrambles, people were like, he's gonna bring my duper down. And I probably did. I couldn't go much lower than I already was, and so if you partnered up with me, I was really sorry for you. But I told you up front, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna suck, just so you know.

Maurice 18:02

Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough.

Guy 18:03

So you said Utah has the biggest concentration of 4-0 and above players. Four Florida has the largest population, and Texas definitely has the most tournaments. You kind of break that down what that means for the rating system.

Maurice 18:14

So, what it means for the rating system is that a lot of a lot of 4-0 players in Texas, if they're getting a lot of tournaments in, they're just constantly playing, they're constantly playing each other. Because Austin people just don't travel for some reason. So they're only playing each other. So they're sitting there thinking that, oh, well, I got this tournament, I got that tournament, I can hang or whatever that means. They think that they're, you know, at one level, but then Utah, they have, you know, actual skilled people over there at um at 4-0. So when they come over here, they beat the brakes off of Austin. You've seen that in what is it, TKO, the t the kitchen open. Yeah, where a bunch of people just came out of nowhere. Like, I mean, there was only one team left in um in in uh the first TKO that that you know showed up. There was only one team left in quarterfinals, and you know, it w it was no it was no mistake. Like, I mean, yeah, five O's are good, but like they're not outside of Texas good.

Guy 19:12

No, yeah, and you know, the other side of that too is we see the sandbagging too, right? On the duper. Hard, I mean, not all that hard to do, really. And I've I've been in some tournaments where I definitely know that person is a is a three-five, right? Uh, but so why are you up here on the on the top courts with people like me? Wait, see it's only because you want to stand on the podium.

Maurice 19:33

Wait, hold on, say that one more time.

Guy 19:34

So there's they they sandbag their duper, right? They'll they'll kind of game the system a little bit because you can game the system and make sure and make your duper look lower.

Maurice 19:42

Yeah.

Guy 19:43

Uh, but you're really an upper level player.

Maurice 19:45

Yeah.

Guy 19:45

And so then you'll go to a tournament and your duper on your screen on the screen will say you're lower, but you're you're really a three-five or above. And I think you just want to stand on the podium and look superior.

Maurice 19:54

I mean, maybe, yeah, but at a s at a certain point, if you keep winning, your duper I'm well, the old algorithm, when I got my duper, you only went up when you won. But now this duper is like this algorithm already encourages people to play up because I mean, you don't have to win, you just have to perform well. And performing well just depends on whatever duper's feeling at the time. Like, hey, four points, yeah, yeah, your duper's gonna go up if you're playing against somebody more skilled, say, like a you know, somebody a few points above you, or even like four-o or something like that. Yeah.

Guy 20:32

So if if you had the magic wand of duper and you were going to change it or or redesign it, what what would be the changes uh Maurice would make?

Maurice 20:41

Oh, I would make like at least 10 changes and they're all get rid of it.

Guy 20:45

Yeah. I l I love that. Number one, get rid of it. Yeah, get rid of it. Number 10, still get rid of it.

Maurice 20:50

Yeah, if I mean if you can if if if you're if you're that good, then you should win. That's it.

Guy 20:55

Yeah. Yeah. I I I love some of the companies out there that do the ladder instead of a duper, right? And so you just keep moving up and keep moving up, but but you can be easily put down a peg too.

Maurice 21:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that depends on your partner. Yeah, you gotta get a good partner. Cause I mean, oh man. I I've had some people where they said, like, oh yeah, I played plenty of tournaments, and then I'm looking at their backhand like, oh my goodness, we're gonna have a time.

Guy 21:20

Yeah, that's me. I'm I'm excited if a backhand goes over. You know what I mean? And it doesn't turn into a lob.

Maurice 21:25

Yeah. Oh man, I hate lobs. I hate lobs so much.

Guy 21:28

Yeah, I I I think that's the I think people hate lobs more than they hate uh being body bagged realistically. Yeah. I think I think you have a a chance at the at the body bagging, like you could maybe defend yourself at the lob, is all I gotta run and then I gotta find the ball again and hit it.

Maurice 21:43

Yeah. The only the only thing I hate more in the lob is somebody using a tweener. Like what are you doing? ESPN is not watching.

Guy 21:51

Yeah, I know. I know. Like calm down. Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah, take it, take it easy. Let's get some rallies going here. Let's get some rallies. So you've you've Kate, you founded all court media during the pickleball explosion. So kind of give us the origin story of that. What was the need you saw that wasn't being filled and and what do you guys do about that?

Maurice 22:09

So I founded that by, you know, it was just me and uh in my phone, really, where a friend of mine wanted me to live stream some of the tournaments for what is it? What was this tournament? It was from Baylor. Yeah. It was Paul Underwood. Yeah. Shout out Paul Underwood. Yeah, he had I mean he gave me the idea. So he had me live stream one of his Baylor teams tournaments. So I was like, okay. And then, you know, like from there, I was like, oh, it's pretty fun. So from there I just kept getting more stuff and more stuff. Kept getting um, you know, cameras and you know, mics, and sooner or later, somebody said, you know, maybe Maurice de Greece is probably not the best brand for nice, nice content. So slap a nice name on it and then you'll be all right. So I was like, okay, well, all core media is all core media, and Maurice de Greece is I'm I'm still trolling. I gotcha. I love that, man.

Guy 23:03

I love you gotta have a couple different personalities, especially for pickleball. Yeah. I mean, because you got you got PPA and MLP, right? You know what I mean?

Maurice 23:09

Exactly. It's the same lame stuff. I don't know.

Guy 23:12

I got so you know, like the the big pro tours have all the graphics, commentary, multiple angles, multiple cameras going at all the time. But you at the grassroots, you've figured out how to really capture the essence of of what you're doing, right?

Maurice 23:24

Yeah, for the most part. I mean, I I just look at PPA, APP, steal their techniques as far as video editing, video production, multi-camera streams. I look at power play, oh my God, this story. So as soon as PowerPlay came in, they messed up my whole my whole flow because everybody and their mom just sent me text messages saying like, hey, did you see PowerPlay? See PowerPlay. And then they're they're basically comparing me to to you know PowerPlay because you know I'm pretty much the only live streamer in town that they've seen. So, you know, they're doing all of this pro-level stuff and then compare me to lead, you know, my one little dingy camera and stuff. So I I mean I had to evolve. So that was pretty yeah. I mean, it it was it was a nice, nice little competition to be able to force me to uh evolve. So it was good.

Guy 24:17

Yeah, and I yeah, people are always worried about, you know, you could you could certainly keep looking over your shoulder and looking in the rearview mirror at competition as like, oh my gosh, they're gonna crush me. Uh, why am I even doing this? But I I've always kind of embraced competition. Like, man, this is gonna make me as far as I'm concerned, it's gonna make me drive harder. It's gonna make me uh go at it from a different angle. It's gonna make me be unique, it's it's gonna make me deliver. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I'm sure so your army background probably helps with some of that too, right?

Maurice 24:48

Oh, yeah, most definitely. I mean, you can't have somebody just pass you up. Yeah. I mean, I was in there, I joined late, I joined at 26, and then a few years later, I'm sitting there a sergeant, trying to run after these 18-year-olds, and and then my supervisors, uh, I mean, my sergeants and everything, they don't they don't want me, you know, getting passed up by these 18-year-olds, and I'm like, but I'm but I'm 35. They're like, we don't care, run faster. Yeah. So grind harder. Yeah, I love it.

Guy 25:20

Yeah, great. I mean, that's that's why realistically, in the middle of the night, you have to kneecap some of those guys, right? Just bast your knees in in the middle of the night, right before PT. Oh yeah. Why is your room dirty? Just stress them out. So now are are you are you monetizing your live streams now? Yes.

Maurice 25:41

Yes, yes. All right, yeah. At first I was starting off just gaining content. I actually did what's in a uh minor league pickleball, and that blew up. So that really like that really boosted me for a little while. I'm hoping they call me back, but I mean, hey, let's let's talk.

Guy 25:57

Yeah. No, I mean, uh and I like I like that league because I think somebody in that in that league is so hungry. Oh, they're so hungry for the next level. So good.

Maurice 26:05

Oh man, the competition, the competition, the camaraderie, the energy. Oh man, the trash talk. Everything is so good.

Guy 26:13

That's what I love. Yeah, that's why I kind of I gravitate towards MLP just because of that. Um MLP to me is the guys in the stands with the you know, the beer hat. They got two beers and a straw going down to their down to their mouth, man, and just painting, painting pickleball symbols on their chest, their bare chest and stuff. That's kind of uh MLP can move a little bit further that way. That'd be awesome.

Maurice 26:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was that's I remember my first you know, minor league. It was just so electric, so much, so much to like. I was sitting there thinking that I was good, and then I seen these kids just doing the most, and I'm like, you know what? I guess I'm not going pro, but this is some good pickleball I can watch. Do you get out to the Austin Pickle Ranch? Not lately. I'm actually going tomorrow evening with a buddy, but I mean it's all right.

Guy 26:57

They did they had uh we I think it was last year, and maybe again this year. I didn't check. They had an MLP uh event there, and it was it was really great. There are a lot of tons of vendors. Uh we got to volunteer, so we got to go everywhere behind the scenes, all access kind of stuff.

Maurice 27:10

Really?

Guy 27:10

Oh, yeah, yeah. And they'll they'll take volunteers. So next time it comes around, I I definitely recommend that. Be a volunteer at the MLP event yeah at the Austin Pickle Ranch. You'll you'll have a good time. Oh, volunteer for Tom Dundan, huh? Maybe. Hey, hey, they fed us. They fed us.

Maurice 27:26

So you should have led with that.

Guy 27:28

Yeah, I know, I know, I know. I I I gatek that thing in there. I'm sorry about that. You know, one of the things, and I I we've talked to a couple different people on here that are doing a couple different things, and we talked early before I rolled the cameras about the veteran community. How do you see pickleball as maybe factoring into the veteran, especially on the mental health side? Do you see that as a as a positive or we should be doing more of that?

Maurice 27:50

Massive positive, massive positive. Um, I think that if you're more focused on this, I mean, this light yellow or light green, stupid little plastic ball, I mean, it's like I I I don't know what it is, but it just takes a lot of the things that you're thinking about and just, you know, just kind of disappears while the rally is going. I mean, you're having fun, you're getting out there. I mean, a lot of veterans they get out and a lot of them gain weight and and you know, they lose that direction. And then, you know, unfortunately, a lot of self-deletion happens. So yeah, yeah, yeah. And a lot of a lot of uh emotional support is not really there, a lot of community is not really there. They don't they don't really know what to do. But you know, when you come to pick a ball, it's like it doesn't matter where you're from, who you were before, just come in, bring your paddle. If you don't even have a paddle, just come in. Yeah, and then if you don't feel like talking about your problems now, that's okay. Just you know, just come in, hit this stupid little ball, have some fun, get some laughs, get some sweat in, and then you're good. And then, you know, from all the the combat injuries and things that you know we've had and like wear and tear and things like that, it's not it's not like tennis or basketball where you're gonna beat yourself up. So yeah, highly recommend it.

Guy 29:04

Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's there's very few communities that are as embracing as the pickleball community. Now, there's now, veterans, hear me on this. There, there are those ones or twos that are kind of gatekeepers and they, you know, they're they're standoffish, but you had that in the military too. You had those jerks in the militaries. But for by and large, the pickleball community is so embracing, so open arm. And like Maureen said, you're you're you're not you don't even have to show up with a paddle. People carry five or six paddles with them as it is. I know my wife specifically, if you find my wife anywhere, 18 people could play with my wife because she has 17 extra paddles. I'm just letting y'all know. And so yeah, and and the endorphins, the dopamine, all the great chemicals are there, and it let it let you forget, you know, the things that are weighing you down. And and those people they'll ask you back. They'll hey, come back tomorrow, come back this day. Hey, we're playing on this day. Get into a tournament then. You're right on with that, Maurice. It gives you a chance to put down those burdens that you're carrying and just disconnect for a little while.

Maurice 29:58

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, and and not to mention it was a pretty good outlet for me to talk trash. Because I mean, we all the times in the motor.

Guy 30:13

I mean, some of the now the military guys, I think we we're better at the trash talk, but the first responder community is pretty good too. I mean, we've got some some pretty good trash talkers out there.

Maurice 30:23

Oh, yeah, especially, oh man. I I played with a few cops, a few firefighters. Yeah, yeah, it's great. Yeah.

Guy 30:30

How did you get to pickleball? How did how did Maurice find pickleball?

Maurice 30:33

Oh, I just kind of stumbled onto it when I was, you know, sitting there. I was I was just military woes, life happening. And I'm I mean, I'm in Colorado. I'm stuck in my room every day without direction unless I'm going to work, putting a uniform on. But when I took it off, I'm like, you know, who who am I? Like, what do I do? So I was stuck in, I was stuck in my room for a little bit for months, actually. And then for some reason I just said, you know what? Let me go, let me get out there and do some kind of community sport or whatever. So I joined an adult kickball league and I found that.

Guy 31:08

Oh man, that's that's awesome.

Maurice 31:10

Yeah, yeah. Oh, it was so fun. But I mean, socially, I was just competitive. Yeah, it was it's it's just socially, I was just so scared. Like I didn't, I was like, what I didn't know what to expect. And I deployed. So I'm like, what what? Why am I afraid? I was so nervous. Yeah. So I joined it. These people are so nice, you know, welcoming and everything. And I mean, especially for somebody who's like, I'm in Colorado, there's like maybe like three black people there, so I'm nervous as hell playing kickball. You know, black people don't play kickball. But you guys get picked right away. Exactly. Oh my God, all the time. Like, what? I didn't play soccer. I'm not what do you think I can do? Yeah, it's really good to have that community. And then what's the name? This one lady, she said, Peggy. Oh, that's my pickleball mom. So one day, it was July 3rd, 2019. And obviously I know this because it's the day before July 4th. It's my pickleball birthday. Uh, we were supposed to, so the league that we're in was supposed to have, well, we did a buy because they figured that everybody was gonna be away for the holidays. So then I was like, okay. Uh well, then she was like, okay, well, if every if a bunch of people is gonna stay back, you know, let's, you know, learn pickleball. You want to learn pickleball? And I'm like, nice. I was like, what's pickleball? Yeah, she yeah, yeah. I'm like, what is pickleball? It sounds stupid. So then I go over to I I I meet her at the courts. She has this, I don't know, this stupid looking uh paddle or whatever, and then these weird balls, and I come over there and I'm like, why are the tennis courts so small? Like, usually they're bigger. And then I mean the rest is history. I start hitting the ball and I'm like, oh my god, this is this is amazing. I've this is from I I've I'm gonna go pro from the first day. I'm gonna go pro I'm I'm I did not go pro.

Guy 33:04

That's okay. You're you're pro with all court media for sure, making others look like pros. Oh yeah. So where are people gonna find you? How what's all the socials people need to locate you, get you their videotape and their stuff?

Maurice 33:15

So YouTube, all court media, tick tock, all court media, Instagram, all court media, find me. Find me, look for me. If you want some spicy stuff, I actually have some spicy stuff coming. Well, not only fans spicy, but unless people need it, you know, whatever. But um, I got some things cooking as far as uh Maurice the Grease underscore PB on Instagram. So follow me there if you want to follow Maurice the Grease on X. Oh man, it's Twitter. I'm not calling it X. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, if you want to follow me there, go ahead. Facebook, definitely. I'm always saying something crazy. Love it.

Guy 33:51

Well, I can tell y'all right now, after you're done listening to this full episode, go find Maurice the Grease and all court media everywhere. He will make you look like a superstar and make your event look like you are rock stars out there. So please go find him. Maurice, thanks so much for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast.

Maurice 34:05

Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, this is great.

Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)

Announcer Man 34:09

It's time for Pick Six.

Guy 34:14

Oh, it's that time of the podcast that y'all love. Pick six, where you take one question, each bring two answers, and immediately regret to agreeing to this segment. Tonight's pick six is things people get weirdly competitive about. Things people get weirdly competitive about.

Stephanie 34:30

So my first one would be like who has like the fastest GPS? Like who gets their who can beat the GPS fast thing for everybody.

Guy 34:42

Okay. Yeah, I do. I do for sure. I know you do.

Stephanie 34:45

I do as well. I'm like, how can we beat the GPS?

Guy 34:47

I do for sure.

Stephanie 34:48

Mine is gonna be who got it cheaper. I'm always competing to see if I can get the bigger discount or have the best QR. I'm always like raccoutan, this and that. I'm like, you're getting 2% cash back here, you can get this, this, and this, and this, and I got this for like $3, and look how cute it is. So I'm always on the hunt for the best deal, and I will compete with people to get the best deal.

Guy 35:10

Mine would be how early they woke up.

Stephanie 35:12

Oh yeah. Oh, I'm so tired. I got up at 6 30. Well, I got up at 5 30.

Guy 35:15

I was up at 5 30, curling my back hair.

Stephanie 35:19

They do. People are competitive about that. Yeah. I would say, like smoking meat, grilling. They're always like, Have you tried my brisket? It's like, you haven't had my brisket. You haven't had my ribs. I don't think that's a weird competition. I think that's a delicious competition. And jerk like jerky and deer meat. Everybody's always talking about like, have you tried my deer meat? It's like, no.

Guy 35:40

What do you where are we? Everybody, everybody.

Stephanie 35:43

I've had I was asked three times today. Is this what's happening? This is fucking.

Guy 35:47

You're just walking around looking to see if you can handle meat.

Stephanie 35:50

I'm telling you, when we were at a meeting, this guy handed us a jerking. Yeah.

Guy 35:54

For meat?

Stephanie 35:55

No, not a meeting. This guy literally handed us beef jerky and was like, I make this beef jerky, you want to try something? I'm like, oh my God, like seriously?

Guy 36:02

That's the first step to pedophilia.

Stephanie 36:04

Oh my gosh.

Guy 36:04

You're you were getting shoved in a van after that.

Stephanie 36:07

I was being groomed.

Guy 36:09

Of course they they I mean, using food would get me.

Stephanie 36:11

It would get me too. Same. All right. Mine is gonna be open play. People get weirdly competitive at open play, and it's just weird and it's creepy, and I don't like it. Oh, that's a good one.

Guy 36:21

Um, just like my first one, but more importantly, maybe how little sleep I got. Yes. I only slept five hours last year.

Stephanie 36:27

We only got three hours of sleep. Yeah, so did I, okay?

Guy 36:29

We're all tired. Look at how little sleep I got. I'm a vampire. Shut it down. We're all tired.

Stephanie 36:37

Parallel parking.

Guy 36:38

Oh, don't even get me started, you non-parallel parkers out there.

Stephanie 36:42

I cannot parallel park.

Guy 36:43

Or even more important, backing into a parking spot.

Stephanie 36:45

Backing into a parking spot. Well, yes. I'm like, oh good, they're leaving. Nope, they're not. They're just pulling up back in.

Guy 36:53

Yep, I nail it every time. Tactical parking. Tell us what you think. Pvpodcast.com.

News You Can Use

Guy 37:05

News you can use. For your joy at the water cooler tomorrow, you're gonna want this little piece of advice right here.

Stephanie 37:13

All right, so if you've never played a pickleball tournament before, here's some news you can use. Don't make your first tournament a huge ultra competitive event. Check your local courts for fundraiser tournaments or holiday tournaments or even charity events, or even maybe like a noisy event from noisy pickleball. They're usually a little more relaxed, they focus on fun, and they're full of people who remembered what it was like to play their first tournament. It's a great way to get your feet wet, learn how tournaments work, and build confidence before jumping into bigger events. This is how a lot of rec players get hooked. I know our first tournament was for like a softball fundraiser. So fun. And then after that, we've done tons of holiday ones. And so they're really laid back. But one of the things I've noticed is when we've played at open play with a couple people, I've had people come up and go, Oh, I'm gonna play my first tournament, but I don't really know. Or they go, Oh, do one of the biggest questions we get get is have you been in a tournament before? And I think people have put it on a pedestal. And yes, there's all these big tournaments, and that's fine.

Guy 38:13

I'm not good enough.

Stephanie 38:13

There's different categories, people, but they don't they don't realize that there are different levels and then there's different styles of tournaments, like the holiday ones and stuff that your local co court puts on. This is a great way. And so I I really want to encourage rec players, even if you've we only played twice before we did a tournament. And we played with the wrong rules in our head. We were completely wrong, but we had so much fun, and then it kind of just broke the seal. Yeah. And it's like, okay, well, we could do another one. Then I mean, if we could play completely wrong, then we can definitely do another one and play right. So I just want to encourage people out there that are rec players that have been thinking maybe I should do a tournament. You absolutely should.

Guy 38:53

Yeah. And I'm and if you are nervous about it, one of the best tips we can give is wear a Halloween rubber mask.

Paddle Princess 39:01

So you don't spit a drink out of her nose.

Guy 39:04

Try it. You'll like it.

Stephanie 39:11

That is not advice.

Guy 39:12

Who's Ronald Reagan over there?

Stephanie 39:14

Don't do that. Don't do it. They might not let you on the court. You're like, oh, he's a crook.

Guy 39:22

I'm not a crook.

Stephanie 39:24

Oh my gosh, that's a mess. That is not the tip. The tip is just to get out there and do it and enjoy it, have fun.

Guy 39:30

Do it scared. Do it scared. That's

Wrap-Up & CTA - Final thoughts, shoutouts, and how to engage with us

Guy 39:32

right. That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong, have a better take, we want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the social. Drop us a message. We might just speak to you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, sustained. If not, maybe try again with Rawls people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend it never happened. Until next time, Steve's game top and the energy to do.