Yeah.

It's fantastic to build.

It's fantastic to walk around in.

But also snowy Canada.

We go, um, Logan's gonna travel to Japan.

We have Talambang.

So we, uh, worked a lot on, uh, kind of foliage and organic geometry, so it's fantastic.

Well, you gotta play the game now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I think the All-Star Race, you know, has done so many great things for the sport.

And, and, you know, creating these, these opportunities to, to, to, to showcase bold ideas and, and now it's every weekend.

Um, and somewhere it became kind of a punching bag, and, and people like to talk about...

I mean, heck, man, before [laughs] leading into race week, people would be debating about how the format for the race that they hadn't seen yet needs to be different.

Yeah.

Um, I think, um, you know, all, all those options are out there.

Um, is it still in the news?

It is, it is in the news.

There's a lot going on there.

Um, Matt, I'd be curious what you're hearing.

I'm hearing some crazy things.

You know, it's been so tough, Dale.

You and I were there.

But I hate the idea that where else could we be and why can't we go be there?

But do, do you have coaching for specific scenarios in matches?

Yeah, so again, I learnt this, uh, off a guy who I've worked with off the field regarding my mental capacity, and, um, it's around controlling your breath, controlling your breathing, especially when...

Uh, 'cause my dad loves his stats, so whenever he's, he's told me whenever I play a part in a try or I have a long run, the chances of me getting the kick off the back of that goes down, but probably because the adrenaline, the excitement of me jumping and celebrating with my teammate or me scoring.

Obviously the passion's so high when something happens like that in a game.

Um, but for me, my, my next job is to, to kick the goal for the boys.

Um, so a few techniques that I'd use would be, uh, I'd redo my socks, which is almost for me an anchor to ground myself again and, and know that I'm about to head into the next moment, and then I'd, as I'm going back to the, to the mark, I'd do a few breaths and I normally use the, is it four, seven, eight breathing? Which is basically you inhale for four, you try and hold your breath for seven, and then you slowly exhale with out your mouth, which is, I think it's a technique that army officers use to basically down regulate and control their nervous system So I try and do that to stay level and, and, and be calm in that moment.

And then ultimately, I, I, because I pride myself on my preparation, I back myself that I've kicked that in a- in training hundreds of times, thousands of times, that I almost try and think of a couple of things.

Catholic?

Mm

... uh, internally and in, in our, in our, uh, discussions with the NASCAR team about what the schedule's gonna be.

Um, you know, the Easter weekend always kinda moves and, and changes the, um, the schedule in the spring.

Um, so we're, we're working on the schedule for next year and thinking about the years out.

But, um, I mean, I think that there is... there's certainly a, a, a future for North Wilkesboro, and, um, and it's gonna be, you know, around NASCAR and cars and, uh, and who knows what else we can-

Yeah.

Um, it's just really nice, easy to, to walk it and enjoy everything in the fan zone, the souvenirs, and, um, at the track, uh, getting to the campgrounds.

It's, um... a- and then the traffic in and out.

[laughs]

Well, you know, I always kind of think about, well, what, what's good about the way we scheduled things this year? And, um, I always, I always like to think about, you know, what if...

Could we just repeat what we have? Um, of course, everybody likes to change a little bit.

So there's a lot of debate, uh, internally in, in our, in our, um, discussions with the NASCAR team about what the schedule's gonna be.

Um, you know, the Easter weekend always kinda moves and, and changes the, um, the schedule in the spring.

Um, so we're, we're working on the schedule for next year and thinking about the years out.

But, um, I mean, I think that there is, there's certainly a, a, a future for North Wilkesboro, and, um, and it's gonna be, you know, around NASCAR and cars and, uh, and who knows what else we can, we can do there.

Yeah

It's our responsibility as professionals to

toTo look after ourselves, make sure we're in tip-top condition, and, uh, um, in terms of our body, but also our, our mindset going into that game.

It's, uh, it's gonna be a tough game.

They obviously wear their heart on their sleeve, very passionate people, and, uh, I don't think they, um, uh, they've lost ever at this stadium, so, um, it's gonna be a hell of a challenge, but, uh, one we're excited for.

Before I let you go, just tell us about that drink that you're drinking there.

Uh, it's Argentinian green tea, so yeah, we're bringing this to Argentina.

So-

[clapping]

Thanks for having me tonight.

[clapping]

Marcus, this is a story that you told me on Radio Rel, but what was your breaking point? I believe it was when you were in Seattle.

Yeah, so for me, like my breaking point was I had anxiety attacks the night before I had a camp practice and I was with Seattle.

And I remember driving on this long road And I was in so much pain mentally.

I don't know if you guys ever felt depression before, but it weighs on you heavy.

It's like a heavy part of your heart.

And I remember my wife being pregnant at the time.

I honestly was just thinking in my mind, like, hey, maybe it's just better for me not to be here, right? And so as I'm driving and I'm tipping my car on this little cliff on the way to go to the Seattle Seahawks facility, And when my car is tipping, my wife calls me.

Do you feel we're progressing to the point where it's not viewed as a quote unquote negative stigma?