Sound-off with Sinkoff
Sports meets pop culture and humor! Join your host, Brian Sinkoff, as he brings you the latest trends and insights from the world of sports, mixed with engaging conversations about pop culture, zombies and whatever he wants to "Sound-off" about.
Whether you're a sports fanatic, a real estate enthusiast or just someone looking for a good laugh, "Sound-off with Sinkoff" is fun, informative, and entertaining.
Sound-off with Sinkoff
Episode #4: Former Siena Saint & Harlem Globetrotter Tay Fisher
On Episode #4 of "Sound-off with Sinkoff", former Siena Saints Guard and Harlem Globetrotter Tay Fisher joins Brian Sinkoff. Tay discusses his career and the impact of his time at Siena.
Tay talks about his growth as a player and a person during his time in Loudonville and shares his experience of being the first member of his family to get a college education and the impact of college on his life.
Tay also discusses playing under different coaches at Siena and the challenges he faced, including the issue of his braids. He emphasizes the importance of community and the support he received from Siena fans. Tay shares his journey from college to joining the Harlem Globetrotters and the impact he had on kids and adults alike. He talks about the importance of perseverance and taking advantage of second chances.
Tay reflects on his favorite memories as a Globetrotter and as a Siena Saint. He also discusses his current endeavors, such as running basketball camps and leagues, and the joy he finds in being a father. Tay's positive attitude and dedication to helping others shine through in his work.
And hello and welcome everybody to Sound Off with Sync Off. I am your host, brian Syncoff, and of course, sound Off with Syncoff is sponsored by the Syncoff Realty course, a legendary basketball player from Siena College. He is a former Harlem Globetrotter and this weekend he's going to be inducted to the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame. Tay, what is up, my man? How are you, buddy?
Speaker 2:Brian, what's going on? How are you?
Speaker 1:Good, I'm doing well, tay. It's so good to see you, tay and I, a little bit of inside baseball for you, tay and I. We've been friends for a very long time Geez, I want to say probably almost 20 years since you were in Siena back in the day.
Speaker 1:So our relationship goes back a long time and, Tay, I can tell you this those that know basketball, those that don't know basketball it is always nice to see your smiling face because you literally are probably one of the happiest human beings I've ever met in my life.
Speaker 2:That's a good thing, not even a joke. Thank you for saying that. That's a great thing. Thank you for having me on this as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no problem, tay. Tay, let's talk a little bit about what we got coming up, or what you got coming up this Sunday That'll be for those watching on the podcast. May 21st, in the Capital Region, you're going to be inducted to the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in Troy at the Hilton Garden Inn. I know it's a prestigious honor for you. Tell us what that was like, getting the call to go in and then just sort of reflecting back on what it means to you.
Speaker 2:It's definitely an honor to be able to be inducted in the New York State Hall of Fame for basketball it's I still haven't really. Since retiring from the Globetrotters, I haven't really reflected too much on my career because things have been so crazy in my life. Once I stopped playing, covid hit, then I had a son, and then we just moved up to the Capital Region and just so much has just been happening all at once. So people would always ask me have I had a chance to really sit back and just think about my career? And the answer is no, not really. But on top of that I'm still doing a lot of basketball programs for the kids. But at the same time I come home I look at pictures, I look at videos. They're on my phone. There's YouTube. There's so much other things going on that's in the world right now with technology that it reminds me. They'll bring me back to those great memories. So even though I haven't reflected on it, there are things that I haven't forgotten that still makes a difference today tay, of course, from kingston.
Speaker 1:Uh played at sienna and some of those great sienna teams, uh the mid, uh, you know, mid 2000s uh went to ncaa tournaments. Tay, you were there at Siena from 2004 to 2008. You had 229 three-pointers, second only to Scott Knapp. You basically lit it up in the NCAA tournament 2008 Vanderbilt the upset win. You have six three-pointers. Go back to your time at Siena. We'll talk about the Vanderbilt game in a second. Go back to your time at Siena We'll talk about the Vanderbilt game in a second. But go back to your time at Siena and sort of how you grew, not only as a player, but you grew a lot as a person, didn't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely Siena was. It was in reality it should be for college. For any kid it's four years of growth and once I stepped on that campus I was no longer that Kingston kid, you know, like 18 year old kid anymore, because reality have set with how I'm going to be as a student athlete. And if I had to take anything away from that, I always knew I was a great basketball player. I knew it. I mean, I had the confidence in myself very humble, but I knew what my game was able to provide for me on the court. Basketball was probably.
Speaker 2:The court, to be honest with you was probably the safest place that I was able to be at as a young kid, which is why I felt comfortable on the court. It was the off the court stuff that I wasn't really sure if I was going to be able to do. So for me to be able to go to Siena, stay there, do good in school, get my degree that was the highlight of my time at Siena Me doing what I did at Vanderbilt, me scoring all those threes, me being a leader, being the captain of the team all of the success I had at Siena on the court. It wasn't a surprise, because I came from having success already at Kingston High School and then Siena. I kind of had the confidence in myself to know what I was going to do. But to have it all come together as one, I feel like that was probably the huge accomplishment for me.
Speaker 1:Tay, you talked about that kid that went to Siena and you were the safest and I hear that from so many basketball players really a lot of athletes, but especially basketball players. You have that safe court where it's yours, you're comfortable. You came to Siena. You were the first. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you were the first member of your family to get a college education right.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:What was it like for you growing up and knowing that college would be an outlet for you that maybe others in your family didn't have a chance? What was Tay Fisher's life like growing?
Speaker 2:up. Growing up, I grew up in an inner city where there wasn't much to do. I mean, all I saw was drugs and violence and just I mean, really, what I'm saying is no different than what we will see in the capital region as well, in a lot of other places. So if people understand and they know, they can relate and they know what I have to say with that. So going to the Boys and Girls Club was my safe place, which we have a lot of them in the capital region, whether it's in Albany or Troy or whatever, and then we have multiple YMCAs as well.
Speaker 2:But again, the Boys and Girls Club was my safe place. That's where my love for the game started. That's where I knew I was going to be safe, because I knew I didn't have to have the streets take me away like I've done other people and let's be honest, there's many great athletes out there who wasn't fortunate to have other things take them away from their greatness. So I could have been another statistic, but there were people in places in my community that never let me go down that route and I thank them for that to this day. And that's the reason why I take pride in what I do because some people they don't get paid to take care of us, right, they don't want the limelight, they don't want to be acknowledged, they do it because they have a good heart. And I got to make sure that I do that same thing for other kids. But at the same time I got to make sure I don't go down the wrong path, because I appreciate what they have done for me.
Speaker 1:Was it hard and Tay, this is good stuff here Was it hard for you to stay on the right path? I mean, did you look at an end game, like Siena? I'm sure you hear the stories. Hey, we're doing this tonight. You're like, no, I'd rather shoot baskets. Was there that sort of line where everyone went like this? And maybe, Tay, you went like this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it definitely did. But what was different in my life was the people that went this way, and I went this way. Those same people were the ones telling me don't go this way, Tay.
Speaker 1:Go your way, right.
Speaker 2:So some people don't have that, but my friends that I have to this day. Maybe they went the wrong way, but they're my friends because they helped me go the other way. Way, but they're my friends because they helped me go the other way. And every time they see me succeed, they feel like they succeeded because they were the same kids that stayed over my house. They were the same kids who woke up in the morning to work out with me. They were the same kids that stayed up late. They were the ones in my class. I do not forget my friends that I grew up with.
Speaker 2:I'm not that type of person that says, hey, you went this way, I went that way. No, I'm not that type of person that says, hey, you went this way, I went that way. No, if you made a difference in my life, I make sure you stay in it, and I'm a very loyal person. I'm a very committed person. If you don't know that about me, just go back to my Siena time, when I could have left. When everybody else left and Coach McCaffrey came in, I was the only person that stayed. So if I would have left, maybe we wouldn't be having these conversations right now. But for me being where I'm from, that college degree and that full scholarship was above and beyond my expectations. I wasn't going to mess that up by just leaving the school and trying to start all over again.
Speaker 1:How did it evolve? Obviously McCaffrey didn't recruit you, right?
Speaker 2:It was Rob Lanier.
Speaker 1:Rob Lanier was the previous coach, so how did you get to Siena? Take us back to that the year before. I guess it would have been a couple, actually two years before McCaffrey got here. How did you end up getting to Siena?
Speaker 2:Well, I had a great career at Kingston but the one thing that I guess steered Sienna towards me was when I scored 61 points against Albany High. My senior year was the second game in our. In our season we were in an Albany tournament and I scored 61 points and we only won by like five points. So those 61 points was all needed. Some people they score 61 points and they win by 61 points. That means coach was just trying to keep you in. You can rally up all them points, but every point was needed. It was a great accomplishment.
Speaker 2:I got in Sports Illustrated and Faces in the Crowd for that. Then Siena obviously Albany's right in their backyard they said that's the kid we need. And obviously I had other schools but Rob Lanier, I had a connection with him. Sienna was close to home. I wanted to be close to my parents, especially my mom, and it was just the right fit. And you know when it's the right fit, like no one can tell you, you just feel it and you know it and it's a choice that I'm happy I made and I wouldn't change it if I had to do it all over again.
Speaker 1:And you know you bring that up. It's funny I'm just going to bring this back to my life and my son, my son's 15 now and he's going to be a junior next year and he's looking at colleges. We're starting to get in that point and I said you know he's, you know dad, how do I know? And I echoed literally what you just said, tay. I said zach, I said you'll know when it's the right fit, like mom or dad can't tell you. You know, you're just gonna know. And I think that's so neat that you just said that. And and you're obviously at a different level you're playing college hoops, you're being recruited, recruited, you're being courted, but your inner man, your inner core, just told you that that was all you needed to know, tay.
Speaker 1:Let's talk now about your Siena career. So you know your first couple of years there, rob leaves, fran comes in you mentioned it was a little bit of an upheaval in the program. He brings a lot of you, new players in an amazing core that you end up playing with. How was it like playing Fran now, of course, at Iowa?
Speaker 2:what was it like playing for Fran who, let's be honest, a legendary coach at Siena, there's no question yeah, I didn't know much about coach McCaffrey at all coming in, uh, but I trusted Siena and I just wasn't leaving Sienna, like it just is what it is. I was happy there it was. I was the type of person that I always said the only way I'm going to sit out because at that point if you transferred you had to sit out a year, right, like. So I was just the type of person I love basketball so much and I played it every day that if I sat out I wanted to be because I'm injured or I'm hurt. I'm not going to sit out just because a coach left. That stuff happens in life. So he was great. He was great. I know he didn't recruit me, but I still had confidence in myself that I will be able to play not only with the kids that he was going to bring in, but at the level of the mid-major MAAC conference. So whoever was coming in, I knew I was going to be able to compete. I already had a year under it already and I was happy that I stayed.
Speaker 2:Obviously, there was some ups and downs, some on the court and off the court issues. For those people that don't know, coach McCaffrey wasn't really a fan of my braids and you know me having, you know the braids that I kind of loved and some of it came from high school and being an alan iverson fan and you know a lot of people were, you know, we kind of I loved ai. I mean, we kind of, uh, as athletes we all have people we idolize, but it wasn't something that he was very fond of and I'm okay with having these conversations because it's in my documentary that you know my doc, that was done for me and Coach McCaffrey we talk about it all the time. But I was very committed to his you know his standards and also to Sienna. And then all of a sudden I just cut my hair and it's hair, you know, to some people, to some people, it means something to them.
Speaker 2:For me it was a symbol because people would say, oh, that guy with the braids, yeah, he's good, what's his name? But I had something that separated me from other people but at the same time I wasn't going to let that take away from my education and my time at Siena. So I'm happy I made that decision. As you can see, it was going to go anyway. So it doesn't even matter, but it's much bigger than the game of basketball, and Coach McCaffrey taught me about life, and he taught me about how to be a man and how to be a leader, and sometimes there's things that we need to do and you know, those are the coaches that you need in your life.
Speaker 1:You know it's. It's remarkable to sort of hear those stories. And Tay, it's, you know. You look back, it's, you know, 16 years ago, at that point you know you're a man now.
Speaker 2:You know what I?
Speaker 1:mean, you got two kids, you got a wife, you got a house. It's remarkable that you could sort of reflect back on that and talk about it, because I don't correct me if I'm wrong and I know you. I don't know you as well as maybe I think I do right, but I know you pretty well. Would I think I do right, but I know you pretty well? Would you have been able to discuss that 10 years ago publicly? It took you a little while to understand, right?
Speaker 2:Am I right? It took me a while because at the end of the day as a kid and even to this day, it's like what did that have to do with how I performed? But at the end of the day, I made the decision. I made the decision and, like I said to you before, it was a decision that I'm happy that I made. Number one a new coach came in, new players came in. Everything was new and I felt like at that point, I needed to be a new version of myself as well. The Tay with the braids was so high school. It was a one-year Sienna. I was looking at the future of. Okay, if I'm in this new era, I'm going to go ahead and do this and, at the same time, he's my coach. He's a new coach. I want him what I'm about to do, even though I don't really agree with it. I want you to know I'm your man, you're committed.
Speaker 2:You're in, I'm committed, right, you know what I mean. So me doing that was me saying I know you didn't recruit me, but I'm here and look what happened three years later and to this day we're really cool. We're family still and look the success that we had. Even the picture that you see that's the most iconic picture, probably at Siena is him picking me up, walking my feet, hugging me in such joy because we have went through so much together in those three years, knowing I wasn't one of his recruits, and him saying you are probably one of the biggest stars at Siena that we've had and you know I'm thankful.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking of that man. It gets me a little shook. Not going to lie, because that photo is so iconic. And for those that don't know what he's talking about, walk around downtown Albany. It's on the. You see it usually hanging on like the light posts right outside of the arena and all over the inside of the arena and on the Siena campus. So you're right, that is such an iconic photo. You're in his arms and he's hugging you.
Speaker 2:What a great photo that is.
Speaker 1:So Tay Kingston, only about an hour from here, you're part of the Siena community. Talk about how much this community I mean because I remember I was at, I was doing television, I was at Channel 10 when you were at Siena and then did the radio show Sound Off with Sync Off. I remember you were like you were so good with the media, you were so good with the fans, you got it Like you understood sort of your role as a basketball ambassador. How talk about how the fans embraced you and how comfortable they made you feel because, let's face it, you weren't in kingston anymore, dorothy, right, I mean you weren't, you were in a different area.
Speaker 2:Loudonville ain't kingston, yeah but that's the reason why I still live in this capital region right now, right, and my wife and I chose to come to this area because it's home. It's a second home for me. I feel comfortable here. When I played at Siena, I can still hear the fans on their feet when I got in the game, or something you know on their feet when I got in the game, or something you know, or when I hit a shot, because they all knew that I was the definition of Sienna during that era. You know, I was there and I represented the program the right way.
Speaker 2:I never did anything that made them question who I was on or off the court. Um, and I was an ambassador with them before. I was an ambassador with the globe charters or anything else, like I already. I was already. I was already doing it. So, um, I was doing the community stuff.
Speaker 2:I was going to the schools I was going to visit, as a Sienna like coach would always say Tay, you're the leader, this is what you're going to do, can you grab this? Can you do that? I was his guy and Siena, siena fans embrace me and I'm thankful for that because, as a player, you know that there's times where you lose your confidence, whether you're missing shots, whether there's a problem, you just never know. But every time I played in that arena, man, I'm telling you I was just. It just felt good. It felt good and I still played there, even with the Globetrotters. Every year we played there and when I did, it felt like I was that young kid back in the gym again, with the fans screaming my name or cheering or three-point goal, tay Fisher. I mean, I still hear it and it's pretty amazing and I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 1:Tay, you obviously still live in the area. You run your basketball camps which we'll get into in a minute. You still get recognized all over the place. What's that like that feeling of still being appreciated, still being recognized and still honestly being loved by the capital region? That's gotta be cool, right yeah?
Speaker 2:that is cool. I say that because when you graduate from college and you go on with your professional career, you're forgotten, not in a bad way, but they'll. They'll ask the questions such as what is that kid, by the way? Hey, how's he doing, is he doing? No, for my career I chose a different path. I've done things differently. I never really followed I'm not a follower. I always do things differently and sometimes it could be right, it could be wrong, but I have my own mind and I have my own life and my chapters and my life. It led me to the Globetrotters, which I think was a big part of keeping my name in the area, because I always came home and I still stayed on the radio or on TV and I played in the same gym and I always was in the community. And then, on top of that, I did all my community stuff here in the area, even though it wasn't full time. It was enough for people to know I didn't forget about you.
Speaker 1:So I think, going with the Globetrotters, is probably the best decision I was able to make to be able to still be very popular, well-known in the community, and let people know that I'm not going nowhere, tay, it literally leads me to my next question. That is my big surprise. You join, you leave Siena, you leave Siena. This is awesome bud.
Speaker 2:It's a nice jersey.
Speaker 1:A good friend of mine gave that to me, or you know whatever. It's awesome and we'll talk about the Globetrotters. We're going to talk about them now, but I'll talk about my experience with the Globetrotters. But anyway, you leave Sienna and O8, how on earth did the Globetrotters come about? Like, explain how you get a tryout with them. You make the team like how does that happen?
Speaker 2:Um, again, everything is about that one shining moment, like we talked about at Kingston, when I scored at 61 points. Sienna recruited me. Everyone else started recruiting me as well, but for the Globetrotters, it was them watching me play against Ryder in the championship on my 22nd birthday.
Speaker 1:You went nuts in that game at the TU Center At the time which led us to Vanderbilt, which then I went 66.
Speaker 2:But I had games like that that showed that I can play on a big stage and I was prepared and at the same time, I was still showing personality, which has always been my thing. I always was a class clown in school. I was always always happy, I was always the funny guy and people saw that on the court and the Globetrotters were watching them games, just like they do the dunk contest. If they won dunkers, you just never know. And they drafted me in 2008. And what people don't know is that when I graduated from Siena, I didn't know where to go for basketball and I started my education at the College of St Rose to be a teacher. People don't even know that I wasn't actually in class and going and after I got done working out, that's when the Globetrotters reached out to me. So I went to the tryout in 2008 while I was still at the College of St Rose and then tried out for the team. Another thing that people don't know is I didn't even make the team my first year, so people don't even know that they do now. Yeah, they do now.
Speaker 2:The reason why we have these podcasts and these conversations is I completed my first year at the College of St Rose. The Globetrotters called me back to give me another opportunity and I never looked back since. And I tell people all the time it might not work out your first time, you might not do well your first time, and I thought I did great my first time. But I got another opportunity and another chance and I made sure that they took me and I was able to be Firefly and do 10 years in 50 states, 75 countries. Come on, man, a kid from the inner city who couldn't even leave his house because of things that my parents were concerned about, with the streets taking me away. I'm now all over the world and that became my new education, my new teacher, and now I'm able to share more than what the basketball, what I'm able to do on the basketball court.
Speaker 1:I mean it's, it's amazing best, it is you know I made in my life and and I'm I'm telling you as a suburban kid from outside of Washington DC, I'll hold up the jersey again because I'll never tell you. I'm telling you we've had you and I have had conversations about the Globetrotters, because you know how enamored I am with these guys. The capital center, right, landover, maryland, where the bullets and the capitals played right, that's kind of near where I grew up and my mom.
Speaker 1:They would come every year in march in the dc area yeah and my birthday present every year was my mom giving me tickets to go to the globetrotters. Now, that's when they had curly neil and um uh don, what was his name? Don, sweet Lou. Um uh, who else?
Speaker 2:Um give me some other guys. You have metal or lemon on it.
Speaker 1:Uh, metal art? No, I think he might've been, like he might've been there, but he wasn't. You know like really participating just kind of like an ambassador. But curly, curly was like my favorite. Um, uh, you know, uh, sweet Lou, sweet lou. Um, done was dunbar, was that a name?
Speaker 1:yeah, that was sweet lou dunbar yeah, yeah, yeah, I love those guys. They had a cartoon. They had a cartoon they like with scooby-doo and stuff, and like, I met these guys. Man, I was, and I love basketball. Obviously I'm a short dude, but, like, I always loved basketball, I played, you know whatever, and I just met these guys. Man, I was, and I love basketball. Obviously I'm a short dude, but like I always love basketball, I played, you know whatever, and I just met these guys and I'm just what I'm trying to do is I'm relating it to you and when you met the kids because I remember as a little kid meeting curly, taking pictures and autographs, and it was like bring the biggest smile on my face, you know my mom would get me the tickets and it would.
Speaker 1:We'd have to wait like a month and every morning I woke up and asked when we're going to the globetrotters I'm not even kidding, like to this day I hand to god man. I loved him as a kid and I was like that was the prime globetrotters era you know what I mean? Yeah, and I know that you had that impact on kids, didn't you? And and even adults like me, probably like parents, like remembering their days, right, what was that like? Sort of when you saw those kids you know, wide-eyed, going oh my gosh, it's a globetrotter in front of me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's hard to explain unless you put on that red, white and blue because you're really turning into Superman. You really are. And those kids, it's almost like you can't do wrong because they look up to you. So when you are accepted into that Globetrotter family they don't just let anybody wear that. There's too much history. I think at this time, right now, it might be 96 years, 98 years, I don't really know. Off the top of my head.
Speaker 1:It's almost 100.
Speaker 2:It's almost 100 years of rich history that you got to make sure the right people who put on that uniform is going to represent the right way. I was one of those guys and I did it for 10 years. Some people don't even last 10 days, not only because of the hard schedule that we go through, which is hard, you know. We play every single day, sometimes twice a day. We travel all around the world. That's a hard schedule for people to be able to manage, but you've got to have it.
Speaker 2:I don't know what that is, but it's more than just the basketball skills. It's the smile, it's the charisma. It's the charisma, it's the character, it's the speaking, it's a little bit of everything. And then I learned how to spin the ball on my finger. I learned tricks. I can spin the ball on my head. I can put it all through my body. It's just amazing the things that I was able to learn and that's from the veterans me being creative and using my mind, because obviously I still have an image of I want people to remember me by, like they did, curly with his bald head right and having Curly as my mentor. That was very, very, very big.
Speaker 2:We would do PR together and travel for like 10 days to, like Virginia and other places. We would stay in the hotels together, just me and him, and he would just update me on the history and say you know, tay, you guys are so happy and lucky to be able to stay in this rich hotel. We had to go from door to door and ask people if we could just stay in their house, just to continue on the road. Like those are the small things that I don't think people really understand, and I'm a part of history. In February, when we talk about Black History Month and we talk about Martin Luther King and all of the other African-American leaders, the Harlem Globe charters have to be in that discussion and I think that's something I do want to bring to you know schools and everything, because I think they're missing out on some history that they should be a part of and and what I think is so cool about the Globetrotters.
Speaker 1:You know it. Look, admittedly I'm the suburban white kid, right I mean, who lived in the suburbs of Maryland. I idolized these guys like I didn't. You know what I mean. I think the Globetrotters as corny as this sounds, tay and you probably saw, color wasn't even a thing. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:I never even thought, oh curly, like these were my heroes and I think that's pretty cool you know, especially being in your shoes, that you know you have someone that may not look like you, idolizes you or maybe idolizes is a bad term but admires you and just has this fond feeling about you. That's a pretty powerful thing that sports can do for human beings.
Speaker 2:That sports can do and that's the reason why every time they Again, we already kind of talked about how I'm not playing anymore, but that's the reason why, whenever they come home, I bring kids from my programs there, because I need them to see it and I like to sit back and watch it as well. Not to mention that I have a son who I never really realized. I knew I made an impact. I knew kids loved it. I knew they went home and they wore their wristband and they loved it. But now I'm actually seeing it happen in my house.
Speaker 2:Now he wouldn't take off his wristbands. He'll talk about it every day. He'll ask me can I just play Sweet Georgia Brown? He'll just. It's those little things that I'm like wow, is this what I was doing to these kids? This is crazy. And again, this is that part of sitting back and reflecting on what I was a part of and still a part of to this day, because once you're a Globetrotter, you're always a Globetrotter, so I'm happy that I was able to be a part of that type of environment.
Speaker 1:So, tay, let's. I'm going to put you on the spot here. You're, one of your favorite memories is a globetrotter. I know you have hundreds. Is there any favorite country you've visited? Favorite memory? I mean, I imagine you're probably entertaining people. You're entertaining and some of the people don't even understand English. Right, seriously, right, seriously right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, the good thing about the Globe Charters is you don't, we'll go. Let's just say we go to Spain. I'll just give that an example, and we're obviously not fluent in Spanish, but we will try to learn it, and even if we mess up, they will clap just for trying it right, because it's the whole part of the process. But at the same time, though, a smile is universal, right? We don't have to speak your language. We can do things that make you smile, such as spinning a ball on our finger right, like that, right there, smile, boom, we got you already right, and that's without even saying a word. Not too many people or or organizations have that power to do that, and I can say that I do, and one of my favorite countries probably Egypt. I think it's because I learned about King Tut, I learned about things. I learned about all of that in school, and now I'm there and the pictures that I have they look Photoshopped because they look so great and I'm like wow, like I can't believe I'm actually here. Um, but on top of that, one of the coolest moments I got so many of them, but one of the highlights that I always looked forward to every year was going to entertain the troops, loved it, I loved it. And they would always say, tay, you're going to entertain the troops, loved it, I loved it. And they would always say Tay, you're going to entertain the troops because you know they will pick players. But they said you do such a great job, they love you over there. You're going, and I loved it because we brought a smile to them during the holiday seasons.
Speaker 2:We're away from our families, they're away from their families. Every year, we would change our location. So we'll either go to Asia, um. We'll go to, uh, europe and um, or we'll go to Afghanistan, uh. So we'll always change it up every year. And I'm gonna tell you right now it's different everywhere you go. You know some bases, such as Europe. They have their family there. You know other places, like you know, go to Afghanistan or something. They don't. So we were able to sleep in the tents, we were able to see how it felt to be there, wow, and I ain't gonna lie, I was ready to go.
Speaker 1:I mean that had all jokes aside, that had to be very eye-opening.
Speaker 2:It was. It was, you know, things that we couldn't do like. We couldn't use social media, we couldn't post pictures, because that could be a target.
Speaker 2:Security rights yeah security, for security reasons. You know, wow, it was just man like. And I always think to myself I know we can make kids smile. How the heck are we going to make these grown men and women smile? And I kid you not, they were the biggest little kids that you can have at a show. That's when I knew this was real. I said, wow, this is a real thing right here.
Speaker 2:So those are some of the fondest memories that I had and I loved it and I enjoyed it. But I miss Thanksgiving for those things we always have Christmas morning. I miss birthdays, I miss holidays. I miss so much, but it wasn't because of the Globetrotter. It's just a part of being an athlete. You just miss certain special days. That's the reason why, now that I'm not playing, I don't miss those days anymore, because I make them very valuable, because I knew how it felt to miss my wife's birthday, my son's birthday, whoever. It is Christmas morning seeing the kids open up their stuff sitting at the table for Thanksgiving with my family. So I value those little, small things because I knew that they weren't a part of my life for so long, because I had a job I had to do.
Speaker 1:Right, tay, I know a question that you probably have answered a hundred times, and it always blows my mind how on earth the Globetrotters practiced what they do on the court, you hitting those four point shots, the half court shots, the dunks, I mean it is. And, let's face it, you guys are good basketball players too, so there's the show aspect and then the game aspect. I imagine it takes a lot of practice, but I was always fascinated by that.
Speaker 2:It takes a lot of practice, like it was almost a requirement your first three years. You have to take a basketball to your room, you have to Yep. If you left your basketball on the bus they will call you and say, hey, you left your ball, go get it. So we had to feel comfortable with that ball. I would be in the room just spinning the ball on my finger, trying things. It was hard, man. It's like learning basketball all over again, but, man, it's so rewarding In the Globe Charters.
Speaker 2:Out of everything that it taught me, it taught me about consistency. That's a life lesson Be consistent. That taught me consistency, because we played every day, sometimes twice a day, and it was always a new crowd coming to see you and sometimes it would be their only time coming to see you, because we only came once a year, or it was their first time, or it could be their last time watching us, you never know. So we had to be like professionals perfection every single day. And it kind of translated into my life now, which is why you're like. You're one of the happiest people that I ever see. You know what? And I am? Do I have bad days? Yeah, I do. Am I tired at times. Yeah, I do. I'm a human, but I know when to shut it down and I know when to be on, and it's because the Globe Charters have taught me that type of life and that's a skill.
Speaker 1:And you certainly are successful in life. Tay, tell us about what you're doing right now. I know you got your basketball camps, promote those. Just break down what Tay Fisher's doing and congratulations. I know you have a gym now in Troy yeah, I do?
Speaker 2:I have a gym in Troy. This used to be the San Augustine, the old building. It's right across the street actually from the Boys and Girls Club at Lantenburg. My partner is Julie McBride, who played at Catholic High, went to Syracuse, had a great career there. She's an awesome person. So we're together, trying to create memories and have our own place together to be able to provide the kids something. But my basketball camps 20 years. I'm celebrating 20 years this year. Wow, 20 years of my basketball camp. But I have basketball leagues, I have an AAU team, I have clinics.
Speaker 2:I have so much going on now that I'm not playing that me being on the globe charters. I was gone nine months out of the year, but now I'm home every day, all the time. So now I'm making my programs last throughout the year and I'm very excited to be able to have that. I have a son that's four years old. I have a daughter that's six months. So now being a father, I mean that's my favorite's my favorite job, man, Like I love it and you would know as well. I mean you know you brought your son to the game and everything and you enjoyed it and I see how great of a father you are and I'm happy that you know. I was able to enjoy my life because now I can dedicate everything to my family right now.
Speaker 2:The only thing I regret and I don't want to say regret, because that's not a good word to say is I just wish that I was able to play and he was able to watch me. That's the only thing Now. Would he have remembered? Probably not, but I would have had pictures and we would have had something to remember together. But at the same time, covid hit and I left when he was born and when we talked about going to college, you know when it's, you'll know when it's the right college. At the same time, I also knew when it was time to go and I left at the right time, when it was time for me. I left on good terms and I didn't want to force something and I did my 10 years and, like I said, it was time to open up a new chapter in my life, man, and uh, I'm not going to say that it was a bad decision. I'm very happy with the decision that I made.
Speaker 1:And Tay, we're going to put on the screen, we'll put give. Give us the website for your basketball camp.
Speaker 2:How can people?
Speaker 1:reach out to you.
Speaker 2:Yep, it's just tayfishercom tayfishercom.
Speaker 1:Tayfishercom.
Speaker 2:And then you'll see, you know all of the all the offerings that I have.
Speaker 2:Yep, Just continue to follow it throughout the year as more things will start coming up year, as more things will start coming up. Facebook is a big thing for me as well. Tay Fisher, Basketball. You know so many different social media platforms now that we can have to not only promote our businesses but also just to share important things like this that people can follow as well. Even if you don't like basketball, you can just follow my life. You know, that's what I like.
Speaker 1:You have a great message and you're very positive and that's what I love about you. And you know, I, I I follow your social media and it's so funny to see like people that I know that you know, I didn't know, have a connection to you and they comment on your page because they sent their kid to your camp. I was like, oh my god, he has, like you, have, like your, your handprints in every community in the capital region. I think that is so cool. I'm like, literally I look every day and I'm like, oh my gosh, her daughter went to to tay's camp and his son was at taste wow, look at these. So that's great. That is that shows you've kind of made it, tay, that you've been able to really implant yourself into this community.
Speaker 2:I treat everybody's kid like they're mine, you know. I just hope that as my son gets older, I can go ahead and give him to someone else like myself who can also help him as well. That's the whole goal, man. We all help each other and we keep this thing going. So then that way, the future is bright for our young ones to be able to be successful as well.
Speaker 1:Well, tay, I really appreciate it. Man, you're a good guy. You're a good guy, you're a good father. You have a beautiful family. Say hi to your bride and your kids for me and we're going to keep following you. Keep smiling and again, I really appreciate you taking the time with me here on Sound Office Sing Call.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I appreciate you having me again and sharing all of these new and adventurous things that I have going on in the past. It's always good to reminisce with good friends like you, so thank you.
Speaker 1:All right, that is Tay Fisher. Tay, hang with me for one second. I'm just going to say goodbye here. That is it for SoundOff with SinkOff. Tayfishercom is the website. Tay's a great guy, so check it out if you got kids and, as he said, even if you don't. Just good positivity, good positive vibes and let's go Globetrotters, Thank you. Thank you everyone for watching here. Sound off with Sink Offer for listening on all your favorite podcast websites. I'm Brian Sinkoff. You have a great day.
