[00:00:00] Jim: I just sat down with Lane Grindle, the voice of the Brewers. Those of you from Nebraska may remember him as one of the sideline commentators, uh, hosts for the Husker Sports Network. Lane is a professional broadcaster. And a husband and a father and a man of faith. We sit down and we talk about sports and faith and parenting and living your faith in a very demanding profession. You're going to love today's conversation. Take a listen.

[00:00:28] Intro: Hey everybody. Welcome to the EquipCast, a weekly podcast for the Archdiocese of Omaha. I'm your host, Jim Jansen. Now let's dive into some encouragement and inspiration. To equip you to live your faith and to be fruitful in your mission. Let's go.

[00:00:53] Jim: Lane. Grendel, welcome to the Equip Cast. How are you doing? 

[00:00:56] Lane: I'm doing well. It's so good to to see you and, and hear you again and, uh, great to connect with all the people back in Nebraska. 

[00:01:02] Jim: Give everybody just a little bit like you, you are a lifetime Husker fan. Mm-Hmm. . And some of you may remember your name and your voice.
You were one of the sideline commentators for the Husker Sports Network. Tell everybody just a little bit about your, your story. 

[00:01:17] Lane: Yeah, I grew up as you said, I really grew up a Husker fan. I am 42 years old. So, if you do the math on that when I was, you know, in junior high and early high school years, it was a good time to be a Husker fan.
So, it was kind of easy. I grew up in Southwest Iowa, just outside of Omaha, maybe 30 minutes. The years of Tommy Frazier and Brooke Beringer and all of those great legends through the mid-nineties were really present in my time as a, as a young sports fan. So, I've been a Husker fan my entire life and it came full circle for me at an early age.
I went to the University of South Dakota and ran track there, and less than a year out from college, I was working in Yankton, South Dakota. I got the opportunity to come back home and work for Nebraska and work for the Husker Sports Network. I was 24 years old at the time. I don't think I realized that I wasn't ready for the job.
But I wasn't ready for the job, but I had to get ready for the job quick. So, there's a lot of on the job training. That was really a dream come true for me. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to work for the Huskers, and I had that opportunity and I worked 10 years for Nebraska. Sideline Reporter, I hosted a nightly talk show.
I did baseball play by play for the majority of the time that I was there. Did some sales work, sold some of the sponsorships in the stadium and the multimedia rights and just had a chance to learn a ton about the business. any different ways. So, it's a really rewarding experience. I got to work for some great people while I was there, make some great relationships that are still very, very strong and important to me to this day.
And Nebraska will always be a big part of home for me, for sure. I, I'll never be able to shake it. It gets in your blood, and it never leaves. 

[00:03:00] Jim: It does. Yeah. And it's been tested, uh, for, for most of us, lifetime Husker fans, it's been tested for a while. It breaks my heart. So, my kids are like, dad, I thought you said Nebraska was good.
I was like, well, they used to be, trust me. It's coming back. It's coming back. 

[00:03:16] Lane: I have to educate my kids a lot on what Nebraska was because It's kind of turned. Yeah, you're gonna watch them lose again. And I'm like, no, it's gonna turn at some point. Like, that's part of the reward is that on the other end, it's gonna get, you know, maybe not mid-nineties again, but it's gonna get good again.
And so that hope is what keeps bringing us back. 

[00:03:35] Jim: Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it's like, it's like, oh, it's becoming a little bit of an exercise of faith. It's like, it's coming. It's coming. Yeah, absolutely. Lane. You've got a great Transcribed Uh, faith story, you know, you were raised a Husker fan, but you're not raised Catholic.
Tell everybody a little bit about your faith journey. 

[00:03:52] Lane: Yeah, I, I was raised in the Lutheran church and then was confirmed in the Methodist church and my parents were, were really great about supporting me and, and, and empowering me quite frankly, to, to find my way, uh, in my faith. We went to, Church pretty much every Sunday.
We were there. I went to Sunday school. And then when the time came for confirmation, we had a wonderful pastor named pastor June. He was from the Philippines at the Methodist church in our town. And, um, he just really connected, especially with the younger, the younger kids, um, that were at that age of confirmation and.
And I, I really wanted, and I think my parents were very good about encouraging me too, to, to go through confirmation with him and, uh, made a great connection with Pastor June and, um, had a big impact me on, on my faith and, and my faith journey. And then, uh, in college, I, I continued to be Methodist and. I always, though, had this interest in Catholicism.
My best friend growing up was Catholic. I went to Mass with him a lot on Sunday mornings, or sometimes Saturday evenings for the Vigil Mass. And so, I kind of had the rhythm and the rhyme of Mass down a little bit by that point, because we were together all the time. And then I met a girl, and she was Catholic.
Her father was a deacon. Before I had even proposed to her, I felt like this was going to be the one. And I felt like the thing I wanted to do was to be kind of all in the same boat when it came to our faith and raising our kids and everything else. So, I made the decision at that point to go through RCIA and become Catholic.
And again, my parents were unbelievably supportive. My sisters as well. I remember When I was, you know, uh, finishing up RCIA and I was, I was coming into the church, they were all sitting in the front row crying, uh, as I was being, uh, brought into the Catholic church. So that's a big part of it. I think when people, you know, make the conversion, um, it can be, it can be challenging if they don't have the support from the people in their corner.
And I had so much great support in really empowering me to come to this place on my own. And I'm always grateful for that. So. It was quite a journey and it's been a very rewarding one. Catholicism has absolutely been the right thing for me and I'm learning new things every day. There's always something that you can educate yourself on and grow in your faith.
It's, it really is a journey. I think when some people look at you and find out that you're just coming from confession or you're coming from mass, sometimes they wonder like, well, Do you think you're holy because you're doing that? And my answer is always, no, not enough. Like that's why I'm doing it. Like it's, you know, because I'm God and because I need to grow.
And because this is the thing that kind of helps get me up off the mat if I had a bad day or whatever it might be. So... 

[00:06:39] Jim: Yeah. You should see me without confession. Exactly. 

[00:06:42] Lane: No, I mean, I will tell you not to get too far off the subject here, but like confession is a big thing for me. I don't know that I utilized it in my early days when I converted, like I should and.
I got this book, Scott Hahn wrote a book on Confessions, he's written a lot of great stuff. Scott Hahn's been a big influence on me in learning more about the faith and growing in my faith, but he had a book, uh, and I can't remember the name of it, I think it was, um Is it I Confess? I don't think it was that one, but it was similar to that, what confession does for you and why it's important, and it really spoke to me.
It really had a profound effect on me as a Catholic, and I've pretty much, since I read that book, I would say average going to confession once a week. I find it to be... A really good reset. Yeah, that's awesome. Kind of tells me back, you know, my focus. It's a great way to take inventory on yourself and how you're doing, um, beyond the impact of it.
So, it's been, that's been a big thing for me. And I, I try to really preach it in my house as well. Um, I think sometimes. My wife thinks I have scruples. I do. I try to make it a weekly thing because I just think it's the best way to stay on top of where you're at and trying to get to. 

[00:08:01] Jim: That's awesome. So, okay.
I want to, I want to give you a chance to talk a little bit about your day job because ultimately, I want to connect, you know, like how, how do you connect your faith to your day job? We Husker sports network, but you're now the voice of the brewers. We were talking before we, we turn on the mics eight years now, you've been in Milwaukee, which is fantastic on the outside.
I think broadcasting professional sports, you know, I think when, when, uh, broadcasters kind of do their job, they bring. The, you know, the moment to life, but they're almost invisible and there's a little bit of like a mysteriousness, uh, to just, you know, the world of professional sports broadcasting. Just give people a little bit of a glimpse.
Like what do you do all day? 

[00:08:49] Lane: It's an interesting profession for sure. And 99 percent of what I do is major league baseball. I dabble a little bit. In college football and college basketball, but it's it's pretty small how much of that I actually do. And so, my job is to do professional baseball and there there's a rhythm to the professional baseball season.
There's challenges within it too. Just as as as a family man, as a man of faith, there could be some challenges. I leave February 20th, usually somewhere around there. And I go to Arizona and I'm away from my family for basically six weeks. I'm living in, you know, an apartment or a condo for six weeks by myself.
And my family will come down and visit if the schedule allows, I might sneak home for three or four days at some point in the middle of it, but that's. not always something that's able to be done. And so, I do try, and that's usually during Lent too. So, I, I do try to take that, that time where I'm by myself to dive into whatever it is that I'm, that I'm trying to focus on throughout that, that Lenten season.
And, um, you know, you find different parishes in Phoenix that That work for you, um, depending upon where you're staying. So, um, that's all a big part of just getting the season started is that part. And then you get into the season and, you know, spring training is much different than the regular season in terms of schedule.
Most spring training games are a day. One o'clock in the afternoon, Phoenix time. So, you get up, I usually go get my coffee to get my day started. Um, maybe I'll get a workout in and try to pray, um, whatever I need to do from a faith standpoint that day. Or any of my Linton promises that I've made, try to get those things done in the morning if I can, and then, and then I'm off to the ballpark, honestly, not as early as you would think if it's a 1 o'clock game, I might leave for the ballpark at 1030 because spring training is just a little bit different animal and then you're and then you're home in time for dinner and you have dinner and then if you have some people, you know, you have kind of your baseball family as we call it, And so if your broadcast partners or people in the baseball family are staying close to you, maybe you go grab dinner with them.
Maybe you go catch a movie. Maybe you do something socially like that. Or for me, I'm 42. I have four kids. A lot of times it's like, I'm going to go hang, kind of hang out on the couch and maybe go to bed early. Then you get into the regular seasons, mainly night games. So, you get up and you I try to do something faith based to start my day, and if I don't, then my day usually doesn't go that well.
There, there's absolutely a connection there. I've noticed that over the years. And then you try to go out and you run. And for me, that's what I do. I'll go out and run, try to find some things to keep yourself in some sort of self-discipline, right? Like, it's just a better way to start your day. Grab lunch, um, usually something pretty light.
Cause then I'll usually get after a little bit from a, from a dinner standpoint before the game, you want to have that energy that stays with you throughout what is now with the pitch clock, maybe a two-and-a-half-hour broadcast, three hour broadcast at the most. So that's kind of what your day looks like.
We're basically gone a week, home a week for the most part over the course of the season. There's some real challenges from a family standpoint, because not only am I gone from my family throughout spring training, get to see them as much When I'm at home, even in April or May and they're still in school, I see them for maybe a half hour before they're out the door on their way to school.
And then I don't see them again because I'm gone for the ballpark before they're home from school. And then when I'm on the road, of course, I wouldn't see them. So, it's not until summer that I get a really kind of dive back in and connect with them when they're home from school. So, there's some challenges.
With, with all of that, but there's a huge reward on the other side of it. And that is the off season from the standpoint of being a husband and a father, because I get four or five months in the off season where primarily I get a focus on my kids, my wife, myself. And, um, it's a great way to reset, uh, exhale a little bit, recharge all those things, reconnect.
And, uh, I found it to be really rewarding. And the other thing I found it to be with this job, because I look, my job can be high pressure, it can be. It's kind of in the light, right? So, there's always some social media criticism or praise, whatever that's out there with the job you do, and you want to make the calls and hit, you know, hit the high notes when you have those chances to call big moments.
And so, there's some pressure with it and some stress. There's no doubt. But look, I'm not. In surgery, right? I'm not trying to save somebody's life, right? And so, I do try to keep that in perspective and enjoy it and be where my feet are and enjoy the moment because I worked hard to get to this point. And I think I'm more present when I'm home with my family than I have been with past jobs as a result of that.
So, um, I don't know if that's just me maturing and finding a better way to. To manage all of that than I used to, or if it's just that this job really lends itself to that. But I do find that I'm able to be more present than I used to be when I'm home because I'm not as distracted by everything else that's going on at work behind the scenes.
Um, my job is my job and when I leave the ballpark, I'm able to leave it there for the most part. And that's been a really rewarding part of this job. You know, 

[00:14:16] Jim: just that last line you said, being able to leave it. leave work at work. How do you do that? Cause I think that's, I mean, I think about like, you know, people listening, a lot of people feel that except for they don't feel like they can leave work at work and they're not necessarily, you know, they're not, I mean, maybe they are in surgery, but like they're done necessarily, uh, in a high.
Visibility high profile job where they're like being praised or critiqued on social media. How do you do that? How do you leave it at work? 

[00:14:45] Lane: Well, I think I got a lot of good training in terms of criticism or feedback, positive or negative, to be honest with you throughout most of my career. That's one of the great things about working at Nebraska, to be honest with you, is there's such a microscope.
I mean, you're in a fishbowl at Nebraska. In a very positive way, for the most part, but there can be some negative things that come along with it. It's an unbelievable fan base. I'm a part of it now. Um, so I get it. But, um, yeah, there can be some tough critics. And they have access to you now that they maybe didn't have here 30 years ago.
I just learned early on, like there's a lot of people that praise you. There's a lot of people that criticize you and you really probably shouldn't put a ton of stock in either, um, as much as you appreciate the praise. And it's wonderful to see and read nice things about yourself. You start buying into that and you can get lazy and start to fail at your craft a little bit in that way too.
I just try to stay very grounded with that. And I think in a lot of ways, that's, that's kind of what a baseball player has to do. I mean, there's highs and lows over the course of the season. Yeah. Good feedback. There's negative feedback that they get, um, over the course of the year. And the best players don't ride too high when things are going good and they don't get too low and things are going bad, they find a way to keep that kind Mindset across the board throughout the year and then the peaks aren't as high, but the valleys aren't as low either.
And they have this steady performance that at the end of the year, you look up and they had a really good season. And I think that it's different, but there's a little bit of a similar mindset for me. With, with all that stuff that's out there. I just don't put a lot of stock in all of it. Um, sometimes I'll get feedback that's negative and I'll be like, Ooh, they actually have a pretty good point.
Honestly, I have, I have done that, and I found myself a little bit surprised that instead of getting all bristled and defensive about it, I was like, actually that, that might be legitimate what they're saying, but I try not to pay a lot of attention to it. I try to do the job the best I can do it. Um, listen to the people that I know that.
Really understand this business. And in many cases are in the same boat as I am with that kind of stuff. And so, I've learned how to leave that at work. I learned that a long time ago. Um, I think the harder thing for me in terms of leaving work at work and being present at home was when I was at Nebraska, and I was doing sales.
Because there is a lot of pressure with that. There's a lot of expectation of performance right with smartphones and everything else that were coming onto the scene. When I was there, any client can reach you at any time. And when you would get an email from client, you felt this pressure to get back to them right now.
And to, so like, no matter what I was doing, I'm going to stop, I'm going to go get the laptop out and I'm going to fix this problem. If it's a problem where I'm going to answer this question as fast as I can, because I want to get this put to bed. And so really, we're never off the job. I can remember taking vacations.
Um, nothing real elaborate, but like, you know, going with the family to the Ozarks. My parents, you had a place in the Ozarks, and we go down to the Ozarks over the 4th of July and we would be on the boat and I would be sitting there trying to hammer out an email to a client while we would be on the boat.
And I was not good at just, you know, Stepping away from that and getting to it when the time was right. I don't have to worry about that stuff with my job now, because when I'm at the game, it's happening when the game is not happening. I don't have to do a whole lot. Um, there's preparation leading up to a game, but at the end of the right, you know, the night I can turn that off and go get in my car and go home.
So, I think the nature of the job, as much as I'd like to give myself credit, I think nature of the two jobs has helped me do that probably more than anything. 

[00:18:31] Jim: Yeah, that's huge. Well, and you also mentioned, I mean, you have a, you have a routine of faith that almost like an athletic discipline, like it keeps you grounded.
I want to give you a chance. You talked about how, you know, spring training is happening during Lent, never quite like made that, made that connection. I remember one of the first times we met, we were having lunch together with Father Robert Mattia at the Newman Center in Lincoln. You told this great story of this Lenten Resolution, where you wrote letters to old friends.
Can you just share that story with us? Because I love that. I mean, it's like, I don't know. We're probably eight, ten years later, and I still remember that story very, very vividly. Give us a, yeah, a picture of what you did and how it went. 

[00:19:16] Lane: And I can't remember why I was as... Inspired to do that, but I can tell you, it was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.
And I really, I should do it again because I felt like I got so much out of it. I hope that the people that I wrote letters to got something out of the letters, but I know that I felt. Amazing telling these people what kind of an impact on my life they had made and in so many cases it was wide ranging in terms of how they had impacted my life or in what way.
So, yeah, for 40 days, I wrote a letter to somebody that had impacted my life and it ranged from. My father, my mother, my father-in-law, my mother in law to, uh, a college professor. I was a history minor, and I had this wonderful professor. I don't know that I ever got more than a B minus in any of his classes.
Uh, but I still took his courses every chance I got because he was, he just had this way that he presented that I learned, and I grew and I just really enjoyed is Dr. Kurt Hackamer. I still remember his name. And I, and I still try to check up on him, you know, Google him once in a while to see what he's been up to next.
And he's had a great career and just a very brilliant guy when it came to, to United States history specifically. So, you know, I wrote college roommates. I wrote people that had impacted me in my faith journey, people that had impacted me in my professional journey, my first boss, things of that nature. I heard back from a lot of them and in a couple cases, like college roommates were like, are you all right?
Like, what's going on? Like... 

[00:20:55] Jim: Do you have cancer? 

[00:20:56] Lane: Yeah...right! There was like some concern, like, why, why did I get this letter from you? And then for, for, for so many other people, it was like, wow, this was such a great surprise. What a, what a fun thing to open up today and be able to hear from you. And look, I, I think probably the genesis of that is that.
Sorry to Husker fans here, but you know, Bill Snyder, Kansas State's legendary head football coach is a big letter writer. And he has made it a point over the course of his career to write letters to people and to thank them. And some of his assistants have carried on that tradition. And so, I don't know if this is the actual genesis of why I decided to do it, but I can remember having different coaches on my show at Nebraska, whether it be Bill Snyder or.
Brett Bema when he was at Wisconsin, was one of those guy, and they would write you a letter thanking you for having them on the show afterward, which is like, you know, I, I don't know that they were that excited that they were on the show, but it was just this nice personal touch that's like, wow, they didn't have to do that.
Yeah. That's pretty neat that they took the time to send that letter. And it made me realize the power of, of writing somebody, right? Like we're in this world now where we text everybody or we Snapchat people or whatever. I'm so far behind on social media and what's new and what's out there now. I barely do any of it anymore outside of, uh, whatever Twitter's called now.
But I do think that writing letters or even. Like picking up the phone and calling somebody rather than texting that still has a really big impact and it's human connections, an important thing and we're getting less and less of it as we move forward as a society. And so, um, it was a really rewarding thing and I hope to do it again at some point in the future because it, it really was.
Something that I felt like I got a lot out of, and it made me think back to these different moments in my life that had they not happened. I don't know. Maybe things are different. So, um, it was, it was a great thing for me to do over the course of land. I'm a big believer. With lint, I mean, I'm all about sacrifices and I do, you know, I give up pop in Nebraska, but now that I'm in Wisconsin, soda here, I give up.

[00:23:07] Jim: Thank you for translating. 

[00:23:08] Lane: Starting to make that transition into, you know, it's not a, it's not a water fountain either. It's a bubbler up here in Wisconsin. That was hard. Wait, really? 

[00:23:16] Jim: They call a water fountain a bubbler? 

[00:23:17] Lane: Yeah. Like I, my kids would ask if they could go get a drink out of the water fountain and teachers would look at them like, what's wrong with you? It's a bubbler. 

[00:23:24] Jim: Wow. I've never heard that. It's a whole nother country. 

[00:23:27] Lane: It's different. But so like, yeah, I give up soda or sweets or things like that, like everybody else does. But I think the most important thing in Lent for me is the things I add in because I think that is what I really grow is when I add things, um, whether it's the rosary.
And sometimes it's hard for me to maybe do the rosary every day, depending on how my schedule, but if I do it three times a week, even that's, that's better than, than not doing it. Right. And so just things like that, that you try to add in over the course of Lent. And that was one of those things I added.
It was really impactful for me. I don't know what kind of an impact it made for the people that got the letters, but I know for me personally, It just made me really appreciate that this has been quite a journey to get to where I was at that point. And there's been a lot of people since that point that have impacted me.
And you can't do it on your own. It does take people propping you up and helping you and picking you up when you fall down to get you where you're going to get to. So, uh, it just gave me a lot of perspective on that and, and, and a lot of appreciation for all the people in my life. 

[00:24:32] Jim: Thank you for sharing that again.
It's been like 10 years since I first heard you, you know, talk about that and I was inspired by it in a sort of like, it was also like a little desolating cause like, all right, I'm going to do it this year and I'm like, all right, maybe I'm going to do three. Okay. Maybe one. And it's just, I, I think I called my mom last month, but that, no, I, I call more often than that.
But like, uh, I mean, it's challenging, but it's like, I love that perspective. Yeah. That, you know, just adding something and really, I mean, what you're adding is gratitude, right? I'm going to take a moment and reflect on the gift that this person has been and I'm going to say thank you. Yeah, that's a pretty good spiritual resolution.
So much of your, you know, professional career, you're interacting with so many different people. And oftentimes I think, uh, maybe, I don't know if you do it as much anymore, but you know, interviews were a big part of your job. I think there's a little bit of a rhyme between what you do professionally to put people at ease, you know, as a broadcaster or as an interviewer.
And then what all of us, you know, those who are like, okay, I'm, you know, I'm supposed to be sharing my faith or at the very least, I just want to be a good neighbor and pay attention to the people in my life. How do you, how do you put people at ease? I mean, you're connecting with people, uh, they might have their guard up, you know, they might have just experienced the greatest moment of their professional career or what they feel is the worst.
How do you connect with people? How do you put people at ease? 

[00:26:00] Lane: I think that's a really good question and, and it's probably a unique answer from what I do and broadcasters like me do. A misperception of what we are, and that people think we're journalists, we're really not. Um, maybe, maybe some consider themselves journalists.
I don't, I I, I consider myself an entertainer that works for a team. Um, and so I'm trying to, I'm trying to describe the game the best I can so people can accurately follow what's happening and they're informed. Trying to do it with energy and excitement. I want people to listen to my broadcast and genuinely be able to tell that he is so excited that he's there and he's enjoying it, you know, cause if, if, if you don't sound like you're enjoying it, then it's a problem.
Doesn't mean. You have to be screaming every second or loud every moment or in this unbelievably upbeat mood every moment. You can put it down in, in, in four low sometimes when you're broadcasting a game too, but there is a room to it. And I think a cadence to how you call a game for sure in that way, but from a broadcasting standpoint with interviewing, um, I'm usually not trying to break.
News. I'm usually not trying to get the snoop on stuff, trying to allow this person in many cases to talk about what was maybe the biggest moment of the game the night before, and they had this positive impact on it. So, I'm kind of lucky in that most that most of the guys I'm talking to, if your team is winning, are reliving great moments or reliving successes of theirs.
And so. Most of us guys don't mind talking about that most of the time, right? Um, the other part of it is I'm embedded with the team. So, I travel with the team. I fly with the team. I stay at the hotel with the team. I'm on the bus with the team. I'm in the clubhouse with the team before the games. And so, you get a lot of face time with these guys.
And over the course of 162, really 190. If you start throwing spring training into it, they know you and they know that you are really for the most part. You're on their side and you want to tell their story and illuminate them in a positive way. And so, you get some trust out of that. I think naturally, maybe not every guy, you know, even worries about it in that sense.
But I think most of the guys that get to know, you know, Hey, that guy's one of our guys. Like he's. He's interested in making us sound good and look good. And that's really where I'm at now. There are journalists that are more, you know, they're going to be down the middle, they're trying to report this even story, and that's a totally different deal and I respect them.
I, that's a great job. It's an important job for sure, but that's not my job. And that's not how I see my, and I really enjoy it this way because you're able to form some great relationships with some good people and get to know. More about them and really have a lot of fun with them. And then, and you really celebrate their success.
I mean, that's the thing about doing my job. As you get to know these guys and when they have success on the field, you are so happy for them because you see the work that they're putting in. Like, guys are really talented. You have to be incredibly talented to be a major league baseball player. Every single person that enjoys baseball should have to stand on the field at some point or be lucky enough to stand on the field at some point during batting practice and watch these guys take infield and just see how much different it is.
Then at your local and legion game or whatever. I mean, those kids bless them. They're really good players and they put a lot of work into it too, but these are the best players on the planet and it's a totally different deal. It's jaw dropping how good they are. And it's also really incredible how much time they put into it.
Even once they get to the, like the development's not over. These guys are out there on the field, working, grinding every single day. And so, it's really rewarding. And we're with the brewers specifically, like we've had incredible clubhouses with great culture and great guys that treat them the right way.
And so that makes it even easier to when they're good guys, when they're good people and they come from all these different backgrounds, right? We have. Here's from the Dominican. We have players from Venezuela. We have, um, players from we've had players from Cuba. We obviously all over the United States with different, um, regions of the United States that that players have come from, and then they all come together.
And no matter. You know what their faith is, no matter what their political affiliation is, no matter what, none of that matters to them. They are in it with each other. They are connected, they're united and they're fighting for this one goal and they're treating each other with respect. And it's just a really neat thing to see, to be honest with you.
It's like inspiring. And so, you just, you just really pull for these guys, um, when you get a chance to be around them, because. Uh, it's, it's a really neat process and how they come together and play this game together.

[00:30:49] Jim: I love that because, I mean, you're kind of like a part of this team, you're, you know, professional broadcaster, but with all the fundamentals of like what it means to develop a relationship where you can have a positive impact on somebody, it's like.
Yeah, you just like you develop trust with face time. You're just there. And I think often, you know, in the world of evangelization, we have this misnomer that I'm somehow going to meet somebody on a bus and talk to them about Jesus and God bless, you know, people who have that gift. But for most of us, it's about face time.
I just need to connect with my neighbors and my coworkers. And then when I have trust, and I love how you highlighted this too, when they know that I want you. their best, and I just want their good, then the conversations are easy. They're like, Hey, can I talk about this? I've got this friend. He's named Jesus.
I'd love to introduce you sometime. You know, like that. It's like the conversations are so different when you have a relationship, and you have trust and people know that you have their good mind.

[00:31:51] Lane: I think unfortunately, you know, we live in a society right now where we are very inclined to be skeptical and we're not very quick to trust.
And so, we have to work hard to earn that. And, um, I trust quickly, typically, and sometimes you get burnt by that, but I'm good with that. Like, that's fine. If that happens, then then that happens because I just find, yeah. I'm a happier person if I assume the best in people and I look at that like I'm saying all these things.
I feel it all these things, right? Like... 

[00:32:23] Jim: Yeah, yeah, but people live up to it too. Yeah. I mean, you show them. It's like, well, I, you know, I, I trust you. Most people want to live up to it. There are people who are like, excellent, you know, they're going to take advantage of it. But I want to give you a chance just to talk a little bit.
I just want to have some, some fun here because, you know, you, you've had over the years, you get a chance to interact with professional broadcasters, professional folks in the world of sports. Who do you admire for their faith? 

[00:32:51] Lane: Oh, wow. Um, so I've got, I've got a few, um, just from a professional athlete standpoint.
The way they have stayed true to it has inspired me and, and I'll be honest with you, like early on, I didn't know if I bought into all the Tim, Tim Tebow stuff. Right. I was like, hi, is this real? You know, but it is like, it absolutely is. And that's again, it is never. Negotiated off of the line he's on and what he believes in.
And he just like us, he's imperfect too. And he's, he's had his failures for sure. But the consistency of the way he always comes back to that, I think is really cool and, um, my appreciation for him and admiration for him has gone from being very skeptical, like I was just talking about early on, is this real to now?
No, he's proven it time and time again. This is who Tim Tebow is. And it's pretty cool. Another player that, um, we had with the Brewers early on in my time, that was very, um, consistent within his faith. He was not Catholic, but, but Christian and just very devout, um, was a pitcher named Chase Anderson and the way he consistently came back to.
Jesus, uh, and to his faith was really neat. It was really inspiring and really cool. And so that's a guy that when I think of athletes and their faith, I think of him a lot, became a good friend and just an A plus human being all the way around, but was a guy that. Did not waver off of the understanding that this is this is the key fabric of who I'm going to be and I'm going to stay true to it.
And so definitely him. There's another player that has always been a little bit of an inspiration to me that has never made it to the big leagues, has been in the minor leagues for quite some time. And he's actually from Manassas, Wisconsin, but he was a Husker. And It's Scott Schreiber, who was a first baseman for Nebraska at the end of my time at Nebraska.

[00:34:53] Jim: I knew him just a little bit. We met a couple times. 

[00:34:56] Lane: Yeah, Scott was a great, great kid, and I haven't stayed in touch with him like I should have, and I, and I do regret that, and that, this inspires me. Maybe I'll reach out to Scott, but when he was a freshman at Nebraska, I would go to mass on Sundays when we were on the road.
I'd find a place to go to mass and The coaching staff knew that I was doing this, and so Scott was, wanted to be at Mass on Sundays too, and so they connected that I could take him to Mass on Sundays, and we started riding to Mass on Sundays, and going wherever Mass was offered, and by his second year at Nebraska, he stopped asking for rides, and I was like, oh, I hope Scott's still going to Mass, well, I would get to Mass, and I would look up, and there he was, and he would have six of his teammates.
Sitting with him. That's awesome. And he just was a neat kid. Um, he played the game the right way. He carried himself the right way. Um, just a, a wonderful young man, and I've always been a big fan of his. And as a, as an adult watching that, it was really inspirational to see this kid that was comfort. And then was reaching out and making the freshmen when he was a sophomore, come with him, uh, to mass getting there.
I think that's a really admirable thing. And I've always, I've always really admired him for that. 

[00:36:14] Jim: Yeah. Oh, that's great. Okay. So, I mean, I know it's like, yeah, seeing a young person for me, I mean, my faith, you know, came alive in, in college, but when I see people either in college or especially those beforehand, you know, when they're embracing.
their, their faith life. It's, I mean, it's inspirational because you're thinking like, man, like, I wish I had figured this out at your age. I know for many parents, as they think about trying to raise their kids, and let's say they, you know, they've got a kid who like, they love sports, they want to play, the parents are thinking, well, I don't know, maybe someday could they be professional?
If you were to give advice to parents on raising your kids in the faith and raising your kids in the world of sports, what are, I mean, what's some advice, pitfalls to avoid, things to make sure to try and establish in a young person's heart and mind? 

[00:37:07] Lane: Man, that's a really good question. Um, so I'm going to kind of cut it two ways.
I'll start with the faith part of it. I think just trust your instinct. I think listen to God, pray, talk to God, um, and do the best you can. Like, there isn't a template for this, unfortunately. We do have the Bible, and it has a lot of great advice, right? And there's a lot of great things in there, but there isn't like, this is how you parent, and it's foolproof.
Like, every kid is unique, different. We've learned that. We have four kids. All four of them are very, I mean, they're inherently different than each other. Oh yeah. Amen. Mine too. And it's wonderful. And I, and I love that. And they all present their own challenges, and we all have our own connections and things with them individually and then collectively as a group.
So, and, and we haven't figured it out yet, by the way. We're still learning and still growing as parents trying to figure out how to do this, but we try to be consistent, you know, um, expectations of going to mass on Sunday, talk to them about reconciliation, talk to them about what they're going to do in Lent, sit down at dinner, you know, prior to Lent and talk about what can we add in as a family and do together as a family.
I think all those things are great. Um, do we succeed at all of that? I don't think we do. Um, but we try. And I think that's important. And I think if your kids see that you're trying and you're trying to incorporate the faith as much as you can, and that it is an important part of what you're doing, I think that example is, is as good as you can possibly have for them.
Because I think kids can, they can detect whether it's going through the motions. Whether it's important. So, I think from a faith standpoint, that's that's what I would say. And I don't know that there's any thread that we're going to thread perfectly on that. But I think that's the best way we can do it moving forward.
Now, from a sports standpoint, I'm probably different than a lot of other people. You know, youth sports has gotten out of control. It's really intense. And I find Myself and my kids, you know, falling in line with it. Sometimes I'm like, whoa, this is what 10 years ago I said we weren't going to do. But you know, what happened was, and Craig council, the manager of the brewers told me this years ago.
And when he said it, I was like, man, that is, that is so accurate. What, what happened is people figured out with youth sports that. Parents will pay whatever they've got to pay to watch their kid do something that they love. And so, if the kid loves it, it's very easy to get out the checkbook and write the check for the extra lessons or pay to get into the, the AAU tournament if that's what it is, whatever it might be.
We love seeing joy on our kids’ faces. I mean, we're all guilty of that, and it's a, it's a positive thing, but there's really nothing we will stop at to see them enjoy Competing in sports if that's what they love. So, I think youth sports figured that out and it's turned into a money making thing for youth sports.
However, the lessons you learn from sports are incredibly invaluable. How to be a great teammate. How to be mentally able to overcome adversity. Um, how to be coachable. How to be able to do two things at once because that's a big part of sports too. How to fail. How to fail, how to succeed. All those lessons I think are incredible lessons that sports brings you, but you have to be ready as a parent to support your kid in all those moments the right way.
Um, my son loves baseball. Um, he is obsessed with baseball. He consumes it every second he gets, he plays it every second he gets, and he will fail ultimately at times. And when he does, it's very, very hard for him. And I've had. You know, how to be supportive in those moments versus say, well, the reason why you failed is you did this and this wrong.
I don't think he gets a whole lot out of that in that moment, and, and so I think there are life lessons that are more important than the technical lessons of the game sometimes in those moments. And so, I've tried to be better at that. I don't know that I'm great at it. I've tried to be better at that.
My daughter had a volleyball game last night. And she started the first set. She didn't play very well. She would be the first to tell you she's a freshman in high school. And she sat the next two sets. She was super disappointed, but she also understood why she sat. And she wasn't upset with her coach.
Her coach did a great job of communicating with her what was going on and why she wasn't playing. But the one thing she did do the rest of that game was cheer on the bench and be a great teammate. And I was really, really proud of her for that. And that was the first thing I talked to her about when she came over to me.
Was that, Hey, look, this tonight didn't go the way you wanted it to. And you're disappointed and that's okay. You can be disappointed. You should be disappointed, but here's what you did really well tonight. And that was, you were an outstanding teammate in a moment where you probably didn't feel like being an outstanding teammate and that takes character, right?
That's, that's important. But if your kid has a dream that now here's the thing I am going to say that I think a lot of people will maybe not think that I was going to, if your kid has a dream. My son has a dream of being a Major League Baseball player. You know, odds aren't great that he's going to be one.
But I'm encouraging it. I'm telling you, lean into it, man. Like, dream. Somebody's got to get there. And you're eight years old. You've got a long way to go. But if that's what you want to dream and do, then do it, man. Like, go for it. And lean into it. And do it in a healthy way. But, but go for it. And dream big.
Because dreams... are wonderful. I think dreams make you happy. I think dreams give you hope. I think they get you up in the morning. They push you, you know, that extra little bit to try and see how far go with stuff. And I'm a big believer in dreams and lofty dreams are great. Um, you just have to understand that they're really hard, and if you don't accomplish it, there are other things you can, you can find to satisfy you and bring you happiness.
But, I think teaching kids to dream big is wonderful. That's what youth is all about. That's what adolescence is all about. And I think there are kids that don't have dreams, and unfortunately, those are kids that are struggling to find their way sometimes. So, I think it's healthy. I think it's great.

[00:43:32] Jim: That's so good because I think so many, so many parents out of a misguided or like, well, I don't want him to be disappointed, you know, and like the odds aren't great and they stifle the dream. Yeah. And yeah, the dream, it might be, it might be unrealistic, but would it not be better to say, Hey, I'm going to encourage you to dream and I'm going to encourage you to pursue your dream?
And if this one doesn't pan out. Well, let's find another dream. 

[00:44:00] Lane: Yeah, I, I just think that, like, the secondary part of it for me, and I don't know that I consciously got to this point, but as I've gotten into it with my kids, and it, and it's, there's been a lot with my son, because he, he just has these big dreams, and he loves sports, and he, and he loves being with dad.
My oldest daughter, I think, for sure. My two middle daughters have their dreams too. My second oldest is, you know, she's a thespian. She's into plays and being part of the theater world. And my youngest daughter, who is my third oldest child, um, she's into all of it. She's into play. She's into basketball.
She's into volleyball, right? But I think the thing that I've learned, and I think I really learned this with my oldest daughter and my youngest son, because they've been probably more active athletically than of my two kids. What I've learned is that when you encourage the dream, the secondary part of it is your child understands that you believe in them, and if you try to dampen the dream, the message, whether you're intending it or not, can be.
Can be interpreted as my dad or my mom doesn't believe in me. Um, I don't know if that's the intent for people that try to like, hey, let's have some realistic goals over here. But I think the young mind, that's kind of how they might see it. So. If they don't accomplish the dream, that's going to be disappointment, which is also not a bad thing to learn how to kind of work through that.
But I think at the end, when they get over that disappointment, they're going to realize that, you know, mom and dad were there, and they believed in me. And if they believed in me with that, they're going to believe in me and my next goal or my next dream or whatever I accomplish next. Right. 

[00:45:49] Jim: And, you know, if you, if you throw a little bit of like, okay, maybe the Lord has a dream for this child, the likelihood that they're going to be able to find that and embrace that with all they have, boy, the habit of dreaming dreams and pursuing those dreams, that's going to set them up very well for when, you know, the dreams the Lord has begin to, when they begin to welcome those in their lives.
Thank you for that. That was great, man. I really, I really appreciate that. Okay. So, I mean, our time is just totally flown here. This has been, this has been awesome. I want to give you a chance here, you know, somebody, you know, that they're, they're listening and they're like, gosh. I mean, I'm a person of faith, but I don't know how to incorporate my faith into my profession, you know.
And there's some, for sure, unique challenges just with the schedule and the travel, uh, and some of the profile. But, you know, Lane, a lot of what you shared, I think almost everybody's like, Ooh, there's a part of that that people can relate to. How do you bring your faith into your life and what would you recommend just as, you know, kind of one, one beggar to another, um, Hey, I, I suggest trying this cause it's been good for me.

[00:47:06] Lane: I'll be the first to admit that I'm still figuring that part out. Like, I think we all, that's, that's, that's what it is. I think most people get this, but some people believe that like faith is this finished product. It's never a finished product, right? Like we're always still trying to find better ways to connect and to grow and to build our faith.
But, um, so I, I think I'm still figuring it out, to be honest with you. So the things that work for me, and these are all things I fail at and it disappoints me when I feel at it, but I at least have the presence of mind to be able to recognize What happens when I don't, um, daily prayer is an unbelievably big thing for me, and I fail at that.
I get caught up in the busyness of my day and wake up too late and think, Oh, I don't have time to pray, so I got to go do this. I do that all the time, more often than I should. And when I do that, my day is off. It just is. It is, I think, so important to start your day with your faith, just to ground yourself, put everything in perspective, what's important today.
I just think it's huge. I remember Father Johnson at St. John's in Lincoln telling me, Even if it's just, when you first wake up, make the sign of the cross. Something as simple as that can be the thing that starts you, you know, on your way that day just a little bit better. So, um, yeah, I think morning prayer is big.
Um, ending your day in prayer is big. I try to do both things as frequently as I can. Like I said, I do fail at that. I do fail at that. But I do find that things are better when I'm doing that. Weekly confession has been really big for me. Uh, it just, it helps me reset. It helps me kind of dial back in and put everything in perspective and remember what's important.
Um, so those, those things have been important with me. Talking about your faith with your spouse. Um, I'm, I'm very lucky, a wonderful wife that. Teaches at a parochial school and taught St. John's in Lincoln before we moved here. And we do try to talk about our faith and, and, and share it with each other.
And that's, I think, really important for a healthy marriage within the faith. Um, the fact that we share our faith together, I think is good because you have a teammate in all of this. We've talked a lot about sports and she's my most important teammate when it comes to this stuff. So, um, I just think all of those things are, are important.
I think everybody's going to find their own way. One of the things I always try to do during Lent and again, I fall out of the habit of it occasionally, um, throughout the, but like, just even reading. The gospel or reading, reading Mark, reading Luke, reading Matthew. The thing I found really rewarding this year was I, I started watching the series chosen during Lent.
And the way I felt when I turned off the TV at the end of every night, I'd watch an episode before I'd go to bed at night. Again, spring training. So, I'm by myself. The way I felt when I turned off the TV that night was a lot better than I feel when I turn off whatever else is on television, it was totally, it was a great way to connect.
There's a book I'm reading right now. It's called Holy Moments. Matthew Kelly. Yeah, he breaks things down in such a simple way of throughout every single hour of every single day you have decisions to make. We normally make them subconsciously. We don't think about them in the present sense that he presents them, but most of those decisions you have a chance to.
Make a holy decision or an unholy decision, the right decision or the wrong decision. And we start breaking it down in very simple terms like that. You realize how much you could turn your life into a better direction. If you could stay disciplined with that, I probably do all the time. It's going to be challenging, but.
Um, I said, I, I, I'm a sinner, man. I fall all the time. I have days I wish I could have back. I have things I wish I could have back every week. But, um, I think the most important thing is that you stay in the fight, and you keep pushing forward and you keep coming back and, uh, resetting yourself with the Lord and trying to grow your faith.
I think that's for me, what has worked has just being consistent in the effort, knowing that I'm going to fail, knowing that I'm imperfect. But the effort needs to be there. Hopefully, over time, with the effort, you keep making progress and you keep improving as a person, as a man of faith. 

[00:51:44] Jim: Amen. Lane, thank you.
Thanks for making the time. Thank you for, uh, yeah, thank you for the conversation. This was fantastic. 

[00:51:52] Lane: Absolutely, Jim. It's a pleasure and thank you so much for having me. 

[00:51:55] Jim: Yeah. All right, everybody, you know somebody who needs to hear this conversation, so, you know, wait till you get to your destination. Be safe, but go ahead and hit that share button.
Send this out to somebody who needs to hear it. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening to the EquipCast. We hope this episode has inspired you to live your faith and equip you to be fruitful in your mission. Stay connected with us by going to Equip.ArchOmaha.org. God bless and see you next time.