The GLUE-OOM

The GLUE-OOM

by The GLUE-OOM
Society & Culture
Street Dance: The Guarded Sad Clown Who Learned to Lead
Street Dance: The Guarded Sad Clown Who Learned to Lead 🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE On this episode of The Glue-OOM, host The Plague and co-host Gator sit down with Street Dance (Tony Ferguson, F3 #47), a former Site Q of Beacon Valley. Street Dance shares how a total stranger EH'd him lakeside with zero introduction, how he quietly carried 60 pounds and a guarded, closed-off mindset he didn't have a name for, and how F3 taught him the difference between looking fine and actually leading right. This one goes deep on preparedness, faith without a church building, and what it means to lead yourself before you try to lead anyone else. ✅ HIGHLIGHTS 🌊 EH'd lakeside by Speed Bump — a total stranger who never even introduced himself ⚖️ Gained 50 lbs freshman year of college, hit 260 lbs by his wedding day 💥 His VQ breakdown of "Sad Clown" hit him like a freight train 📱 Rewired his social feed and his mindset — "you are what you consume" 🚴 Sprinted four miles to rescue his wife and daughter after a blown bike tire 🧭 Cracked the Concentrica code — work-life balance is a false frame ⛪ Never a churchgoer, but found his sanctuary in the COT 🚩 Took the flag at Beacon Valley, handed it to Barstool, hit the post-leadership lull 📓 His daughter wrote in her journal about how F3 changed their family 💃 Danced with his wife in the kitchen — first time ever 🤝 Now mentoring through Teammates, eyeing a Waterloo launch 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I finally figured out what the hell's wrong with me." 🗣️ "You are what you consume." 🗣️ "If you're not prepared fitness, then you can't lead right." 🗣️ "That's my church. And I get it every day." 🗣️ "The more you give F3, the more you get back." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Pre-Show Prep & Meeting Street Dance 02:10 — Who EH'd Him? The Random Lake Encounter 04:14 — The Street Dance Origin 08:30 — The Weight Gain, The Wake-Up Call 10:37 — Sad Clown Revealed 21:33 — We're All Fighting the Same Fight 26:02 — Preparedness in Action: The Bike Tire 30:48 — Cracking the Concentrica Code 42:52 — Faith, the COT, and Church Without a Building 49:38 — Taking the Flag at Beacon Valley 54:08 — The Lull After Leadership 58:30 — Third F, Mentorship, and Waterloo
E258
Jul 26, 2026
1:02:41
Peeling Back the Layers: A Man Transformed by the Forge
EPISODE SUMMARY On this episode of The Glue-OOM, host The Plague and co-host Gator sit down with Peel (Greg Drasinski) of Mission Forge to trace two years of transformation — from a sweat-soaked first Murph to Site Q, VQ leader, and Shield Lock brother. Peel opens up about drifting from his Catholic upbringing and finding his way back to faith through the men around him, now leading a church initiative and training for a marathon with Team World Vision. It's a conversation about overthinking, showing up before you feel ready, and letting brothers carry you until you can carry others. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS (✅) 🏃 EH'd by Escobar at the Boundary Line for a rookie Murph — pre-workout and humidity nearly took him out on day one 💪 Went from working out alone to "all in, 100%" within weeks of his first post 🛡️ Built one of his tightest Shield Locks with Escobar — five or six vacations together in two years ⛪ Opens up about drifting from Catholicism and finding his way back to faith through F3 brotherhood 🏛️ Now leads a faith initiative at his church (Water's Edge) and is training for a marathon with Team World Vision, raising support for clean water in Africa 🚩 Became Site Q at Mission Forge alongside Shark Week — built a system that grew the site to 1,000+ posts in two years 🎤 Details his VQ at Fancy Feast — nearly 30 guys showed up, and he was terrified he'd "mess it up" 🧠 Names his biggest personal battle as an overthinker/planner who never feels "ready" — and how F3 taught him to move anyway 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Talks candidly about "tone" struggles with his wife and kids, and being intentional with his 8- and 10-year-olds 🔄 Closes with rapid-fire — dream sites, least favorite exercise (burpees), and a call to keep stepping over the boundary line KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "Your worst days are your best days... that's your best day, when you don't want to get up." — 09:58 🗣️ "It brought my faith back to me just because of the guys around me." — 14:12 🗣️ "It's okay to feel uncomfortable to get comfortable." — 41:45 🗣️ "We're gonna help you. We're not gonna let you fail." — 32:10 🗣️ "My ultimate goal is making others better. And if others get better, then I get better too." — 20:16 🗣️ "Take a chance." — 43:46 CHAPTERS 00:00 — Welcome to the Gloom 01:42 — The Boundary Line: How Peel Got EH'd 06:05 — Alone vs. Together: Why the Group Made It Stick 09:58 — Your Worst Days Are Your Best Days 14:12 — Losing and Finding Faith 16:26 — Building the Shield Lock 20:16 — Free to Lead and Making Others Better 26:11 — Leading at Water's Edge and the Marathon for Team World Vision 32:10 — The VQ at Fancy Feast 34:21 — Q-Foria and Becoming Site Q 36:27 — Running Mission Forge with Shark Week 41:45 — The Leadership Laboratory: Stepping Out Before You're Ready 45:37 — Rapid Fire and NaMoRaMa Close KEYWORDS & HASHTAGS #F3Omaha #GloomToGlue #Brotherhood #Leadership #Omaha #ShieldLock #MissionForge #Faith
E257
Jul 19, 2026
52:51
Three Prongs, One Farmer: Pitchfork Finds His Trident
🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague and Gator sit down with Pitchfork (Bill Koch) of Trident for a story that starts with a year and a half of stalling and ends with a farm kid running one of Omaha's most storied AOs. Pitchfork walks through his First F in a freezing wind at Hallock Park, the near-miss on getting stuck with "Noodle" as a name, and the sink-or-swim four months it took him to go from FNG to Site Q. Along the way: a twin brother pushing him from a distance, a wife who does FIA, two kids with 2.0 nicknames already, and a faith journey from Lutheran confirmation to Catholic conversion that found its legs praying out loud at 0530. ✅ HIGHLIGHTS ✅ His twin brother, wife, and Double Dip spent over a year quietly recruiting him ✅ His First F at Hallock Park — 30 mph winds, no idea where to put his water bottle, Firewalker on Q ✅ How he dodged getting named "Noodle" and became Pitchfork instead, thanks to his grandpa's farm ✅ Mother Goose's late-night text that locked in his second workout ✅ Three-sport athlete in Axtell, NE who found nothing stuck again until F3 ✅ The coupon workout in the snow that nearly sent him to the ER — and six months to come back ✅ Discovering pre-runs by accident, now doing them 90% of the time ✅ Racing his twin brother from a distance — no direct competition, just mutual benchmark ✅ How marrying into FIA changed his marriage's communication ✅ His kids' 2.0 nicknames — Affinity and Raptor ✅ Taking the Trident flag four months into F3, VQ'ing in six weeks, admitting the imposter syndrome ✅ Passing the flag to Room Service and learning to let go — "it's your baby, even after you pass it" ✅ The real story behind Trident's Namorama being a "selfie-rama" ✅ His faith journey — Lutheran roots, RCIA into Catholicism, and finding the courage to pray out loud ✅ Two life lessons for any PAX: get comfortable being uncomfortable, and prepare for what you wish for ✅ Closing prayer request for his grandfather, currently hospitalized 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I have no excuse. I have nothing going on Saturday." 🗣️ "Nobody was better than the next person." 🗣️ "I grew up on a farm... so I said my first job was a farmer — and that's how they got me Pitchfork." 🗣️ "Once you're at the bottom, you can only go one direction — so I committed." 🗣️ "It's your baby, even after you pass it." 🗣️ "Instead of be careful what you wish for — prepare for what you wish for." 🗣️ "I think it's important to ask for prayers for yourself, instead of putting other people first." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold Open & Prayer 02:07 — The Recruitment: Double Dip, Jackson Five & the Text That Sealed It 04:15 — The Pit: First Workout at Hallock Park 08:00 — Farmer, Not Noodle Man: Getting the Name Pitchfork 09:48 — Mother Goose Seals the Deal & the VQ He Almost Missed 13:23 — Axtell Roots: Three-Sport Athlete to Rec-League Drifter 15:24 — The Coupon That Nearly Broke Him & Falling for Pre-Runs 22:32 — Twin Benchmark: Racing Jackson Five From a Distance 27:02 — Second F, Coffee & Marrying a FIA 31:15 — 2.0s in the Gloom: Affinity, Raptor & Family Workouts 35:31 — Taking the Flag: Site Q, Sink-or-Swim & the Namorama Legend 43:31 — Multiplication, Faith & Final Prayers
E256
Jul 12, 2026
59:44
Honey Maid: The Wholesome Leader Built from Scratch
Honey Maid: The Wholesome Leader Built from Scratch 🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague and Gator welcome Honey Maid — Site Q of the Coliseum — to the Nomad for a conversation that starts funny and gets real fast. What begins as a COVID-comeback story about fat pants and an accidental marathon turns into an honest look at leadership, faith, and what it actually costs to show up for your family when everything breaks at once. This is Shield Lock in action, not theory. ✅ HIGHLIGHTS 🔹 How "Cracker" almost became his name before Honey Maid saved the day 🔹 Fat pants, Oreos, and the COVID dad-bod origin story 🔹 Jesse Itzler's "plant a flag" idea sparking a first-ever marathon at a 7:14 pace 🔹 Learning that coffee — not the workout — is where F3's magic happens 🔹 An eye tic and burnout force an honest conversation about balance 🔹 A church youth group gone wrong, and the pastor who brought him back 🔹 Taking the Coliseum flag and learning leadership isn't "lead from the front" 🔹 Son Charlie's medical crisis and wife Maggie's postpartum hospitalization 🔹 28 Coliseum PAX filling an empty Q board in seven minutes flat 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I bought a pair of fat pants that day." 🗣️ "Nobody's gonna wait for you. Get here on time." 🗣️ "It's you and mom against the baby. The baby is the enemy." 🗣️ "My job today is just to be here with you." 🗣️ "The reality is that we are enough." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open: Setting the Table 02:52 Welcome to the Nomad: Meet Honey Maid 05:05 The Naming Story 07:26 Fat Pants: The COVID Wake-Up Call 12:00 Planting the Flag: The Marathon Decision 16:22 Slowing Down to Build the Engine 21:34 Shield Lock and the Coffee Conversion 26:24 Marriage, the Dream Feed, and Balance 33:37 Vulnerability and the Q Source Classroom 44:55 Faith: From Black Eyes to Coming Home 51:38 Taking the Flag: Leadership Lessons 56:37 The Real Pit: Charlie, Maggie, and the Village
E255
Jul 5, 2026
1:10:29
Biscuits & Grace: The Man Who Flushed the Pills and Found His Pace
🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague and co-host Stripes sit down at The Nomad with Brett "Biscuits" Ritter — Riptide Site Q, Wolfden veteran, girl dad of two, and one of the most quietly resilient stories in F3 Omaha. What looks like a confident, community-building leader on the other side of a site launch is actually a man who spent his first year of college hooked on opioids after major foot surgery, carrying the shame largely alone until a single advisor's ultimatum sent him home to make the hardest decision of his life. Biscuits unpacks the playground EH that pulled him back after 18 months away, the January 5th beatdown that hooked him for good, and the frustration with "open to all men" not being fully lived out that didn't produce a complaint — it produced Riptide. ✅ HIGHLIGHTS 🍪 EH'd by KOA, showed up once at Paradise, then vanished for 18 months 🏃 Completed a one-mile-a-day streak for a full year — and still stepped off the scale unhappy ⛸️ Ice skating accident at his daughter's birthday party wrecked his knee and Achilles 💊 College foot surgery led to opioid dependence, depression, and a year of silence 🚽 One advisor's ultimatum sent him home to flush every pill — cold turkey, never looked back 🏋️ A sweaty T-Swift hug in eight-degree weather on January 5th sealed the deal 🌊 Launched Riptide with Zamboni: lean into the current, don't fight it 🤝 A hard pre-run with Toto broke them open and built a brotherhood across opposite sides ⛪ Minister's kid who did bike church in California and came home to the church his dad planted 🧻 Organized a Hope Lodge paper and water drive that rolled in nearly $1,000 in supplies 🦶 Toga: reactivating toe strength and foot mechanics — the plantar fasciitis answer nobody talks about 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I was so numb that I didn't care." 🗣️ "I flushed the pills and never looked back." 🗣️ "I'll prove you wrong." 🗣️ "We just gotta lean in and love on day one, no matter where they're coming from." 🗣️ "If you keep fighting, that's when you lose." 🗣️ "Going with it and just giving in to where God is pulling me is how I can actually make it through." 🗣️ "We want nothing but the best for each other." 🗣️ "The church is not a building. The church is the fellowship." 🗣️ "You should be pretty proud of yourself." 🗣️ "Before you quit, talk about it." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold Open & Mic Banter at The Nomad 02:09 — Meet Biscuits: KOA, Paradise, and 18 Months Gone 04:00 — The Playground EH & The One-Mile-A-Day Journey 05:50 — The Ice Skating Injury, the Achilles, and the Name Origin 10:12 — The Surgery, The Pills, and The Cold Turkey Turning Point 12:22 — Proving the Doctor Wrong: Two Marathons and a Reframed Identity 14:32 — From Observer to VQ: The Path Into F3 Leadership 18:15 — The Frustration That Built a Site: Tater Todd and "Do Something About It" 20:19 — Launching Riptide: Open to All Men and Swimming With the Current 23:35 — Co-Q With Zamboni: Logistics, Energy, and Earning Trust on the Road 25:41 — Pre-Runs, Vulnerability, and the Hard Conversation With Toto 29:44 — Family Fellowship: Jelly, Bear, Gravy, and the Wife Who Always Knows 37:26 — Faith Roots: The Right Reverend Ritter and Coming Home 41:04 — Third F: The Hope Lodge Paper and Water Drive 43:17 — Grace, Ownership, and the Story Still Being Written 45:21 — "You Should Be Pretty Proud of Yourself" 47:23 — Final Lesson: Before You Quit, Talk About It 48:00 — Rapid Fire with Stripes & Toga Explained 53:15 — Current State: New Job, In-Laws, and Prayer Requests 55:36 — Final Affirmations and Sign-Off
E254
Jun 28, 2026
59:28
The Buck Stops Here: Bambi on Taking Responsibility, Building Confidence, and Leading Well
The Buck Stops Here: Bambi on Taking Responsibility, Building Confidence, and Leading Well ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague and co-host Gator sit down at The Nomad with Phillip "Bambi" Daly — outgoing Site Q of The Village, 22-year sales veteran, husband, father of three, and half-Iron Man in training. What looks like a naturally confident man is actually a guy who spent a lifetime deliberately building it — through uncomfortable firsts, a father's improbable courage, and the steady pressure of F3 brotherhood. Bambi unpacks the hunting trip that named him, the six months it took to cross the Wild Kingdom threshold, and the leadership philosophy he's lived ever since: put in a book of work and let it speak for itself. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✅ HIGHLIGHTS 🦌 Named in under 60 seconds — says "I like to hunt" and becomes Bambi ⏳ Six months of resistance before crossing the Wild Kingdom threshold 💪 College athlete, 22-year sales pro — built every ounce of confidence manually 😭 Lincoln Half Marathon — trained alone, raced alone, lost it at the finish line 🚗 Dad packed a bag at 22, drove from Michigan, stopped in Shelton, Nebraska 📖 Faith as a training regimen — from once a month to weekly, one rep at a time 🎤 Leadership by subtraction — give the voice away, watch the man grow 💬 The Baptize text — "Haven't seen you in a while. I miss you." That's the glue. ☀️ The cure for Sad Clown — how you choose to engage is always your call ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I crossed that line completely exhausted. I left everything out there and totally lost it." 🗣️ "I try not to be the grandstanding dad. I try to put in a book of work." 🗣️ "I do not need to be the voice all the time." 🗣️ "The faith side. That was the big one. Because it humbles you." 🗣️ "How you choose to act is 100% a choice." 🗣️ "That simple text — I miss you — that's the glue." ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold Open: Books, Injuries & AI-Generated Friends 08:27 — Meet Bambi: Outgoing Site Q of The Village 10:00 — Wild Kingdom Fall '21: The Name That Lasted Seconds 12:00 — Six Months on the Fence: The Introvert Behind the Sales Veteran 15:00 — COTs as Glue & Dad's Story from Shelton, Nebraska 19:45 — The Lincoln Half Breakdown: The Finish Line That Changed Everything 26:00 — Marriage, Kids & The Book of Work 32:00 — Taking the Flag, Ducking Q Source & The Text That Unlocked It 39:00 — Faith in the Back Seat: The Hustle Era & Coming Back 47:00 — Succession at The Village: Playing Hard to Get with Baptize 51:30 — Leadership by Subtraction: Give the Voice Away 58:00 — The Baptize Text & The Cure for Sad Clown 01:03:00 — NAMO & Closing
E252
Jun 14, 2026
1:01:20
Every HIM Needs A Break Room
Every HIM Needs A Break Room | Break Room (Alex Kucera) | The Glue-OOM Ep. 251 Every man hits a season where life stops making sense. Good job. Nice house. Busy calendar. Checking every box. And still — hollow. For Alex "Break Room" Kucera, that season came hard. Divorce. Depression. 145 pounds. Too much alcohol. A marriage where he admitted he never put his spouse first. A longing for fatherhood he wasn't ready to carry. And an F3 invitation from his father he kept refusing. This episode isn't about divorce. It's about identity. It's about what happens when the life you thought you wanted falls apart long enough to reveal the man you were actually meant to become — and the brotherhood, the miles, the flag, and an 11-month-old daughter who is about to start remembering who her dad is that pulled him the rest of the way there. Every HIM needs a break room. Alex Kucera became one for the PAX around him. This is how. 👥 IN THIS EPISODE The EH that took two years — and why Q Tip never pushed once First post at the Trident: pre-run, sandbags, and almost becoming "Gaylord Focker" Divorce, depression, and what 145 pounds of self-pity actually looks like Running as sanctuary — headphones on, not always playing Why he canceled his Orange Theory membership weeks after his first F3 post Q Tip at 71: one kidney, 42 years of sobriety, and a son paying close attention Saying yes to the Future flag mid-prerun — and meaning it 20 minutes later Passing the flag to someone not on his radar who wanted it badly enough to ask Weeping in a church pew the first time he brought his daughter to Mass The prayer request that lands hardest because he says it quietly 💬 KEY QUOTES "Getting divorced was the best worst thing that ever happened to me." "I knew I was gonna like it — but I didn't want to do it at that time in my life." "I was 145 pounds, not eating, probably drinking too much." "I wasn't fit to lead five years ago." "Seeing your 71-year-old father kick ass is just awesome. It really is." "The first time I brought my daughter to church I was sitting there weeping." "She'll understand me as a person soon. That's what drives me to be the best version of myself." "Life sucks occasionally. That doesn't mean it's going to suck forever." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome To The Nomad 03:00 Q Tip's Long Game — The EH That Took Two Years 08:00 Father's Day & First Post At The Trident 10:00 Pick Up The Six Before The Workout Started 12:00 The Naming Of Break Room 13:42 Divorce, Depression & The Pit 18:38 Rebuilding Through Fitness 27:00 Running, Anxiety & Hearing God 34:40 Marriage, Movement & Fellowship 40:17 Q Tip, Sobriety & Legacy 45:47 Faith, Church & Becoming Dad 51:48 The Future Flag & Leaving Well 59:18 Identity, Fatherhood & The Prayer Request 1:03:00 Name-O-Rama & Wrap
E251
Jun 7, 2026
1:03:18
Switchfoot Leadership: Pleading Not Guilty. Board Certified.
SUMMARY: The Plague and Gator sit down with Switchfoot (Mark Matulka) at The Nomad in Old Town Elkhorn — and what unfolds is one of the most layered stories of perseverance and reinvention The Glue-OOM has ever captured. A guidance counselor told him he was a trades guy. He earned two bachelor's degrees, a master's, and a law degree. He scored in the 7th percentile on his first LSAT. He passed the Nebraska Bar. He almost got denied from that same Bar over a skateboarding citation — where the listed victim was society. That citation is now framed on his desk. This is an episode about what happens when you refuse to accept someone else's ceiling, find brothers who hold you accountable, and learn that carrying a flag means being a caretaker — not a commander. 📌 EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS ✅ The EH that started at a bomb threat — ICB responded to an emergency, won over Switchfoot's son with a police cruiser, then dropped the F3 invite on the spot ✅ First workout: a Smurf followed immediately by a Stormbreaker beatdown — ICB did not ease him in ✅ The naming circle almost landed "Kickflip" — Farva held the line. Rules are rules ✅ Victim: Society — the framed skateboarding citation that nearly derailed his bar application ✅ Guidance counselor said trades, not college — two bachelor's, a master's, and a law degree later ✅ Three LSATs, a newborn, and a dying mother-in-law — he went to Creighton Law anyway ✅ A 20-year-old from South Omaha arguing American values with Fidel Castro supporters in Cuba ✅ "I know my truth" — Shark Week's throwaway joke became his personal mantra for hard days ✅ Planting the flag alone before anyone arrives — his definition of what it means to be a site Q ✅ The Mufasa lunch — before taking the Wild Kingdom flag, Mufasa reframed everything: caretaker, not commander ✅ How he picked Joe Camel as his successor — burned him on a disc pass, and that was the audition 💬 KEY QUOTES "Two bachelor's degrees, a master's, and a law degree later — people are wrong." "I may not be the best in the room, but I'm going to be the hardest worker." "This isn't my site. This is our site. I'm a caretaker." "Nobody's going to give a shit what case I won. They're going to care: did I make an impact?" "I know my truth." "In two years, my daughter's not going to want me to lay in her bed and bullshit about the day. I need to put first things first." "There is a God. I am not him." "Your health is your real 401k. If you're dead, you can't spend the money." "Don't sell yourself short. Trust your abilities. Then get your experience." "You're not going to grow if you're not stretched — but you're not going to grow if you're too uncomfortable either. It's that sweet spot just outside your comfort zone." 🕐 CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold Open & Pre-Show: Rap Beefs, Jerry Springer, and P Diddy Documentaries 04:00 — The EH: How a Bomb Threat and a Police Cruiser Changed Everything 07:30 — First Workout: A Smurf, a Beatdown, and a Brutal First Mile 09:30 — The Naming: Kickflip Was Right There. Farva Said No. 12:00 — Victim: Society: The Skateboarding Citation That Followed Him Into the Bar 18:00 — The Pit: Life Before F3 — Mothballed Fitness and a Mother-in-Law's Cancer 20:00 — From Lube Tech to Law School: Metro, UNO, and Three LSATs 28:00 — Experience Over Everything: Cuba, STRATCOM, and the Governor's Office 36:00 — Accountability & Brotherhood: Scandal, Shark Week, and "I Know My Truth" 44:00 — The Third F: Faith as a Question Mark, Service as the Answer 55:00 — Leading Wild Kingdom: Planting the Flag and the Mufasa Lunch 1:01:00 — Succession, Joe Camel, and the Closing Prayer: First Things First
E250
May 31, 2026
1:09:28
Reflux: What Was Buried Came Back Up
EPISODE SUMMARY The Plague and special guest co-host Gator sit down with Reflux for one of the most emotionally layered episodes of The Glue-OOM to date. What begins as a funny story about a dad getting spit up on before his first post slowly unfolds into a conversation about grief, inherited faith, male friendship, Shield Lock accountability, and the leadership courage required to stop suppressing what’s really happening underneath. Episode 249 traces Reflux’s long road from movement without roots to surrender, alignment, and a legacy centered not on himself — but on Christ. ✅ EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS Splinter Cell’s persistent EH campaign finally lands. The Battlefield beatdown that started everything. The hilarious origin story behind the name “Reflux.” Pre-runs becoming more transformational than workouts. Running as stress relief and spiritual clarity. The hidden loneliness of career movement across five cities. Losing his mother at 14 and carrying her final letter for years. “I never felt worthy” becomes the emotional center of the episode. Why confession inside Shield Lock changes men. The hard lesson of balancing F3 with marriage and newborn realities. Catalyst leadership and learning to give leadership away. Redefining legacy through Christ instead of personal achievement. 🔥 KEY QUOTES “The LBs just kept stacking up.” “I really need a butt kicking.” “As males, we need other male friends to do things with.” “You come for the workout… now I’m all about the coffee, the faith, the COT.” “I never prayed for myself until I was in my 30s. I never felt worthy.” “Surrender is the word I keep coming back to.” “Sin is everywhere… and when you share it, usually three guys go, ‘Yeah, me too.’” “I’m John Stockton. You’re Malone. I’m giving you the ball.” “My goal isn’t to build a legacy. My goal is to enhance the legacy of Christ.” 🧭 CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to The Nomad — Reflux & Gator Join The Plague 03:58Splinter Cell’s EH & The Battlefield Beatdown 06:10The Naming of Reflux0 8:00The Berm, Pre-Runs & Expanding Brotherhood 09:45Running, Stress Relief & Hearing God on Mile Five 12:30Why Men Need Male Friendship 14:00Marriage, Newborns & Learning Alignment 18:00Shield Lock, Vulnerability & Confession 29:00The Wandering Years — Five Cities & Running From Roots 34:00His Mother’s Letter & The Worthiness Struggle 42:00Catalyst Leadership & Giving the Ball Away 49:00Legacy, Christ & What Really Lasts
E249
May 24, 2026
57:54
Buy Yourself a Little Freedom: Leadership Maintenance for the HIM
EPISODE SUMMARY The Plague sits down with Yugo to unpack the story behind his F3 nickname, his journey through fitness and fellowship, and how running became more than exercise—it became survival. From managing a Porsche dealership to navigating stress, family life, and the pull of isolation, Yugo shares how the Shield Lock of F3 changed his perspective on brotherhood. The episode is a gritty reminder that acceleration happens faster when men stop trying to carry life alone. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS ✅ Getting EH’d by DaKine after years of resistance because of work schedule conflicts ✅ First-ever post was a massive flag pass at The Coupe ✅ The hilarious origin story behind the name “Yugo” ✅ Growing up in small-town Nebraska fixing cars because owning one meant learning to repair it ✅ Career journey from local technician to Porsche service manager ✅ Honest conversation about trades vs. traditional college paths ✅ Discovering that the real value of F3 happened during the runs—not just the workouts ✅ How running became stress relief and emotional reset during difficult seasons ✅ Mortimer and market-to-market training building deeper bonds with other PAX ✅ The power of FIA crossover relationships helping EH men into the gloom ✅ Why consistent proximity with men matters more than motivation KEY QUOTES “I can run anytime… then I started really chatting with the guys while you’re running.” — ~00:09:40 “If I don’t run for several days, I just generally feel bad.” — ~00:11:05 “Running outside… it’s hard to beat.” — ~00:11:15 “My first workout was a flag pass.” — ~00:02:30 “People call me Yugo everywhere.” — ~00:03:20 “I hated it at first.” — ~00:03:15 “You can basically write your own check.” — ~00:06:05 “That was my release.” — ~00:11:45 CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening at The Nomad 02:00 FIA Connections & The EH 03:00 The Story Behind “Yugo” 05:00 Growing Up Around Cars 06:30 Porsche Leadership & Trade School 08:45 Marathon Burnout & Competitive Drift 12:30 Mortimer, Brotherhood & Shared Suffering 19:30 Family Life & Relational Rhythm 29:00 Faith, Honesty & The Quiet Struggle 35:30 Boston, Goals & Reigniting Fire 38:30 Launching The Crown 44:30 Accountability & Leadership Maintenance 51:30 “You Go. I Go. We Go.”
E248
May 17, 2026
57:31
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