This interview was teased a few days ago and we found the marketing to be a little distracting. In one teaser, in which they didn't show who Carc was interviewing, he said he slept in the guest bedroom the night before.
In a later promo, Rabil asks if his swear words will be bleeped out then proceeds to tell the off camera producer there may be a lot of beeps.
If the subway ride wasn't a 30 minute journey we might not have listened to this episode right away because of these promos. Who cares about Carc sleeping alone? Rabil has been swearing on his vlog and podcast for years, no? Who cares if he does it on another show?
If you're someone like us who had no idea what they were trying to accomplish with these teasers, read our top takeaways from the episode then give it a shot yourself.
- Rabil has a tremendous amount of respect for Tom Schreiber, but believes Tom needs more of a selfish approach. He says the only person that can stop Tom is Tom.
- He believes he was the first athlete to leverage social media. He does say social media popped at the right time for him and believes others have followed his both. We wrote the other day that not enough lacrosse folks have chosen to mirror his vlogging path. However, he has unequivocally changed the lives of lacrosse people who have become constant content creators.
- Rabil admits he's more loyal to Petro than to Hopkins now after Petro was let go by the school. He said he will have to do some reputational cleanup for having that stance which is a little jarring because Petro didn't leave for a better job. He was fired.
- He said younger versions of himself felt like, despite being "The Lacrosse Guy" at major events, he was a fraud and didn't belong at the ESPYs.
- He addresses his poor play in the bubble and chalks it up to a bad start which was then magnified by the extreme speed of the tournament dates. Despite a great training camp, he got off to a slow start and could never recover. He also alludes to the fact that the stress of being a PLL executive/founder/commissioner impacted his play in 2020.
- The things they were worried about offering both their fans and their athletes are reasons why the MLL never had a chance of surviving against the PLL. For example, Rabil mentions that equipment bags are packed for the players and delivered to the locker rooms for the athletes. Players arrive to the venue by charter bus. Conversely, MLL players had to hail cabs. Who remembers the Boston Cannons clip of Matt Poskay driving into Harvard Stadium and the security guard not allowing him in?
He's very thoughtful. The PLL is an incredible thing. The lacrosse world is extremely lucky to have him so deeply involved in the sport.
Everything they've wanted to accomplish, they have accomplished. When Rabil says the PLL will be as big as the UFC, you're going to believe him.
If you're someone who is anti-Rabil, and that might really just be a small, dark corner of Lax Twitter, don't wait to listen to this interview. We bet you'll like him more.
Listen to the full episode here.