Knoxville: A Home Run of a Hometown with Kole Cottam

Kole Cottam is a professional catcher for the Boston Red Sox and a long-time Knoxville resident. On this episode of ConnectTheKnox, Kole describes why he loves Knoxville compared to all the other cities in the country he’s traveled to as a professional ball player. Kole also reveals what he thinks can be done to attract younger residents to Knoxville, and why he feels Knoxville is a perfect place for his growing family. Julia gets Kole to open up about some of his favorite Knoxville spots, and Kole gives some encouragement to all the up-and-coming baseball players at UT.   Highlights: 00:00 Intro 00:23 Kole describes his journey to Knoxville and how he became a pro baseball player 04:07 Julia and Kole discuss Kole’s growing family 05:22 How is Knoxville different from Boston in Kole’s point of view  07:49 Kole reveals his favorite city in the country (besides Knoxville, of course!) 10:11 Ad - Dr. Joe Chiro  13:22 What Kole thinks Knoxville can do to attract younger residents 18:00 Ad - Just Homes Group 18:35 Kole answers Julia’s fire round of questions about his favorite Knoxville spots 21:55 Kole shares his favorite experience at a Knoxville sporting event 26:17 The advice Kole would give to up-and-coming baseball players at UT   Links Mentioned: The Never Ever Give Up Jessie Rees Foundation: https://negu.org/   Connect with ConnectTheKnox - Follow the Podcast - iTunes Spotify Or wherever you listen to Podcasts Podcast Created With Riverside.fm - Connect with Julia -  Follow me on TikTok Connect with me on Instagram Find me on Twitter Follow me on Facebook - Buy or Sell a home in Knoxville -  Just Homes Realty Group: www.justhomesgroup.com Find my Home Buyers & Home Sellers Guide here: https://linktr.ee/thejuliahurley    Transcript:   Julia: Hello everybody, welcome to Connect the Knox. I’m Julia Hurley connecting you locally here in Knoxville to the nation. And today’s guest is Kole Cottam. Kole, tell us a little bit about you, how you’re connected to Knoxville, and what you’re doing now?   Kole: Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. I was born in Memphis, moved here with my family. I was around two. I've lived here since. I currently play for the Boston Red Sox and in their organization, and currently living in Knoxville, spending my offseason here. So, it’s uh… I love it. I love it. Lived here my whole life and I don’t really know much else.   Julia: Well, tell us a little bit about that entire journey because becoming a pro player in any sport requires so much, and Knoxville, as far as the nation is concerned, it’s just a really small town. How does the guy from a really small town get to go play for a pro team?   Kole: So, I grew up—like I said, I grew up here. I went to Knoxville Catholic High School just down the road. And fortunately, the University of Kentucky gave me a chance, so I played there for three years, had an unbelievable time there. And you know, I had a few good years, and so the Red Sox, they drafted me back in 2018 and then have been playing for them since.   Julia: That is so fantastic. What’s your position?   Kole: I’m a catcher.   Julia: Oh, my goodness. Okay. Somehow, magically—I’m going to tell you this story and tell the whole world this story—I don’t know what it is about baseball players that are catchers, but you all seem to be the crowd of people that I know. Another friend of mine who I’ll be doing another podcast with, I relocated him here and he was a pitcher—a catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And then he trained other catchers. And so, now there’s this gaggle of kids around us at all the UT baseball games, we have season tickets, they’re all catchers. They’re all being trained.   Kole: Yeah, I’ve known Zane for few years now, so—   Julia: Yes.   Kole: —so he’s a good friend of mine. So, I’ve known him for a few years. Great, great guy.   Julia: I don’t know what it is with the catchers coming in from Knoxville area, but that seems to be a thing. And tell us a little bit about how the small town of Knoxville affected and impacted you throughout your entire career, start to finish, like, high school and to now. Because we hear so many different stories about people from larger cities or from smaller towns than Knoxville, and the way that their environment shaped their success was huge. How did Knoxville impact you?   Kole: Absolutely. You know, like I said, I grew up here and when you’re younger, you don’t notice as much; it does seem a lot smaller. You know, your family, your friends, and your teammates, and people you go to school with. So, you know, being from here, you know, growing up, it seemed like a very small town to me and, you know, it was especially in the sports world, you know, we were traveling to a few different places every once in a while, play some bigger tournaments and all that but, you know, the high school—Knoxville Catholic—I went to, it’s a smaller high school, private school, but, you know, some of my best friends in the world go there and—or went there with me and we, you know, like I said, it kind of seems small. When you look back, it’s not as small as you think, you know, you just didn’t really know a whole lot else.   But absolutely, I mean, just being able to play ball against the same guys growing up, being able to hang out with them on the weekends and everything. And you know, the higher you get for professionally, also college and everything, you notice a lot of guys, you play with a lot of guys, and so it kind of—it makes it, makes it a lot—it’s a lot bigger in terms of the people you know, but the circle itself is smaller. So, I think—and there haven’t there’s a lot of people from Knoxville that are very, very good at baseball and you know, we’ve kind of all grown up together, and the ones we haven’t, we’ve worked out with in the offseason. So, it's an unbelievable city, an unbelievable town and I think just being able to spend my time here with my family and everything has been nothing but great.   Julia: So, tell us about your family. Do you have kids? Are they in school? Are they going to, like, follow in your footsteps and go to the same school that you went to? What’s your outlook for them?   Kole: I actually I have—we’re expecting—me my wife are expecting our first kid in February, so no—   Julia: That is exciting.   Kole: Yes.   Julia: Congratulations and best wishes [laugh].   Kole: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah, so a little girl in February. So, we’re very excited. And that’s going to be our first one. So.   Julia: So, I have heard through the grapevine from several of my pro athlete friends that every one of them are having girls. I don’t know what it is about pro athletes lately so all of the baseball players are going to be playing softball very soon. How’s that transition going to go [laugh]?   Kole: Absolutely. I think we’ll be their biggest fans. So, we’re very excited. It must be something in the water. So.   Julia: There must be something in the Knoxville water. All the pro athletes from here having females. So, let’s go, go softball. Go—that’s what we’re doing. So, what’s the difference, in all the places that you’ve traveled—so I said, did you have—have you start—did you start with the Boston Red Sox and you’ve been there the whole time?   Kole: Yes, I’ve been in their minor league system for a few years now. So, was drafted by them, been with them since 2018.   Julia: That’s am—so one whole team. The whole team, that’s almost unheard of.   Kole: Mm-hm.   Julia: That’s amazing. So, how is this different than Boston? Like, what are the biggest differences that you feel and can tell, and just like, crowds as far as sports go, support systems? How is Knoxville different?   Kole: Yeah. So, we fortunately, you know, going through the minor league system you know, you’re not quite in the biggest of cities. So like, I’ve been to Boston a few times, you know, visiting, practicing, and stuff like that, but I’ve never played there or really lived there. So, it’s definitely a different field from Boston, that’s for sure, I think, in terms of just the infrastructure alone, but also the community there’s, you know. It’s just a lot broader scale of people.   But, you know, going through the minor leagues, I’ve been to any random city in the country is probably a good chance I’ve been there. It gives you an unbelievable perspective on life because, you know, you go to some really big cities, some really small cities, and you see the different types of people in the end the entire country. So, I think, you know, growing up only really being in Knoxville, going to Lexington for school, you know, you kind of get the same southern, you know, the southern vibe. And so, I think being able to kind of just broaden the horizons a little bit, experience a little bit different, you know, food, culture, people, has kind of been a very big blessing for me and my wife and everything. But again, it also makes us appreciate Knoxville that much more, I think.   You know, this is the first season she traveled with me for most of the year, and so we lived up in Portland, Maine, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and traveled a little bit up in the Northeast this summer. So, I think, you know, it was an unbelievable time, great time of year to be up there, but you know, it makes us kind of appreciate home and we’re back here a lot more.   Julia: Yeah. What are some of the best things about Knoxville food versus Boston? Because I’ve never been to Boston, it’s on my list—   Kole: Yeah.   Julia: I don’t know, but I hear there’s a lot of amazing things up there but I also use no sweet tea, no cheese grits, I don’t know, I don’t know how I’m going to survive.   Kole: Yeah, the food is different. And like I said, you kind of experience a lot different, the culture and the food and everything. I’m a big food guy. So, I love food. I love eating food, but it is different. I think you know, I wasn’t exactly the biggest seafood guy, but they’ve got some unbelievable—some lobster mac and cheese is kind of right up my alley.   But you know, again, it’s just different. I think you can always get the traditional food, but you know, we’d like to especially on the road, you go to different cities, random cities, you try to explore a little bit of, you know, that town and kind of the food and the landmarks. You know, we like going on, like, hikes or walks or everything like that. So, it’s kind of just exploring a little bit more.   Julia: What’s your favorite city other than Knoxville, out of all the to—I mean apparently being a pro player, y’all go to all 50 states and some, so you’ve a big array of choices and enjoyment and socio-economic advantages and sports and outdoors.   Kole: Yeah, I’ll take Lexington out of it, since you know some bad blood for this last weekend, but I definitely think Greenville, South Carolina. So, we were there for a little over a year, probably, with everything and 2019 and 2021. And you know, my brother goes to Clemson—went to Clemson there. So, it’s kind of close, and so—but I mean, it’s something about Greenville that, you know, it’s the people. It’s kind of like an up-and-coming city but it’s also just so beautiful. A lot of really good things to do outdoors. And the baseball was great there and just the people and everything was awesome. I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but Greenville is probably at the top of my list.   Julia: I would say it’s a beautiful area. I visit there all the time. Relocate a lot of people there to here, oddly enough, because they equate the Knoxville area with that same kind of intimacy and camaraderie, but less expensive taxes [laugh].   Kole: I’m sure. That sounds exactly right. Yeah, that sounds exactly right.   Julia: Okay, so what do you think One of the biggest—or many—but the biggest misconception about Knoxville other people in the nation have that have just maybe they’ve only heard about Oak Ridge National Lab or they’ve only heard about the Vols, which were finally winning, so everybody gets [crosstalk 00:09:17] Rocky Top now, but what’s the biggest misconception you think that you’ve heard about, traveling?   Kole: That’s a good question. I think one of the biggest things for me is the suburbs, like, you everyone knows downtown Knoxville. It’s the same with a lot of bigger cities, but you know, a lot of they know the big things and the, you know, the downtown, like you said, the Vols, everything like that. But for me, you know I grew up, I’ve hardly ever went downtown. You know, we lived probably 20 minutes outside downtown.   I would always you know just travel all around Knoxville but it’s the I think it’s the suburbs and the people, just the people here is a lot—it’s a lot different, you know? It’s, you get the southern hospitality, the people are so, so nice, but you also there’s so much more to do outside of downtown and. You know, even the mountains and everything are unbelievable, but there’s so much more outside of the big-name kind of things to do around here.   Julia: There’s a lot of mom-and-pop places in Knoxville that I don’t think that people really think about when they travel through. Because most of the time, they’re just stuck on I-40, they just kind of see what’s available, they jump off the interstate exit and just go to whatever. But Knoxville is such an immersive town. I think the assumption is, well there’s the Sunsphere and the stadium and nothing else exists.   Kole: Yeah. I agree with that. And you know, Knoxville is—I was learning it the other [laugh] day, I mean, I’ve been here forever I don’t know quite the boundaries of Knoxville yet. But you know, it’s a bigger city in terms of, you know, location. Like, it really surrounds other neighboring counties and everything, so it’s pretty large in terms of areas.   So, you know, you can get a lot different—you can pretty much get anything you want within the confines of actual Knoxville. So, it makes it so much more diverse and so much more—you know, so much—you can really find what you want and, you know, explore the other things around town.   Julia: I agree with that. I think that our downtown has a ton to offer, but I think really and truly, overall the best thing that we have to offer is the diversity. And people really don’t know how different Knoxville is. They kind of just visit or they’re just coming through, and then they stay—they’ll come right outside, like into Farragut. And I remember—you know, and this was pre-me but I just remember during that time, Farragut being if you lived in Farragut—and I lived in Lenoir City, I’m way past Farragut—   Kole: Mm-hm. Yeah.   Julia: I’m seven miles away, so it’s far. But I remember saying to my [unintelligible 00:11:38] I’m going to go visit some friends in Farragut, and my friend’s eyes, “Oh, I can’t believe you’re going all the way out there.” And I’m like, “Okay.” [laugh].   Kole: Yeah, we live in, like, West Knoxville, you know, right, off, like, Rocky Hill area, but you know, we—   Julia: Okay.   Kole: Yeah, so we would go all the time, some of our best friends lived out Farragut, and you know, play golf out there, play a lot of sports, we play a lot of sports out there growing up and then, you know, I’m actually living on the other side downtown now. So, it’s kind of a different—it’s a longer drive out there.   Julia: Are you up in the north Knoxville side now?   Kole: I think so, yeah. So, read it right around there. So, it’s yeah, it’s a little bit longer of a drive, but you know, it’s great for us. And we—it’s not, I assumed it would be, like, an hour’s drive. But it’s really not. You know, it’s you just jump on the interstate and you’re there in 25 minutes, max. So, it makes it really seem small, like, a smaller town, but it’s you know, it has so much to offer that makes it seem a lot bigger.   Julia: I agree with that. I think that you run into a lot of the same people in the same places. And then you meet new people everywhere you go at the same time, and you’re not really ever sure if it’s a big town or a small town. You just feel very at home in Knoxville. I think that’s [unintelligible 00:12:49] space.   What do you think, and this is something that the current—the county mayor has been, I wouldn’t say babbling, I would say more giving opportunity of conversation to other leaders that have traveled outside of the area and are coming back. What is your thought process on being able to attract and maintain younger people to stay? Because as you know and maybe other people don’t know, we have more lakefront land than anybody else in the southeast. We are a massive retirement community, however, we have started to attract younger people. So, what would be something that would be. The advice that you could have given your younger self to learn to appreciate Knoxville and say, “Hey, stay?”   Kole: Yeah, absolutely. I think it kind of goes what I was saying with you know, growing up, you know, you don’t really see a whole lot you kind of see what your—you know, your what you do to and from school, and you know, where your parents go, everything like that, I think you know, being older and being able to have the ability to kind of—having the ability to move around and, you know, I’m never really in a spot for longest time other than in the offseason, and Knoxville I think gives you a different perspective on seeing different things and everything like that. But I think the biggest piece of advice is you know, like, the expanding and everything is great. I think you know, there’s always room for improvement, but also, like, sticking to the roots and everything. So, I think—I love it—like you said—I love the, like, the mom-and-pop restaurants, the being able to go and do what you want, like, downtown.   It’s kind of—the infrastructure is great and everything like that, but I think, you know, sometimes with expanding population all that, traffic becomes a big issue as well. But you know, they put the Topgolf in and out in Farragut; I’m sure that’ll, like—kind of that wave of building all the buildings out there and all the different restaurants and stores, kind of attracting the—that probably would attract the younger crowd. And I think also, you know, with the lakefront property, you know, it’s expensive, I think so I think, you know, being able to kind of counter that is difficult.   Julia: I would agree with that. We talked a lot about in expansion and opportunity and being able to have affordable housing, affordable meaning God knows what anymore in this market.   Kole: [laugh].   Julia: Definitely a two-million-dollar lakefront property is not for everybody. And I was so excited to get Topgolf. And Joe and I checked that out a couple of weeks ago. I am not great at it yet, but I am going to master the ability to drop those balls in the baskets. So, I took it at the driving range. That was not the win.   Kole: [laugh].   Julia: But you’ve got to master, you know, just dropping them in those buckets. So, I also agree that’s going to start to attract younger people into doing things outside of just the downtown area. So, I think that’s good.   Kole: Yeah. And I think also, you know, having the ability to drive 45 minutes or 30 minutes up to the mountains and have that, I think just making that more aware to people. And you know, Knoxville is fortunate where, you know, the summer is not crazy hot and the winter is not crazy cold, so it’s not you know, being in the valley is a little bit different, you know? You’re not—sometimes you will get really hot and really cold. But, you know, you can always hike and you can always, like, go outside and do a lot of activities outside.   You know, I think that’s something that I’ve enjoyed doing grown up and even more so now. You know, being able to just kind of… do what you want outside, I think that’s kind of a big thing for me with everything, you know, everything going on inside with all the video games and TVs and stuff, but I think being able to—Knoxville really offers a lot of outdoors and everything like that.   Julia: Yeah. Knoxville River Sports has—they—so they’ve got these little trucks—they’re not little trucks—they’ve got these trucks where they put all their paddle boards and all kinds of things and they drive them to the parks outside of just downtown Knoxville, and you can rent out their out all their paddle boards and do outdoor things. I think it’s genius idea. It really expands the opportunity to experience the lake for the younger crowd at 10, 15 bucks a pop and just enjoy the day. And I think that was outstanding.   And nobody really does talk about the mountains. I mean they’re in my backdrop. This is my backyard. They’re right there and they’re always available and it’s quiet and peaceful. Just hike the chimney, go down to [crosstalk 00:16:56] nature. Anything that you can do, and connecting to nature so refreshing. And I think Knoxville offers something very special in that I don’t think a lot of towns have.   Kole: Yeah, I agree. I think the fall in Knoxville is always known for football and all that, and always will be, but I think you know being able to go outside and do what you want during the day, it’s not—you know, you don’t get the cold—the winter doesn’t get here as soon as other places up north and, you know, same with the summer. So, it just offers a lot in that aspect.   Julia: It is a beautiful. Sometimes you get all four seasons in one day.   Kole: [laugh] Absolutely. Absolutely.   Julia: We all know that real estate is location, location, location. Our team at Just Homes Group Realty Executives have the true expertise, pairing buyers and sellers with the right opportunities. Whether you’re looking to buy or sell a home right here in Knoxville, Lenoir City, Clinton, or Farragut, we have the expertise throughout every Knoxville surrounding area. Call just Homes Group Realty Executives today.   Julia: All right, here’s the fire round. It’s coming quick.   Kole: Okay.   Julia: It’s not really that quick, but it’s coming.   Kole: Okay.   Julia: Favorite grocery store?   Kole: Ah… probably Butler & Bailey.   Julia: Oh, I love Butler & B—no one has said that yet. Let me tell you a story about Butler & Bailey is black walnut flavoring years ago was very difficult to get. You could not get your hands-on black walnut flavoring. It’s very difficult to crush those green [puffies 00:18:26], though we all have them in our backyard, but the syrup itself is very difficult to get. They were the only grocery store that had it, and that one item is used in, like, 50% of Christmas cakes.   Kole: Oh wow.   Julia: So, they were the only place in three counties that would have it.   Kole: Yeah, I grew up, you know, you go to Kroger, you go to the Publix and all that, but I think you know Butler & Bailey is right down the road and we enjoyed going there whenever you need something quick, so it was good.   Julia: Yeah. They have—honestly I feel like they have everything. They’re the Whole Foods slash Kroger of Knoxville. A very hidden gem there in Rocky Hill. That’s so fascinating. All right, favorite restaurant?   Kole: Probably Calhoun’s on the river.   Julia: Oh, good ole locally owned. I love that.   Kole: Yeah. We went there recently so it was kind of the top of my mind right there. But it’s delicious, so you can’t go wrong there.   Julia: Favorite bar or pub?   Kole: It’s a tough one. I don’t really go downtown too much. I’ll say Rooster’s or Wagon Wheel.   Julia: Oh, I love Rooster’s. So, I’m telling you, everybody in Knoxville knows all these places, but people outside of Knoxville have no idea. And every person we’ve interviewed, it’s all been local. And this is what I love about these conversations. Every person we’ve interviewed lived here, grew up here, or relocated here from a massive city, and they all have locally owned and operated names for all of these questions. So, that says so much about the Knoxville market.   Kole: [laugh] Absolutely.   Julia: Favorite gas station?   Kole: I don’t know, I’ve heard rumor on the—or people have been talking about that one off of, I think, I-40, that big one that just got put in—   Julia: Oh. Oh—   Kole: —Buc-ee’s I think’s the name of it?   Julia: Buc-ee’s.   Kole: I haven’t been there, but I—   Julia: I have not.   Kole: —that’s, so I don’t know. I haven’t really grown—I didn’t really go to too many gas stations other than just the ones down the road at Rocky Hills, so [laugh].   Julia: Yeah. I grew up in Lenoir City and the Pilot gas station, which is now Casey’s because Pilot sold out—   Kole: Oh, yeah. So I—Mm-hm.   Julia: Locally owned, but sold out to Casey’s out of Chicago, and they had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle gummies—   Kole: Okay.   Julia: They were the only gas station in all the Pilots that got those gummies.   Kole: You know what? I’ll give you my answer. I’ll give you Weigel’s. So, I was—   Julia: Oh. Best coffee in town.   Kole: So, in high school, we used to go there was a Weigel’s right next to Catholic, and—I’m sure it’s still there—but we would go there after workouts in the mornings and get chocolate milk and biscuit. So, I think that that’s kind of—the Weigel’s chocolate milk’s always—it’s up there with for me. And especially, you know, you’re—there’s someone who wouldn’t be doing great after that, but you’d have you know, eight hours until the end of the school day to feel better.   Julia: Well, chocolate milk’s a good recovery anyway.   Kole: Yeah. Yeah.   Julia: Especially for a long run or workout. So, Weigel’s milk is special milk. I think they have their own [unintelligible 00:21:16] cows or something. I don’t know what they do, but it tastes amazing. So, Weigel’s is always, always a good one. All right. Best experience at a Knoxville sporting event?   Kole: Other than L—okay, so I’ll say… we played UT in college. I played at UT, you know, we visited my junior year and hit a home run with all my family and everything there, so that was kind of a fun experience. So.   Julia: I bet that was so—oh my gosh, I bet that was amazing.   Kole: Yeah.   Julia: That is such a good story.   Kole: Yeah, I’ve been able to come back to Knoxville and have friends and family and everybody. You know, we had probably ten guys come back to my parent’s house the day before and just hang out. And you know, my dad grilled out, and you know, the next day play in front of all of them was… it was a very special experience, you know? I will never forget that.   Julia: I think that, again, just harping on Knoxville is such a big small town because even if you leave and you play for a different team, and if you come home, people show up for you. They’re like, “Hey, this is our hometown person. We’re going to support the home team.” And that doesn’t just mean the Vols. That means whoever is here.   Kole: Yeah. It was very special for me.   Julia: I’m so glad. That is so good. Okay. Best kept secret that if you told other people about it, they may or may not know. About Knoxville.   Kole: Knoxville. I’m not sure. I think you know, there’s a lot of golf good golf places here, I think. I’m big into golf, so—   Julia: A lot of people have no idea how much golf we have to offer. That’s a good one.   Kole: Yeah, there’s a lot of golf out in Farragut and a lot of golf—I, for the first time, I went out past downtown, the Kodak area, I played there. So, there’s a lot of golf I think here, too. So, there’s—you know, I don’t know too many secrets. I think there’s a lot of places that, you know, out near parks and everything that are just they’re pretty well known but I think it’s definitely related to some golf.   Julia: Are they so many people, they ask that all the time? Like is there anything—is there any golf in Knoxville? And I’m like, “Well, let’s start the list.” You know? And then you have to ask them, like, “How good do you want the course to be? How hard do you want it to be? Do you want to country club there? Do you want the ability to have beverages and a meal after the fact? Do you just want to go for a par three?”   And they realize that as you’re asking these questions, they have no idea what Knoxville has to offer. So, we can go all the way from Wind River, which is totally private, completely gated, one of the hardest courses I’ve ever played, and all the way downtown to the parts where you just you’re having a good day, you want to take a couple hours to play with friends and just grab a bite. So, golf is big here and I didn’t even think about that. That’s a really good—it’s not a secret, but it’s a secret.   Kole: Yeah. I think, like, and the best part about it is goes back to the weather and everything. We have a lot of opportunity to play golf around here where other people don’t, and you know, especially my buddies up north, and even down south, it gets too hot in Florida and all that. So, I think it's a good middle ground. And I think it’s just, it’s a lot of fun places around here.   Julia: Favorite chiropractor [laugh]?   Kole: [laugh] Joe. Joe [laugh].   Julia: And for everybody out there, my husband, he’s a chiropractor. He owns Dr. Joe Chiro. So, it’s fine. He’s one of our [laugh] patients. That’s hilarious. I ask that question to everybody that goes and sees Joe, which is most of the people that we also interview on the podcast [laugh] so far.   Kole: Oh, he’s great, he’s great.   Julia: He is. He’s a wonderful person. So, anything else that you would like to add about Knoxville for everybody out here this? Is going to be a national—probably international; got a few people that have already started to download it in other countries. They need to know about the Knoxville area, just in case we missed anything.   Kole: No, I think we’ve covered a lot. But you know it’s a wonderful talent it’s a great place to, like you said, relocate or grow up and I think you know, it’s only it’s only going to get better as the years go and I think how much it’s changed between, you know, the time I’ve been here has been unbelievable. And it’s, you know—the friends are still here. Everyone loves Knoxville when they come to visit, so I think just being able to experience that with everybody has been great. And hopefully other people think the same.   Julia: Well, I appreciate you being an advocate for Knoxville on your way through all 50 states in playing. We really hope that you will crush it again coming up this year in your season. Who do you think is going to be your biggest challenger in 2023?   Kole: I’m not sure. I’m just hoping to have a healthy season, have some success, and you know, I think it’s going to be tough, but we’ll see. We’ll see. I can’t put a name on it.   Julia: You have any words of encouragement for the baseball players coming up at UT?   Kole: Absolutely. I mean, it’s a tough game. Just always have fun. That’s the base thing, but work harder than you think. There’s always other people trying to outwork you. But I think just have fun, enjoy it, and make sure you always thank your parents. They do more for you than they’d ever know. So.   Julia: Well, if you ever have a chance to visit, Joe and I have season tickets, so let us know. I’m sure you can [unintelligible 00:26:15] walk out there on your own, but just in case. Ust the case. We’re really excited about your addition to your family and thank you for taking the time for us. We wish you the best of luck on your upcoming baseball season.   If anybody wanted to get merch from you or find a way to support you and your team is there a not-for-profit that you have or a way to donate something and then also do—is there something that we can help you with?   Kole: Yeah, you can message me on Instagram or Facebook or anything. I work with the Never Ever Give Up Charity pretty closely, so it’s an unbelievable foundation and everything. But yeah, just reach out to me, everyone feel free to reach out on Instagram, Twitter, or anything, and I’ll get you connected with that, or we’ll figure out a way to do it differently.   Julia: Perfect. I love to support people that support us here in Knoxville. We appreciate you, again. Everybody, this is Julia Hurley. Thank you very much Kole Cottam for your time today. So, appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to Connect the Knox. We’ll see you next time.   Kole: Thank you for having me.   Julia: Bye.