Missouri Express owner Garrett Blain wasted little time easing his way into the league. Over the last week or so he was able to acquire Kyle Godinho, Brad Williamson and Taite Kleine, forming the JAL’s first ‘Big 3.’ As it stands, the Express are the odds on favorite to win JAL XII. Here’s Garrett Blain on this week’s Chat Sesh…
Cale: The Express are ranked #1 and people are saying you’ve got a ‘Big 3.’ Are you worried about all the pressure now to win JAL XII?
Garrett: No, I like all the pressure. Kyle, Brad and Taite are great players. People are doubting Kyle and Brad because they’re rookies, which they are to the JAL, but not the game itself. Taite has shown he’s a star already. When you’re a good team you want the pressure. Teams with no pressure on them are teams that don’t win.
Cale: There’s a lot of trash talk in this league. Should we expect more of the same from you, or will you subtly do your job as an owner and let your team’s performances do the talking?
Garrett: I think trash talk is a good thing. But as for our team, we have no room for it yet. We’re like the new kids on the block. We won’t back down if somebody calls us out, but we will not call out other teams. After we win a title then we can open our mouths.
Cale: Very classy. Now let’s talk about your Big 3. Who were you most excited about getting to sign with you?
Garrett: Well I love all three, but you always remember your first. When I first got the good news from Kyle I was pumped. I give a lot of credit to about signing Brad to Kyle, he did a lot of that recruiting. As for Taite, it takes a big person to give up being a starting pitcher and just play the field which is what he did. That right there tells you he wants to win bad. And I was surprised how excited he was to be joining the franchise, he may have been even more excited than me about it.
Cale: Your conference (American Conference) looks pretty tough. Which of the 3 other teams do you think has the best chance of keeping you guys from representing the American Conference in the WWCD Cup?
Garrett: Well that’s hard. I guess the Lynx just because they have the #1 ranked player in Jordan Halverson. I do believe the JAL XII champion will come out of the American Conference though even if it isn’t us.
Cale: You can have up to 4 players on a roster and there are still a few free agents out there. Are you thinking about filling that last roster spot or just going with the 3 you’ve got now?
Garrett: I’ll most likely keep it where we are now. I have 3 top 10 players. I’m not sure it’s necessary to go pick up another player.
Cale: Since you’ll be in Missouri when it’s going, you'll have to use online score updates to follow JAL XII instead of being there to watch it live. Paint me picture of what you’ll be like from 1,000 miles away when the Express hit the field on March 18th…
Garrett: If it’s a nice day I’ll be soaking up the great Missouri air and refreshing the live score tracker on my phone constantly for updates. I’ll be nervous when we’re playing, but excited at the same time. I’m hoping to find a way with the league be able to watch the Express play, but we’ll see on that one.
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