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00:00Inside the big game continues.
00:24I am Gable Maranci.
00:25We're having a great time here in an awesome city in New Orleans.
00:29Right down to kickoff continues as well.
00:32We've got a full house here on Meteor Row on the sports grid set and it is Super Bowl
00:37week and we're talking football so you're going to hear the term warrior.
00:41You're going to hear the term sacrifice, battle, and a lot of other terms and I don't think
00:46people mean it in any disrespectful form.
00:49People are fired up for the big game but we're actually sitting next to a couple of gentlemen
00:53right now that know the ultimate about sacrifices and about being real warriors.
00:59They're now doing some great work moving forward.
01:02We've got the CEO and founder of Sierra Delta in the house, Mr. B.J.
01:07Ganim alongside.
01:08B.J., good to see you.
01:09Good to see you.
01:10Mike, nice to meet you, my man.
01:11Yes, sir.
01:12How you doing?
01:13Thanks for being with us.
01:14How's NOLA treating you so far, my man?
01:15Oh, I love it.
01:16This is my first time so I love it.
01:17Pretty cool, huh?
01:18Yeah, yeah.
01:19It's pretty nice.
01:20It's like famous to the south or something.
01:21I heard that term so many times and now I know why.
01:23Yeah, it really is.
01:24Yeah, yeah.
01:25B.J., staying out of trouble?
01:26But you know, that's how you get famous is you get in trouble, right?
01:29Right.
01:30Yeah, for sure.
01:31But it's been fun.
01:32I love NOLA.
01:33I haven't been here since the 90s.
01:34I'm from Savannah originally, so kind of a sister city, but I love it here, man.
01:40So B.J.'s, listen, B.J.'s story is quite a special one.
01:44Survived a roadside bomb attack in 2004 and has, you know, appeared on The David Letterman
01:49Show.
01:50Massive football fan, played in the Wounded Warriors project along with Snoop Dogg, but
01:56I think that something that has to be one of the most ultimate honors is that a former
01:59president of the United States painted a portrait of you, as George Bush did.
02:03He did.
02:04I met George Bush in Bethesda after I was first injured.
02:10I went through Longstool, then over to Bethesda, then to Walter Reed.
02:13He came in, he visited with all of us.
02:15We formed a friendship, and when he asked me to be in the portraits, it was a huge honor.
02:20Huge honor.
02:21And it's opened so many doors.
02:23And it was just really tremendous because not only did he paint our portraits, he told
02:28our stories.
02:29And one of the things that I remind people is you can go get the book on iTunes or whatever,
02:34we get Audible Books, and it's him that's reading it.
02:37I think that means something, you know, like he took the time to paint us and then also
02:41tell our stories.
02:42But, you know, his nickname for me is Belushi.
02:46When I was first starting Sierra Delta, he flat out told me, he's like, Belushi, I can
02:49give $5 million to any one of these dog companies, and it won't move the needle.
02:53And he was 100% right, because in our first year with our partnership with Blue Buffalo
02:57and PetSmart, we raised a million and a half in five weeks and gave it all away to these
03:02ADA service dog organizations.
03:04And they weren't able to even do one more dog.
03:07And it's not that they're doing anything wrong.
03:08The money just went that quickly.
03:09Yeah.
03:10Well, no, it's-
03:11So there's not much of a demand and need as well.
03:13Well, they're also focused on the wrong type of dog.
03:16Less than 1% of veterans need a medical assistance service dog, right?
03:20The majority of-
03:21And this is your life buddy program, right?
03:22That's it.
03:23That's it.
03:24And it's just, we're getting service dogs done for $3,500 because we're including the
03:27veterans in the training from the jump.
03:3068% of American households already have a dog.
03:33And of the 5,000 vets that have come through Sierra Delta, 67% of them already had a dog.
03:38So let's start there and let's find out what these men and women need.
03:42Like Mike was not a dog person, but I knew he could benefit from being-
03:45And how long do you guys go back?
03:47Did you serve together?
03:48No.
03:50No, you two together.
03:51We started playing in the Wounded Warrior M.T.
03:52football team together back in what, 12?
03:542012.
03:55Yeah, 2012.
03:56And it was this.
03:57It was shortly thereafter, that's when BJ was approaching me like, hey man, you might
04:00could benefit from a service dog.
04:01I didn't grow up with any animals at all, period.
04:03So you were like, no, I don't want a dog, right?
04:05Yeah, I'm like, no, I'm cool with that.
04:06I don't want to deal with that.
04:07But it's funny because I wasn't aware that I even needed my dog Zeus until I got him.
04:13And the relationship and the bond that we have now is remarkable.
04:17It's not something I would have ever expected.
04:19And the way I explain it is, my relationship with Zeus, it's unmeasured.
04:25His loyalty to me and the love, the unconditional love he has for me is unparalleled.
04:30No matter who I was yesterday, who I am today, or what I'm trying to be tomorrow, he's the
04:35most loving and loyal person in my life, or dog in my life.
04:38For people-
04:39Do you have a dog?
04:40I have two cats right now.
04:41Oh, man.
04:42You're a pet.
04:43I got two cats.
04:44So I got no problem with a dog.
04:45I got no problems with dogs.
04:47Most people understand.
04:48Yeah.
04:49I live with a woman that already had two cats.
04:51There was a dog there before, but it's a long story.
04:54But yes, I have a-
04:55That's heartbreaking.
04:56Yeah, I know.
04:57I'm a pro dog.
04:58I have to get you a dog.
04:59You want me to call your lady and be like, hey, I need a dog.
05:00Yeah, yeah.
05:01I know.
05:02I might.
05:03I think I need a life buddy myself, man.
05:04Yeah, I don't know.
05:05But for people tuning in, what can they do to help?
05:08What can they do to help Sierra Delta?
05:11Well, one is just like what you're doing.
05:13You're giving us a platform.
05:14Let us come in and tell this story, right?
05:17Secondarily, we're going to do 300 grants this year.
05:20My goal is by 2030, I want 10,000 veterans annually going through professional dog training.
05:26In order to do that, we need money.
05:28So you can come up with fun ways to fundraise.
05:31We are a great organization.
05:32We're completely transparent.
05:34We got the gold star rating.
05:35We got all that stuff.
05:36I'll show you how we make the sausage, right?
05:39Just put on an event and raise money or just chip in 20 bucks if you got it.
05:43Go to our socials at Sierra Delta Dogs and just share it because we don't take government
05:48money.
05:49And it's not because-
05:50You're not government funded at all, no.
05:52No, and I never will be.
05:53I just don't believe that that's the way we need to do it.
05:55And we need to look at, listen, there's a lot of people that care about us and they
05:59want to see the best, but the problems we're having in the veteran community is because
06:04of how we're delivering services.
06:06Is it easy for people to say thank you for your service and not really back it up after?
06:10Well, that's fine too.
06:11What I try to remind everybody is you don't have to put a uniform on and grab a weapon
06:14to serve your country.
06:15Yeah.
06:16You know what I mean?
06:17How about start by being a free and independent person, utilizing your rights and privileges
06:21in an appropriate way, and lean in where you can.
06:24Help those that you can, right?
06:26And if those that you don't agree with, just turn the channel.
06:29We don't have to complain about it.
06:30And it's not that we're asking for tons of money.
06:33My grandmother used to always tell me, something is better than nothing.
06:36Some effort is better than no effort at all.
06:3820 bucks, 50 bucks, exactly.
06:3910 bucks, yeah.
06:40Exactly.
06:42It's all about the goodwill.
06:43If everybody shows goodwill, right?
06:44Yeah.
06:45Yeah.
06:46And it just starts to build from there.
06:47Put something behind it.
06:48And even for the veterans, I laugh with everybody.
06:49I joined the Marine Corps, right?
06:50I was politely asked not to come back to college.
06:53I didn't really want to get a real job.
06:54I just wanted to travel around and fight, and the Marine Corps met that need.
06:59But that's USMC.
07:00But USMC can also stand for you signed a mother ... Contract, right?
07:06So you know what you got yourself into.
07:07Willingly, right?
07:09So we got to get this entitlement out of the veteran population, and that's why we
07:12wanted to do a baseline program that all vets were welcome to join.
07:17Just go to SierraDelta.com.
07:18You put in your ID, me, you're verified, you're in.
07:20SierraDelta.com.
07:21Listen, I think we're getting a countdown, but I think we got another minute and a half
07:25here.
07:26You guys are football guys.
07:27We got to get your Super Bowl predictions on the way out.
07:29You're wearing red here, so I'm not going to assume you're taking the Kansas City Chiefs,
07:33no.
07:34Eagles, Chiefs, man, Kansas City Chiefs, 17 consecutive one-score victories.
07:39Talk about getting it done under pressure on a football field.
07:42Who do you like in the game?
07:43The Eagles.
07:44They have more SEC players than the Kansas City Chiefs.
07:46They really are Team SEC.
07:47They're the Georgia Bulldogs.
07:48That's right.
07:49I love it.
07:50I'm a Bulldog fan.
07:51A couple of Mississippi Rebels thrown in there.
07:52That's right.
07:53Heldarius Slade, Mississippi State.
07:54You got it.
07:55I can go on and on.
07:56On and on and on, and that's where it's at.
07:57They are Team SEC, Mike.
07:58I love it.
07:59What's your prediction for the Super Bowl?
08:00I need to make a very, very ... No, I'm a Baltimore Ravens fan.
08:02I'm a Pills fan, so I'm bitter, too, bro.
08:04I'm from Dallas.
08:05Pills should be here.
08:06I'm from Dallas, so ... But no, I will say this.
08:10You can't really bet against Patrick in the fourth quarter.
08:13Patrick is good.
08:14You know what I mean?
08:15He just keeps finding a way.
08:16Andy Reid, too, right?
08:17Andy Reid deserves a bet.
08:18You can't bet against some guys, but I want Philly to go.
08:20I want Philly to win.
08:21But I think I'm going to win no matter what.
08:22You got two Texas quarterbacks.
08:23Yeah, so you're cool either way, both from Texas.
08:26I want a good game, and refs, stay out of it.
08:28It hurts.
08:29Stay out of it.
08:30Let them play.
08:31Before you guys are playing against NFL players, shout out to some NFL players that have been
08:36supportive of what you guys do the most behind the scenes.
08:38I don't know if we have enough time, but ... Nate Boyer, Kenny Maine.
08:42We got ... Why am I drawing a blank on these right here?
08:47Vince Young, Charles Haley, Roger Stalback.
08:51Michael Vick.
08:52A great Naval legend, Roger Stalback, yeah.
08:54Gary Kramer.
08:55I mean, I can go ... Michael Vickers, Vince Young.
08:59So many players.
09:01So many players.
09:02Philly, the kicker.
09:03Yeah.
09:04I mean, so many.
09:06Ryan Leaf.
09:07He's here right now.
09:08Yeah.
09:09Yeah.
09:10Yeah.
09:11Yeah.
09:12Yeah.
09:13Yeah.
09:14Yeah.
09:15Yeah.
09:16Yeah.
09:17Yeah.
09:18Yeah.
09:19Yeah.
09:20Yeah.
09:21Yeah.
09:22Yeah.
09:23Yeah.
09:24Yeah.
09:25Yeah.
09:26Yeah.
09:27Yeah.
09:28Yeah.
09:29Yeah.
09:30Yeah.
09:31Yeah.
09:32Yeah.
09:33Yeah.
09:34Let's rock.
09:35Do it.