It looks like Dodger’s Mookie Betts woke up on the wrong side of the bed — because his recent statements are anything but subtle and very unlike him. In a recent podcast where he was in conversation with Aaron Nola, he went ahead to call out one of the most talked about athletes right now–Simone Biles, and referred to her as the “4’8 girl” – talk about stirring the pot!

Or it might just be so that Betts just wants to get some of that spotlight that’s shining so brightly on Simone Biles! But if you think he’d drop throwing bombs after taking a jab at an Olympic superstar, you’d be wrong. He took it a step further by suggesting that the Olympics should add a new sport to their roster: bass fishing! 

Austin Nola inspiring his little bro to fish!

Mookie Betts isn’t someone to mince words and so he didn’t hesitate once before asking Aaron Nola, a simple yet provocative question about whether Bass Fishing should be an Olympic sport. Well, he might not be on the Olympic committee deciding such trivial things, but that conversation opened up a beautiful story about Aaron Nola and his family, especially Nola’s relationship with his brother. Aaron Nola didn’t take long to agree to Mookie Betts’s question and agreed that indeed Olympics should have the bass fishing sport. The reason? He is passionate about fishing! And there is a story behind it.

Young Aaron loved spending time with his dad and elder brother Austin just learning the ropes of fishing from them and watching them. In fact, as he narrated the story of the bygone times, one could almost sense that memory glisten affront his eyes. They say the best memories are the ones that stick with you, and for Aaron Nola, fishing with his family is clearly one of those core memories. He fondly reminisced, “We used to go bass fishing with my dad and brother in West Louisiana, kind of on the Texas border. We did it a lot. My brother was really into it, and we loved it.”

When Mookie Betts asked about the fishing techniques and equipment, Aaron Nola couldn’t hold his excitement and gave him detailed answers about hooks and lures like a true expert — he picked up more than just a thing or two from his brother and dad. And that’s when he fell in love with fishing. But his brother had an even bigger impact on him than just teaching him the ropes of fishing, something that made him the Aaron Nola we know today. 

How Aaron Nola fell in love with baseball

When it comes to sibling dynamics, older siblings pave the way for their younger siblings. They set the podium for their younger ones to watch and learn. And that’s what happened with Aaron Nola and his older brother. Aaron admitted that he got interested in baseball in the first place because he wanted to be like his brother. He said, “I always wanted to be like him, so we’d play baseball non-stop in the backyard. We were always competitive with each other. He was three and a half years older than me, so I went to all his games, even when he was in college. We even played together at LSU for one year. He taught me a lot and made me fall in love with the game.”

So if his brother Austin wasn’t at the games or paved the way for him, the Aaron Nola you see today would probably be working in IT or being an engineer! Who knows? But that’s not all. The role of an elder sibling isn’t just about being able to just tackle the challenges first, it’s about being a source of inspiration for their sibling. Austin set an example for his younger brother, and Aaron clearly admired him and wanted to mirror it. Aaron recalled, “He plays the game the right way, never letting strikeouts or bad games affect him. I could talk for hours about his story—he’s overcome so much. Even when I was in the major leagues, he was grinding it out in the minors. He stayed positive and motivated, which really inspired me.”

And it won’t be wrong to say that Aaron’s brother’s positive attitude and his inspiring Aaron to do better is one of the big reasons why he not only made it to baseball but also made it to the big leagues.