Mike Pinto knows how to fire up a crowd.
Pinto, manager of the independent Southern Illinois Miners, works as a motivational speaker during the winter. He travels from city to city inspiring business people, sometimes in front of crowds as large as 5,000 at corporate conventions.
To show the audience how to face its fears, Pinto ignites a stick, then puts it in his mouth. You can see for yourself at the one-minute mark of this video:
Twice a year, Pinto asks players to eat fire in a team meeting. "You get these players who are real macho and all of a sudden that flame gets about six inches from their face and they start to feel the heat, they aren't always so brave at that moment," Pinto says with a laugh.