Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Scott Dochterman talks Hawkeyes & College Football, Tommy Birch on MLB & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Scott Dochterman talks Hawkeyes & College Football, Tommy Birch on MLB & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Our number 2, Welcome back, Miller and Cotton on the air
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with you on the Iowa Sports Radio Network here in our
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flagship 106.3 KX&O in Des Moines and stations all across
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the state, Sioux City, IA City, Cedar Rapids and the Quad
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Cities. Glad to have you aboard with us.
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We got Scott Dockerman waiting in the wings.
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We're going to talk a bunch of different things with Scott.
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We're going to talk some college football, fixing the college
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football calendar, plus a little Hawkeye talk with Doc.
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Then coming up, Tommy Birch as we turn the page from football
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season into baseball. Birch is going to join us and
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we're going to talk some MLB. Right now he is Scott Dockerman
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from The Athletic as he joins us here on a Monday as he normally
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does. Doc, good to catch up again.
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Hope you enjoyed it and hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl 19.
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Nothing final score not indicative of the way that one
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went. How was your Super Bowl Sunday
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doc? It was fine, you know, I had no
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problem in it. I really had no dog in the
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fight. I didn't bet.
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And then and I don't, I'm not necessarily a fan of either
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team. So it was it went well for me.
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I mean, I thought we saw dominant defenses for the first,
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especially for the 1st 3/4 and and overall, it's not one that I
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think everybody's going to say. I can't wait to rewatch that one
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50,000 times on NFL Network coming up.
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So, and I think we can all move on to the offseason now.
1:20
Offseason a big time for I think all of us and and a lot of
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different ways to go. What more on the Super Bowl.
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So we saw last year Philadelphia with that great, great defense,
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what they were able to do. Are we seeing maybe a little bit
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of a change or can we? It's jump to conclusions and I'm
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jumping on my conclusions, Matt right now, but jump to the
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conclusion that we saw offenses the way that they were
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dominating the NFL and football in general.
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Maybe it is starting to shift back a little bit more and
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defenses starting to figure things out a little bit now you
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do have to have a strong defense to ultimately win a Super Bowl.
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I think it's defense has always been real critical and in a lot
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of times when you see these #1 offenses versus #1 defense
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matchups, it tends to go in the defenses way and in most of
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them. And I think that's hasn't
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changed. But I think to your point that
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there are, when there aren't dominant quarterbacks in a game
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like this, it does revert immediately to defense.
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And that's what we saw. I mean, Seattle had the best
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defense the NFL and and it was able to really control the game.
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And I mean, Drake May hasn't has been good at times this year.
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I think he's got a high upside that doesn't guarantee you
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anything in this league. But I do think that, you know,
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the way that they were able to really dictate tempo and not
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commit any mistakes. I thought that was the one way
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where Seattle could lose is if Sam Darnold played like the Sam
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Darnold pre Minnesota, let alone Seattle.
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And, and, and I think they were able to, you know, they really
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ran the ball well too. So I think that is still a
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winning strategy in, in football, college football, Pro
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Football, if you can still play defense, control the line of
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scrimmage, run the football. And if you have a quarterback
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who can make plays, then your team's going to be successful.
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And, you know, I think next year there are there are a lot of
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teams waiting in the wings and either one of these teams made
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the playoffs last year. So I mean, you're, you're
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looking at some some teams that I think we're on the cusp, but
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maybe, you know, Detroit, I can see Detroit bouncing back in a
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really big way or, you know, or then somebody's going to come
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out of nowhere or, you know, and surprise everybody, you know,
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kind of way Chicago did or New England did.
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So I think next year there's a lot to look forward to.
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Let's jump into your main beat, and that is college football on
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a national scale. And last week when the
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announcement came down here, is that what the schedule's going
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to look like for the 12 team playoff?
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There was a lot of anger. Now we're going to watch.
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You're going to watch. I'm going to watch, all our
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listeners going to watch. We're huge football fans.
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That's going to happen. But I just go back to a season
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ago and the TV numbers that came out for that.
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Notre Dame, Ohio State, two of the bluest blood programs that
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are out there, huge nationwide fan bases and the numbers were
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disappointing. And the TV product, it feels
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like in general, football fans and just the national
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consciousness, they're ready to move on with football.
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It's probably not about the people listening.
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It's more big picture. This schedule, it certainly
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didn't work there. Did they get this wrong?
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Have they made the schedule? Are they maybe put it up against
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themselves and the powers that be in college football and
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sometimes wonder who those powers actually are?
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Did they make a mistake with this new playoff schedule?
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I think we could separate this in a couple of ways.
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One, if it goes too late, I, I, I agree wholeheartedly that the
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schedule needs to be two weeks earlier and next year it's what
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the 25th, 26th I think is when they play the, the championship.
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And then that is too, that's too late for everybody for every
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reason, especially when you have the portal going on.
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It's really, really not fair. It's kind of like if they if the
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NFL decided that after wild card weekend, they're going to open
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up free agency and then just let everybody, you know, start
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signing players when you're trying to go for your
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championship, That's that's wrong.
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And I think in this case, they still try to pay attention to
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school. It's not really the focus
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anymore in college football, unfortunately.
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But so I think it's really unfair for that.
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Now, the numbers this year we're off the charts.
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I mean, you know, 30 million watched Indiana beat Miami and
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that was the second best CFP championship we've seen, the
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best since Ohio State beat Oregon back in the original, you
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know, 14 playoff championship. So I mean, I think that one it's
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it's dependent upon storyline and and you know, in teams, I
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mean interest carries that. But I do think what I would
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recommend is that everything gets pushed back a week to the
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season and meaning that whether it's championship ship Saturday
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or you do something different like I've suggested, which like
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the Big 10 should do like a like a champions week where everybody
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has a match up on the final weekend.
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Have that be it that your Thanksgiving week, the next week
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starts your playoffs and then play the second round that great
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immediately after that. And then if you want to take
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like a two week break or 2 1/2 week break before the
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semifinals, by all means, you know, have them on New Year's
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Day and then complete it right after that.
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You know, the 9th or 10th or whatever.
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I think that is probably in line of what makes the most sense how
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it because I think the more you push this back, the more
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pushback you should get this you're you know, they are still
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students. They still have to go to class
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and, and whether they are online or not, that's dividing their
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attention and, and, and they have no Christmas break.
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So, so I, I just, that's my opinion.
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Maybe I'm outdated, but I I would think that's where I would
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go. Doc, I'm with you.
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I've been talking about ever since it happened back in 2020
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that champions weekend that they put together.
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And though Michigan ducked Iowa that weekend, and here's a crazy
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thing, I still maintain, if Michigan would have played those
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final two games, Iowa would have blown out Michigan, Ohio State
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would have throttled them as well, and Jim Harbaugh would
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have been fired as a coach. But that's a that's a summer
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conversation. What did What did you and
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Morehouse used to call them? The horse platitudes?
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Large latitudes, yeah. And I'm there with you, Trent, I
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think. I think Iowa and Ohio State
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would have combined to beat him. 100 Nothing.
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Yes, Michigan was playing. They had nobody left.
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That was horrible. I mean, they they were
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brutalized by I think Wisconsin, which was the average that
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you're beating like 49 to 8 or something.
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They would have gotten annihilated by Iowa and and Ohio
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State back-to-back. But but anything, yes, we can
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have that horse last conversation in June or July.
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That's a good one. We'll put that one on the list.
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DACA. From there, I got another part
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of the schedule that I believe probably eventually is going to
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happen. I do wonder about the people
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that are pushing back upon it and that is starting things a
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week earlier. The week 0 as we know it now
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becomes the new week 1 where everybody kicks off the season
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in week one, that last weekend in August.
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I know schedules change and you know, you think of Thanksgiving,
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well, it ends late, not always late November.
8:01
You know, there's a couple of years coming up where
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Thanksgiving is going to be on November 22nd and that's going
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to change the calendar a little bit.
8:07
But for the here and now, what is the pushback?
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Is it the southern schools and just how hot it is, you know,
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late August playing those games? Well, it's still hot the first
8:15
week in September too. But what is the pushback of of
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moving the calendar that way, getting started a week earlier
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and then giving your opportunity on the back end to be able to
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get these playoff games in without these huge gaps in
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between games? It's mostly just that the, that
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there hasn't been a real push for them.
8:32
There's been discussion about them, but no, no schools, no
8:36
conferences have come out and just forcefully said we all
8:40
should do this. I've had conversations with the
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Big 10 that have wanted to do that.
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And, and like, and especially now that you're talking about
8:47
like this year and next year that, that there's only one by
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week. And, and so it would help their
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scheduling to an extent, although I'll say this that the
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Big 10 schedule this year is superior to ones in the past
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because of there's only one by week.
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But I think that's been a focus. But yeah, in the South, when you
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start talking about some of those games, which the first
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month of the season is scorching as it is, that's why high school
9:12
football starts really late there comparatively to where we
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live that there is that, you know, kind of this, this
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decision. But, you know, for me, I think
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probably the easiest solution is just say every year it's a 14
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week schedule. And then that way you're not
9:27
dependent on the on the calendar as when Labor Day starts.
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But I, I think it does make some sense to have some of these
9:35
games a week earlier, get things started and, and get going.
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But then there are also quarter schools that have quarters that
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don't even have students in for the first three to four weeks of
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the season, so they would love to have it pushed back,
9:48
Northwestern being among them. Yeah, I think Stanford, they
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normally don't start until like that last week in September.
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Ohio State's on the quarter system.
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That's another big brand that has that.
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And yes, as we mentioned earlier, Doc, we don't forget
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sometimes these are student athletes.
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So I'm trying to remember the last guy that was academically
10:03
ineligible. Remember that used to be a big
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thing you used to have to write about.
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Yeah, I did. I mean, but I think online
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classes helped them out. Interdepartmental studies
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Degrees no. Doubt.
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All right, Doc, I have one more on this front.
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So I think I have it all figured out.
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You know, you sit here, you got your opinions, you start to dig
10:22
your heels in. I think I have the calendar
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pretty well said. What makes a lot of sense in my
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mind, The one thing that I know you've talked about and written
10:29
about a ton is spring football as opposed to maybe turning into
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OTAs, pushing that back, moving that around.
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So fill in the gaps a little bit on that front because I'd like
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your thoughts on the past and rethinking the way that we do
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spring football as we know it for college football.
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I think it, I think it should be pushed back to June.
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I, I think the more and more we're getting bracket creep and
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these games are going all the way till late January, I think
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it's a disservice to the, the athletes.
10:57
And then you look at like Indiana and Miami's players.
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I mean, they had to have a special portal season for them
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just to be able to enter the portal alone.
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You know anybody else It's, you know, you're, you know, we had
11:08
the Beau Privula situation a year ago.
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So why not say move spring football to June, which you
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know, several players not only are have transferred and are
11:18
trying to move in, but then the other ones are injured and they
11:21
can't compete in in in April because they had surgery.
11:25
So instead, if you were able to have say 2, two weekends, one in
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March, 1 in April, where you'd have like an OTA type of thing.
11:34
And then also it relieve, alleviate some of that pressure
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for those who are transferring to leave that school because
11:41
some of them are within X number of credits graduating or they're
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there. Their seasons go so late that
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it's like really difficult to do that.
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But if you had OTAs, then you could say, look, well, you could
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provide that transportation. You know, if like one of Iowa's
11:57
incoming guys like from Villanova or among the many Iowa
12:01
State guys or maybe are at Washington State, maybe they
12:04
could stay there or another school, continue to take
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classes, operate a different training schedule, maybe have it
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help some supervision with the the former school, but then also
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then make your practices in June when they're already there and
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and then your OTA's. You could also also say, hey,
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our incoming players are incoming freshmen can
12:30
participate as well because then they'll all be there in June.
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So that's what I would do because I think you need to
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allow them to have a little bit of a break.
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You know, they're young people still.
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They do have classes, they have social lives, and a lot of them
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missed out on Christmas and, and Thanksgiving and other holidays.
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I think they deserve to have that right to be able to kind of
12:51
mentally recharge for a few months.
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I really like that thought and something.
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Yeah, outside the box and sometimes the college football
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definitely need that outside the box thinking.
13:00
Wrapping up with you, Doc and couple of thoughts on
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basketball, though not part of your beat anymore.
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I know you keep an eye on the basketball teams on both sides.
13:07
Let's start with the women in the midst of a three-game losing
13:10
streak. A year ago, they went through A5
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game losing streak and Lucy Olson turned it on and they
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turned around the seasons. Is it time to maybe look at a
13:17
change in the starting lineup? Addie deal after that great
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performance against Ohio State, she hasn't been the same since
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she's been inserted into the starting lineup.
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And I'll tell you this was a complete miss by I didn't think
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the Taylor McCabe injury was certainly going to be nearly as
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impactful. We knew we were going to they
13:33
were going to miss her three-point shooting, but
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they're missing her on the defensive end.
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Yeah, I think here's, you know, one of the things that we really
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missed in the last three games that it is really important and
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because I don't think enough people give this enough depth is
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that Minnesota is #1 UCLA is number 2 and and USC is number 3
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in defense. And all three really clamped
13:56
down on Iowa's offense. And Iowa, you know, struggled
13:59
because it didn't have the three-point shooter that that
14:01
Taylor McCabe is. And, and when you're playing
14:03
good defenses and they're, they're that way and in both in
14:07
scoring defense and, and, and then they're in the three of the
14:12
top 4IN field goal percentage defense, that's really hard to
14:15
get through. And, and so they, they played
14:18
poorly. I thought on offense, especially
14:21
against Minnesota, I thought on the road against USC, they
14:25
played a team that was playing well at that time.
14:27
Sometimes that happens. And when you're on the road and
14:30
then UCLA is better than they are, period.
14:32
There's not even, you know, they're not close.
14:35
And I think when you have that, you've got to work through some
14:39
things. Now, I, I, of course, I think
14:41
they should consider whether it's lineup changes or, or
14:45
adjustments as minutes go. I, I'm, I've been a kind of a
14:49
stand for, for Taylor Streamlow. I think when she goes in, the
14:53
team plays better. That she's the glue piece that
14:56
this team lacks, that she plays good defense, she distributes
14:58
the ball, she has shots she makes.
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And, and I think she needs to be on the floor as much as possible
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because I don't think her consistency is dependent upon
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game, but it's, it's, you know, but I, I also think that teams
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go through these struggle periods and they have to work it
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out. And they've had a week off now
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that's probably healthy for them.
15:18
But you know, the, the season, it's, it's, they've got to,
15:22
they've got to get serious with that, whatever is left, because
15:25
they've only got a month left of regular season.
15:27
So they've got to focus on where and minimize the areas they're
15:30
weak at and emphasize their strength and go forward.
15:34
And, and there really shouldn't be any kind of honorifics or
15:37
anything paid attention to the the seniors or the veterans.
15:43
It needs to be just holistic as to who should be the team, the
15:46
players that step up and, and, and that's what I think will
15:50
help them potentially become a second weekend team because I
15:53
think that's probably their feeling.
15:55
Over to the men's side. For the first time in a decade,
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Iowa has a six game conference winning streak.
16:01
Back when you were on the basketball deep, deep.
16:04
For the Hawkeye basketball team playing well, it hasn't been
16:07
exactly a gauntlet by any means, but they take care of business
16:10
in the Northwest. The late night win against
16:12
Washington and Bennett Sturtz, we're waiting for him to be an
16:16
All American. He certainly looked like an All
16:17
American during this win streak. Oh yeah, I mean, he's really
16:22
elevated this team. I mean, you know, we he's been
16:25
really good at times all most of the year and and everybody knows
16:28
that he's kind of the, the he's number one on every team scout
16:33
and no question about it. And but he is delivered time and
16:37
time again over the last month and you've seen that growth.
16:40
I really so I'm I'm kind of bullish on this team.
16:44
I think it's got it's continuing to get better.
16:47
And we got Bennett starts to averages 20 points a game and
16:50
his and you know, as a guard, he still makes almost 51% from the
16:54
floor. That's impressive.
16:56
Now they've got one more of these games that just kind of,
16:59
you know, Maryland, which hasn't been able to respond.
17:02
I mean, you talked about tale of two teams.
17:03
I mean that Maryland had the same situation as Iowa with its
17:08
coach leaving and hiring a really good one, but wasn't able
17:11
to put the team on the floor while you still got to go and
17:13
win that game. If they can do that, that's A7
17:15
game win streak and you get to 500 in the Big 10, which is an
17:20
impressive run, I think, for this team.
17:22
And then, then, then it does get, as you said, you know, it
17:25
gets much stronger but not overwhelming.
17:29
And I think when you point to that game on Saturday, an
17:33
afternoon game on Fox against Purdue, it's sell out.
17:38
I think that's got the makings of, OK, if you win this game,
17:42
you're back. I mean, you'll have a winning
17:44
record in the Big 10. You beat Purdue.
17:47
You would be in a situation where things are really moving
17:50
forward for you as a program. But you know, saying that and
17:54
doing it or two different things, because there are some
17:56
things that frustrate me. I mean, they, they still, they
17:58
don't have a rim protector. Fulgaris to me is, is a guy, I
18:03
hate to say it, but he frustrates me because I think
18:05
he's got so much potential and there's times when he plays like
18:08
it and there's other times you're like, what are you doing?
18:11
And, and I think if he ever gets to the point where he plays like
18:15
that, then this team can take off and become a real threat.
18:19
Maybe not to match a Michigan or Illinois who I think are
18:22
exceptional, but to be, again, a second weekend team, which is
18:25
something that, you know, my son's 26 and he's never seen in
18:28
his lifetime. I watched it at One Eyed Jake's
18:31
my freshman year at the University of Iowa, and I got a
18:33
lot of Gray hair now and a lot different.
18:35
Certainly look at things. It was a long, long time ago.
18:38
Doc, as always, appreciate the time.
18:40
Great catching up with you. We'll try to catch you again
18:42
next week. All right.
18:43
Sounds good. Thanks, Trent.
18:45
Scott Dockerman joining us from The Athletic, talking Hawkeyes
18:48
and some college football with Doc and taking a look at that
18:50
calendar make some really interesting points there by Doc
18:53
always does a good job of thinking in college football.
18:56
Quick timeout as we come back on the other side.
18:58
Time to talk some baseball. It has been few and far between
19:02
here during the winter months during football season.
19:04
But yes, baseball season soon will be upon us.
19:07
Pitchers and catchers getting ready to report.
19:10
We'll talk with Tommy Birch from the Des Moines Register.
19:12
That's up next. It's Miller and Condo on the
19:14
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Before Birchie though, let's
19:17
give you a chance to win $1000 in this nationwide contest.
19:21
All you got to do right now go to kxando.com and enter the
19:24
keyword. The keyword for this hour is
19:26
goldgold@kxando.com. Get yourself some gold as the
19:31
Olympics are trying to get some gold medals as well.
19:33
Gold, KX and o.com back on the other side with Birchy talking
19:37
baseball. Miller and Connick continues on
19:39
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. Welcome back, It's Miller and
19:43
Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
19:46
No Ken this week or next as he's on vacation.
19:50
Luckily for me and for you, we got a lot of great guests,
19:54
including our next guy. He is on the I Cubs.
19:57
BT covers Iowa State women's basketball and he does a whole
20:00
lot more at the Des Moines Register.
20:03
He is the Iowa sports writer of the year.
20:05
Tommy Birch joining us. What's up, Birchie?
20:09
Well, if I wouldn't know him, Tim wasn't going to be on the
20:11
show. I'm not sure if I would have
20:13
said yes. Man, they're throwing darts
20:16
already. All right, Bertie.
20:18
Well, I want to talk to Major League.
20:20
Baseball. I know you do.
20:21
I know you do. I want to talk to Major League
20:23
Baseball. I want to talk about the Cubs,
20:25
want to talk about a team certainly I root for.
20:27
And you've been known to maybe have a twinkle in your high from
20:30
I from time to time as well, the Minnesota Twins.
20:32
So we're probably not going to be talking much Twins baseball
20:36
coming up here during the long, long summer months because
20:39
they're going to stink. But I saw this from Aaron
20:42
Gleeman, who covers them for The Athletic.
20:44
And it just let me scratch my head.
20:47
The Twins payroll currently sitting at, let me find it here,
20:51
$35 million below last opening day, $60 million below 2023 and
20:58
$70 million below the MLB average for 2026.
21:04
Now the hope was that the poll ads were going to sell.
21:06
The team had a glimmer of hope that that was going to happen.
21:09
That didn't happen. They brought in some investors
21:11
that are going to help them out apparently.
21:12
But Minnesota Twins, a team that was on the brink of contraction
21:17
some 25 plus years ago, it does not seem like it's trending in a
21:21
very positive direction. Give me your take away as you
21:23
look at the team up north and any hope for the future.
21:27
Is this just going to be another tear it down and hope to build
21:29
it up? Yeah, I think so.
21:32
And I think that's what you hope is that they're actually going
21:35
to tear down. You know, I think they did a lot
21:37
that's tearing down last year, but realistically, there's still
21:41
more that they could have done. I think that's kind of been the
21:43
problem of the Twins maybe over the last 5-6, seven seasons is
21:48
they have ridden the fence in terms of what they want to do.
21:51
They don't want to rebuild, but they don't want to go all in.
21:54
They don't want to spend a ton of money, but they don't want
21:57
to, you know, totally trade away all of their major assets.
22:03
I mean, right now they've certainly got a couple of major
22:07
assets right now that they could trade away and show Brian, I
22:10
don't know, Byron Buxton would end up waving his no trade
22:13
clause. I think there was kind of that
22:15
problem last year, but, you know, the twins just need to
22:19
kind of pick up lane and go all in.
22:21
I think that's where you see but these troubling organizations,
22:25
1. If you aren't going to spend, at
22:27
least figure out what you're going to do and if you're going
22:29
to, you know, at least have an identity and a plan moving
22:33
forward, I think that gives you a better shot.
22:35
You know, if if he's going to full rebuild mode, trade away
22:40
some players, get some prospects strapped, well, then you've got
22:44
a chance to kind of reopen the window.
22:46
And I think that's probably what the twins are going to have to
22:49
do. You know, they can trade Joe
22:51
Ryan, they can trade Pablo Lopez, they can maybe trade
22:54
Byron Bucks. I think at that point, you know,
22:59
I think that's what you're looking forward to.
23:01
Major League Baseball probably is not looking forward to that
23:04
given that the Twins are coming to Dyersville this summer and
23:08
wouldn't mind having a couple of players to, you know, chase
23:12
after Kyle Schwarber home run balls.
23:14
But I think that's probably the best bet for the Minnesota Twins
23:18
at this point. Fan Grafs has them projected for
23:21
seventy wins this season. We will see on that.
23:24
Not good, not at all. Well, you have the other side of
23:27
the Central and that is on the National League side.
23:29
And the Cubs, well, the anticipation is that it's going
23:31
to be a very good one. Certainly coming up for them
23:34
this season. A Cubs team that was on the
23:36
brink a year ago certainly push things forward.
23:39
What do you look at this Cubs team?
23:40
What is your concern area right now?
23:42
What what is the one thing that you say?
23:44
You know what, that could be the reason that the Brewers again,
23:47
are right there for them, maybe win the division or the Cubs
23:50
have a disappointing year. What would you point to?
23:53
To me, they don't have that bona fide number in number one, that
23:56
ace, that go to guy that stopped her.
23:59
Now they have some guys that it seemed like could have the
24:02
potential to do that. Obviously what they picked up in
24:06
the Owen Casey trade, you know, Justin Steele is you know, we
24:10
don't know when Justin Steele is going to be back.
24:12
We don't know what he's going to look like when he comes back.
24:15
Hey, Jordan had a great year and ended up kind of being that ace
24:19
down the road, but do we know if he can do it for a full season,
24:23
kind of sustained that success? You know, that's kind of the key
24:27
when it comes to, you know what I think when you look at about
24:31
these world championship teams, they've got a guy that can stop
24:36
A4 game losing streak, 5 game losing streak and go out there
24:40
and take the ball for games 1/4 and seven in the World Series
24:43
and say, you know, we're not going to lose that game.
24:46
The Cubs have a lot of really good starting pitchers, but to
24:50
me that rotation is just always back with guys who are twos,
24:54
threes and fours. The good thing, though, for the
24:57
Cubs is that they have addressed the starting depth need when it
25:01
comes to that pitching staff where you look at how things
25:04
shook up at the end of last season.
25:07
They were just fighting and calling against the finish line
25:10
because Justin Steele was there, because Matthew Boy did hit a
25:13
wall, because Kay Dorn couldn't pitch any longer.
25:17
You know, they needed some depth.
25:18
And I think that's the thing too, when you look at, you know,
25:21
what the Dodgers have done and everybody is always like, man,
25:25
did the Dodgers need this guy? Did the Dodgers need that guy?
25:29
It's always shown that you cannot have enough depth when it
25:33
comes to your team that time of year and you certainly can't
25:36
have enough starting pitching. I think that's an area that they
25:39
kept that position themselves to improve on.
25:43
But it'll be interesting to see as the season goes along because
25:46
the Cubs still do have a lot of capital in the minor league.
25:50
If that's an area that they go out and stay at the, you know,
25:53
trade upline. Hey, we need a number one, are
25:56
we going to go get a guy like Joe Ryan?
25:58
I think that could be a possibility for them.
26:00
You mentioned that Capital and the guys that you've seen a
26:03
whole lot, certainly here in Des Moines and along going down in
26:06
some of their earlier minor league stops, who are the guys
26:09
that are ready to help out now? The guys that are ready to go,
26:11
they might even start the year at AAA, but you believe are
26:14
going to be players that can be impactful this year out of the
26:17
minor league circuit. Yeah, two of the big ones are
26:20
going to be Moises by Steros and Kevin, Al Contra.
26:24
You know, both those guys could end up making the team out of
26:27
camp. It's going to be interesting to
26:28
see Al Contra. I'm not quite as high on.
26:31
I know a lot of the Cub process, a lot of the baseball rankings
26:34
have him. You know, I think even The
26:37
Athletic and Keith Law, who's one of the best when it comes to
26:41
judging minor league talent, has him as a top 100 prospect.
26:46
But the problem with Al Contra is he just has not been able to
26:50
consistently put together a strong season.
26:53
You know, you, you see stretches of it where he'll, you know,
26:57
he'll have 8910 games where he's just a phenomenal.
27:00
I think when it comes to all the prospects that the Cubs have had
27:04
over the last few seasons, guys, including by Pharos and even
27:08
knowing Casey who they trade to the Marlins, I'll contrast the
27:12
highest feeling out of any of those guys.
27:14
But the problem is there's a lot of people you talk to throughout
27:18
the organization and even throughout baseball, they just
27:23
don't know if he's ever going to reach that feeling.
27:25
So to me, he's a fascinating guy by Esteros.
27:28
Like I mentioned before, over the last couple of years, he's
27:31
been one of the best hitters in all minor League Baseball.
27:34
And what he's done at the minor league level and at the AAA
27:37
level, you know, competing when he's, you know, 20 and 21 years
27:41
old against guys who are, you know, 2530 and 35 years old has
27:46
been very amazing. And the Cubs obviously saw that
27:49
potential by putting him on the postseason roster.
27:53
Now the biggest question for him is going to be what's his future
27:56
look like? Is he going to be a full time DA
27:59
to be a guy that maybe they fit in at first base every now and
28:03
then? Or are they going to try to
28:06
continue to develop him as the catcher?
28:09
And you know, I think the most important thing over anything is
28:12
you got to find a way to get him at bats because that new is
28:15
going to break that any level he's going to be at.
28:18
Over the team that are likely going to be competing with up in
28:21
Milwaukee with the Brewers. I look at this staff all right,
28:25
you got Woodruff what we'll see what they get out of him this
28:27
season. Mizaroski came onto the scene
28:30
guns a blazing step back though from what he was priesters
28:34
outstanding. I really like Logan Henderson.
28:36
I think they're going to get something impactful out of him.
28:38
Still just 23 years old and got a glimpse of him last season.
28:42
How do the Brewers do this? How do they continually find
28:45
these high levels starting pitching and develop them so
28:47
well? I don't know, that's that's kind
28:50
of the secret sauce. But you know, I think that's
28:53
kind of the other thing too when it comes to the Dodgers.
28:55
Like everybody wants to, you know, RIP the Dodgers and
29:00
complain about all they're doing and all their spending.
29:02
But like, I think I'm Boston, the cause is like they draft and
29:08
develop guys have really high level and all of their signings
29:11
and you know, everybody else that you know about the trades
29:14
that they've made, they haven't ended up giving away some of
29:17
those top prospects. I think what's really impressive
29:20
about what the Brewers do is it's not like you know a lot of
29:24
these guys. Are you seeing our top 100
29:27
prospects or big name prospects? Obviously Mesorowski was one of
29:32
the best pitching prospects in all baseball.
29:35
So we've kind of the exception to it.
29:36
But they have managed to find talent and really capitalize on
29:42
it. And then they've done some
29:43
really good free agent findings over the last couple of years to
29:46
look at Colin Ray is actually away pitching for the Cubs.
29:49
You know, per the reason why Colin Ray ended up landing with
29:52
the Cubs is he pitched for Craig Council in Milwaukee and done
29:56
such a great job and reinvented himself.
29:59
So their ability to not only draft and develop town is great,
30:04
but identify kind of those diamond in the rough I think is
30:10
a big deal for them as well. We also take a look and you
30:14
mentioned the Dodgers. Is it just a foregone
30:17
conclusion? Again, what they do, their
30:19
ability to outspend everybody, their ability to just absolutely
30:22
stack this roster, You look through it again, it just it's
30:25
head scratching. Otani Betts, Tucker Freeman,
30:28
Will Smith, Max Muncie, T Oscar Hernandez.
30:31
I mean, that's the top seven of their batting order with the
30:33
staff of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasno, Otani, Suzaki and
30:38
Sheehan, who I think has certainly shown glimpses at
30:40
minimum that he's going to be impactful arm.
30:42
Their bullpen is ridiculous. It's just one thing after a
30:45
number, not very fun I think in general for baseball fans, but
30:49
if you're a Dodger fan, it's got to feel good.
30:51
Yeah, John Boningham, she's loving life right now.
30:54
But the thing to do is like, I'd look at it from the vantage
30:57
point that like, man, when baseball was so entertaining,
31:01
what was at some of its best, like the Yankees for the big
31:05
bad, you know, the evil empire and everybody loved playing
31:09
against them and everybody loved trying to beat them.
31:12
Now, I think there's a whole different level because what the
31:15
the Dodgers they're doing are so different.
31:18
What the Yankees did. You know, the Yankees would not
31:21
only go out and find some of the best out, but they would go out
31:23
and trade for some of them. Some of their best talent
31:26
actually came up through the minor leagues were talking about
31:28
Jeter Rivera, Posada, Bernie Williams and guys like that.
31:32
So it's obviously a different story.
31:35
But I think having that evil empire is always good for
31:38
baseball. But can they be beat?
31:41
Yeah, I think they can. They almost were by the Blue
31:44
Jays in the World Series and you know, is somebody out in the
31:48
National League going to be able to take him down?
31:50
I think that's going to be really tough to do.
31:52
But you know, it's like baseball is a funny game and you get some
31:56
injuries, you get some struggles, you get a hot team.
31:59
You know, when it comes down to a 5 or 7 game series, the best
32:02
team doesn't always win. So, you know, anything is
32:06
possible, but you know, when it comes out to it, money, money
32:11
does not assure you of winning a World Series, but definitely
32:15
puts you in a better position to win a World Series then.
32:18
And the Dodgers are in a fantastic position.
32:21
The best, best thing for the Dodgers, kind of like what you
32:25
had mentioned, is like they're at a point where if Shohei Otani
32:29
got hurt, Shohei Otani did not play in 2026.
32:35
How much does that realistically impact what their chances are to
32:39
win the World Series? They are still going to be the
32:41
best team at all baseball despite losing the best player
32:45
in all baseball if it ever came to that.
32:47
So that's how good they are. Good spot to be no doubt.
32:51
Tommy Birch joining us here as we take a look at the baseball
32:55
season upcoming upon us. Hey Birchy, want to jump over to
32:58
your other beat and that is the Iowa State women's basketball
33:01
team as they go through the course of the season.
33:04
It has been A5 game-winning streak now after losing 5 in a
33:07
row. Jackson's returning and has been
33:09
impactful. Want to start though maybe at
33:11
the top. Addie Brown boy listening to
33:13
Bill Friendly and I don't talk to him like you do obviously,
33:16
but feels would unlikely be the right term or return of Addie
33:21
Brown this season. If you would have asked me 24
33:25
hours ago, I would have said yes.
33:27
But I talked to him actually maybe or an hour or so ago and
33:31
Bill actually told me that Addie is starting to do some
33:34
basketball activities. She's, you know, at least
33:38
getting to the point where she's doing some things.
33:41
And I think his his quote was a hopeful.
33:43
He's not optimistic, but he is hopeful.
33:46
And though family is kind of a glass cop empty kind of guy.
33:49
So it kind of makes sense. But I think, you know, he even
33:52
said they aren't to the point where it is day-to-day with her,
33:56
but at least it is at least progressing to that point right
33:59
now. So I think I think there there's
34:02
much more of a glimmer of a hope that Addie Brown could be back
34:06
at some point this season. But, you know, right now I would
34:10
say it's going really well without her.
34:12
But if they got her back, man, what a giant boost that would
34:16
be. You know, Iowa State, you know,
34:19
with Addie Brown, I would say is a team that could be anyone in
34:22
the country without Addie Brown there.
34:25
As we saw during that five game losing straight, they're a team
34:28
that can lose to anybody in the nation.
34:30
But getting Ariana Jackson back was a big boost.
34:33
But Addie Brown certainly takes this team to a whole different
34:37
level. And I think like now you're what
34:40
your hope is like, OK, not only do you get Addie Brown back in
34:43
time for them to AA tournament, but you want to get her back
34:47
towards the end of the season where she can get into a rhythm,
34:51
kind of find her way back into things and probably help Iowa
34:56
State seedings Because you know, man, a lot of damage was done
35:00
when I was they went on that five game losing streak.
35:02
If I was, they would have lost three of those games.
35:05
How differently would this season look for Iowa State?
35:08
They would have been in the 20 win plateau by now.
35:12
You would have still been talking about Iowa State
35:15
possibly hosting the first two rounds and then AA tournament.
35:19
I think that ship is kind of sank at this point, but I do
35:24
think the Iowa State Cyclones are in the NCAA tournament at
35:27
this point, barring the absolutely anything crazy.
35:31
Top half of the bracket likely, but yeah, hosting is going to be
35:34
difficult. Probably most difficult because
35:36
outside of TCU, Big 12 is pretty down from what we're used to in
35:40
women's hoops. Yeah, I think at this point,
35:43
like what it would take for Iowa State to get back into hosting
35:47
is you would probably have to win out during the regular
35:50
season and then you would probably have to go to Kansas
35:52
City and win the Big 12 tournament.
35:54
I think that would be enough to to get you back into that
35:58
conversation. I think then also kind of a key
36:02
part of it too, that I think the NCAA Tournament selection
36:05
committee would evaluate too, is if Addie Brown does end up
36:09
coming back, think you can go back and look at that schedule
36:12
and say, look, this is who Iowa State is now.
36:15
That's not who Iowa State was then.
36:17
So there's definitely a path. I think there is really far
36:22
fetched and really difficult to to get to that path.
36:26
And you want to talk to Charlie Cream for me at the end, who is,
36:30
you know, probably the most prestigious women's basketball
36:34
bracketologist in the nation. And you know, he he seemed to
36:38
think it was pretty impossible for Iowa State to get there.
36:42
But I think that combination get Adi Brownback, you win the Big
36:46
12 tournament, you go undefeated that that could to do it.
36:49
That's But that is a monumental task to ask for Iowa State given
36:54
how the season has gone. Tommy Birch, four time sports
36:58
writer of the year here in the state of Iowa and a guest even
37:01
when Ken's gone on Miller and Condon.
37:03
Thank you, Birchie. Anything for you, Thanks for
37:06
having me. Davi Birch joining us here.
37:08
A little baseball and some Iowa State women's hoops put a cap on
37:11
things. On the other side, it is time
37:13
for my picks of the day. Good or bad and normally bad.
37:16
Presented by circus. Sports are coming away next.
37:18
We got an 8 pack of games already.
37:22
We'll see if we can find some more.
37:23
A big, big Monday in college basketball.
37:26
College hoops doing it right. Got your picks coming your way?
37:28
Next it's Miller and Condon. Trey kind of back with you one
37:36
final time today. It is my Picks of the Day
37:40
presented by Circa Sports. Download the Circa Sports Iowa
37:44
App along with their friends in Illinois and Missouri.
37:47
All right, we got a rapid fire through these things.
37:50
We got winning woman 1 slow down in college basketball.
37:54
I got 9 picks here for you. What do you call the troops
37:56
tonight? On the women's side, I got to
37:58
take Oklahoma and Jenny Baranchik.
38:00
They're getting 2 1/2 on the road at Vanderbilt.
38:03
Should be a good one there. All right, 8 picks in men's
38:05
hoops. We're going to kick things off
38:06
early tonight, 5:30 on FS1 Saint John's.
38:10
After that huge win on Monday, a Friday night against UConn.
38:14
Give me Xavier plus 15 1/2. Little let down factor here for
38:17
Saint John's. Going to grab the points tonight
38:19
with NC State. They're getting 6 1/2.
38:22
Going to lay it with the Bulldogs tonight.
38:23
Drake -2 1/2 at home against Valparaiso.
38:26
We'll lay the points as well. Steven F Austin and College of
38:30
Charleston, how about this one? Oregon getting 11 1/2.
38:34
Biddle is back against Indiana. Murray State going to lay the 4
38:38
1/2 against you and I in the late game tonight and Big
38:42
Monday. I can't bet against The
38:45
Jayhawks. They never lose on Big Monday at
38:47
home. It's never happened in the Bill
38:48
S era. We'll grab them on no money line
38:50
plus 116 picks of the day presented by Circa Sports.
38:55
That'll do it off the bench. Sean Lucas, come your way next
38:58
on 106.3 KX&O.