Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Cyclone talk with Eugene Rapay, Chris Andrews from Vegas on sports wagering & Ken's Derby Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Cyclone talk with Eugene Rapay, Chris Andrews from Vegas on sports wagering & Ken's Derby Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:07
Hi Miller and Condon, hour number two, it's the Iowa Sports
0:10
Radio Network flag shipped out of Des Moines sports Station one
0:13
O 6.3 KXNO Trent Condon, Ken Miller for the next hour, the
0:18
boys the afternoon off the bench, Sean and Lucas, they are
0:21
at Shields this afternoon doing their show from 2 until 5.
0:25
Eugene Rappain momentarily again, as we told you yesterday,
0:29
very few opportunities left if you'd like to participate in the
0:33
32nd annual East High Golf Outing.
0:36
Foursomes available only Friday morning.
0:39
That's a 732 time. The afternoon ones are all gone
0:43
and then on Saturday, the morning tee times, they're gone,
0:47
but they're still limited availability at 1:00, lunch,
0:52
round of golf, etcetera. At Copper Creek, it starts two
0:56
different tee times. Next Friday, again, the
0:58
afternoon is fill. You can play in the morning and
1:01
then once we get to Saturday, the morning tee times are gone.
1:04
There is still a couple of them left at 1:00.
1:08
More details how to register EHS golf.org message brought to us
1:12
by doctor Steven Fuller and East High graduate fullerdental.net.
1:17
Let's talk cyclones Eugene Repay joins us to pick his brain what
1:21
he saw last week. Eugene Trenton Ken at the spring
1:25
game I'm referring to Obviously we'll touch on basketball as
1:28
contract extension comes T JS way, but anxious to get your
1:31
thoughts on you know what you saw last week and listening to
1:35
some of the which is afterwards. I personally I was glad to see
1:39
the Moberly was mentioned. The fate feels like he's at
1:42
least maybe not closed the gap entirely on Flores for the
1:45
backup spot. But it was good to see a local
1:47
kid at least get mentioned. Connor Moberly.
1:50
What did you see when you watched the quarterbacks,
1:52
Eugene? Yeah, not only did he get
1:54
mentioned, I thought he actually performed pretty well in the
1:56
scrimmage portion. LED a couple of drives there,
1:58
one resulted in the field goal, made some few nice plays.
2:02
But just overall at the quarterback position, although
2:05
the depth chart is not final yet and there's still the summer and
2:08
the fall, it does look like Jalen Rayner is definitely the
2:11
leading candidate for QB one right now.
2:13
He was first in line for all the quarterback position drills and
2:16
then when it came time for the scrimmage portion, he was
2:19
running with the first team, leading the offense there and
2:22
Zane Flores too, He looks solid as well.
2:25
He led the only touchdown Dr. during the scrimmage portion,
2:28
threw a nice pass there to Cody Jackson.
2:30
He looks solid as well. I think overall the coaches are
2:33
are pleased to see that their death at quarterback back, which
2:36
is something that'll be nice to have.
2:38
So even if Rayner is QB one, in the event that something that
2:41
were to happen or if there's an injury, you kind of think back
2:44
to last year with Rocco Beck and while they had Alex Manske and
2:48
they had Moberly, it was one of those things where Rocco Beck,
2:52
that 60% with his two shoulder injuries, one on each side was
2:56
better than your backup. And now maybe here in the event
2:59
that Rayner is banged up, not saying that they're going to be
3:02
blind movers or circle ceiling pushers, but they'll be guys you
3:06
can hold the line and and hold their own and and be serviceable
3:09
at quarterback, whether they need to go to Zane Flores or
3:12
Conor Moberly. The guys that line up behind
3:14
them usually at the quarterback position, sometimes beside them,
3:17
the running back spot the depth, a couple of injuries there.
3:20
Some questions at this point. It sounded like after the
3:24
practice. I mean that's a big concern
3:26
going into the first year with this group in the Big 12 play is
3:28
just the lack of depth at running back.
3:31
How do you feel about the top end and and when you look at the
3:33
depth, how concerning is it? It's pretty concerning when you
3:37
look at it. They had Saladin Allah, who at
3:40
the spring showcase, he was actually off to the sideline
3:43
using a knee scooter and he had a cast on his lower right leg.
3:46
So not a great sign. So even though we don't know the
3:49
full extent of his injury or what is timetable for return is
3:52
the Oregon State transfer looks to be out for a while.
3:55
It did not look great. But that only opened the door
3:58
for more Aiden Flora, more Cam Petaway.
4:01
Those two guys figured to be in the mix.
4:04
And now you have Jaden Jackson, the red shirt freshman who
4:06
actually performed pretty well in the spring showcase for him.
4:10
He was someone who got to take advantage of Allah's being
4:14
injured and and just not having that void there running back and
4:17
he did the most with his reps But yeah, right now the only
4:20
have really those three guys. River Peppers is still working
4:23
to get back from his non contact injury last year.
4:26
So although that they're they look to play physical and they
4:29
look to rotate running backs, 3 guys is definitely not great.
4:33
And then hopefully for Iowa State, they don't have to worry
4:35
about any more injuries. But that is definitely a place
4:38
to be concerned about. Tell me about Cam Pettaway.
4:40
What did you see when you watch him?
4:42
Bowling Green transfer What? What did you like about him when
4:46
you when you watched him on in the Spring Showcase?
4:49
He looks a little shifty, he's a little crafty.
4:51
I think one thing that'll be great is him and Nathan Flora
4:54
when it comes to the kick return.
4:55
They're going to be a very dangerous 1-2 punch for Cam
4:58
Pettaway. He was also a standout All Mac
5:01
player as a returner. And then you have Aiden Flora,
5:03
who was the second team All Big 12 player also as a returner.
5:06
The value team, both of those guys up in the backfield are on
5:09
kick return and I think they're going to make a very nice duo
5:12
together. You wrote about special teams
5:16
yesterday at the Des Moines Register, desmoinesregister.com.
5:19
Eugene, Kyle Conradie, that's the constant.
5:22
You've watched him now the last couple of years.
5:24
Injuries derailed last season for a big portion of it.
5:27
But boy, getting in three months, four months, I guess
5:31
it's been since the last time you saw him.
5:33
Just the power of that leg and and some of the reports we were
5:36
seeing from Saturday. Incredible.
5:37
Fill us in a little bit on Conradie, that range that he is
5:40
continuing to add to and then the rest of the special teams.
5:45
It's just warming up and just doing his thing.
5:47
He hit back-to-back field goals from 65 yards out, which was
5:51
already just setting the tone. And he's already a fan favorite.
5:54
So when he sets lines up, gets ready to kick, everyone's
5:57
watching in the site, in the Cardinal and Gold.
6:00
Then for him, it just looks a lot more easier for him.
6:03
I'm sure part of it is experienced.
6:05
Definitely a lot of it has to do with confidence, but just for
6:08
Kyle Conradi, he just makes it looks effortless at times.
6:11
Even in the open practice that I think back to a few weeks ago
6:15
where we only got to see 40 minutes inside the the Bergstrom
6:18
complex when they were doing the the speed setups where they had
6:22
to get the whole field goal unit out in 8 seconds or less, get
6:26
lined up, snap the ball and kick as if it's like punch time
6:29
simulation. He was getting set and just
6:32
booming kicks through the uprights like it was no problem.
6:34
I think he's going to be a very big asset of course and special
6:37
teams, but this year he has a chance to really climb up the
6:40
the all time program charts and and just various categories as
6:44
well. I want to ask you about the old
6:46
line in its entirety because seemingly every year we keep
6:49
waiting for this. This group to take a step
6:51
forward, regardless of who the head coach is or the position
6:54
coach is, seemingly never quite live up.
6:56
Not that they've been brutal. They have a couple of years.
6:59
When you watch that group work together, what did you see?
7:03
I think it was interesting to see that they have a first team
7:06
that's kind of set. But one thing that did stick out
7:09
to me was that it definitely isn't as big as a couple of the
7:12
lines that we've seen in recent years.
7:14
I mean, just Tyler Miller alone, like you stand him up against a
7:17
lot of these other guys on the current team.
7:19
Big difference. And I think a guy like Kaden
7:21
Moth and and a guy like Braden Smith and there's just a couple
7:25
of D2 or FCS guys who are now vying for those first team
7:28
snaps. It's great and it's definitely a
7:31
credit to them, but it's also, you know, FCSD 2 and you stack
7:35
that up against a power conference or a Big 12 lineman.
7:38
There's definitely a size discrepancy there.
7:41
It's not saying that they can't do it, but for me, that was one
7:43
of the things that that first stood out.
7:45
I do think as well, you also have a guy like Jake Taylor, the
7:49
Oklahoma transfer, he'll be anchoring the blind side and
7:52
left tackle. So that's something cool to
7:54
watch. And of course, this is still a
7:56
team that's just a work in progress.
7:58
So it's still very early in the spring.
8:00
You can't really jump to too many conclusions, but so far
8:02
those are the things that have stood out to me.
8:04
You're getting to know this roster you're going through.
8:06
You've watched one practice. You got what opportunity to see
8:09
the squad better than you thought, worse than you thought.
8:12
Where were you after you walked away Saturday?
8:15
Just trying to understand and learn this football team after
8:18
you got a glimpse of them. What was your overall take away
8:21
of the team as a whole? Overall, I think mostly what I
8:25
was looking for was just kind of data points for who are we
8:28
looking at to take first team snaps?
8:30
Where are certain guys positioned on the depth yard?
8:32
Like for me for example, one thing that jumped out was at the
8:36
Arkansas transfer, Jaheim Singletary was actually behind
8:39
David Coffey and Seth Johnson of Montana transfer.
8:43
That was something that was surprising to me.
8:44
Or you have guys on the old line like Gavin Brochet and DeAndre
8:48
Carter. 2 powerful guys, one from Michigan State, one from
8:51
Auburn. They're running with the second
8:53
team. So I didn't want to jump to too
8:55
many conclusions as to regards to this team is it was just more
8:58
so of a where are certain guys lined up?
9:00
Who are some names that we should look out for keep an eye
9:03
on going into the the summer and fall and then when we get to the
9:06
fall or preseason, when they have more time to just get
9:10
acclimated to the system, then we can start evaluating and and
9:14
seeing. But just right now, it's just
9:15
more so like a getting to know everyone, getting to know some
9:18
key names and players all across the board.
9:21
Switching to basketball. TJ Otzelberger contract
9:24
extension seem like it's fair for all parties.
9:27
I like the fact that the buyout is only $4 million.
9:30
I think that puts pressure on the school to keep up with the
9:33
NIL and to, I don't know, I'm guessing there were promises
9:36
made as to what that NIL pool of money is going to look like.
9:40
TJ got paid as he should, seems to like it in AIMS, seems to
9:44
want to stay in AIMS, But at the same time, if maybe things don't
9:48
go well and he doesn't think that the program's headed the
9:51
way he believes it should, that $4 million buyout is not going
9:55
to scare any scare way any of the big schools, should they be
9:59
interested. I think it's a pretty fair
10:00
contract in a lot of ways. Yeah, I think everybody wins,
10:04
like you mentioned, and I think that one of the key things is
10:06
just kind of putting that pressure on and just maintaining
10:09
NIL, keeping the team competitive.
10:11
I think one thing that I have heard is that the relationship
10:13
with the new Iowa State president, Doctor David Cook,
10:17
Jimmy Pollard and TJ Altoberger just seem to all be in a great
10:20
place right now. Doctor Cook especially seems to
10:23
be very invested in athletics. He wants to invest best in
10:25
success. He wants to make sure that those
10:28
programs, that those teams have what they need in order to
10:30
compete at a high level. And now you look at Iowa State,
10:33
obviously the football teams in kind of like a rebuilding phase,
10:35
a lot of unknowns. But right now men's basketball
10:38
is kind of like the premier program.
10:39
And so to pay TJ Otzelberger, keep them happy, keep them their
10:43
names, but also to show that intent in order to invest in NIL
10:47
or invest in the success of the team, Those seem to be also huge
10:50
as well. So Doctor David Koki, the guy
10:52
who's been a key player, of course, just coming in, they're
10:55
expressing that interest in his first year going to Iowa State.
10:59
And then Jamie Pollard as well, just maintaining that that
11:02
trifecta between the president himself and and TJ Alta Burger.
11:06
A lot of crystal balls that are pointing the way that Davis, the
11:09
four-star forward, is going to make his commitment next week to
11:12
Iowa State. How deeply do you get involved
11:15
in the recruiting things and basketball?
11:16
Obviously they've done a really good job both in the transfer
11:19
portal and at the high school level of identifying some guys.
11:22
How much do you work, do you do when it comes to recruiting here
11:25
offseason? Basketball a lot, especially
11:28
also with basketball too, it's, it's just easier to keep track
11:30
of, you know, not as many guys as with football and things like
11:33
that. And it's just a lot more tight
11:35
knit, especially we look at a guy like Donovan Davis,
11:38
Milwaukee guy, we all know TJ loves that, that pipeline from
11:42
Wisconsin to Iowa State. So that's definitely going to be
11:45
key name to watch. And I also think that the timing
11:47
of the contract announcement as well, the extension, it was
11:50
announced the day he was supposed to come to Iowa State
11:53
and start off a weekend visit. So I'm sure that there was
11:56
probably some some chess moves with that as well.
11:59
But I think it's it'll be very interesting to watch next week
12:02
once he announces his decision. Was he the one that they put a
12:05
picture up on Twitter of yesterday wearing #22 Did you
12:09
see that, Eugene? I, I actually didn't pay
12:13
attention to the, the jersey he was wearing, but I saw that he
12:15
had a photo shoot. He was holding like the trophy.
12:17
He had the rings on. He took one with TJ.
12:19
So I that's it. That might have been.
12:21
Him and I think he was wearing 22 and that number was taken.
12:24
So what does that mean? Montchilovich, who's been
12:27
recruited already, been invited rather to the NBA scouting
12:30
combine. Him and Jefferson are both going
12:32
to be there. Seems like maybe some finality
12:35
there maybe? Maybe, Yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll,
12:39
we'll see. I know that Milamont Chilvich
12:40
also kind of announces intent to enter the transfer portal if he
12:44
chooses to go that route. I know his main focus will be on
12:47
going pro. So it does look like 22 will be
12:50
vacant. Eugene I, I got a off the wall
12:53
question for you here as you are Northeast guy coming here to the
12:58
state of Iowa. There's been a lot of news along
13:00
the wrestling program. So being in the state of Iowa
13:03
now for the last couple of years, have you made your way to
13:05
a wrestling meet? Have you seen any Cyclone Iowa
13:08
State stuff, anything like that? Because wrestling, as you have
13:10
learned, I'm sure is a big part of the Iowa culture.
13:14
Has wrestling seeped into the Northeast boy?
13:16
Eugene Repay. It's actually, it was already
13:19
steeping them before it came here.
13:21
It's funny, I actually covered high school wrestling, so I got
13:24
to see you guys like PJ Duke and Johnny Diaca Mahalis and Cam
13:28
catch your bone as well. So I do know some of the guys,
13:30
but for me, I think it was in 2021 or 2020, I was completely
13:36
new to the sport, didn't really know much.
13:38
But after one or two years, just around the beat and around the
13:42
wrestling community, I love the fraternity aspect of it.
13:45
I think it's definitely different from other sports and
13:48
that coaches and wrestlers, it just seems like everyone in the
13:51
wrestling community just loves the sport so much, but they just
13:54
kind of like welcome anybody into it.
13:56
And as a result, I became a wrestling, a little bit of a
13:58
wrestling junkie myself. But now I'm here in Iowa where
14:01
it's like, you know, you, you breathe it, you, you bleed it.
14:04
And so now it's like really cool to be here.
14:07
I do. I have gone to a couple of meets
14:10
just as a fan. I've watched like the the Cyhawk
14:12
duel as well. But I know Eli McCown is, is our
14:16
main guy at the Des Moines Register.
14:18
But since moving here, it's like, all right, you know, I got
14:20
to cover some high school wrestling, got to see some guys.
14:23
But now I am and basically the the Mecca of wrestling in the
14:27
state where they're so crazy about it.
14:29
So I've tried to immerse myself a little bit when we've had time
14:32
during basketball season or or just even football as well.
14:35
Good stuff Eugene, appreciate you coming on as always.
14:38
What lies ahead this week as far as you what we going to be
14:41
covering, what we look forward to at desmoinesregister.com.
14:45
Just looking at some stuff, hopefully on the recruiting
14:47
front, but looking to track down some of these portal commits as
14:50
well and just kind of hear their story about how they chose Iowa
14:54
State and what their deal is. But of course, you know, we'll
14:56
be, we'll be keeping them a move on with football and basketball,
14:59
offseason recruiting stuff and whatever may come.
15:02
Good stuff, Eugene, Thank you very much for doing this.
15:04
We'll reach out next Friday. Appreciate, Eugene.
15:06
Have a good weekend. Same to you guys.
15:08
Thank you so much. Yeah, good to talk to you,
15:10
Eugene Repay from the Des Moines Register.
15:12
So I I just opened up the DraftKings app.
15:16
I went to college football. Have you seen the odds for the
15:18
Big 12 for football? I have.
15:20
I looked at it earlier this week after the big news of Brendan
15:24
Sorsby. No, that's right, because we
15:25
were wondering about Texas Tech, who's still the favorite.
15:28
They're even money to win. And then I started looking for
15:33
IO State and looking and looking and.
15:35
You're going to look for a while.
15:37
They have the 15th longest odds of 16 teams in the conference.
15:42
Only Colorado has worse odds than Iowa State.
15:47
Iowa State's 100 to 1 to win the Big 12.
15:49
Colorado's 200 to 1. Central Florida and West
15:53
Virginia both 80 to one. What are they saying here?
15:56
They, they, they just, I mean, I get it on one hand, they have no
15:59
idea, as do I. Yes, exactly.
16:04
But 100 to 1. I think it says just that you
16:07
don't have a clue. And in this conference, crazy
16:12
things happened. This is a very even conference.
16:15
Texas Tech, Arizona. State come from year two years
16:18
ago they were absolutely picked last.
16:19
Yes, I'm not saying Iowa State's kind of.
16:21
Preview BYU got to the conference championship game a
16:23
year ago. What were they to start the?
16:25
Year when Bear when bear backfire became the guy after
16:29
the kid was got caught having sex.
16:32
Got caught having sex, Yes. Yeah.
16:34
That's the Otter code. In in college.
16:38
Oh boy, a lot of suspensions. He moves on to too late.
16:43
Here comes Berbachmeier. He's wearing 47.
16:45
And and played incredibly well. But they had to be 25.
16:50
Well, they were shorter than then the news and I'm guessing
16:53
just yeah. That's what I mean.
16:55
Just raced upwards, yeah. I'm not saying Iowa State's
16:58
going. To make the conference champion?
16:59
No. But could this be the year where
17:03
suddenly, well, Hammond's not ready and they got to go with
17:07
that kid from Tulsa, He's not very good.
17:10
And we get four teams, a tie at six and three in the conference.
17:16
There's crazier things that have happened.
17:18
We will have news coming up, though, with Iowa State is
17:20
Eugene. You can tell he's looking.
17:21
Yeah, he's looking for that content.
17:23
And that's what the offseason is all about, starting here in a
17:25
couple of weeks. The tailgate tour will get
17:28
started, starts May 18th, it'll be in Des Moines.
17:31
From there, they go to Dubuque, Waterloo, Fort Dodge, Sioux
17:34
City, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Clear Lake, Okoboji and Council
17:38
Bluffs from the different spots that they're going to be.
17:41
So we'll get some content out of that and we're thankful for.
17:45
That. No, Absolutely.
17:46
I wonder what attendance will be like this year.
17:49
Good question. I wonder if season tickets will
17:52
be down for? Football, you would think they
17:54
have to. Be I would think yes, yes,
17:57
absolutely and they won't it won't be obviously in in college
18:00
hoops despite all that talent moving on.
18:03
He just he reloads. He doesn't, absolutely, but the
18:06
football program, the fact you don't know anybody on this
18:09
roster. Really, it's not guys that Oh
18:13
yeah, I he was my guy as a recruit.
18:15
He was my neighbor. He.
18:16
Got that part too. Now they got a couple of.
18:18
He went to school with my son A. Couple of local guys that are
18:21
coming back. Yeah, but the kicker from
18:24
Washington State, who is a Van Meter kid, OK, that that's one
18:28
of them. Now we know it's going to be
18:29
Conrari there, but Loudsbury I think is his name.
18:32
So there are a few, but it's just you're right, it's not the
18:34
same. And they had one guy drafted.
18:36
Orange was the only drafted player.
18:38
Yep. And what three other guys that
18:40
had. Invites opportunities.
18:42
Yes, free agency opportunities that happened also kind of kick.
18:47
So you remember Carson Rhodes last year when he was the
18:50
emergency kicker and had to use him?
18:52
I didn't even realize Eugene had that in his article that he
18:56
retired, he medically retired from football and that guy
18:59
talked about going out with some gusting, helping out up front
19:02
and we're going to do a little kicking on top.
19:04
Of it College football, yes. Good for him.
19:07
I also has a story with that Tegan Davis has medically
19:10
retired. Just too many injuries.
19:12
I think he got her track his senior year of high school,
19:15
still got a scholarship opportunity and just hasn't been
19:18
able to get back healthy. What about Brevan doll?
19:20
What's the latest there? Your buddies?
19:21
Your buddies son. I have not reported this because
19:25
his dad hasn't told me officially, but Leistekow had
19:29
that he broke his collarbone again in practice.
19:31
He is the I know you start to wonder.
19:33
There one after another after another.
19:37
They love his speed. Everybody loves his speed.
19:40
It's all about the health. I know some of the weight
19:44
lifting records and year and year he's dominant in that part.
19:48
Just got to stay healthy because he's got real speed, great
19:51
vision. He can be a playmaker for this
19:54
Iowa team. But you also look, there's been
19:56
a lot of buzz about Braden Jackson, Fred Jackson's son, the
19:59
lock on for making a Centennial and that he is pushing his way
20:02
up there. He got 4 you feel confident with
20:04
and then when you get that deeped out in there positions.
20:08
Well, I thought Dahl was going to be special teams, like
20:10
returning kicks. Return, and he worked a lot of
20:12
that before the injury. He was, he was doing that.
20:14
I think kick return would probably be the more likely of
20:16
the two. I think Lotberg's going to be
20:18
back there for punts, I think, But hopefully it doesn't go back
20:22
to the days of we're going to put Micah Hyde back there.
20:24
Oh yeah, we saw Micah Hyde and just Fair Catch every time.
20:28
Hopefully Kirk has evolved, and yes, we've seen that the last
20:30
decade. He has evolved past that.
20:33
I'm Miller Condon, welcome back. Iowa Sports Radio Network with
20:36
you until just the top of the hour.
20:38
Trends, plays of the day coming up, Circus sports sponsor.
20:41
Those about 10 minutes or so before 2:00.
20:44
I'll give you my Derby plays as well.
20:46
Going to get Chris Andrews Derby pick in here as we head to the
20:49
South Point S strip. It's such a great spot.
20:52
Trent and I are huge, huge fans of your property.
20:54
Chris Andrews, good to talk to Trent and Ken in Des Moines.
20:57
How are you? I'm doing great good talking to
21:00
you guys so. Kind of is it the calm before
21:03
the storm with the NHL and the NBA?
21:05
Obviously the schedule's going to come out in for the NFL here
21:08
in a couple of weeks. College football, I know you put
21:11
out your games of the year. Is this kind of a slower time
21:14
for you, Chris, or is that still to come?
21:17
No, it's been slow the last probably couple weeks, I guess.
21:21
But you know, right now, you know, we got a couple games,
21:24
sixes tonight in both hockey and basketball.
21:28
You know, we got the Oaks tonight, we got the Derby
21:30
tomorrow. You know, there's a good buzz in
21:33
this town with I think a lot of guys are, you know, they're
21:38
always optimistic about the Raiders, but I think this year
21:40
they actually have a reason to be optimistic because I think
21:43
they made some really good moves.
21:44
I do too in the offseason. Yeah, I listen, I I grew up in
21:49
Pittsburgh. I am not a Raider fan in the
21:51
least, but I got to tell you, I think they're going to be better
21:54
than people think this year. I think you're going to be OK.
21:56
You. Mentioned the game sixes coming
21:58
up in hockey and potentially 3 game sevens that are on Sunday
22:02
and how great that would be. You grew up in Pittsburgh, but
22:05
seeing the way that Vegas has embraced hockey, you've been put
22:08
the lines up for a long time and I'm sure there's going to be
22:10
different regular season matchups in the past where you
22:13
maybe had dozens of dollars out there inside the not the case
22:17
anymore. How surprised have you been, or
22:19
surprised at all have you been, that Vegas has just embraced
22:22
hockey the way that they have? Well, you know, going back to
22:25
the first year of the night, they did such a great job in two
22:29
aspects. First of all, they marketed the
22:31
team tremendously. I mean, I think any general
22:36
manager, president of any organization should take note of
22:40
exactly what they did because they really did a terrific job.
22:43
And of course, they won. I mean, they got all the way to
22:45
the Stanley Cup Finals, you know?
22:47
So there was a lot of reason for that optimism.
22:50
Now, I used to laugh. I mean, if I had games, and I've
22:52
been doing this for a long time, obviously if I needed a hockey
22:55
game for like 2 or 3000, that was like a fortune, you know.
22:59
But once the, once the Knights came in, that's a whole new ball
23:03
game. I mean, it was like we might
23:04
need a Tuesday night game for like 30,000 or something, you
23:07
know what I mean? You just never knew it.
23:09
I mean, that was like something that, yeah, I did a lot of my
23:12
booking in Reno. Again, not not nearly as big a
23:15
market as Vegas, but again, they had no hockey, you know.
23:19
But as much as I loved it, it just didn't catch on with the
23:22
public as nearly as much as I would have liked to.
23:25
But since then, it's been, it's been terrific here in town.
23:28
And, you know, here in Las Vegas, we got a lot of people
23:31
from, you know, like the northern corridor from whether
23:34
it's, you know, Chicago or Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, you
23:39
know, and they're, you know, the hockey is really, you know,
23:41
ingrained into a part of their culture.
23:44
You know, growing up in Pittsburgh as as you did and
23:46
going back to the 70s, obviously the success the Steelers had.
23:51
Pittsburgh was an expansion team, one I think 68 or 69.
23:54
The Penguins came to town. Obviously Stargell had his run
23:58
in the We Are Family group, but were you still there or had you
24:02
gone W young man to try and make your fortune by that point?
24:05
Chris? I left the Pittsburgh in 79.
24:09
So the Steelers had won well, three Super Bowls and then on
24:14
the 4th in in LA when I and I went to the game and but I had
24:19
moved already by then because that was the January of 80, you
24:23
know. But the the Pirates are coming
24:25
off that We are family championship in 79.
24:28
The Penguins. I love the Penguins, but they
24:30
really weren't very good. So Lemieux arrived on the scene
24:34
even though I went to, oh, God, why?
24:36
They played 41 games. I probably went to like 30 games
24:40
a year or something like that. I went to a whole bunch of them,
24:42
you know, But you know, but then since then, once, you know,
24:47
Lemieux arrived on the scene, you know, it's funny how many
24:50
Pittsburgh hockey fans there were all of a sudden, you know,
24:54
who hadn't paid that much attention to it over the years.
24:57
But, you know, I mean, I love the sport.
24:59
I love the game and and I love the Penguin.
25:02
Speaking of your hometown, what was it like seeing nearly
25:06
400,000 people allegedly hanging out around the stadium there for
25:10
the NFL draft last weekend? And do you have a little FOMO?
25:12
Wish you were back there. Wish you were back home for the
25:14
draft? Well, let me answer your second
25:17
question first. No, I want to be just sit around
25:23
and stand around and for hours to hear one name called that I
25:27
probably wouldn't even recognize, you know.
25:29
But you know, and I talked to a lot of my friends, they they
25:33
hated it, you know, they, you know, they, they couldn't go to
25:36
like the restaurants downtown and things like that.
25:39
But it didn't have that big of an effect outside of the
25:42
downtown area. But yeah, there was traffic and
25:45
all that other stuff. I mean, I think it's great for
25:47
the city. I really do.
25:48
It's great for the city. But yeah, you got to remember,
25:51
like I said, I'm 70 years old. I talked to all my 70 year old
25:54
friends. They weren't crazy on it that,
25:56
you know, that's human nature. One more on when you grew up and
26:00
then we want to talk football. I do want to get your Derby pick
26:03
to see if we're on the same page is Promonti Brothers, and I hope
26:07
I'm saying it right. Every time there's a piece on
26:09
Pittsburgh, there's there's the sandwich shop is so famous.
26:13
It's like going to Indianapolis and going to Saint Elmo's and
26:16
trying the cocktail sauce there. But Promonti Brothers sandwiches
26:19
in Pittsburgh, are they as good as advertised?
26:22
Yeah, we pronounce it Primanti Brothers.
26:24
Primanti, OK. Primanti Brothers.
26:28
Yeah. I mean, I I've been going there
26:30
since I was a kid. Now, you got to remember when I
26:32
was start talking 50 years ago and they only had the one
26:36
location. Now they're all over western
26:38
Pennsylvania. So you go to go down and, you
26:41
know, I hope, I hope you don't have to edit this out, But, you
26:44
know, you'd go after the bars closed and, yeah, they were open
26:48
all night. And you go, I mean, it was a
26:49
bunch of hookers and things like that were hanging out in there.
26:53
So, you know, and I can remember.
26:55
And this, this, this will tell you how long ago it was.
26:58
We'd go, we ordered a sandwich and they didn't serve booze.
27:01
So you got sandwich and a Coca-Cola and the guy would come
27:07
by and you know that big honkin sandwich, sandwich and a Coke,
27:11
all right, $2.00. And we'd say it's not $2.00,
27:13
it's only like $1.80. I know it includes gratuity, 2
27:17
dollars, $2.00. And so that's how long ago was a
27:21
sandwich and a Coke was 2 bucks. It was that 2 bucks when I was
27:25
there and this was almost 20 years ago when I was in
27:28
Pittsburgh and had that sandwich but I had to get out no
27:31
coleslaw. I do not do coleslaw, so I had.
27:33
To you're missing. I know I just, I couldn't do it.
27:36
So mine was a little bit more plain, but still delicious.
27:38
And anytime you can get pastrami involved, it's definitely a good
27:41
sandwich. Chris, I want to talk some
27:43
college football with you. And I think we first started
27:46
talking, I think it was like 2009, 2010, something in that
27:49
range. Because at the time you had a
27:51
website and you had a bunch of projections for college football
27:55
that are much more prominent today than they were back then.
27:59
Odds for conferences over under, win totals, conference win
28:02
totals, all kinds of things out like that.
28:05
And you become famous once again at the South Point for coming
28:08
out with games of the year. Where are you in that structure,
28:11
coming up with not just the half dozen that you can find in some
28:14
different spots, but coming up with that big volume of college
28:16
football games of the year that we'll get this summer at the
28:19
South Point? Well, we used to do about 100
28:22
games a year. Last year we come down to 75.
28:24
That seemed to work a little bit better.
28:27
I'll probably do about the same this year.
28:30
But you know, to be honest with you, I'm nowhere near ready.
28:33
I mean, you know, I'm just catching up on the transfer
28:36
portal and I guess it's closed now and you know, but I'm sure
28:39
there might be some movement, some things that may happen in
28:43
late August or September, you know, if it's not transfers or,
28:47
you know, injuries, you know, and all that sort of thing.
28:50
And you know, guys getting suspended and all that, you
28:53
know, so I'm really I'm nowhere near as far along in the process
28:57
as I used to be. I used to follow the recruiting
29:01
to me was a big, big key because, you know, and I'd go
29:04
like on a four year running average, moving average, you
29:07
know, because teams you kind of knew like who they were and what
29:12
kind of recruiting they were going to get, what kind of
29:13
athletes they would have. But you kind of turn that all
29:16
out the window now, you know, I mean, the transfers are way more
29:20
important than the recruiting, you know, So I am nowhere near
29:25
as far along in the process as I used to be.
29:27
And, you know, the game, games change all the time.
29:30
You know, you have to adapt with it.
29:32
And you know, I'm, I'm adapting, you know, but I'm not.
29:36
Yeah, I'm not there yet, Trent, to be honest with you.
29:40
I think sad news from late last week with the Super book being
29:43
purchased by or being taken over rather by Caesar's one more
29:47
independent operator. I think the Michael gone.
29:51
You guys think South Point is in good shape.
29:53
Obviously Derek Stevens, don't think he's going anywhere.
29:55
I hope not anyways, but but not good news for the better I don't
30:00
think. No.
30:02
And you know, I know you guys have an affiliation with Derek
30:05
and you know, I knew Derek before he owned the Circa,
30:08
before he owned anything in this town.
30:10
It was a customer of mine. I mean, these, he's a good guy
30:14
and now he runs a really good store and I think he's really
30:17
made a huge, huge impact in this market.
30:21
But if you go back like 30-40 years, you know, the Westgate
30:24
had done that and they were helping at the time, you know,
30:27
and just, you know, things changed.
30:29
You know, the world changes, not just our business, but
30:32
everything changes all the time. And those guys at the Westgate,
30:35
they're my good friends, you know, and I kind of knew, must
30:41
have dropped too much knowledge here.
30:43
But, you know, I kind of knew, like, about a month ago, one of
30:46
my friends over there says, boy, I'm getting the feeling they may
30:48
not renew my contract come July. I said, well, geez, you know,
30:54
good luck. You know, I mean, I don't have
30:55
anything over here. I mean, it's really a sharp
30:57
bookmaker. I would love to add them, but I
30:59
just didn't have any. So, well, you know, kind of keep
31:02
me posted. And then the day before it got
31:04
announced publicly, he called me to tell me.
31:06
He says, yeah, it looks like, you know, we're going to go with
31:09
William Hill. They're going to close this book
31:12
here. I mean, that's that's what I
31:14
say. It's hard for me to believe, you
31:16
know, from from where they were to or where they are.
31:19
But they, you know, that was, you know, my, my wife, you know,
31:24
she likes to play. She has one account in town at
31:26
the Westgate that we'll just put it, you know, they'll have
31:29
everything you need. You know, this is before Circuit
31:31
came along, you know, so I don't know if we're, you're going to
31:34
have to switch your account now over to Circle or what.
31:36
But, you know, it's, you know, they ran a hell of an operation
31:40
and I was really, really saddened to see what, what took
31:43
place there. Yeah.
31:44
Jade had done a great job with that book for a long time and
31:47
John Murray taken over who I've the few interactions I've had
31:50
with him have been excellent. Definitely sad news for I think
31:53
all of us. Well, you mentioned you always
31:55
got to be willing to adapt and change.
31:57
And one of the biggest things happening right now is these
31:59
markets, the Poly markets of the world and that we've heard many
32:03
perspectives on this. But I have a feeling, I know
32:06
where you're probably going to lean when you're talking about
32:08
these markets that it's peer-to-peer is what they say.
32:12
But boy, there seems like a lot of manipulation in those kind of
32:14
markets. Well, at this point, it's kind
32:18
of the Wild West with those guys.
32:20
And it's funny, guys have had, I said, I guess at this point in
32:23
time, I'm kind of agnostic on it.
32:25
You know, I don't know where I fall.
32:27
I do think they need to be regulated.
32:29
They need to be taxed. And it always, it always made me
32:33
mad, you know, going back years ago when DraftKings and, you
32:38
know, what's the other one? Vandal.
32:40
Vandal Oh, it's not gambling. This is not gambling.
32:44
Oh yeah, I. Mean, you know, I don't want, I
32:46
don't want to use the word that I can use, you know, but we know
32:49
it's all bull. I mean, it was just a lot.
32:52
And then this Polymark is really following the same model.
32:55
You know, we know it's a load of crap and you can just keep
32:58
telling us that. And what would I I think a lot
33:02
of people have trouble understanding and if it is
33:05
peer-to-peer, if that is really the case now, of course we had
33:09
that one. It was, they're kind of looking
33:11
back on it now. When the guy made 240,000, when
33:15
Maduro got picked up in Venezuela and I said, OK, made
33:19
240,000, where'd that come from? Where'd that come from?
33:23
Maybe not one guy, but a group of guys lost 240,000.
33:27
It's a, it's a 0 sum game. It's a 0 sum game.
33:31
It's not like investing in the stock market.
33:32
If you bought Apple stock and you bought it, you know, I don't
33:35
even know what it is right now, but let's say you bought it at
33:37
50 and went to 200. Now that's great.
33:40
You made money that the company made money, you know, etcetera,
33:42
etcetera. Nobody lost that money, you
33:45
know. But in, in, in this racket, you
33:48
know, we, we, you know, as a company, we win what our
33:51
customers lose, you know, and that's, you know, that's the
33:55
bare bones of this, you know, and when you make a bet like
33:58
that, if it is peer-to-peer guy wants 240,000, well, somebody
34:01
lost 240,000. Maybe it's an accumulation of
34:04
people, but that that's where that money came from.
34:07
No question about. It so I don't know I think, like
34:09
I said, I think there needs to be some changes.
34:13
You know if they're going to be in this business, they have to
34:15
follow the same rules as the rest of it, but as you know, the
34:22
market will take care of itself at some point.
34:25
You know I always say they right now you got a lot of like you
34:28
know like the fandles will be man, I'm going to knock some of
34:30
these guys That's too bad. You know William Hills vandal
34:34
drafting. You know they wind up
34:35
restricting these guys restrict. You know if you know what you're
34:37
doing, they don't want you around.
34:39
Well, markets, you know, voids tend to be filled.
34:44
And if there's a void in the market, it will be filled.
34:46
Now may be filled by Gauchi and some of these Poly markets and
34:50
things like that, or may get filled in the, you know, the
34:52
Caribbean, you know, but it will get filled.
34:55
Maybe not overnight, maybe not in a year, but over time that
34:59
market will establish itself. The void will be filled.
35:04
I know that South Point really caters to us horse players out
35:08
there and we're grateful for that and I know you like the
35:11
dabble as well. Who's your Derby pick?
35:13
Chris Andrews. Well, I'll tell you, I saw him
35:17
run and I I ran out and bet him right away after I saw him win
35:24
the Louisiana Derby. That's emerging more.
35:27
Oh, yeah. That's, you know, I, I ran, I
35:29
took 25 to one on real quick, you know.
35:32
Yeah. And, you know, and there were
35:35
three, there were three of us all, you know, all us kind of
35:39
guys, you know, horse guys, you know.
35:41
So we went over and they only let us bet, you know, $300.
35:45
Well, yeah, so we each took $100, you know.
35:48
So I just want to bet a little. I'm going to bet more on this
35:51
horse tomorrow, I can tell you that.
35:53
Yeah, I'm looking to make a score with this guy.
35:55
I mean, I listen, it's a wide open race is every Derby because
35:59
I mean, these forces are all so untested.
36:02
But I really like this one. I like the fact that Slavery and
36:06
Pratt decided not to run on commandment, who probably has
36:09
been credentials theoretically in an emerging market, but he's
36:13
stuck with emerging market. And I mean, listen, slavery and
36:17
Pratt, I mean, he's either the best or second best or third
36:21
best rider in the in the world right now.
36:24
He probably knows horses better than I do.
36:26
And it's a Chad Brown horse and you know, I love the whole all
36:29
their connections, you know, so I mean, I'm sticking with him.
36:32
I'll have some exact as I have some other horses I like in the
36:36
race, but you know, that's that's that's my horse.
36:39
I'm going with him and I'm hoping to make a nice little
36:41
square with him. Now, if you do, I do because I'm
36:43
with you 100%. When he broke his maiden, I went
36:46
to my stable mail. I put wow, I hope it's not too
36:48
late for this horse to get to the Derby.
36:51
And there he is. And you're right about Pratt.
36:53
I think it's Pratt and I rat Ortiz, and then there's a gap to
36:55
everybody else and there's. Some I got.
36:57
No, I'm going to. I'm going to say one more.
36:59
Jose Ortiz. You like Jose?
37:01
Jose is great. Yeah.
37:03
He's not as good as I rat, but you know, he's pretty darn good.
37:06
Don't. Worry he is.
37:07
Hey, enjoy, enjoy tomorrow, Kristen.
37:10
Thanks for doing this for Trent that I appreciate when you come
37:12
on with this and pick your brain, your fountain of
37:15
knowledge on bookmaking going back into the 70s in the state
37:18
of Nevada. Thank you, Chris, and it's great
37:19
to talk to you. Great talking to you.
37:21
I love talking to you guys anytime you need.
37:23
Me. Thank you, Chris.
37:24
See Bud good to talk to you. Chris Andrews from the South
37:26
Point is we check in with one of our I think it's two properties
37:30
for me. It's Circa and it's South Point.
37:33
Yeah, I'm going to stay at Circa when we're in downtown in
37:35
August, but I've already carved out Wednesday.
37:38
I'm going to be at the South Point playing playing horses and
37:40
eating dollar 50 hot dogs. It's from the hot.
37:42
Dog cart. I mean, you want to go back to
37:44
that throwback feeling, yes, of Vegas, that is the.
37:47
South and prices too, yes. Absolutely.
37:51
If you're out of budget and I know dollar, get a little
37:54
tighter. March Madness, Super Bowl, it's
37:56
price. Vegas is priced.
37:58
It's the way out of a lot of people not at the South Point.
38:01
You can still get breakfast for steak and eggs for like 699.
38:04
I think it's 599599-I overshot it.
38:07
Well it's a buck with a tip like the Monty brothers.
38:09
They charge 2 bucks when it's $1.85.
38:11
I've done that a time or two. I haven't got a bed yet but hit
38:15
up that special. Yeah, in that cafe that you have
38:18
to walk by to get to the room. So that's the elevators.
38:21
Big fans of South Point and Chris Andrews.
38:23
So Mike Palm couldn't join us today, so I thought, you know
38:25
what? Let's get our other buddy.
38:27
Good to hear from him and he's on emerging market as I am
38:31
emerging market. He's down to 11 to one, but
38:34
Chris hasn't locked in at 25 to one in the futures book.
38:37
So good for him. Nice price.
38:38
Take your time out, come back Trench plays of the day, Circa
38:42
Sports sponsor those Miller and Condon.
38:44
Our final segment of the week is next on the Iowa Sports Radio
38:47
Network. I'm Miller and Condon, Welcome
38:49
back. Final segment of our week, but
38:54
coming up at 2:00, Lucas and Sean, they are at Scheels Jordan
38:59
Creek Mall. They'll be doing their show
39:01
today from 2:00 until 5:00. Overtime.
39:04
I were from 5:00 until 6:00. Circus Sports sponsors Trent's
39:08
plays of the day. How was your day yesterday?
39:11
I don't think it went well 'cause you picked every
39:13
Minnesota team to get beat. They swept the board.
39:16
I went four and four. Again.
39:19
Five and five, four and 4-5 and five, four and four.
39:21
That's amazing. Every single day this week I got
39:25
9 picks. And with the juice, you were
39:27
still kind of holding your head above.
39:29
Water yesterday we lost .1 units.
39:31
So did that. Are you now back to even on the
39:33
week? Point 3.3, I think so it's it's
39:37
right down the middle. All right, games tonight.
39:39
Give me the magic and the points.
39:40
Give me the lightning. Want the Giants on the money
39:43
line plus 1/29 and the Rockets. I'll lay it there.
39:46
Luke Canard over 1 1/2 three pointers.
39:49
It's plus 162. Love that Simeon Woods
39:52
Richardson under 3 1/2 strikeouts during over 9 1/2
39:56
rebounds and Thompson over 8 1/2 points tonight plus the over in
40:00
the Brewers and Nationals. But.
40:02
Nobody wants to hear me hopefully go 500 again.
40:05
Yeah, they want to hear your Derby picks.
40:07
What do you got? I'm gonna bet draw emerging
40:09
market just like Chris I I love, I really like this horse.
40:12
Of what number? What horse number is he?
40:13
15 the 15 and. He's 11.
40:16
Let. Me get out my notebook here.
40:17
Alright, the. Presently, yeah.
40:19
Yeah, he's he's 11 to one. He's trained by Chad Brown.
40:22
I think Chad Brown can win the Derby and I think he can win the
40:25
Oaks today as he's got a horse in the Oaks and that race is 730
40:29
on NBC tonight. He's got the 9 horse, always a
40:32
runner. The Oaks obviously is for
40:34
Phillies. The Derby is mean.
40:36
There have been Phillies that have run in the race.
40:38
In fact, three of them have won this race, but the girls usually
40:43
stick with the girls, always a runner trained by Chad Brown and
40:46
emerging Market trained by Chad Brown.
40:48
So those are my picks in the Oaks and in the Derby.
40:51
I am going to include that that Japanese runner, Dan and
40:54
Bourbon, He's the seven horse. He might be a good price.
40:59
And there's a real bomber that I'm looking at by the name of
41:01
Golden Tempo, number 19. And he'll be he'll be north of
41:05
30 to 1. So you're looking for a price?
41:08
Throw him in a box. I'm going to put him.
41:10
Yeah, I'm going to. If he finishes first or second,
41:13
I will win. Likewise, if Emerging Market
41:16
finishes first or second. Same with Danny Bourbon.
41:18
I I bet this race differently than I ever do because is there
41:22
so much money in the pools? Further ado.
41:25
He's the I think he's going to be the favorite in the race.
41:28
We'll see. There's my.
41:29
If Taylor Swift becomes official our public that she owns the
41:33
Puma, they will be the. Favorite like we're seeing with
41:36
Portnoy Sports today. Lovely Gray in the Oaks.
41:39
Have a lovely weekend everybody. We appreciate you being here.
41:43
Off the benches next, where Miller and Condon, Trent and I
41:45
talk sports with you Monday through Friday from noon until 2
41:49
on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.