Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / David Kaplan talk Bears, Wade Lookingbill on Iowa Hoops & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

David Kaplan talk Bears, Wade Lookingbill on Iowa Hoops & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:00
  I'm Miller Condon, welcome back. It's our number two of our radio
• 0:03
  program. We've got an hour to go.
• 0:04
  Trench plays of the day still to come, Circus sports sponsor
• 0:07
  those. It's off on the right foot in
• 0:09
  the Bulls season. We'll get into those coming up
• 0:11
  here in about 10 minutes before 2A.
• 0:13
  Wade looking Bill, former Hawk at the bottom of the hour.
• 0:16
  Look ahead to the Big 10 Conference play with Wade to
• 0:19
  look back to what we've seen so far when it comes to the Hawks.
• 0:21
  We'll do that at 1:30. Let's get to Chicago.
• 0:24
  He's David Kaplan, ESPN 1000 recap on the YouTube channel and
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  his YouTube, and he joins us. Captain Ken, thanks for coming
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  on, buddy. How are you?
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  I am awesome, how are you guys doing?
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  Doing pretty well. I'm enjoying the back and forth
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  with you and the guys in Milwaukee over this Packers and
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  Bear stuff. It's quite a quite a back and
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  forth cap and it's good that you know that you guys as a Bears
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  fans, as Bears media people have some ammo in this fight for a
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  for the first time in a while. How about that?
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  Yeah, we look, we've got a really good team.
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  Now, does that mean we're going to win on Saturday?
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  It does not. But I am enjoying that little
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  brother up there in Wisconsin that I'm in their heads because
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  did you see their poll question? I I heard about it.
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  I didn't see it. Yes, you're part of it.
• 1:12
  So yeah, the poll question is, who do you hate the most?
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  The Bears franchise? The Bears fans?
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  The current Bears team or David Kaplan and right now I'll get
• 1:31
  I'll get you the up to date voting right now is 3100 votes,
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  two hours left in the poll. You can find it on my Twitter
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  feed at the cap man on X cap man 67%.
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  Jeez. You're in their heads, Cap.
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  Why are you in their heads in? Their heads, man.
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  What? Why is that?
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  Because for the first time in a long time, they know whether
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  they win or on Saturday over us or whether we win, they know
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  we're for real. They're like, oh God, that Ben
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  Johnson, that guy's really good. Oh, man, Caleb actually is
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  really, really good. It is phenomenal.
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  So did you do their show or something Cap?
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  Is that how this relationship you want to call it that began?
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  I mean, I know Ben Brust, who's the main host on that show.
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  Ben played basketball Wisconsin. Say I.
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  Heard of him in high school. He started at guard.
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  He started at guard on their final four team.
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  I mean, he's a really good shooter and he's a good dude,
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  but this guy's fraudulent because people have been pulling
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  up his tweets from 2013 where he's all Bears, He's a Bears
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  fan, he's a Cubs fan, and that it's unbelievable.
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  He's ripping the Packers, ripping anything to do with
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  Wisconsin pro sports, and now he gets fired at ESPN, Milwaukee,
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  Madison, etcetera and now he's a Packer fan fraud.
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  Indeed. So when it comes to the Bears,
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  here's what I liked about him last week, Cap.
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  It was obviously the sandwich game.
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  You were you were at Lambeau, didn't it?
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  Didn't go the Bears waves hell of a game, one of the better
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  games of the year. You've got them in two weeks,
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  which is this coming week. But in between there here comes
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  the lowly Cleveland Browns, right?
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  A-Team that's going absolutely nowhere with a with a couple of
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  really good superstars on defense, but a team you should
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  absolutely punish. And that's exactly what they
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  did. That's to me, cap is a sign of a
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  good football team taking care of business, beating a team that
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  you should and not looking ahead as they obviously didn't.
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  Yeah, they took, they did what they had to do, started a little
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  slow early and then in them at the 1 yard line on a punt early
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  in the game. And that was the end of that
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  because then they had to punt the Bears to scored seven and
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  that game was effectively over at that point.
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  And that's that's what you have to do.
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  You just have to take care of business and find a way to
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  navigate against a bad team. Can't be caught looking ahead,
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  can't be caught looking behind with Packers back and front.
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  You can't. You just have to stack wins,
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  period. And that's what they did.
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  Yeah, we've talked so much obviously about the development
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  of Caleb Williams and the offense and Ben Johnson and play
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  calling and all that part. Dennis Allen, the job that he
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  has done with this team that has been banged up seemingly all
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  season long, fitting it together, finding out ways, I
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  think in a way maybe we're not giving enough credit to what
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  they're doing defensively in a injury plague season for the D.
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  Yeah, I don't know how he pulls off what he pulls off.
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  It's pretty amazing what he is able to do now.
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  Against Green Bay a couple weeks ago, they were able to make
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  plays down the field in the passing game because you don't
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  have Tyler Gordon, Jaylen Johnson's on a pitch count
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  because of injuries, injury. So he's not 100% or even close.
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  You didn't at that point have TJ Edwards.
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  He is back now. You're going to have Tremaine
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  Edmonds maybe going on Saturday night.
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  So gives you a little more depth.
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  But you know, Christian Watson's out for them.
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  I'm not sure if he's going to play or not.
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  They haven't said that is a massive loss for them because he
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  has breakaway speed. Doesn't mean they don't still
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  have Matthew Golden, who also has breakaway speed, but point
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  is, you've got to do whatever you can to limit explosive
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  plays. The Packers had too many
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  explosive plays in the first match.
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  Yeah, Josh Jacobs also questionable.
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  No, no cap. Obviously the Bears have had
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  some big games over the last few years.
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  Is this as big a game as they've had over the last few years
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  coming up on Saturday night? Just the the ramifications.
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  I mean, you're either the two with a win or you fall into the
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  seven with the loss and you're looking over the shoulder at the
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  Lions. How big is this game based on
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  the last, I don't know, 5 or 6 years?
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  Massive. I mean, it's probably the
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  biggest game I'm leaving playoffs out of like the
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  Philadelphia Eagles playoff game in 2018.
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  OK, that's that's a different story.
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  That's playoffs. But if we leave post season out,
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  this is the biggest game regular season that the Bears have
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  played since 2014 when they lost in the finale for the division
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  title to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers when they made that play
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  at the end and hit Randall Cobb for a 55 yard touchdown.
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  When our coverage got blown and he was wide open and waltzed
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  into the end. So.
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  Caleb had a quote in yesterday's press conference.
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  He said If I play like how I played last game or played
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  better, we have a real shot to do whatever we want in this
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  league. Bravado.
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  He certainly has that. He believes in himself.
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  What does that say to you? Because it feels like more and
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  more as the success is coming, feels like even more and more
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  that personality is being unlocked with Caleb Williams
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  and, and maybe along with it, you're seeing a guy that had
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  confidence is getting to a higher place.
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  I think that Caleb has gotten to the point where he knows he can
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  play in this league and play at an exceptionally high level.
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  Like Caleb Williams is a franchise quarterback and I
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  think he's proven that. And I think there's still some,
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  I won't call them haters, doubters.
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  There's still some doubters out there and that's fine.
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  Doubt away. But I think he now knows this is
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  going to be my home for for probably the next decade in the
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  NFL and he'll probably be inextricably linked to the
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  Chicago Bears for the rest of his life.
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  And so this is who he is. It's super cool to see.
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  And I truly believe he feels like there is not a throw on the
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  field that he can't complete. Should Ben Johnson be getting
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  some more love as far as Coach of the Year cap?
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  But he is. He's third choice.
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  Right now I think he's 4th. But yeah, it's it's Raybould,
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  McDonald in Seattle, Cohen in Jacksonville, and then Ben
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  Johnson. Here's here's what I'm saying,
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  here's what I'm asking. Because if Ray, if the if the
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  Patriots lose to the Ravens, and they could, if the Seahawks lose
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  to the Rams, and they could, if the Jags lose to the Broncos and
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  they could and Bears knock off the Packers, might he be the
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  favorite on Monday morning? Oh, I think that's absolutely in
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  play. Look, just got to play them one
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  at a time, find a way to win this game.
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  That's it. Just.
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  Find. A way to win this football game.
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  And if you do that, you're at 11 wins.
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  Everything will take care of itself.
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  That's it. What happens, though, if it
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  doesn't go that way too early for prime time?
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  Suddenly you're playing for your playoff lives.
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  You got to go to San Francisco. You got to Troy.
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  Let's play. Worst case scenario here, they
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  limp to the finish, they don't get it done and they don't make
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  the playoffs. Vitriol offseason.
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  Off. They're finishing ten and seven
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  then. And on the outside looking in,
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  blinds get in for that last spot.
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  What does the offseason look like?
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  What what does that do and what does that paint?
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  Are the questions going forward now with this organization?
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  If they were to lose out, yes, I don't think it really changes a
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  lot. I think they want to address
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  their pass rush. I think there would be a lot of
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  disappointment. Caleb can't win the big one.
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  I don't think you hear that. Look, he's had he's.
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  Played 14 games under Ben Johnson.
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  That's it. 14 games with Ben Johnson.
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  Jordan Love has had six years as either the backup or the starter
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  with Matt Lafleur in the same exact system every single day.
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  So I do not see where people would say Caleb can't win the
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  big one. He's already LED you down the
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  field 5 different games in the final two minutes to win.
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  If you told me Caleb was 31 years old and this was going on,
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  Caleb's what, 23? No, it it doesn't change
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  anything except there would be massive disappointment that it
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  ended in the fashion that it ended.
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  More pressure on Jordan Love in this game.
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  Cap amongst the two. Quarterbacks, yeah, I would
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  think so. Yeah, I do too.
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  Why would what pressure is there really on Caleb?
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  Nobody thought them. No, they're a year ahead of
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  time. They're a year ahead of time.
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  I picked them ten and seven and I thought they'd make the
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  playoffs. 10 and seven is not going to get you in, I don't
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  think. I don't think.
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  So. Either it's crazy there's a
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  chance 11 and 6 doesn't get you in.
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  There's a chance. I don't think that'll happen,
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  but my point is Kayla Williams has got not even a full season
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  under Ben Johnson and look how he looks.
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  Where most, I'll tell you, Yep, that's our guy.
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  We've got our franchise quarterback, we're good.
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  So yeah, I don't see where look, there's pressure on him to
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  perform because he's the quarterback of a 10 and four
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  team that has legitimate post season hopes.
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  So there's pressure there. But if you said who has more
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  pressure, it's got to be Jordan. I think you're right.
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  Absolutely take us to the wide receiver position.
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  Roma Dunze out saddle practice. I know yesterday hadn't seen an
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  update today too. You couple that now with an
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  ankle injury for Luther Burden, who was coming on those weapons
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  starting to dry up a little bit. What can you tell us on the
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  injury report for the Bears overall and certainly a wide
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  receiver? I do not see any scenario where
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  Rome doons a plays. I do not Luther burden that's up
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  in the air. We'll see how things go.
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  I don't think he's going to practice today but other than
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  that I think you're in pretty good shape health wise.
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  Treme, that means that his window open to return from from
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  injured reserve doesn't mean he's going to go Saturday night,
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  but I think that's absolutely in play at this point.
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  Then let's see how he feels. And then from the Packers
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  perspective, Matt Lafleur just said Christian Watson will
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  practice today on a limited basis.
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  Quote, he's improving. We'll just see how he's feeling
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  out there. Lucas Van Nessa Dantavian, which
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  also likely to go, but in a limited fashion.
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  Josh Jacobs still not expected to practice.
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  He's banged. Yep.
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  Obviously they lost Mike to Parsons, Evan Williams, they've
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  got a bunch of dudes banged up. It's going to be a war of
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  attrition. David Kaplan joins us.
• 13:00
  CAP How tough a ticket is this? I think it's probably a pretty
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  tough ticket. I don't know you to be honest
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  with you. I went when they were in Green
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  Bay. But that you could offer me 50
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  yard line seats with a supermodel, I would not go.
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  I'm on my couch. Well, as everybody knows, we're
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  both married to supermodels, Cap.
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  That's exactly right. I have my supermodel will be
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  sitting right next to me. But no, I'm I'm good on my
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  couch. That's how I like to watch
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  football, cap. You were not in attendance of
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  Soldier Field, saw some videos of people like brought their
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  beer back from the concourse and by the time they.
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  Did did you see him? No.
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  I did. The spaghetti guy is he's done
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  it every game since the Bears started there.
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  I think 5 game home win streak. All five times he's had
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  spaghetti in the zip lock bag and he writes on it, Browns, it
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  bears in the date. So he will have spaghetti this
• 14:03
  Saturday night at Soldier Field. You know the RC Cola froze, Yes.
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  You can't freeze alcohol. Alcohol does not freeze.
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  So I'm not saying you should drink, but alcohol would not
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  freeze. Yeah, I saw that RC Cola one,
• 14:18
  saw a little bit of slush at the top of the beer for a couple of
• 14:20
  people, and it was a cold one. Not going to be the case.
• 14:23
  So it looks like Saturday night. What?
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  Freezing somewhere around there. During the day.
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  Now it's not going to be that point at the night, but decent
• 14:31
  weather, at least for Chicago in December.
• 14:33
  Yeah, no question about it. Maybe beer will freeze.
• 14:36
  But the hard stuff, like I keep bottles of screwball, it's like
• 14:42
  a peanut butter whiskey. I keep the little airplane
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  bottles in my freezer. They don't freeze, they stay
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  there. I take them out.
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  They're icy cold. Put it on ice.
• 14:53
  Oh man, that's living, man. That's what I'm going to have on
• 14:57
  Saturday night. So the spaghetti guy Kappa mean
• 14:59
  there was a there was a rush to find the guy that sat behind
• 15:02
  home, played with the pink hat at Cubs games and he was
• 15:05
  identified. Has anybody in the media tried
• 15:08
  to find the spaghetti dude? Yeah, actually, the spaghetti
• 15:13
  dude, I'll tell you his name. The spaghetti dude's name, I
• 15:18
  have it here on my phone. I'm going to give it to you.
• 15:22
  His name is Mike Schafer. He's actually been doing this
• 15:26
  for years where when he goes to sporting events, he brings
• 15:29
  spaghetti. And he was actually on the Bears
• 15:32
  documentary on ESPN a few years ago.
• 15:35
  But you can find him on Twitter at Mike Shaffer, 14.
• 15:39
  And he's been doing it every game during the home winter.
• 15:42
  That's wild. Couple minutes on baseball cap.
• 15:45
  Obviously Brad Keller got away. He signed A2 year deal with the
• 15:48
  Phillies. He was really effective last
• 15:50
  year. I'm sure they would have liked
• 15:51
  to keep them. Maybe it was the maybe they
• 15:54
  didn't want to go 2 years. I don't know what what was
• 15:56
  behind that. Theobar is in.
• 15:59
  Brad Keller is out. Your thoughts on the the comings
• 16:01
  and the goings and the bullpen with the Cubbies?
• 16:04
  Yeah, I still think they got a big bullpen move they have to
• 16:08
  make. They don't have a closer.
• 16:10
  Palencia. He's got to prove to me that
• 16:13
  he's the guy handing the ball to in a playoff game.
• 16:16
  He came in in the playoffs. They used them in the fifth
• 16:19
  inning, and he throws 100 and 102.
• 16:22
  They were using Brad Keller. So I don't believe Keller has
• 16:26
  signed anywhere. I don't know if that's the way
• 16:28
  the Cubs are going to go. Yeah.
• 16:29
  Philly's two years, 22 million. Oh, he's gone to the Phillies.
• 16:33
  OK, I know that. Pomeranz just started with the
• 16:37
  Angels on a one year deal. Cubs have gotten 2 lefty
• 16:40
  specialists, Hobie Millner and Field Bar.
• 16:45
  They've got to get a high end starter.
• 16:47
  Maybe it's the kids from Japan, so we'll see.
• 16:51
  And then they've got to get a high end bullpen arm that can
• 16:54
  pitch in the 9th inning. They have to.
• 16:57
  What can you tell us about the Japanese pitcher finals down to
• 17:01
  the Yankees and Cubs? The Japanese pitcher I know is
• 17:06
  Yankees, Cubs. I think there's one more in
• 17:08
  there, not the Dodgers, because he has come out and said I want
• 17:12
  to beat the Dodgers. I have no interest in playing
• 17:15
  for them. Cap, my last thing for you.
• 17:17
  I don't know this guy. I'm sure you've worked in media
• 17:19
  in Chicago for sports media for a long time.
• 17:21
  George Offman. His name ring a bell?
• 17:25
  He tweeted earlier last week about a week ago told the Cubs
• 17:29
  will continue to seek another starting pitcher.
• 17:31
  They don't expect to have Justin Steel back in the rotation until
• 17:35
  September. Is is is that accurate cap?
• 17:39
  I have not heard that. I was told late June is when
• 17:44
  they are targeting. Mid to late June is actually
• 17:46
  what I was told September. That would.
• 17:48
  Surprise me. That would surprise me.
• 17:51
  Good, one more try. Yeah, just quite quickly on the
• 17:54
  White Sox. For the few White Sox fans out
• 17:56
  there, anything window maybe not quite open, saw improvement,
• 18:01
  certainly. What do you expect free agent
• 18:03
  wise, if anything, that they're going to be doing?
• 18:06
  The white stocks are not going to spend big.
• 18:08
  They're just not, they're not in that position yet to give out
• 18:13
  $100 million type deal. I do think they'll get some help
• 18:19
  in free agency, but until they feel like, hey, you know what,
• 18:23
  we now we could take a step in this division, but they are
• 18:27
  watching all the guys come off the board and they're not
• 18:30
  involved on any of them. I hear the Mets are going after
• 18:33
  Luis Robert. Are you hearing that?
• 18:36
  I know the Mets in the White Sox talked, but I also was told by
• 18:40
  my dear friend and partner Ryan Mcguffey that Jerry Ryan source
• 18:44
  quote apparently was I'm not giving money to Steve Cohen and
• 18:49
  Steve Cohen is saying if you want me to take the 20 million
• 18:53
  on Luis Roberts deal, guess what?
• 18:55
  I'm giving you very little back. If you want a prospect, then
• 18:59
  you're taking some of that money and Jerry doesn't want to ship
• 19:02
  money to Steve Cohen. Well, guess what, Jerry, That's
• 19:05
  not how the game works. Yeah, even though Steve Cohen is
• 19:08
  the richest owner in all of baseball.
• 19:11
  Unbelievable. Cap.
• 19:12
  Good stuff, buddy. That's irrelevant.
• 19:13
  Yeah, no, I agree. I got to reach out to you.
• 19:16
  Trent and I are off the next two Wednesdays, so we're going to
• 19:18
  see how your Tuesdays workout. I will text you Capper.
• 19:21
  Don't make anything work. I you're the best knew you would
• 19:24
  Thank you pal. Appreciate you coming on Cap
• 19:26
  Enjoy the rest of the week. Happy holidays.
• 19:29
  See you, buddy. Good to talk to you.
• 19:30
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• 20:15
  I'll take a quick timeout. Weather update for Saturday
• 20:18
  night at Soldier. Feel this from AccuWeather. 20°
• 20:23
  at kickoff, 20 real field 9° because wind, 15 mile an hour.
• 20:30
  Winds with gusts up to 25 miles an hour.
• 20:33
  So a bit breezy inside Soldier Field for this one.
• 20:38
  You'll be seeing that breath. It'll be puffing out a little.
• 20:40
  Bit football, weather, Trent It's.
• 20:41
  Going to be a chilly one inside. Not as bad as Sunday last week,
• 20:45
  but it is going to definitely be a cold one in Chicago.
• 20:49
  Yeah, absolutely. The reason I asked that question
• 20:51
  about the, you know, get in prices, did you see the the
• 20:55
  ticket prices to watch Montana versus Montana?
• 20:58
  Oh, it's through the roof. Yeah, it's over a grand.
• 21:00
  Yes, absolutely. I mean, it's Montana.
• 21:02
  I get it. And you know.
• 21:04
  Because the winner of that one's gonna win the National.
• 21:06
  National championship right in Frisco.
• 21:09
  Yeah, I think it is. It's.
• 21:10
  Where it used to be, but Jackie, I get in price.
• 21:13
  Oh, here's a just so there's a pop one popped up $755.
• 21:17
  You want to sit in the top row in the end zone.
• 21:20
  By yourself. Football by yourself single
• 21:22
  right not a 2 tickets. We're back with Wade looking
• 21:24
  Bill next. Miller and Condon glad you're
• 21:26
  with us. It's a Wednesday on the Iowa
• 21:28
  Sports Radio Network. I'm Miller Condon welcome back
• 21:32
  just past 130 on a Wednesday. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
• 21:35
  Network. Top of the hour.
• 21:38
  Lucas and Sean from 2:00 until 5 overtime Iowa 5 until 6.
• 21:42
  Mike Mahon just reached out to me, former Drake Sid.
• 21:45
  He's still helping me out even though he's no longer He's a
• 21:49
  kind of a Jack of all trades when it comes to those type of
• 21:51
  events. The championship game FCS
• 21:55
  championship game move from Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
• 21:58
  There are stadiums undergoing renovations are playing at the
• 22:00
  home of The Commodores, Vanderbilt.
• 22:03
  Oh interest. That's where the game's going to
• 22:05
  be played for the next couple of.
• 22:06
  Years good venue. What seats about 35,000 is that?
• 22:08
  What it is, yeah, it's got to be about that, right?
• 22:10
  That's where it'll be in them, You know that.
• 22:12
  Although they won't be there this year, Bison fans probably
• 22:15
  looking for. Well, it's still fun, but it'd
• 22:17
  be nice if we go somewhere else. Well, they don't go anywhere
• 22:19
  this year, George. Fargo in January.
• 22:21
  Let's get Wade looking building and here, of course, Iowa plays
• 22:24
  downtown Des Moines this Saturday.
• 22:27
  If you want to see the Hawks in person, don't want to drive over
• 22:29
  to eastern Iowa no excuses now right downtown Des Moines KC
• 22:33
  Center. It's a 5 O clock tip Bucknell in
• 22:35
  Iowa. Former Hawk Wade looking bill
• 22:37
  joins us as we talk about what we've seen so far and what we
• 22:40
  expect to see once we maybe hope to see once we get to a big 10
• 22:44
  play, which promises to be well as tough as it always is hollow
• 22:47
  Wade looking Bill, how are you? I'm really good.
• 22:50
  How are you guys doing? OK, doing OK what have you on
• 22:53
  just kind of you know what you've seen so far and what we
• 22:56
  expect to see. But by the way, this Michigan
• 22:58
  story that's being written so far in college basketball, the
• 23:02
  Yikes. I'm glad I will only see them
• 23:05
  once because I I don't. Know team in the country they
• 23:08
  are aren't they? They are they are they're
• 23:10
  embarrassing teams that are potential Sweet 16, Elite eight
• 23:14
  types of teams. Yeah, they are really good.
• 23:16
  You know Trent and I watch Gonzaga in that in that
• 23:18
  tournament came back the next day thought Oh my God, this is
• 23:20
  eggs are really good you're. A contender again.
• 23:23
  And then Michigan beat about yes, I mean, they're just blood
• 23:27
  cleaning schools. They did struggle at was it was
• 23:29
  it at Penn State? I think they kind of struggled.
• 23:31
  So, you know, but on a, on a neutral court, who's playing
• 23:35
  who's better right now? You know, once you get the
• 23:37
  tournament again, neutral court, who's better than Michigan right
• 23:41
  now? Yeah, nobody.
• 23:42
  Was it Maryland? Maybe they struggled with.
• 23:44
  For half. Yeah, Maryland.
• 23:45
  I'm sorry. Maryland.
• 23:46
  Maryland. Yeah.
• 23:46
  Yeah. And then pulled away and won by
• 23:48
  18 on the road in a conference game.
• 23:52
  They're not. They're at another level then.
• 23:55
  Even as good as Arizona's playing right now and some of
• 23:57
  the other teams at the top, they are definitely separating
• 24:00
  themselves. The good news for Iowa?
• 24:02
  Oh, go ahead. Good.
• 24:03
  Yeah. I just was going to say I, I
• 24:05
  think part of that and what you see now with these, with these
• 24:08
  transfer heavy teams, I think Michigan has adapted quicker and
• 24:14
  better than Kentucky. Or say you watched Illinois
• 24:18
  Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin.
• 24:20
  When you talk about that, you know, Illinois's got 5, maybe 6
• 24:24
  guys that are going to get drafted, but they just, they
• 24:26
  don't have any flow. You know, now Nebraska's got
• 24:30
  some transfers that they got the mask it back.
• 24:32
  But I think when you look at Michigan, they have embraced
• 24:35
  that that transfer, whether it's Morris Johnson or what is it, I
• 24:42
  can never pronounce his name, Yaxel Lundenburg, you know, the
• 24:47
  the the athletes for for Michigan.
• 24:48
  But they just played really well and they've meshed together
• 24:52
  quicker than everybody else. Now, I'm not saying that, you
• 24:56
  know, Illinois is not going to get there or whoever Kentucky
• 24:59
  is, I think still a mess. But I think what you're seeing
• 25:02
  now in in college basketball is just teams are going to be so
• 25:05
  much better in March than they are in November because they're
• 25:10
  all new players. They've got 5 new starters, 4
• 25:13
  new starters. It is just, it is craziness.
• 25:16
  Good news for Iowa, don't have to see them until March 5th.
• 25:18
  Perfect second last game of the year and we'll see.
• 25:21
  And I'll get them once. Yes, and only get them.
• 25:22
  Once double. Plays are going to be important.
• 25:24
  Certainly we've talked about this Iowa schedule in the Big
• 25:27
  10, important I think to get off to a good start when they open
• 25:30
  it up after these two non conference games, Bucknell
• 25:32
  Saturday in Des Moines and then the home game against UMass
• 25:35
  Lowell before it gets started again with Big 10 play.
• 25:38
  A way to say finish up these last couple of games, they're
• 25:41
  not conference, they're going to win by a ton.
• 25:43
  What are you still looking to see?
• 25:44
  What is maybe some of the questions you want to see
• 25:46
  answered here in these final two non con games?
• 25:50
  Yeah, You know, so we went to Carver Sunday, our daughters on
• 25:53
  the dance team and we had everything going on and, and
• 25:55
  they were performing. So we went over there Sunday,
• 25:57
  actually talked with Mike Mahon. You mentioned Mike before.
• 26:00
  He's good guys everywhere, by the way.
• 26:01
  But you know, it's it's it's something, this is what and I'm
• 26:06
  glad we're talking. I'm much more excited to talk
• 26:08
  today than two weeks ago after that.
• 26:10
  Michigan State game because you know, they they they thumped
• 26:13
  Maryland who's who's got they got some dudes now and they're
• 26:16
  going to get really good really fast battle against Iowa State.
• 26:19
  But what what worries me about Iowa is that when you look at
• 26:23
  the men's basketball team, they are a little bit like Iowa
• 26:27
  football in that what I'm saying is that that margin for error is
• 26:31
  really small. You know, when, when Iowa
• 26:34
  football's down 12 points going in the fourth quarter, that's
• 26:38
  tough for them to overcome. And I think with, with, with
• 26:41
  Iowa, when they don't have everything clicking, you know,
• 26:44
  when they're not making free throws, don't turn it over.
• 26:46
  Then it starts has, has got to get 18 to 22 every game.
• 26:51
  If, if, if they lose one of those battles, let's say, or
• 26:55
  they're down, you know, 12 with 6 minutes to go.
• 26:58
  It's really tough for them to offensively to score quick to
• 27:02
  get turnovers to, to generate quick offense.
• 27:05
  And, and, and that's going to be tough when they're playing at
• 27:08
  Minnesota, when they're playing at Wisconsin, they need to make
• 27:11
  a little run. Secondary scoring, is that where
• 27:14
  you're going? Somebody other than Sturtz has
• 27:16
  to find consistency. Is that what you want to see?
• 27:18
  It's just, you know, when you look at statistics, you know,
• 27:21
  it's just, it is really strange that their leading rebounder,
• 27:25
  Cam man Yao, man Yao, I really like damaging 4 rebounds a game,
• 27:29
  4.4 rebounds a game. It is just really when you look
• 27:32
  at their stats, I know everything is really skewed
• 27:35
  because they played some really bad teams and they played some,
• 27:39
  some, some some good teams. But you know, Maryland's
• 27:41
  probably not a good team, right? They're getting better.
• 27:43
  Michigan State's a really good team.
• 27:45
  Iowa State's a really good team. But everybody else has been just
• 27:47
  kind of so, so, but you know, when you rely on on on Sterps
• 27:52
  has got to get I, I think that number is, is 20 to 23 points a
• 27:56
  game. If if he only gets 16, then they
• 28:00
  got a kind of rally. They did Iowa State and just get
• 28:03
  points by committee. You know, Tate Sage is coming in
• 28:06
  does some things. Isaiah Howard when they arrived
• 28:09
  in California had that big game in the finals mini tournament.
• 28:13
  Yeah, absolutely. They they, they've got some
• 28:15
  pieces. Is just, do they have enough?
• 28:19
  We continue with the curious case of Brendan Hassan, who
• 28:22
  knocks down 43 pointers against Western Michigan minutes.
• 28:25
  Are they going to continue to build for Hassan?
• 28:27
  Do you think that he is going to carve out a niche?
• 28:29
  We seen him a couple of times not even play in games.
• 28:32
  Is there a role for him on this year's team when they get into
• 28:35
  the heart of Big 10 play? Yeah, You know, it's something
• 28:39
  where, you know, Coach is really loyal, Coach is really loyal,
• 28:43
  which I appreciate. And you know, when you look at a
• 28:45
  guy like, like Kale Combs, you know, plays hard.
• 28:49
  I think he has a place in there, but this Iowa team needs some
• 28:54
  more offense. Now, can Kale Combs provide
• 28:57
  that? I I think so.
• 28:58
  But but Brendan Hassan is a unique weapon.
• 29:01
  You know, when he comes off the bench, people have to close out
• 29:05
  on him. They cannot give him any
• 29:07
  uncontested looks. And even with that, he doesn't
• 29:11
  necessarily have to take that shot or to make that shot that
• 29:14
  opens up more flow on the inside, passing cuts, going to
• 29:17
  the basket, you know, maybe get a mismatch with stirts on the
• 29:20
  inside because that bigs got to got to come out and and close on
• 29:24
  him. But I trust coach McCollum and
• 29:28
  wherever he wants to play guys, you know, this system is really
• 29:32
  unique in the way they play. So I'm just going to kind of
• 29:35
  defer to him. If Hassan gets minutes, that's
• 29:38
  wonderful. But if he doesn't, I totally
• 29:41
  understand why. Because, because, because Ben
• 29:43
  McCollum knows his team obviously better than anybody
• 29:46
  else. Is it lost on you how much
• 29:49
  defense this team is playing? As opposed to previous years of
• 29:53
  Carver Hawkeye, there seemed to be committed to the defensive
• 29:55
  end of the floor. Wade, we were we you know, we
• 29:58
  went to the game Sunday and just had our popcorn and our Carver
• 30:01
  Cone just kind of step back and just watch the game and they was
• 30:05
  literally 8085 to 45 now. Now that's not a very good team.
• 30:09
  But Dwayne Stevens knows basketball and Jeff, Jeff
• 30:13
  Rudder, you know, you and I allow state assistant coaches
• 30:16
  assistant with Western Michigan and they got players in the
• 30:20
  state of Michigan and I know this transfers and this and that
• 30:23
  that, but but that team's won five or six games this year and
• 30:26
  I would just lock them up and they couldn't do anything.
• 30:31
  I I love it. I I think it's something where
• 30:34
  that's how I was state played. That's how Purdue plays.
• 30:37
  You have to be good defensively and for whatever reason, you
• 30:42
  know, previous coaches, even the coach I played for, Tom Davis,
• 30:46
  we did not stress defense very often.
• 30:49
  And I think that old saying, defense travels, whether it's
• 30:53
  it's football or basketball, and when you go on the road, say
• 30:56
  it's at Wisconsin, say it's in the barn in Minnesota and you
• 30:59
  can get 2345 stops at a row, that's going to help you get
• 31:03
  more wins. I went ahead, a question for
• 31:05
  you. We were talking about the Big 12
• 31:07
  the other day and they've gone back after playing 20 conference
• 31:10
  games a year ago, they went back to 18 this year.
• 31:13
  Means a lot more single plays. You don't get to see many teams
• 31:15
  twice anymore and that's unfortunate.
• 31:18
  But we've heard about the grind. We've seen the grind come
• 31:21
  tournament time, even come the middle of February, how tired
• 31:24
  these teams are playing these conference games.
• 31:26
  Coupled with all the travel now in the Big 10 with the four West
• 31:30
  Coast schools that have added, would you be a proponent of
• 31:33
  seeing I in the Big 10 go back to 18 games?
• 31:36
  Not as nearly as many double plays, but just an opportunity
• 31:39
  to go out there, play every team once.
• 31:41
  You'll have 1 double play throughout the course of the
• 31:43
  season, but maybe more importantly, have your teams in
• 31:45
  their best shape come March. Yeah, I, I think they have to do
• 31:49
  something. I mean, if you look at Iowa's
• 31:51
  schedule, I think they go to is a Penn State on a Tuesday and
• 31:55
  come back and there's just some some really weird travel days.
• 31:59
  You know, just I, I don't know, I guess it's it's Penn scene on
• 32:03
  a Saturday, but you know, at, at Maryland on a Wednesday, come
• 32:07
  back and play Purdue Saturday at noon.
• 32:11
  It's not going away. You know, here's the thing, that
• 32:14
  big 10 network, it is the golden goose.
• 32:17
  I don't even know what the numbers are anymore.
• 32:18
  You guys might know, but is it $100 million each school gets
• 32:23
  from from that TV revenue or it is it is crazy.
• 32:26
  So if they say, hey, I was going to play Maryland at at 8:00 PM
• 32:32
  Eastern Standard Time on a Wednesday, I was going to be
• 32:35
  there. You know, it's just something
• 32:37
  where I, I don't think it's good for the game, but we've, we've
• 32:42
  become accustomed to, to money, whether it's the Iowa lottery,
• 32:46
  how much money does that generate?
• 32:48
  We're, we're not going to shut down the Iowa lottery cut in
• 32:51
  that same context. They're not going to shut down
• 32:54
  the big 10 network and, and stop all these travel games.
• 32:56
  But you know, it is a grind. I mean, it, it is a grind for
• 33:00
  these kids and to get home and this and that.
• 33:03
  And, but again, everybody's getting paid now.
• 33:06
  So everybody's a troll, basically.
• 33:08
  So somebody's feeling sorry for Iowa basketball players.
• 33:12
  No. Or anybody.
• 33:13
  No, you're right. You know, when I look at this
• 33:14
  weight, kind of from what we've seen so far with the schedule,
• 33:19
  when it when it came out, it was laid out in front of us.
• 33:21
  Yeah. Michigan State's probably going
• 33:23
  to be tough right when you got to go to East Lansing.
• 33:25
  And yeah, Iowa State's probably going to be tough to win that
• 33:27
  game. Iowa States got a really good
• 33:29
  team. The game is in Hilton and they
• 33:31
  and they both went against Iowa. But other than that, I mean,
• 33:35
  they're nine and two and the two losses, it's not like nobody
• 33:38
  didn't, we didn't see either of those coming.
• 33:40
  So I I got to think they're probably right where most
• 33:43
  thought that they would be at this point.
• 33:46
  I think, I think this is, this is the best case scenario.
• 33:49
  You know, there, there's going to be quite a few teams that get
• 33:51
  thumped in, in East Lansing and they played Iowa State.
• 33:54
  They, they were right there. You know, they got a $16.00 run
• 33:57
  start second-half. I thought here we go.
• 33:59
  They're going to lose by 20. They, they battled back and
• 34:01
  found a way. I, I just think when you look at
• 34:04
  Iowa's schedule, you're talking about these two, two games,
• 34:06
  Bucknell and UMass, lol. They got UCLA at home at
• 34:10
  Illinois and at Minnesota, sorry, at Minnesota and Illinois
• 34:15
  at home. OK.
• 34:17
  You know, it's just something I think they have to get two of
• 34:20
  those games. It's just, I just don't know,
• 34:23
  you know, at Purdue, at Indiana, It's just something where
• 34:26
  they're going to have to find a way to, you know, whether it's
• 34:32
  take care of the home court and beat Illinois or upset Michigan
• 34:37
  State. Maybe at home.
• 34:38
  I'm sorry, I'm not making a state, but upset Michigan.
• 34:40
  How about that? Nebraska twice.
• 34:42
  You know, look, look at when the schedule came out, I thought,
• 34:45
  well, there's probably two wins. Well, not anymore.
• 34:48
  I mean, Price, Stanford just he looks like a first round draft
• 34:51
  pick and they got pieces in there and they guard a little
• 34:53
  bit. That's been the thing with Fred.
• 34:55
  He doesn't really, you know, stress defense, But they locked
• 34:58
  out Illinois Saturday when they had to.
• 35:00
  So I, I still think again, I, I say it every week 10 and 10 get
• 35:04
  in the tournament and then who knows, who knows?
• 35:07
  I think with Iowa style, it is so unique that they can win two
• 35:11
  games once, once if if, once they get in the tournament.
• 35:15
  Yep, Masters made a huge difference in coming back and as
• 35:18
  you mentioned. Price it.
• 35:20
  Really is price and what do you have, 30, 432, something like
• 35:25
  that, Yeah, against Illinois. Bast almost came to Iowa.
• 35:28
  Bast almost came to Iowa. Wasn't he really when he was
• 35:30
  transferred? Iowa?
• 35:31
  Iowa had him had him on campus and they looked like it was
• 35:34
  going to be a done deal and. Yeah.
• 35:37
  Yeah. Yeah, good stuff.
• 35:39
  Thank you, buddy. Appreciate this way.
• 35:40
  We'll talk to you in 2026. Happy holidays.
• 35:43
  Merry Christmas to you and yours.
• 35:45
  We'll talk to you as the Big 10 play gets here.
• 35:47
  Thank you buddy. Thanks, guys.
• 35:49
  Appreciate it. Thank you.
• 35:50
  Good. Luck talk to you wait looking
• 35:51
  Bill former hockey joins Us Weekly again Iowa Bucknell KC
• 35:56
  center downtown Des Moines 5 O clock tip this Saturday night
• 35:59
  Speaking of college basketball 2026 and what's on our docket,
• 36:03
  Adam Eminecker is going to join us every Tuesday as he's done
• 36:07
  over the last two handful of years.
• 36:09
  We'll talk valley with Adam Tuesday.
• 36:12
  Haven't settled on a time yet, probably 12:30, but just
• 36:14
  spitballing right now. But Doco Pizza makes that
• 36:18
  possible. And then Adam will join the boys
• 36:22
  in the afternoon off the bench. I think Fridays, but Emma and
• 36:25
  Ecker twice weekly here on the Iowa Sports Radio Network to
• 36:29
  talk Missouri Valley Conference. Maybe a little more focus on the
• 36:32
  Panthers this year as opposed to previous years.
• 36:36
  Anyways, we'll take your time out.
• 36:37
  Trench plays of the day. They are next.
• 36:39
  It's Miller and Condon on Des Moines sports station one O 6.3
• 36:42
  KXNOI have a couple of minutes here.
• 36:45
  Miller and Condon appreciate you being with us.
• 36:48
  David Kaplan joined us a top of the hour.
• 36:50
  He's really good. I'm sure that podcast will be
• 36:53
  available coming up tomorrow. Lee Sterling is going to join us
• 36:56
  from Paramount Sports. We'll do something on the
• 36:59
  Packers and Bears with a Packers perspective.
• 37:02
  And Derek Stevens, the owner of Circa Sports, will join us.
• 37:07
  Talk about Circa and his other property.
• 37:09
  You know what blows me away? I guess I never even thought
• 37:12
  about this that most of the hotels the land underneath them
• 37:17
  is owned by someone else who other than the owner of the
• 37:20
  whole. So weird.
• 37:21
  Isn't it? Absolutely.
• 37:22
  And we're going to talk about winning Derek's wallet.
• 37:24
  Yes, indeed, and I'm taking a stab at winning Derek's wallet
• 37:27
  here tonight. I did not know the college
• 37:29
  football exactors are available. Oh yeah, at Circus Sports.
• 37:32
  So that's what. I'm going to go home and do this
• 37:35
  afternoon into this evening. Well, you got to get your work
• 37:37
  done early because we got. Game start we do 4:00 So are you
• 37:41
  playing one of the two bowl games?
• 37:43
  I am playing the first one. I'm taking Old Dominion plus the
• 37:46
  four and a half, I'm taking ODU. South Florida decimated by the
• 37:50
  portal. Quarterbacks not playing ODU can
• 37:52
  move the ball. Remember against.
• 37:53
  Indiana, the South Florida. Though.
• 37:55
  But that's not all. Also at 4:00 this afternoon, the
• 37:58
  P Cats, EU and I Panthers make their way over to Shy Town to
• 38:02
  face off against the flames. That would be a marquee network.
• 38:06
  If you're looking for the broadcast -4 1/2.
• 38:10
  Give me, you and I one of the top mid majors by a lot of
• 38:13
  metrics. Jacobs is doing it again, isn't
• 38:16
  he? He.
• 38:16
  Absolutely is and then an early Big East tip off by the Blue
• 38:19
  Jays. 5:00 Five. 3530 to Cincinnati to take on Xavier
• 38:25
  delay with Xavier Creighton and that Xavier team that we saw at
• 38:28
  the beginning of the season against Iowa.
• 38:30
  They're improving are they? They're getting much, much
• 38:32
  better. They're taking steps forward.
• 38:34
  Xavier, you and I Old Dominion, a three pack for your Wednesday.
• 38:39
  I'll be honest, when I saw the Creighton, Iowa State result in
• 38:41
  that in that exhibition game in the mid-october, wow,
• 38:45
  Creighton's going to be really good and not so much.
• 38:48
  Maybe overspent for a couple of guys that resided a year ago in
• 38:51
  eastern Iowa. Owen Freeman.
• 38:53
  I mean, does these stealing money, my God, But he's been
• 38:55
  awful. That'll do it for us off the
• 38:57
  bench. Coming up next, Miller and
• 38:59
  Condon weekdays noon to two on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.