Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Mike Palm from Circa Sports on the new Football Contests for 2025, Cyclones talk with Eugene Rapay & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Mike Palm from Circa Sports on the new Football Contests for 2025, Cyclones talk with Eugene Rapay & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:12
  Hour number two, Miller and Condon welcome back.
• 0:14
  Iowa Sports Radio Network Trenton can with you until the
• 0:17
  top of the hour. The drive is coming coming up at
• 0:20
  2. Heather did the morning show
• 0:22
  today so Lucas and Rob Donaldson take you until 5:00 here this
• 0:27
  afternoon. Eugene Repay covers Iowa State
• 0:30
  for the Des Moines Register. He will join us at the bottom of
• 0:32
  the hour. Trent will make his plays of the
• 0:34
  day or of the weekend. Circus sports sponsor those
• 0:37
  those about 10 minutes before 2. But right now, Speaking of
• 0:40
  circus sports, he's the VP of Operations at Circa Sports.
• 0:44
  And Mike Palm joins us the day after the announcement that many
• 0:47
  of these contest players have been waiting for was unveiled.
• 0:51
  And the big news, Mike Palm, good to talk to you.
• 0:53
  Circa Grandissimo. It is Survivor, but it's a
• 0:57
  $100,000 buy in with a 1.5 million guarantee.
• 1:01
  So looking for 15 participants. I think that you guys are going
• 1:07
  to fly over that number. Mike, good to talk to you.
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  Congratulations on the big announcement.
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  Oh, thank you. I just don't want us to lose
• 1:15
  sight of the fact that the regular survivor is the world's
• 1:19
  biggest. That's.
• 1:19
  A good idea? Yep.
• 1:21
  I'm very, I'm very, I'm very hesitant to that.
• 1:23
  I think this is very interesting.
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  Who knows how many we'll get? I've heard people say we'll get
• 1:28
  100. I don't know.
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  Loosely, I put the number in the upper 30s.
• 1:32
  Who knows? But it's it's it's survivor,
• 1:36
  it's the the rules of picking a winner.
• 1:39
  It's still Christmas, Christmas and Thanksgiving week, all of
• 1:42
  that stuff. But other than that, it's a
• 1:44
  totally different contest. Obviously played with fewer
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  entries because of the cap of two and the buy in different
• 1:50
  strategy. I just, you know, it's a cool
• 1:54
  thing. I think Derek had wanted to do
• 1:55
  this for a few years and that was the right time.
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  But let's not lose the fact that, you know, our goal is we
• 2:02
  we said 15 guaranteed on the survivor.
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  Well, I'm, I'm hoping we can get to 20 million this year.
• 2:07
  Wow, that's something. And the growth of this contest
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  has been absolutely incredible. You know, we do talk so much
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  about Survivor because I think it's for us, it's the one that
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  is easiest to explain to talk about.
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  But that million contest that you guys have, it's not just
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  about being the best throughout the course of the year and the
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  18 week grinder staying alive. You could have a terrible start.
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  Yet that second and that third and that fourth quarter you're.
• 2:31
  On movie prizes if you're really bad.
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  If you're really bad, it goes the other way.
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  I think at times by the way, speaking to kind of overlooking
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  things, we overlook circa million in just all the
• 2:40
  different ways there is for people out there everyday
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  betters to win on that contest too well.
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  Like you're never really out of it.
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  So like what week 18, week 15/17/16, whatever, the third
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  week of the fourth quarter when if you went like 4:00 and 6:00,
• 2:57
  then you got no shot, right. Otherwise, you're, you know, I
• 3:00
  think that's what makes the whole contest is the quarters
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  and trying to get hot for four weeks because everybody has a
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  course during the see. I mean, in the baseball season,
• 3:10
  Trent, you know, or a college basketball season, you can be
• 3:13
  hot for a week or two, a baseball season for a month and
• 3:16
  over. But you know, there's peaks and
• 3:18
  valleys to betting and it's, and so it gives everybody really an
• 3:22
  opportunity to be in it. And so it's an investment for
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  five months. You know, you're, you're paying
• 3:26
  your $1000 to have your gambling slash entertainment budget for
• 3:31
  for five months. So there's a lot of value in
• 3:33
  that. Obviously in Survivor you can be
• 3:35
  out early. 97% of the pool was out in the first month.
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  That's the risk of it, right? It's also great stories if you
• 3:42
  can make a run, but it can be a very short term investment.
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  Thanksgiving is it's end and Black Friday, so those four
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  games will comprise their own week and likewise Christmas Day,
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  the three games that play on Christmas.
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  But here's what gets tricky, right?
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  Because Dallas, Detroit and I think Kansas City is the third
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  team. Is it Kansas City?
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  Yes, it is. That all play both play on both
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  Thanksgiving and Christmas. So how do you handle that?
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  Do you, do you do it as normal that you save a couple of those
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  teams now, Mike? Well, it makes it more
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  challenging, but we'll have more entries.
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  So, right, So the level of difficulty increases a little
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  bit, which helps to even out the number of winners.
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  I think the sweet spot is good, right?
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  The first year when we didn't do the Thanksgiving and Christmas,
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  we didn't really have a Christmas option. 35 people went
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  18 and all and then to go to 20 and all, then we had between two
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  and five winners every year. And then with the huge growth
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  where we went from, you know, 9000 entries to 14,000 last
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  year, we had 18 going into last week and 8:00.
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  So I think that's good to have between, you know, 3 or 4 and 10
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  people win everybody's millionaires.
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  So that helps it out I think. Yeah, you got to save more like
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  you, you have to target like your first three choices on both
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  those holiday windows. And those may be the same teams.
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  So, well, I mean, what are you going to do?
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  Maybe you're, you want to save the commanders.
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  Maybe you wanted to save Kansas City, maybe I think maybe
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  Baltimore on, on Thanksgiving. And so, yeah, you know, there's
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  there's ways of going about it, but you really can't use those
• 5:22
  teams early. I'm I, It's not like, let's say,
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  grandissimo where I don't even know if you're worried about
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  Christmas. No.
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  Right. Just try to make it to October
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  and see where the chips like. And I think we've all been in
• 5:34
  those Survivor contest, you know, got a group of buddies.
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  There's 1015 people in there. The rarity of somebody actually
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  making it to the end. Yeah, it's usually wrapped up by
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  the end of October, maybe early November.
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  We don't even think about that with that smaller contest.
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  Hey, did you guys ever get confirmation?
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  Week 17, That's the Christmas week of those Saturday games.
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  So the three games that'll be played on Thursday, Christmas
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  Day. There are going to be two
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  Saturday games scheduled. It's amongst 10 teams, five
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  games that are scheduled. Any confirmation or or even when
• 6:03
  we're going to find out those teams, when they're going to be
• 6:05
  playing because those teams will be alive.
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  I don't know. I don't know, Trent.
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  Well, like you said, all I know is that there's five games and
• 6:14
  there's going to be two. But we don't know.
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  And we don't know when the NFL is going to announce that.
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  We we tried to reach out to a couple people we know in the
• 6:21
  league office, couldn't get anywhere.
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  Gotcha. Is that right?
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  Yeah, I I don't think they announced those till they see
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  how the season. Is pretty.
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  Yeah, it's pretty tight too. So Week 1 and then I want to
• 6:32
  move on to other topics with the NHL and the NBA.
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  It sure seems like the Broncos are going to be most people's
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  joints, right? I mean, Cincinnati was that team
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  last year that didn't get anybody anywhere.
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  But it sure seems like Denver hosting Tennessee.
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  Most survivor entries are going to end up on my Broncos in Week
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  1. Do you see it that way, Mike?
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  I think almost I think all the grand DC moment, I I mean, I
• 6:54
  don't know how many they're going to be.
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  That's to me is the big stand out.
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  And I look at the page, there's nothing else close.
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  And you're not going to use division games, right?
• 7:03
  You know, that's the key thing. And then you get you get
• 7:06
  Tennessee a bad team traveling at the play at elevation.
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  And I really think this Denver team is undervalued.
• 7:15
  I'm waiting to find over 10 1/2 in the market.
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  I want to bet the all over the two teams I'm really high on are
• 7:21
  the Rams and the Broncos Kennedy.
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  So I think that's just the obvious term.
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  I could be wrong. You know, I don't think it's
• 7:29
  going to be 60% of the people in survivor are using them, but
• 7:34
  can't use the Eagles, right? I mean, I don't think people are
• 7:38
  unless they're that's crazy idea.
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  You can lose and restart and lose and restart.
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  I think that the first two games of Thursday, Friday are going to
• 7:45
  be played very sparingly. And then when you go down and
• 7:48
  you look at the favorites, a lot of games are line 3 or less and
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  you're looking at Rd. teams that are the ones that are between,
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  you know, between really four and seven.
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  Cincinnati. Do you dare use them after
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  they've burned everybody and they're go the other way?
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  Division Game. I play Cleveland.
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  And right. And the Browns always give them
• 8:06
  a hard time. Do you dare to play?
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  There might be some people that step out and play the Cardinals.
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  Depends on if you think there's a better spot to use them down
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  the road. But some people might zig and
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  zag just because maybe they have 6 entries.
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  They put one or two on the Cardinals.
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  But I think it really comes down to it comes down to the fact
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  that the Denver's the safe choice.
• 8:27
  What's interesting to me as we look at season win totals, the
• 8:31
  Vikings and the Bears, The Bears are still a 1 1/2 point favorite
• 8:34
  on Monday night. And I'm just saying this from a
• 8:36
  betting perspective. When the schedule came out,
• 8:39
  let's say 24 hours after that, the Bears over 8 1/2 was -120
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  the Bears under 8 1/2 is now -130 the Vikings over 8 1/2 was
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  -105 the Vikings over and a half is now -140 So in the season win
• 8:53
  totals, the Vikings are getting better over, the Bears are
• 8:56
  getting better under. And yet the number and Week 1
• 8:58
  stays 1 1/2. That shouldn't make sense,
• 9:00
  right? That number should have come
• 9:02
  down to a tick, unless people aren't worried about Week 1 yet.
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  Or JJ McCarthy the I who knows? 1st career start Prime timer
• 9:10
  Soldier Field. Fascinating.
• 9:12
  So when it comes to grandissimo, Mike, you say the rules are the
• 9:15
  same. So I'm assuming the answer to my
• 9:16
  question is yeah, because this is the only week you can use the
• 9:19
  Thursday or the Friday game. And since the sign ups don't
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  close until Saturday grandissimo, you can use a
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  Thursday or Friday team. And if you have an extra 100,000
• 9:28
  lying around, you can get in right?
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  Well, here's what you can do, Kenny.
• 9:32
  You can blow 200,000 when the Eagles get beat by the Cowboys.
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  Then you can reload and blow 200,000 when the Chargers beat
• 9:39
  the Chiefs and and reload and have 600,000 and your backside
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  wide open by the time you get to Sunday I.
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  Love it. That's outstanding.
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  Hey, I want to go to Sacramento with you because, hey, I saw
• 9:50
  Derek Stevens to the rubber and there's pressure when you're
• 9:52
  throwing on a first pitch. There really is.
• 9:55
  And he threw it right down the middle, which was outstanding.
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  Circa is a sponsor of the A's franchise this year.
• 10:02
  You guys have great side placement out in the left center
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  field. You see a lot of that when balls
• 10:06
  are leaving, leaving the ballpark.
• 10:08
  But what was the experience like?
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  Major League Baseball in Sacramento, Mike.
• 10:15
  You know, it was interesting. I thought it was a nice little
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  park. Obviously it's a minor league
• 10:19
  park, but 14,000, they said they announced 10,090 people.
• 10:24
  There weren't 8000 people there. Several things fascinating to
• 10:28
  me. You know, these A's people that
• 10:30
  work in the front office still all live in the Bay Area and
• 10:33
  they drive down for the games. Nobody relocated.
• 10:36
  The stadium workers that work every day work for the AAA team,
• 10:39
  right? So the A's people are driving
• 10:41
  down maybe once a week. Once a homestead, twice a
• 10:43
  homestead. It was 87° when we got there at
• 10:47
  4:00 PM. They were in safari hats.
• 10:49
  They that you would thought that they, they were in the Congo.
• 10:52
  They couldn't deal with the heat.
• 10:54
  I mean, it's an hour and a half away, but they the humidity is
• 10:57
  so far in land. It's just amazing culture.
• 11:00
  When you think of somebody's 90 minutes away, like in Iowa,
• 11:02
  there's no person that lives 90 minutes from another that has
• 11:05
  such a difference in weather, right?
• 11:07
  But but there they were shocked by it.
• 11:10
  Derek, he was very, very nervous.
• 11:13
  And so he they got the bat boy to help him warm up.
• 11:18
  He stood by like the third base coach's box and the bat boy
• 11:21
  stood off in the grass. The wind up while he was warming
• 11:24
  up, you would think he was Louis TI.
• 11:26
  I mean, they were they were heckling them from the dugout.
• 11:29
  He bounced about 3. They were coned by the catcher.
• 11:31
  Hit me on the shins. I was trying to block him from
• 11:33
  hitting the kids. But when he got out there, when
• 11:36
  he got out there, he delivered, which would look like a Zack
• 11:38
  Rinky curveball, but it was right down the middle.
• 11:40
  So you got to give give him credit.
• 11:44
  The ball does carry there. There were two home runs that
• 11:47
  the outfielders took a step in on really in the ball and the
• 11:50
  one for the three run Homer by the lead off hitter by the A's
• 11:53
  in the second inning that put him ahead 3:00 to 2:00.
• 11:56
  I mean, the center fielder took a step and 1/2 in drifted back
• 11:59
  and it goes over four O 8. So the ball does carry there.
• 12:03
  But I think it's a nice it was a nice it was nice and the Angels
• 12:07
  are hot and the ace can't win a game.
• 12:08
  So the Angels are getting back into this.
• 12:10
  There were a lot of Angel fans there.
• 12:12
  I would say it was 20% Angel fans.
• 12:14
  So it was a good experience. I'm glad that we went up there.
• 12:18
  Next Friday we'll be at Wrigley Field.
• 12:20
  So it's quite a nice week for me.
• 12:22
  We're flying Wednesday to into Nashville.
• 12:26
  We're going to get to see progress on the new book getting
• 12:28
  built at Kentucky down to give some media some hard hat tours.
• 12:32
  Then we're flying to Chicago Wednesday night.
• 12:35
  Thursday we're meeting with the Blackhawks execs and then having
• 12:38
  dinner with them to recap the season.
• 12:40
  Then Friday we're doing like a tailgate in Wrigleyville.
• 12:44
  And I think Derek and I are going to get the call an ending
• 12:46
  with with Pat and Ron again. So it's it's it's another nice
• 12:49
  trick. That's awesome.
• 12:50
  And then find time for Miller and Condon, of course, on
• 12:52
  Friday, if you. Were expecting that absolutely.
• 12:56
  I never missed. You.
• 12:57
  You don't. No, you know.
• 12:58
  People, people ask me, they're like, who is this grandissimo?
• 13:02
  What's the target customer? I said Trent Condon.
• 13:05
  We're looking for these guys that got 8-9 sources of income
• 13:08
  and money to burn. Oh, we're keeping building.
• 13:12
  I don't know if this year, but we'll try by next.
• 13:14
  We'll try to get it by summer next year.
• 13:16
  And and we we're working out some details for our next trip
• 13:19
  out there when Ken and I will sign up for the contest.
• 13:21
  Probably not the big one though, at least for this season.
• 13:24
  Hey, one last thing from me for you Mike, and that is or winter
• 13:27
  sports coming to an end. Did we just see the two champs
• 13:30
  last night, the Panthers and the Thunder?
• 13:32
  Is this thing over on both sides?
• 13:36
  The Thunder more so than the Panthers.
• 13:40
  Boy, I almost I almost bet those Timberwolves plus 2 1/2 games
• 13:46
  -150 in this series. I'm glad I didn't.
• 13:49
  I'm going to say something that that Timberwolves fans might
• 13:52
  think it's SAC religious. I think they should trade
• 13:54
  Anthony Edwards. Wow.
• 13:56
  Right now they would get a haul for him.
• 13:58
  By the time he get becomes a mature adult, his skills will
• 14:02
  have diminished. I mean that's how far away he is
• 14:05
  from being a mature enough person that can be a leader of a
• 14:08
  team. My opinion and I like fence.
• 14:11
  You know, I followed this team, but the Pacers are doing
• 14:15
  something we've never seen with it.
• 14:16
  I mean, what do you call the pulmonary Pacers?
• 14:18
  I mean, it's just defies all odds that they could do it.
• 14:21
  I think that series is a toss up.
• 14:23
  I don't think either can beat Oklahoma City.
• 14:25
  I do think both teams in the West can push Florida.
• 14:29
  It's not that it's not the Eurotrash analytics of Carolina,
• 14:32
  which now for a generation of hockey fans can't win a game in
• 14:36
  a conference final. I mean, they were.
• 14:37
  I mean, this type of domination I would I never expected out of
• 14:41
  Florida. This is not a bad spot in in
• 14:43
  game three though to bet Carolina.
• 14:45
  I'm telling you the emotional let down of Florida.
• 14:48
  Having won two games on the road and going home, there's a chance
• 14:51
  for Carolina to steal that game. That would be the only game they
• 14:54
  win in the series, but I'm not I'm not against taking a small
• 14:59
  shot with Carolina in Game 3. When you're in Chicago, will you
• 15:02
  have an opportunity to get with the host who were ridiculing you
• 15:05
  when you took back when celebrating over Connor Bedard?
• 15:10
  Yeah, right. I mean.
• 15:11
  It's not even close, Mike. It's not even close.
• 15:13
  No, it's not. Nope, it's not.
• 15:15
  Close. And I don't TuneIn.
• 15:18
  I don't TuneIn to watch Bedard. He's just a nice player.
• 15:21
  He's just a nice player. Just a nice player.
• 15:22
  Celebrating jumps off the screen at me every night.
• 15:25
  I'm glad because I love Randy Hahn.
• 15:27
  So I get to. I get to watch him because I
• 15:29
  want to listen to Randy Hahn. Yeah, no, it's, it's terrific,
• 15:32
  really is This kid is going to be the face of the league.
• 15:36
  I think. It's not Connor Bedard.
• 15:37
  It's Macklin Selbrini. Good stuff, Mike, I hope you're
• 15:40
  right. I hope this Western Conference
• 15:42
  final is good. I mean, I can't believe Edmonton
• 15:44
  choked the way they did in the third period the other day after
• 15:47
  badly outplaying him in in the first and second period.
• 15:52
  Congratulations again on the contest.
• 15:54
  Fascinating stuff. I saw your first sign up of all
• 15:56
  of them was somebody was showing up at the counter to sign up for
• 15:59
  Grandissimo first thing this morning.
• 16:01
  That was awesome. Yeah, he actually, he wired the
• 16:04
  money in yesterday afternoon as soon as we made the
• 16:06
  announcement. Is that a fact?
• 16:07
  Did anybody figure it out? Did anybody know?
• 16:11
  No, nobody knew. There was rumors of a 10,000
• 16:15
  survivor, there was rumors of a 25, and then everybody thought
• 16:19
  that the that the the guarantee for survivor would be 20 or 18
• 16:25
  or whatever. Nobody really knew anything that
• 16:26
  we were going. Out.
• 16:28
  Awesome. Well done.
• 16:29
  Thank you, Mike. Have a great week.
• 16:30
  We'll talk to you next week. Mike Palm, thank you.
• 16:32
  Thanks. Thanks fellas.
• 16:33
  Appreciate your time. Yeah, good to talk to you, Mike
• 16:35
  Palm, VP of Operations at Circus Sports.
• 16:37
  Of course, you can download the app in Illinois.
• 16:39
  Likewise in Iowa, Circus Sports, available here.
• 16:43
  You're going to find the best prices, without a doubt, 4 out
• 16:45
  of five times. And once you get out there this
• 16:48
  summer, that's the thing about the contest.
• 16:50
  You have to sign up in the state of Nevada at one of the Circa
• 16:53
  properties. There's one in Reno, there's
• 16:55
  four in Las Vegas, Silverton, Tuscany, the Dee, and of course,
• 16:59
  Circa. You get a proxy.
• 17:02
  What do we pay for a proxy? Is it 2?
• 17:04
  Is it between 200 and 250? Right in that range.
• 17:07
  Right in that range. I work with Matt and Tony.
• 17:10
  Tony, she's from. Ankeny yeah, I work with Matt
• 17:13
  and Dave. Matt was my former Co host Matt
• 17:15
  Perrault and and Dave Sharapan they're by they're our proxies.
• 17:21
  See, my group is more interested in the millions this year.
• 17:24
  I I've been hearing more and more of that too.
• 17:28
  I can't quit survivor. Got to have an entry.
• 17:30
  We're going to have a couple, but I just, I just can't quit
• 17:34
  it. I thought I could because I'm so
• 17:36
  pissed off. We have never seen October,
• 17:38
  which is wild. It's crazy and you've only seen
• 17:41
  it once. Once it was that first year and
• 17:43
  then last year, knocked out by the Ravens against the Raiders
• 17:47
  in Week 2. Yeah, Week 2.
• 17:49
  Year before that, it was week. One Vikings.
• 17:52
  Vikings went out for you. Buccaneers never ever get a root
• 17:56
  for that stupid purple clad organization.
• 17:58
  We had six entries last year, I want to say 6, and we lost four
• 18:01
  of them on Cincinnati and then we had the and we had the Ravens
• 18:05
  next week. It's so on paper.
• 18:10
  Well, you're telling me all I got to do is pick one winner and
• 18:12
  the point spread does. In fact, I was.
• 18:14
  Just talking to somebody yesterday about it, That's it.
• 18:16
  That's all I got to do. That's it.
• 18:20
  That's it. It is way more difficult than
• 18:23
  you imagined, but just I just one year want to get just the
• 18:27
  feel, the sweat and the pressure of still being alive.
• 18:31
  Oh my God, one of these years. But millions.
• 18:34
  You're never out. You're never dead.
• 18:35
  So we will be out there for Big 10 Football Media days and also
• 18:38
  our week of sign up. It'll be July 21st through the
• 18:42
  24th. That is the week we'll be out
• 18:44
  there for the 21st. The what?
• 18:45
  That's a Monday. Yeah, I'm going Sunday.
• 18:48
  Yep. You'll go out a day early.
• 18:49
  I'll be there on Monday. We're going to have our media
• 18:52
  gathering on Tuesday, but we're going to have some other fun
• 18:54
  things out there as well. When we're broadcasting, we'll
• 18:56
  be at stadium swim, do it our broadcast.
• 18:58
  Of course, we'll be also working a Big 10 football media day, but
• 19:01
  a lot going to be going on. We're going to have an
• 19:03
  opportunity. You know what?
• 19:04
  And we should remind people, if you want to come up, Circa has
• 19:07
  this unbelievable $400.00 package.
• 19:11
  Is it 2 nights? Two nights.
• 19:13
  Two nights, $100 food credit, a $100 beer or alcohol credit
• 19:20
  beverage. They call it credit two nights,
• 19:24
  no resort fees, which kill you wherever you stay.
• 19:27
  So essentially your room is like $39.00 a night, 3929, something
• 19:31
  like that. You get a, you get a day bed at
• 19:34
  Stadium swim. Of course, if you stay at Circa,
• 19:36
  there's no admission to stadium Swim and it's best to go out
• 19:41
  there. I think it's not available on
• 19:43
  Saturdays. That's the only night that it's
• 19:45
  not available. Oh, come on along, folks.
• 19:48
  It's going to, it's going to be great.
• 19:50
  Now we can't take you to Big 10 Media Day.
• 19:51
  No, we can't do that. But we're going to be there.
• 19:53
  We'll be hanging around. We'll be at the sports book
• 19:55
  every single night. We have fun.
• 19:57
  Are we going to do our show at stadium Swim again in a cabana?
• 20:00
  I think so we'll kind of check on that are.
• 20:02
  You going to be out? Are you going to answer the
• 20:03
  bell? Would.
• 20:04
  Not be fine. There's a what off?
• 20:06
  It's fine. I'll be all right.
• 20:08
  And Lucas is coming. And Lucas will make his debut.
• 20:13
  He's never been to Vegas. In Las.
• 20:15
  Vegas. This kid's a degenerate.
• 20:17
  He. Loves to fire.
• 20:18
  He does, and he's never been to Vegas.
• 20:20
  My betting protege. Are you and he on the same
• 20:23
  flight? We are.
• 20:24
  Awesome. Got to get those, all the
• 20:27
  details figured out exactly. But July 21st through the 24th,
• 20:30
  that is the Monday through Thursday, come sign up for the
• 20:33
  contest, get a group of buddies together and do it that way.
• 20:36
  If it's fun, you might say, you know what?
• 20:38
  I want to do a couple entries. That's a couple, $1000, find 345
• 20:43
  friends. All we do, pull it together, put
• 20:44
  it together, do it that way. And then we have a Tuesday or
• 20:47
  Wednesday call to put our heads together and it's kind of an
• 20:51
  event, right? It absolutely little social
• 20:53
  events. I love it, absolutely love it.
• 20:56
  And then don't forget about who told you about it when you're
• 20:58
  getting to the end there. Invite us out there if you're
• 21:01
  getting that lot in week 18. Oh my, to be just watch these
• 21:05
  people. It's great.
• 21:06
  It really is time to give somebody, well, a chance to win
• 21:09
  their entry fee. Essentially, it's this $1000
• 21:12
  bonus bonus bucks contest that's going on right now.
• 21:17
  You don't have to spend a circuit and spend however you
• 21:20
  want if you win this contest. But what you do is you head the
• 21:22
  KX and o.com right now. The keyword this hour is BANK.
• 21:26
  BANK at KX and o.com, your chance to win $1000.
• 21:30
  Bank at KX and o.com, It's the final day of this promotion.
• 21:34
  It does come around again in a few months, but Suntan City's
• 21:38
  sponsored it all contest long. We're grateful to the folks at
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  Suntan City locations throughout central Iowa, and they have
• 21:46
  their best specials of the year going on as we speak.
• 21:50
  Suntan City sponsors bonus bucks.
• 21:52
  The keyword this hour is bank. Eugene Repay covers Iowa State.
• 21:57
  He's with Miller and Condon next on the Iowa Sports Radio.
• 22:03
  I'm Millie Condon, welcome back just past 130 on a Friday.
• 22:07
  The drive coming up, Rob Donaldson, Lucas to until 5:00
• 22:12
  today, overtime, Iowa, 5 to 6. If you missed it this hour, the
• 22:16
  waning hours of this contest, the bonus bucks, the keyword
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  this hour was Bank. Bank at kxno.com, your chance to
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  win $1000. Suntan City sponsors.
• 22:27
  Let's talk to our friend Eugene Repay from the Des Moines
• 22:29
  Register. He's been out on the Cyclone's
• 22:31
  tailgating tour, speaking with coaches, getting some quotes,
• 22:35
  etcetera. And Eugene joins us.
• 22:36
  Eugene Trenton, Ken, thanks for giving us a few minutes on a
• 22:39
  Friday. How are you?
• 22:41
  I'm good, I'm good. Always great talking with you
• 22:43
  guys and it was great this week just being on the Tailgate tour,
• 22:46
  seen some coaches you haven't seen in a while and just having
• 22:49
  some fun engaging with fans and and of course Cyclone Nation.
• 22:53
  Are they pretty talking of the coaches when you when you get
• 22:55
  that opportunity out there away from you know, away from the
• 22:59
  just after a game environment type of thing or a weekly press
• 23:02
  conference, is it different, more relaxed?
• 23:05
  Yeah, yeah. I think the the coaches are kind
• 23:07
  of like in vacation mode a little bit.
• 23:08
  I mean, there's never any off days for them, whether it's
• 23:11
  recruiting or just planning or just putting together things.
• 23:14
  But all the coaches are just in such a great mood.
• 23:17
  It seems like everyone across the board and the athletic
• 23:19
  department just has a lot of fun with the tailgate Tour.
• 23:22
  So, you know, it's always good chopping it up with like TJ and
• 23:25
  and Matt Campbell and and all those guys.
• 23:27
  Speaking of that, of course, that's what we talk about.
• 23:29
  Football, basketball, men's and women's basketball, any of the
• 23:33
  minor sports, anything jump out to you, anything interesting,
• 23:36
  anything that maybe for you can get a column sometime this
• 23:38
  summer out of anything that popped out of the sports that we
• 23:41
  just don't talk about a ton. Oh yeah, like softball this year
• 23:45
  had a great season. Women's golf winning, going to
• 23:48
  the NCAA Championships for the first or sorry, the second time,
• 23:52
  first time since I believe 09. So those quote UN quote smaller
• 23:56
  sports had also great seasons for Iowa State.
• 23:59
  And just overall, it just felt like it was it was just like a
• 24:02
  booming time overall. Just looking at this academic
• 24:05
  year for all of Cyclone Nation, you know, you had gymnastics,
• 24:09
  their attendance was was growing.
• 24:11
  Wrestling has another solid year under Kevin Dresser.
• 24:15
  So it just seems like overall, you know, while football and
• 24:18
  basketball get the the main ticket or get the main
• 24:21
  spotlight, everyone else was just having a Goodyear and
• 24:24
  Cyclone lamp. I was the Iowa State men's
• 24:27
  basketball begins their winter, their summer rather workouts
• 24:30
  coming up here in just what, 2 weeks, maybe a little bit more
• 24:34
  middle of middle of June, you had an opportunity to talk to
• 24:37
  cheat TJ. One of the things you talk to
• 24:39
  him about because the you know, the returners on this team and
• 24:42
  what he wants to see from them of the of the big four, if you,
• 24:47
  if you will, of you know, a Jefferson Manchilovich, A Lipsy
• 24:52
  and a Heisey. Might it be Manchilovich that
• 24:55
  they need to take? Because I just guess I just
• 24:58
  think that Jefferson's got another step to him, another
• 25:00
  level to him, maybe more consistency out of Manchilovich.
• 25:03
  What does TJ say about those returners that are coming back
• 25:07
  and what he wants to see out of them?
• 25:09
  Yeah, Jefferson, you can tell that this guy's was a major
• 25:13
  priority just when it comes to re recruiting their own players,
• 25:17
  making sure they stay. And once he announced that he
• 25:19
  was coming back to Iowa State, there was just this massive buzz
• 25:23
  among fans just because he's just such a versatile talent,
• 25:26
  such a unique talent through under the radar, especially
• 25:28
  because he was injured coming out of Saint Mary's.
• 25:31
  So he didn't really get too much buzz.
• 25:33
  But then once he comes to Iowa State, immediate, immediate
• 25:36
  impact transfer, I think he's got to have another deal to him.
• 25:39
  And for him, if he can iron out that 3 point shot, there were
• 25:43
  times where he can take it and make it sometimes.
• 25:46
  But if he can really just become a deadly force from long range,
• 25:49
  he's going to unlock his potential to levels we haven't
• 25:54
  seen yet before. And with Montelowicz to, I think
• 25:56
  he had a great end of the season.
• 25:59
  I felt like he came on strong. Sure, that last game against Ole
• 26:01
  Miss wasn't his finest performance, but overall after
• 26:04
  he came back from that hand injury, he was playing really
• 26:07
  well. He became more than just a spot
• 26:09
  up shooter, a perimeter guy. We saw him post up, make turn
• 26:13
  around jumpers or drive inside and finish.
• 26:16
  And I think if he can, you know, the word from TJ is that he's
• 26:18
  been working on his body, working on his strength and has
• 26:20
  been really developing on that front.
• 26:22
  So if he can become a better rebounder, a better defender and
• 26:25
  just continue to expand his bag offensively, that's going to be
• 26:28
  huge for Iowa State. Came in lips, he's another one.
• 26:31
  But with lips, he we know that everything is going to hinge on
• 26:34
  his health. So far, TJ says he's good, but
• 26:37
  also, you know, came and let's see we we've seen it before.
• 26:40
  This is a guy you're going to drag off the court before he
• 26:42
  sits out. So, you know, hopefully his
• 26:45
  recovery from his various ailments throughout the year
• 26:48
  continues. But you know, they, they believe
• 26:51
  he could be like a Monte Morris type player.
• 26:54
  And then Nate Heisey, we saw him get that confidence towards the
• 26:57
  end of the year after a shaky start.
• 27:00
  But once he started to feel settle in and and just kind of
• 27:03
  grow with confidence, we saw what kind of player he can be.
• 27:05
  They want to see more consistency out of him.
• 27:07
  You mentioned Lipsy and he's been banged up.
• 27:09
  You saw it this year, but throughout the course of his
• 27:11
  career, feels like there's always something with him.
• 27:14
  You know, he improved his shot so much as a sophomore, took a
• 27:16
  step back from the three-point line.
• 27:18
  This year. You have to take him off the
• 27:20
  floor. You drag him off the floor.
• 27:22
  I think you said, Eugene, you're exactly right.
• 27:24
  Is there anything that TJ can do this summer in order to have him
• 27:28
  ready to maybe take some of those reps off just to, to keep
• 27:32
  the mileage down? Because when he's on the floor,
• 27:34
  you know he's going to be going 1,000,000 miles an hour.
• 27:37
  Yeah, I'd, I'd love to see that. Maybe this is where the
• 27:40
  transfers come in. A guy like Dominic Nelson or a
• 27:42
  guy like Mason Williams or can Nate, Heidi really continues to
• 27:47
  just hit be that player that he was at Northern Iowa or show
• 27:50
  that promise that he had or, or, you know, continue to build off
• 27:54
  of his second-half of the season Because you know, if they're
• 27:57
  going to need, let's see on 247365.
• 28:01
  I'm sure that, you know, we love his toughness, we love his
• 28:03
  defense. You love what kind of mindset he
• 28:05
  brings to the court, but you just can't sustain that type of
• 28:09
  mileage. So I'd love to see if that this
• 28:11
  is where maybe the new guys come in or if a guy like Heidi can
• 28:15
  continue to develop because you know, as talented as Lipsy is,
• 28:20
  you can't run them that much on the court.
• 28:22
  And especially his injury history, growing shoulder,
• 28:26
  finger, hand, everything and anything under the sun.
• 28:29
  So hopefully they can keep his mileage down a little bit or
• 28:31
  just find new ways to to spread the love a little bit.
• 28:35
  I know that you've been speaking with some of the incoming
• 28:37
  freshman to TJ's squad. Who have you spoken with and
• 28:41
  give us a take away or two from those conversations?
• 28:45
  I've spoken with all four actually, and, and all four
• 28:47
  guys, they, it's funny, they're freshmen.
• 28:49
  They haven't even reported to camp yet.
• 28:52
  But just talking to them, they sound like people who've been in
• 28:55
  the program for years. They talk about daily habits.
• 28:58
  They talk about all the different, you know, program
• 29:01
  mantras and and mottos that they have as if like a, you know, a
• 29:05
  guy like came and let's see or a guy like Mila mom chill, which
• 29:08
  we've been there for years. So to me that's great to see
• 29:11
  just that level of buy in and that level of investment early
• 29:14
  on, even before they've officially reported a campus for
• 29:17
  most guys, they're going to come, I believe in the June 7 to
• 29:20
  9 range, depending where they're from.
• 29:22
  We do have a couple of international guys, but starting
• 29:25
  off the the line up here is Damian Mitchell, one of the guys
• 29:28
  from Wisconsin, a very versatile player, and that's something
• 29:33
  that seems to be a common theme with all these incoming freshmen
• 29:36
  and all these incoming transfers.
• 29:38
  He's a player that can do it all.
• 29:40
  We know that the Wisconsin to Iowa State pipeline is super
• 29:43
  strong, so we'll be excited to see what comes from him.
• 29:46
  Jamar Bateman is also another Wisconsin guy.
• 29:50
  He's another dynamic guard who loves defense.
• 29:53
  He told me that, yeah, he can score, but he actually loves
• 29:56
  hitting the ground, hitting the floor.
• 29:58
  And I feel like sometimes when you see these star players, you
• 30:01
  question like, are they, are they tough?
• 30:04
  What what is, you know, are they afraid of contact?
• 30:06
  Are they afraid to take charges? Jamar Bateman sounds like a guy
• 30:10
  just from speaking to him that whatever they need from him,
• 30:12
  whether it's take charges, hold towels, play defense, score
• 30:17
  buckets, he can give it to you. Dominicus Plato from Germany is
• 30:21
  a very interesting prospect just because he's unranked, which is
• 30:24
  not a typical for international players, but he's been playing
• 30:29
  against grown men for the last few years.
• 30:31
  He told me that his oldest teammate was 40.
• 30:33
  He's played in two on two teams at the same time for two
• 30:38
  different leagues in Germany. So he's going to be very battle
• 30:40
  tested. He's played against guys his own
• 30:43
  age. He's played against gristle
• 30:44
  veterans in Europe and in Germany.
• 30:47
  He's a guy that can be that point forward type of player and
• 30:51
  it'd be interesting to see how he develops alongside Joshua
• 30:54
  Jefferson or what he can learn from him.
• 30:57
  But it seems like early on, you know, when you come in as a 20
• 31:00
  year old freshman, you will come in with pro basketball
• 31:03
  experience. He's a guy that I'd like to
• 31:04
  watch early on, especially in this front court that is looking
• 31:08
  to replenish itself after the Shawn Jackson, Brandon Chatfield
• 31:12
  and all those guys left. And last but not least, Kelly
• 31:15
  Entourage from France. He spent the last year Brewster
• 31:18
  Academy. So he's starting to adapt to
• 31:21
  American life a little bit. He's the guy that prides himself
• 31:24
  on defense. He garnered A reputation for
• 31:26
  that in Europe, was one of the top defenders there.
• 31:29
  When he came to America, he was unranked, kind of like pleada.
• 31:32
  But since that one year at Brewster Academy, he's risen up
• 31:36
  the ranks and is now a four-star prospect.
• 31:38
  So he's looking legit. A big flashing thread for him.
• 31:42
  He's going to work on a jump shot.
• 31:43
  But slasher defender. I feel like we've seen these
• 31:47
  types of guards succeed before under TJ Altoberger.
• 31:50
  Let you go with this, Eugene. A little birdie?
• 31:52
  Well, it's Tommy, Birch said. I was supposed to ask you about
• 31:55
  dog days of Principal Park. Yeah, Dollar Dog Night,
• 32:01
  Principal Park. It was also Tommy versus
• 32:03
  Birthday. Shout outs to him.
• 32:05
  It was my my first time there. Honestly, I, I enjoyed the I
• 32:08
  Cubs experience. It was really nice.
• 32:10
  I do like Principal Park. Yeah, it can't be the fun at the
• 32:12
  old ballpark. Good stuff, Eugene.
• 32:14
  Enjoy the weekend. Thanks for jumping on with us.
• 32:16
  Appreciate it as always. We'll talk to you in a couple of
• 32:18
  weeks. Thanks, Eugene.
• 32:20
  Thank you guys, have a good Memorial Day weekend.
• 32:21
  And you do the same, Eugene Repay from the Des Moines
• 32:25
  Register, where he covers Iowa State.
• 32:27
  How about that? From the big city guy like in
• 32:29
  principal Park. That's right, he's an East
• 32:31
  Coast. Yes.
• 32:33
  Good stuff out of Eugene and Iowa State and basketball
• 32:37
  practice for the men the middle of the month and Mccollum's
• 32:42
  getting his team together next weekend for the first time.
• 32:45
  Get it going. That's awesome.
• 32:47
  Now will we? Well, 'cause I don't think MC.
• 32:49
  Correct me if I'm wrong, Did McCaffrey give us summer access
• 32:53
  last year? I don't think so.
• 32:55
  Don't think he did, no. You're begging McCollum, you're
• 32:58
  begging him. Well, of course.
• 33:01
  Shine a little light on these programs and give us context.
• 33:04
  Miller and Condon Trent's plays of the day.
• 33:06
  Circa Sports sponsor, those little NBA, little NHL.
• 33:12
  Can you make a case for the Pacer?
• 33:13
  Will you make a case for the Pacers tonight?
• 33:15
  The Indiana Pacers, those Pacers, those Pacers.
• 33:18
  I thought you were talking about the Peace Car in the Indy 500.
• 33:21
  That's this weekend. Talk about a This used to be a
• 33:26
  massive, massive event on Memorial Day weekend, I'm
• 33:30
  guessing in everybody's family. As a child of the 80s, this was
• 33:34
  one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
• 33:37
  Big as big as the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Indy 500.
• 33:41
  At least in my house. And it was on more people's
• 33:43
  bucket list to. Get to it.
• 33:45
  Grandpa went there, Uncle went there, Dad went there.
• 33:48
  It was what you did. And now I saw they sold out.
• 33:53
  What there? There was some concern they
• 33:55
  wouldn't. Really they this is their first
• 33:58
  official sell out. Now we're also talking about
• 34:00
  350,000 people. That's a sellout.
• 34:03
  Right, but I got to imagine. Because they black it out in
• 34:05
  Indianapolis. If it's now they.
• 34:07
  Do. First time since 2017.
• 34:10
  I think I read that this is an official sellout.
• 34:13
  I looked through the list I. Don't know, you know what are
• 34:15
  they doing the right thing? What's that blacking it out in
• 34:17
  the in the? City, well, they've been doing
• 34:18
  it for 100 years, but. Sort of.
• 34:20
  The NFL used to do that. They did, right?
• 34:21
  And they learned. Their they advanced.
• 34:24
  God, that seems antiquated to thinking to me.
• 34:26
  Anyways, we'll get Trent's plays of the day Indy 500 weekend.
• 34:30
  Wow. It's Miller and Condon.
• 34:31
  Iowa Sports Radio Network. I'm Miller and Condon, welcome
• 34:37
  back. Final few minutes here on a
• 34:38
  Friday, Memorial Day weekend heading into it, by the way, all
• 34:42
  the local shows are off on Monday.
• 34:45
  Everybody back on Tuesday, including Sean Roberts took a
• 34:48
  couple of days off, good for Sean.
• 34:50
  He'll be back Monday morning at 6:00 AM.
• 34:53
  Miller and Condon in the drive as well coming up here.
• 34:57
  It's next, but it'll be back on Tuesday as well.
• 35:00
  So what are you doing this weekend?
• 35:01
  Are you staying home for once? No, no, I believe that.
• 35:04
  I've been told that we are going to New City this weekend.
• 35:06
  Haven't seen Graham in a while, so we'll be trekking over there.
• 35:09
  Ella's got a birthday party though on Saturday evening, so
• 35:13
  we'll be going over there Sunday, coming back Monday and
• 35:15
  then softball practice and away we go with another week always
• 35:20
  busy. Yeah, you sold them.
• 35:22
  How was baseball last night? You did your first baseball game
• 35:24
  in Roosevelt, Waukee. Yeah, and it was all Waukee last
• 35:28
  night. Waukee throughout the years.
• 35:29
  Dave Dirks has been there for an incredibly long time.
• 35:32
  He was one of only, I think 3 coaches that stayed when the
• 35:35
  split happened. Everybody else went with Jim
• 35:37
  Dewey up to Northwest and I remember asking coach about that
• 35:41
  and Dirk said, well I'm a baseball coach two months of the
• 35:44
  year. I'm a teacher 10 months out of
• 35:46
  the year. Loved his principal, loved his
• 35:48
  school, didn't want to leave. So he's there and made state
• 35:51
  tournament last year. He's got a great team, does he?
• 35:54
  He's got a sophomore that was played in an elite program, like
• 35:57
  a select program. Decided just want to go back and
• 36:00
  be a high school baseball player.
• 36:01
  Good for him. Waukee kid went back, had a home
• 36:04
  run last night. He's got I think 3 already this
• 36:06
  season. What position?
• 36:06
  Does he? Play right field Sophomore 65.
• 36:11
  You're going to be hearing about this dude.
• 36:12
  He has got some raw raw multi sport athletes.
• 36:15
  Just baseball player. Meeker, I believe is the last
• 36:17
  name of memory serves. So sell it that.
• 36:19
  Yes, they could always pitch. That's enough for a problem for
• 36:22
  Waukee Dirk's team. But they got some offense this
• 36:25
  year, too. Waukee might be.
• 36:26
  Back to state, do you think? Oh, state tournament team at
• 36:29
  minimum, and maybe a little more upside.
• 36:31
  Good. When's your next broadcast?
• 36:33
  Be at it next Friday again. Do you know?
• 36:35
  Where you're going Thursday, still figuring that.
• 36:38
  TBD yes, and those games are on the bull on the FM side.
• 36:42
  We'll have some over here on KX and so, Yep, so we'll be bounced
• 36:44
  around just kind of depending on what's happening with the
• 36:46
  schedule, but a lot of baseball, little softball coming up this
• 36:49
  summer. All right, how about your bets
• 36:50
  for this weekend? What are you going to play?
• 36:52
  For tonight, I got 5 plays. Gonna kick it off.
• 36:54
  It is Hunter Green as we talked about back on the mound.
• 36:57
  I love fading these guys in this.
• 36:58
  And who's going for the cubbies? So the Cubs will trot out boy.
• 37:02
  Oh, Matthew Boyd, the lefty. Yes, we will leave the 110.
• 37:05
  Give me the Cubs in that match up in Cincinnati.
• 37:08
  Freddy Peralta, he's good. You know he's going up against,
• 37:11
  right? I'll take Freddy Peralta over.
• 37:14
  Skeens. Better team they are, and I like
• 37:17
  the price. Plus 110.
• 37:18
  Give me the Brew Crew in that one.
• 37:20
  Detroit's not losing. Two in a row?
• 37:22
  I wouldn't think so. So we're going to play them Job
• 37:24
  on the mountain -120 in that one.
• 37:27
  I've laid it with the Knicks tonight.
• 37:28
  I know you are everybody in the world's laid that's.
• 37:31
  A good point, Trent. Everybody's going one way, yeah.
• 37:33
  I should go, the other I won't and I'm going to be kicking
• 37:36
  myself from about 9:00. 36 1/2 Five and a half.
• 37:38
  Where is it? 5 1/2 in a lot of the market now
• 37:40
  a little extra juice -115 with the 5 1/2 that is there and one
• 37:44
  play in the West tonight. Let's go late night to Vegas.
• 37:48
  Sounds good to me. It does.
• 37:49
  To me too. Give you the Mystics playing
• 37:52
  better here early on, I'll grab the big #14 1/2 against Asia
• 37:57
  Wilson and the Aces here this evening.
• 38:00
  Did you see the Angel Reshow last night early in the?
• 38:02
  Game the rebounding me bounding they call him sounds like.
• 38:07
  I've never coined with that. That's brilliant shots fired.
• 38:10
  I mean, it's just her ineptitude.
• 38:12
  Tried to score the ball. She shouldn't even be in the
• 38:15
  conversation with 22. She's not.
• 38:18
  She is a She rebounds her own. Miss Time.
• 38:22
  There was one sequence she had five offensive rebounds off of
• 38:25
  four of her misses right underneath the basket.
• 38:29
  Step padding. It's what she's me bounding
• 38:32
  that's going to do it for us. Enjoy the drive, enjoy your
• 38:35
  weekend, be safe. We're all back on Tuesday.
• 38:39
  The drive is next. Rob Donaldson, Lucas Strain take
• 38:41
  you until 5:00. Thanks for being with Trent
• 38:44
  tonight. We talk sports with you every
• 38:46
  Monday through Friday from noon until 2 right here on the Iowa
• 38:49
  Sports Radio Network.