Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Andy Staples joins Trent from B1G Football Media Days

Transcript

Andy Staples joins Trent from B1G Football Media Days · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:05
Back with you, our number 2. Miller and Condon live from
0:09
Stadium Swim at Circa. Glad to have you aboard with us
0:12
here today as we talk the world of sports.
0:15
Ken's on his way back to Des Moines.
0:18
Lucas and I'll be set up tomorrow, Radio row at Mandalay
0:21
Bay. We'll be doing our shows from
0:23
there with Big 10 football Media days as tomorrow.
0:25
Iowa would be part of the contingent.
0:28
We got Wisconsin going today. We have what else going on?
0:31
Minnesota. Phil Fleck getting ready to take
0:33
the stage here in just a little bit.
0:35
Those are our regional teams. I'll be going later this
0:38
afternoon. Right now, time to talk
0:39
baseball. Matt Snyder joins us from
0:42
CBSSports.com. Good look at Major League
0:45
Baseball and one of the crazier stories.
0:47
What we saw last night, 45 year old Rich Hill back on the bump
0:52
again for the Royals as he went up against the team.
0:54
The bad Snyder roots for the Cubs.
0:56
Matt, watching him last night, he's the same guy, right?
0:59
He is dropping F bombs and he's going crazy up there and he's
1:03
yelling at himself and he just at 45 years old, 20 years after
1:06
his debut, it's the same Rich Hill, which was it was fun to
1:09
watch him last night. Yeah, I was going to say his
1:12
body language was still the same on he's never going to blow it
1:16
by anybody. Which by the way though he was
1:18
actually hitting 90, which I was surprised by his average flash
1:21
with 6.3 with the Force Steamer. But just trying to nibble,
1:25
nibble, nibble. And when he's not getting the
1:27
call, you could see him getting frustrated out there.
1:29
I was like, Oh yeah, this is the same dude.
1:31
It's pretty cool. Yeah, he's not that much younger
1:34
than me, so hey, good for you, Rich.
1:36
I had to quit playing about 20 years ago, so yeah, pretty
1:40
awesome. But you know, he's not really
1:43
going to move the needle for the Royals much moving forward.
1:45
It's a kind of a quirk there that right when it looks like
1:49
they needed somebody, he was right when it looks like he was
1:52
going to be ready. They're facing the Cubs who have
1:54
problems against left-handed starters, so they might as well
1:56
throw them in there. And really, the runs they gave
1:59
up were kind of fluky. It wasn't like he was getting
2:02
knocked all around the yard. The cups that they're that
2:04
they're hitting the ball deep and hard a lot later in the
2:07
game. So good for him.
2:10
Still be doing at this age, still be making good money.
2:13
Pretty remarkable. So there's some rumblings out
2:17
there that the Cubs are working on their package right now to
2:21
get Suarez from the Diamondbacks.
2:22
And as we get closer and closer to the deadline, there's always
2:25
these things happening. There's always, you know, back
2:27
channelling. But from what I heard, there may
2:30
be something potentially a little closer to happening then
2:32
maybe you'd anticipate. Suarez, another incredible year
2:35
this year, 36 home runs. This guy has had really a
2:38
monster career going back to his days in Cincinnati.
2:41
He hit well in Seattle. Not an easy ballpark for power
2:44
by any means. And here we go again.
2:47
If the Cubs are able to put together a package, get sorez.
2:50
How big of a hit is that for this Cubs team and does it
2:54
change your perception of what they can be come October?
2:58
Change I I think they could win the World Series, you know, as
3:01
long as they add another starting pitcher and get some
3:03
relief help. But yeah, it it still it makes
3:07
it more likely. This is a type of lineup already
3:10
that can be very scary, especially against righties.
3:13
Now remember they've had problems against left season.
3:16
Suarez is a right-handed hitter. So there's another thing and
3:19
they're like that's another plus in there.
3:21
But I I was just looking at 7 guys on pace to hit at least
3:24
twenty home runs right now. Bush is on pasted over 30 Peaker
3:28
Armstrong and stay Suzuki and pasted over 40 as far as it's 36
3:31
right now. How ridiculous is that top to
3:34
bottom lineup power wise? If you add as far as there and
3:38
and for Matt Shaw and they can run.
3:40
They've already got PCA with 28 to 1 bases, Tucker with 23, Nico
3:45
with 19. Gansby can run.
3:47
Shaw all of a sudden would become a bench player who can
3:50
play defense and can run the base well.
3:53
It just is the team that hits for average they get on base.
3:57
Like this would be, I would say, probably the scariest lineup in
4:00
all baseball if they had a Eugenio Suarez right now.
4:06
You mentioned obviously starting pitching and that's another area
4:08
that they need to show her up, another guy that can help the
4:11
playoff rotation and not just getting through this season.
4:14
Do you have any names, any rumors, rumblings that you've
4:17
heard out there in terms of potential names that they're
4:19
going after for a starting pitcher?
4:21
Oh, absolutely. Mitch Keller has been connected
4:24
to the Cubs for quite a while, but several other teams on that.
4:27
But just today, Mackenzie Gore's name got floated.
4:31
And if you look at remember, the National fired Mike Rizzo, you
4:34
got a new front office in place, you got an ownership group that
4:37
might want to sell. And this rebuild really has
4:40
yielded 3 good players for the Nationals all in one move.
4:43
By the way, the Juan Soto trade is James Wood, CJ Abrams and
4:48
Mackenzie Gore and that's basically all they've got going
4:51
in there. The rebuild so far and Gore's
4:53
only in her team control to 2027.
4:55
So if it looks like the rebuild's going to be extended a
4:57
little bit, now might be the time to strike with Gore because
5:01
they've had success in left-handed pitching and Wrigley
5:04
Field these last few years. If you look at Justin Steele,
5:06
which is the whole his injuries, the whole reason why they need a
5:08
starter, but also Matthew Boyd showed he Menaga, Gore is the
5:12
type of guy who could be a frontline starter along with
5:15
Imanaga and Floyd there. Then you've got guys like Tyone
5:18
and Ray who are more than mid rotation.
5:21
All of a sudden you're looking like you've got a full rotation
5:23
the rest of the way. You can get what you can't.
5:24
Add a Kate Horton before he hits his innings feeling whatever
5:28
that's going to be. Maybe you can try Ben Brown and
5:30
short innings roll. He doesn't need you to get
5:33
length anymore at the big league level this year.
5:36
That, again, just like Suarez, would kind of make everything
5:38
feel like it came into play. The Brewers finally lose and the
5:44
winning streak comes to an end, but obviously still right there
5:47
with the Cubs, they're probably looking for some help in the
5:50
outfield, maybe a little bit more pop in that line up.
5:52
Now, the underlying numbers offensively for the Brewers
5:55
appear to be much worse than what we've seen on the field in
5:57
terms of production and putting runs on the board.
6:00
Is it sustainable and how concerned should Cubs fans be
6:03
about the Brewers? Or is this a team that's going
6:05
to come back in the pack in your mind?
6:08
Well, I definitely think that the Cubs, Cubs fans should be
6:11
concerned about the Brewers. And they are a good team.
6:13
And everything that we've seen from the Brewers since they got
6:16
good in about 2018 or so is while they do get talented
6:21
players, as we saw starting with Christian Yelich and Lorenzo
6:23
Kane and plenty of pitching with Carbon Burns and Brandon
6:26
Woodruff, who is now back, they get absolutely everything they
6:30
can out of their roster. You see guys like Caleb Durbin
6:34
coming up, Isaac Collins coming up with big hits.
6:37
Jackson Cherio is probably better than he's hit so far this
6:40
year, but he's only 21 years old.
6:41
William Contreras is definitely a better hitter than he's shown
6:44
so far this year. But yeah, I think they
6:47
definitely need more slug in that lineup, even if Cherio and
6:50
Contreras start hitting more bombs.
6:52
You're looking right now at Yelich with 19 homers, Venturio
6:56
with 16, then you're down to Reese Hoskins with 12, and
6:59
nobody else is even. Nobody else has 8.
7:02
So they you know what, where they could stand to jump in
7:05
would actually be Flores because not only would they add that
7:10
big, big bat right in the middle order that they don't have in
7:13
the Cubs do, but they would prevent the Cubs from getting
7:15
him. And then if they have
7:17
aspirations for a deeper playoff run, which they should, you
7:20
prevent the other teams who are probably bidding on as far as
7:22
like the Yankees or the Mets or the Tigers from getting him as
7:25
well. So I the Brewers should be all
7:28
in on him. But yeah, it looks like,
7:30
especially with the Freilich injury, maybe an outfielder,
7:34
there's actually talk that they might deal a starting pitcher.
7:37
I I don't know if it means ripping the rug out from under
7:40
them with Freddy Peralta or if it more means like a Chad
7:43
Patrick or Logan Henderson type who has looked really good at
7:46
the Major League level this year.
7:47
But they're also shuttling back and forth between the minors and
7:50
the majors because they have so much depth there.
7:54
Want to go to New York? Both the Mets and the Yankees
7:57
first, with both of these teams, there's so many times you you
8:01
think of both of these organizations in the way
8:02
certainly recently the Mets have spent and for the last 40 years
8:05
the way the Yankees have spent. But they have a lot of holes to
8:09
fill both of those teams. It's not, hey, we need to tweak
8:11
here or tweak there. It's kind of a long list for
8:14
both of those teams. Do you anticipate big investment
8:17
from both the Yankees or the Mets, or is it going to be more
8:20
that minor tweaking? I think that, well, the Yankees,
8:23
Brian Cashmerer said. I'm going to throw my house at
8:25
this thing. I mean, look, they know the
8:27
score here. When you look at Aaron Judge and
8:29
you look at his age and you look at how good he is right now, and
8:32
they have zero rings with Judge. One tenant, That's not enough to
8:36
have a generational player like Judge.
8:38
They need to do everything they can while he is still this good
8:41
to get as deep as they can every year in the playoffs.
8:43
And I hate to keep going back to Florida, but they desperately
8:46
need a third baseman. And so they're going to do all
8:48
they can and I don't. They can't outfit the Cubs as
8:50
long as the Cubs are serious or the Brewers if they're serious
8:53
about them. But they will be in on him.
8:55
Maybe they need to go back to Ryan McMahon now that the
8:57
Cardinals have been losing a little bit.
8:59
Maybe Dolan, Arenado that fit there if the Cardinals eat some
9:03
money, but the Yankees can take on money as well.
9:06
They need starting pitching too. They lost Garrett Cole in the
9:09
spring. They lost Clark Schmidt there
9:11
there. I don't know where will Warren
9:13
when he's going to hit a wall. They need starting pitching at
9:15
least one guy. So they're going to be in on
9:18
there's. We're starting to see more and
9:19
more starting pitching names like Mitch Keller, Merrill
9:23
Kelly, Zach Gallon, Edward Cabrera, maybe Sandy Alcantra if
9:26
somebody wants to try the lottery ticket this year.
9:28
There's going to be starting pitches out there.
9:30
Maybe Steph Lugo from the Royals and then that Yankees, they both
9:34
been helped as well. So and like the Mets, maybe
9:38
starting rotation depth. They definitely need a center
9:41
fielder. Maybe they need a third baseman,
9:43
but maybe they could try Vientos there and hope he clicks.
9:45
Maybe some catching depth. But Francisco Alvarez just came
9:48
back up and he had a home run last night.
9:50
They've got Brett Beatty and Roddy Mauricio, like at least
9:53
they have some youngsters that they could try to move around
9:56
and like Jeff McNeil played some center field.
9:58
If they get a center fielder, they can use them at second.
10:00
They have a lot of flexibility with the guys on the roster,
10:03
just needs better in several spots.
10:05
So like Cedric Mullins in center field works for them.
10:09
I think he works better for the Phillies, but Luis Robert could
10:12
work if the Mets want to give him a go.
10:15
It's going to be so fun to see how it shakes out with the Mets
10:18
because there's so many different directions they could
10:20
go with all those guys who could play different positions.
10:24
We go to the American League and we look at the teams that maybe
10:28
feel like they're in contention in the American League wild card
10:30
race. My Twins, the Angels, even the
10:33
Royals, Guardians all hanging around.
10:35
But you got the Red Sox there. I love that Mariners team.
10:39
I love that rotation and what they're getting obviously from
10:42
Cal Raleigh this season. And and you'd hope Julio
10:45
Rodriguez takes another step forward here in the back half.
10:48
Razor still in it. Rangers still in it for that
10:50
group of teams though, from the Central, the Royals, the Twins,
10:53
the Guardians. Is there any reason at all for
10:55
any of those teams to buy? Not really.
11:00
I I mean the only one not even in the central I I would say no
11:04
on the Royals, no on the twins. Gosh, guardian 2 1/2 coming out
11:08
of the day. I guess they're the gardens are
11:11
hot right now, but they just lost ten in a row couple weeks
11:14
ago. It seems like everybody wants to
11:17
talk about the guardian doesn't sell it.
11:19
Everybody's the vultures are circling their bolt in arms like
11:23
Kate Smith, Emmanuel Coste, Hunter Gaddis.
11:25
I've even heard Steven Quan out there.
11:27
If he's talking about an outfielder.
11:29
They seem like the type of front office that would say, you know
11:32
what, it's not going to happen this year.
11:33
Let's reload for next year. So, no, the one that's close in
11:37
the American League, that has not been inspiring at all this
11:41
year that I do think it's worth buying as the Rangers.
11:44
They have so much more talent on offense than they've gotten
11:47
their their pitching's been great.
11:49
I know Adolis Garcia has been floated like as a as a match for
11:52
maybe the Phillies and maybe they want to move on from him
11:55
and then buy after they trade him.
11:57
What, you know, for example, the Padres are supposedly going to
11:59
do it. Don't see they're going to sell
12:01
him and then buy a bunch of other guys.
12:03
But I don't think the Rangers should give up.
12:05
But yeah, like the central teams, sorry man, but not seeing
12:09
it with the Twins, I'm definitely not seeing it with
12:12
the Royals. Their offense just is not good
12:14
enough. And then the Guardians, I don't
12:16
know, they just don't seem good enough to me.
12:18
But hey, you know, 2 1/2 games out, if they want to try and buy
12:22
it, why not? Eddie Wonder.
12:24
I mean, that window, it feels like it should have closed a
12:26
couple of different times here over the last four years and
12:29
they just keep it open and and maybe that'll be a team that
12:32
just decides at minimum to stay in Pat and that's the way that
12:35
the Guardians go. Who do you like out of the the
12:37
mix out of the Red Sox, the Rays, the Rangers?
12:39
Who do you like out of that group of three?
12:41
If the Mariners do hold on for that second wild card spot, how
12:44
would you handicap between the Red Sox, the Rays and Rangers
12:47
for a final spot? Not the race.
12:49
I still think that there is the road thing and they have 19 of
12:52
22 road games and a stretch coming up here.
12:55
I think that's going to catch up with them and they they've
12:57
really cooled off since they were really hot.
12:59
They have not been that good in July.
13:00
I can I could see the Rangers. Like I said, I think, I feel
13:04
like the Rangers could ever run in them.
13:06
But I also believe the Red Sox, as long as they get some offense
13:09
they need a first baseman could really work for them.
13:12
I know obviously they brought one of the move Rockfield Devers
13:15
there and then they traded him. Maybe like a Josh Naylor could
13:19
be a fit if the Diamondbacks do end up selling, and I think they
13:21
do. That feels like a good fit for
13:23
the Red Sox. And they've got, if you look at
13:25
that rotation, you've got the ace and Garrett Crochet.
13:28
Brian Baio looks very, very good this year.
13:30
Lucas Diolito, you're starting to see signs of like the old
13:33
Giolito there. And he's only going to get
13:35
better because he's coming off Tommy John surgery this year.
13:38
There's some talent there. And you know, Walker Bueller
13:41
should be better. He threw better against the
13:42
Phillies the other night. So you you could see the Red Sox
13:46
looking like a quality team. If push came to shove and I had
13:49
to pick one, I think I would go with the Rangers.
13:51
But I wouldn't be surprised at the Red Sox.
13:53
I would be surprised if the Rays make it.
13:56
So Detroit has fallen on hard times, and it continues that
13:59
last check here up at the screens.
14:03
What's going on? Is it just a bad slump or are
14:05
there bigger concerns with this Tigers team?
14:08
What? What for the first three months
14:09
of the season, seem like the power of the American League.
14:13
Yeah, my, my inclination is to say ebbs and flows, Ebbs and
14:17
flows. It happens.
14:18
I remember in in 2016 when the Cubs lost like 15 of 20 close to
14:22
the All Star break and I was like, I'm never watching
14:24
baseball again. They like put everything back
14:27
together. But man, it does seem like if
14:31
you look at some of their early season success, it does look
14:34
like a lot of guys on offense were really playing over their
14:36
heads. I mean, Javi got really, really
14:38
way too hot for a second. Spencer Torkelson has really
14:41
cooled off Zach Mckinstry probably it has hit a lot better
14:46
than anybody would have expected him to hit for a full season.
14:48
So there's definitely some worrisome stuff in there
14:51
offensively. And then if you look at the
14:52
rotation, like they lost Jack dope for the season.
14:55
How much longer is KC my is going to hold up there?
14:58
Clarity. He's been bad really for a
15:00
little bit behind Terry Scuba there.
15:02
So they have questions behind Scuba.
15:04
The bullpen's been an issue for a little bit.
15:07
The good news is they have a nine game lead still.
15:09
The bad news is it was a lot more than that just a couple
15:12
weeks ago. So I could see both sides of it.
15:15
I could just keep saying like, hey, it's only ebbs and flows of
15:18
the season. They'll put it back together.
15:19
They don't even have to play more than like 500 balls the
15:22
rest of the way to win their division and probably get a buy.
15:25
Well, no, not a buy anymore because the Blue Jays and Astros
15:27
right with them. But at least when their
15:28
division, but man, you'd like to have.
15:31
I don't know. I just, I am kind of worried
15:35
about their offense actually. Full circle with you, Matt.
15:39
We started talking a lot about trades.
15:42
When we get to this trade deadline coming up here in just
15:44
over a week, there's been so many times and it feels like,
15:48
does it feel like there's more names than normal Start right
15:50
there. It maybe it's just me, Maybe I'm
15:52
just reading more about it because the Cubs are in
15:54
contention. I don't know exactly what it is,
15:56
but does it feel like that there's more targets than there
15:58
has been recently in the trade market?
16:01
I felt like there were a lot less about a week and a half
16:04
ago. And I feel like the last two or
16:07
three days, we're starting to see a lot more names get thrown
16:10
on there as it starts to kind of sort itself out.
16:14
I still think we could benefit from another week or two before
16:18
the trade deadline. Look, I mean, the bottom line is
16:21
if you're going to allow so many teams to be in the playoff rate,
16:24
because we have so many more playoff teams than we used to,
16:26
so that means so many teams are close to the playoff race right
16:28
now. That means then you're going to
16:30
have fewer sellers. So it's the total sellers market
16:33
and all the buyers are going crazy over all the the few
16:37
really good players on the really bad teams.
16:39
And then you've got teams in limbo like the Diamondbacks were
16:42
a couple days ago. They're probably now firmly in
16:44
seller territory, but they were, they were 3 1/2 outs 2 days ago.
16:48
So I think if we had another couple weeks, it would sort
16:53
things out. But no, I'm sorry, your actual
16:55
question was, are there more names?
16:56
I don't really think there are. I think that there were far
17:00
fewer until a couple days ago. And now we're starting to see.
17:03
All right, all right, well, now it looks like the Diamondbacks
17:05
are going to sell. So let's talk about those four
17:07
guys. Well, now it looks like maybe
17:09
the Royals sell. So let's talk about Seth Lugo or
17:12
even Chris Boobich or something like that.
17:16
So when it comes to that, when we get to the deadline guy to my
17:19
final question about that is, is this going to be active or is
17:23
this going to be one of those when we get through the day and
17:24
say, man, that was disappointing.
17:27
I think it'll be active and actually for the people who like
17:31
a great deadline, like sometimes in past years we've had a good
17:35
like 3-4 days leading up to the deadline and the deadline itself
17:39
wasn't that great. I could see this being a year
17:42
where almost nothing happens and then the day of there's just an
17:45
absolute flurry and it's amazing.
17:49
Let's hope we get a flurry. No doubt about it.
17:51
Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com, joining us here to look at Major
17:55
League Baseball. Matt, appreciate it as always.
17:58
All right, take care. That's Matt Snyder joining us.
18:01
You can follow along with him on Twitter at Matt Snyder, CBS as
18:05
he joins us here weekly on Miller and Condon.
18:08
Well, we got a new addition here to the crew at Stadium Swim.
18:12
Lucas has been hanging out with me.
18:13
He's been getting work done and getting ready for his show.
18:16
And here is David Eicholt. We'll see if we get Eicholt to
18:20
put on a headset when we come back here.
18:22
Couple minutes with Eicholt and the world traveller.
18:26
Well, the Internet, the national traveller coming from Nashville
18:29
to Vegas. We'll see what's happening with
18:31
Hawkeye insiders, David Eicholt. When we come back, it's Miller
18:34
and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
18:45
We continue. It's Miller and Condon on the
18:47
Iowa Sports Radio Network live from Stadium swim at Circa and
18:53
join for a couple minutes. Just a little appetizer of David
18:57
Eichel. He's going to be joining Lucas
18:58
here coming up in just a little bit.
19:01
Eichel from Nashville to Las Vegas.
19:05
It's it's not great right now. I'm not going to lie to you,
19:08
Trent, a little bit exhausting, but I will say my plan
19:11
dramatically improved because originally and Lucas thought I
19:14
was crazy for this. I was only going to have about
19:16
12 hours in Des Moines between Nashville and Vegas.
19:19
So after revising my schedule, my colleague Elliot Clough's
19:22
going to be coming here in a couple hours as well.
19:24
I'm very happy to say I got about two days of rest in Des
19:27
Moines. And remember, I just moved to
19:29
Des Moines like a day before I went to Nashville too.
19:32
So it's been it's been a hectic month, especially with Elliott
19:35
starting the 1st of the month as well.
19:37
You guys are knocking out of the park over at hawkeyeinsider.com.
19:40
Love the content you guys are putting out there.
19:42
I know tomorrow we'll hear. I would, Dave, But before that,
19:46
you know, for somebody like you on the beat.
19:48
Yeah. Is, is it anything in particular
19:51
you're looking for? Is it just kind of seeing where
19:53
the winds go? Yesterday I just listened to
19:56
rule for a little bit just to hear him, you know, kind of hear
19:58
what he had to say. I had a question for Schiano
20:00
that asked him and one of those little side interviews that they
20:03
have and. That's the beautiful part about
20:05
media day too. Like it's not so much what the
20:07
local writers get, but it's about when you can go, you know,
20:10
just kind of table to table. I have not seen this set up yet
20:12
because I, I, by the way, for people who don't know, I came
20:15
straight here from the airport just to be on this show.
20:17
So I haven't checked into my hotel.
20:19
I've been up since about 2:00 AM Central time, where we're
20:21
rocking it. We're getting after it.
20:23
But no, I think for me, man, it's just one of those things to
20:26
where we know how much Kirk Farrance loves, absolutely loves
20:29
media day. It's his favorite thing.
20:31
He looks forward every single year.
20:33
With that being said, he he's really good at it and he's very
20:36
fair to us. And what I mean by that is, and
20:39
he absolutely sprinkles in a couple tidbits that make you
20:42
raise your eyebrows a little bit.
20:43
So I'm kind of keeping my eye on what he says about the offensive
20:46
line. Is he going to crack open about
20:48
a little bit about the passing game and the improvement
20:50
potentially there? I'm really intrigued about what
20:52
happens to the linebackers because I do think Jane
20:54
Harrell's probably the guy I'm going to pencil in right now,
20:57
I'm Zach Luttmer. I'm penciling him because that's
20:59
a guy I've heard a lot about behind the scenes.
21:01
But this is as open as a line back in course I battles I can
21:05
remember, and I'd even say the same thing for the secondary as
21:07
well. And I've gone back in forth
21:09
about this. I'm curious what your thoughts
21:11
about this are. Some people have told me they're
21:13
more worried about the defense than the offense.
21:16
I'm nearly there. I've set it on a couple
21:18
occasions. I don't know if I want to go
21:20
there because I still think they can be a top 25, top 20 defense.
21:23
And we're talking as Iowa can be a top 7075 offense, right?
21:27
I think we know more what to expect out of the offense this
21:31
year. And I think that's what's kind
21:32
of changing Iowa fans mind right now.
21:34
But I still have questions about the offense.
21:36
I'm worried about tight end. I need to see what happens at
21:38
linebacker and how big a Step 4 can the pass rush get because
21:44
all my expectations for the Iowa defense, there's a heavy focus
21:48
on me when it comes to the pass rush.
21:51
Can Ethan her kit, be the guy? Can Max Llewell and really
21:53
continue to break out of his shell?
21:55
Can Aaron Graves make a big impact?
21:57
Can the transfer defensive tackles, like they have pieces,
22:00
yeah, but they don't have a true cornerback 1, so they have to
22:03
get to the quarterback faster this year, no question about it.
22:06
And even if TJ Hall takes that step forward, you still have the
22:09
questions at the other spot. Is Lee that guy?
22:11
Can Barrows hit the ground running and and win that second
22:14
starting job? What about the depth there?
22:16
I know they like Watson back there.
22:17
Yeah. So at least there's Godfrey.
22:19
Is another guy that who's kind of what goes up the ranks a
22:22
little bit? Florida kid, right?
22:23
Yep. And so you have those question
22:25
marks too. When you talk about linebacker,
22:28
though, I go back, was it 2012? James Morris was really young.
22:33
He got thrust in there earlier than he should have been out
22:35
there. I think Hitchens also, maybe he
22:37
was out there early in his career and frankly, they were
22:39
bad. Now we know what they took me.
22:41
Look at what Desmond King was his freshman.
22:43
Look at Riley Moss. I mean, I thought, you know, I
22:46
give Riley Moss a ton of crap because I don't know about you,
22:49
Trent, after he got burned against Purdue.
22:52
There's always a fork in the road when it comes to guys like
22:54
that. Are they going to fight back or
22:57
is that going to define their career?
22:59
There's really nobody that ever averages out.
23:00
They're either great, at least in the Iowa system, in my
23:02
opinion, You're either great or you just kind of don't hear from
23:05
him again. And he bowed back.
23:08
We've seen it time and time again.
23:09
But the other thing is I'm going to trust Seth Wallace.
23:12
Just look at why he's done. But I will say it's unfair for
23:15
for the Mike linebacker and the linebackers in general.
23:18
The last two Mike linebackers are all Americans in in the NFL
23:21
right now and are potentially two of the best over the last
23:23
decade, the Mike spot in the Big 10 Conference.
23:25
So good luck. But we know how much Iowa, Iowa
23:29
coaches love. Kind of.
23:31
Pouring. In all the accolades that they
23:33
get the offseason accolades into their players.
23:36
Oh, sarcasm, by the way. But I just got to make sure
23:38
people know what I'm talking about.
23:39
Left tackle is obviously a spot that you look at and say they
23:42
got to figure it out. I since we don't get a depth
23:46
chart this week. Did you saw the e-mail?
23:47
We don't get a depth chart this week.
23:49
Not surprised. I kind of like it.
23:50
Yeah, I do kind of like it. So on my podcast today, that's
23:53
what I speculated what the depth chart would look like if we had
23:56
it today. Am I crazy?
23:58
I think Trevor Lock's going to win that.
24:00
Left. I was going to say the same
24:00
thing. Do you?
24:01
Yep, I think Trevor Lock's going to.
24:03
Be there. We're on.
24:03
The upside is obviously higher for him than anybody.
24:06
I just don't know Bryce George. How many steps did he take at
24:09
left tackle? He was.
24:10
He he well, here's here's here's why I've been told about Bryce
24:13
George and that it's another guy where you know, what if somebody
24:16
what flow Quinns left tackle, what if they throw Bryce George
24:18
in? You know, left guard Bo Stevens
24:20
is going to be fighting for his spot too.
24:22
But again, you take a guy like Bryce George because he has the
24:24
versatility to do different things.
24:26
But you know, if if he hadn't torn his ACL his senior year of
24:30
high school, I've been told by two Power 4 coaching staff
24:34
members that he would have been a Power Four guy.
24:36
Like he had that kind of athletic upside.
24:38
But we know how it goes when you're really not quote UN quote
24:41
on the map and you tear your ACL your final year, teams just
24:44
really back off you. So I think that was a nice win
24:46
the offseason. I don't want to count out Jack
24:49
Deltzer because I've heard good enough things about him and he
24:52
had some good reps from time to time that I've seen him be able
24:56
to do. But I will say Trevor Lauk would
24:58
have been so much more celebrated in the recruiting
25:00
class had there not been a certain prospect from in state
25:05
that committed that was the highest ranked and then moved
25:07
out, then he and then. He moved back to.
25:09
Alabama, yeah. I wasn't even out the school,
25:11
but yeah. Yes, you're exactly right.
25:14
I mean like they Ohio. Did they have an Ohio State
25:16
offer? You know Michigan really want it
25:18
bad. Michigan want it bad?
25:20
Whenever I will. He was like a he was like a low
25:22
4 star but like he was a near. I think he's a top 247 kid if I
25:25
remember right. That excites you and everything
25:29
that we've heard his development has kind of gone the way.
25:31
So I'm going to go with the young guy in that spot.
25:33
All right, before we let you go this we're going to let you and
25:36
Lucas going to dive a lot deeper into stuff.
25:38
But I got to ask you. You've heard me now for years
25:41
talking about circle. You've heard me talk about the
25:44
world's largest sports book. So here you are.
25:46
You go right from the airport, let everybody know because
25:50
they've heard it from my mouth before.
25:51
Your thoughts on this experience here and stadium swim and the
25:56
people dancing down there and having a good time and I'm sure
25:57
you're going to be joining them in.
25:58
A little bit. Well, I'm doing my professional
26:00
duties. I was typing up a tidbit
26:02
article, but I will say I put a tweet out of the all the photo
26:05
of the all the TV's and stuff. And you know the song that goes
26:08
hey now, Hey now, this is what dreams are made of.
26:10
That's why I captioned it. I'm like, this is this is
26:12
awesome, man. Like obviously the dry heat of
26:14
Vegas is one thing, but we're in a nice little shady little area
26:17
right now. But man, I would never leave.
26:19
Like you know me well enough. I would be happily locked in
26:22
here all day from open to close, do my thing.
26:25
But I will say the the wallet's hurting a little bit after
26:28
Nashville. I I'm a professional first.
26:30
I have obligations to do because this is a business trip.
26:34
It is, but this is awesome. Like this is inspiring me to
26:37
come back, honestly, because I I saw, I've seen Circa downstairs.
26:40
I've never seen stadium swim. This is sweet.
26:42
It is sweet. It's awesome.
26:45
And these cabanas, you know, you look at the price tag and I know
26:48
for some people you get a group of people.
26:49
We did this. This was not I was not comped
26:51
for this. We actually paid out of her own
26:53
pocket. But it was my wife's 40th
26:54
birthday a couple years back and we got a group of friends that
26:57
came out here. It was Iowa Purdue.
27:00
So that went 2022 Iowa Purdue game and came out here, had four
27:05
couples, eight of us share the cabana, had the you know, VIP
27:09
access to kind of our our own pool, only a couple other people
27:11
there and you buy a bottle, a vodka and you get a 12 pack of
27:18
beer. It hits that minimum speed
27:20
pretty quickly. So.
27:21
That's why I always tell people I get ball service and
27:23
everything is expensive. But if you get the right amount
27:25
of people who are there for the right, like the actual right
27:27
reasons, it's I'm going to call. It affordable.
27:31
Right, it is I. Mean it is what you you don't go
27:34
to buy 5 bottles right and then just get absolutely obliterated
27:38
you come here just to hang out relax get a different view and
27:41
again this would be my view do they have do they have table
27:43
games down here still they. Do yeah, right down there.
27:45
Oh boy. Yeah, I want to go play a
27:46
little. Black.
27:47
I was hoping to play Uno but apparently that's not a thing.
27:49
I got scammed on that. You got scammed, yes.
27:52
I I I would work. On the Internet, you should know
27:54
it's all. What?
27:55
It was sweet though. Can you imagine?
27:57
Like you yell Uno and then the dealer just looks right in the
28:00
eyes, hits you with the plus four wild no the amount of rage
28:05
that just goes through you. Well, people calling out your
28:07
Uno when you get down to your final card, you forgot to say
28:10
Uno. That leads to fisticuffs.
28:11
There's no way you could do. That they have to have security
28:14
literally every single table listing to everything.
28:17
Well, good checking in with you, David.
28:19
Have fun with Lucas when you guys are getting together here.
28:21
Lucas will take over the airwaves from 2:00 until 5
28:25
before overtime. Iowa due for my final break.
28:27
I'll come back on the other side.
28:29
Hand out my picks of the day presented by Circa Sports.
28:32
We're live at stadium Swim at Circa Downtown Las Vegas.
28:36
We continue with more in a moment.
28:53
Back with you one final time. It's Miller and Condon on the
28:55
Iowa Sports Radio Network, broadcasting live from stadium
29:00
swim at Circa downtown Las Vegas.
29:04
Absolutely epic. We got Lucas waiting in the
29:06
bullpen. He'll be taking you from 2:00
29:08
until 5:00 this afternoon. Then overtime Iowa, David Eichel
29:12
going to be hanging out for a bit.
29:14
I'll be back a little bit later on hanging out with Lucas as
29:16
we'll be joined by Derek Stevens, the owner of Circa
29:19
coming up in a little bit and Lucas Strain live play by play
29:22
here. He is taking off his shoes.
29:24
I believe there is going to be a pool dip happening here
29:27
momentarily for young Mr. Strain as he's going to get into the
29:31
pool here at Stadium Swim. Well, my picks of the day, got a
29:34
couple of them for you here. Today has gone well in Las Vegas
29:39
after a hot couple of weeks in baseball.
29:41
That has not been the case recently for me.
29:43
So we try to to bounce back in the right way.
29:46
Let's start with what we have a lot of date baseball already
29:49
happening. Pirates all over the Tigers once
29:53
again. 6/1 in that one as they go to the 9th inning.
29:56
Royals with an early lead against the Cubs 2.
29:59
Nothing to score in that one. So I got a couple baseball plays
30:02
for you today. I'm going to jump on with the
30:04
Astros plus 1/22 as they'll be Walter getting the ball there
30:08
lefty against spot, like the pitching match up there and
30:11
we'll see how deep into the game Walter is going to be able to
30:13
get on that front. But bus 122 like the price there
30:17
with the Astros in Arizona. Talked about this a little bit
30:20
earlier with Matt Snyder from CBS and he mentioned that you
30:26
have a potential trade in the works with Suarez from the
30:31
diamond packs and we'll see. Obviously a piece of that one.
30:33
Yes, I'm jumping back aboard with the Dodgers.
30:35
My Twins finally got one last night against the Dodgers, which
30:37
was great, but it's Chris Paddick and for as good of a
30:41
start to the season that Chris Paddick had and it was good, it
30:45
is completely gone the other way.
30:47
His ERA over his last night starts 8.55.
30:50
He's just been absolutely dreadful.
30:52
It's glass now on the other side for the Dodgers.
30:55
I'll lay the big price with the Dodgers and finally one in the
30:57
WNBA. Tonight did not go well last
30:59
night for the Atlanta Dream. Back to backs for them.
31:02
I think they bounce back and hang around.
31:04
I'm going to grab the seven and a half with Atlanta at Phoenix
31:07
this evening in the West NBA. In fact, the only WNBA game on
31:12
the slate this evening. Well, before we get out of here
31:15
in our final couple of minutes, something I was planning to do
31:17
at the top of we move things around.
31:19
If you missed it, AJ EADS joined us who is now runs football for
31:22
the Big 10 Conference, former Hawkeye linebacker.
31:25
So in order to make that work, we change things around a little
31:28
bit. I wanted to play a little Vegas
31:30
game with you with these Big 10 teams that we've been going
31:33
through and it's just very simply, am I hitting on them,
31:36
I'm holding on them or I'm selling them and go through the
31:39
Big 10. And we're going to kind of
31:40
simplify this and we're just going to go buy win totals.
31:43
Kind of the easiest way I think to do it, the win totals that
31:46
are out there in the market with these teams and what they are in
31:50
terms of the over under. So as I get back on the Circus
31:53
Sports app and open that up and get a set for college football,
31:58
Iowa has been at 7 1/2. Now, this is another thing that
32:01
Ken and I talk about this often, right?
32:03
Make sure that you're always shopping around, always looking
32:05
to find the right price. And in terms of wind totals, I
32:09
mean, the difference between a 6 1/2 and a 7 1/2 is absolutely
32:12
immense. And if you want to get really
32:13
tricky, well then of course, you can go out there and you can
32:18
decide to try to middle that thing and hit it right in the
32:20
middle. But let's go through the big 10
32:21
teams and what we have as it pertains to over unders for the
32:24
season. And, and kind of how I see it
32:26
after listening here these last couple of games.
32:28
Oh, by the way, I think everybody knows my annoyance of
32:32
Phil Fleck. He's not my kind of dude, not a
32:34
guy I'd like to hang with. We're found something that we
32:39
agree on for the first time ever, he loves Vegas, PJ Fleck
32:44
loves Las Vegas, so as many negative things as I said about
32:48
the goober coach of the Gophers, I got something to common with
32:51
him. Yes, we both love Vegas.
32:52
So I guess we found one thing that we can agree upon on that
32:56
one. Let's get into it here.
32:57
Overrunners, we buy and we sell Illinois.
33:00
Now the number 7 1/2, you got to lay big juice.
33:02
It is -165 I just can't anticipate that.
33:06
They put together another nine and three season.
33:08
I know the schedules, not very daunting.
33:10
They got Altmeyer back. They lost a ton out of that
33:12
backfield. I got questions for them on the
33:15
offensive line. Couple of starters gone there.
33:17
I am not buying Illinois this season.
33:19
The Hoosiers, it's the same boat.
33:21
You got to prove it to me and Sigdetti, He'll talk his trash
33:24
and he'll do the thing. And the non conference slate's a
33:26
joke. But I got to see it.
33:27
To believe that they're going to win 9 football games again this
33:30
year at Indiana. I can't get there.
33:32
I was 7 1/2 and I think it's a great number.
33:36
I have made arguments one way or the other.
33:38
If I was forced to make a bet, I'd lean over.
33:41
But I think this is a 7 and five, eight and four team, and
33:44
that's right where the number is.
33:46
So nothing too specific on that front.
33:49
All right, so we got past the eyes.
33:51
As I'm scrolling through the college football win totals at
33:53
Circus Sports and going through the Big 10.
33:55
Michigan, I think I'm buying. I think I'm going to go over on
34:00
Michigan. I think the Wolverines, Bryce
34:02
Underwood's obviously got to pop and we're going to see early in
34:04
the season they got a couple of difficult matchups.
34:06
They go go to Nebraska in September.
34:08
I'm going to go over though the 8 1/2.
34:09
I think Michigan does get to 9 wins this season.
34:12
Michigan State, I can't get there.
34:15
You're #2 of Jonathan Smith. I am just not a believer there
34:18
is Minnesota, the Gophers PJ Flex team over 6 1/2.
34:23
It feels like they're going to be there.
34:24
I'd go over lay the juice -160 but I think they're A7 win team
34:28
again this season. That's kind of the the level
34:31
that they've lived in. We get to Nebraska next.
34:34
They're 7 1/2. And if you want to go over it's
34:37
-160 I love the schedule either way.
34:40
The way it sets up for Nebraska, I think they can get off to a
34:43
tremendous start this season. And yes, I would lean over on
34:47
the Huskers. I think they get to 8 wins this
34:49
season. I'm buying the over with
34:52
Nebraska, couple more. Northwestern, no opinion.
34:55
The number is 4. OK Ohio State is 10 1/2 if you
35:00
want to go over, meaning they win 11 or 12 in the regular
35:02
season. You get plus 125.
35:05
Schedule's more difficult this year.
35:08
Still, you see a couple losses in there.
35:11
I guess I would lean over, but I got a lot of overs and that is
35:13
not a good way to be making money as we're going through
35:16
this exercise. Oregon, I'm on the other side.
35:18
I'm going under the Ducks. I think they are still good.
35:21
They'll be 9 and 3:10 and 2:00, but I can't see them getting
35:24
over that 10 1/2 mark. So I am selling the Ducks this
35:27
year and going under on their win total for the season.
35:30
There's Penn State, got to prove it.
35:32
But there'll be a loss in there somewhere.
35:35
Will there be a second loss? That shouldn't be a loss.
35:37
It's Penn State football under Franklin.
35:39
Yeah, the run to the semifinals was great.
35:41
Still, the path was not overly daunting.
35:43
Talent. Not a problem for Penn State.
35:45
Is it coaching? They made some moves and going
35:48
out and getting Jim Doles was a tremendous one for Penn State.
35:51
Still at 10 1/2. I I got to go under, I got to
35:53
sell the Nittany Lions. Purdue three, I got nothing
35:56
there. Rutgers 5 1/2.
35:58
They probably get back to 6 again this season.
36:00
They have a super easy non conference schedule coming up
36:03
for them this season. What else?
36:05
We got left in the Big 10 as we're scrolling through here.
36:07
Oh yeah, we got to get to UCLAUSE here we go.
36:10
UCLA is 5 1/2. I think they get over.
36:13
I think they're bull eligible this season.
36:15
USC is 8. I think everybody has heard.
36:18
I am a believer in USC this season and I think they get over
36:21
that number. And finally, the Huskies 7 1/2
36:25
is the number. I like Damon Williams a lot.
36:28
I love the run game. Big physical running back.
36:31
You're number two of the new system.
36:33
Jetfish guy's good. He's solid.
36:36
I mean, just look at the way that Arizona cratered a season
36:39
ago. I'm going over again.
36:40
I got Washington over the number and I think the Huskies get 2 at
36:44
minimum eight wins and they might even have a higher ceiling
36:47
than that. There it is, a run through the
36:49
Big 10. Buy, sell, hold and we have done
36:55
it another day completed in the books here at Circus Sports.
36:59
Thanks everybody out there for joining us.
37:01
As always, love talking with you guys and taking a look at
37:05
everything going on. Lucas will have you covered
37:07
coming up in just a little bit. He will be talking all things
37:11
Hawkeyes tomorrow. Our setup live from Radio Row.
37:15
We will be locked and loaded right away to begin our show at
37:18
noon. We'll be there until 5:00.
37:21
We got audio from Kurt Ference. We got Kurt stopping by and
37:24
talking with us a little bit. We're going to have the players
37:26
that are going to be stopping by.
37:27
Beth Getz is going to be in attendance and hope to get her
37:30
with an interview. So there's going to be a lot
37:31
going on. Ton of Hawkeye content coming
37:33
your way tomorrow from Las Vegas.
37:36
We'll be set up at Mandalay Bay before we get back in.
37:39
That's back to normalcy, back to living the the normal life that
37:43
we'll be doing a going forward. Lucas strain, David Eichel, They
37:48
are in the bullpen warmed up and ready to go.
37:50
They'll take you up until 5:00 this afternoon.
37:53
I'll be back with you as well a little bit later on hanging out
37:56
with Lucas as we broadcast live from Circa and Stadium Swim
38:01
downtown Las Vegas Big 10 football media days continue
38:06
Lucas Strain, it's got you covered.
38:08
Coming up next year, it's the Iowa Sports Radio Network.