Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Iowa State rolls at Utah, Vikings talk from the Combine with Dane Mizutani & MLB early thoughts

Transcript

Iowa State rolls at Utah, Vikings talk from the Combine with Dane Mizutani & MLB early thoughts · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:08
All right, good afternoon. Welcome, Miller and Condon on a
0:12
Wednesday. The Iowa Sports Radio Network,
0:15
Trent Condon and Ken Miller for the next two hours to talk
0:17
sports with you. Glad you're starting your
0:21
afternoon here with us. I've got Channel 8 on in the
0:23
background here. Look at this snow moving back
0:26
in. What?
0:27
Yes, tonight it's snowing again. It is.
0:30
But Saturday, no Friday in the 60s, but tonight we're getting
0:33
snow apparently. We'll see that's I win the
0:37
winter, right? Anyways, let's let you know
0:39
what's coming up on the program. We're going to head to
0:41
Indianapolis here in about 25 minutes where our friend Dane
0:45
Muzatani, who covers the Vikings, he's been taking part
0:49
in the media portion of the combine.
0:51
We'll talk to Dane about a number of Vikings topics, number
0:53
of football topics, probably sprinkled in a little bit of
0:57
twins is would you want to do that, by the way?
0:59
Would that open up a wound? No, no, we we need to talk about
1:02
them and just how awful it's going to be for the foreseeable
1:05
future. Trent, hope springs eternal when
1:07
it comes to baseball. You've heard that a million
1:08
times, right? Does it this year for you?
1:11
It doesn't doesn't that must. I'm not picking on you, but that
1:14
must really blow. It stinks.
1:17
We'll talk to Dane Moussutani, our only guest and our number
1:20
one. Then we'll head to Chicago,
1:22
catch up with our buddy David Kaplan.
1:24
Lot of topics for Kapi, obviously the Bears, where
1:26
they're going to be, what they're going to do in this in
1:31
the offseason. We'll talk Cubs, we'll talk
1:33
White Sox who are four and one according to Sean Roberts in the
1:37
spring training. First week of spring training,
1:40
baseball, not sure what that means.
1:42
Yes, I am absolutely nothing. But we'll talk about the Chicago
1:45
sports with our buddy Cappy to kick off the second hour.
1:49
Centurion Stone of Iowa makes that possible on a weekly basis.
1:52
We are grateful to them for that.
1:54
And then our friend Wade looking Bill, former Hawkeye, will join
1:57
us. We will preview Iowa and Ohio
1:59
State. Ohio states getting 7 1/2
2:02
points. Baffled.
2:04
That's a lot of points tonight, Trent.
2:05
Now the Buckeyes are banged up. Their second and third leading
2:08
scorers missed the last game out against Michigan State.
2:11
Now, Bruce Thornton was outstanding at 32, but I don't
2:14
like the match up for Iowa. I don't like of the way that
2:17
this team is built for Ohio State, The desperate nature that
2:20
the Buckeyes are going into this game, the alternating wins and
2:23
losses. And the last time out they lost.
2:26
So they bounced back every single time here over the last
2:28
night and got a victory on that front.
2:32
It's a matchup thing. And can we talked about leading
2:33
into last week the Wisconsin game just didn't feel like a
2:36
great matchup with Boyd going downhill and what he's going to
2:39
be able to do. That's Bruce Thornton who guards
2:41
him. Yeah.
2:41
Is it is a Tavian banks as Bennett starts going to try to
2:44
do what he did against Price Sanford.
2:46
What are you going to? Do a nice job again, Sanford.
2:48
He was excellent. He was.
2:49
Yeah, he was. By the way, since we brought up
2:53
the Nebrow, you did open the door for me because I was on
2:55
vacation. How big of a thing was the
2:57
Hoiberg? Was it a big talking point?
2:59
It was a talking point, handshake line.
3:00
Yeah, absolutely. Now I know he's continuing to
3:03
double the triple, quadruple down on the phone thing with his
3:06
heart and his peacemaker. Look, I'm no doctor, but I went
3:10
to school a long time. I'm not a doctor even close to
3:12
it. But when you see him on the
3:15
interview, Deus and there's seven phone cell phones right up
3:19
there. What's the difference?
3:22
I don't get it, I don't understand, he did point.
3:25
Out that the Iowa fanbase on Twitter, if he does have a
3:28
problem with our question rather regarding his heart and cell
3:32
phones, he's going to he's going to refer back to them because
3:34
apparently they got all the answers that was on the Rome
3:37
show. It was, yeah.
3:38
I think I saw that on Twitter, but so it was kind of a big deal
3:41
for a while. Yeah, absolutely.
3:42
I think it was. Now that's a story you can sink
3:44
your teeth in, opposed to the bears moving to the state of.
3:47
Iowa that that was a fake story. This was a real story and I I
3:52
just found it interesting that very quickly I will apologize.
3:55
Yes, they did. They we made a mistake, we
3:58
shouldn't have allowed that. And did Hoiberg brush and I
4:01
would assistant in the. Hand.
4:03
Oh, he didn't brush him. He he rattled him, did he?
4:06
He gave him a back slap. Really.
4:08
Yeah. Because he did, he think.
4:09
It was him. No, he thought it was.
4:10
The kid oh, I see that did it so he.
4:12
Mistake. He apologized right away, said
4:14
he reached out again. OK, so there's two different
4:17
videos. There's the one of the actual
4:19
kids video, that one, it's a bad look for Hoiberg.
4:23
I mean, you just see this angry coach slapping at a kid.
4:27
Well, because you didn't know it was a kid at the time.
4:29
Right. The other one where you see it
4:31
from behind, that's OK. This kid kind of came up out of
4:34
nowhere, made a little bit more sense.
4:36
I have been a little bit surprised though.
4:38
And Hoiberg is, as I said, doubling, tripling down.
4:41
That's still going. On they didn't say, you know
4:42
what I want to handle a different way, he said.
4:44
No, I wouldn't have. No, he said.
4:45
We'd do it, do it again. Now what we know about Fred
4:47
Hoiberg is the mayor Boy wonder. Everybody loves him.
4:53
High school sweetheart. Competitive as hell and I said
4:57
last week, I've talked to many people that have golfed with him
5:00
and that boyish demeanor that he has that is not the came at the
5:04
same as what he is as a competitor and as a competitor.
5:07
You can see that they just lost a tough game.
5:10
I didn't kill Hoybrook for it, just a little bit surprised
5:13
about his continued reaction. To this day, or to yesterday
5:17
anyway. Were you surprised the Nebraska
5:19
medias take of the whole thing? You know what their biggest take
5:22
away was? I I try to stay away from those
5:24
idiots. The fact that I, a fan base,
5:28
court rush Nebraska basketball well.
5:32
Your top ten team. Yeah, I know.
5:33
But just the fact that it's there, I don't think has ever
5:35
happened to a Nebraska team before.
5:37
The opposing team rushed the floor.
5:41
Anyways, we shall move on to the here now and that's Ohio State
5:44
tonight and they're getting 7 1/2 points.
5:48
I think it's everywhere, everywhere tonight.
5:50
So we'll talk to Wade looking Bill about that.
5:52
How did you do last night? I saw you were right on on your
5:55
Iowa State. Yep, handicap you were.
5:56
Couldn't have been any more wrong and you weren't the only
5:58
one because there was a lot of Dukes that let down.
6:01
Yep. My God, this team's this team.
6:03
They flex their muscles. They sure did, and I'm not going
6:06
to try and fool anybody. I'm not everything I've seen
6:08
Notre Dame play this year. They're not good.
6:10
No, I did watch. You know what, I'm so glad you
6:12
alerted me to yesterday, a the Virginia game against NC State.
6:16
There was nothing on at 6:00 there.
6:17
I really wanted to watch. So I went over to 612 at your
6:21
recommendation, the ACC Network, to watch a little bit of that
6:24
game because I'm with you. I mean, Virginia's a decent.
6:27
This is when you should be doing your homework.
6:29
If you're going to, you know, make it fill out a bracket or
6:31
whatever. It's easy to say, I think Duke's
6:34
get away to national champion, right?
6:35
OK, right. I think that Michigan's going to
6:37
get to the final folder, right? But there's other teams are
6:40
going to get by to get to that point.
6:42
Absolutely. So I I was glad I watched
6:44
Virginia. But more so, you pointed out
6:47
yesterday that that Tony Bennett's name is now on the
6:49
floor and they showed the they showed the signature and they
6:54
showed all of the players that played for him, coaches that
6:57
coached with him, managers that were a part of the of the staff.
7:01
And what a cool gesture that was.
7:05
Yes, absolutely. And that's Tony, Bennett said
7:07
Saturday. When I was watching their game
7:09
and he said it's kind of the only way he was going to do it.
7:11
You know, he wanted to do something to not just have his
7:14
name there. But it wasn't just about him, it
7:16
was about everybody else and just an incredibly cool gesture
7:19
and you to see it from the top, he just, oh, they put his name
7:23
on the floor. All right, that's neat.
7:24
The other thing, this was actually supposed to happen like
7:26
2 months ago or a month and a half ago.
7:28
It was supposed to be down. But because of all the snow out
7:31
there on the East Coast, they got hit with the storm, right?
7:34
It was supposed to happen. All the people that were
7:36
supposed to come in and do it, they were, they were not able to
7:39
get to work, not able to make the decal and they come into the
7:42
building and all the different things and the people they had
7:44
contracted to do it weren't able to get it done.
7:46
So this is something that was supposed to happen I think back
7:49
in December, but they didn't get to it till February.
7:51
Yeah, no, they're they're certainly seemingly pretty late
7:53
in the schedule. All right, let's get to Iowa
7:55
State. Trent.
7:56
I don't know what it was. I I think you know what it was
7:59
like. I would say flex.
8:00
They did what they were supposed to do.
8:02
I think it was the with the whole production on Fox Sports 1
8:05
left me wanting more. I'd never heard of the play by
8:08
play guy before. Not that he was brutal.
8:11
Other than the fact he's a teenager or he certainly looks
8:13
Carlos Jimenez. Are you familiar with him at
8:16
all? Nope.
8:16
First time I'd seen him was last night.
8:18
And doesn't he look like he's and that's OK, Yeah, 17 maybe
8:22
just got his driver's license. Yeah, he's older than I know he
8:25
is somebody that is that always had a young face growing up.
8:28
I'm not going to kill him for. That no, I'm not killing him
8:30
for. That you sound like you're
8:31
killing. Him.
8:31
No, no, no. I think he's OK what he does.
8:33
I was just I was just taken back by when they, you know, went to
8:37
the I went to the play by play table.
8:39
You got the analysts over over there.
8:41
He's my age, probably, maybe a little bit younger, and he's
8:44
beside a kid who could be his grandson.
8:46
Age. That's what happens.
8:47
I guess your thoughts on Iowa State yesterday.
8:50
It was, I mean, the Bonchilovich story, breaking the record,
8:53
that's great. Yep.
8:54
It's just a very Workman like victory against an overmatch
8:57
team. They were.
8:58
And that's what you hope to do. That's what you hope to build
9:01
out of that. One, you were right in Brown, by
9:02
the way, He's Terrence Brown. He's old player.
9:04
Yeah, he's a good player. Overall, Utah that Alex Jensen's
9:08
got a lot of work to do. Yeah, he does.
9:10
There it's that's a pretty big rebuilding the way that you're
9:13
in state rival BYU, spending money, it's going to be
9:15
difficult. And packing their building as
9:18
opposed to what? We saw that that was a sleepy
9:20
atmosphere last night. What I really loved about this
9:23
road trip, though, obviously you would like to have two
9:26
victories, but it sets the scene for what you're going to see in
9:29
the NCAA tournament, play a game.
9:32
Now there's two days off still after the late night game, that
9:36
team building exercise, just hanging out there.
9:38
It's just you. And as we talked to John Walters
9:40
before the game yesterday, you just hang it out there, right?
9:43
But kind of getting the vibes of what it's going to feel like
9:46
because there's a lot of new pieces to this team.
9:48
There are a lot of women, you know, the surprise we see.
9:51
Plato gets the the starting nod. Buchanan had headaches or.
9:55
Something yes, that that's what TJ said afterwards.
9:57
Yet I thought Buchanan was about as involved and as locked.
10:00
In played really well. I.
10:01
I was right there with you because I got to it late after
10:06
calling a high school basketball game last.
10:07
Night Where were you last night? Valley as the valley girls beat
10:11
Iowa City high to move to the state tournament that.
10:13
'D be a long bus ride home for those gals from Iowa City.
10:16
They so I got to it late. I thought why is play to start
10:20
and then when I started watching was right when Buchanan was in
10:22
the game. I'm going well, this is really
10:24
weird because was it injury? Well, obviously find out
10:27
afterwards what it was, but Buchanan I thought was
10:29
excellent. Maybe just needs headaches.
10:32
I'm just coming off the bench, right?
10:35
We've been saying it now for a couple of weeks.
10:37
They've got something here in Bateman.
10:39
He was really good again last night.
10:40
I like this kids game. He's clearly figured things out
10:45
now and and what did John say yesterday?
10:47
He kind of looked like he just he didn't know what to do.
10:50
You know when and and it's a freshman for crying out loud,
10:53
and he's getting inserted into a place where, you know, they take
10:56
defense obviously very seriously.
10:58
But man, oh, man, he looks like a terrific player.
11:01
I didn't like tour a second foul.
11:02
It wasn't his fault. It was just a bad call it two
11:04
guys rolling around in the floor and you're going to pick one of
11:06
them out and whistle against him?
11:08
Come on, in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter.
11:11
No, but Tory had to come out with like 3 minutes into the
11:14
game. He was already headed to the
11:16
bench. But like Iowa State took care of
11:19
business. Here comes Texas Tech, off you
11:21
go to Arizona. And then before finishing up
11:24
against Arizona State, Man, these next two for Iowa State
11:28
baby. Texas Tech is not Texas Tech.
11:31
No, true because of the injury, but but they're, yeah, I mean,
11:34
Anderson's Anderson, he's really good.
11:36
He's really good. But I always say he's got some
11:38
dudes too. Who else?
11:39
Who else do you like on that? Nat Wells, OK.
11:42
Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I mean, as a guy who's got
11:46
futures on Texas Tech, I know I have no chance.
11:48
Right there with me and they played since the the top and
11:50
injury, they played K State in Cincinnati.
11:53
Yeah, now they'll get tested. By the way, what about the, you
11:56
mentioned BYU a second ago that happened.
12:00
I mean, they got blown off their own floor last night.
12:03
We both have said periodically throughout the year, if you're
12:06
looking for that team in the middle of the pack in the Big
12:08
12, you know, that next tier of the top five and then who's who
12:12
else is there or really know? OK, maybe Central Florida fits
12:16
the bill. And they took it to BYU last
12:19
night and they embarrassed them last night.
12:21
This on the heels of BYU as we saw, you know, taking it to Iowa
12:24
State on Saturday night. How does that?
12:26
Happen and UCF had a nice win with Toppin against Texas Tech
12:29
earlier this year. They're a team that is super.
12:33
And they beat. They beat Kansas at home, too.
12:35
They did, yeah. That was earlier.
12:36
Way back, you know. They won three in a row, TCU at
12:40
Utah, now at BYU, still back to bad Rd. victories.
12:44
I think that's something too. They're probably going to be
12:47
what, a 7 to 10 seat probably in the NCAA tournament.
12:50
But another thing, if you're looking for a team that could
12:52
pull an upset in the round of 32, there's some things that I
12:56
think you could miss a little bit further than that UCF team.
12:58
Yeah, I'm, I'm with you. They they look like, you know,
13:02
could be a factor, could be a team that may or may not sneak
13:05
up on you. But Iowa State did not or Utah
13:07
did not to sneak up on Iowa State last night.
13:10
They took it to him pretty good, covered the number.
13:13
What was the spread? They go off at 13 1/2 in the end
13:16
and won by what, 16 or something like that in the end.
13:20
All right, couple more things. You sent me a really cool link
13:22
yesterday when it comes to the going price for NIL when it
13:26
comes to football in the positions.
13:28
And it's just crazy, right? It truly is where we're at now
13:33
when it comes to playing at that type of level, right?
13:36
And how much you're going to have to commit to to getting a
13:39
quarterback or an edge rusher or a, a, an offensive lineman,
13:44
particularly a tackle, just the going rate of some of this
13:47
trend. It's crazy.
13:49
Has it plateaued? No, you don't think you think
13:52
that 10 years from now you're in your mid 50s still doing this?
13:59
The number one target in the portal quarterbacks making 5
14:02
million in 2020, six, 2036. What's the what's the going
14:06
rate? 1520 million, I think it is,
14:09
yeah. I think we are trending towards
14:12
that direction that that's as this is where it's going to go
14:15
when Mark Cuban is gets back his investment like he did with the
14:20
national championship. Rich people have money.
14:23
We are training more and more towards oligarchs in our
14:25
country. Those people, what else are they
14:28
going to spend it on? The money is there for those
14:31
highest levels. And until there are mechanisms
14:34
in place to fix what we have and have some kind of salary cap and
14:38
make them employees, it's just going to get worse and worse.
14:40
I mean, we have guard rails in place, right?
14:42
You can only spend $21 million. LC's roster is 40 million.
14:49
Penn State's roster last year was 30 million.
14:51
The national championship team from two years ago?
14:53
Ohio State. What's Penn State's spending
14:55
this year? Do we know that?
14:56
No clue. Man, it's not gone backwards.
14:59
You wouldn't think so. They had to.
15:00
They had to place a bunch of guys in their own right.
15:03
So this is just our new reality of college athletics and and I
15:07
knew it would be something that tickles you because you care
15:10
more about the financial than I do.
15:12
I just. It's just.
15:13
Because it when I started, it was they're lucky to have a
15:17
desk. You know what?
15:19
Yeah, can't have cream cheese on a bagel.
15:20
Right, he's sitting in the corner.
15:22
That's an NCAA violation. I mean, think about this.
15:25
Can't go. Coach couldn't used to buy kid
15:27
dinner when he was on a recruiting visit, right?
15:29
That that was that was taboo as taboo could be.
15:32
And now we're at and you think it's going to grow?
15:35
I do. You could be right.
15:36
Yeah, you could be. Right.
15:37
Well, we have these guardrails and LLC is still spending $40
15:39
million. You know, we got this clearing
15:41
house, you got to put all your nil deals through and it's a
15:43
joke. That's a joke, no?
15:45
It's all fake money. It's all funny money and
15:47
something above our realm of understanding.
15:49
It's always been dirty. Now the dirtiness is just out in
15:51
the open. Back to college basketball for
15:55
just a second. Yukon and St.
15:57
John's tonight. I know that when you when you
15:58
talk Big East, I think you're probably right.
16:01
You think it's, you know, it's a Yukon and it's everybody else.
16:03
What about St. John's?
16:06
They are a heart. They're better.
16:07
Than you thought, right? I mean, they got off to such a
16:09
terrible start. Are they better than you
16:13
thought? No.
16:14
This is about what I thought they would be.
16:16
I just didn't think they were a national championship contender.
16:18
Second weekend team maybe? Yeah.
16:19
They're top 20 team, yeah, yeah, 4-5 seed winning around to 32.
16:23
But the upside, the national championship contender.
16:26
No, I I can't envision that. And and for UConn, they got to
16:30
get healthy. I mean, this this team is
16:31
trending in the wrong direction when it comes to health.
16:33
And if they're not healthy, without Caraban, who is really
16:36
struggling right now, they have no shot of winning national
16:39
championship. Hurley, did you see his
16:42
interview over the weekend at press conference?
16:44
He he said he was giving up a swearing for Lent and it didn't
16:48
it didn't last very long. Yeah, good luck.
16:50
Good luck when it comes to him, a couple of the other national
16:53
championship contenders. And I guess this is just part
16:55
and parcel with where we are in the schedule, knowing what lies
16:58
ahead. Both Michigan and Arizona
17:01
struggled last night, 2 teams that you know, of the three or
17:04
four that I think could, could conceivably win it all.
17:07
Michigan struggles against Minnesota, I mean.
17:10
At home. At home, not in the barn, right?
17:13
Definitely could see that. Nico's team playing pretty darn
17:16
well there, but Arizona going to BYU and and to to Baylor Rather,
17:21
Arizona struggle the way they did.
17:23
And the let down factor happened to Michigan apparently, just not
17:26
Duke after that game at the epic one in DC.
17:29
And and some crazy numbers too. If you would have told me before
17:32
the game Michigan's going to make 14 three pointers start
17:34
right there. Like well, they did 1 by 20 E
17:37
they also out rebut rebound. Minnesota get this 39 to 18.
17:43
Well, they they might have won by 40 again.
17:45
Instead, it's nip tuck going into the final 10 minutes of
17:48
that game against the Gophers, who are limited offensively of
17:52
what they can do. But couple of big numbers there.
17:55
That is one of the more confounding games when you look
17:57
at the box score in comparison to the way that the game
17:59
actually played out in that one. Arizona, I just struggle.
18:04
I struggle with Tommy Lloyd. I'm not a big Tommy Lloyd guy.
18:07
He's got to prove it to me. We've seen this team, number one
18:11
seed, get beaten. The Sweet 16 lose to Princeton
18:14
in the first round. And Buries has got some nagging
18:17
injuries. It's plaguing him a little bit.
18:19
I just this Arizona, I can't. I'm more confident in Duke when
18:23
we talk about the top three. I'm more confident in Duke in
18:25
Michigan. And Arizona would be your three.
18:28
Yeah, I think that's fair. I think it's fair.
18:30
But it's Duke. What's the Tommy Lloyd thing?
18:32
Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's going to be
18:35
fascinating, March. It's going to be so much fun.
18:37
And it is right around the corner.
18:39
So is Dane Mazatani is we're going to switch gears entirely.
18:41
We'll get to the NFL with Dane. He's at the combine.
18:44
What has he seen so far? I saw Scott Dockerman tweeted
18:47
earlier today. He is there, he thought, the
18:50
most refreshing player interview that he's done so far in his
18:54
time. Dominic Orange.
18:56
Yeah, Really. Big citrus.
18:57
Big citrus blue, dock away. I will take a time out.
19:00
We'll come back. Dane Musatani will join us on
19:02
the other side. Miller in Condon underway on a
19:05
Wednesday. Yes, one to two inches of snow
19:08
headed our way Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning,
19:13
but 60s will be here on Saturday.
19:15
Since I'm talking weather, I watched Keith Murphy and Jerry
19:18
Ann Ritter yesterday. I just saw a clip online.
19:21
I haven't watched the full but I haven't on my.
19:23
List. I feel so bad for what her and
19:25
her family are going through. Incredible.
19:27
Just, I mean, it's just amazing. And going back a few months ago
19:30
when she was off the air for a while, came back, talked about
19:34
it, just how heartbreaking it is to see somebody that watched on
19:38
TV ever since I've been here, right?
19:40
And just somebody that you know, you talk to people that know
19:43
Jerry Anne, nothing but glowing things to say about her, just as
19:46
a person and to somebody that these people become part of your
19:49
life. Yeah, they do.
19:50
Because you're in your living room.
19:51
Yeah. Absolutely every single night,
19:53
if you're a news watcher, every single night they're there or
19:55
every morning when you're getting ready, whatever it is.
19:58
And that was Jerry Anne and, and to see it and just how quickly,
20:01
you know, things change with her.
20:04
And what she had to put up with it.
20:05
I get the public, right. We're in the public spotlight.
20:08
We're going to take some arrows If you're doing television, if
20:11
you're, if you have a, a public serving job facing job.
20:15
But when it, when it first was starting to affect her speech
20:20
and some of the stuff, then some of the emails and some of the,
20:23
you know, the vitriol that was, you know, sent her way.
20:28
I mean, I, I'm sure those people feel bad now, some of them
20:31
anyways that they went to that. But boy, oh boy.
20:34
And she said repeatedly throughout the 12 minute piece,
20:37
I, I encourage you to watch it. I really do.
20:39
Keith did a nice job, No surprise.
20:41
But Jerry N Ritter and Keith Murphy on WHO 13's website, it's
20:45
really good. But as she said repeatedly, I, I
20:47
just want to talk about the weather.
20:49
I just want to talk about the weather.
20:50
And sadly, you know, how much longer she's going to be able to
20:53
talk about the weather. Not that their their days are
20:55
over, but the speech thing is you take your time out.
20:58
Dame Mazzatani, next, we're rooting for you, Jerry Anne
21:01
Miller and Condon. On a Wednesday.
21:03
It's the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
21:15
I'm Miller and Condon. Welcome back.
21:16
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Let's head to Indianapolis.
21:19
Dame Mazzatani is there. Saint Paul Pioneer Press,
21:22
twincities.com combine is underway and Dane joins us.
21:26
Dane. Dane, Trenton, Ken, thank you
21:27
for giving us a few minutes. How are you?
21:30
I'm good. How are you guys doing?
21:31
OK, from previous years, is the combine still as busy as it
21:35
normally is? More media, more NFL teams?
21:38
There was a while there. NFL teams were there were some
21:40
anyways, that didn't partake in the trek to Indianapolis.
21:44
What are you seeing this? Year, yeah, it feels a little
21:47
thinner this year, honestly, just judging by the space I
21:52
have. I mean, being honest, the the
21:53
space I have to move in the the late night bar where everybody
21:58
meets up at the end of the night.
22:00
I was a little less shoulder to shoulder.
22:01
I think some teams did take the route of staying home.
22:05
You can do a lot of this stuff online and, and truthfully, a
22:08
lot of these teams are going to go to the pro days of the
22:10
players they want. But certainly still a pretty
22:12
good showing here. And then the Vikings, they're
22:16
here. So I'm here and I will be here
22:18
till Thursday. With that, the GM is always a
22:22
big part of these conversations and the Vikings don't have I
22:26
guess considered a full time GM. I guess I don't know what kind
22:30
of phrasing to use there. I mean, how much does that
22:32
change kind of what you do and and the questions that you have
22:35
to ask to the Vikings people that you do talk to and run into
22:38
just because the front office is not normal?
22:41
Yeah, it's a little in flux right now.
22:42
So we did get the opportunity to talk to Kevin O'Connell and
22:46
acting general manager Rob Burzynski yesterday.
22:50
They didn't do podium sessions. A lot of those times, like a lot
22:53
of times the podium sessions get kind of bogged down with just
22:56
random questions from, you know, the left, right, right field,
23:00
left field, any, you know, center field, like just people
23:03
kind of coming in, parachuting in and parachuting out.
23:05
So the Vikings decided to go the route of just letting the beat
23:09
writers talk to Kevin O'Connell and Rob Burzynski.
23:13
So that that gave some or shed some light into how things are
23:16
operating with kind of an interim GM and in the short
23:21
term. But yeah, it's kind of an
23:23
awkward dynamic right now because in the past it's been
23:28
crazy. Alpha Mensa here, Kevin
23:30
O'Connell here, and the structure has been very clear.
23:34
We got a little bit of how things are working.
23:38
Sounds like Rob Burzynski still has final say on, you know, if
23:41
push came to shove, but they're they're working together to kind
23:45
of navigate this, this weird time of influx right now.
23:49
So it's it's a collective right now, but certainly not the norm
23:55
in, in terms of how I would say most NFL games operate.
23:59
JJ McCarthy, obviously, he's a huge talker this offseason, as
24:02
you're well aware. Well, O'connell's response when
24:06
he was asked if he still considers him a franchise
24:08
quarterback and his response, I've got to hear a lot of of
24:11
those feelings are still the same.
24:13
It's just the timeline is in a different place from where it
24:16
was at this point. That doesn't sound like a vote
24:20
of confidence, at least how I read it.
24:22
How did you take that, Dane? Yes, I asked him that because it
24:26
stuck with me since August 2024 when we were in Cleveland for
24:31
joint practices and he by his own volition, we didn't ask him.
24:36
Kevin McConnell stood up there and said everybody should feel
24:38
confident we have our young franchise quarterback in the
24:40
building and he hasn't spoken with that level of conviction
24:44
about JJ McCarthy sense. So I just asked him yesterday,
24:47
like, do you still think he can be a franchise quarterback?
24:51
And he kind of meandered around the answer.
24:52
He did lead off and say I think the answer to that is yes.
24:56
Then he talked for a while after that and kind of take took us
24:59
through JJ McCarthy's journey. What I will say is there have
25:04
been multiple opportunities for the Vikings to just come out and
25:07
say JJ McCarthy's our starter, no questions asked.
25:10
And they have yet to do that this offseason.
25:13
I understand why they have yet to do that.
25:15
The first six games of JJ McCarthy's career were a
25:18
disaster. He had shown some flashes down
25:22
the stretch and flashes at times, but he's played 10 of 34
25:25
possible games since he's been drafted.
25:28
So availability is is a question and frankly, ability is a
25:32
question at times. So they would be, it would be
25:35
kind of foolish to to just declare him the the starting
25:38
quarterback in a way that that most quarterbacks or most teams
25:41
with the franchise quarterback do.
25:43
And the Vikings have yet to do that.
25:45
So I think they're searching for competition.
25:48
To what degree does that competition look like?
25:51
Everyone's still trying to figure that out.
25:52
Let's dig in a little bit deeper to that.
25:54
Kirk Cousins, Kyler Murray, those are the two names that
25:57
have been bandied about a bunch that I have seen.
26:00
Let's start with the reunion with Cousins we saw a year
26:03
removed now from that Achilles injury.
26:05
Certainly play better towards the end of the season, taking
26:07
over for Phoenix in Atlanta. A reunion for a guy.
26:11
That boy felt like he was very hurt when he was let go by the
26:15
Vikings. Yeah, it makes sense.
26:19
Like there there are. You could certainly make the
26:22
argument for Kirk Cousins coming back if if that reunion isn't
26:26
back on the table. And and obviously Kirk Cousins
26:29
would have a say in that. You're right.
26:31
I think he wished to have stayed with the Vikings had he gotten
26:36
that same offer that the Falcons gave him, But the Falcons gave
26:40
him an absurd offer that the Vikings were never going to
26:43
match. So if Kirk's cousins feelings
26:46
were hurt by the fact the Vikings didn't come to the table
26:48
with that type of of offer, like the man is a a Hall of Famer in
26:54
terms of the business side of things, I think he understands.
26:57
I think he understands why why that reunion didn't work out at
27:00
the time. So look, he's been here.
27:05
I think in some ways it would bother people because it would
27:08
feel like these past two years were meaningless, as if all of a
27:11
sudden Kirk Cousins was the quarterback of the Vikings in
27:14
2026. But, you know, he'd be cheaper.
27:18
The roster would look different. The distribution of money would
27:22
be different. So if the Vikings are just
27:24
looking for a baseline level of quarterback play, which is words
27:28
that Kevin O'Connell and Rob Burzynski use, Kirk Cousins
27:33
certainly fits that mold. I think he right now he's a
27:35
better quarterback than JJ McCarthy.
27:37
So you could give him kind of a short term deal in, in that
27:41
scenario, still kind of massage the narrative and say we still
27:46
believe in JJ McCarthy. We just think he needs more
27:48
time. It kind of gives you an
27:50
opportunity to play both sides of the fence if if that that
27:54
comes to be. But I think it would be met with
27:58
with general backlash because people don't like going back.
28:02
People don't like going back in time and and he's phase 36
28:04
coming off a torn Achilles a couple of years ago, worse than
28:09
he was when he was with the Vikings and older than he was
28:12
when he was with the Vikings, So.
28:14
We'll see. Kyler Murray or Mac Jones.
28:16
Either those two make sense. I.
28:19
Look, I think Kyler Murray is the is the one I would target.
28:24
I don't know that Mac Jones makes a sense because I think
28:26
you'd have to give up a lot of draft capital and probably a
28:29
second round pick to get him. And I don't think the Vikings
28:33
are in a position right now or they can be mortgaging the
28:36
future for somebody like a Mac Jones.
28:39
They don't know that he raises the ceiling enough to to give
28:42
up, which would like, I don't know that it's a second round
28:45
pick, but I can assume it's going to be some pretty hefty
28:48
draft capital because why would the Niners trade him unless
28:51
they're getting something big in return?
28:53
So Mac Jones, like I know the name was thrown out there.
28:58
This, this, this during the season.
28:59
And I'm sure it'll be thrown out there over the next couple of
29:01
weeks. Just doesn't really make sense
29:03
to me given what you have to give to get him.
29:06
But Kyler Murray, like he might get released, like the Cardinals
29:09
are going to try to trade him. And if they can't, he might just
29:12
be free to sign wherever he wants.
29:14
And if we're, you know, in a vacuum of who would you rather
29:19
have, Kyler Marie or Kirk Cousins, I'm taking Kyler Murray
29:22
10 times out of 10 just because of the ceiling, just the the
29:25
theoretical ceiling that he gives you, could it combust
29:29
absolutely like that? That's part of the equation is
29:32
that Kyler Murray, if the Cardinals were to release him
29:35
would be because there have been times throughout his career that
29:38
he hasn't proven to be a franchise quarterback on and off
29:42
the field. But he's so talented and and
29:45
he's a former number one overall pick and there have been times
29:48
where he's been a top ten quarterback in the league with
29:50
the dynamic ability he plays a position.
29:53
So that would be who I would be targeting if he is available.
29:58
I'll also say that Rob Burzynski, he kept saying these
30:02
words and they've stuck with me yesterday when we talked to him.
30:05
We cannot manufacture something that is not there.
30:08
So to me, that reads, well, heck yeah.
30:12
We, we would love Joe Burrow if he was available, but we can't,
30:16
they can't create the quarterback they want out of
30:19
thin air. The market is going to dictate
30:21
what they do. But I think given the the the
30:24
the entire landscape of the market, Tyler Murray is
30:27
certainly somebody that that would make sense to me.
30:30
With that, how much action do you anticipate we're going to
30:33
see free agency, both maybe some veteran cuts and what they're
30:37
going to be doing in the market? Yeah, I mean, they're going to
30:40
need to make some hard decisions to get under the cap.
30:44
I think they're something like $45,000,000 in the red right
30:47
now. They're one of the teams with
30:50
the least amount of cap space right now when it was just
30:53
looking at the pieces of paper. But as everybody knows, the cap
30:58
is super easy to manipulate. Maybe not easy because I your
31:03
books will be screwed up if I was the one running them, but
31:05
there are ways to manipulate the cap to so from being in the red
31:10
to back to being in the black pretty easily by just pulling a
31:13
couple levers here. So I think a lot of the the
31:17
action you'll see from the Vikings and free agency is going
31:20
to be more in terms of hard decisions, in terms of cutting
31:24
players, probably renegotiating certain contracts, restructuring
31:29
certain contracts just to give themselves the space to and the
31:34
cap space to do business. I don't anticipate it being like
31:38
last year where on the first day of the legal tampering period,
31:42
they signed 5678 guys. So we're not in that position
31:47
anymore. I think it'll be more cat
31:48
maneuvering and then shrewd moves where they can here and
31:51
there. Yeah, that's the Chiefs do every
31:53
single offseason. Those Chiefs with Patrick
31:56
Mahomes, I don't know how they do it and I don't know they get
31:57
away with it other than they bring eyeballs to TV sets.
32:02
Rondell Moore, obviously very sad story.
32:04
Got to training camp last year with Atlanta.
32:07
Vikings signed him in the offseason.
32:09
When they when they did, I thought this is really good
32:11
signing because we think of him back in the Big 10 doing what he
32:14
did at Purdue, right? Those numbers were unbelievable.
32:17
And then obviously the injury in preseason was never able to play
32:21
and sadly he's gone. Yeah, it's heartbreaking because
32:27
you just think about the person like, I just can't help but
32:31
think about Rondo Moore. And just like what last year was
32:34
supposed to represent for him, another opportunity.
32:38
He was super motivated in training camp.
32:41
You know, we got short snippet conversations to talk to him,
32:45
but you could just sense the hunger, the excitement to to
32:49
prove everybody wrong. And then one play and he tears
32:53
the other knee. And I think it's it's a good
32:56
reminder to me, to you guys, to everybody listening to everybody
33:03
that watches the NFL, that these guys are are more than just
33:07
football players that we watch on Sunday.
33:09
Like they go through real life stuff like we all do.
33:15
And Rondo Moore did a lot of his rehab away from the team.
33:18
So I can imagine how isolating that would feel.
33:21
And I don't want to theorize how he was feeling towards the end,
33:26
but you know, I just, we got to do better at treating these guys
33:30
like, like humans and not robots that, that just play football on
33:34
Sundays. Because I think it's, I think
33:36
it's really hard on on, on these kids that from a young age or
33:41
kind of championed as football players and football players
33:44
alone. And then when when that gets
33:47
taken from them, I think it's sometimes hard to figure out
33:51
identities outside of that. Yeah, no question.
33:53
We'll put. Dana, up in Minnesota, you deal
33:57
with a lot of Winter Olympic stuff.
33:58
I saw over at the Pioneer Press you're writing.
34:00
I wrote plenty about that from over in Italy.
34:03
We only had one Olympian from the state of Iowa and a kid
34:06
that, well, didn't even play a sport that we have in high
34:10
school athletics here in the state of Iowa and speed skating
34:12
with the kid from over a valley. The Winter Olympics in
34:15
Minnesota, it feels like because of the community the way it is
34:19
and obviously the weather that goes along with it, Big deal up
34:21
there. Yeah, people take a lot of pride
34:24
in it. I think obviously the hockey
34:26
team winning gold, you know, men's and women's going to for
34:30
two there, a lot of Minnesotans represented it in on both of
34:34
those teams. So there is a lot of pride
34:37
watching both of those teams win gold medals just in Minnesota.
34:40
But it goes beyond that. You know, it's pretty much every
34:44
sport you can think of. You can flip on the TV over the
34:46
course of that two weeks. I'm in Italy and there was a
34:49
Minnesotan somewhere on on the television set.
34:52
So aside from the hockey team, obviously Lindsey Vonn from here
34:56
has been, you know, arguably the Winter Olympian GOAT and in her
35:00
tenure, obviously a tragic way for her career to end.
35:04
But but what heart, what bravery for for her to show.
35:07
I'm just kind of gutting it out still.
35:10
Jesse Diggins is someone from right up the road and, you know,
35:14
on the outskirts of Saint Paul. She's become kind of an icon.
35:16
This was her last Olympics. And you see a lot of kind of the
35:21
the, the next generation, the next wave that has been created
35:24
by the Lindsey Vonn, by the Jesse Diggins.
35:27
So Minnesota is always going to be well represented at the
35:30
Olympics. Obviously the weather lends
35:32
itself to that and in a lot of ways.
35:34
But I think the athletes that it's produced, they're they're
35:37
continuing to kind of push the push the, you know, the identity
35:41
of the the Winter Olympics forward from a Minnesota's
35:43
perspective. People tuned into that hockey
35:46
game, 18.6 million or whatever it was viewers for an 8 O clock
35:50
puck drop, Eastern Time, unbelievable number it really
35:54
and truly was. Dane, as always man, thanks for
35:56
what you do for Trent and I and our audience throughout the
35:58
state of I. We sure appreciate the
36:00
relationship. Dane Mizutani, we'll talk to you
36:02
in a couple of weeks. Thanks pal.
36:04
Anytime, guys. Thank you, Dane Mizutani as we
36:07
check in on the Vikings, Minnesota sports, etcetera with
36:10
Daniel 18.6 million feud, that gold medal game. 8:00 putt drop
36:15
Eastern Time. That's huge, that number. 5:00
36:17
AM Pacific. 5:00 AM Pacific. I can't wait to talk to Mike
36:22
Palmer about that. I wonder how big of a deal that
36:24
was as far as right. Were they busy?
36:26
Oh yeah. Were the books busy?
36:28
Timing maybe made it a little bit more difficult.
36:31
You'd have to anticipate that that was probably the case on
36:34
that front, but. Because I think he said when, as
36:38
I, as I think back to this time last year, that the the Four
36:42
Nations when the USA played Canada, that that was their
36:45
biggest right ever on a hockey game.
36:49
We'll see how it matches up. Anyways, we'll take a time.
36:51
I'll come back and finish up our #1 Miller and Condon, glad
36:55
you're with us in our number 2. We'll head to Chicago, kick
36:57
things off. David Kaplan joins us in his
37:00
weekly spot. Wade looking Bill will help
37:01
Trent and I out taking a look at Ohio State and Iowa.
37:05
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
37:18
Hi Miller and Condon, welcome back Iowa Sports Radio Network.
37:24
We're with you until 2O clock. David Kaplan kicks off the
37:26
second hour of the program. Talk some baseball with Cappy,
37:30
some football with Cappy, etcetera.
37:32
When it comes to baseball, if you started to transition a
37:35
little bit to MLB, started to, you know, try and get a grasp of
37:38
some of these divisions, some of these win totals, World Series
37:43
contenders, maybe is there a dark horse out there you like?
37:47
There are a couple of teams that I have circled if you're looking
37:50
for something way off the board. I think the Pirates are going to
37:53
continue to build and I think there's a chance.
37:55
We saw the Reds, of course, make the playoffs a year ago, though,
37:58
they had to play the Dodgers and we know how that went.
38:00
I think that's definitely something that is in
38:02
consideration that I need to dig a little bit deeper on the
38:06
Pirates and I like the A's. Pirates, by the way, to make the
38:10
playoffs plus 350. Plus 350 division at Circo is
38:14
about 12:50 I think. Plus 90 is what I saw.
38:17
Yeah, I think you're right with the Pirates.
38:19
This. Is DraftKings, Yeah, and.
38:20
The Pirates aren't going to win 95 games like if the Brewers or
38:23
the Cubs win 90. Like there's no shot, right?
38:26
They need a year where the Reds are still good.
38:28
Everybody's Cardinals. Are going to stink, right?
38:31
You go how will they play not 19 anymore.
38:34
Is it 16 games? Against 14, I don't remember.
38:36
We need to go like 13 to three against the Cardinals and have a
38:40
good record against somebody else and hope everybody beats
38:42
each other up. Maybe there's a path there, but
38:45
plus 3:50 to make the play. And I like the A's over the
38:48
American League for A. Dollar, I'm with you.
38:50
I think that their arrow was pointing up.
38:51
So this time last year I could not talk anymore about the Texas
38:56
Rangers. And ultimately, I don't know if
38:58
I, I, I just wore you down because you jumped on a board
39:02
with me. There was Devon, the
39:03
Diamondbacks, there was Devon the Snakes.
39:05
You're 1000% right Trying to find two teams that you know,
39:08
you might be able to sit on a decent ticket for the 162 games
39:13
and then the month of October. What about?
39:16
Texas like the roster? I do, too.
39:20
Were we? Were we a year ahead of things
39:23
when it comes to the Texas Rangers?
39:25
I like what they have up and down the line up.
39:27
I think you're going to see potentially stardom coming for
39:31
Wyatt Langford. I think it could happen as soon
39:33
as this season where we're talking about him in that upper
39:36
echelon, just 24 years old. I think he has a.
39:39
Changer Outfielder. Just a a monster season Seeger
39:42
you need help it goes hand in. Hand and they traded Simeon
39:46
right to the Mets. So up the middle, it's going to
39:50
be Josh Smith. Don't know much about him.
39:52
It's going to be the second baseman there up the middle, but
39:55
Carter and Young and and Seeger and Nimble.
39:58
Who can Jack Peterson? That's who they probably got
40:02
from the Mets and the trade that's.
40:04
Some pop in that lineup, coupled with the staff and it's just.
40:08
Every time we talk baseball, Doc Fuller must be at lunch.
40:11
Yankees. Yankees.
40:12
Yankees. Yankees degrom Evaldi Mackenzie
40:15
Gore on the. Trade.
40:16
I like that trade pickup. Jack Leiter.
40:19
He's do. I mean, I I think that.
40:22
The time is now. AL's kid, obviously This is why
40:24
you're 3 for him. #2 pick a couple years back.
40:28
Time for him to take the jump. Yeah, they're they're good.
40:32
What about the division Got the Mariners?
40:35
Got the Astros? They're not going away.
40:38
We like the A's. The Mariners are the betting
40:42
favorite. Right they are.
40:44
They're the betting favorite. I didn't like the price on them.
40:46
Just but you, but you. Seemingly have a Mariners ticket
40:50
every. Year I do that, that's a team
40:52
for. Me it is.
40:52
Yes, Seattle gets me every year. We finally were able to cash it
40:55
out. A season to go.
40:56
But Cal Raleigh's not going to do what he did a year ago.
41:00
Well, if he does, I hope to give him the MVP this year, right?
41:03
Julio Rodriguez, it took a while for him to get going, but we
41:06
know he is a superstar. Iran's arena.
41:09
Crawford, Good team that ALCS was.
41:12
You know, the World Series. Of course it's the World Series,
41:14
but how good that ALCS was? That was incredible.
41:18
And if it was probably almost any other two teams, how much?
41:21
Maybe more. Baseball.
41:23
Baseball postseason last year was unbelievable.
41:24
It was great, yes. Now don't screw it up.
41:27
Yeah. Have you seen the picture?
41:29
And this, this, this leaves a mark for me.
41:30
Have you seen kind of Faleppa getting thrown out at home plate
41:33
by an inch? No, and on the other side of the
41:37
picture was Connor Hellebach sticking out his stick and
41:40
robbing Devin Taves for what would have been the go ahead
41:43
goal in the gold medal game. It was a tough year to be a
41:45
Canadian, but yeah, it was a great World Series, great ALCS.
41:51
Is it just the Dodgers? Yeah.
41:54
Is it just, I mean, do we need to go through this exercise of
41:57
April, May, June, July, August, September, October, I mean?
42:01
You'll come in one Wednesday and you'll be freaking out.
42:03
The Dodgers are terrible. It's over.
42:05
Right. Well, I don't have AI, don't
42:06
have a full season of Wednesdays though, so I better get through
42:08
this early. But it just seems like it's
42:11
inevitable, right? Yeah.
42:13
There and if there is a hole, they'll plug it somehow because
42:16
that's what they do and because of the finances that they.
42:19
Have who could beat them? Yankees with Garrett Cole.
42:22
It's a short series. I mean, anybody can.
42:24
The Padres beat him a couple of years ago?
42:25
Like it can happen, and that's what makes it good.
42:28
If they get out of the National League, is there an American
42:31
League team that that can beat them?
42:33
Well, where's Garrett Cole? Well, I hope he's back.
42:36
If, if, if that's the if, that's the path we're going to take.
42:39
If you got Cole, Carlos, Rodan, Max Freed, that's a good
42:45
starting spot. I'll say yeah, Max Freed, that's
42:47
a heck of pick up. That's that's a rotation that
42:50
can give them problems. Yankees bullpen don't love, but
42:56
they're the Yankees. They're going to be fine.
42:59
Yep. Anybody else?
43:01
Your blue chase? What about the blue chase?
43:02
Yeah, they were a whisker away, you know, from doing it.
43:05
That's baseball. And and because of that, yes,
43:07
there's always a chance, but it's just not very fun.
43:11
They're just so inevitable. What about?
43:13
The Braves, can they get there? Well, I thought they were a year
43:17
ago. I did too, and the injuries
43:18
killed him. Because they had so many
43:20
injuries in 2024 that that can't happen in 2025.
43:23
And what happened? They're happening in 2025.
43:26
It can't happen three years in a row headed.
43:29
You would think not. But you just go through and you
43:31
look at that team, obviously Hakuna, Profar, Riley, you know,
43:37
they got Yaz now. Ozzy, Albert.
43:39
Oh, I forgot. He's there now.
43:40
That's right. Michael Harris like Michael
43:42
Harris. Profar, did you say his name?
43:45
Yep. He was the second guy that I
43:47
mentioned. Talk about resurrecting a
43:49
career, what he's done in the last five years after looking
43:51
like an absolute buzz. We keep waiting for Spencer
43:54
Strider. Spencer Strider to become a
43:57
superstar. Chris Sale, you get a full
44:00
season above I. Hope so.
44:01
Didn't they just sign him? I think they just resigned him
44:03
another year. Lopez rotation, maybe some holes
44:08
to fill. We'll see about guys like
44:10
Holmes, who's projected to be a starter.
44:12
Rating is favorite to win the East.
44:14
Yeah, that's kind of crazy. And then Schwellenbach, you
44:17
know, some of those other young guys, I know he's banged up, but
44:20
still, I I like him. I like the roster.
44:24
It's just those injuries have made me, I guess, a little bit
44:27
slow to come around on the break.
44:28
You know who I don't like in the in the National League this
44:31
year? The Mets.
44:32
The Mets. I don't like the Mets.
44:34
I think they're going to miss Pete Alonzo.
44:36
I like the Peralta signing. Bo Bouchet's not a third
44:40
baseman, he's a shortstop. Maybe as a better second
44:43
baseman. They got Simeon to play second.
44:45
I think they overspent on Bo Bouchet.
44:47
Maybe I'm a little hurt that he's not wearing a Blue Jays
44:49
uniform. Maybe just a tad, but Lindors in
44:53
and out of the lineup. We'll see.
44:54
We shall see. Baseball right around the
44:56
corner, so is David Kaplan. He'll kick off our number two.
44:59
More baseball conversation coming up with Cappy Wade
45:02
looking. Bill will join Trent tonight in
45:04
about 35 minutes to talk about Iowa and Ohio State.
45:09
An 8:00 tip tonight at Carver Hawkeye.
45:11
Hour 2 is next. Miller and Condon, we'll be
45:13
right back.