Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: Blake Boldon at 2024 USTFCCCA LIVE interview!

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BONUS: Blake Boldon at 2024 USTFCCCA LIVE interview! · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Bonus time every year at the USTFCCCA convention down in
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  December, we do a live podcast event where we sit down with
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  coaches from around the country for 5:00-ish minutes and talk
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  about a certain topic. This year, December of 2024, we
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  sat down with coaches to talk about the NCAA.
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  What's going on with the NIL transfer portal?
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  Roster Caps. All those kind of good things,
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  and there's some interesting feedback and tidbits from
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  everyone who chose to sat down with us.
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  So here we are, the audio version of that.
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  You can catch the video version over on YouTube.
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  Just search up the Gil Athletics podcast and look for our live
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  events content and you'll find the three that we've done
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  20/24/2023 2020 2 and we'll do it again in 2025.
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  All right, here we go. We are live on Twitter and
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  YouTube for the Gil Connections podcast bringing every year we
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  just try to do something just a little bit fun, little bit more
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  fun, just a little bit more adventurous.
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  And this year, so we're gonna do the same air quotes there,
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  right? We're gonna do a live podcast
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  here for the next hour or so. We're gonna be on Twitter and on
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  YouTube. And you might actually be
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  listening to this in the future, listening to it on the podcast.
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  That's how Podcast World works. And but this year we're going to
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  have a theme. So each one of our guests that
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  we have, we are going to ask them their opinions, their
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  thoughts on all the changes that are going on in the NCAA.
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  So we'll see. Everybody has the right to
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  answer it on their own. They can say no comment, that's
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  completely fine. And we'll veer off to somewhere
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  else and and then some will have very in depth.
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  And so we're going to start with one of my good friends here.
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  I know I already reduced them, but I can introduce himself.
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  Introduce yourself, my friend. Yeah.
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  I'm Blake Bolden, Franklin P Johnson, Director of the Drake
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  Relays. Thrilled to be here with you,
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  Mike, and thrilled to be here at the Coaches Convention, STFCCCA.
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  As everyone can hear, the energy in the background is palpable.
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  There's a slight roar pretty much from the lobby, the JW all
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  the way over to the Ritz Carlton and a lot of fun.
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  This. Week yeah, I love it.
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  I wish sometimes we could change the camera around and show all
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  the people that are here man, it is a lot of fun and honestly,
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  you know, you've heard me say this before, I consider this
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  week my Super Bowl. I mean like I just love this
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  entire week of hair down. No athletes to have to worry
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  about. Actually, they're all worried
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  about their athletes, but there's nothing going on on the
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  track that they're concerned well.
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  And nobody gets on a plane to come here without first ensuring
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  their athletes are home for the fall.
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  They're so they can entrust that they're that the athletes are
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  with their parents or families or even still on campus, but in
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  good hands and just an exhale after a false.
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  You know, for distance. Coaches with cross country and
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  then Boston and now yeah, the the the event areas other than
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  distance have maybe done a little bit of a test at the end
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  of the season, but now it's just exhale till probably January 2nd
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  or 3rd. Speaking of a test, you know, as
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  a background in distance yourself pretty good, Miller, if
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  I remember correctly. Yeah, Thank you.
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  It's really interesting and it's been going on for a while, but
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  just seems to have more hype here lately.
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  The the Boston meet after cross country man, holy cow.
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  Well, and. Every year the distance runners
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  head there and they set some incredible performance, new
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  collegiate record, something that you just can't believe.
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  And then the following and everyone says, wow, is it ever
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  going to be faster? And then, of course, the
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  following year. Yeah, next year.
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  Right. Exactly.
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  Exactly. Well, I love what they're doing
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  up there. All right, Blake, So, you know,
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  you're in the hot seat. We're talking about the
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  incidentally changes. There's a lot of things, a lot
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  of ways that question can go. NIL roster caps, the demise of
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  the PAC 12. There's a lot of avenues I'm
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  gonna let you pick. What do you think about all
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  these changes going on with NCAA?
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  Conference realignment, major issue, How athletes can monetize
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  their name, image, likeness, huge issue.
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  But really with all of these changes, I think the biggest
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  thing in the sport of track and field, it is a time for
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  unification. It's time for coaches to start
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  to unify. It's time for the coaches
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  association to lead a conversation, not just at the
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  conference level across and then on campus with administration,
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  but even in Capitol Hill with the Senate and, and Congress to
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  really ensure there is legislation beyond the NCA that
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  starts to protect the Olympic movement.
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  And, and I know Sam was there at the end of the summer, August
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  and September. And, and really I would
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  encourage any coach or others that are listening to this to
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  identify somebody that is listening to this right now
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  knows someone that controls a congressman's calendar.
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  And that person needs to reach out to Sam track coaches, you
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  know, get get my call away in front of these people.
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  Get some people. In Congress and in in the closed
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  doors with Senators and Congressmen to start talking
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  about how we can protect the Olympic movement with an
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  emphasis on the oldest Olympic sport, track and field, and with
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  is the best sport in the world. Agreed.
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  How would you answer this question?
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  How does this affect Cuz we talk a lot about the athletes, we
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  talk a lot about coaching, we talk a lot about the
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  conferences. What about again, still my
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  favorite meet in the whole world, Drake Relays.
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  How does this affect positively or negatively the Drake Relays?
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  Yeah. And a lot of that remains to be
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  seen. I mean some of it depends on
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  investment, not just in scholarships and roster size,
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  but how will travel be impacted for these traditional power for
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  what will happen to the small colleges.
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  I actually think and just me from where I sit, NAID 2D3 track
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  and field might actually increase in significance on
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  their. Campus.
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  I think so. That, that's my inclination.
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  Now it's a matter of how can we balance that with the power for
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  schools really investing in Olympic development.
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  In a. Way that we never have Wow with
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  the with the central emphasis on American Olympic.
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  Development. Yeah, I love.
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  It so there's a there's a lot of balance to that and I don't know
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  what all the opportunities are for our event, but I'm
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  increasingly aware of the challenges.
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  And. I think every one of us here
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  faces challenges, but it is a time for unification.
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  And I mean that across collegiate track and field, the
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  NTA Coach Association, but also those other five CS.
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  So we're talking about USA tracking or USA track and.
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  Field right we're. Talking about running USA, we're
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  talking about RCA, where everyone has to identify the
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  significant role that the collegiate system plays in not
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  just American track and field. Development no doubt no doubt,
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  no doubt love it so remains to be seen and but you can you
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  stand here today and guarantee we're having a Drake relays this
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  year in 2025 we're. Going to have a Drake relays in
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  25 and 20. Six.
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  Yeah, babe, I. Mean.
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  So in 2025, we're celebrating our 115th.
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  Yeah, Congrats man. I love that we're a unique.
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  Property in that we celebrate Iowa high school track and field
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  we celebrate collegiate track and field at every level we also
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  celebrate Olympians in a very real and authentic way but also
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  masters athletes special Olympians the whole gamut.
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  Matt you know it really is an opportunity for 10,000 fans to
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  celebrate every athlete and what we need to do as a sport is
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  recognize those assets, pen relays, Drake relays and others
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  that attract fans. And instead of putting our best
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  athletes in in some high performance meet where no one
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  will see it either on television or in the stands, to identify
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  those and work together to make sure that they survive and
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  thrive in the. Next generation love it all
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  right, so right now someone is actually listening to this
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  December of 2025 because we you utilize this content right.
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  So I'm going to ask everybody who sits down with us give us a
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  prediction for this upcoming year.
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  It could be Drake related, it could be world record related,
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  it could be NCAA. You, you just make a prediction
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  and we're going to find out how close you were in December of
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  2025. Well, for one, Team USA will
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  just gotten back from Japan with another incredible performance.
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  There's no doubt about that. Number 2 NCA will only be faster
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  than it. Was true.
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  And as we sit today and then I think there will be some shifts.
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  I I don't know what will continue to happen at the NCA
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  Division One level in terms of sports.
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  Sponsorship. Right.
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  In terms of roster limits, those are all unknowns in this moment,
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  right? But I do believe that as we all
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  continue to collaborate with leaders like you contributing in
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  a central, central way, that we're going to be stronger.
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  Yeah, we might be streamlined at some levels and there may be
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  some reformation of the the, the way schools invest, yeah.
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  But I don't think that there's any risk to our.
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  Future Yeah, I, I, I agree with that.
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  I'm not a a chicken Little sky is falling.
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  There's going to be changes, but we're strong and we're going to
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  continue to move forward, I think.
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  Well, there's no doubt about it. And women's track and field, I
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  think is going to continue to prove that it is an incredible
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  value, valuable. Asset.
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  To every athletic department. In America.
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  All right, well, that was a pretty benign prediction, but.
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  But we'll take it. We'll take it.
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  No, but I know you've. Got about 40.
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  People. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  I'm so grateful for everybody here.
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  And we're going to try to get every last one of the guys and
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  gals that are here waiting. And we're going to say thank
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  you, Blake, man, thank you so much.
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  Again, it's a three-year tradition of you leading us off
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  here live in the Guild Connections podcast, and it
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  means a lot to us. Thank you so much.
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  Thanks, Mike. Yes, Sir.
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  It's no souvenirs you can't take.