Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Miller and Condon Hour 1 7/29/2025

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Miller and Condon Hour 1 7/29/2025 · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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All right, good afternoon. Welcome, Miller and Condon on a
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Wednesday, the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
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Ken Miller, we're with you for the next couple of hours.
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Trent is on vacation, so I'll take you up until 2:00.
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Here's what's coming up with me this morning in about 15
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minutes, Frank Schwab, who covers the NFL for
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yahoosports.com. He's just completed his 32 team
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countdown, starting with #32 all the way down to numero Uno, the
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Philadelphia Eagles. Frank's number one team.
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So we'll. Pick his brain on how the list
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came together, some of the difficult spots and what
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potentially he's watching teams that may be on the move from
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where he has them ranked as training camps are underway and
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as we know, there is an actual game tomorrow night, so Frank
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Schwab will join me at. 12/15 12:45 Mitch Holtis in his
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regular spot, the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Papa John's in central Iowa sponsor the Mitch Holtis Daily
1:01
segment. Chiefs Daily training camp
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reports the sound today will come from Travis Kelsey.
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Who may or may not be preparing for his final year in the NFL,
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but we'll get the latest on Mitch and what's going on, the
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comings and goings, the training camp pursuant to the Kansas City
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Chiefs when he joins me here at 12:45.
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Our number 2 going to start things off and Full disclosure,
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at least on the David Kaplan piece, I just finished taping
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it. Cappy's at American Family
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Insurance Field for the finale of the three-game set between
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the Brewers and the Cubs. And when we were scheduled to
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talk, of course, the national anthem will being being played
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and we don't want to, you know, have him talking during the
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anthem, those type of things with the crowd filing in.
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So thought better of it and just tape it.
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Right now he's on a bus full of listeners making their way from
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Chicago to Milwaukee for the getaway game.
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That's not a must win, but boy, seems like an important win for
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both teams. Quite frankly, Cubs want to
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leave Milwaukee only down a game in the standings and the Brewers
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would love to go up three. We'll see.
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Imanaga takes the bump for the R is on the bump rather for the
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Cubs today and he's going up against a pretty good pitcher in
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his own right and Freddy Peralta, who's after a terrific
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year. Imanaga, I will see.
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He did not look good in his last start.
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Matthew Boyd didn't look good in his last start.
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Maybe it's just a a combination of, you know, everything bad
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happening at once. We'll see.
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But Iminaga got to get that velocity up today.
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That's one of the things that I think a lot of Cubs fans, Cubs
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media, etcetera will be watching.
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It's a 110 first pitch from American Family Insurance Field
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in Milwaukee. So Cappy will kick off our
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number 2. And then once I get through
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Cappy, we're going to head down to Principal Park where Tommy
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Birch is standing by. I Cub slated to play a day game
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here today. We'll get Birchy's thoughts.
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I want to pick his brain as to what it's like, you know,
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amongst the AAA players is the trade deadline nears.
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Can you tell apprehension guys, you know, watching their phones
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or trying to pay attention to the here and now?
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What's it like for them who potentially may be moved with
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the news that he and Hap got hurt yesterday?
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I'm not going to miss any time. By the sounds of things.
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An IL stint I believe has been ruled out, but regardless,
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Moshe's Piasteros was called up. Which?
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Why not only Casey? You know, I, I I guess that he
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is the apple of every team's eye when it comes to, you know,
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perspective trades when it comes with the Cubs.
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But man, I don't think you give up on Casey, especially with
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there's no certainty that Kyle Tucker is going to remain a cub
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at the end of the season. He's had his opportunity.
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I know that it doesn't happen all the time when you you know,
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you bring a guy over for one year on expiring contract that
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you know, he gets off to a great start as Tucker's been he's an
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All Star. He's a starter in the All Star
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game, falling on some hard times since then, and the number of
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teammates would fall into that same category.
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But point being, if Tucker can't be the guy, Owen Casey is a
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right fielder. I think there's a lot of folks
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out there that would love to buy Owen Casey MLB stock.
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They really would. I mean, this guy, he's better
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than AAA right now. He is or may hear his name
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included in any trade, but do you trade him for a rental?
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I think Cappy said last week that that's where he draws the
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line, so I'll ask him about that.
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But it was not Casey that got the opportunity to go up.
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Today's Bruhan has been designated for assignment.
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I thought it was going to be Justin Turner.
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I have no idea what he does on the roster.
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I truly don't. Maybe it's the veteran presence
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in the locker room, but this guy's so washed, it's
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unbelievable. Batting what, 205 is he had?
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He had one big hit that I can recall.
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I think it was a AA pinch hit opportunity.
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Oh, back. Maybe may at some point.
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Look, he's he's, he was a fine. Player he he was an OK player at
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his in his prime, but he's so far past that right now.
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But Bruhan, it was the guy that was the odd man out today by
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Esteros, who, you know, OK, he didn't get a long look with the
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big club. But what you saw of him, I don't
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think he lived up to the admittedly huge expectations
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when he, you know, got that opportunity to go up.
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And he's never going to be a catcher at the Major League
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level. He's just not.
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He's a designated hitter. That's what he is.
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Will he get that opportunity in the line up?
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I'm sure it's out. I haven't seen it yet, but we'll
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try and find that for you. But the Cubs themselves did.
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I finish the guest list. So Tommy Burchett 1:10-ish and
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then Bama Bob, a second of three appearances with Bama today will
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focus on the Big 10. He'll join me at about 1:30 as
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we take you up until 2:00 and then off the bench.
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Off the bench, Lucas and again David Eicholdt Co hosting with
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Lucas here today. Sean remains out on maternity
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leave. The Brewers are good baseball
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team folks. I think this is maybe we, if
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there was some trepidation to anoint them as a real player in
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the National League. I think you have to at this
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point, Well, they've got the best record in the National
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League. So if you haven't put them
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there, let me stop myself. They've got the best record in
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Major League Baseball after they've started with this first
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two, first two of this three-game set going their way.
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And if you're a White Sox fan and you're watching this, why
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not? You're watching your own team.
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Maybe it's because they're so bad.
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But when you see Andrew Vaughn, what he is doing, I mentioned
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this yesterday, it is is does this fall on the White Sox
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organization? I mean, how could this guy be so
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bad, so bad with the Pale Hose? And to get his opportunity
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traded for Aaron Savali, who has not lit the American League
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Central on fire by any means. Andrew Vaughn has been
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unbelievable. Grand Slam yesterday, some of
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the numbers he's putting up at his new spot.
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Maybe it's as simple as he just needed to change the scenery.
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We've seen that before in multiple sports.
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But my good God, look, the White Sox got it right on draft night.
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They have the third overall pick in 2019.
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The 1st overall pick went to the Baltimore Orioles.
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They took Adly Rushman, an All Star catcher.
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I think they, I think they got the pick right.
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If they didn't, the guy that went #2 and you can make the
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argument might have should have gone #1 he's the face of the
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Kansas City Royals, Bobby Witt. Then come the White Sox at
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three, they took Andrew Vaughn. They were right.
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I think they were right. At least the Andrew Vaughn we've
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seen in a Brewers uniform is proving them to be right.
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So we'll see. Yvonne can keep it up, but this
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is a big spot today for the Cubs.
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It's first pitch about an hour from right now.
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We'll get to Cappy coming up to kick off our number 2 again.
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I taped him when he was on the bus with a bunch of listeners to
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his radio station headed up to Milwaukee to hear the game.
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But a big spot Imanaga going up against Peralta.
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I have to think I didn't check the point spread.
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Are the betting rather on the game.
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I got to think it's almost a pick em.
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If not, maybe maybe the Brewers are a slight favorite, but the
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with Cubs without Ian Hap is going to miss some time.
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We'll see where it goes. But a big, big spot there is
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baseball already underway the top of the second inning.
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Baltimore going for the sweep against the blow Jays.
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We're just awful as of late. Lost the the finale in Detroit
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and then have lost the first three games against the last
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place, Baltimore Orioles. You've got an opportunity here
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in the in the Jays to put some distance between yourself and
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the Yankees, who can't feel to save their lives.
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They really can't. This Volpe, my God, he's bad.
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Is he not? Have you ever watched the
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Yankees? He's just terrible.
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They're the middle of the diamond defense for the Yankees,
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you know, just pathetic. Anyways, judges out, Jays have
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an opportunity. They're playing the worst team
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in the league, are in the division in the Orioles and lose
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the first 3 and are losing again here today.
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Burrios going over. The Jays will watch that one.
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And there's a bunch of day baseball getting underway,
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including the Minnesota Twins. How about Carlos Correa coming
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out apparently saying he's willing to trade or to wave his
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no trade clause in the likelihood that the Astros are
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interested in that relationship getting back together.
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So we'll see where it goes with the Astros in Korea.
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Korea is still owed, I think, over $100 million.
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I still got a lot of money left on that contract.
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I think the Twins would like to get out of it if they possibly
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can, but maybe there's some smoke there.
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How active will the Twins be? Obviously the bullpen with Duran
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and Jacks, those two players in all likelihood will be he will
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be traded and then that they go as far as trading Joe Ryan.
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Now there's a guy in Joe Ryan who if you are the Cubs, yeah,
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you put on KC in any trade, you put the the pitcher, what's his
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name Wiggins, I think is a AA level right now.
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You make you make him a part of it.
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If you can get a player of that ilk with that much club control
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still left in in Joe Ryan, an ace at the top of your rotation,
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a right-handed ace, no steal. Imenaga not looking good, Boyd
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not looking good as of late. Colin Ray, bless his heart, he
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gave it all last night, but he's just, he's going to give you 4,
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maybe 5 innings. But it wasn't to be for Colin
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Ray last night as it wasn't for the Chicago Cubs.
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Is Andrew Vaughn with a Grand Slam in that game.
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All right, back to football. When I return, I'm going to be
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joined by Frank Schwab, yahoosports.com.
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Frank has come out again with his 32 teams started at team #32
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made all the way to #1 by the way, the 32nd team in his power
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rankings, the Tennessee Titans from. 32 Tennessee to numero Uno
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Philadelphia. Frank Schwab joins me next to
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discuss his list. Miller and Condon were under way
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on a Wednesday. It's the Iowa sports Radio
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Network. Hi Miller and Condon, welcome
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back. Iowa Sports Radio Network.
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Wherever you're listening in the state of Iowa, we are grateful
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that you are. Mitch Holt is the voice of the
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Kansas City Chiefs coming up his daily the segment Chief training
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camp report About 25 minutes from right now, let's talk to
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Frank Schwab. He covers the NFL for
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yahoosports.com. His heavy lift teams 32 all the
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way down to #1 the finale of it was yesterday.
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He Frank has anointed the Philadelphia Eagles in his
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rankings as the number one team going into the regular season.
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Frank Kenmiller, thanks for doing this for me, Frank.
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I really appreciate it. Good to talk to you.
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How are things? Doing well?
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Doing well. How are you?
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Doing good. I want to get to get right into
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it. Your list.
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And you know, I, I, I read it every day.
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I'm one of your faithful readers.
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I love this list. As I've told you, I wasn't sure
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when it got it got right down to the final two.
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Obviously, I knew it was either Baltimore or the Eagles.
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Those were the only two that were left.
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How difficult was it for you? What was the deciding point to
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put the Eagles back at #1 where they finished the regular season
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last year? Yeah, well, I'm going to push
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back on that in a second about them finishing the regular
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season there last year, because they didn't.
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If you remember, they were not favored to win a championship
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going into the playoffs. They were not favored to win the
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Super Bowl. I, as I've told my coworkers
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many, many, many, many times over the past few months, I was
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the only person to pick the Eagles to win that game.
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So nobody really was on to the Eagles until right at the end.
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We have a revisionist history. We remember them being a great
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champion at the end, but I remember in December being like,
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why aren't we talking about the Eagles more?
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I mean, they haven't lost since they've only lost once in
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September. It was weird.
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This really, really high profile team didn't get a lot of buzz,
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but you know, they had that dominant postseason run.
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And ultimately, look, and this may not make sense to anybody
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else but me, but I do my I do my power rankings and my
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predictions differently. I just feel like there's,
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there's certain things you need to somewhat earn in power
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rankings, like the Eagles earn the number one spot.
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Now when my our predictions come out in a month, I can tell you
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without any doubt I'm picking the Ravens win the Super Bowl.
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I think it's their year, but I didn't put the Ravens number one
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just because they haven't done it yet.
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They haven't they haven't gotten there.
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They, you know, I love Lamar Jackson, I wrote about it
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extensively. And I think he's he's already on
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the list of all time great quarterbacks, however many, many
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you want to put on that list. He is on that list already, but
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they haven't won a Super Bowl yet.
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And until they do, there's going to be some skepticism.
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And that's why I had the eagles #1 and you can say I'm kind of
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hypocritical putting the Ravens at #2 and they haven't really
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earned #2 yet, but I wanted to be a little higher on them.
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But ultimately #1 had to be the. Eagle yeah, I'm with you on the
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Ravens. I think it's an AFC team, and
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the Ravens clearly on that list. I want to ask you about the
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think you had them at #8
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they're certainly in your top ten.
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A lot of love for this team. I don't know what it is.
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Maybe it's just like I can't wrap my mind around Baker
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Mayfield as yet and I don't know why because obviously his play
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on the field last year was outstanding.
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He's a tough SOBI. Think Abuka's got a chance?
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Maybe, In fact, I've got a ticket in my pocket already for
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Rookie of the Year for him. We'll see where that goes at a
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decent price. But what I'm when I look at the
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Buccaneers, what am I missing, Frank?
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Because everybody loves them but me.
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I think it's just, to me anyway, I just look at it, some of the
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wins they had last year, they were the only one of only two
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teams to beat the Lions all year.
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They did it in Detroit. They took the Chiefs to overtime
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at Arrowhead Stadium. Should have gone for two.
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They might want to go for two. I think I would have wanted to
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go for two. They beat the brakes off the
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Eagles, who were the eventual Super Bowl champion.
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That's the only team to really blow out the Eagles all year.
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And yeah, they lost a lot of games too.
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I get that. But they had a fantastic draft,
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really, really deep, good offense.
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The defense made improvements late in the year.
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And I trust Todd Bowles as a coach.
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I just look at that roster, I'm like this team is really loaded.
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And another thing I like about the Buccaneers is I don't like
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anybody else in that division. I think the Saints are going to
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be maybe the worst team in the NFL.
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The Panthers are probably going to have the worst defense in the
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NFL. I'm not sold on the Falcons yet.
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Maybe they're like a nine win team.
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But I think the Buccaneers can win this division by multiple
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games and maybe even backdoor their way into the number one
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seed because the Lions or the Packers, whoever you like in the
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in the north, they're going to kind of beat each other up.
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Rams and 49ers going to beat themselves up.
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I don't think I mean, maybe the Eagles, but I think they play in
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a fairly tough division with the Cowboys bounce back.
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So I've been the Buccaneers or one of those teams that like
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clinches right after Thanksgiving, you know, and it
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kind of cruises into the playoffs.
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So look, Tristan worst injury or left tackle worries me a lot.
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He's the best players in the NFL regardless of position.
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Liam Cohen leaving, that worries me, too.
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Although they promoted their pass game coordinator, so I'm
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kind of having some faith that there's going to be a pretty,
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you know, a pretty seamless transition.
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But that's never guaranteed. So I understand where, you know,
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the warts with the Buccaneers. I think the thing holding
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everybody back is Baker Mayfield.
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I think we we remember him being really bad with the Panthers,
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remember the Browns absolutely giving up on him.
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Like, I mean, I think they paid him to go away and then, you
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know, he signed for nothing with the Buccaneers two years ago.
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But I think the results are there are the results.
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And we have to say over the last two seasons, Baker Mayfield has
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proven himself to be a top ten quarterback in this league.
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Like it's an odd path he's been on, but he's there.
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And I think that I understand the skepticism because we have
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seen Baker have really highs and really low lows.
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But I think that I think the skepticism is all about Baker
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Mayfield. And people say, yeah, well, he's
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been a top ten quarterback, but can he do it again?
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And I think we might be doing that for years and years now
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until we just kind of give up and say, yeah, this is who this
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guy is. Three of our four regional teams
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in Todd Frank's top 7 Packers, 7 Vikings, 6 chiefs #3 the only
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one not there, the Bears, who they check in at #15 But I want
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to start. I want to go to the NFC North
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with you and the team that you have #3 and you were higher on
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them than a lot of people. I'm with you, by the way.
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I have not given up on the Lions, despite the fact that
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they've lost both coordinators. I taped the trend to my TV show
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this morning. We had Mike Palm on or I had
17:37
Mike Palm on who you know, at Circus Sports.
17:40
Yeah, he tells us the that the they're starting to see more
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Lions love, more Lions love to win the North.
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This last week, the Lions money starting to come in.
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Why are you and I higher on the Lions?
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Is it just? Come right down to the fact
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that, look, we saw the Eagles try to replace their
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coordinators a couple years ago and they fell flat on their
18:00
face. Lions.
18:02
Yeah, we like Dan Campbell, but man, oh man, they're going to
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miss Aaron Glenn and. Johnson goes to the Bears.
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Yeah, and that's the thing. I, you know, I, I told you this,
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we talked, we talked every year about preview time.
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And I always tell you that there's a few teams that I'm
18:17
actually writing the previews because I, I dig so deeply into
18:20
writing them every year that I just changed my opinion a little
18:23
bit on these teams. And the Lions were one of those.
18:26
Not necessarily I changed my opinion, but I just said, why
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have we gone overboard with the Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn stuff?
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I, I get it. Like we, we kind of undervalued
18:37
that forever. And this year you literally
18:39
can't have a conversation with about the Lions without bringing
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up Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. They're great coaches, they're
18:44
fantastic, but it's not like they're not going to have people
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calling plays like Kelvin Shepherd wasn't with Aaron Glenn
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the last four years. Their new defensive coordinator.
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If I John Morton wasn't with the Lions a couple years ago and
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then spent the last couple years of Sean Payton isn't like this
19:00
roster isn't absolutely positively loaded with blue chip
19:02
guys. I think that we forget how good
19:05
the Lions were almost because the way they lost in the
19:07
playoffs. But this was a team, you know,
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DVOA, which I always cite, this was the top five defense with
19:13
all those injuries. They're not going to be worse
19:15
this year on defense. They're they're that's on
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offense is ridiculous. Like, I, I get they got a
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different play caller and Ben Johnson was great, but man, are
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they just going to fall off the planet from a 534 point team
19:28
last year? Like they're going to regress a
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little bit, but not they're not going to become, you know, I
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mean, the New Orleans Saints on offense or anything.
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I just think we've gone overboard.
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We've overcompensated for talking about Ben Johnson and
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Aaron Glenn and kind of need to take a step back and realize,
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yeah, those guys were great. They they were fantastic.
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I'm not saying that that's not even a loss, but the Lions
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taking a step back, they're still a really, really, really
19:51
good football. Team yeah, no doubt.
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Kansas City, the Chiefs. It feels to me like this is to
19:57
borrow Michael the the last dance for for the Chiefs.
20:01
Does it feel like that to you that they're giving it one more
20:03
go with the Kelsey and Mahomes? Not the Mahomes is going
20:06
anywhere, but we could certainly see Kelsey going elsewhere.
20:11
Jones did not have a good year last year.
20:13
Chris Jones, who's all worldly, admittedly, you know, he's
20:16
doubled and triple team most of the time.
20:18
Where are you on the Chiefs? You have them checking in at #4.
20:23
They were probably the toughest team for me in many, many ways
20:27
because it's one of the very, very few times when I
20:30
simultaneously said I might have this team too low and I also
20:35
might have this team too high because when you look at what
20:38
they were last year, they were so lucky.
20:40
I mean, we talked about that, but you know, just how fortunate
20:45
they were with all the close wins and all the different weird
20:48
ways they won and you know them and they got blown out in the
20:53
Super Bowl finally. And maybe we're exposed a little
20:56
bit. But on the other hand, it's the
20:59
Kansas City Chiefs were talking about they've made it AFC
21:02
championship games like they are a dynasty without any doubt in
21:06
the world. So why are, you know, why would
21:09
I be too low on them? So I didn't know what to make of
21:12
them. I don't I honestly don't feel
21:14
like it's like last dance. Like, I think that they're so
21:18
smart in the front office. Patrick Holmes is so good.
21:21
Andy Reid is just great. Like a once Andy retires, it
21:26
isn't given any indication he wants to.
21:28
Once Andy retires, things probably change, right?
21:30
Like, OK, all of a sudden you lost one of your all time great
21:33
coaches and, and, and there's a transition there.
21:36
But I think long as Andy and Patrick are there, the front
21:39
office is smart enough to build around those guys and I think
21:44
they're going to be fine for the next.
21:45
I know nobody wants to hear this, but I think you're going
21:48
to be fine for the next four or five years at least.
21:50
Like, I just think they're always going to be a Super Bowl
21:52
contender. Now, whether they win anymore,
21:54
who knows? It's hard to do and all that
21:55
kind of stuff. But I don't think the dynasty's
21:57
ending. I don't think it's done.
21:59
I don't think it ends after this year.
22:01
I don't think it ends in the next few years.
22:02
Those are really, really good football teams.
22:04
That's too bad. There's a Broncos fan.
22:06
You say that. So let's let's go to the Vikings
22:09
and look, I believe in Kevin O'Connell.
22:11
I really do. I I think he's a quarterback
22:13
whisperer. I'm hearing conflicting reports
22:16
when it comes to JJ McCarthy. I think the Vikings might have
22:20
the. Best roster in football with one
22:22
major question mark at the most important position in all of
22:26
sports, and that's the quarterback.
22:28
If McCarthy is even average, is that good enough for the
22:32
Vikings? The Vikings for you?
22:34
Check in at where do you have the numbers?
22:38
I lost it #6. Yeah #6.
22:41
I, I assume I'm going to be the highest one on them because
22:45
they're another team that I, I just take a step back and I say,
22:47
why all the negativity? The same people who are like,
22:50
oh, the, the Vikings are crashing back to Earth are the
22:53
same ones who will tell you Sam Darnold's not very good.
22:56
Well, what 1 is it? Are they crashing back to Earth
22:58
because Sam Darnold was this, you know, superstar who they
23:02
can't replace or, or what is it? I, this team went, no, I'm not
23:06
going to 14 or three again. It's almost an impossible ask,
23:10
but they're still going to be really good.
23:12
You, like you said, they might have the best roster in
23:14
football. They they're they're offensive
23:17
line, which was a problem at the end of last year.
23:19
They fixed that. And I, I think you're right
23:22
about that. McCarthy being an unknown.
23:24
That's not necessarily a bad thing because who's the same?
23:28
JJ McCarthy is not better than Sam Darnold.
23:31
Why, why, why is that been dismissed as a possibility all
23:34
offseason? This is a smart front office
23:37
that traded up to get JJ McCarthy, who's hurt last year.
23:41
We don't know. He's just an unknown at this
23:43
point, but he's a really good prospect.
23:45
Sam Darnold never had a passer rating over 80 in his career
23:48
before last year. We're saying JJ McCarthy can't
23:51
be at least Sam Darnold and maybe better.
23:54
Like, I think if that, that, you know, best case scenario has
23:58
been dismissed, that I haven't heard many people say, hey, this
24:03
JJ McCarthy is actually better than Sam Darnold.
24:06
Why is that such an impossibility?
24:08
I, I don't know. I think I think Vikings are
24:10
really, really good. I think they make the playoffs.
24:12
I'm going to give them the respect.
24:13
I don't think anybody else is really.
24:15
And, and if I get proven, look, if everybody's right and they go
24:20
7 and 10 because JJ McCarthy just stinks, OK, That, that I
24:24
can understand that there's that possibility too.
24:27
I'm just not banking on it. I'm not going to sit here and
24:29
tell you the Minnesota Vikings aren't going to be good because
24:31
they're changing quarterbacks because the guy they changed
24:34
quarterbacks from was before last year was bad.
24:38
Like I, I see the cocoon of the Vikings with that coaching
24:41
staff, that roster, you're still throwing the Justin Jefferson
24:44
and Hawkinson and Addison and all those.
24:47
I just think that the Vikings are set up so well for JJ
24:49
McCarthy to succeed that I'm not giving up on them and and by any
24:53
means. And made major replacements on
24:55
the offensive line in a positive way.
24:57
So we'll see at #15 two more teams I'll let you go #15 the
25:01
Chicago Bears, playoff, potential possibilities for
25:06
them, Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams year #1 what will that
25:10
chemistry be like? Your thoughts on the Bears at
25:12
15? I don't know.
25:14
And I, you know, it's one of those things where I keep
25:17
reading these camp reports, which aren't very glowing.
25:19
Like, I mean, all the mistakes being made and Ben Johnson being
25:22
mad at everybody and throwing the offense off the field or
25:24
whatever. Well, realizing, you know, I've
25:27
covered this game a long time and that happens in camp.
25:30
The, the coaches are riding them hard.
25:32
They want improvement right away.
25:34
Ben Johnson, it seems to be one of those coaches who is a
25:36
perfectionist, which is not a bad thing.
25:39
But at the same time, man, I don't really love hearing these
25:42
things. Like it's not a good thing that
25:44
that the offense is having problems with false starts and,
25:47
and lining up and all that kind of stuff.
25:49
I don't know. I, I, I, I'm still at the, I
25:52
think if it hits for the Bears, it's going to hit really big.
25:54
I think that look, you talked about a Buca ticket for a rookie
25:58
year. I've, I've only, I think taken 3
26:01
MVP bets and one of them is Caleb because I think he has
26:05
that upside. Why?
26:06
I mean, I'm just, I bet the odds like I mean he's 40 to one or
26:09
something like that. Because if it hits, look at all
26:11
the talent around him and if they somehow win that division,
26:15
Ben Johnson winning coach of the year, I'll tell you that.
26:17
And I think everybody would point to Caleb and like, if the
26:20
Bears win that division is probably because Caleb has some
26:22
4500 yard season with 35 touchdowns.
26:25
And that's perfectly reasonable to think.
26:28
I mean, Jared Goff was doing it. Why?
26:29
I mean, we, we Caleb Williams was a better prospect than Jared
26:33
Goff coming out, even though both were #1 picks.
26:35
I it if it hits, it hits big and everything.
26:39
You know, there's a maybe there's a transition period and
26:41
there's more like a rookie year for Caleb Williams.
26:42
I heard somebody just refer to it that way.
26:44
Like it's almost a second rookie year because they're changing
26:46
everything possible. And that's fair.
26:49
But I still think there's some argument to be made that, you
26:53
know, I mean that that the Bears, I just can't see a middle
26:57
of the road scenario with the Bears.
26:59
I think they're either going to be a big disappointment because
27:01
Caleb just doesn't get it, doesn't understand, like it just
27:04
takes too long for him to adjust the offense, or we're sitting
27:07
here saying, wow, like that was the greatest season a Bears
27:10
quarterback has ever had. I just don't think there's a
27:13
middle of the road. You know, I have them ranked in
27:14
the middle of the road. I don't think there's a middle
27:16
of the road outcome for them. I think it's either going to be
27:18
really bit disappointing or really exciting.
27:20
And last team and you have them at #9 it's an AFC West team.
27:24
By the way, I have 2 MVP tickets, both quarterbacks in
27:26
the AFC West. None of them named Patrick
27:28
Mahomes. Bo Nicks at 40 to 1 and 28 to
27:31
one on Justin Herbert, who I think is is incredibly
27:36
underrated. I get the fact he hasn't won a
27:37
playoff game and that's always going to be the pushback, but
27:41
man, if they they've got it. By the way, I took a minor.
27:44
Minor, Caleb. D and Mayfield, really, you went
27:47
for Mayfield, huh? And Purdy's a good one as well
27:50
with the Niners are going to be better.
27:52
So we'll see maybe one of his hits, but the Chargers in our
27:55
final minute and 1/2 here with you.
27:57
Harbaugh year #2 I think Herbert's criminally underrated.
28:00
As I said, I think Hampton's going to be a star.
28:02
Offensive line's better. They finally got some receivers
28:06
in there. I think that can help Mcconkey
28:08
and help Herbert. Where are you in the Chargers?
28:10
Can they make a Super Bowl? I think they're one year away
28:17
from being a Super Bowl type team, but they were so far ahead
28:20
of where I thought Harbaugh was going to be last year that I
28:23
can't rule it out. I mean, he reminded us all he's
28:26
one of the five best coaches on the planet.
28:28
Like he really is. Like he's that good.
28:30
He took a team that was clearing up from salary cap issues guys
28:35
in there yet and he completely transformed that entire French
28:38
one year with Jim that matter both excellent and you know, I'm
28:46
not they're like, I think it's harder to get them really side
28:55
case for them. I mean, Harbaugh is so good and
28:58
that hurts me Wisconsin because they don't like Michigan that
29:01
much. He is just such a good coach.
29:04
He's a weird guy. He's very very eccentric.
29:07
But yeah, I I I don't see why the church we talked about the
29:10
chiefs. One of the chiefs possible
29:12
outcomes is maybe they don't win the West this year and maybe
29:17
they're not even second. There's two teams coming hard
29:20
for them and one of those Chargers.
29:22
So I like the Chargers better than the Broncos.
29:25
I know some people are flipped on that and I get it completely,
29:28
but I just have so much faith in Harbaugh that I, if somebody up
29:31
ends the Chiefs this year, I'm I'll take the Chargers.
29:33
I just think that, again, it's just a respect I have for Jim
29:37
Harbaugh, who's just an unbelievably good coach.
29:38
Since we're playing show and tell with our tickets, who do
29:41
you have coach of the year? Do you have a bet?
29:43
Oh, Cohen, easy, Liam Cohen easily.
29:45
I think that that's probably the only one I'm going to make
29:46
because. What was his?
29:48
Price 4:14 to 1:16 to 1:00, somewhere in that range.
29:52
I went Gannon with Arizona. Always goes to.
29:55
Yeah, it always goes to somebody.
29:56
Oh, I could see that. Yeah, for sure.
29:58
I mean, we already know the formula.
30:00
I found it so funny that the two longest odds on the board are
30:04
Andy Reid and Dick Siriani. Coaches.
30:06
Coach in the Super Bowl, like it doesn't.
30:08
The coach of the earth. Silly.
30:09
Like it's a silly award that makes no sense that Andy Reid,
30:12
maybe the greatest coach of all time, is literally last of the
30:16
odds. Like explain that to me.
30:17
Can't do it, Frank, congratulations on the piece.
30:20
I look forward to it. Every starts in July, leads up
30:23
to the well training camp in the beginning of the football
30:26
season. As always, Frank, thank you for
30:28
doing this. We'll talk to you, you know,
30:29
periodically throughout the season.
30:31
Appreciate it, Frank. Thank you.
30:33
Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate it.
30:34
Very good to talk to you, Frank Schwab, yahoosports.com for
30:37
frankyahoosports.com, where he covers the NFL on Twitter at
30:41
Yahoo. Schwab millering Condon back
30:44
with the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
30:46
Mitch Holtis, Chiefs training camp report.
30:48
It's up next. I'm Millery Condon, welcome
30:51
back. Final segment, first hour of the
30:53
program. Thanks to
30:56
frankschwabyahoo.sportscoversthenfl@yahoosports.com Time for our daily Chiefs
31:01
training camp report. Papa Johnson, Central Iowa.
31:04
The Donaldsons make this possible.
31:06
Mitch Holtis, the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs joins me.
31:09
You mentioned the heat yesterday.
31:11
Get a little hot into the car, but some of the some of the guys
31:14
out on the field, I saw Simmons and the the edge rusher from
31:18
Louisville kind of got after each other at one point in in
31:22
practice yesterday. It happens every year, but.
31:26
No different. The Chiefs getting a little
31:28
testy on the field, Mitch. Yes, and that was a carryover
31:33
actually from even the day before when they were doing OLDL
31:38
and Simmons was able to stone Geladi and then throw him like a
31:42
rag doll. So this was built up, pent up,
31:46
and then you add it was one of the hottest places on the earth
31:49
here because honestly, because of dew point, humidity and heat,
31:55
you put all those three together and it was like 115 or
31:58
something. And then they did, I mean, it
32:02
was rough too long drive drills essentially.
32:05
And these guys were wiped out. So yeah, it was getting a little
32:08
testy with two rookies, but everybody's back loving each
32:13
other today. We got a break in the weather
32:15
today because it's cooler and, and so a little bit better.
32:19
But yeah, no, it was, it was getting intense yesterday.
32:22
I. Love it.
32:24
And one of the guys apparently that was very quick to get in
32:26
there and break it up is a guy we're going to talk about today.
32:29
And Travis Kelsey, the rookies were getting after each other,
32:32
but the veteran wanted to make sure that it didn't go too far.
32:36
Travis Kelsey, there's a lot of speculation.
32:38
I think it's just speculation at this point that this is going to
32:42
be his last year. He broke the Internet, at least
32:44
with Swifty fans when he cut his hair before reporting to camp
32:48
this year. But you had a chance to catch up
32:51
with Travis Kelsey and what did he?
32:52
What is he kind of alluding to, at least at this point?
32:57
Well, it was interesting. He's trying to break up the
32:59
fight and I'm thinking, man, it wasn't that long ago.
33:01
You're the dude that's fighting. But still, he's played 11,220
33:06
snaps. We can argue, is he the best?
33:11
Well, in the playoffs, it's been unequal.
33:13
He's blown everybody away, including drunk.
33:15
But here he is. I thought last year might have
33:18
been, I told you guys, I think on the reports later the season
33:21
that he was kind of melancholy, like he's getting reflective.
33:23
I'm going, oh, this feels like it's it.
33:25
And then I think the way the Super Bowl when he's like, ain't
33:27
going out like this. So anyway, he's kind of fired up
33:30
right now and listen to his comment because it does.
33:34
I think is the biggest news of this day is, is Kelsey, because
33:38
it's a bit of a change in how he's approaching this camp in
33:42
this season. A lot of new faces and we're
33:44
trying to incorporate them into the culture, and nobody does
33:47
that better than Coach Reed and the leaders on this team.
33:49
And you know what? Every time we smell this nice
33:52
humid air out here in Saint Joseph, you know, it's just,
33:56
it's like my sanctuary, man. I love it out here.
33:58
How much did you attack this offseason compared to your other
34:01
offseasons? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm,
34:03
I'm a professional man. I, I love this game.
34:05
This has always been my main goal in life and it's been my
34:08
main focus in life. And I think this year I, I got a
34:11
little bit more strategic with how I was training, got down to,
34:16
you know, South Florida, a little bit, the Boca Raton area,
34:19
Fort Lauderdale area with my guy Tony Velani over at XPE and
34:22
really worked on the running form and things like that.
34:24
And I think it's, I think it's going to pay off, man.
34:27
But at the same time, you know, this year is no different than
34:31
than previous years. It's just, it's just a little
34:33
bit more strategic on the style of running knowing that I'm, I'm
34:36
getting older and I need to, you know, work on these
34:37
fundamentals. So a couple things here, Ken,
34:41
when he gets a little perturbed if he hears people thinking that
34:43
he's distracted and going to Argentina to watch, you know,
34:47
Taylor in concert. But the strategic preparation,
34:51
but also history, a strategic approach to camp and the season
34:54
that's not happened before. I told you that he just dives in
34:58
or Coach Rude will have him dive into doing everything that any
35:00
tight end is going to do in this offense, which is a lot,
35:04
including nine on seven blocking inside run.
35:07
I think strategically things have changed a bit.
35:09
I've even noticed it not to. They're just going to be pick
35:12
and choose now during the season that picking and choosing and
35:17
I'm trying to keep his snaps where they don't get out of hand
35:20
is easier said than done. You have this as a plan.
35:22
Then you get into the game going, oh man, we got to have
35:25
him get these 9 yards or all of a sudden he's got 10 targets and
35:28
and the workload moves up. But I do know there's at least a
35:32
formula or an intention that's never been there before for
35:35
Travis Kelsey to approach this camp in this season.
35:38
In his words, a strategic manner.
35:41
Yeah, it can be fascinating to watch.
35:43
What's this relationship with his backup, Noah Gray?
35:46
What's their relationship like? Yeah, brother, kind of Big
35:50
Brother, little brother. But Noah's, Noah's jumping up
35:52
there. Not that he's going to.
35:53
Nobody's going to be Kelsey. There's nobody like it.
35:56
Maybe Brock Bowers. I told you that.
35:58
But I think he's getting there. But Gray's really good and he's
36:03
getting really better. That doesn't make any sense.
36:06
But their relationship is excellent.
36:08
The exchange ideas kind of tricks of the trade, but always
36:11
help Kels as well. Noah's wicked smart went to Duke
36:16
so even and he's a type 1 diabetic.
36:18
I'm going to do a special on him later in this month and it's
36:22
going to be geared toward the diabetic folks dealing with type
36:25
1 and type 2 diabetes. But that's what Noah deals with.
36:28
But Noah, because of that, being in tune with your body nutrition
36:33
medication has helped Kels in that regard of for Kels to
36:38
understand his own body, even though Kels isn't a type 1
36:40
diabetic. Mitch, the the chief seemingly
36:44
draft so well every year and do so from the back of the draft
36:47
every round 3132, I know they dropped back to they traded out
36:52
of 31 down to 32 to take Simmons, but just kind of, and I
36:56
know it's early, but what's this draft class look like, at least
36:59
from what you've seen of it so far?
37:02
I'm super stoked about him. I think all seven could
37:06
contribute as soon as week one in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and they
37:10
yes, now they're a talented group, very talented.
37:13
I go right down the line Royals July Simmons is way ahead of
37:17
schedule. No, no, Williams, who's running
37:20
with the twos right now at corner, all seven of them right
37:23
now, not only on the roster. Oh well, let's put them in the
37:25
incubator and let them grow. No, no, no.
37:28
They're going to be a part of this in all three phases.
37:31
And so different than the 23 class, 20, 24 class, 23 class.
37:36
Not bad classes, but weren't immediate contributors.
37:39
Not the 25 class. They remind me of the 2022 class
37:43
right now. And that would have worked out
37:46
pretty well. 30 seconds on this before we'll then we'll save 30
37:49
seconds for Papa John's. I know with Andy Reid's
37:52
relationship with the Eagles, I'm guessing that because he
37:55
leaves no stone unturned at some point that, you know, he reached
37:58
out to the Eagles just how they handled Brazil last year.
38:01
Knowing what lies ahead in week #1 for Kansas City.
38:04
What did he do you think in advance of that Friday night
38:07
game? Well, way trickier than Germany,
38:11
way trickier than going to London.
38:14
Way trickier. And I mean, not just the culture
38:17
or South America or any of that, where our hotel is what faces us
38:23
in logistics and security. It's not very convenient for the
38:28
visiting team. The Eagles were not happy last
38:31
year and the NFL will see that. I do know that this is different
38:36
than even Germany in dealing with logistics and security.
38:40
It's not. It's not the not the coolest
38:44
setup right now for the Chiefs in this game.
38:47
Now we know that they can get on the airplane.
38:49
There'll be a Papa John's not far from when it lands.
38:52
Once you guys get back, let's talk about them, what the
38:54
Donaldson's having going on here in Des Moines.
38:57
It's the cheeseburger pizza medium cheeseburger pizza 1299
39:00
no better value all throughout the state of Iowa.
39:02
They got they got places all throughout the great state of
39:05
Iowa. And so getting ready for the
39:07
football season value baby 1299 medium cheeseburger pizza Kels.
39:13
If he knew, if I told him be all about it, he'd drive to the
39:15
morning right now. Who are we going to hear from
39:18
tomorrow? We're going to go Chris Jones.
39:20
I want to give you the, you know, the Mount Rushmore of the
39:23
team, coach Reed Kels, Pat and Chris Jones, and I'll get into
39:28
what Chris Jones has done over the past four months that's been
39:31
profound. Join the rest of your day.
39:33
Mitch, thanks for doing this. Talk to you tomorrow.
39:35
See you. Yep, good to talk to you.
39:37
Mitch Holtz is the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
39:39
Chief daily training camp reports brought to us by Papa
39:42
John's throughout the state of Iowa.
39:44
Headquarters here in central Iowa, but location throughout
39:47
Iowa. Papa John's this possible.
39:50
All right. David Kaplan coming up next.
39:52
He's at in Milwaukee for the game.
39:54
We'll talk to Cappy and then Tommy Birch that's coming up
39:59
next. Miller and Condon.
40:00
Our 2 is next on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.