Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Iowa Wild Coach Greg Cronin, Frank Schwab talks Iowa/Wisconsin & the NFL, Steven M. Sipple on the Huskers & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Iowa Wild Coach Greg Cronin, Frank Schwab talks Iowa/Wisconsin & the NFL, Steven M. Sipple on the Huskers & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Right hour number two, Welcome back, Miller and Condon.
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Iowa Sports Radio Network, wherever you're listening in the
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state of Iowa. Glad that you are.
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Let's get right to it. He is the head coach of the Iowa
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Wild. They dropped the puck on their
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season Saturday night down at the KC Center.
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He's Greg Cronin in his first year behind the bench of the
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Iowa Wild. Coach, my partner's name is
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Trent Condon. This is Ken Miller.
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Good to talk to you, Coach. How are you?
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I'm good, thanks. I appreciate you coming on.
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Well, let's you know, I, I listened to media day last week
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and I was struck by one of your answers about the systems and
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your Yeah, you know, one of your responsibilities is to get to
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get the players to to buy into the Minnesota, the big club
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system. So when they get that call up,
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they're ready to go. My question is, as many stops as
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you've had, do these systems kind of run together or are
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they, are there significant differences amongst every team?
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Well, I mean, you have to go zone to zone to discuss that.
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And I think the zone that's probably the most sophisticated
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would be the defensive zone. Certain teams defend
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differently. I would just use it as a generic
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term. Some teams zone, team, some
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teams zone or sorry, a man on man and other teams are a
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hybrid, right? So we kind of run a hybrid
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system. I ran a different system when I
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was in the Anaheim. It's not too much different.
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But I think there's certain trigger points in that zone
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system with a hybrid system that are going to probably guarantee
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success. And that's what we're focusing
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on, trying to just make it real simple.
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When you look at the way that you were kind of built, you as a
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hockey coach, coupled with what the Minnesota Wild want you guys
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to do down here with the Iowa Wild, what is the style of play?
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If you know kind of a novice fan went out there, hasn't seen one
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of your coach teams before, what should they expect to see on the
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ice? Well, I have a real basic
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identity that I like to have the players play to when that's play
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fast, hunt pucks down, possess the pucks, then you got a
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defense, you got to defend relentless defense.
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And those are all kind of generic hyperbole things, but I
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don't, you know, you don't really know if the players can
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match that. Like for example, you want to
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play fast, but if you have slow skates, but probably not going
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to play too fast, you've got to make an adjustment and let the
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puck do the work. There's not one player on the
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ice can out race the pucks. You may have to use a little bit
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more of a stretch mentality with your passing and your dump and
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chase systems. Yeah, fair.
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Fairpoint and I and I watched your Ducks play last year and
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they played hard. I, I watched play Winnipeg three
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times. You beat them twice and they had
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the best record in the NHL last year.
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So hopefully that carries over. This roster that you're putting
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together here. How important is it to have some
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veteran presence of guys that have experienced the NHL that
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maybe, you know, not a tweener, but you know, they're going to
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be up at some point or they're on their way down.
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They're hanging on and just want to, you know, share what they've
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learned with some of the some of the kids that are on their way
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up. How important is veteran
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presence on an NHL roster? The veteran presence is the most
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important part of an NHL roster. It's so critical because they
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are literally an extension of the coaching staff.
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And I made this comment like in when I realized this house in
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the NHL number of years as an assistant and as a head coach,
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like think about this. So listen, is that are familiar
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with this the big college football state, right?
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College football's got a little bit crazy.
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I don't want to go down that road with the transfers and the
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NLI and all that. But the old traditional college
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football, you'd spend 4 years at a school and you'd graduate,
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right? So you can maybe catch up to the
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teams that more talent, you're recruiting better athletes as
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freshmen and sophomores. And as they are developed and
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they're coached, you can you can try and gain competitive
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advantages on teams that historically had had better
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teams than you did. So you use that that kind of as
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your mentality like we're going to outwork teams are going to
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out execute teams. Well in the NHL, they don't
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graduate, OK, Just keep getting better, right?
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In the American League, what we do have, we have a 1/3 of the
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players do graduate. So you can only have 6 veterans
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used to be fixed in an exemption.
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So a third of your skaters are graduating every year, right?
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So you think about this, when you do have them, if you do have
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good veterans, you keep them and they're able to stay.
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All right. And those are the guys that
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literally help these young kids anywhere from 19 to say 23
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probably is when the the entry level contract expire, that
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three-year window when you want these kids to create some
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visibility so the NHL club can say, OK, we're going to, we're
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going to invest another contract in that player.
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We're going to call that player up.
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We're going to let that player go.
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That group of veterans that's that literally sits between the
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coaches and those young kids are probably the most important part
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of that development plan. Tell us a neighbor to a player
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that you've seen on the ices you guys have been working towards
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the beginning of the season, the home opener on Saturday that's
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been turning your heads a surprise or maybe a new name or
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just a guy that is even better than you anticipated before you
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see saw him out there. Well, I won't touch the older
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guys because I think the fans are familiar with the old
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investments. Yeah, but the guy like Matt SOP,
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he's come through camp. I didn't know who he was.
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He was kind of up and down between the East Coast
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Heartlanders and the Wild last year.
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He's really shown a lot to me this camp.
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Riley Height has come on. He's a young kid.
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We drafted out of Prince George first year in the HL.
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He seems to get better and better every day.
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Cooper Lining, who came from Finland.
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He's the second round draft pick like I was there rookie Cam.
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So like the and I use this expression quite frequently.
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Like there's a mystery in once how some guys develop quicker
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than others. You know, we all this sports
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science, analytics, all this data that's hardcore data.
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You can say 2 + 2 as far as math, but you don't know like
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mentally and emotionally how quickly players can grab
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concepts and deal with adversity because a lot of these kids are
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dealing with adversity for the first time.
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They've like run the show on their junior teams, have been
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offensively productive. Now they get to the second
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highest level in the world, which is the American Hockey
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League. And the success they had earlier
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isn't as easy. So they probably get hit
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mentally like, jeez, I don't know if I can do this.
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The motion they get down a little bit, but I've 11.
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Good thing is I've seen these young kids seem to get better
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and better. So, you know, that's the that's
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the good thing. David Spot chicks a young
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defense, but he's got a chance to play in the NHL.
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Lambos has got a chance to play in the NHL.
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Like we've got to get those guys prepared for that.
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How come goalies are are you take a little bit longer
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historically to to get their game NHL ready?
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I think it goes back to what I said, honestly, the emotional
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and the mental part of it, like they're physically these kids
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today, you know, when I was a kid, there was no strength and
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conditioning coaches. There was, you know, there
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weren't even a lot of weight rooms.
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For God's sakes, you, you, you didn't have Lifetime fitness and
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24 Hour Fitness. You, you didn't have those
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resources today. The kids have their own personal
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trainers, They have their own programs.
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You know, a 20 year old goalie and a 27 year old goalie
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probably look the same athletically and they look the
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same physically, but it's the mental and emotional maturity
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that actually takes a while to to allow them to be more
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consistent in that. When, when the final buzzer goes
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on any given game, what do you want fans leaving the leaving
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the KC Center to to think about your team Coach?
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What's the what's the message that you want the fan base to
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maybe absorb maybe more than anything?
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Well, it's a Midwestern state. People here are very hardcore
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value people. They work hard.
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It's a kind of a blue collar image.
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Our team has to play hard. I want the people watching the
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game think they win, lose a tie. Those kids play hard.
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The second level is we have to execute.
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There's got to be some sort of an identity every night, and I'm
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not going to go into that and take another interview for that
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one. But I just want the fans coming
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out proud of the way they work. It's going to be a reflection of
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just hardcore Iowa values. Well, I love the fact that the
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the letter that you sent out to the fan base when you first got
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here, that that goes a long way, coach.
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That was a lot of people noticed that.
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Good luck this season. He said he'll take another
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interview. I'm going to hold you to that as
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we look forward to talking to you throughout the season.
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Thank you, Coach Cronin. Good luck this year.
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We'll talk to you down the road, OK?
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OK. Thanks guys.
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Thank you. Appreciate you.
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Do the same. Greg Cronin, the head coach of
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the Iowa Wild Day will start their season coming up here on
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Saturday night. They drop the puck.
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Chicago Wolves are in town. All right, let's switch gears.
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Let's go from hockey to football.
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Frank Schwab, he's a Wisconsin grad.
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He covers the NFL for yahoosports.com and Frank joins
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us. Frank Trenton, Ken, thank you
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for coming on. Let's let's start with your
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Badgers, the Hawkeyes. We do it every year.
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This week we we don't want to bug you more than once a month.
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So we make sure that the the one time we're going to bug you that
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during the month of is when Wisconsin and Iowa play.
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You've watched your squad maybe maybe half it, two and three not
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going particularly well. Iowa's three and two.
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These two schools, it's a great rivalry.
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Love the fact that Wisconsin's doing 42 push ups at the end of
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every practice. That's what they I will put up
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on him. Last year that did not sit well.
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I can't wait for this game. Frank, good to talk to you.
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What do you expect to see on Saturday?
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Yeah, you can't bring me out and talk about the Milwaukee
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Brewers. You gotta gotta talk about the
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Badgers. Like, yeah, usually, yes, I, I
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look forward to talking about Wisconsin, Iowa most years.
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And you know, right before he called, I was like, oh God, I
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got, I got to talk about Wisconsin, Iowa, the Burrell
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among Wisconsin fans of Iowa. People didn't know this could
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not be any lower. It was the The best performance
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of the fickle era might be not getting blown out by Michigan
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and covering a 17 1/2 point spread like they only lost by
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14. Wow, we're back.
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Like that's how bad it is in Wisconsin right now.
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But I'm sure those 42 push ups are going to change everything
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in the program. So yes, if I if I'm Iowa, I feel
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very good going in to play Wisconsin.
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I don't I don't think Wisconsin's going to win a big
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10 game this year. Maybe one, maybe they get one.
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I Maryland went in there and held Wisconsin scoreless until a
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garbage touched on in the last minute.
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Like what are we going to do against nothing against
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Maryland, any Maryland folks out there?
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But if we get blown out by Maryland like that, we're going
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to get blown out by everybody like that.
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It the state of the program is absolute shambles.
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I think it's going to take years to dig out of this.
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I couldn't feel lower about the Wisconsin Badgers.
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I, I usually lean toward pessimistic fan anyway, maybe
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because my teams haven't been that good my entire life.
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But this is real pessimism. This is there.
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There's nothing to hold on to right now.
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There's no NFL talent in the program.
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They got the wrong coach who has like a $30 million buy out.
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It is you're losing again, The I'm not very bleak.
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The again, I want to repeat this because it is not a lie.
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I think the best day Luke Fickle has had as a Wisconsin coach
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with losing by only 14 in Michigan, that's the best.
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That is the high point of the Fickle era so far.
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Oh boy. And here comes Ohio State,
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Oregon, Washington, IN Illinois, and then for the Axe.
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Yeah, you might lose every game by those by 30.
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It's just remarkably. And I don't think people have
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caught on. I I think maybe people in the
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Midwest have, but I had a bunch of people like, man, why is
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what's Alabama like a 20? You know, I think it was like a
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27 point spread, 24 points, whatever it was.
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I know I had Alabama that day. Let's put it that that's how bad
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Wisconsin is. I was like, yeah, I'm betting
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Alabama. I might as well make money off
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of it. So I had a bunch of people
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texting me like, is Wisconsin really that bad?
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And I texted them back like, yes, yes, they are.
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They're they're absolutely they're they're one of the 10
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worst teams in the power 4 right now.
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I don't know how this happened. This is back.
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Any Wisconsin heads out there or just big 10 people?
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This is like back to the Don Morton of how bad they are.
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This is just pathetic. This is pathetic.
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Like it's awful. And when Luke Fickle gets fired,
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I guarantee you there will be 100% approval rating for that
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move across the Wisconsin fan base.
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He is him having a losing record as Ohio State's coach.
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That one year should have been a tip off that that this is we're
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just being sold a bag of goods. Just absolutely crazy.
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They can't run the ball. The offensive line is bad.
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They're Wisconsin to go away from your DNA.
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And I will say this, and Frank, just as a football fan, you'll
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know that whenever Kirk Ferris retires, Hawkeye fans, look at
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what's happening here. You don't want the shiny object.
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You don't want somebody that's going to try to change your
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football DNA. There are certain ways that you
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have to be built. Wisconsin went away with it,
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went away from it, and well, we're seeing what's happening
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now. Oh yeah, I Nate Tice, who is my
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Co worker, you know, son of Mike Tyson, obviously, and he was
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backup quarterback for Wisconsin when we got together Super Bowl
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week last year, having dinner and, you know, out of work
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outing or whatever. And both of us had the same.
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Where did our program go? There's no toughness in this
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program. There's no look, I get it and
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there is. This is this goes for Iowa fans
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and went for Wisconsin fans, including me.
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I'm not going to say I wasn't. I didn't have these thoughts or,
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or anything. You always wonder, like, what
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if, you know, we're so good? Maybe if we morphed into a
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little more modern game that we could, you know, compete for a
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national championship because we've been good for 30 years now
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and they just lost their way. Even JJ Watt tweeted about this
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like that. There's just this isn't
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Wisconsin football anymore. And yes, maybe we were really
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boring for a while. Like it wasn't the most fun
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version of football to watch. I get that.
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But I knew every Saturday I, I could turn on the television and
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a bunch of 310 LB dudes were just to be pushing you 5 yards
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downfield and Jonathan Taylor was gonna be running for 100
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yards like it is at least I knew that they were going to win 910
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games. Some years they'd win 11 and
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it'd be really good. And maybe we'll go to Rose Bowl
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once in a while when the brakes go our way.
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And now it's like, I don't think we're good.
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I, I don't look forward to Wisconsin games anymore.
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I, I'm not like, I will watch the Wisconsin Iowa game on
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Saturday if I have absolutely nothing else to do.
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If it's like, Oh yeah, I was supposed to mow the grass today,
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I'll be like, all right, I'll miss the first quarter.
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Big deal like that. That's what's been robbed.
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And, and I, I'm talking to any fan base out there who, because
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it complaints about their team, you can get to a point where you
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don't want like, it's not even a part of your Saturday anymore.
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Imagine that. Like, imagine, you know, you're
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like, it used to be like for a big game.
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Now you're on Wisconsin #1 Ohio State's coming to town all week.
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I'd be planning my week around it.
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Like, Oh no, honey, we we can't we can't make any plans on
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Saturday at 2:30 because I'm watching Wisconsin now.
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It's like there's not a game on the thing on the schedule that I
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would be changing the slightest of plans to watch that.
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That's what's right. I could we could do like 7
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segments on this be complaining about Wisconsin football.
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But I do think it applies to everybody of, hey, like, yeah,
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you, you, you might not be totally thrilled with the state
15:08
of your program right now. Like Iowa, like, it's a good
15:11
exam. It's a really, really good Iowa
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and Wisconsin and Iowa, Wisconsin have been parallel for
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a long time. But it can get a lot worse.
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Trust me. It can get to a point where
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you're just like, this is an embarrassment.
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I don't even like talking about Wisconsin football.
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The people college football gets brought up.
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I'm like, I want to change the subject because I don't want
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them to be like, hey, well, how's Wisconsin doing this year?
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Because I don't want to talk about it.
15:31
You've been a good sport. Let's let's do one on the
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Brewers before we get to the NFL because it seems like they're
15:36
going to end that series today, Frank, and then they'll play
15:38
either obviously Philly or Dodgers.
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Ohh don't don't. Don't has been so good though.
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I, I, I can't even speak rationally about this anymore
15:47
because you know it. If they would have been playing
15:51
the Padres or the Reds or whoever, it would have been just
15:54
normal playoff pressure. Playing that team from Chicago
15:59
does not make it like there's two.
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There's just too much. It's just too much if you lose
16:03
to Chicago. The Cubs fans are obnoxious in
16:07
in normal times. If you if if we have the best
16:11
season in franchise history, which it literally is, and he
16:14
just loses to the Cubs in your first playoff series, I'll never
16:17
hear the end of it from my Cubs fans friends.
16:19
So yes, tonight there I will be. If it's a tie game late.
16:24
Just know that I am supposed to be why.
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I hope my bosses aren't listening.
16:27
I'm supposed to be watching that NFL game and writing off of it
16:30
and all that. I will not be paying a lick of
16:32
attention to that game. I will be chewing my
16:35
fingernails, hoping and praying that the Brewers don't go to a
16:38
Game 5. We go from Wisconsin sports to
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your main beat that is the NFL. Well, in fact, let's stay in
16:44
that state. Green Bay, week one, this team
16:48
might win a Super Bowl. Week 2, here we go.
16:51
Since then, given up 40 to Dallas, it has not been the same
16:54
Packers team. What's going on there?
16:55
What's the issue with Green Bay and where do we kind of tear
16:58
them at this point in the year? It is really hard and it's it's
17:03
so confusing, right? Because I don't even think I'm
17:06
pretty sure we talked after week 1 or maybe it was Week 2 and
17:10
we're saying, Oh my goodness, the Packers are messing in
17:12
football and the Lions are in trouble.
17:14
The Lions, Oh my goodness, they they miss our coordinators,
17:17
offensive lines a mess. And what's happened since then?
17:21
It's crazy. Like you look back and you're
17:23
like, was that just one of those weird Week 1 things?
17:25
The the Raiders beating the Patriots or last year the the
17:28
Patriots beating the Bengals like that?
17:30
You know, we always have those weird Week 1 results where we
17:33
look back and we're like that That has nothing to do with what
17:36
we're watching right now. How did that happen?
17:38
I wonder if it's the Packers just blasting Lions like that.
17:42
I'm not saying the Packers are a bad team in any way, but boy,
17:45
they sure been exposed a little bit these past couple of games.
17:49
And you know, part of that is just if if they were to kick the
17:52
field goal against the Browns. Are we having this conversation?
17:55
Probably not. So I hate to overreact, but at
17:59
the same time, you did lose to the Browns.
18:01
You did not beat the Cowboys, who you should be.
18:04
I mean, you gave up 40 to without CD Lamb.
18:07
I, I don't know what to make of Packers.
18:09
I really don't. They're one of those teams that
18:10
really confuses me because I if I had to say one way or another,
18:15
is this team good, great, bad, mediocre?
18:18
I'd say they're very, very good. I I think they're a Super Bowl
18:20
contender of things break right for them, but we sure haven't
18:23
seen it since, you know, I mean, now you look back and there's
18:26
just like, well, the Commanders Week 2, it's a Thursday, it's a
18:29
short week and that was a good spot for the Packers to be in.
18:33
Maybe week 1 was a little fluky getting used to the new
18:35
coordinators and you just have a bad game and it stands out
18:38
because it's week 1. I don't know, I don't know where
18:41
I'm at with the Packers right now.
18:42
I I believe they're very good. I believe they could be a Super
18:44
Bowl contender, but I want to. I don't want them to be in a
18:48
game in the fourth quarter against Joe Flacco in the
18:50
Pingles on Sunday because then you're like, OK, this team's
18:54
just not good. How did I get fooled so badly?
18:57
Man survivor, Circus survivor. There'll be a whole bunch of
19:00
Packer. Fans, I thought, I thought 50%
19:03
and you never see 50% in a survivor pool.
19:06
It's always, you know, you get to like 35%.
19:09
You're like, oh, this is really the chalk.
19:11
I saw 50%. Fifty estimated 50% of Circa
19:15
will be on the Packers on Sunday, which is just wild.
19:18
I want to talk about the AFC North.
19:20
We're up until like Monday or Tuesday, Baltimore somehow was
19:24
still favored to win that division.
19:25
I think the news that Jackson probably not going to play this
19:28
week, the Steelers are now a slight favorite to win the
19:30
North. But why is Baltimore still
19:32
seemingly on a lot of people's radar when it comes to the AFC
19:36
North? Are they are they still still a
19:38
legitimate threat to win that division?
19:39
Obviously when Jackson comes back.
19:41
But the defense is just so bad, Frank.
19:45
Yeah, it's, I think it's a combination of things.
19:48
I think it's the first part of that is I don't think there's a
19:51
lot of faith in the Steelers and definitely not the Bengals or
19:54
Browns. So I think it's hard for people
19:57
to wrap their heads around this Steelers team winning the
19:59
division. I yes, they're off to a good
20:01
start. Three and one perfect credit.
20:02
Awesome. But Aaron Rodgers, the
20:05
underlying metrics say he is not playing well.
20:07
It's a cool story. He's he made plays for them when
20:10
he has to etcetera, etcetera. But his average depth of target,
20:14
which is, you know, a very common stat now it's 3.1.
20:18
There's no other quarterback in the NFL under like 6.4.
20:21
So he is. Becoming an extreme check down
20:25
Charlie, like that's all he's doing is just throwing at the
20:28
line of scrimmage and that is not Aaron Rodgers.
20:30
That tells you something's wrong.
20:32
I think that defenses look old and slow at times this year.
20:35
Played well against the Vikings. So maybe things are turning
20:37
around. Really well coached team.
20:39
So that's possible. So I think part of it is just
20:41
skepticism about the Steelers, which I have too.
20:43
I I don't think the Steelers are that good.
20:44
I don't think are better than a nine win team that kind of opens
20:47
the door for the Ravens that the Ravens can just get it going.
20:49
But now you start to just do the math of I don't think they're
20:53
beating the Rams on Sunday. Like a angry Rams team with
20:56
extra rest is not going to come in there and lose to Cooper rush
20:59
and the Ravens third week of the preseason lineup.
21:02
Like that's just not going to happen.
21:03
Right. So all of a sudden and and the
21:06
Browns, the the Steelers host the Browns, who are coming in
21:09
from London, the first time ever the NFL scheduled a team coming
21:13
in from London, not taking their by against the team coming off
21:16
their by like that's a very big disadvantage.
21:19
So I assume that the Steelers are going to win.
21:22
All of a sudden they're they're four and one.
21:25
The Ravens are one and four like these.
21:28
This is not easy to overcome. Not not to mention all the
21:33
things you talked about. Their defense is bad right now.
21:35
They're they're Henry. I don't know, like he's had some
21:39
long runs, but it just hasn't looked like Derrick Henry the
21:42
past few weeks and it's inevitable that eventually slows
21:45
down. So I think it's a combination of
21:47
not a lot of faith in the Steelers and just this kind of
21:51
hope that the Ravens turn it around, which I do think it
21:54
will. I like that coach, except Mark
21:57
Jackson is MVP level player. They'll be better, but at some
22:02
point you dig yourself so big of a hole that it's hard to get off
22:04
of that. The Indianapolis Colts, what are
22:07
the stories of the season? Are they a contender?
22:11
Yeah, they can win the AFC S Yeah, they can win a playoff
22:15
game. Is there more than that, though,
22:17
with this Colts team? You know, I don't think so.
22:20
And I feel bad about it because I I I feel like I'm just this
22:25
may Sayer about the Colts when all the Colts have done is look
22:29
like one of the best teams in football.
22:30
If you're just judging the last five weeks, what you've seen on
22:33
the field, they should be 5 and O and they have quality wins.
22:36
I mean, they beat the Broncos, who I think are really, really
22:39
good. They should have beat the Rams,
22:42
if not for two or three just ridiculous mental mistakes that
22:46
you're just not going to repeat. You're not going to have 10 men
22:48
on the field for an 88 yard touchdown.
22:50
You're not going to see Adonai Mitchell drop the ball before he
22:52
scores again, because you're not going to see much of Adonai
22:54
Mitchell anymore. They so you look and you say,
22:57
why would I discount what this Colts team has done?
23:01
It's not like they've just had a really, really easy schedule.
23:04
It's not like they're just sneaking by teams.
23:06
They'd be the Raiders 40 to 6. So I feel bad saying, yes, I am
23:10
skeptical about the Colts keeping this up.
23:12
I think they're a good team. I think they, if you look at
23:15
look at their schedule, I don't have it in front of me, but I
23:17
looked at it this week. Their next 5 games are either
23:20
four and one or five and O. It's unbelievable to run out.
23:23
They have they're going to be 9 and one or eight and two unless
23:26
they really screw this up. And I like Jacksonville a lot.
23:29
I think Jacksonville will win the division before the season
23:31
started. But at some point, like the
23:34
Colts are going to get again, if they're nine and one, like, who
23:37
am I to say that they're not for real?
23:39
I don't think they're a Super Bowl contender, but definitely
23:43
can win that division and definitely can, I guess win a
23:46
game in the playoffs. I don't know, Like, I, I, I'm
23:48
needlessly skeptical about the Colts when all they've done is
23:51
win. And I'll get my hats off to the
23:53
Colts. Like this has been Shane Steiken
23:54
went from the hot seat to one of the hottest coaches in the NFL,
23:57
which you don't see very often. It's been a dream run out for
24:00
them so far. We've got a minute left.
24:02
So I got asked about the Chiefs, who's beaten, beaten the Giants
24:06
and the Ravens without Lamar Jackson.
24:07
Then here. Here we go with them Lions,
24:09
Raiders, Commanders, Bills, Broncos, Colts and then
24:12
Thanksgiving against the Cowboys.
24:14
That schedule is daunting. Where are you on the Kansas City
24:17
Chiefs 2 and three? They, you know, two weeks ago, I
24:20
thought maybe they're back. I'm not sure they're back,
24:22
Frank. Yeah.
24:24
Yeah, I thought 145 left on Monday night.
24:27
They're back. I didn't expect Trevor to take
24:30
the Jaguars down and beat them, but he did.
24:32
It's funny because we're seeing Mahomes played great football
24:36
Monday night. Great.
24:37
It was vintage Mahomes and the Jaguars still beat them.
24:40
And I get a Lions team that comes in now the Lions are beat
24:43
up. The Lions secondary is really
24:44
got a lot of issues. But if so, if the Chiefs win she
24:49
Rice back in Week 7, I think they're going to get it going.
24:52
I think the Chiefs are going to be fine, but I'll tell you this,
24:54
I think the Broncos win that division.
24:55
I think the Broncos are the best team in that division straight
24:57
up. I just think that they've lost
25:00
two games with no time left on the clock at the Colts, at the
25:03
Chargers, like, OK, like that. That's pretty reasonable.
25:06
So I don't know where I'm at with the Chiefs.
25:07
I think they're going to be a team nobody wants to play in
25:09
January because because of Andy, because of Patrick.
25:13
But I don't look at this as a dominant Chiefs team either.
25:16
Maybe they will be by the end of the season, but again, I'm I'm
25:20
sitting here telling you I don't think they wouldn't have
25:21
division. So this is not one of the more
25:24
strongest teams of the cheese dynasty.
25:26
I'll tell you that there there's a lot of issues here and just
25:28
losing games like, you know, letting Trevor Lawrence go down
25:31
and last 1:45 to win that game. But all this close game luck
25:35
they had last year really regressing on them.
25:37
So I think it's still a very good team, but maybe not.
25:39
I don't think they're going to be back in the Super Bowl or win
25:41
their division. Appreciate the relationship,
25:44
Frank. Thanks for doing this, as
25:45
always. We'll talk to you in a few
25:46
weeks. Thank you, Frank Schwab.
25:48
Absolutely, guys. I appreciate it.
25:49
Yeah, good to talk to you, Frank Schwab, as we check in and his
25:51
alma mater, the Badgers and Obvious and you.
25:54
That's an excellent point when it comes to the the Badgers and
25:58
the Hawkeyes win 910 games, right?
26:01
And that's the same. But if you do go get that shiny
26:04
object, look what's happened to them as Frank.
26:07
Said you've heard it from you've heard it from Hawkeye.
26:09
Absolutely. No, you don't want that.
26:11
You don't. It's not going to work.
26:13
It's not going to work in Iowa City, just like it's not working
26:16
in Madison. Get the three. £120 offensive
26:19
lineman, open up the hole, run the Dang football.
26:21
They got away from that in Wisconsin.
26:23
Look what's happened to that team, Trent.
26:25
They might not win another game. Yeah.
26:27
They so in our Locked on Big 10 roundtable that we had before
26:31
the season, I was given a hard time too because we had to have
26:34
a hot take. A hot take was that Wisconsin
26:36
was going to go one and eight in the Big 10 and finish in last
26:39
place. They.
26:39
Were going to be wrong, they might not win 1.
26:40
They're going to be O 9. I think you're right.
26:42
If they don't win Saturday, they're going to be O 9.
26:45
Because Minnesota wants that axe.
26:47
Absolutely. They're going to be O.
26:49
And that team will be so checked out at that point, if it plays
26:51
out, yes, if it plays, if it plays out in that fashion and
26:55
Phil Fleck, he'll have the boys ready.
26:57
We'll talk to Simple next his Huskers.
26:59
Will his team be ready at the end of the year?
27:02
How fascinating where they're going to be.
27:05
I'm not wishing this. I love that game, Trent.
27:07
I love that game. We'll talk to Sip about this
27:09
week's game. I in last week's game when he
27:11
joins us on the other side, Miller and Condon on the Iowa
27:14
Sports Radio Network. It's time for SIP.
27:21
Stephen M Siple talks with myself and Ken on Nebraska
27:24
football. I mean, I have a radio show, we
27:26
have callers. I pay attention to my Twitter
27:29
notifications and all that. There's definitely some
27:32
frustration. We talk Cornhuskers, and you
27:35
never know what else is going to come up with 30 years on the
27:41
Nebraska beat. Here's Steven M Simple.
27:43
As long as they're paying me to talk, I'm just going to keep.
27:45
Doing it all. Right, let's get right to him.
27:48
Sip joins us every single Thursday at this time during the
27:51
football season to talk about those Huskers as we know, final
27:55
week of the regular season, Iowa and Nebraska.
27:58
Nebraska this week they go on the road, take on a pesky
28:01
Maryland squad. You caught sipping me talking
28:02
off air there. What did you say?
28:04
We were still talking, were you? Yeah, and SIP joins us.
28:07
Hello Steven M how are you? Good, good.
28:10
How are? You doing pretty well.
28:12
Hey, before we go forward to this game against Maryland, want
28:15
to go back to last week where I thought Nebraska answered some
28:20
questions, but there's one question that still lingers
28:22
said, but I'm sure you'll agree with me, and it's the offensive
28:25
line because they're still giving up way too many sacks.
28:29
Rayola doesn't have time to throw the football.
28:31
He's scrambling for his life back there.
28:34
Disappointing so far. The play of the offensive line.
28:37
Defensive line was better last week, I thought offensive line,
28:40
not so much. How do they fix it?
28:41
Can they fix it? Due to observations, the
28:46
defensive line was was excellent and that was a remember I said
28:51
to you guys, I don't expect you to remember to remember
28:55
everything I say, but I said I was worried about that D line
28:59
being a vulnerability. It did not look like a
29:01
vulnerability at all. The offensive line has now a
29:04
back-to-back game. They've given up.
29:06
Well, I mean Nebraska has given up 12 facts in two games.
29:12
I mean, that's not really sustainable. 7 stacks against
29:17
Michigan, five against Michigan State.
29:21
I would say there was a variety of issues.
29:25
In fact, Kenny, I'll tell you, I don't know.
29:28
You guys probably look at Pro Football Focus a little bit.
29:32
The grade, the offensive line didn't grade that bad really
29:36
that grades fairly well. No, it didn't it.
29:38
So there's sort of a lot going on in that conversation as there
29:42
often isn't football. It wasn't great protection.
29:47
Some of the time it was. Sometimes it was receivers not
29:52
getting open and they saw more man coverage than they thought.
29:57
I think that's a sort of a hidden factor in this
29:59
discussion. And, you know, a running back
30:05
blew an assignment at one point. The left tackle blew an
30:08
assignment at one point. And Dylan, Dylan at times
30:14
probably held the ball a little too long.
30:17
That's the discussion around here.
30:20
I don't see that being a major problem like some tend to.
30:25
That's kind of the narrative around here a little bit.
30:27
I don't see it. I watched the game live, I
30:29
watched again, and yeah, there's a couple instances where he did
30:32
that. But no, the offensive line, they
30:36
got it. They got to tune it up.
30:38
I mean, they're playing the Maryland team that has 19 sacks.
30:42
It's not a great Maryland team by any stretch, but they do have
30:46
19 sacks and they do have some good line, but up front on
30:49
defense. Yeah, One thing that I I thought
30:51
really jumped off is they've been getting off the field
30:53
defensively a bunch and this is going to maybe come down to
30:55
those third down conversions. Oblique Washington freshman
30:58
quarterback. I think it'd be a lot different
31:00
if he was making his way to Lincoln for this one, but he's
31:02
going to be in the comfy he Co finds there in College Park.
31:06
What have you seen out of Malik Washington?
31:08
And you just think he's a young guy.
31:10
He was a big time prospect and he wanted to stay home.
31:13
But I'm sure there's already some phone calls going to the
31:15
Washington residents about where he's going to be getting his
31:18
mail next. Year.
31:20
Yeah, he's, he's interesting. He's not.
31:23
He's completing 60% of his passes with they have 21 drops
31:30
if if they didn't have what if they didn't have 21 drops, he'd
31:34
be complete and 75% of the pass yeah, he's accurate.
31:39
I've watched him twice he's snapped he's got a really strong
31:42
arm. He snaps it off really well.
31:44
They don't ask him to throw a whole lot downfield yet as a
31:47
this young he's good. He's legit 6 and he's 65231 by
31:53
the way. But here's the big this is, you
31:56
know, this is it's kind of like Dylan, he doesn't run.
32:00
He had a 17 yard run against Towson and really nothing else
32:04
to speak up this year. He doesn't run it much.
32:07
I think he has, I think he's been credited with 11 carry.
32:13
He's not. So so you know, that's always
32:16
something to look at. They don't run the ball.
32:19
They're, they're, they've run for 460 some yards this year.
32:25
Yeah, they don't run it. So it's on him and he's got,
32:29
he's got three very good receivers.
32:32
Now you say, well, what about the drop?
32:33
Yeah, they drop it. One guy has 6 drops.
32:36
I mean, so I've watched them. They're typical Maryland.
32:42
You know, they're, they're, they got skilled players on that on
32:46
the outside and then on defense, it's they're, they're better
32:50
than Maryland usually. I think, like I said up front,
32:53
they're pretty good. 19 sacks is 19 sacks.
32:57
So I don't know. I I think it's a good matchup
33:00
for Nebraska though. Speaking of running backs, Emma
33:03
Johnson is is off to I think a really nice start to get to the
33:06
end zone a bunch, but the drop off from RB-1 and I'm not even
33:10
sure there is an RB2 sip. It seems like it's Emma Johnson
33:13
running the football is is there just not much behind him?
33:17
So there's just not much behind him.
33:19
It's been a. It's been a.
33:21
Pretty extensive conversation here.
33:24
We're not used to it at Nebraska necessarily.
33:26
Just now he is. He's third in the league in
33:30
rushing. Emma Johnson, they're 14th in
33:33
the Big 10. It's odd, right?
33:36
Yeah, Yeah, they have. They have the he's tied for
33:39
third with Jonah Coleman. Justice Haynes is 1 and Waymont
33:43
Jordan's 2, and then Coleman and Johnson.
33:47
Emma Johnson are three, but they're 14th in Russia.
33:51
It's odd. It's an odd conversation.
33:53
They don't. And then now again, you know how
33:56
football is. Last week, 52 snaps is all they
34:00
got. So there wasn't a lot of, you
34:04
know, there's wasn't many snaps. And then if you watch the game,
34:07
they went through a stretch of offensive futility at a level
34:12
that I don't know that I've seen in Nebraska.
34:14
And it was, yeah, it was bad. It was, it was 25 plays and 19
34:20
yards. And it spanned the second and
34:24
into the third quarter, late into the late third quarter.
34:27
When Sparty took the lead. Yeah, when Sparty took the lead.
34:30
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. Sparty took the lead at 21 to 14
34:36
and then the only pass down field that Nebraska got all day.
34:41
Dylan hit and Jacora Barney for a 45 yard pass and Nebraska
34:45
scored a couple plays later in his Tide and the momentum
34:50
shifted like that. Special special teams were
34:53
great. Sip that punt block was a a
34:54
scooping score. That was that was a thing of
34:56
beauty. Hey, brother, we're out of time.
34:58
We'll we'll talk to you next week in advance of the Friday
35:00
night game up in the Twin Cities against the Gophers.
35:05
Sip. Thanks for what you do for us,
35:06
brother. Have a good trip out east and
35:08
we'll talk to you. Talk to you in seven days.
35:10
Thank you, Stephen. Thank you guys.
35:12
Yep, good to talk to you Stephen M simple on three media
35:15
huskerillustrated.com. Take your time out transplays of
35:19
the day our next Miller and concentric a sports sponsor.
35:22
Those by the way, Mike Palm will join us tomorrow in 23 hours,
35:27
Miller and Condon on Des Moines sports station 106.3 KXNO.
35:31
I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back.
35:32
Final segment here on a Thursday, the Iowa Sports Radio
35:36
Network, flagship Des Moines sports station one O 6.3 KXNO
35:40
top of the hour off the bench come Lucas and Sean.
35:43
They will take you until 5:00, two until 5:00 and then
35:47
overtime. Iowa swings on by from 5:00
35:51
until 6. Don't forget that next Friday
35:55
the two afternoon shows our show as well.
35:57
Obviously, as the Off the bench boys, we will all be at
36:03
Urbandale High V and what will we be doing there?
36:06
Well, glad you asked because KXNO wants to help you restock
36:09
that liquor cabinet and it's thanks to our friends at the Hy
36:12
Vee. We're going to try and hook up
36:13
40 of you listeners with Hy Vee gift cards during their
36:17
spectacular spirit sale a week from tomorrow with the Urbandale
36:21
Hy Vee. So don't miss out.
36:22
Ted KX no.com right now, enter for your chance to win.
36:26
If your name is drawn, you come stop by on the 17th to draw one
36:29
of the random gift cards. I don't know if they're in a
36:32
fishbowl or whatever, but there's going to be 40 of them.
36:35
Smallest denomination is $10, and I think they go all the way
36:38
to 100, but there's going to be 40.
36:40
If you get noticed that you're one of the 40, you're going to
36:43
get a gift card. Of course, you must be 21 years
36:46
of age or older. Ivy Spectacular spirit sale, the
36:50
Urbandale Ivy a week from tomorrow.
36:52
All right, Trent Condon, NFL football 2 MLB games, huge slate
36:58
of hockey. Nope, Nope, no.
37:01
They're playing that sport. And in fact, they're playing in
37:04
downtown Winnipeg tonight. The puck drops on year 15 of my
37:07
Jets. I will.
37:08
They get beat. I will do that.
37:10
I'll check in on that in 1/2 year.
37:12
See you in April. See you in April.
37:14
Yesterday. Great start.
37:16
Yeah. Comeback win by the Mariners.
37:18
Casey Mize. He flies over the 3 1/2 total
37:22
for strikeouts with six. The Cubs get the win.
37:25
And then the evening came. Dodgers L Nola over 2 1/2 hits
37:30
allowed. He only gave up one hit before.
37:32
He was out so long, he was out so quick.
37:34
UTEP no. And then even the WMB couldn't
37:38
hold go home. So today you didn't cover that.
37:41
No, no, we didn't get that either.
37:43
It was one of those. We got 6 bets though, so let's
37:45
jump into it. I'm playing under in both glass
37:48
now and Sanchez strikeouts. I think it's gonna be a quick
37:51
hook for both of them. And because of that, I'm going
37:54
under on top of it. Under 6 1/2 for Glass now, under
37:58
5 1/2 for Sanchez, playing the Dodgers to get it done and to
38:01
finish the series off, we got 2 college football plays.
38:04
Give me a lot. Tech tonight, laying the 4 1/2
38:06
against Kennesaw and a team total under on the Owls.
38:10
Hoot, hoot under Kennesaw State, 20 1/2 team total points.
38:14
And as I talked about at the top, yeah, I like the Giants
38:16
here. Short week, condensed game,
38:19
divisional game, Eagles, something's off.
38:23
That's ain't it for weeks. Well, we'll see and 7 1/2 is the
38:28
number, right? OK, good stuff.
38:30
We'll grade your work tomorrow and you'll hear off the bench
38:33
next tomorrow morning at 6:00. The first quarter with Heather
38:36
and Alec, we're Miller and Condon.
38:38
Trent and I talk sports with you every Monday through Friday from
38:41
noon until 2 on Des Moines Sports Station One O 6.3, KXNO
38:45
and the Iowa Sports Radio Network.